Life after Death: The Afterlife of Hezekiah Chamblee

Chapter Twenty-Six: Tainted Diamonds and Boarding Boys

Third-Person POV

London, England; One month after Hezekiah's murder...

Gentle readers, Cameron Chamblee believed in karma came in both instant and slow yet gradual forms.

Even as he's currently finished with his afternoon classes at St. Anslem's for Boys, he knew that the Chamblee Diamond Standard was starting to grow more and more tainted since he disowned himself from the family after Hezekiah's memorial service.

Since his departure from Boston, he had been in constant contact with Jana (who had indeed kept her promise of her immediate resignation after seeing him off at the airport) as he learned that the servants who replaced Minnie Jean and the others who were kind to his older brother also tendered their resignations as a show of support for Cameron himself. "All of them knew that your family has indeed crossed the line," the former nanny explained to him two days after he settled in on campus. "Of course, your parents could easily find new help, but it seems like their reputations of being reckless are finally to come out of the shadows."

That was more than an understatement, given the following events that took place.

Cameron's identical twin brother Alex was starting to be more of a tactical and caustic bully towards the other young athletes who were soon to start high school, especially when he started soliciting steroids and marijuana. That was considered a big taboo when one's being qualified for the Youth Olympics as his coaches immediately turned him in and the teen was soon barred for life from competing. Alex threw a fit worthy of a tyrant, Jeffrey and Adelle finally having enough of the antics since Cameron disassociated himself from his twin brother with the parents making arrangements for Alex to be sent to military school for the summer.

Leigh-Anne, for her beauty and wit, was known to be a bigot when it came to the LGBTQ and African-American communities. Her endless tirades and mockings of racism, homophobic and transphobic slurs, and constant threats against her stylists and agents soon had her on the outs with almost all of her modeling social circles. But the one thing that finally ruined her reputation was her drug and alcohol abuse, her being arrested for three charges of DUI and reckless driving alongside a murder charge when she killed a single mother and her three young children. Jeffrey was the one to have the case settled out of court, though he immediately had his daughter be released from her modeling contracts as he and his wife were ready to place their daughter into rehab.

Speaking of the parents, Jeffrey and Adelle's marriage seemed to be more on the rocks these days with the former being more sexually deviant with his female workers at his financial firm while his wife was seen with a slew of young and nubile pool boys when not dealing with her own problems with alcohol. With those factors in place alongside the couple's constant fighting, their social circles were starting to diminish by the wayside.

As for Mariah and Andrew, their engagement was going on as steady as ever but not without some caveats. In a shocking revelation, the young betrothed couple was known to be in an open relationship with not just their friends and college students but also students from Allendale Christian Academy. Of course, they had to dial it down a bit after a close call featuring a future high-school freshman and her twin brother almost hit the tabloids, but Mariah and Andrew were still going strong.

All in all, Cameron was finally glad that he finally cut ties with his family. But it also meant that he had to face the pressures of perfection as demanded by his mother. Hence him being enrolled at St. Anslem and being given the same restrictions as Hezekiah was given during his summer vacations: no contact with the outside world, no trips to London with the other boys, no visitations, and limited free time. Of course, that didn't stop him from keeping in touch with Jana, Minnie Jean, Ty'Reek, and even Senator Coleman and his wife thanks to the burner phone gifted to him by his former nanny. Unfortunately, that meant leaving Hezekiah's journal behind since he couldn't be allowed some personal items to remind him of his late older brother (which was irrelevant since the journal itself was now in the care of the senator and his wife).

The Chamblee Diamond Standard was indeed growing tainted, gentle reader, and Cameron was out of its reach since he wanted no part of it.

*******************

"Master Chamblee, this is Valentin Noguiera from Madrid," Mrs. Callaway, the dorm mother who was in charge of keeping Cameron company, intoned as a slender, caramel-skinned teenager around Cameron's age, walked in with a suitcase on hand. "The headmaster has instructed you to take him under his wing since you two share the same restrictions placed on you both by your families. You have one hour before bed to get to know each other while letting Mr. Nogiuiera what's been expected of him."

"I'll make sure that he's given a warm welcome, ma'am," Cameron promised.

The Scottish woman smiled, nodding before she left the room and the boys to themselves. Valentin, who was a bit out of place with his pastel-themed wardrobe that contrasted the austere school uniform that Cameron currently wore, looked around before looking at his roommate with a wry look on his face. "This is going to be hell," the Spanish teenager commented in his thick native accent. "My aunt has finally reached my breaking point and lost my respect."

Cameron grinned. "And I thought I had it bad," he replied. "So what's your story, Noguiera?"

The next twenty minutes were spent with Cameron learning more about his new roommate as they enjoyed their dinner. Valentin was currently orphaned after losing his absentee parents to a plane crash. Neither his aunt nor both sets of grandparents were willing to take him in, so they placed him at St. Anslem's in hopes of him getting a good education before heading to Oxford to study law, returning to Spain to enlist in the military for five years, and then take over the family exporting business while being faithful to an unseen bride who wanted nothing to do with him.

Much to Cameron's surprise, Valentin was planning to come out to his aunt and grandparents as pansexual and identified as such while using he/him pronouns. He had a transgender female cousin who was disowned and was currently living in Portugal while another cousin was currently transitioning from female to male while in business school. Needless to say, his aunt and grandparents were placing their high hopes of total perfection on him when he was as controversial as his disowned cousins.

In turn, Cameron gave his roommate the abridged version of his life back in Boston and his now-severed relationship with his family alongside his strong bond with his late brother and everything that happened since Hezekiah's "suicide." That was followed by them changing into their bed clothes and a quick rundown to Valentin about the expectations from their headmaster as they compared their class schedules. "Look, Valentin. I don't know what's going to happen to us since we're likely stuck here for the summer if not during high school and summer," Cameron began as they soon finished changing clothes, "but maybe you and I can be friends if you allow me to work with you and vice versa."

"Might as well, man," Valentin replied. "And since we're going to be friends and roommates, you can call me Val. Most of my friends did back in Madrid before my parents died."

Cameron smiled softly. "I'd like that," he said just as Mrs. Callaway returned to collect the dinner plates. "Have a good night, Mrs. Callaway."

"Sleep well, lads," the Scottish dorm mother replied. "And just so you know, I think you two will get along just fine."

She watched the boys settle into their beds before shutting off the lights and closing the door while the tower clock from outside chimed ten.

Gentle reader, you might be surprised if this narrator happened to mention that Cameron was starting to experience his first few waves of puberty when he closed his eyes and began dreaming of rather vivid and forbidden images of his roommate as the Spanish lad in question was doing the same. But neither would be aware of the bond that would take place in the days to come.

Well, my fine friends, it looks like things are starting to go down the tubes for Cameron's twin brother, older sisters, and his parents as well as Andrew as the teenager himself gains a new roommate (and possible love interest) in one Valentine Noguiera! We'll see how it all turns out for these teenage lovebirds in act three soon enough.

But coming up next, it's time to head to Pacifica Vista as Hezekiah gets some tough advice from his boyfriend after watching AUTV. See you soon!

This chapter is dedicated to Galagoogoo and bukowskiworld. Love you both!

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