Let me know what you think!Beth
Part 11
They all stood around the two graves in the light rain. Michael had asked for a moment of quiet reflection in respect of their two friends. They all were thinking of the same things. Maria couldn’t help but stare at the grave that was next to the two fresh ones. “Amy DeLuca Valenti, Loving Mother, Loving Wife, Loyal Friend, She will be missed,” the writing said.
Michael finally broke the silence with the words, “It wasn’t so long ago that we were burying others of our friends and family. Jim Valenti himself had given the eulogy for our former king and friend.” He looked around at the small group. Several pairs of eyes went to the direction where Max was buried. “They were taken from us before their time in a cruel manner. But Jim used to say that he felt that he was living on borrowed time anyway, since he had survived the war when none of the other parents had. He had found a way to be happy in our friend Zelda, who became an important part of our family.” He went on to mention how they had all been touched by the man who had saved their group many times and the woman who had helped young Max become the man he was today.
“I would like, and I think Jim would appreciate it, if everyone here were to tell a story, a memory, of either him or Zelda or both. It doesn’t have to be anything earth shattering but something that meant a lot to you,” Michael told them. “Maybe we could start with you, Kyle, since you were his son.”
Kyle looked down at the ground and closed his eyes tightly. It was quiet except for the rain hitting their umbrellas and the leaves in the trees. Finally, a deep half-sigh, half-sob escaped Kyle’s lips and he dropped his head so that no one could see his face. “I can’t do it, Maria. I can’t say goodbye,” he whispered to his wife, who was holding onto his arm and the umbrella. “Not like this, not now, not the way he was taken from us. Please…please say something.”
Maria sniffed and took a deep breath. Her husband needed her now and she would not let him down. She held her head up and cleared her throat. “Everyone knew Jim Valenti, as everyone knew his father; they were both Sheriff of Roswell in their time. I remember when I first found out that there really were extraterrestrials. Liz had told me and I couldn’t handle the pressure of the secret at first. I was scared,” she recounted, a smile peering through her tears. “I went to his office to tell him all about what he wanted to know, thinking that he had to help me get away from these monsters. I knew he was on my side. It’s funny to think back on that now because we were all on the same side, we just didn’t know it. He was there for us every time we needed him, even before he really knew what was going on.” She sniffed again as her eyes filled with fresh tears. “I guess that’s all I can think of to say right now.”
Michael nodded and Kyle squeezed his wife’s hand in gratitude. “Brody, how about you? Do you have something to say about Jim?” Michael asked quietly.
Brody took a deep breath. He thought of something that had been brought up in his mind again when this war ended. “I remember the time that I started to have Larek’s memories start to come into my consciousness again. I panicked and wanted to know what had happened to me. I took several people hostage at the UFO center, several of them standing here right now. Even though people helped me to remember that night, most of the memories are blurred together because I was in such a panic. I didn’t even know what to ask for when he asked me for my list of demands,” Brody snorted. “But after I remembered everything that had happened and started to feel really bad about my actions, Jim came to me and told me that it didn’t matter really what had happened, that it was in the past, and that the outcome was what was important. He looked up at the stars and told me that no matter what happened, especially to him, that he felt blessed that he was a part of something greater than himself, greater than the war itself. He was a part, as we all are, of making things right for two species, multiple planets, for establishing peace. He wouldn’t have traded his part in that for anything else in the universe.”
Everyone was crying and let Brody’s words sink in. Suddenly, it was Isabel’s turn. “I wish we knew more about Zelda,” she sniffed. “She was a good woman but we don’t have our wonderful memories of her like we do of Jim. I didn’t have enough of a chance to get through her quiet, soothing nature to figure out what made her the special person we all knew. So with that said, I want to tell the story that I remember that shows how good a man Jim was. I want to tell why Jim lost his job as Sheriff of Roswell. He had been helping us for a while at that time. I had started having these strange dreams of this girl being buried out in some woods somewhere. I didn’t have much to go on, but Jim believed me when I told him that I felt it was really happening. He was being investigated for Hubble’s death and was warned to stay away from us because we were just kids. The FBI showed up, the gandarium was threatening to destroy the world, my semi-boyfriend was possessed by the gandarium queen and therefore had a split personality, and a half-crazy girl was freaking out because Michael looked like her dead grandfather. But through it all, Jim kept his promise to help us, even though, in the end, it cost him his job. Even after he had lost his job, he was there for us all. Max and I often had discussions about how terrible we felt about the way things had turned out for him, and god knows that Kyle had words with us about it, but Jim never wavered in his loyalty. I’ve never forgotten that and I’ve always thought the universe of Jim from that time on,” she finished quietly.
“Beth, do you have anything you want to say?” Michael asked.
“He was my grandfather, Zelda was my step-grandmother, and I loved them both. I can’t think of anything else to say, except that I’ve never in my life felt so much hatred for anyone than I do right now for whoever did this,” Beth said bitterly.
Kyle and Maria pulled their daughter into their embrace. Kyle looked Beth in the eyes and said, “Don’t hold onto that hate and let it destroy you.”
Maria nodded emphatically at those words. “And believe us when we tell you that it will destroy you if you let it. You have to turn hate into action and let it go.” At her daughter’s look of disbelief that they could think this way, Maria looked deep into her eyes and tried to reach her soul, her heart. “We understand this better than anyone else could. We’ve all lost our parents now. Jim was the last of them left. We lost the Parkers, the Evans’, my mother, and now Jim and Zelda. We know why you feel this hate, we know the pain; it almost destroyed several of us. Please don’t hold on to it. Turn it into action to do something about it and then let it go.” Beth nodded and collapsed against her mother in tears.
Michael cleared his throat. He felt like it was his turn to say something. “I was an idiot as a teenager, but I was scared of who or what I was and I was scared of being found out to be what I was and I was scared of being treated like the freak I thought I was. Now I don’t feel alone anymore and one of the major reasons for that is Jim Valenti. I had a hard time trusting people, any people, because I kept getting trampled on. Max and Isabel had their families. Maria and Liz had their families and each other. I felt alone, isolated. Jim was the first man I ever thought of as a father. Phillip Evans had helped me become an emancipated minor but it was Jim that helped me feel the human side was not bad and that I might not make such a bad father after all, if I ever became one, because I had another man to look to as a father-figure instead of just Hank. I’ll always be grateful for that.” He took a deep breath and then looked at Jeffrey Maxwell. “Max, I guess that just leaves you. What do you want to say?”
The young man hadn’t moved at any of the words. They hurt and he had felt the hate that his girlfriend had voiced. He considered everything that he had seen and heard growing up about the people he loved, concentrating on his memories about Jim and Zelda. “All of my memories are running together,” he admitted quietly. “I remember when I found out that somebody actually thought that it would be better if I were taken away from mom so that I could be educated to be a king. Then Zelda came into my life and she became the picture that came into my mind whenever the word ‘grandmother’ was said, even before Jim and she were interested in each other. They are the only grandparents I’ve ever known. They were with me through everything, teaching me the best that was in humans and antarians, encouraging me to embody both. I admit that it scared me, it still scares me, to think that so much depends upon how I act, how many people are counting on me to make the right decisions. I asked Jim once how I was supposed to make everyone happy. He just grinned and said, ‘Son, the right decision is probably the one that will make everyone miserable. Just follow what your heart tells you, what you’ve learned from your past, and what you’ve learned from both good and bad examples and make the best decision that you can. A good question to consider when making decisions is can you live with it in the light of the morning when you wake up.’ I’ve tried to live with those words in mind,” Max finished.
After another minute of silence to let all the memories flow through their minds, Michael finally spoke again, “Is there anyone who would like to say anything else? I know that Sean and Serena are upset that they couldn’t be here but they are busy doing some investigating. They send their love and sympathy, as they too feel our loss. Anybody else?” Everyone shook their heads. Then he said something that added fear to their sadness. “I know that we are all upset that Liz wasn’t able to be here today. I only pray that it’s just because she didn’t know about this to be able to be here, and not that she’s in some kind of trouble.” He paused again before saying, “I think that it’s only fitting that Jim be buried here with the two women he was privileged to love, Amy and Zelda. We will miss them all.”
Maria’s horror registered on her face. Liz wasn’t here and she should be. She collapsed in a faint just in time for Beth and Kyle to catch her. “Michael, would you please take Maria and Beth home for me? I need to be alone here for a minute, if you don’t mind,” Kyle asked his friend quietly.
Michael placed his hand on Kyle’s shoulder before reaching to lift Maria in his arms. “Take all the time you need, Valenti. I’ll take care of your family,” he told him.
They all filtered toward their means of transportation, leaving Kyle alone with his father and step-mothers. He heard someone come up behind him but he didn’t move. “I knew you were here, but I thought you would have shown yourself sooner,” he said flatly.
“Oh, Kyle, I’m so sorry!” Liz sobbed, falling against her friend in her sorrow. “I almost did but I felt that your father and Zelda deserved to have their moment of remembrance without my appearance ruining it. I was here, though, and I hope that counts for something.”
“Did you have something you wanted to say about them?” he asked.
Liz sniffed and wiped her eyes. She stood up straight but still kept a hand on Kyle’s arm. “Um, yeah, of course. I remember the first time I met Zelda. I was so worried about who would be teaching Max and I wasn’t expecting her for another week or something. Yet, suddenly, there she was and not at all what I was expecting. She was immediately a no-nonsense, down to earth woman and I liked her right on the spot. She was wonderful for helping to make my place a home again.” Liz paused as she sifted through her memories to find one that she wanted to relate about Jim.
“I have so much that I could say about Jim Valenti. He was a father to all of us, he was a protector, and he was a friend. I remember when I first found out that I had the possibility to have Laura. It was one of the happiest pieces of news I had ever received. The problem was that my body might not be strong enough to carry the baby myself. The first person that I went to was Jim. I knew that he would understand why I wanted to carry that baby. He calmly went through all points that I should think about before making my decision final. Then he told me that if this war had taught him nothing else, it had taught him that there is precious little happiness that we can count on, and that if there is a chance for more of it, we should go for it. I took his advice and he stood by me for it,” she finished quietly. “I’m glad that he took his advice and found happiness with Zelda.” After a couple of minutes of silence, she asked Kyle, “What about you? Don’t you have any good memories or anything you want to say?”
Kyle took a deep breath. “I always blamed dad and accused him of not being a real father to me. He was always so wrapped up in being the Sheriff, in trying to find out if his father had been crazy, and then it was the alien abyss. He had become a father to everyone and had even less time for me than before. Then he was married again and we were fighting a war and I was married and had children.” He sniffed and his eyes filled with tears. “I just wish I had told him that I was proud of him and that I loved him. Like him, I wouldn’t trade what’s happened for anything else because I’m a part of something bigger and better than myself. I wish I could tell him that I understand that and that no father could have meant more to me or have done more to make me proud to be a Valenti.”
At that, Kyle’s dam broke and he collapsed against Liz in a flood of tears. Liz just held him and let him cry. She knew how hard it was for him. They both heard someone coming up behind them. “Kyle Valenti, I can’t believe that you sent me away from you at a time like this…” Maria’s voice trailed off as she saw who her husband was standing with. “Liz? Liz, oh my god!” Maria ran and threw her arms around her friend.
“Hello, Maria,” Liz said quietly, hugging her friend back. It felt good to see her.
“’Hello, Maria?’ Is that all you can say after you’ve been missing for days now? Where have you been? Do you know how worried we’ve all been? You could have at least been at the funeral today!” Maria rattled, her relief coming out in anger.
Kyle placed a restraining hand on her arm. “Maria, she was here as she is now. She’s ok and that’s what’s important.”
“Oh, Liz, I’m sorry! Kyle’s right, but we’ve just been so worried about you and with Jim and Zelda…we were just worried something might happen to you too,” Maria said. Then her eyes flew open wide and she looked at Kyle. “You knew she was ok, didn’t you?” she more stated than asked. “How could you let all of us worry like that?”
Liz spoke up. “Maria, he didn’t know until everyone was over at Jim and Zelda’s after they were found. I came to see if he was ok while he was out in the garden. He didn’t tell anyone because I asked him not to.”
“But why? What reason could you possibly have for making your husband, your best friends, your children worry about you like that?” Maria asked, truly perplexed.
“Well, now that you know that I’m ok, I guess maybe I can recruit you for my plan. I’ve had to do a lot of thinking about my life, Maria, making a lot of decisions. I have come to the answers to those questions, but Michael will have to figure out what he wants. Will you help me?” Liz asked. “I know you feel torn but I promise that I have a reason for doing things this way and everyone will get their explanations.”
Maria looked at Kyle. “You’re already committed to helping her aren’t you? Are you sure you’re up to that?” she asked him quietly and lovingly.
Kyle looked at his wife, love shining in his eyes. “I need something to take my mind off of this mess,” he said waving his hand toward the fresh graves. “I have already agreed and I’ll help Liz with whatever she needs.” He looked at Liz. “With one exception: I will not help you end your marriage. If that’s what you want, you’re on your own.”
Liz smiled through fresh tears. “If things go the way I hope they will, you’ll be helping me to save it, Kyle,” she told him.
“If that’s the case, then count me in too. I can’t stand any more heartbroken Michael. He’s worse than a heartbroken Max!” Maria said without thinking. Then she got a look of horror on her face as she realized what she said. “Oh, chica! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean…”
Liz placed her hand on Maria’s arm and shook her head. “Don’t apologize, Maria. Max has been dead a long time, and it’s past time to be able to talk about him without falling apart. That’s part of my reason for disappearing for this past little bit.”
Maria, Kyle, and Liz all seemed to take a deep breath at one time. “Ok so where do we start?” Kyle asked Liz. Crying had helped him and he looked at his friend in gratitude.
“The war museum. I have a lot of changes to make there,” Liz answered without hesitation. “And Kyle? Jim knew that you loved him. It was impossible that he couldn’t know that with the way that he felt about you.”