“Oh no,” said Mrs. Brown, “I have some leftovers I’ll put in the microwave for supper and I can manage the rest by myself, so I will see you tomorrow. Thank you so much for coming by to help me.”
Secret thoughts: (That went pretty well I’m done already, wow I’m surprised. I don’t know what I expected. I thought she would make me scrub the floors and do all kinds of heavy work. What she asked of me was not bad at all. I thought she was going to be mean to me, because of what happened, she seems like a nice lady.)
Amelia went to Mrs. Brown’s every day for the next three weeks, each time they talked more and more and got to know one another better.
One evening after Amelia prepared supper for Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Brown asked her if she would stay and eat with her.
“Thank you ma’ am,” said Amelia, “I appreciate the offer, I have some math homework I have to work on and I’m having a little trouble with it so it might take me longer than usual to finish my homework tonight.”
“Stay and have a bite to eat with me,” Mrs. Brown insisted, I get lonely eating by myself all the time, food tastes so much better when you share it with someone, and when we’re done, I might be able to help you with your problems.”
“You know math?” Asked Amelia surprised.
“Oh yes child, I taught math at the high school for thirty years before I retired.”
“I didn’t know that, I know you were a high school teacher, but not that math was what you taught. Kids said you make them work hard on their studies; I would appreciate it if you could help me.”
“It’s a small thing I hope I can do for you; you have taken such good care of me over these last weeks, and you are such good company. Let’s see if we can’t tackle the problems together.”
As they worked on Amelia’s homework, Mrs. Brown began explaining how to solve the math problems in ways, other than how they were taught by Amelia’s teacher. Mrs. Brown gave her some tips on how to get the answers quicker. Amelia told Mrs. Brown her explanations made the math clearer to her and she liked math but was getting bogged down with different methods and difficult problems. Now after Mrs. Brown showed her how to take apart each problem to solve it, she wouldn’t dread the hard problems. One evening when they were working on some algebra problems, Mrs. Brown said to Amelia, “Since we are friends now and have come to know each other so well, please call me Ida.”
Amelia had always been a good student, now with Ida’s help, she really excelled in math. She got A’s in her math and science classes. Mel told Ida how she really wanted to go to college after she graduated. Ida was thrilled to hear that and encouraged Amelia to pursue that dream. When report cards came out for the term Mel had straight A’s. Amelia wondered if this might be a good time to talk to her parents about going to go to college. Her parents were happy she got good grades, but they were indifferent about college.
Amelia got up the courage to talk to her parents about college. Her father said, “I know you’re a smart girl, you pick up on things right away. However, being a girl, you will probably get interested in boys soon, if you haven’t already. Then you’ll want to get married and college would be a waste.”
Amelia was disappointed and tried to argue with her father, everything she said fell on deaf ears. Getting married was not what she wanted to do at all. Maybe someday, but not now, she had time for that later, besides there weren’t even any boy she really liked. She tried to talk to her mother, all her mom would say was, “You know when your father has his mind made up, nobody can change it.”
Secret thoughts: (I know that if my mother wanted to, she could talk my father into letting me go to college, he never denies Lynn anything. But lately mom seems so distant not only to daddy but to me too, our relationship has changed and not for the good.)
Mel knew she wouldn’t have the money to go to school on her own. She needed her parents to help her. She wouldn’t dream of asking to be paid for the work or chores she did on the farm that was expected of her. She didn’t have anywhere else to get money, so she put the idea on hold for now. Amelia went to Ida’s almost every day, even though Ida was much better and got around well. She told Ida about her talk with her parents about college.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Asked Ida?
“No,” said Amelia, “there’s Iggy,” he keeps pestering me, I know he likes me, but he looks like a newborn bird and snorts when he laughs, and I’m not interested in him.”
Ida got a kick out of Amelia’s description of the boy.
“I don’t know where my father got that idea that I wanted to get married,” Amelia complained. “I like boys, but there is no one special, many of the other girls in my class are “going steady” I don’t really have much time for that, I’m always pretty busy. One day I might get married, not now. I guess I’ll have to put the idea of going to college out to pasture.”
Don’t do that and don’t worry we’ll work on you’re going to college together and we’ll think of something,” said Ida.
[ Chapter 6 ]
Things changed since Ida and Amelia became friends, she went there almost every day after school when her chores were done. Now Ida made supper while Amelia studied. Afterward Ida and Amelia would go over her homework or Ida quizzed her when she has an exam. They usually talked about two things, college, and Ida’s son who was in the army.
Ida’s son Chad was in the army and wrote to his mom often. He sometimes sends her gifts from the faraway places he has been to. He visits when he could, he hadn’t been home in a while, and Ida told Amelia how much she missed him. He was with the Special Forces and often went on missions where he couldn’t communicate with Ida for long periods of time. She worried about him and he reassured her he was always careful and was doing a job he loved.
Ida continued to encourage Amelia to keep thinking about college, she told Amelia about her own college days, and how much she enjoyed them. One evening Ida said, “I’ve been thinking maybe we should start to look into some grants and scholarship money and see if you would qualify for them. On Wednesday I’m going to have lunch with some of my old friends that I used to teach school with, I’ll ask for some ideas and get some information and we will start searching.”
“That’s sounds great,” said Amelia.
One cold winter night it was already dark when Mel got to Ida’s house. She ran up the steps and went in without bothering to knock as she usually did these days. “Hi Ida, it’s me,” Mel called out as she took off her coat and gloves.
“Ida, Ida, guess what? Amelia called out enthusiastically, as she hung up her coat, I got an A plus on my midterm in Algebra,” she exclaimed excitedly as she burst into the kitchen and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a man sitting at the table with Ida. It wasn’t Ida’s husband, but looked a little like him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Mel apologized, “I didn’t mean to rush in and make such a racket.”
“It perfectly fine,” said Ida, “I’m so proud of you, you have been doing a great job.” She came to where Amelia stood and gave her a hug.
“Do you remember my son, Chad, Amelia? He’s home on leave from the military.” Amelia knew Chad vaguely from school. He was older and graduated when Mel was starting high school.
Chad stood up and put out his hand to her. The tall skinny, awkward boy she knew in school was gone. He had been replaced by a tall, physically well-proportioned man who filled out his professionally pressed uniform very well. His blond hair was cropped very close to his head, his deep blue eyes seemed to sparkle, just like Ida’s did, he had a soft, but manly voice and looked very confident and self-assured.
“Hi Chad, it’s nice to see you,” said Amelia, putting out her hand too, “I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“Come join us,” Ida invited, “We were waiting for you to have supper with us.”
Chad looked at her, “you sure have grown up to be a very attractiv
e young lady,” he said, “I wouldn’t have known you, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” said Amelia blushing, “you look very different then when you were in school.” They all sat down at the kitchen table.
“My mom has been telling me that the two of you have become friends.”
“Oh yeah,” said Amelia, “in spite of the fact that I ran her over.”
They all laughed at that. “No, no, it might sound silly, but I’m glad the accident happened, otherwise, I probably would not have ever gotten to know Amelia,” said Ida, “and we’ve become such good friends.”
“The kids used to call you Mel, do you still go by that name?”
“Yes, sometimes my family calls me that, or mostly Mellie, I wanted so much to be like my brothers when I was younger. The name Amelia didn’t sound like it belonged on a construction crew, so that’s how I got Mel, it sounds more like a boy’s name. As I got older dad started calling me Mellie because he says I’m a young lady now and need to give up my tomboy ways.”
“You certainly don’t look or act like a tomboy now,” he said, “Your fathers right you are quite a beautiful, young lady.” Mel blushed again.
They had supper and Chad told them about all the exotic places he had been to lately and the sights he had seen, some of the people he had come to know.
After he talked for a while, Chad said, “I have taken over this whole conversation, by talking about myself, how about you tell me something about you Mellie.”
“There’s not much to tell I have a busy, but boring life,” she said.
He asked, “What about school, what are your plans after you graduate?
Amelia told him about wanting to go to college, Chad seemed very interested. He thought going to college was a great idea. “I know you would enjoy going to college. I did very much, and it has helped me so much with what I do now. Mom tells me you are a very good student.”
“I like school a lot and math and the sciences fascinate me.” They continued to talk while she and Ida cleared the table and then went into the living room and chatted some more.
Amelia had supper with Ida and Chad every evening while he was home, she thought he was so nice, and he listened intently as she talked. They laughed and talked with Ida. Conversation with Chad was so easy. One evening they were watching a movie on TV and it got quite late, Chad insisted on taking her home.
“It’s OK I have my pickup and I can drive,” Amelia declared.
“Ok we can do that, but I’m coming with you because it’s late and I want to be sure you get home safely. Once you’re inside I’ll walk home. I need the exercise anyway,” he said, “I didn’t run today, and I do that almost every day.”
They were on the front porch and just before she went in, Chad said, “I probably won’t see you tomorrow. I must get back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Commander has cancelled all leave, so I’ll be leaving very early in the morning. I would like to thank you very much, for taking care of my mom and most of all, for being a friend to her. She confessed to me, that she was feeling a very lonely with dad gone so much, except for weekends, and she probably forgot to take her pills. Don’t feel guilty about the accident, it really wasn’t your fault. It was such a pleasure getting to know you and talking to you,” Chad said. “I would appreciate it if you would continue to visit my mom, and I want to ask you if you would consider writing to me.”
“Yes, sure, I would like to write to you Chad, although the letters might be a little boring, I don’t do much, except go to school and do chores and visit your mom,” Amelia responded.
“I would love to hear from you, those things don’t sound boring just life moving on. You said you like to read, I don’t get much of a chance to do that, you could tell me about the books your reading. I wanted to tell you too, that if mom ever needs anything or if you do, let me know and I’ll see if I can work something out. Here’s my address and Amelia stay as sweet as you are,” he said. He kissed her on the cheek, and he gave her a hug.
Secret thoughts: (Oh my God! I almost fainted! Chad kissed me on the cheek and gave me a hug!! I think I was holding my breath the whole time. What a handsome guy Chad turned out to be. I didn’t want to mention it to Ida for fear it would upset her, but he and Jerry were enemies all through school. I don’t think Ida ever knew that. She would worry that I won’t like Chad because of Jerry, but that’s so wrong many people didn’t get along with Jerry. I’m so happy he asked me to write to him I will definitely do that. WOW!)
After Chad was gone, Amelia and Ida’s went back to their normal routine. Ida talked with some of her old colleagues and some of the current teachers at the high school. They all confirmed that Amelia was a good student and suggested she take the SAT test, if she scored high it would help her to get into college. If the scores were very high, that would look good on a resume and she could start applying for scholarships or grants to help with her tuition.
Amelia took the SATs, one Saturday in the high school auditorium and scored in the high 1700’s in math and science. She was thrilled and with Ida’s encouragement, she started to apply to colleges.
Chad sent his mom a laptop computer for her birthday, Ida was excited. Now we can stay in communication more often and you won’t have to wait for the mail to come, wrote Chad. He sent his email address in a letter and asked his mother to send him email, as soon as she got the computer hooked up.
Ida and Amelia got the computer set up and Ida began emailing Chad on a regular basis. Ida’s main topic was Amelia, because she was a big part of her life now. Ida was helping Mel apply to colleges and she was very happy to have someone she could help, especially someone she really liked. It kept her busy and made her feel good.
Amelia wrote to Chad about school, what she and Ida were doing and how she was trying so hard to find a way to get money for college. Often her letters were short because her time to write was limited. Chad was happy when he got the letters from her. Chad’s replies were always very encouraging he told her she would find a way to go to school and he was glad his mom was helping her. He wrote, “My mom is a very smart lady and I’m sure she will help you figure something out.”
Secret thoughts: (I’m not going to tell my parents what Ida and I are planning, for the moment. When we are sure I could get at least some money for college from grants or scholarships, then I’ll tell daddy. He’ll understand how serious I am about going to college and when he sees how much I wanted to go, he will help me I‘m sure of that.)
[ Chapter 7 ]
As the months passed by, Amelia noticed that her mom and dad seemed to be having a lot of arguments lately and didn’t seem to be getting along well at all. Their relationship seemed strained. Amelia was trying to think of ways to approach them, to tell them about all the things she and Ida have been checking into for outside money for college. How scholarships would make the cost of college much lower and when she turned 18, she could get student loans on her own and pay them back after she graduated and got a good job. She hesitated to go to them, she was worried she would upset them more than they already seemed to be, especially her father because he seemed to be stressed out about everything. He yelled and screamed out at the job and would go off and sit by himself in his truck mumbling to himself. Mell hardly ever saw her parents hug or kiss or go out together anymore. Even when they went to church, they always put Amelia between them in the pew. She knew something was wrong with the way they were treating each other, they got angry and snapped at each other over the slightest thing lately.
In June, in the wee hours of the morning, Amelia heard noises coming from downstairs, and they were loud enough to wake her. Amelia crept down a few top stairs and sat down. Now she could see into the kitchen. There were some broken dishes on the floor, and she saw her mother throwing a pot at her father and then a pan. They fell to the floor with loud crashes and missed her father’s head by inches. Her
mother was screaming curses at her father. Amelia was afraid to go downstairs she sat there in stunned silence and listened to them shout and swear at each other, they had never done that before. Amelia heard her father accuse her mother of going out with other men after the Saturday night dances.
“You are a jealous lout,” she shouted angrily, “I go out to get away from this depressing place you call a farm.”
“You knew when you married me you would be living on a farm,” he replied.
“Not like this,” she said, “we never have any money for anything.”
“We have all we need. We have the staples of life and never go hungry.”
“The staples of life, my ass,” she said, “I would like to buy a new dress every once in a while, and Amelia probably would too. You make me so mad Henry Stillwater, it’s like you are in another world.
“I have never heard Amelia complain about it. Why do you want new dresses, so you could go out and attract men?”
“Well it’s hard to find one around here,” Lynn said, “and furthermore, I will finally tell you the truth, the others are all yours, except Amelia.”
What her mother said, hit her father hard, he looked at her in disbelief. He had his hand raised to stop her from hitting him with another frying pan, when he heard those words “except Amelia,” he seemed as if he didn’t know what to do. He put his hand down and stood there dazed, like a statue, with a look of disbelief on his face. Moments before another frying pan came crashing into his head, Amelia heard him say, “I love Amelia anyway,” as he fell to the floor.
Amelia’s first instinct was to run to him, but she didn’t dare, she was so scared, she had never seen her mother so furious, what if mom hit her too. She sat and watched for a few minutes. Her mother went over to her father and rolled him on his back. “I’m sorry,” Lynn said, to the unconscious body on the floor, “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” She turned around, went to the refrigerator, got some ice, wrapped it in a towel and put it on his head. Lynn left him lying on the floor, went into their bedroom on the first floor, and soon came out with a suitcase.
Secrets of Amelia Page 3
