The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-09-26
Chapter "a
Minis Story

MINI took a cigarette from the
Ava pack l offered her. lit it and
began walking aimlessly about
the room, Strengthening picture,
brushing an invisible speck from
the dresser scarf, changing the
position Of a chair.
I'm nobody" she began
abruptly. in the hard voice of one
making an unwilling confession.
Il probably don't need to tell
you that-it must be obvious that
I'm out of my element. No-don't
interrupt. Maybe it isn't obvious.
That's what you were going to
say, anyway-perhaps bit more
tactfully. Well consider it said.
But that isn't really what's trou-
bling me. / just want to give you
a complete picture of my back
ground, so you'll understand bet
ter"
She laid the smoking cigarette
on the edge of the dresser and be-
gan rearranging my comb and
hand mirror which l had not yet
repacked. ! could see her face in
the big glass as she talked, taut
and strained and utterly uncon-
scious of what he was doing.
She had been born in a little
town in Ohio, and her people
were nobody even in that town.
Fer father worked by the day.
her mother took in sewing. They
grew before my eyes-decent.
God-fearing people. with no edu-
cation beyond the public schools.
They had never been anywhere
and never wanted to go. They
named their only child Mamie
and expected her to grow up and
be happy in the same rut. But
Mamie had other ideas.
She won a beauty contest when
she was in high school. Her voice
was fiat as she told me about it,
but blush swept her tense face.
The prize was a trip to New
York. Mamie entrained from her
home town. but Mimi stepped off
the train in Grand Central Sta
ton. And Mimi stayed on in New
York-a beautiful girl in a city of
beautiful girls. each, like Mimi.
with bright dreams of the future.
She cashed in her return ticket,
and by the time il was spent the
dreams were fading and she was
glad to get job as stock girl in
one of the Fifth Avenue stores.
you'll never know how l lived
II don't know myself. l still had
high hopes, but l don't photo
graph well; / can't sing or dance;
I'm too short for a model and
have no education. l lied about
the last, and finally they promot-
ed me to selling.
Il was selling teen-age dresses
when l first saw Dan and Julia.
He brought her in to be out
fitted for boarding school, and
waited on them. Kay. you've no
idea how wonderful he looked to
me. In my ten years in New
York had met few men-moSt
of them hopeless dripS. l could
have done just as well in my own
home town. maybe better. want
ed TO get married. but not to that
kind. Dan was like the man from
Mars"
She was in her late twenties.
getting Self-conjriouS about her
age. Here was man neither old
nor callow. a man who looked
as man ought to look. handsome
and lean and healthy. He came
back a couple of times with Ju-
liza for fittings, and she found out
who he was. that he was a wild
over and that he was stationed at
West Point She couldn't have
been more impressed if he had
been the Prince of Wales.
InSaneIy Jealous
GRADUALLY Julia's clothes
~ became Minis problem. Ev-
cry two or three months they
would come in for a new outfit;
between times he or Julia would
write for little things the kid
needed. Mimi grew TO look for
ward to those letters and to the
shopping trips. Once they came
just as she was going to lunch
and insisted that she lunch with
them. After thai they always took
her to lunch when they were in
town.
And then. quite suddenly. she
lost her job.
It wasn't anything to her dis
credit. The store was reducing
expenses. So were the others, she
discovered: and they were only
taking in college girls. She