Courage & Resolve
1.4 - Tarnished Memories
Amelia sat alone in her pajamas at her dining room table, a warm cup of tea in front of her. She had a small sip of the tea as stared out at the fresh snowfall that blanketed the ground outside. It’d been a little over a year since Jo’s funeral. Cory and Jamira were out somewhere, probably with Sheena and Booker. Now that they were both out of high school, they spent more and more of their days away from home. Some days, she felt as if everyone else has moved on but her.
Amelia was correct in her assumption that her children were out with friends. Jamira was studying for school with Sheena at the local museum, but what Amelia didn't know was that the two of them were working on a project of their own.
“Sheena, look at this,” Jamira said, gesturing towards her phone. "So, I was sitting in my advanced environmental science classes last week, and I started thinking about those community spaces you’ve started trying to organize. The teacher started going over something related to recycling, and I thought- hey! What if we took some of those concepts, and made it personal, like, for the individual?"
"Go on," Sheena said, excitement in her eyes.
“Who doesn't love a little DIY, you know? Anyway, I’ve come up with the preliminary concept for a machine that will allow people to compact their plastic and paper waste, and turn it into a material they can use to transform it into something new.”
“Jamira!” Sheena exclaimed, her eyes shining as she scanned over every part of Jamira’s plan. “This is perfect!”
"Your community spaces are great, but I feel like they're too involved. Someone always needs to be there for maintenance, and with this just being the two of us, that just becomes impossible. So, this is something else that can help us really hit the ground running."
Jamira put her phone back in her pocket, and turned to Sheena with a smile.
“This is genius, Jamira! I know you’ve heard it a million times, but you know how the whole reason I got into all this was because my mom’s apartment was a total dump? Like, the place actually stank. Anyway, this is like the perfect solution to that! If people can turn that junk into something they can actually enjoy, they’re going to be that much more motivated to pick up after themselves and I… oh Jamira, I could cry. Thank you!”
“Well, hey. I’m glad you like it so much, Sheena.”
“Though… maybe you should pay attention in your class? Instead of, like, you know... inventing... totally amazing things that are going to... help the entire world… you know what? When I actually spell it out... Forget I said anything!”
Jamira was flying through school as she studied biology and environmental science to help Sheena with her green initiative, which she called the Morrin Society. The two were working on every aspect of the plan together, having real plans to transform the world. Cory, on the other hand, went out and shot hoops all day- he was positive he’d make it big one of these days. Booker tended to hang around him, not really having goals for his own future, but enjoyed Cory's company.
“You’re not getting past me,” Booker grinned, hands outstretched as he moved back and forth to block Cory’s shot for the goal.
“Oh, really?” Cory smirked.
Cory raced across the court, and before Booker could react, he jumped up, and made the shot. It slipped through the net and landed on the ground with a satisfying thud.
“Yeah, who am I kidding?” Booker snorted. “I’m no match for you. Hell, I don’t even like basketball.”
“As you've told me a million times. But, thanks for being here anyway, man,” Cory said, giving Booker a friendly pat on the back. “All this training? It’s gonna be my ticket to success someday. But what about you? If I can help you out in any way, seriously...”
Booker waved a dismissive hand. "Who cares? Don't worry about it, I'll figure out my future when I get there. Now, come on! Try to make another shot! I'll block it this time!"
Afternoon tea was a habit Amelia had taken up not long after Jo’s passing. Tea with Jo had been a precious time for her, which had now become a treasured memory. So, each afternoon, Amelia would sit down, and quietly nurse the warm drink as she attempted to clear her mind and relax. She’d also recently taken to sitting in a chair at her dining room table that allowed her to see Jo’s house.
She knew that she really needed to go in and sort through her stuff, and actually deal with her will. Jo didn't have even a single surviving relative, and the Presley family had no interest in her things, so the house and everything in it had been passed on to her. The Beauchamps had been covering the costs of the property for the time being, because they had more than enough money, but it was something Amelia felt terrible about. She needed to take care of it. In fact…
“Today’s the day,” she said to herself.
The house had been sitting there for too long, and Amelia kept making excuses not to deal with it. At first it had been waiting for Travis Scott to contact the realtor- the one avenue they had open to prove that Jo’s death wasn’t an accident. That hadn’t panned out, and Amelia was forced to live with the reality that she would never find out the truth of what had happened, and also the reality that neither Travis or the rest of his family had the same concerns as her. Then, Amelia had insisted she was busy with work, then Cory’s high school graduation… now, she had no excuses left to give.
Before anything else, however, she needed to get dressed. Felix was hosting a massive campaign event that evening for close friends, donors, and his political peers. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for him- the final five finalists for president were going to have a debate where they spoke about their goals, and plans, and faced questions from both he public and the other finalists. Following that, the public would vote, and the two candidates with the most votes following the voting period would proceed onward to the final debate. Felix was hosting the event to celebrate having made it as far as he had, and to thank everyone who had helped him get to where he was.
Amelia went into her closet, and pulled out an elegant dress she’d purchased just for this event. Normally, she wouldn’t spend her hard earned money on something so frivolous, but tonight was the night to celebrate Felix. If there was any event for her to dress up for and spend a little extra money on, it was tonight.
Amelia slipped on the dress, her jewelry, went into the bathroom and applied her makeup, then she slipped a jacket over the whole ensemble so she could walk to Jo’s house, and give it a once over for the first time since before her passing.
As she approached, a chill ran down her spine. She hadn’t made this walk since before that fateful night when Genevieve and Felix had shown up at her door with terrible news. Going on this walk again… it felt nostalgic. But, beyond that, it also felt wrong.
A battered looking for sale sign sat out in the front yard. No one had been able to tour the place, as everyone was waiting on Amelia, but the sign was still up anyway. Amelia’s journey felt even more wrong when she walked up the steps to Jo’s front door and found the wooden deck chipping away in places, revealing the boards that lay underneath.
Amelia walked carefully towards Jo’s front door, producing the key to Jo's house from the pocket of her jacket, an item that Genevieve had given her what seemed like an eternity ago. As she moved to push the key into the lock, however, the door moved slightly. It was already unlocked.
Amelia pushed the door the rest of the way open, and walked into what she could only describe as the carnage of a room she’d once seen as safe. Jo’s furniture had been scattered across the house in complete disarray, paintings were knocked off walls, and some of the more expensive pieces of Jo’s decor seemed to be missing in their entirety. The oven had been torn out of the wall, and someone seemed to have taken a sharp object to leave deep marks in the wallpaper. There were some strange liquid stains on the floor, and looking up at the source, Amelia noticed that the roof had been leaking.
She walked over to the table she’d sat at countless times, sipping tea with Jo, and ran her hand through the thick layer of dust that sat on top of it. The chairs that had once surrounded the table were now scattered across the room, so even if Amelia had wanted to sit and reminisce, she wouldn’t have been able to without going out of her way to disturb what felt like a crime scene.
To put it simply, Amelia was horrified. Her first instinct was to take out her phone and call Genevieve or Felix, and beg them to help her sort this out, but she knew that this night was too big to bother them with something like this. So, instead, Amelia kept her phone in her pocket and drifted slowly through the wasteland that had once been Jo’s home, looking at all the stuff Jo had bequeathed to her. Some of it had been precious to Jo, once, she was sure. Amelia felt violated. It was as if someone has stepped in and taken a hammer to Jo’s legacy and memory and left it in ruins.
As she wandered, she spotted the stairs that led down into the basement that had long been hidden, lying just beneath their feet for all those years. The basement that had taken Jo from her. Even from a distance, Amelia could tell that there was nothing down there but darkness. So, she moved in a way that circumvented that area of the house, through what had once been Jo’s kitchen, as she made her way to the bedroom.
It was a room she’d only been in a handful of times, but she’d always been impressed by its simplistic beauty. A beauty that was tarnished now- Jo’s furniture was strewn about, a curtain was missing, and the doors of Jo’s dresser hung open, everything inside now gone. Amelia gently shut them, then ran her hand across Jo’s silky duvet. It just felt thin now. Thin and fraying.
She didn’t spend much longer in the house. Amelia couldn’t bear to be there a moment longer. So, she left Jo’s house for the last time, locking the door behind her. She didn’t take a single thing with her.
Burning with an inner turmoil of rage and sadness, Amelia blinked back a tear as she pulled out her phone to double check the time of Felix’s campaign party. She swallowed what she was feeling, and resolved to deal with it later. Tonight was Felix’s night, and she wanted to be there to support him, regardless of what was going on in her own life. She didn’t want him to be the one supporting her tonight- not when he had such a big day tomorrow, a day that could potentially lead to a future where he'd be the one dictating policies and laws.
As Amelia approached Beauchamp Law, she found the building lit up with colors she’d never seen before. Flashing lights from the second floor illuminated the street below, and the muffled sound of loud music playing inside was audible even several feet away.
Amelia nodded to the bouncer at the door, and, recognizing her, he let her in. She walked through the lobby, and ascended the stairs that led to the second floor. Immediately, she was hit with bright lights and laughter as she entered a room she’d been in thousands of times that had been transformed into something completely unfamiliar. Every single desk and computer has been moved, and the barriers that separated the desks had been pushed to the side and were now used to display elegant looking string lights. In the empty space where those desks had been, tables, chairs, a piano, and an even an open bar had been brought out, completely shifting the space from a workplace to something completely new.
“Amelia!” Genevieve exclaimed, spotting her from across the room. She hurried over. “You look stunning. This dress!”
“Likewise, Genevieve. That dress really suits you,” Amelia said. She looked around the room in wonder. “I can’t believe this is the same place I come to work every week day.”
“Felix and I wanted to go all out,” Genevieve said as she walked Amelia over to a table. “But not all out enough to waste a ridiculous amount of money renting a building somewhere, so instead, we just went in on decorations, entertainment, and some rental furniture. And of course, we rented some storage to lock away all the desks and computers with sensitive information on it. But it looks great, doesn’t it?”
“You've really outdone yourself. You and Felix both. This is incredible!”
The table Genevieve led Amelia over to had Felix and an unfamiliar man Amelia felt she almost recognized sitting at it.
“Amelia!” Felix called out. “Glad you could make it!”
“I’m glad I’m here, Felix. This is all so stunning! I would’ve never expected you of all people to throw something like this.”
“Well, I can assure you that this wasn’t entirely my idea."
Genevieve smiled mischievously.
“Anyway! Amelia, I want you to meet Mitch. Mitch, this is Amelia, one of our top employees.”
“You can just say she’s your favorite, Felix, we’re all friends here,” Genevieve said with a dainty laugh.
The second Amelia heard the name, she made the connection, between the man before her, and the man she'd seen on TV. Mitch Laurent, the current president. “President Laurent! Uh, wow. I did not expect to see you here tonight! Well- pleasure to meet you,” Amelia said, stumbling over her words as she held out her hand.
Mitch took it and gave it a firm shake. “Please, Mitch is fine, Amelia. No need for formalities. I mean, hey. I’m not going to be president for much longer, am I?”
“No… I guess you’re not, sir,” Amelia said, taking a seat. Genevieve joined her.
“The fancy titles and all the respect this job commands have never been for me,” Mitch sighed. “I mean, come on! My whole campaign slogan back in the day was that I was a friend of the world, but the second I actually win the whole thing, who wants to be the friend of poor Mitch? It becomes all sirs and Mr. Presidents. Sure, it wasn't all bad, but it sure is lonely at the top. You’ll know soon enough, Felix.”
“Well, I know that I will always have Genevieve!” Felix smiled. “And, hopefully Amelia too.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mitch muttered. “I’m gonna go get a drink.”
He got up and walked away from the table without another word.
“Wow,” Amelia said. “He’s... definitely not the man I pictured.”
“He really isn’t what you'd expect a president to be, is he?” Genevieve nodded. “But Mitch is great, don’t you worry. He approached me and Felix early, like, before he even announced he was stepping down early, to give us time to fully prepare our campaign before anyone else. He heard about Felix’s interest in the presidency, and because they both have similar values, he promised Felix his full support.”
“We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are now if it wasn’t for him,” Felix said. “We’ve only met up a handful of times, but each time we have, he’s helped our campaign immensely.”
Amelia nodded slowly. “Well, that’s great for you guys!”
If anything, this whole situation seemed weird to her. In her opinion, the current president definitely shouldn’t be out making covert deals, potentially even trying to discreetly manipulate the outcome of the upcoming election, but she wasn’t going to say that. From her understanding, Felix was dedicated to fixing unjust laws, and making law and order more transparent for all, but for Mitch, the man who had dedicated his presidency to transforming the government into a business, to say that he supported Felix… Amelia decided she’d rather not ask any questions.
“Amelia? Is everything all right?” Genevieve asked, noticing that she’d been lost in thought.
When Genevieve asked that question, Amelia couldn’t help but spill what was on the forefront of her mind. And it wasn't Mitch, or her concerns about what his support meant. It was what she’d been holding back since she’d walked into Felix’s campaign event.
“I... okay. First of all, I didn't want to bring any of this up tonight, of all nights. I... I went to Jo’s house… and it was trashed. Someone went in there and smashed up her furniture, her pictures, it just felt so disrespectful! Jo- she didn’t deserve any of that!”
“Amelia,” Genevieve whispered, her eyes filling with sympathy. “Felix, Amelia, to my office, now. You deserve our full attention, not this racket.”
“But, Mitch was going to come back…” Felix muttered.
“Do you think I care?” Genevieve asked, standing up.
Felix shook his head.
“Didn’t think so! Come on.”
"Genevieve, please, you don't have to-"
"And you don't get to argue otherwise, Amelia! Quickly now."
Genevieve marched Felix and Amelia over to her office, which was conveniently still accessible behind all the decorations they’d put up. She unlocked the door, then rearranged the seats into better positions before flipping the lights on. Then, everyone sat down.
“Amelia, tell us. What can we do to help?” Genevieve asked.
Amelia’s response was to burst into tears.
Genevieve's face softened.
“Seriously, Amelia, if you need anything… do you want me to try to persecute the people who trashed her home?” Felix asked.
Amelia shook her head. “No… I just… I didn’t want to ruin your night, Felix, I’m so sorry.”
Felix gave Amelia a sad little smile. “Far from it, Amelia. You still showed up for me, even though you witnessed something that must have been just horrible to experience, and that means the world to me. So, thank you.”
Amelia didn’t have a response.
“We’ll take care of Jo’s house from here, Amelia,” Genevieve promised. “You won’t have to see any of that again. We’ll try to have it cleared out by the day after tomorrow, then we’ll sell it as quickly as we can. Does that sound good to you?”
Amelia nodded. “I’d… I’d really appreciate that.”
“Consider it done,” Felix smiled.
“And- listen, Amelia. I know that we might seek kind of unapproachable sometimes- especially Felix- but we’re your friends. Seriously. I promise you, if you’d called when you were there, Felix or I would have been there as quickly as we could. Because we care about you.”
“Unapproachable?” Felix cut in, giving Genevieve a dirty look. “Maybe early on, but now? Please... But, adding to the rest of Genevieve's point, even if I do win this presidency, it isn’t going to change anything about our friendship. We both really value you, Amelia! As you know, we’re both really sorry about Jo, we know how much she meant to you, and please, if there’s anything we can do to step up and try to fill the massive hole she left in your life… we’ll do it.”
Amelia allowed herself a small smile. “Thank you guys. I… Thank you for being so supportive, it really means a lot to me. I honestly don’t have much in terms of support right now, so this is all... hitting a bit harder than I feel like it should.”
“Aw, Amelia…” Genevieve smiled.
“But, for now, let’s put this on hold. You two need to get back out there and celebrate Felix and his campaign, alright?”
“You do have a point,” Felix agreed.
“As much as it pains me to admit it… we really do need to be out there. So, thank you Amelia. Shall we?” Genevieve asked, stretching out a hand to Amelia as she got up from her chair.
Amelia shook her head. “I’m just going to sit here for a bit. I won’t be long though, don’t worry.”
“I understand. Take your time.”
Genevieve took Felix’s hand, and the two drifted back out into the noise and lights, gently shutting the door behind them.
Amelia looked through the window of Genevieve’s office, taking in the lights of the city. As much as Mitch had weirded her out… she really did hope Felix won the presidency. He and Genevieve really deserved it. Ever since that day she’d been pushed to her brink and was forced to drag Felix out of his shell, the two of them had been nothing but supportive of her. And Amelia was so eternally grateful of that. Jo had been everything to her, a voice of reason and serenity in the storm that had long been her life, but above all, she was an incredible person that could always be counted on. But, tragically, Jo was gone now. And Amelia realized that she needed to try her best to move on, and appreciate the people she still had in the present.