Resilient Jewel

Amelia slumped on the battered couch in the living room. Looking around the house, she let out a heavy sigh. She ran her fingers through her hair and placed her head on the couch. Amelia felt overwhelmed from working all day, she needed a minute to catch her breath. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in the stillness. “Kayla” she called out before her brain could register, bringing her back to reality. Kayla appeared from the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. “Sorry munchkin, did I wake you?” Amelia sat forward, leaning towards her sister's direction. “No, I just dozed off after completing my assignment” she replied leaning on the doorway. “Have you had something to eat yet?”, Kayla shook her head weakly, too tired to respond. “Here, have this” Amelia stretched out a brown paper bag. Kayla tiptoed towards Amelia to collect it. Peeping into the bag and seeing her favorite snacks, her face lit up with a smile. Amelia walked towards the kitchen with the second paper bag of groceries, calling out, “Dinner will be ready in…” She was cut short by an abrupt hug from behind. “Thanks Lia, for always taking care of me. I love you” Kayla said. Amelia's heart warmed at those words. She turned into her sister's hug and embraced her tightly. They stood there for a few minutes. “I love you too, munchkin. Let me know if you need anything, I'll buy the whole world for you if I can” she placed a kiss on Kayla's forehead and playfully tapped her nose. “Let me prepare dinner, so you can eat and head to bed early. Okay?” Amelia rubbed Kayla's back. “Do you need help?” Kayla asked enthusiastically, opening a bag of chips. “Not really” Amelia's brows furrowed, as she walked towards the kitchen. She could hear Kayla's sigh deepen and her mood change. “But you could keep me company” she turned around with a smile on her face. Kayla beamed. “Would you like some?” she stretched out her bag of chips. “Of course. Fill me in on what happened today at school” Amelia bit into the chip she took. “I wanna hear about your day too” Kayla said, sitting on the kitchen counter as she gave a download of her day to her big sister. ***** “I'll do the dishes” Kayla got up and started clearing the table before her sister had the chance to. She wasn't going to sit back and watch her do the dishes after cooking and buying her favorite snacks. “Have you heard from Mum and Dad?” Amelia said, joining her in the kitchen. “No, they've been out for three days now” Kayla responded, rolling up her sleeves to do the dishes. Their parents were quite negligent growing up. They preferred to drink their sorrows away and get high to escape their reality. As soon as Amelia realized their lives weren't going to get better, she took up multiple jobs to ensure they stayed afloat. Amelia started working right after middle school. She was a brilliant student who did quite well in school. She was able to bag a full scholarship through high school and a half scholarship for university. She'd been looking to get an office job but her efforts proved futile as not too many opportunities were available in their small hometown. She was currently playing with the idea of moving to a big city for work. The doorknob rattled, they both turned toward the direction of the noise. Their parents staggered in, too drunk to maintain their balance. They hummed together, letting out a laugh as they slumped on the couch in the living room. Amelia and Kayla walked into the living room, arms folded across their chest. “Look at my angels” their mum cooed, getting up for a hug. They both covered their nose as she came closer. She reeked of alcohol and something else they couldn't decipher. “You were just a baby! Now you've grown into a beautiful young lady” their mom cried, hugging Kayla. “Let's get you to bed Mum” Kayla hugged back, leading her to the bedroom. “You! Get me food. I'm hungry” their dad threw his shoe at Amelia. Taking a deep breath, Amelia tried to suppress the surge of anger she felt. She entered the kitchen briefly and reappeared with a plate of food. “Where's the steak?! You know I don't like hotdogs” he said, slapping the plate out of Amelia's hands. The plate shattered into a dozen pieces as soon as it connected with the floor. Amelia took another heavy breath. Squatting, she picked the shattered pieces of ceramic off the floor. Kayla ran into the parlor after hearing the noise. The food was a pile of mess on the floor, she quickly grabbed a broom and started sweeping. “Give me food!” their dad called out again but they both busied themselves cleaning up the mess he had made. “Am I not talking to you?” He grabbed a fistful of Amelia's hair. Amelia got up, removing his hand from her hair. “If you love steak so much, why don't you go get some yourself?” she snapped. “How dare you talk back at me?” her father swung at her but missed because he was too drunk. Fed up with her father's behavior, she added, “Do you even know where this food came from? How hard I had to work to afford this?”. “All you do is drink and get high, you're not concerned about your children's health or safety” Amelia fought back tears. “Shut up you ungrateful b***h. I brought you into this world and I can take you right out” he responded, getting up to hit her again. Bammm! They were both startled by the door swinging open with a loud bang. A man with an all-black leather outfit walked in, he had a toothpick in his mouth. He looked old enough to be in his forties. Amelia couldn't believe her eyes. Why was ‘the notorious Mr Sebastian’ standing in their living room? She had a bad feeling about this. Five other men in black cheap suits walked in too, armed with wooden batons and steel pipes. Amelia quickly placed Kayla behind her. “Hey Mr Jones, I finally get to meet you” he spoke with a raspy voice. Turning around, he signaled with his hands, his men threw a boy between them. He was bare-chested, putting on just his underwear. His hands were tied almost too tight, dry blood caking around them. He had lots of bloody cuts all over his body. “That's him” he coughed up blood, pointing at Mr Jones. Their father's eyes widened like saucers, realizing who was standing in his house. Leaning towards Amelia's dad with one hand in his pocket, Mr. Sebastian spoke, “Word on the street is that you bought goods from me and you're yet to pay up”. “You see, what I can't seem to grasp is why he kept selling to you on credit” he grabbed a handful of hair and pulled up the boy's head. “I can't run a business like that. I need to cut my losses” he c****d his gun at the boy. With a swollen face, the boy knelt, pleading for mercy. A deafening shot rang through the living room. Amelia gasped, covering Kayla's eyes, as the boy dropped dead on the floor. Mr Jones quickly knelt on the floor, begging the man to spare his life. “Take him away”, he told his men, as they dragged the lifeless boy out of Mr. Jones's house. “Here's what's gonna happen, I see you're a family man” he gestured with the gun in his hands as he spoke, causing Amelia to take a few steps back with Kayla. “I give you 90 days to pay back what you owe unless you and your family are going to meet the same fate” he smirked. “H h how much does he owe?” Amelia stammered, still shocked by what just transpired in the living room. “400 grand” Mr Sebastian answered, wiping his gun with a handkerchief, as he headed out with his men following behind. Amelia fell to the floor in disbelief, where was she going to see $400,000 within 90 days?! ***** Kayla woke up, stretching and yawning. It had been a long night, she shuddered remembering what happened. Placing her feet on the floor, she went to the kitchen to find her sister. It was a Saturday, Amelia always got up early to make pancakes and eggs for the house. Kayla looked forward to Saturday breakfast every week, that was the one time they sat together and ate like a sane family. She couldn't smell pancakes and Amelia wasn't in the kitchen. Worry etched her face, “Amelia” she called out, running into the living room. She wasn't there either. She ran towards the bathroom in the hallway and swung the door open, but Amelia wasn't there. Fear began to creep in. Had that man come back to get her sister while she was asleep? She ran back to their room, on the verge of tears. Just then, she spotted a note on Amelia's bed. She ran towards it and quickly opened the note. She slumped on the ground after reading it. The realization hit her…. Amelia had run away from home. Uncontrollable tears poured from her eyes as she burrowed her head between her legs.