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Lucia:What would you have done if Frank didn’t drop the charges?
Kova:That is the thing. I think he had to drop them before he left the country. Without any tangible evidence, the state couldn’t hold me. It was his word against mine. The police would have needed to speak to Adrianna. She would have told them the truth, and Frank knew this.
Lucia: Were you concerned about Frank at the Olympics? That he would watch you like a hawk or intercede?
Kova: Not at the Olympics.
Lucia: Why not?
Kova:He had no power in another country. He could not do a thing. And unless she had drugs in her system or broke a bone, she was competing with Team USA.
Lucia: The Olympics were bittersweet for the both of you. Were you concerned at all when she performed? With her injuries?
Kova: No. I knew once the cue was given, that was it. Adrianna is a true born performer. Not just in talent, but because she has the mental aptitude to handle the pressure. When she hit the stage, something locked into place and her muscle memory took over. She knew how far to push her body and when to pull back. She was a sight to behold the way she defied gravity, how her body would flow from bar to bar like a silk ribbon drifting casually in the wind. Ria trusted in herself, in her abilities, and what she could handle amid her injuries. And she trusted her team coach to give her proper advice so she did not cripple herself.
Lucia: (stares at Kova in silence, blinking deeply)
Kova:Why are you staring at me like that?
Lucia: I’m just really glad I didn’t write your point of view. You make my head pound. The passion chokes me then scrambles my brain. I don’t know who loves who more. It’d be a battle of wills until the very end with you two. The emotion you unknowingly emit when you talk about Adrianna is deep. How you view her is heavy on the heart. Your connection with her brings the most joy but also causes so much pain. Adrianna’s head was enough to be inside of. I think I’d be in a padded room if I were in both minds.
Kova: I do not comprehend.
Lucia: You don’t need to. Moving on. Adrianna told me a secret about you.
Kova:What did that mouth of hers say now?
Lucia: You like to watch old videos of Adrianna’s competition days with your daughters.
Kova: The girls think it is cool to see Mommy flip backwards, and I love to show them.
Lucia: That’s not all Adrianna told me. She said you try to pass it off as the girls asking to watch Mommy do front flips, but that she’s seen you watch the videos alone when no one is looking. Can you talk about this teddy bear side you hide from everyone?
Kova:What can I say? You want the truth? Here it is. I am a man in love with his wife so much I ache. I cannot think straight half the time because she is all I think of. I never want to take a single day for granted. While my daughters have occasionally asked to watch old videos of her, yes, I do like to go back from time to time to the beginning. Ria’s metamorphosis is remarkable. I like to remind myself where we came from, and that we are worth it in the end.
Lucia: Who else do you watch with when no one is around?
KOVA: Svetlana. I watch to help Svetlana. If she sees her mommy be strong, it may give her the courage to stand a little longer on her own one day. I pray every night for it.
Lucia: Have the gymnastics classes not helped her improve her strength?
Kova: Not the way the doctors have hoped. Her progress has been too slow for their comfort that it is not safe to delay the tests any longer.
Lucia: Tests?
Kova: Svetlana is scheduled for a round of tests we have been waiting to have done until she was the right age. She may need a wheelchair before she is in her teens.
Lucia:(chills run down my arms)
Kova: Svetlana is a daddy’s girl, through and through. When we are at home, she climbs in my arms and talks to me about gymnastics. Her tender heartlovesthe sport more than any of our kids. She is fascinated with it. None of the questions she asks make any sense, let alone are possible to execute. It is cute the way she looks at me with the biggest greenest eyes when I talk to her in my native tongue.
Lucia: She understands you? The Russian, I mean?
Kova: All of our children are fluent in Russian.
Lucia:Let’s go back to the day you said goodbye to Adrianna at the airport.What was going through your mind?
Kova:Agony. Absolute agony. I was standing there watching her walk away, not knowing when I would see her again. I wanted to run to her, but I had to let her go. She needed to go.
