Season’s beginning

“Season’s beginning” is the meaning Mike gives to Kia, a name he identifies as African. The phrase briefly offers a hopeful image of renewal, but its repetition at the scene’s close draws Mike back to Jo and the possibility that she had kept a pregnancy secret until she was certain.

Meaning and Context

As Mike prepares to leave Mattie and Kyra, Mattie nods and calls Kyra ladylike. Mike then explains that Kia is an African name meaning “season’s beginning.” He waves goodbye and heads back to the driver’s side of the Chevy, aware of Kyra’s curious gaze and surprised by an urge to cry.

Association with Jo

That feeling persists after Mattie and Kyra are out of sight. At the Village Cafe, Mike sits in the dirt parking lot beside the off-brand gas pumps, thinking about Jo and a home pregnancy-testing kit that had cost twenty-two dollars and fifty cents. He reads the test as evidence of a small secret Jo wanted to keep until she was sure, though he can only infer what the secret must have been.

Repetition and Emotional Turn

Mike repeats the name and its meaning to himself: “Kia,” and “Season’s beginning.” Rather than easing his sadness, the phrase makes him feel close to tears again. He gets out of the car and slams the door, as if force could keep the sadness inside. Its movement from a farewell to Kyra into a thought of Jo gives the phrase its emotional force: the suggestion of a beginning is inseparable from Mike’s grief and his belated recognition of what Jo may have been carrying in secret.