Pinned by Alfred C. Martino Page B

Saturdays. You're gonna wear out."
    His father brushed aside his concern.
    "I heard stories, Papa. People are getting laid off; is that true?"
    His father hunched forward, spearing the meat with his knife, then cutting a piece and putting it into his mouth, cutting another piece and shoving it into his mouth.
    "Saying nothing tells me enough, Papa." Ivan looked down. "Are you gonna lose your job?" he said quietly, almost hoping his father didn't hear him.
    "That is not for you to think about."
    "How can't I?"
    "You must worry about Wrestling only," his father said. Then added, "And a good university. That is important, also."
    Ivan put down his knife and fork. "Coaches call every day. They send me hundreds of letters. Beg me to take their scholarships. Paying for college won't be your problem."
    There was hurt in his father's expression. "You are not a problem to me." His father waved his finger. "No matter what, I will always worry about you. When you are fifty years old, I will worry about you. Understand?"
    For a time the dining room was quiet. Ivan watched his father eat heartily, while he picked at the few small pieces of meat he could still force into his stomach.
    "You received a telephone call earlier. This Coach Riker," his father said, "do you know where he is from?"
    Ivan lowered his eyes.
    "The University of Western Arizona," his father said. "I have not heard of this university. He wanted to know if you won today. He asked if you received the application. Do you want to know what I told him? I told this Coach Riker he should not call us."
    Ivan sat back hard. "What?"
    "Yes, I told him you will attend Bloomsburg University next fall."
    "That's wrong, Papa."
    "You are not going far away. It is final. We discussed this."
    Ivan half laughed. "We didn't discuss a damn thing. You yelled and hit me. That's no discussion."
    His father's hands knotted into fists, raised up, then crashed down on the table. Ivan didn't blink. "You will not answer back anymore," his father said through gritted teeth. "Do you understand?"
    Ivan stood up, flexed his arms and chest, and leaned over the table. "Papa, you're not gonna hit me again." His eyes never left his father, whose stare—Ivan was surprised—had momentarily weakened. Ivan took pleasure in that. With one hand he swept up the medal and stuffed it into his pocket. "I'm going out," he said, then he turned and left.

    Under the porch light of her house, Shelley wrapped a red scarf around her neck, buttoned her coat, then pulled mittens from the coat's hip pockets. She met Ivan in the street and gave him a hug.
    "God, I'm glad you knocked," she said.
    Ivan gestured to Shelley, and together they started down Farmingdale Road. "Let's walk."
    "Know that physics paper I wrote last week?" Shelley said.
    "Yeah."
    "Got a B-plus on it. Well, my dad freaked. You'd think I'd screwed up any chance of getting into UPenn. Maybe
I
should be the one to go far away to college."
    "My idea first," Ivan said.
    Shelley held the sleeve of his jacket as they turned off onto a dirt path that quickly disappeared into the woods, curved left, then dipped down a small hill. The scent of pine hung in the cold damp air.
    "You know, for someone who wants out of Lennings, you sure know your way around," Shelley said. "Doesn't surprise me, though. Told me once you'd never leave Lennings. 'In a million years' were your exact words."
    "Things change."
    "I watch you from my window when you go out to run and when you come back," Shelley said. "I see you in school. Down the hall. When you're sitting in class. I haven't missed one of your matches in two years." She tugged his sleeve. "Hey..."
    Ivan stopped.
    "For all I see you and know you, I wanna know even more," she said. "I wanna know everything. It sounds silly, I guess..."
    Her hair fluttered in a gust of wind; she brushed the strands off her cheeks. Clouds parted, shooting shafts of moonlight through the tree branches to the ground below. Ivan could see