62 pages • 2 hours read
Twelve-year-old Adela “Addie” Ramírez watches a lucha libre match on TV between Apollo and The Eagle in her stepfather Alex’s diner. Addie wonders why the latter, a masked luchador, always has to lose, and Alex explains that he is a “jobber,” a wrestler whose job is to make his opponent look good. Despite knowing this, Addie silently champions The Eagle, believing someone needs to root for the underdog.
Addie’s heavily pregnant mother, Lourdes Ramírez, comes in as the match ends, complaining about how wrestling is always on in the diner. However, they all know it must be; their New Mexican town, Thorne, and the neighboring one, Esperanza, are where the Cactus Wrestling League matches happen, and the area is always flooded with fans. Alex himself had grown up a wrestling fan, and the Four Sisters Diner he runs—which was founded by his grandfather in 1963—is decorated with all manner of lucha libre masks, photographs, and memorabilia.
Lourdes gives Addie the white poster board she needs for her mythology assignment at school, along with an awkward hug, as she asks how Addie is feeling.
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