Shipwreck

MJ would never have guessed that losing a drone over a wall one day could change her life, but it did.

It was the last present her papi had given her before he left them. It was red and black and looked like a helicopter from the future, and she could control it with an app on her phone that he’d shown her how to use.

MJ liked it because she didn’t have to go outside to play with the drone. She could sit in her bedroom and control it from the window, sending it dive-bombing at soda cans she’d set up in their new backyard.

She hadn’t felt like arranging any new targets that day, so instead MJ aimlessly guided the drone in zigzagging patterns inches above the dying grass. A six-foot concrete wall separated their yard from the house next door. The top of it always seemed to have seeds and pods from a nearby tree scattered over its rough surface.

MJ navigated the drone above the wall and carefully let it settle close to the top without quite touching. Gently edging it forward so its round body tilted, MJ revved up the speed and let it fly. The force created by the drone sent dried yellow pods shooting out from under it on both sides, clearing the top of the wall. It was satisfying to watch, and MJ felt proud of herself and her little electronic pet.

That satisfaction turned to sudden panic when the front of her drone snagged against a particularly rough spot in the concrete and went flipping end over end beyond the fence, disappearing into the neighbor’s backyard.

“Uh-oh,” she breathed quietly to herself.

MJ couldn’t see where it landed. She tried to summon it back into the air with the controls of her phone app, but the drone wouldn’t rise. It was either stuck on something, or the crash had damaged it.

MJ felt that bubbling begin in her gut that happened when she knew she was about to be in trouble.

She put her phone down on the windowsill and pushed herself up by the edges of her seat, unfolding her legs and hopping down from the chair. MJ bolted out of the house as fast as she could run, charging across their backyard to the place at the wall where her drone went down.

She realized she had no idea who lived here; in the four months since they’d moved into the house, she and her mother hadn’t really met anyone on the street yet. MJ had only seen an aging truck parked in the driveway next to theirs from time to time, but it hadn’t been there when she’d come home from school, so she was pretty sure nobody was home.

Standing next to it, the wall seemed a lot taller than it had when she looked down at it from her bedroom window. MJ licked her lips nervously, thinking she should just wait until that truck pulled back into the neighbor’s driveway and then she could go knock on the door and ask for her drone back. Then she thought about what would happen if the neighbors didn’t come home before her mother did. She could just not tell Mom about the drone, of course, but what if the neighbors found it and brought it over? Then not only did MJ crash the expensive gift, she would also have lied about it.

And it was a gift from Papi; not just a gift, but his last gift to her.

Running through every possibility like that made her head hurt. MJ shook her head to clear away those thoughts, telling herself that she was acting like a dork, and that she wanted her drone back.

She bent at her knees and launched herself into the air, reaching up and gripping the top of the wall. The unfinished concrete dug into her fingertips, but she was easily able to pull herself up and swing her legs over.

It actually felt good to move her body like that. MJ wouldn’t tell her mother, but she missed gymnastics. MJ missed the way she felt free when she flew across the practice mats or walked the balance beam. It was everything that happened when she stepped off the mat that she couldn’t stand.

She dropped down into the neighbor’s backyard, landing solidly on her feet. The backyard hadn’t been mowed in weeks, it seemed, and the grass was up to her ankles.

Still, she spotted her crashed drone lying next to an old, cracked marble fountain with a sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe on top of it. MJ recognized the image of Mary from her abuelita’s candles. She sprinted over and picked up the drone, examining it for damage. The plastic body was chipped where it had snagged the rough concrete, but other than that MJ couldn’t see anything that would prevent it from flying. She hoped its inside parts weren’t messed up too bad.

MJ looked up from the drone and really took in the yard for the first time. Other than the disused fountain, there was only one other thing on the overgrown grass, but that thing dominated most of the space. She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it when she first hopped the fence.

Something giant was covered by a dirty canvas tarp in the corner of the yard. Whatever it was, it was twice as tall as MJ and the size of two minivans. MJ crept toward it, curious. At first she thought it might be a project, maybe some old boat somebody was working on restoring on the weekends. Then MJ noticed the tarp was split down one corner, revealing a piece of what was hiding underneath.

The object poking out was a tall, rusted metal post.

MJ squinted at the long rectangle. There were ropes or cables connected to two sides of it, and under those, hanging from the edge of some kind of platform, large pieces of cloth draped down to the ground.

Her eyes widened as she recognized what she was looking at.

She walked over to the exposed corner of the tarp and touched the metal post carefully. It was rough on her hand, but it seemed solid, like it wouldn’t easily tip over.

MJ hesitated, biting her lower lip. She knew she shouldn’t be there, let alone doing what she was thinking about doing.

She bent down and placed her drone back in the grass. MJ reached out and grabbed two handfuls of the canvas tarp. She gave them a tug. The tarp barely moved. Taking a deep breath, she dug her heels into the ground beneath the tall grass and pulled as hard as she could. Slowly, the tarp began to slide over the top of the object. MJ had to turn around and drag the end of the tarp she was holding over her shoulder. The rest of it finally pulled away and after trudging over a dozen steps MJ felt the bulk of the tarp drop to the ground.

She let go of the piece she was holding and turned back to take in what the tarp had been covering up.

It was a wrestling ring, just like the ones she’d seen on TV all her life. It certainly wasn’t as impressive as those, nowhere near as polished and clean. In fact, this ring looked to be in terrible shape. The “ropes” looked to be wrapped in duct tape that was several different colors. The canvas covering the inside of the ring was dirty and torn in many places, several of which were also patched over with duct tape. The turnbuckles that connected the ropes in each corner, which were usually covered by pads, were mostly just exposed, rusted metal rings.

MJ didn’t care, however. She’d never been this close to a real wrestling ring before, and she thought it was amazing.

It’s not yours, a voice that sounded a lot like Mom’s said inside her head. This isn’t your yard. You shouldn’t be messing around with other people’s stuff.

All of that was true, but how often would MJ be alone with a real-life pro-wrestling ring?

Besides, how could she be in more trouble than she already was?

She crawled underneath the bottom rope and across the stained, taped-over canvas, standing up in the middle of the ring. It didn’t feel the way she thought a ring floor would feel under her feet. Her family members who thought pro wrestling was dumb always compared it to a trampoline. It didn’t feel like that at all. The ring floor felt solid underneath the layer of canvas on top of it.

MJ gently rocked back and forth from the tips of her shoes to her heels. There definitely was some give to the ring, though. She gently bounced up and down several times. It felt like jumping on wooden boards with nothing underneath them. She didn’t think it would feel good to fall on this floor, however.

“¡Oye!”

It was a deep, angry voice, and as it hit her ears MJ jumped and felt her blood rush and go cold.

She looked over her shoulder. An old man in a black suit and tie was standing at the back door of her neighbor’s house. She hadn’t heard the truck pull into the driveway, but this had to be its owner.

He reminded her of pictures MJ had seen of her grandfather, though she’d never met the man, who passed away long before she was born. The deep lines in this old man’s face and his steel-gray hair, perfectly combed back, were exactly like that image of her abuelita’s husband. Her new neighbor looked much tougher, though, without the kind smile her grandfather always displayed in those old pictures.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing in there?” he demanded, sounding angrier with every word. “I should call the cops right now!”

MJ couldn’t force words from her brain to her mouth. That only made her panic more. Without thinking, she looked away and ran to the corner of the ring nearest to the fence, quickly climbing up the turnbuckles. She balanced herself easily on the top rope and gingerly leaped from the ring to the top of the fence.

“Get down from there!” He continued to yell angrily at her. “Hey, I’m talking to you, girl! Come here! Come here, I said!”

He was still raging loudly as MJ dropped over the fence into her own yard and ran into the house, slamming the back door behind her.