Secrets of Amelia

by Andrea Anderson

  “I know,” she said in a trembling voice, “I feel as if my whole body is on fire, I have never felt this way before, just hold me, so we can calm down, Honey,” she gasped, “I think we are emotionally involved, at least I am.”

  “I said I would be very far away, I meant that as in, far away physically, you will be with me all the time now, because I’m emotionally involved with you too.”

  He held her and they both clung to one another as they recovered from their close encounter with ultimate passion. They fell asleep in each other’s arms on the sofa. Sometime during the night he woke up and got a blanket from the bedroom and wrapped them both in it and held her while they slept, he felt dreamy and didn’t think he could trust himself if they got in bed, so he held her there on the sofa.

  She made breakfast while he took a shower. After they ate, she took him to show him the college campus and some of the city. She drove past the construction site because she wanted him to see where she would be working for the next few months. She slowed down and waved at Chuck but didn’t stop; Chuck looked like someone had taken the wind out of his sails and had a scowl on his face.

  “Who was that?” Asked Chad.

  “That was Chuck; he’s the guy I told you about, who gave me the job. We keep the fact that I’m a girl from the others, so I won’t get harassed or cause any trouble.”

  “What do you mean cause trouble?”

  “Well I’ve seen it before at my father’s job sites the guys get an attitude thinking I got special treatment or that I was taking something away from them. It was OK when my father was the boss, but here it’s different. Chuck helps me to stay sort of undercover and I’m known as Mel in baggy pants, several shirts, hair under a baseball cap and big sunglasses.”

  “That scares me,” said Chad, “the men probably would get pissed off if they thought you were trying to fool them.”

  “I have to take a chance on that not happening because I need the money for school and to pay the rent.”

  “Maybe I could help you out,” he said.

  “You could help me by finding a method of sending me your wonderful kisses and your thoughtful and tender ways to me. Let’s skip the city tour and go home and just be together, you will be gone from me so soon.”

  Back at the apartment, Chad put his military uniform together and she helped. They were hungry after they walked around the campus and stopped to get sandwiches and beer. She showed him her favorite quiet spot and they sat there to eat. The two days went by so quickly, it was soon time for Chad to go.

  “Before I go,” he said “I wanted to give you something to be next to you from me and he gave her a small box. In it was a gold locket with a picture of both of them in it. On one side was a shot that they had taken at his mother’s house and on the other side was a tiny ruby in the shape of a heart. He kissed it and put on her neck.

  “Chad it’s so beautiful, I will never take it off.”

  “Honey, I want to tell you something and don’t take this the wrong way, if you go out with any guys, I would hate it, but I can’t tell you not too. Take my advice and don’t tell them you have never been with a man before. Most men will take that as a challenge and not respect it as a wonderful thing and will want to have sex with you, just to prove they can.”

  “Do you want to have sex with me?”

  “Yes, very much, with every cell in my body, at the right time.”

  She started to protest, he put his finger to her lips. “I will be very far away, and you are a beautiful young lady, I have no right to ask you not to date. I know how lonely it is when you’re not around. I really missed you when you came back here for those two days, even though I knew I might still see you soon, if you wanted me to come here to visit you. Loneliness is the harshest companion, it makes you feel sad, and it hurts like Hell and it sometimes makes you do things you would not ordinarily do. For me, I will be hoping to come back to you and no other, before you were my fantasy, now that I know I might have a chance with you, you are my whole world. You are so much more than I ever dreamed. I wished you would like me, our response to one another was such a mutual reaction of emotions and passion and caring I’m overwhelmed with that wonderful feeling, I hope it’s the same for you.”

  “Honey,” she whispered, “I feel the same, you make me feel on top of the world. I have never felt so cared for and so cherished, I love that we discovered each other. I like you a lot and I especially love kissing you, will you save up all your kisses for me and when you see me again give them to me?”

  “I will my sweet one, I will.”

  “I’ll be saving too,” she said.

  “Chad, I want to give this to you, I would like you to wear it with your dog tags.” It was a small, plain, gold ring with a flower carved in the center that she wore on her pinky. Her father bought it for her on her twelfth birthday when she showed him how she could run a backhoe. She wore it on her pinky because her fingers grew.

  “Are you sure you want to give this to me?” He asked.

  “Yes, I want you to have something of mine close to you to remember me too.”

  “His eyes were watery, she was crying, they kissed deeply and then he was gone.

  Secret thoughts :(I never felt this emotional before in my life. I cry about daddy and I feel anger at my mother but this goose bumpy feeling I have when I’m with Chad is brand new to me. He is so thoughtful and caring about me not getting hurt in a way he’s so much like Ida. I may have to spill my guts to the girls if I get too lonely.)

  [ Chapter 23 ]

  One evening Betty came bursting in the apartment, panting and gasping for air.

  “What’s the matter, Betty?” Asked Amelia, looking at her and getting scared.

  “I thought someone was following me,” she gasped, in short panting bursts. “First, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but then I saw him again, so I ran into the library and sat down for a while. A group of students was leaving, and I asked if I could walk with them. They said sure and that was OK until I had to walk two blocks by myself and I thought I saw someone behind me again. Then I started to run and ran all the way here.”

  “Come sit down, honey and catch your breath can I get you some water or something?” Amelia asked quite concerned.

  “I’m OK now that I’m here. I don’t remember when I had to run that fast in my life.”

  “Should we call campus security?” Amelia asked.

  “I don’t know what we should do. Nothing really happened; I got this weird feeling, like somebody was watching me. It was probably just silly me.”

  The following week when they were all at the apartment one evening, Shelly was looking out of the window and thought she saw someone crouched behind a bush near their building. She called Amelia to come to look out the window, to confirm what she saw and before Amelia could get to the window the person got up and ran away. Betty was in her room and didn’t know anything about what happened.

  “Do you think we should tell Betty?” Asked Shelly.

  “We don’t want to scare her, but I think we better tell her, and we should call the campus police, too,” Amelia retorted.

  Betty got very flustered when they told her. Her face got red and she began talking fast. “I guess I better tell you” she said, I didn’t want you to be as petrified as I have been, but I have been getting crank calls on my cell. They say, “I will be seeing you,” and then hang up. I didn’t want to say anything to anybody especially, Darrell because he is going away on job interviews this week and he would go ballistic. “What do you think we should do?”

  The first thing we are going to do is call campus security, then Mrs. Moran our resident manager, to get a deadbolt on the door. I think we need to avoid walking around campus as much as we can and no going out at night alone, just to be cautious,” Shelly directed.

  “Betty you need to get a
new phone and don’t give out the number to anyone except us, Darrell and your folks. Tell Darrell you are changing services or something, until he’s back in town. I’m going to talk to Chuck about this and see if he has any ideas, they are always getting things stolen from the construction office so he may have some good advice for us,” said Amelia.

  A few days later they were going out to their favorite pizza place one evening to have pizza and beer with other friends. When they got in the car and started to drive Betty knew something was wrong. She stopped the car and got out to look at the tires sure enough one tire was flat. Betty opened the door and told the girls they had a flat tire.

  “What do we do now?” Asked Shelly.

  There is nothing to do really except sit and wait for roadside assistance. My father has an AAA policy for me in case the car should breakdown so I’ll call them, and they will come and fix the tire.

  They all sat in the car and waited for the roadside assistance to come and made small talk. In about 45 minutes a tow truck pulled up behind Betty’s car and the driver got out.

  “Are you Betty? The man asked.

  “Yes, I called you because we have a flat tire.”

  “Yeah I noticed both of them in the back.”

  “No”! Betty said the front tire on the left is the one that’s flat.”

  “Miss you need to get out and take a look,” the man offered.

  The girls got out and saw that now all the tires were flat they looked at each other and all had frowns on their faces.

  “I will have to tow your car to the station miss I think someone is really mad at you and slashed all your tires.”

  “Oh my God,” burst out Betty crying as she turned to Shelly and Amelia, “What are we going to do now?”

  “Well Miss if I were you, I would call the cops this is a very expensive deal because if I’m right where these tires are slashed you will have to get all new tires.”

  “He’s right said Shelly we need to call the police and make a report. Let walk back to the dorm and do that right now.”

  Back at their dorm they called the Campus Police. They told them they would come and make a report but that they should also call the regular police and report it to them also.

  The Campus Police came and talked to them and left. Soon after police detectives arrived and introduced themselves as Detectives Wilson Garber and Joe Schwartz.

  All 3 girls began talking at once trying to tell what happened. Detective Garber said, “May I ask one of you to tell us what happened and the others to jump in if there is something to add. It will go smoother and quicker that way.”

  “Sure,” said Betty and began telling what happened with Shelly and Amelia adding things in.

  “Let me ask you have any other odd things happened that would make you suspicious about anyone? “Asked Garber.

  They all shook their heads and Betty said, “Except for silly me I thought someone was following me the other night but that was all in my mind.”

  “Tell us when that happened, we need to know everything.”

  “Betty you have to tell about your phone calls,” Shelly advised.

  After hearing these details Detective Garber said, “I want you all to be very cautious I don’t like what I have heard from you and the deliberate slashing of your tires tells me someone is really angry at one of you. I want you to change your routines, If possible, leave and come home together. Never use the same entrance 2 times in a row. Look around you wherever you are and be aware of your surroundings. Most of all if anything else happens don’t hesitate to call us. Joe and I will come to you as soon as we can or faster if it’s an emergency. Please remember our instructions and get a deadbolt on your door ASAP. Here’s my card and Joe’s keep it handy and don’t hesitate a minute to call us.

  “OK,” they all agreed, it’s close to the end of the semester so we’ll be moving out of this dorm anyway but thank you we will hang on to your cards and follow your advice,” Shelly said and they all nodded.

  Secret thoughts: (Thank God we are moving out of the dorm soon. Maybe whoever did that to Betty’s car won’t find us again. I hope so I don’t need any trouble, but it seems to follow me. I feel so sorry for Betty I wonder who is doing this to her.)

  [ Chapter 24 ]

  Amelia was so happy to see Shelly and Betty when they returned for the new semester. She couldn’t wait to tell them all about Chad, how well they got along, that Ida was so much better, and she was going to be working with the construction company again.

  They were all together once more. Amelia couldn’t help wondering if that nut case that gave Betty trouble would show up again, she hoped not.

  Shelly was all excited about some of the courses she would be taking and showed Amelia her toxicology book. Amelia was engrossed. Her interests of late turned more toward science than math. She and Shelly talked a lot and they would be taking the same biochemistry classes together this semester. Shelly told Amelia that she was going to be taking a tour of the state forensic lab and asked her if she wanted to come along. Amelia was fascinated. As soon as she got back, she emailed Chad and told him all about the tour, and how interesting the work looked to be. He wrote back and told her she should look into the course requirements for that field. She did and wrote again to say, I might have to take some extra courses in criminal justice to do that, but I’m going to investigate it. I had to do some changing around myself when I was getting my degree too. It can get complicated, wrote Chad.

  I miss you my sweet boy, she wrote, in my mind I’m kissing you now. He signed off writing, I’m always thinking about you Delilah……wish I was there with you and we were kissing.

  Betty and Darrell had a great time tramping around Europe. One night when they were in Rome, Darrell asked Betty to marry him and she said, yes, they were planning a summer wedding after graduation. She asked both Shelly and Amelia to be in her wedding party and her mother was already into wedding planning mode.

  Amelia emailed Chad and told him about the wedding and asked if he could come and be with them. I will try my best to be there sweetheart, he had written, but you know I’m subject to what the commander says. Amelia began sending “Care packages” to Chad. Sometimes she sent brownies or cookies or a variety of little candy bars, or something homemade she always made enough for the guys in the squad and asked Chad to share the package with them. He told her that some of men never got anything in the mail she thought that was so sad. Once she hit the Dollar store just right and bought them all matching winter gloves. Chad was tickled about that.

  Chuck called Amelia and told her about the special job they had, it would be a night hook up because they would have to shut off the water supply to almost the whole town, except for the fire department supply. The whole crew will be out there in case something went wrong.

  “It’s the biggest job the company has had in a long time and Mr. Evans will be on site to see that the vault and the valves and water line go in perfect. These valves will supply water to whole city, they must be constructed exactly according to the specifications. He specifically requested you be on the job.”

  “Me! Why does he want me there?”

  “Because he thinks you are the best operator we have and he doesn’t want anything to go wrong, when he saw you that day when we came out on the job, he said when you were running the backhoe that it was like watching poetry in motion, almost like watching a good dancer.”

  “What about Hank and Will?”

  “Hank is on vacation and Will has a broken arm he got in a bar fight. I need you to do this,” he said.

  “OK, let me see if I can talk to my professors and miss class the next day.”

  Amelia was able to get her schedule rearranged so she could be at the night hook up. The excavation where the vault was to be placed had been prepared and dug out by Amelia and others days before. The project manager ta
lked to Mel to explain about the structure. Vaults may be constructed in two ways. They may be constructed by forming up the structure and then pouring the concrete in place. Or the vault may be made at a concrete plant and transported to the construction site. The vault we will be working with was made at the concrete plant and had to be transported with great care on a special truck called a “lowboy.” The vault must not have any cracks or dents in the cement, and it had to be lifted off the truck and into the excavation pit without twisting or cracking to cause stress fractures. Because of the weight of the vault, a crane was on site to lift it into place.

  “Listen up Mel,” Chuck and Andy told her, once the vault is in place in the excavation, then your work begins. The construction crew will get down in the hole and place gravel and bricks under the valves until they are plumb. The work will be done with shovels and levels and the backhoe has to be ready to provide extra gravel or other materials that must be placed in exact spots. When the vaults floor is level, the two huge valves will be set in place one at a time. It seemed like a simple job, but it’s not there are electric wires overhead that must be avoided. All that had to be done inside the tight quarters of the vault,” Andy explained.

  “Most people with great skill make difficult things look easy. It took a great amount of skill to get the valves positioned properly without touching the sides of the vault. Then they must be held exactly straight with the correct tension, while the men tightened the bolts that secured them down with huge power wrenches. When the bolts were secure, blocks would be placed under the valves to prevent them from sagging and putting a strain on the bolts. If not supported properly, the weight of the valve could shear off the bolts and the valve would no long be in exact alignment and would leak. The blocks would support the valves temporarily until the cement could be poured around the base and set up. I wanted to explain all this Mel because everything has to be precise.” Amelia listened intently and only shook her head indicating she understood and took notes.