{"id":3599,"date":"2013-12-30T14:41:07","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T20:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?page_id=3599"},"modified":"2026-02-23T01:03:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:03:02","slug":"mina03","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/confessions\/mina03\/","title":{"rendered":"Pretty Little Head"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SPRING 1987<\/p>\n

Mina: 17
\nBethlehem, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cYOU ARE NOT going out with that loser, Wilhemina Beth Monroe!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Shane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stay out of it, Penny.\u201d Mina\u2019s mother shrunk into herself, and Mina knew that was all the help she was going to get. But she thought about Mitch Hollander and his wonderful grin, and steeled her spine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not engaged, Daddy,\u201d Mina said calmly. \u201cI would like to go out with a boy who likes me for me, not because he\u2019s your friend. Somebody more my age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it won\u2019t be Mitch Hollander!\u201d he roared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like<\/em> him, Daddy!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?! He has nothing. He couldn\u2019t even hack out an eighteen-month mission. He works in a steel mill that\u2019s about to close. He goes to the junior college. What does he have that you could possibly want?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo is Greg.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, he\u2019s not.<\/em><\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know where the thought came from, because she had never not<\/em> known Greg to be nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we agreed that we\u2019d wait until you graduated before Greg proposed to you. Is this a trick to hurry up and get a ring on your finger? Because if that\u2019s the case, I\u2019ll get him over here with a rock right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!<\/em>\u201d she cried, so very frustrated at being accused of trickery at every turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll not have my<\/em> daughter out with the likes of a loser like Hollander, just like his father and his father\u2019s father, from the coal mine to the steel mill and never an ambition to get further than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not raise you to settle for also-rans, Wilhemina! I raised you to understand and appreciate wealth. What, is this some kind of an experiment for you? Go out with a bad boy for a while?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo to your room. We\u2019ll talk about this later, when you come to your senses.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went.<\/p>\n

FOR WHATEVER REASON, Mina was over the moon when she saw Mitch arrive at the soccer field during practice and seat himself. She was happier than she remembered being in a long time and she waved at him.<\/p>\n

He grinned and waved back at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Greg?\u201d one of her teammates asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. That\u2019s Mitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreg doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d another teammate drawled, and Mina blushed, uncomfortably aware that anyone who knew about Greg but had never seen him thought him a figment of Mina\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, he does,\u201d Coach Leonard rumbled. \u201cBut at least Mitch showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina blinked. \u201cYou know Mitch?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYup. Worked at the steel mill with him before I hired on here as coach. Hard worker. Smart as a whip. A gentleman. Comes from a good family. You couldn\u2019t do better for yourself than Mitch. No girl could.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked down at the ground and scuffed her toe. \u201cI, uh\u2014 My dad\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Leonard only grunted and turned away to holler something at his kid, then turned back. \u201cMina, think about this: Any man who doesn\u2019t show up to his fianc\u00e9e\u2019s events to cheer her on? That\u2019s a problem. A big one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked around at the entire team. \u201cThat goes for every one of you. You\u2019re not pansy-ass girls on the field, and I don\u2019t want you to be pansy-asses off the field, either.\u201d He glanced at Mina. \u201cGot it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She gulped. \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE NEXT AFTERNOON, Greg asked her to marry him.<\/p>\n

On bended knee.<\/p>\n

With a ring that had a huge diamond.<\/p>\n

In front of her mother and father.<\/p>\n

Mina almost vomited, knowing what she had to do.<\/p>\n

It was the hardest thing she\u2019d ever done in her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

She could feel the shocked tension in the room. \u201cMina Monroe,\u201d her father barked. \u201cIs this about Mitch Hollander?\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg started. \u201cMitch Hollander?\u201d he demanded as he arose smoothly from the floor. \u201cThe kid who came home early from his mission?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that<\/em> one,\u201d he father snapped. \u201cWhy do you think I told you to get your behind over here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s he got to do with anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that Mina has caught herself a little crush.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg looked at her incredulously, but there was an emptiness in his eyes she had never seen before. She shivered. \u201cWhat does he have that I haven\u2019t?\u201d Greg asked smoothly, with a flat tone that frightened her.<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s mouth opened and closed. Opened. Closed. \u201cUm. He\u2014 He came to my game last night. He\u2019s nice.\u201d She couldn\u2019t explain it. It was as wispy as her fear of Greg. \u201cI thought\u2014 You always say to dance with other boys at dances, so I did. And, um, you aren\u2019t there, and you\u2019re always gone.\u201d They were stupid reasons. They should make her want to be with him, not make her glad he stayed away so much, which actually made what she said a lie. \u201cI want to date somebody else,\u201d she finished weakly, feeling all the animosity in the room directed at her. \u201cI like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s father opened his mouth, but Greg held up a hand. \u201cShane, it\u2019s all right,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI know what this is. She wants to date a bad boy. Let her. My sisters went through it and everything turned out just fine. They just needed to get it out of their systems. It didn\u2019t take long for them to figure out their best options.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d Mina\u2019s father said weakly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Shane. If you forbid her, if you force her to marry me, she\u2019ll just get her back up. What you want is for her to realize the error of her ways herself. Maybe she needs to learn the hard way.\u201d Greg looked at her sharply. \u201cSome girls,\u201d he said low, with a slight sneer, \u201cdon\u2019t learn anything the easy<\/em> way. Some girls have to be taught the hard<\/em> way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s mouth went dry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Mina,\u201d he continued kindly. \u201cWhen you\u2019re finished slumming, your father knows where to find me. I\u2019ll just spend this next little while building up our nest egg to buy you a nice house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina\u2019s father glared at her after Greg had left. \u201cYou just don\u2019t know a good thing when it steps in front of you, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Mina whispered at his back as he climbed the stairs, leaving her in the living room with her mother. \u201cYes, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRULY, MINA EXPECTED it to be awkward with long spots of silence, because that was how it was with Greg.<\/p>\n

So she was pleasantly surprised when, at dinner, Mitch peppered her with questions consisting of what she<\/em> liked to do and what she<\/em> was interested in doing with her life. She had never talked about herself this much in her whole life, and she\u2019d never really given much thought to what she wanted to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I mean, I know you want to get married and have babies. All Mormon girls want that. If you didn\u2019t<\/em> want that, what would you want?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, I don\u2019t know,\u201d she said in a bewildered tone for only the thousandth time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, think about it a minute,\u201d Mitch said encouragingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, but what do you<\/em> want to do with your<\/em> life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a metallurgist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s somebody who mixes metals and makes alloys.\u201d<\/p>\n

She blinked. \u201cOh. That\u2019s kind of neat, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell? Did you think about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout what you want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to learn how to drive,\u201d she blurted, then clapped her hands over her mouth.<\/p>\n

He stopped sipping at his malt to stare at her. \u201cYou don\u2019t know how to drive?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head, more embarrassed than she had ever been. \u201cPlease don\u2019t laugh at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, I\u2019m not,\u201d he said slowly, still watching her. \u201cWhy<\/em> don\u2019t you know how to drive?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father said I don\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, he says since I\u2019m going to be a wife and mother, I don\u2019t need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued to stare at her, not a trace of amusement on his face. \u201cYou\u2019re kidding,\u201d he said finally. Flatly.<\/p>\n

She flinched. It sounded ridiculous, but she\u2019d gotten used to it.<\/p>\n

Then he grunted and went back to his shake. \u201cI guess we\u2019re not going to see a movie tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heart sinking, she said, \u201cUm, okay. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to teach you how to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mouth dropped open.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a curfew?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEleven,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

His mouth tightened. \u201cOkay. Well, tomorrow at church\u2014 Can you skip Young Women\u2019s and Sunday school? We\u2019ll go out then too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really mean it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said tightly. \u201cNot teaching you how to drive is a control thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I knew how to drive, I don\u2019t have a car and can\u2019t get one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sighed. \u201cThere are ways around that, but whatever. The first thing you have to do is learn how to drive one.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was while Mitch Hollander was teaching her to drive in his old pickup truck in an abandoned parking lot that Mina fell in love.<\/p>\n

Mitch didn\u2019t sit with her in sacrament meeting nor did Greg, but as soon as it was safe, Mina ducked out to find Mitch.<\/p>\n

It was the funnest two hours of her life.<\/p>\n

Monday at practice, she cornered Coach Leonard and spilled everything. He listened without saying a word, his palms tucked under his armpits and his head bowed, rocking back on his heels now and then.<\/p>\n

Then she stopped speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cMina,\u201d he said finally, \u201cthere\u2019s more to a man than his money. We all struggle in life. Money is<\/em> important. I\u2019m not going to lie. But I\u2019d rather be poor than live with somebody who scared me half to death.\u201d He paused. \u201cFor the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did. Greg did. Scare her half to death. She had to admit it, in those words. Because those words<\/em> were the only things she could use to save herself from a fate worse than death. Nobody could do that but her: not her mother, not Mitch.<\/p>\n

August ran into September into October, and every minute she spent with Mitch was like a lifetime of joy, and even her father\u2019s increasingly black scowls couldn\u2019t diminish her happiness until \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen are you going to get over this phase?!\u201d he roared when she came in just before her curfew one Saturday in early November.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, I lo\u2014like<\/em> him. He makes me laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to feed you or put a roof over your head!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitch could make it work. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLook around you, Mina!\u201d he roared again, more loudly this time, gesturing to the house that looked so very fine in comparison to Mitch\u2019s family\u2019s home, decorator perfect, spotless. \u201cYou will never have this from a kid like Mitch Hollander.\u201d He spat Mitch\u2019s name and Mina didn\u2019t like that very much. The man<\/em> who made her laugh, who had dug into her soul and pulled out all her hopes and dreams that she didn\u2019t even know she had, who\u2019d taught her to drive and let her borrow his truck when he was at the mill\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not a kid, Daddy,\u201d she murmured. \u201cHe\u2019s a man. He wants to be a metallurgist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat for?!\u201d her father screamed, his face turning red. \u201cSteel is dying. What, is he going to go to China and work for a steel mill there? That kid hasn\u2019t got any more brains than this rug we\u2019re standing on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, please\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease what? Please stand around and watch while my daughter passes up the best prospect any girl ever had short of Prince Charles, and makes a fool of herself with a good-for-nothing steeler? You are going to marry Greg, and you\u2019re going to do it the minute you graduate from high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d she whispered, horrified.<\/p>\n

Terrified.<\/p>\n

Of Greg.<\/p>\n

Of never seeing Mitch again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Go to your room. You\u2019re staying home from church tomorrow while I figure out how to fix this and you are not seeing that kid again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She obeyed because she had no car with which to leave.<\/p>\n

Or she would\u2019ve.<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

\nMina Part 1<\/a>
\nMina Part 2<\/a>
\nMina Part 3<\/span>
\nMina Part 4<\/a>
\nMina Part 5<\/a>
\nMina Part 6<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
20260223<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPRING 1987 Mina: 17 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania \u201cYOU ARE NOT going out with that loser, Wilhemina Beth Monroe!\u201d \u201cNow, Shane.\u201d \u201cYou stay out of it, Penny.\u201d Mina\u2019s mother shrunk into herself, and Mina knew that was all the help she was going to get. But she thought about Mitch Hollander and his wonderful grin, and steeled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1599,"menu_order":4313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3599","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3599"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23576,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3599\/revisions\/23576"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}