welcome-to-klepto-101:
The Italian soon found her well-intentioned, vulnerable apology to be confronted a frigid cold reaction. Vulnerability was not one of Amelia’s strengths; in fact, the skill of being so had become into one of Amelia’s biggest vices. After living an untruth for seven agonizing and excruciating years, the blonde had almost lost touch with all sense of authenticity. Days would pass where she had dissociated so far from herself, Amelia no longer knew if she was even in touch with this tangible reality anymore. She simply acted her days, in and out, without feeling at all; she was surviving. The anti-psychotic, anti-depressants and anxiety pills helped the Italian cope in the unpredictable moments when all the deeply buried, devastating feelings would come on all at once. Had her ex-husband not been as pathetic as he was to her, perhaps the blonde easily could’ve lost her sanity enough to wipe his existence from earth. Perhaps a kitchen knife could’ve “slipped” while preparing the ossobuco ever so amateurishly. Or rather, a pillow could’ve been placed over his face after the countless rejections of intimacy before drifting into the only place that offered Amelia momentary solace. Though, she executed the best possible choice for her hope at living a semi-functional life: she broke Adriano’s pitiful, wretched heart.
Amelia swirled her tongue into the side of her cheek to keep her reactive emotions from getting the best of yet again, amidst Cash’s response. Any sort of defenseless began to dissipate from the woman’s expression, and it became rigid as a statute in a matter of seconds. Knowing the deep shit she was in after her little stunt at the mall, it would take every inch of Amelia’s being to not lose her sense of poise at Cash’s house. Letting out a scoff with a snarky grin, Amelia glanced over to the detective. “Good to know some things never changed. You were always one to take such good care of gifts from others.” The sarcasm was sharp enough to cut the air between the two after Amelia stepped into the house – handing the brunette back her phone as she entered. “Especially glass vases and flowers. You could work on that, love.” The blonde shook her head disappointingly at Cash, as a retort to Cash’s harsh comment about the gifts. Just like that, Amelia’s malice had returned at the drop of a hat.
Her dark hues began to scan the house and Amelia tried to halfheartedly refrain from cringing, though she was, by far, no one to talk; the house looked as if it were maintained by a bachelor pad of a freshman frat boy. The blonde maintained a healthy distance away from Cash, as she watched the detective open a beer for her at the counter. Amelia walked over to the it, snatched up the beer, and leaned up against the sink behind her – refusing to sit anywhere near Cash, or even in the same room. Still, she could see Cash from the kitchen. “But, let’s cut the bullshit, Cash,’ Amelia cleared her throat, clearly not entertained by Cash’s display of ‘hospitality.
“I’m sure after what happened at the mall, I can guarantee you with absolutely certainty that you looked up my file. I’m positive that you saw the eight counts of theft of property in the fourth degree I have been found guilty of and the two counts of theft of property in the third degree I have been found guilty of. You couldn’t have possibly missed the multiple violations of my probation.” The blonde locked eyes with Cash, furrowing her brows in puzzled manner, but Amelia’s expression relaxed slightly when she left out another scoff in disbelief at what she was saying. “So, for you not to report an assault against another civilian, in addition to destroying public property and theft of property sounds like a whole lot of a big scandal, there, Cash.” She raised her eyebrows, shrugging her shoulders in the direction of where the brunette was sitting in the living room.
“I’ll save my thank you for later – I just want to know why you didn’t do it.” The blonde brought the bottle of beer up to her face before taking another swig, clearly intrigued as she slowly began to inch towards the living room.
Words. They could clearly have an affect on a person and hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but everything that Amelia was saying just seemed to go in one of Cash’s ears and out the other. She had grown numb to just about everything over the years. Even praise from her commanding officer just seemed to have no affect on her most days. She had gotten used to returning hollowed out emotions. A smile as empty as a bar after closing time. Tears that only provided a means to an end. It was most like she was living deep inside, screaming to get out of the darkness, but couldn’t. Like some alien side had taken over leaving her void of emotion, except anger, on most days. And right now, Amelia was trying her patience with the little jabs and insults she was throwing her way. But those had stopped and, instead, facts were thrown her way. Facts, she could handle. They were hard and true. No emotion needed. However, she was more so puzzled by what brought on this side of Amelia. She had no room to talk, though. She had completely changed herself. The sweet, outgoing and albeit clumsy young woman had turned into a straight up, heartless bitch.
Taking a swig of her own beer, she lowered the bottle and looked towards her ex with a hollow stare, “Why?” It was the only thing she had released in all the facts and insults that had been directed her way. Amelia had always had a good head on her shoulders and to let her family take away the feelings in her heart. Cash knew why she had turned into someone completely different. She could remember the day crystal clearly. Walking home from one of the last remaining days of her senior year of high school with news of a scholarship she was going to get. Eyes bright, smile wide, only to see the door standing wide open. Confusion soon turning to horror as she noticed what seemed like spilled paint from her nephew leading to what revealed itself to be blood. On the floor, on the walls, on furniture, and on the three lifeless and mutilated bodies spread throughout the house.
“Why did you do it, Amelia? Why did you let them take your spirit? And why theft? Are you hoping that stealing other people’s shit will somehow give you solace for the fact that your family were a big old bag of dicks to you? Do you think that taking other people’s property will return a little bit of the pain that they caused you all of these years? I mean, thank God it is only just theft. Still a hefty fine to pay and prison time, but why? Why not just live the life you wanted to live when you were younger?” It came out of nowhere. In fact, Cash hadn’t shown that much concern for somebody in quite a long time, and it’s probably why she always ended up alone in the end.
Taking another swig of her beer, she let her eyes shift to the window in the living room. Staring out, she watched as a bird flew by. It had been a relatively pretty day compared to the shit storm that was happening just within her walls at the moment. And while she wouldn’t ever openly admit it, she was kind of glad for the company that Amelia was providing right now, even if it was so she could berate Cash. It had been a while since someone had just been in her house to visit, not to fuck.
