Tumble

Before Addie leaves for Esperanza for the weekend, she overhears Alex and Lourdes arguing about her and Manny. Lourdes confesses her worry that Manny will disappoint Addie, while Alex urges Lourdes to stop protecting Addie and let her learn who her father is by herself.

Manny arrives to pick Addie up at the diner a few minutes late. On the way to Esperanza, he confides a big secret in her, revealing that he is a masked wrestler. Years ago, Manny the Mountain was banished from the Cactus Wrestling League because he had to break his contract with them when he received an opportunity to wrestle in Japan. Although the experience there was great, Manny’s priorities have changed, and he wants to return; he will wrestle as “un enmascarado” before eventually being unmasked and returning as the Mountain.

Addie is persistent, so Manny reveals that he is The Eagle. They discuss wrestling preferences, among others, and Addie discovers they both like a lot of the same things—they both prefer “heels” to “babyfaces,” chocolate ice cream over vanilla, and winter over summer. They arrive at the Bravos, but Manny drops her off without coming inside, claiming he has work to do. While this disappoints Addie, he promises to see her at dinner. Addie watches him drive off until he disappears into the distance.

The house is quiet when Addie enters. Pancho is watching a telenovela in the family room, and he invites her to join him. Addie observes the room as Pancho nods off, taking in the range of photographs, medals, trophies, and other wrestling paraphernalia that decorates the room, all showcasing Pancho and his sons. Reflecting on its museum-like qualities, Addie thinks about how the room tells a story that leaves out Speedy’s death, Pancho’s sickness, her and the twins’ existence, and, except for in a couple of family portraits, Rosie’s presence.

Pancho wakes up, and, mistaking Addie for Lourdes, asks her to let Manny go; he says wrestling is his dream, and if he doesn’t follow it, he will be unhappy. He also asserts that one has to chase greatness, while family will always be waiting. Suddenly, Pancho realizes Addie isn’t Lourdes, and when Addie explains who she is, Pancho asks her to tell Lourdes that he is sorry, and he was wrong.

Addie walks outside, pondering Pancho’s words and wondering whether he is the reason Manny isn’t around. When she peers into the barn, she finds Rosie working inside. Rosie beckons her in and shows her the snowman that she is working on, then Addie tells Rosie about the annual photograph. Rosie reveals that Lourdes always loved the tumbleweed snowmen; she would even help Rosie make them. Addie is amazed to discover that Rosie also crochets and welds, and offers to help if Rosie will teach her.

Rosie tells Addie how she first thought of the tumbleweed statues: One night, alone with her three sick sons, she watched an episode of TV where a couple was held captive in a house by a pair of tumbleweeds, and related to the feeling of being trapped. The next day, while driving somewhere, a tumbleweed blew across her path, and she swerved to avoid it, thinking it was an animal. This is when the idea finally struck her.

Addie asks about Rosie’s wrestling past, and Rosie shows her the Mexican championship belt she once won in Guadalajara; in her time, women weren’t allowed to wrestle in the capital city, because “men thought that it was a bad influence on girls to see women wrestling” (189). Nevertheless, wrestling is how Rosie met Pancho, but she gave it up once they got married and had children. Addie looks through photographs and newspaper clippings of Rosie’s wrestling days, and asks her if she ever misses it. Rosie admits that’s all she wanted some decades ago, but it was too difficult to do with children.

When Addie suggests that Pancho and her could have traded off travel time, Rosie claims times were different then. She didn’t want a half-life with her children and is proud of having carried the family through everything. She also asserts that despite getting to choose wrestling, Pancho, too, had to make sacrifices; he was gone so long and so often that his own sons wouldn’t recognize him when he returned.

Addie looks through more of Rosie’s wrestling memorabilia, including her red and black wrestling costume. She wonders why this isn’t displayed in the family room. Addie takes back with her a photograph of a 17-year-old Rosie dressed up in her costume as her alter-ego, “La Rose Salvaje” (“The Wild Rose”).

Eva and Maggie wake Addie up at a little past midnight, and the three of them take their sleeping bags out to the ring in the backyard. At Addie’s request, they tell her about the tzitzimeme, goddesses that were believed to protect the crops, people, and pregnant women. During an eclipse, or at the end of a 52-year-cycle, the goddesses would descend to earth; they held power during a big change to make it go smoothly or badly. The twins chose the tzitzis as their alter-egos as the deities are described as both male and female, and they like the idea of rejecting stereotypes and not being confined to a box. Addie reflects on how this connects to their arrival in her life at a time when she is learning about Manny, processing the adoption, and waiting to welcome a new sibling.

The twins reveal that it is not Mateo, but Rosie who has taught them everything they know about wrestling. Maggie wants to wrestle until she can’t anymore and is trying out for the school team. Eva, however, plays softball, which she enjoys more than wrestling. Maggie has aspirations to go professional after school, while Eva isn’t sure what she wants to do yet, but it probably isn’t wrestling. As they watch the stars together, Addie ponders how the twins seem to want to follow completely different paths in life.

Addie joins Pancho, Manny, and the twins for Sunday breakfast, which Rosie prepares. Maggie asks for someone to help out, but no one except Addie joins in. Mateo comes in looking for glittery eyeshadow for his drag story time at the bookstore, and Eva steps out to fetch some.

Pancho angrily questions what kind of man wears glitter, berating Mateo for giving up wrestling. Mateo gently reminds his father about his work outside the ring; wrestling wasn’t for him. As Pancho questions who will win the championship now, Addie notices Manny’s hurt expression, even as Maggie declares she is a contender. Pancho scoffs that girls can’t be champions, and Rosie’s expression turns mutinous, even as Addie points out that Rosie was one. Eva returns and makes Pancho admit that women make good wrestlers, their championship is just as important as the men’s, and glitter is for everyone. Everything goes back to normal and Mateo leaves with the twins, but Addie contemplates the underlying tensions within the family.

Addie doesn’t go to story time, as Manny promises he has plans for them. By the time he returns, the twins have gone home, and it is time for Addie to leave, too. Manny apologizes that his errands took so long, promising to do better next time, but Addie is still disappointed. She asks about Pancho’s reaction to Mateo’s makeup, and Manny explains that Pancho is a little old-fashioned; Lourdes used to fight back, just as Maggie and Eva do.

On the way to Thorne, they pass by some tumbleweed sculptures. When Addie tells Manny about the annual photo tradition, he reveals that he is the one who started it. Addie asks him where he has been her entire life, and he explains that the work keeps him traveling, so he has never had a home. However, now that he is here, he plans to return as the Mountain, win the league championship belt, and then win the world championship belt like Pancho. After this, he will quit. Addie wonders what will happen if Manny doesn’t win, and Manny’s demeanor turns intense, as he whispers that he will.

Addie, Cy, Gus, and Brandon meet with Mrs. González during lunch to discuss the plan for the show. Cy thanks Mrs. González for the opportunity, expressing her excitement at working closely with the rest of the group; Mrs. González stresses this too, claiming it will be a bonding experience. She asks the group to have their plan ready by Monday.

At home, Addie finds Lourdes setting up a mobile in the baby’s room and joins her to help out. She tells Lourdes about Pancho’s apology, and Lourdes claims not to know what it is about, but suggests Pancho has plenty to apologize for.

Addie asks Lourdes why she still doesn’t talk about Manny and the Bravos; Lourdes counters with a question about whether Addie is happy spending time with them and is getting what she is looking for. Addie isn’t sure, and Lourdes reassures her she can stop visiting whenever she wants; she doesn’t want Addie to feel obligated to anyone. Addie remembers the two heart halves Lourdes and Manny once wore and can’t help thinking of it now as a broken heart.