Resilient Hearts

ChAPTER 1

The mother was lying pale with her gaze fixed on the window of the room, beyond the half-open curtain of each one could see a plum branch filled with flowers .On her face, especially in the corners of her lips, there was a smile that made her look like Saint Marine. Amelia was standing next to her, clasping her hands together so that they wouldn't shaking .Mom,-murmured-did you ask me? Her mom turned her head slightly and invited him to sit on the edge of the bed .-Amelia you are now grown up , she spoke with a low voice.-You are finishing the seventh frade grade .You are able to understand many things .Me..after a few days.....maybe.....this disease I have will not be cured anymore. There is no hospital that can cure it. Do you understand me? Finally, the girl was convinced that in the attempts, the low voice fragments of people's conversations at home, or in the hospital, there was a the bitter truth that she had been suspecting for a long time. No one dared to mention the word death, but Amelia understood that it was close .Was no longer hidden.- You must become strong and take care of the house - continued the mother.-to take care of the little sister and brother, for the father. Have you noticed? He has started drinking out of desperation. Amelia nodded, holding back the tears so they wouldn't burst. - Dad loves you a lot, mom. - I know. I loved him a lot too. We loved each-other since when we were little. He always say :that I was the most beautiful women in the world. Even when you were born, he was convinced that you would be as beautiful as a star. The girl would look like you, he told me. You will see. We said that our little Amelia would be as beautiful as star. And we were not mistaken. You became really beautiful and good... She was deeply filled with breath, with difficulty. The girl did not understand how the words continued to come out of that body that was completely exhausted. -Ameli...... one more thing ........ very important. It may happen that, later, the father marries another woman. Don't be upset about this. The important thing is that that woman behave well with you and love you. Did you understand me? .No, - the girl almost called, - dad, he won't do this! - I thought so too. But life goes on, it's long. Amelia, I believ in you. I love you honey. Be strong .Difficult times have come. Promise me that you will help dad? The girl could not stand it anymore.-I promise you, she said in a voice choked by tears and rested her face on her mother's arm. She stay like that for a long time.When she got up, it seemed that her mother was sleeping.She tried to leave the room without making a noise. In the corridor she faced her father. He was smoking a cigarette with a lost look. To Amelia he looked older than ever. His long body was hunched, his hair was gray, his shaved face was removed and a deep disappointment was visible in his eyes. He looked up from his daughter.- Did you talk to her? - he asked. Amelia nodded.-Now take care of Lily and Noah.He had been asking her for the same thing for many days, although Amelia had realized that the house had been left in her hands since her mother had been admitted to the hospital and then she had locked herself in the bed so as not to get up again.

AMELIA'S POV :
"Amelia remembered well that day when her father had lost his job. - Amelia, we are poor, - he had told her. I have lost my job. We need to collect money and take your mother to some place outside the country. - Why can't she be cured here? - she had asked. -Doctors say no. Amelia had looked at him startled .-How will we live here?! - You? Here, as before. You will take care of everything. We will remain tight for money, but we have nothing to do.We have to do something for mom. But after a long search for work for about a month, he had not been able to find a job. He had arrived home desperate. He had stood in front of mother as guilty, muttering: I'm unlucky, an unlucky person. Mother had tried comfort him, but after that incident he started drinking and changing in a scary way....."
Only now that Mary was in front of him did she finally understand what was going on with mother, she managed to understand why her dad had changed so much. She saw him enter the room where her sick mother was, trying not to make any noise. He got out from there only late at night. Amelia felt it. She couldn't sleep. That situation continued for the other nights. In the house, close people come. They were there: grandmother, an aunt, two aunts and an uncle. They were all waiting with their arms hanging, with worried faces and looking towards the mother's room. One morning, the grandmother say to Amelia not to go to school. In the afternoon the mother died Although everyone tried to comfort her, Amelia felt a general fear.It was the first time she faced death so close .Only Amelia was allowed to see her mother for the last time .They taught Amelia to kiss her on the forehead and say goodbye. She leaned over that beloved women without believing that after a few moments she would not see her again for the rest of her life.- Mom, she spoke to her, - please look at me one more time! Only once ! but there was no answer from the mother. Then Amelia started crying. One of the aunts took her in her arms and took her outside. She was mentioned only after the funeral, when she saw the teacher and a group of classmates. They were all in tears. The teacher hugged her for a long time.
-AmeliaCourage! - she said. - You are not alone. You have us all. They both looked at each-other through tears. Then it was Henry's turn. Her classmate looked different from the others. He bent down and hugged her. His hand squeezed hers tightly, as if he wanted to tell her that from now on they would be even closer friends. That night Amelia felt very tired. She slept early .But the next day, as soon as she opened her eyes, the first word that came to hee mind was mother. She got up and went out into the garden. She stood next to the lily flowers, for which her mother took special care every spring. Then she turned her eyes from the roses, from the vine that grew up the fig tree and the old wall in the garden. But no .She was nowhere to be seen .For the first time, that morning in early April 1995, she felt terribly missing her beloved mother .Then the second day passed ,the third, the fourth ...
Close people left the house almost all .One evening they are finally left alone .The grandmother also went, promising to return the day after tomorrow .Dad, Lily and Noah were sitting at the table and were waiting with their hands beside the plates .Amelia had cooked a simple soup with eggs and lemon, which she had learned from her mother. He shared it, then sat down.- You mean, Amelia will replace mom until she come ? - Lili asked suddenly.She was only 6 years old and still didn't understand anything.- Yes, - replied dad. - Amelia will take care of you and Noah- I'm big, - said the boy without raising his head. - I can do everything myself. - No one will oppose Amelia's command's , - the father continued. Noah shook his head over his plate of soup, smelling that those words were addressed to him. After an hour, the phone rang. Noah looked at his older sister. "I'm sure it's Henry," he said.Amelia got up. It was really him. He asked if she would come to school tomorrow. - Yes, Henry, I said yesterday that I would come. - I knew, yes.....I called for nothing ....I thought you would be bored and I said to show you something new from school.
-Okay,- she accepts.-Tell me enything you want. He talked for five minutes about very general things, then he asked almost sadly : -Amelia, do you know what our desk looks like?-How?-Like a camel's back .
- And why ? -your place is empty, while I am a lump. I have to bend down a lot so that the camel doesn't look ugly. Amelia felt her lips part slightly, wanting to smile. -Henry,I'm sorry, I can't laugh, she said. -I can't imagine you as a camel's hump. - What about, like one desert cactus?
Finally, she smiled . -Thank you for the call, she said. Goodbye see you tomorrow!
The next day, she stood in front of the mirror, easily noticing her own changes. Her face looked pale. Her eyes were tired from the lack of sleep and the tears of those days. She combed her black and thick straight hair, which fell on her shoulders. She usually combed her hair easily. As often in the last months, she felt ashamed of herself when she looked at all the development she had received. She was the tallest in the class and had realized that she had already become a girl who could not go down the street without being noticed.
She put on a dark brown sweater over her black shirt and took the bag. - Noah, are you coming? - spoke to her brother .
-You go on, he returned, nervously looking for something in the bag .When he couldn't find it, he spilled it all on the floor with a bang.
-listen, you angry boh , they are books, don't throw them away like that,-said his sister reproachfully.-Collect quickly! Noah obeyed .Although Noah was in fifth grade, He did not dare to oppose Amelia's orders.However, their relations were so good that there was no trouble at home. Amelia treated Noah like a friend and he appreciated that. Amelia opened the old gate, the wooden door of which creaked as if complaining, and went out .Henry was waiting across the street, with his bag over his right shoulder and a baskerball net in his left hand. Almost 180 cm tall, he was the person who stood out the most in school with students and teachers .He had a terrible leg with number 44 and he wore sneakers so big that, when he walked, he looked like those divers who come out of the sea with paddles on their feet. He kept his hair cut very short, and on his thin face, you could see that he was wearing optical glasses with a thick plastic frame, which he did not take off even when he played. Basketball was Henry's biggest dream .He devoted two or three hours a day to the game . He only dressed in sports clothes, watched only basketball games on TV, at home he had a drawer full of videotapes from the giant American games of the NBA category. The walls of his room were filled with posters of world basketball stars. He had even written the names of famous basketball players on the bag.
Amelia stood forward him.
- I'm sorry for your mom, - he said. - she was good. Every time I came to you, she gave me flowers to take home .
She sighed. -thanks Henry! They had become close friends since fifth grade .

AMELIA'S POV:
we became close friends in the fifth grade. At that time, Henry had been a weak boy. Since he was noticeably taller, his clothes were swaying around his body like the sails of a ship. Clumsy movements and glasses gave him the appearance of a mother's boy who was not used to the street and the guys who were fighting. He had come from another school and the boys in the class, who didn't know him, started jokingly calling him "sugar cane".He was very annoyed by that nickname.He thought he was the worst person in the world, and out of shame he wanted to change schools .I got to know him closely precisely when Henry was in that state of loneliness .One day after gym class, he was standing in a corner of the yard and was crying with anger and regret mixed together. I came closer and touched his shoulder.
- Henry, are u ok? -I asked
-I can't stand it anymore - he answered
-why?
- Because everyone is making fun of me
-Is not true .To me, you are one of the best boys in the class .
He look at me in disbelief .
-Henry, I'm not lying to you
- Don't I look ugly to you
- Not at all .I would like to sit on with you in class. Henry why don't you join a basketball team ?With this length you have, they will accept you for sure
.That acquaintance with me was decisive for him because he followed my advice and with more conviction with the help of his father he was accepted into one of the youth basketball team. From the beginning of the 6th grade, he changed visibly. His face became more and more beautiful.During the break time and after school, you can always find him on the basketball court or the parallel bars doing exercises.The other boys in the class barely came up to his shoulders and no one dared to make fun of him .He became one of the most famous boys in the school .Our society became closer and closer. We often went to each other's houses, at first I felt unsure what he would think of my house, he come from a rich family and have like a big nice house but he always made me feel good and that everything was alright ,I met his mother and she welcomed me .
Ah, you are Amelia, my son, can't stop talking about you !- she say, smiling at me.Even though she was smiling you could see her frustration and how she thought about a girl from another class and that her son is accompanied by such a girl .
I ignored that cold women that for many reasons I could not understand ."

They both enter the school yard and Amelia felt pitying glances on her. Some of her friends and classmates approached to meet her. The first hours of the lesson the teacher started asking who was missing. Amelia called without noticing. -
- I am hear teacher - said Amelia
The teacher saw her and smiled
You had come ! I thought that...
She looked at her thoughtfully, as if she was looking for something distant in the girl's appearance, dormant for years in her memory. Suddenly, two tear bubbles formed in the corners of her eyes, which she managed to wipe away skillfully. The students were following her in silence.
-Okay,- said the teacher, -let's start.
After the last hour, Amelia waited for Hery to greet her .
-I will come after training to help you with your lessons - he said - you are behind.
-She affirmed .
-Amelia what about ....for training?
She shook her head
-forget sports, Henry. I can't come to training. You understand. I have a lot of worke at home .I have to take care of everyone, even my little sister who doesn't understand any of this .Henry couldn't hide is disappointment .He was the one who invited Amelia from the beginning of the 7th grade to join a club called "basketball friends" She had accepted it and her parents had allowed it. There were a lot of boys and girls there. Ameli had quickly become friends with them.
- Say to them I am sorry I canot come anymore - she said .
He looked at her with thoughtful eyes, while she was leaving, slightly under the dark sweater that showed her differently, completely different

AUTHOR NOTE'S

( Hello guys!!!
I hope you enjoy it I did my best to make it good ,Its my first time writing here so I'm not sure what I'm doing like 2743 words are good as a start :)
anyway I may have some mistakes because it is not my first language but I hope you like it,
if you want like another chapter just vote 🥹
Lovee you all !!!!!!!❤️)