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The Untenable Cost of Willful Ignorance

By Jaime WinterPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 19 min read
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Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash

“You took something from me... Something so precious”.

“You took something important from this world. Something the world needed”.

The quiver in her voice came straight from her heart.

Amelia said something that resonated with her. She thought that even a cursory awareness of the concerns, troubles and injustice of the world would surely be enlightening, but it’s really as she put it: “en-heavying”.

Amelia was all about social science. Something far beyond the grasp of your average high school student. It was one of the many things that drew Emily and Amelia together. They had a lot to learn from each other and neither would find satisfaction in a pedestrian life. Both of them knew that being a humane member of humanity was far more important than being a member of any country, any religion or any political party.

Amelia was Dale's daughter. She grew up at the shop and she admired Emily. They knew each other since grade school and became closer when Emily began working at her fathers store. When everyone else was at church, the two of them would walk along the river together.

Amelia’s father taught her what being a good person means and that it has nothing to do with religion. She didn’t understand how people could treat others they don’t know with such disrespect. Amelia was an empath. She cared deeply for others.

Emily had flashbacks of Roberts' cruiser rolling up in front of Dale’s store. Dale and Emily sat on the bench out front and Dale knew the moment Bob looked down at him. Dale fell to his knees on the sidewalk and began wailing. “Oh God, oh God no, no please no.” Emily shot off the bench and grabbed Bob’s shirt with tears streaming out of her eyes.

She screamed “It’s not true, it’s not true!”

He said, “Honey, it’s the saddest thing I’ve ever had to tell anyone”. Amelia’s mother came running out of the store and joined her husband. Emily paced around in circles as volunteers came in from the field. She turned around as her mother and father approached.

When mom reached out for her, in a stern voice Emily yelled NO, turned and ran away. Her father said “Let her go. Cynthia, you need to let her go”.

Emily ran half way across town. She made it to the soccer field and collapsed. One shoe was missing and tears streamed from her eyes as her knees sank into the muddy field. She clenched her own hair, hyperventilating to the point where she passed out.

While others played at recess, Emily sat on the stairs and read a book. Her comprehension scores were unbelievable. None of the assignments held any real challenge. She had a voracious appetite to understand everything. Her parents didn’t have any higher education to speak of and they were proud of their daughters' accomplishments.

It was a tiny, midwestern town. Her house was small and old, but her dad kept it in great shape. On the weekend, he showed her how to sweat copper pipe for water lines and install a new toilet flange. At fourteen, she understood every principle in the building code. She knew everything about construction material and by high school, she had a basic understanding of those materials on the molecular level.

Her mother was a homemaker and did all the things you’d expect a homemaker to do. It didn’t take long for Emily to assimilate all of her mothers skills. What really pissed mom off was the fact that Em was doing soil analysis. With a few tweaks for early planting, her mom’s vegetables grew larger and more plentiful. Longer growing seasons too.

Her mother socked away every cent she could for Emily’s education. It was a good chunk of change, but not enough for more than two years at state college. Emily decided she’d work after school. Her parents were fine with that as long as she got the homework done.

Dale's shop was half dry goods, half hardware store. He knew Emily and her parents. Dale knew everyone. When Emily walked in and demanded a job, Dale smiled and asked: “Other than the fact that I need a closer, why should I consider taking you on?”

She issued him a challenge. She told him to walk around the store and ask her to tell him something about any product. She told him why one brand of cookware had better conductivity than another, why he shouldn’t carry a fertilizer that isn’t Ph balanced for their area, and all the differences between valves for plumbing. “Okay smarty-pants, tell me about the difference in metals for tig, stick and arc”. That backfired because her dad taught her how to weld and she could stack dimes like nobody's business. Needless to say, she got the job.

Amelia took it upon herself to confront the kid who’d been stirring up lies and trouble for Em. His name was Nick. Amelia asked if he would give her a moment of his time away from his entourage. She asked him why he spreads lies about people. He said he knew she was talking about Emily. He told her in an angry tone that it was none of her business. She replied that when one person hurts another for no good reason, especially when it’s someone she cares about… that makes it her business.

He yelled “Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” She calmly asked what happened in his life that made him act like this. He lunged forward pushing her to the ground with quite a bit of force. A few kids saw what was happening and began walking toward them. Nick hurled a bunch of hateful expletives at her and walked away while she was helped back to her feet.

The following Sunday morning while walking along the river, Emily told Amelia she found out what happened and she didn’t want Amelia to do that. Now Amelia was in Nick’s crosshairs as well. Sitting together on a park bench, the very moment Emily whispered “My Protector”, hugged Amelia and kissed the side of her head... a car turned the corner on the street behind them. Neither paid any attention.

That evening, Nick was having dinner with his father. He was a drunk and the very reason why Nick acted the way he did. Nick suffered abuse no one should have to endure. Being a deputy police officer, his father could inflict injury with no outward signs and Nick often showed up at school with internal bruising and the only tell was the anger and violence he projected against others. Not the best way to address the fear and hate that had been building up inside for years.

That night, his father told him that he saw Emily and Amelia kissing on a park bench. “What’s the world coming to? I know their parents and I thought they would raise their kids to know that kind of thing isn’t right. Someone should do something about that.”

Whether he knew or not that he’d just given his son marching orders remains unclear and the next day at school, Nick started spreading a lie that the girls were secret lovers. In a small, conservative Midwest town in the 1980’s, such a lie would spread like wildfire and it did.

Overnight, almost the entire town turned against them.

Each of their parents fell prey to neighbors and especially those in the church community. Emily’s mother told her that she needed to go and confess her sins. Emily pleaded that she was showing affection to Amelia for coming to her defense with “an asshole” at school but her mom wasn’t listening. The two girls were forbidden to see each other outside of school and that meant Emily was no longer allowed to work at Dale’s shop.

Dale tried to reason with Emily. “Your father and I agreed. It’s only until this nonsense blows over. You know what this town is like Em and there’s no point in fighting it. Let them think what they will. You’ll both graduate soon, be off to college and put all this behind you.” Dale’s business saw a sharp decline in sales and Emily's father dealt with the ignorance of his coworkers at the construction company. Emily and Amelia still sat together at lunch, but school became a hostile environment for both of them.

In a deadpan tone, Amelia joked that if this were the middle ages, the both of them would be burned at the stake. Emily smiled and responded with: “Maybe we should give them something real to talk about.” The two of them looked at each other and in that moment it became painfully clear how each of them felt. This was so much more than a simple friendship. A knowing smile came across their faces and a tear came rolling out the corner of Amelia's left eye which she quickly wiped away. They just sat there in silence looking into each other’s eyes.

The boys in Emily’s classes were immature jock types who didn’t have anything approximating her intelligence. They labeled her a prude because she didn’t date and had no interest in them. Thanks to Amelia, she heard all the garbage they were telling her classmates about her.

Emily didn’t pretend to be better than anyone else, but she knew she was different. Emily and Amelia didn’t belong to any of the cliques and didn’t seek approval from anyone. Perhaps the ire they evoked simply sprung from being somewhat independent at an early age.

Emily’s mom was a devout believer and insisted when Emily was younger that she attend church regularly. Emily didn’t have anywhere near as much interest in church as she did in science and the community seemed to think those two things were diametrically opposed. It was confounding to her how people were so keen to thank God for good surgical outcomes rather than thank the surgeon who spent years mastering those delicate procedures.

Fearful and agitated, Amelia left a message one day with Emily’s father. She begged him to tell Emily to meet her by the Second Street footbridge. When Emily got home from school, he reluctantly gave her the message. Eventually, the paved path ended and the footbridge was off a dirt trail on the way to the railroad depot behind the parking lot on Second Street.

Amelia was nervous when Nick and two of his buddies pulled up at the back of the lot in their noisy 72’ Chevelle. They walked toward her and Nick said “Waiting for your girlfriend huh?” She told him to piss off and he pushed her off the stone wall into the river. As she splashed around in the cold unusually strong current, the three of them got into the car laughing and took off.

When Emily finally got there, Amelia was nowhere to be found.

Amelia didn’t come home that evening. Emily was incensed by the lack of concern. Her mom didn’t care and reminded her that they were not to see each other anyway. Her father went over to Dale’s and they both went to the sheriff’s office. Nick’s father was at the desk and he tried to convince them that she was probably just at a friend's house. Dale told him that she doesn’t really have any other friends.

“Look, I’m not going to launch a search party just yet. There’s no need to bother the sheriff at this late hour”. Dale told him that if he didn’t call Robert, he'd drive up to Bob and Gloria’s right then and there. “Okay, okay”. The deputy relented and called Bob. Bob and Dale were good friends in high school and both served on the school board.

Bob remembered the radio call that came in around 3:30 in the morning and the shiver that went down his spine when he learned that Haslett County Search and Rescue recovered Amelia’s body from a bend in the river, six miles south of town. Sheriff Robert Samuels was heartbroken. He had to tell a dear friend that his daughter was dead.

A neighbor near the school called the sheriff's office. Bob and Emily's father gently lifted Emily's muddy body, threw a blanket around her and led her back to the patrol car. They took her home, cleaned her up and put her to bed. She cried herself to sleep. Over the next couple of weeks, Emily remained curled up in bed. No one other than her father could come in and only for a moment. Anyone else might get hit by a random object launched in absolute rage.

When she finally emerged, no one could tell her anything. She would raise a finger, grit her teeth, glare into their eyes with looks that could kill and they’d quickly go silent. Even if they just wanted to express their condolences, it didn’t matter. In her mind the entire town was complicit.

She was convinced Nick had something to do with it and two months later, no evidence was found to suggest foul play. The community decided she committed suicide and Emily knew better. Dale would never be the same. How could he? He tried to go about business as usual in the shop, but every time something reminded him of Amelia, he would run back to the breakroom and collapse on the couch shaking with his head in his hands. Staff and customers on the sales floor shuddered in sorrow to hear his muffled, heartbroken cries.

In the woods behind the soccer field, Nick met with Brian and Luke. They were both nervous. Their guilt ate away at them. They were with Nick when he did that terrible thing. Nick pleaded with them. “I didn’t know she couldn’t swim, I just thought she’d get wet… I.. don’t, don’t you even think about telling! You’re both just as guilty as I am.”

Kevin stood there on the river walk after having gone to breakfast at the diner with Emily. He walked down to the Second Street footbridge. Turning toward the parking lot, he noticed a camera on top of the light post. MNT Trust opened a new branch across the street last year and went through the zoning board for the rights to put in that parking lot. He walked over to the bank, went up to a teller and asked to speak with a manager. She told him to wait a minute and went over to the glass walled cubicle at the end. She came back with a very tall man who introduced himself as Gary Griffin the bank manager.

Kevin opened his wallet to reveal his badge, introducing himself as Special Agent McCann from the FBI field office in Minneapolis. Kevin asked to speak with him in private so they went back to his cubicle and sat down. “I’m guessing this is about the girl. What a tragedy.” Has anyone from local law enforcement been in touch? “Surprisingly, no. I heard that she fell into the water somewhere out there”. Before Kevin could say anything else, Gary said “Oh my god, the lot camera. I didn’t even think about it.” Do you still have tape? “We have a stack of ten tapes and each one covers ten days. Let's take a look.”

Kevin and Gary sat at the VCR in the backroom scrolling through the only two tapes that could have had anything of value on them. In the middle of the second tape, the camera came on when the motion sensor detected movement and there was the white 72’ Chevelle pulling into the back of the lot. You could barely see a figure in dark clothing past the car as three people got out and walked over to that person.

You could see an altercation of some sort and the person in dark clothing seemed to disappear. Behind the car, you couldn’t see much of anything. The three people who got out of the car returned to the car, got in and the vehicle drove out of the lot. Kevin rewound and paused the tape a number of times. He took notes in his spiral pad. He reached into a suitcase, pulled out a shiny Mylar envelope, ejected the tape, placed it in the bag and tore a strip off that sealed the bag with a red security feature which would indicate any tampering with the tape.

He asked Gary to place the tape in a secure location. Gary told him that the bank might require a subpoena. Kevin anticipated that. Gary opened a drawer, pulled out a ring with two keys on it and walked Kevin over to a wall of safety deposit boxes. He put both keys into the locks and turned them. Kevin placed the tape inside and Gary closed the door, locking both locks and handed one of the keys to Kevin. “A little extra insurance”.

As he walked down the sidewalk, a cruiser pulled up and the officer in the vehicle was Nick's father. He said “You look a bit lost there friend, need directions?” Kevin knew that the deputy behind the wheel was Earl Shoemaker but thankfully, Earl didn’t recognize him. Kevin told him that he was opening a new account at the bank for a client. You’ll have a new business in town shortly. “I haven’t heard anything about that, what’s it going to be?” Attorney client privilege I’m afraid, I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. “Rats… well, have a good one”. Earl drove off.

According to the automotive database, there was only one white 72’ SS Chevy Chevelle in town and it was registered to Nick Shoemaker. Kevin walked across town to the school and had a visit with the football coach. Although you couldn’t clearly see faces in the video, one of the guys was wearing a football jacket with the school logo and the letter A with two stars next to it on the shoulder. Coach was happy to see Kevin. He confirmed that the jacket belonged to Luke Sutter.

On the other side of town, a cruiser pulled up and parked in front of the diner. Robert got out and walked in. He sat down with Emily’s dad and asked “Why would you go and do something like this behind my back? I saw Kevin earlier and I don’t need the FBI nosing around in my investigation. I know he’s not just paying a visit.”

I wasn’t the one who called him Robert, but what this town did to those two girls is a travesty. Amelia had no reason to commit suicide and everyone in this God forsaken place is ready to sweep it under the rug. Knowing what I do, you better find Kevin and get on the right side of this thing now or you’ll regret it. Bob let out a groan, stood up, turned and walked out the door. He never intended to commit obstruction of justice, but he was in denial about Amelia’s death.

When Kevin left town many years ago, he had good reason. He vowed never to return. Kevin graduated the academy and served the bureau for five years, had a wife, a family and a life he could be proud of. He thought he’d finally put this place, the lies and indignity he suffered here behind him but Em was his sister. He’d move mountains for her.

Just as he stepped out of the phone booth, Robert pulled up and greeted Kevin. He availed his full cooperation. The wheels were turning now and nothing could stop them. The next morning, two black sedans pulled up into the bank parking lot. Kevin and Robert greeted three agents and ASAC Meisner.

Having retrieved the tape from the bank, the sheriff and Tom Meisner went to the high school and met with the principal, securing a conference room while Kevin and another agent went to Luke Sutter’s home to meet with his parents. They were shocked that their son could have anything to do with Amelia’s death. Luke’s parents accompanied them to the school and were situated in the conference room. Bob told them that at the moment, their only purpose was to question Luke and that he wasn’t being accused of anything. He asked that they try to remain calm and not interfere with questioning.

Another teacher was sent to Luke’s classroom and summoned him to the principal's office. He led Luke down a corridor explaining that there are some people here who would like a few words with him. When the door swung open, Luke saw his parents, the sheriff and the FBI agents. He knew exactly why he was there. He was asked to sit down and it didn’t take more than a minute or two for the floodgates to open up. He was trembling and his parents, fearing the worst, begged him not to say anything.

“Oh God, I..I just can’t do this anymore. I didn’t know Nick was gonna do that… we didn’t know she couldn’t swim. I can’t believe I laughed as we drove away. God help me, I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen to her, I swear I never meant to hurt her!” He started crying and his mother put her arms around him. His father looked down at the table.

Kevin put a pen on a legal pad and slid it across the table. Write down exactly what happened, starting when the three of you were sitting in the car and saw Amelia leaving school. Concealing the truth wasn’t the brightest idea, but you're doing the right thing now and you need to know that. We’re going to leave you alone to do this, but your parents and an officer will be right outside.

There was a chirp in his earpiece and an agent stationed in a doorway down the hall from Nick’s class watched him leave the classroom, open his locker and start throwing a few things into his backpack. He knew something was going down and had no intention of sticking around.

As Nick reached the bottom of the stairs, Kevin stepped out in front of him and another agent blocked the top of the stairs. “Nick Shoemaker, you are under arrest in connection with the death of Amelia Maguire”.

When Emily confronted Nick on the courthouse stairs all those years ago, it didn’t give her the closure she thought it might. You don’t know Emily, but her discoveries and her life's work benefit the lives of just about everybody on this planet. No matter what your beliefs; whether you like it or not, her contributions to humanity have had in no uncertain terms... a positive impact on your life and the lives of everyone you know.

Having moral objections about the way other peaceful people choose to live their lives isn’t the problem. The problem occurs when those objections are used to justify the inhumane treatment of others. You cannot consider yourself a good person if you do not accept the ethical responsibility that good people have to treat all people with a basic level of respect.

Every year about this time, her partner Angie holds space for her as she lights a candle, cries for Amelia… and every innocent victim of willful ignorance.

humanity
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About the Creator

Jaime Winter

I have a life filled with weird and wonderful experience. I am a writer, a graphic designer and crafter.

I hope you enjoy my stories and my perspective. Much Love, Jaime

Contact: [email protected]

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