“What? I don’t understand,” Brody began, but Sara cut him off.
“Brody, you’ve spent two years at the same school as Mina, hardly talking to her, never even realizing she is alive. Then she goes and does something crazy, against my wishes. She placed her own life in danger to save yours.” Her face became very still. “Now, because of those actions, our whole family has to live with the consequences. You now feel obligated to help her, like she did you. I get that, I really do. But what gives you the right to question our actions and lifestyle?”
Silence filled the kitchen. Mina held her breath, afraid to move. Brody straightened in his seat and swallowed slowly.
Sara brushed her hands over her forehead in defeat. “You’re enamored. That’s it. In another week or so, you will wake up, and this will all be a dream. You will forget that Mina ever even saved your life. She will go back to being my clumsy, forgotten, outcast teen daughter, and you will go back to ruling the school and dating the head cheerleader.”
Silent tears fell down Mina’s cheeks. How could her mother say these things? Mina refused to look at either of them, staring at her plate of uneaten pasta and letting her mother’s words—words she knew were the truth—sink in. She could have stopped her mother, but Mina knew that Sara was only protecting her.
Sara pointed her fork at Brody accusingly, a giant meatball stuck on the end. “I’ve seen it all before. This will fade—it won’t last—and you will leave Mina for another. We aren’t like you people. You two are oil and water. But how we live our life is of no concern to you or your family. My daughter doesn’t challenge your choices or way of life, so don’t do it to us. You haven’t earned that right or proven yourself worthy.” Once Sara had her say, she set her fork down and began slicing the meatball into bite-sized pieces. Placing a piece in her mouth, she chewed slowly, challenging Brody with her eyes.
Mina was stunned at how well Brody took the news. He listened and never once questioned Sara’s sanity, maybe because it was her mother, and not Mina herself, who was explaining things to him.
Instead he was quiet, contemplative. “That explains a lot,” he said finally. Brody stood and excused himself from the dinner table. “Thank you for dinner and an enlightening evening, Sara. Mina.” Brody nodded his head in both their directions and let himself out the front door.
“What just happened, Mom?” Mina asked. Her lip began quivering, tears flowing freely. Her heart felt like it had been ripped in two.
Sara sat back in her chair and sighed, eyes wide. “I think you’ve just been dumped.”
Chapter 14
Sara looked at her daughter, who was clearly devastated, and immediately adopted a softer tone. “I’m so sorry, honey. I judged him wrong. I thought he could handle the challenge of the truth, that he could even be the one.”
“What do you mean, Mom, ‘the one’? I don’t want ‘the one,’ just a boyfriend.”
“That’s not your fate, Mina. Anyone you’re not serious about—and even those you are serious about—are going to get hurt. Think about it. Fairy tales time and time again have a hero who will battle to the end to save the heroine. I was hoping he would fight for you more, challenge me, tell me I was wrong and be your knight, like your father was for me. But I misjudged him. I’m sorry.” Sara tried to put her hand on Mina’s, but Mina jerked it away.
“Just…leave me alone. For a little while. Can you least do that for me, after you drove him away?”
Mina tried to ignore her mother’s hurt expression and went to the living room window, peering out to the street below. Sure enough, Brody’s car was gone. Still silently crying, Mina went to the front door, locked it, and put a chair in front of the handle. She then went to every window, checked and locked all of them. Going to her bedroom, Mina grabbed a throw blanket, opened her window, and crawled up the fire escape to the roof.
The roof was Mina’s one retreat from the world. As the only tenant in the small building, Mina had the space all to herself and could lavish the roof with fun items, her own personal touch. Since it was twilight, she went to a small electrical outlet and switched on the power, illuminating the small space with strands of white Christmas lights and various illuminated patio lights. Last summer Mina had dragged up two lawn chairs and had even planted fake plastic flowers in all the planters.
Italian music played softly from a restaurant down the street, and Mina collapsed in a lawn chair. Wrapping herself in the blanket, Mina watched as steam rose from various vents and chimneys across the building’s roofs. She cried herself to sleep, unaware of the eyes that watched her.
Chapter 15