{"id":3595,"date":"2013-12-30T13:21:51","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T19:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?page_id=3595"},"modified":"2026-02-23T00:57:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T05:57:03","slug":"mina01","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/confessions\/mina01\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boy is Back in Town"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SPRING 1987<\/p>\n

Mina: 17
\nBethlehem, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cGO, MINA, GO! Get the ball! Get the darn ball!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina struggled to remain ahead of the other girls, dribbling the ball between her feet, her father\u2019s bellow ringing in her head. This was the end of the third quarter and if she hit this\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cGoal!\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father\u2019s proud shout should have made her happy, but it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cMina,\u201d her coach barked. \u201cYou\u2019re out the last quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank heavens.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?!\u201d Shane Monroe yelled. \u201cWhy are you benching her? She\u2019s played a perfect game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSiddown, Mr. Monroe!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was moments like these Mina was glad to have a male soccer coach who wasn\u2019t afraid of her father. Coach Leonard didn\u2019t go to their church, so he didn\u2019t care that her father was the bishop. He was bigger than Mina\u2019s father, so he could (and had) backed her father into a corner. He was lower middle class, but he didn\u2019t care, so Mina\u2019s father couldn\u2019t intimidate him with money or connections. In short, he had no reason not to do exactly what he pleased with Mina when she was on a soccer field.<\/p>\n

Mina plopped down on the bench and took the Gatorade Coach Leonard handed her. Sometimes, she thought as she gulped and gulped and gulped, it felt like Coach Leonard was protecting<\/em> her, but she didn\u2019t know what she had to be protected from. Her father wasn\u2019t abusive.<\/p>\n

Maybe he knew how tired she got toward the end of the third quarter. Maybe he knew how hard she tried to get enough goals to let second string take over so she could rest, because she knew she wouldn\u2019t be able to last through the last quarter without stumbling.<\/p>\n

\u201cYo, Adrian!\u201d Coach Leonard yelled at his assistant. Her name wasn\u2019t really Adrian, but it was a joke from the Rocky<\/em> movie Mina had loved so much, one her father would be horrified to know she had seen. Sasha jogged over and they put their heads together. She nodded and Coach Leonard headed to the bleachers\u2014and Mina\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

She gulped and watched her father\u2019s mouth tighten, then more, as Coach Leonard spoke and gestured. They left the bleachers and headed toward the parking lot. She could feel the anger in the air from here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat have you been telling him, Wilhemina Beth?\u201d her father ground out as soon as he started the car after the game was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d she said warily, unable to think of anything she\u2019d ever told Coach Leonard that would make her father angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seems to think you\u2019re sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSick? Like, sick how?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, the reason he benches you at the end of the third quarter is because you can\u2019t physically play anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he did know, but how did that translate to her being, well sick<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u201cI get really tired,\u201d she said matter-of-factly, too well trained to let a hint of sullenness or tears creep into her voice. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t said anything to him about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I told him it was baloney and that you\u2019re to play all four quarters next game. There\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, I really am tired, and my body hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. Shows you worked hard. Work harder next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina sighed and hoped Coach Leonard would do exactly what he always did. Mina loved soccer and she loved her coach. She couldn\u2019t wait to have children and teach them how to play. If she had her way, she\u2019d grow an entire soccer team.<\/p>\n

But that was a long way off and it required a husband and \u2026 sex.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get your hopes up, Mina, and don\u2019t believe the magazines and novels. <\/em>Love Boat and <\/em>Fantasy Island. Pffftt. It\u2019s not all it\u2019s made out to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

Her mother\u2019s vaguely sad commentary during The Talk was really the only thing she remembered about their conversation. Of course, Mina understood the mechanics, and though she had enjoyed a kiss or two snuck during church dances, she didn\u2019t find it an attractive prospect.<\/p>\n

Except that was how one had babies, and she would do what she had to do to have her own soccer team.<\/p>\n

Her father startled her out of her thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreg Sitkaris is coming over for dinner tomorrow night,\u201d he said abruptly. Mina\u2019s heart stopped. \u201cI want you to dress in your Sunday clothes and be on your best behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Daddy,\u201d she murmured.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mark my words, young lady. That boy is going places, and it would please me greatly if you caught his eye enough that he\u2019d take you with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gulped. Brother Sitkaris was so much older than she \u2026 He had gone on a mission (to China) and graduated from college already. He was twenty-four and so much older than she that she couldn\u2019t bring herself to even think of him by his first name.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm. You mean \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Mina. I would like to have him for a son-in-law, if you get my drift.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know how to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do I do that? I mean, it\u2019s kind of \u2026 I mean, don\u2019t you have to, you know, fall in love or something?\u201d She would never fall in love with Brother Sitkaris. He was old and there was something about him \u2026<\/p>\n

Like her mother\u2019s uncle that one of Mina\u2019s cousins said was \u201cfunny.\u201d She didn\u2019t even like to be on the same floor of the house as Uncle Jesse and she hated<\/em> Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm, well, I do believe he has feelings for you. Of course, seventeen\u2019s a bit young, but you don\u2019t seem interested in dating anyone, and I thought I might help things along a bit in that area. I think you\u2019d like him if you\u2019d talk to him a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know. School. Soccer.\u201d He slid his glance sideways at her. \u201cHow well you cook and bake. How much of a help you are around the house. In fact,\u201d he said, striking the heel of his palm against the steering wheel. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you make dinner tomorrow night? Oh, that\u2019s a fine<\/em> idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, I can\u2019t. I have to study for a calculus test.\u201d<\/p>\n

He waved a hand. \u201cOh, calculus. It won\u2019t kill you to get a lower grade. I don\u2019t know why you took that anyway. You aren\u2019t going to need it for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina stared out the car window and didn\u2019t see the passing scenery. Tears pricked her eyes as her father went on about her exceptional domestic skills, but she would not<\/em> cry.<\/p>\n

To be fair, Mina had to admit, she wanted to get married in the worst way. Have babies. Really, she did, but she just didn\u2019t have any feelings for any of the boys she knew who weren\u2019t attached to some other girl. She\u2019d be eighteen in November and still no prospects, so the only thing she could do was go to college.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that she didn\u2019t want to go to college, she\u2019d just rather<\/em> get married. But since it hadn\u2019t looked like she\u2019d be getting married any time in the near future, she could go to college while she waited for Mr. Right to show up.<\/p>\n

And she didn\u2019t like showing badly on a test, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf\u2014 If Brother Sitkaris\u2014\u201d She could barely choke out the name. \u201cIf he\u2014 Um, how would that work?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know,\u201d her father said expansively, pleased. \u201cIf he asks you to marry him, you say yes and then you can plan your wedding. I mean, you\u2019ve been planning one since you were twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was true. Her hope chest was full of wonderful things. She just \u2026 didn\u2019t want to marry someone she didn\u2019t want to marry.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if I don\u2019t want to marry him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNonsense. Greg\u2019s a handsome, charming young man with a bright future ahead of him. What girl wouldn\u2019t<\/em> want to marry him? A girl would have to be pretty stupid not to.\u201d Mina\u2019s breath caught in her chest. \u201cAnd I know you<\/em> are not stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did, in fact, make dinner the next night. She determined to stay up late to study, but she knew she wouldn\u2019t be able to. By the time dinner was on the table and she was showered, dressed, and made up, all she wanted to do was go to sleep.<\/p>\n

Brother Sitkaris was<\/em> charming. He kept her laughing and smiling all through dinner, complimenting her on her food, her dress, her hair. He made her blush once with a gentle tease, and he smiled right at her.<\/p>\n

Goodness, he was handsome.<\/p>\n

She wished \u2026 She wished<\/em> she could see a life with him, but she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Not that she could see one with anyone else, either.<\/p>\n

There was no one else.<\/p>\n

MINA STARED ACROSS the darkened cultural hall at the boy she\u2019d watched for the last ten minutes. He wasn\u2019t all that good looking, and certainly not as good looking as Greg (well, nobody was, not even movie stars), but there was something about him \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Mitch Hollander,\u201d murmured Mina\u2019s best friend, Lori. She could barely hear her over the throbbing dance music and the sound of one hundred fifty young adults dancing and talking, laughing and making a general ruckus in a gym. \u201cYou know. Him<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s heart sank a little. Him<\/em>. The boy her father and Greg had talked about in disapproving tones over Sunday dinner for the past two months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe he had the nerve to show up here,\u201d Lori continued. \u201cAfter he\u2014 Well, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, Mina knew what he\u2019d done. Everybody in the stake knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a girl. It\u2019s always girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s mouth tightened a bit. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s very fair,\u201d she finally murmured, unable to resist defending someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Mina,\u201d Lori sighed. \u201cYou think everybody\u2019s as sweet as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard it was medical,\u201d Mina returned.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s what they say<\/em> \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Mina had heard it from her father and she had no reason to doubt his word.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad<\/em> says. He talked to the mission president personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. Well, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Mitch Hollander had been sent home from his mission because he got in trouble for any reason, her father would\u2019ve been far more insulting than he was.<\/p>\n

Weak. You watch. That kid\u2019ll end up slinging hash at the corner McDonald\u2019s after the mill shuts down, which should be any day now. Any kid that can\u2019t hack an eighteen-month mission wouldn\u2019t be able to hack four years of college and nowadays, that\u2019s pretty much a requirement for a good job. I don\u2019t want my daughter dating a kid with no prospects. You hear me, Wilhemina? You stay away from him. Two weeks in the hospital for ulcers. Ha! No, that boy isn\u2019t right. <\/em><\/p>\n

But the longer she watched him, the more \u2026 right<\/em> \u2026 he seemed.<\/p>\n

He was alone, standing in the opposite corner of the gym from her, in the circle of light the overhead bulb threw out to dispel the darkness of the dance floor. He was dressed like every other guy in attendance: tight Levi\u2019s (501s, probably), a polo shirt (surprisingly not pink), and deck shoes. Every once in a while, a sparkle of light from the mirror ball would flash on him.<\/p>\n

He had wavy hair that gleamed blondish under the halogen, not as short as her father would have deemed appropriate for a freshly returned missionary\u2014 He seemed to be fairly tall, lean with broad chest and shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Greg?\u201d Lori asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had to go out of town,\u201d Mina murmured, still intent on him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Suddenly Mina wished she could see what color his eyes were.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas he proposed yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina blushed at the delight in Lori\u2019s voice. \u201cNot \u2026 officially,\u201d Mina muttered, hoping he wouldn\u2019t. It had been almost three months since her father had set out his expecta\u2014hopes for Mina and Greg. Greg had taken her out on dates, proper ones, which suited Mina just fine. He was gearing up for it, she knew. Taking it slow and easy because he was a nice man and every time Mina thought about saying no, she felt\u2014<\/p>\n

What girl <\/em>wouldn\u2019t want to marry him? A girl would have to be pretty stupid not to. And I know <\/em>you are not stupid.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stupid.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, he looks kinda sad over there all by himself,\u201d Lori said, pity tingeing her voice. Not that she would do anything about it. She had stationed herself to wait for her fianc\u00e9 to arrive from work, and had no interest in being nice to any other boy.<\/p>\n

Mina hadn\u2019t stopped watching him<\/em>, standing there alone.<\/p>\n

No one would talk to him. They looked at him warily, but no one approached him. It seemed to Mina that he looked at the dancers in the middle of the gym as if trying to ignore the fact that he wasn\u2019t welcome, but then \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 a gorgeous brunette approached him, and he smiled at her as if he knew her. She embraced him and he her, then she took his hand and led him into the fray when the beginning of \u201cLa Isla Bonita\u201d came out of the speakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at that,\u201d Lori said with some confusion. \u201cInez never dances with anybody because they don\u2019t know how\u2014\u201d Then she drew in a long, amazed breath.<\/p>\n

So did Mina.<\/p>\n

She swallowed.<\/p>\n

Hard.<\/p>\n

Whatever Mitch Hollander had or hadn\u2019t done on his mission to get sent home early, Mina didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

\u201cFetch, he can dance<\/em>,\u201d Lori whispered.<\/p>\n

Indeed he could. The DJ must have noticed Inez (who was notorious throughout the stake anyway, for a lot of different reasons), saw that her dance partner could keep up with her, because as Madonna\u2019s voice faded, a new kind of music came pounding out of the speakers.<\/p>\n

Spanish or something. Fast, with deep bass and a pounding rhythm.<\/p>\n

Inez threw back her head and laughed loudly (Mina might have said \u201clustily,\u201d but she didn\u2019t like that word and wasn\u2019t quite sure it was what she meant anyway), and Elder\u2014well, not<\/em>\u2014Hollander raised her right hand in his left and jerked.<\/p>\n

Hard.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Inez was spinning on her toes, around and under his left hand, while he stood watching her as if detached from his hand, which calmly guided her spins, his right arm tucked behind his back.<\/p>\n

He stopped her mid-spin with his right hand clapped to the curve of her waist, and they began to dance in a way Mina had only ever seen on the PBS ballroom specials.<\/p>\n

Couple after couple stopped dancing to watch this impromptu display, but neither of them seemed to notice or care.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like we\u2019ve got us a couple of people who know what they\u2019re doing,\u201d the DJ said smoothly over the microphone and under the music. \u201cBack off and let them teach you all a thing or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina knew she could never dance like that, the intricate turns, the flashing feet, the speed of the music that demanded they keep up or collapse in defeat. It was an entirely different physical process from soccer, and even that wore her out.<\/p>\n

And she could never compete with Inez, twenty-five, beautiful and vivacious, and already divorced with two small children.<\/p>\n

Inez, older than Mina by seven years, had always fascinated Mina, no matter her father\u2019s opinion. Mina didn\u2019t know why her father didn\u2019t like Inez (because he was the bishop and couldn\u2019t talk about what he knew about people), but Mina always thought she might like to spend a day with her.<\/p>\n

Now, though, Mina only felt wistful resentment rise in her and for no reason.<\/p>\n

For one, she was practically engaged. For two, she had no chance at catching Elder Hollander\u2019s eye. For three, her father would blow his stack.<\/p>\n

Stupid.<\/em><\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t matter how good he was on a dance floor.<\/p>\n

Two weeks in the hospital for ulcers. Ha! No, that boy isn\u2019t right.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mina sighed and turned away, unable to watch any longer.<\/p>\n

She left the cultural hall with a murmured excuse to Lori and wandered vaguely toward the wall phone in a tucked-away corner of the ward building. She could still hear and feel the music faintly, even from this far away, with the chapel between the gym and the phone hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Daddy,\u201d she said when her father answered. \u201cI\u2019m ready to come home now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMina, you just got there!\u201d he said. \u201cStay a while. I know Greg\u2019s being out of town probably leaves you a little bit lonely, but go ahead and dance with some other boys. Get your exercise or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sighed. He didn\u2019t understand; he never did.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell you what, I\u2019ll split the difference. Dance is over at midnight? I\u2019ll be there at ten-thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another forty-five minutes. She wished she\u2019d brought a book so she could go sit in a corner without dying of boredom.<\/p>\n

She wished her father would teach her how to drive already. She was almost eighteen, and not being able to drive embarrassed her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d she said, because she had no choice. Well, maybe she could push him to it. \u201cUm, Mitch Hollander is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father grunted. \u201cDon\u2019t know how he can show his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only his face, but his feet and his chest and his \u2026 backside. In those tight Levi\u2019s. Mina swallowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you stay away from him and have a good time. See you at ten-thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darn it.<\/p>\n

Mina wandered the church halls, her head down, threading her way through young single adults from eighteen to thirty, feeling a very young<\/em> almost-eighteen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you are,\u201d Lori said in a rush, from behind Mina. \u201cThey\u2019re still dancing and no one else is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina shrugged. \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori drew abreast of her. \u201cMina, what\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. Hm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina very often didn\u2019t feel well, everyone knew it, no one could do anything about it, so there was nothing to say to that. She would rather not have come tonight at all, as it was the end of soccer season and Coach Leonard had told her to rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo on ahead and find Dean. I\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

But Lori was already down the hall to find her fianc\u00e9 and hadn\u2019t waited for Mina\u2019s answer. Sometimes that bugged her because the only thing Mina wanted in the world was to get married to a nice Mormon boy and have lots of babies\u2014<\/p>\n

Well. She supposed she\u2019d be getting married within the next year, but it didn\u2019t feel like she thought it should.<\/p>\n

A flash of sandy hair caught her eye. Elder Hollander burst through the gym doors with his arm around Inez. They were both flushed, laughing, out of breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed you,\u201d he said before grasping Inez\u2019s face in his hands and kissing her\u2014 French kissing!\u2014 In front of everybody!\u2014 Like on Love Boat<\/em>!\u2014 For a long time!<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm, I missed you too, Mitch,\u201d Inez murmured when the kiss finally faded, before they headed toward the water fountain. \u201cYou didn\u2019t write, naughty boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were married, ma ch\u00e9rie<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLucky me,\u201d he purred, apparently uncaring that a bunch of people were around and listening to their conversation. \u201cLet\u2019s go outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina gathered her dignity and slipped into the chapel, up the three stairs to the dais, to the dark corner behind the piano, and sat down.<\/p>\n

Then cried.<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

\nMina Part 1<\/span>
\nMina Part 2<\/a>
\nMina Part 3<\/a>
\nMina Part 4<\/a>
\nMina Part 5<\/a>
\nMina Part 6<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
20260222<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPRING 1987 Mina: 17 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania \u201cGO, MINA, GO! Get the ball! Get the darn ball!\u201d Mina struggled to remain ahead of the other girls, dribbling the ball between her feet, her father\u2019s bellow ringing in her head. This was the end of the third quarter and if she hit this\u2014 \u201cGoal!\u201d Her father\u2019s proud […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1599,"menu_order":4311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3595","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3595"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3595"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23573,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3595\/revisions\/23573"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}