Mel Clark
Vital Stats
The History
Mel Clark was born to Leandra Clark on that fateful day in October of 1986. Earvin was nowhere to be found, leaving Leandra to take care of the baby alone. Angela, Leandra's mother, turned the other way when it came to Leandra, and Ronald, Leandra's father, had problems of his own. Leandra was all alone at the time of baby Mel's birth. Finally, Leandra convinced Angela to let them stay with her in her home in Mooreville, but the times were far from pleasant. Leandra knew something must be done.
She took Mel with her down to Manchester, Texas, where Ronald lived. For several months, Leandra & Mel stayed with Ronald, but Leandra knew that wouldn't work out in the end. All this time, Mel is growing and adapting to the changes around him. It would be these changes that would make him the strong person that he is at present.
Leandra finally decided to get on her own two feet and move into her own house. It wasn't easy. Leandra had been an employee at a department for quite some time, but after a while she got a job at an insurance company. Leandra knew that Mel, at age 3, needed to begin pre-school, so she put him in the Montessori Academy of Manchester.
Mel didn't adapt well to the surroundings. Being an only child, he was used to being alone and amusing himself. This was a wholly new experience. He developed one close friend, Eddie Simson, whom he still remains in contact with to this day. It was also during this time that Earvin finally came back into Mel's life. Mel found out that he had a little brother, Derrell, who was a year younger than him. Again, Mel was adapting and melding into the world around him...gradually.
After two years in pre-school, Mel began school at Manchester Oaks Elementary School. Having just moved again, Mel wasn't used to the new surrounding. On top of that, Leandra was going through a stage of deep depression. There were many nights that Mel heard his mother crying, many nights where he found his mother walking around as if she were a zombie, and many nights where she would just lock herself up in her room. Things weren't going good at the new home.
At long last, Leandra escaped her depression and vowed to start again. She began to notice how Mel would only work alone instead of in groups at school. Leandra knew that something was wrong, something serious. She knew that Mel needed a father figure in his life. She gave Earvin a call again, so he came to live with the two for about a year or so. Things were tense between the two adults, which lead to long-lasting emotional scars on Mel that would go on to affect his later life.
Living in a rented home that belonged to a great-aunt, Leandra decided to leave once again, this time going back to Mooreville. Mel expanded greatly in the five years that he spent in Mooreville. He developed many friends, including one of his best friends in his entire life: Mel Dalton. Mel took up piano lessons, and eventually even began teaching it. He discovered talents in public speaking and computers. Home life wasn't going as well, though. Leandra & Angela were continuing to have problems, and Mel was beginning to get tired of it. As he began to grow older, he began lashing out at his mother for no reason. Mel was stressed, everyone was stressed. They knew it couldn't go on any longer.
After an on-and-off presence in Mel's life, Earvin began dating Leandra again. The sweet, loving Earvin that was dating Leandra now was so different from the verbally abusive Earvin of the past. They wanted to get together for Mel's sake, so that Mel could have the kind of family most children have. Their dating eventually led to marriage on Christmas Eve of 1998. Mel had mixed feelings about this. He loved his mother but he didn't trust either of their motives. Leandra kept secret the real reason why she married Earvin. It wasn't for love, but rather for the sake of Mel. From the time he found out about her real motives, he saw his mother in a new light. That event changed Mel's outlook forever.
Things still refused to go well, though. Mel continued to rebell against his parents and Leandra & Earvin had ceaseless fights and arguments. The old Earvin returned. He had serious emotional problems that he refused to work out, which caused a thick wall to go up between him and Leandra. After only 6 months of marriage, Leandra & Earvin decided to call it quits. Mel was more than glad, for it was all he could do to keep from running out on both of them. The two didn't want to go through the emotional trauma of divorce, so they ended up separating. Earvin went back to his apartment in Chapel, and Leandra decided to move on.
Leandra saw what gifts were stored in her child, so she searched for a school where the gifts could grow and develop. She found an ad about Midway Prep. Mel flatly refused to be uprooted from the home that he knew and loved just to be taken to a school that may or may not be helpful. After consulting friends and family, Leandra painfully took Mel away from the home he'd grown to love in Mooreville and to the small town of Midway, where Mel began attending Midway Prep. And that is where Mel's story as you know it begins.
The Future
Mel has many plans for the future. He has so many choices: he's a musician, a fantastic writer, a speaker, and many other things. He's searching for the one thing that can find him true happiness, though, for he's had so little of it in his past. His mother always tells him to go for what he wants to do, and not let her or anyone else tell him what his future needs to hold.
Mel has dreams of settling down with a smart, capable woman who isn't clingy, who isn't weak-willed. He wants his marriage to be so different from his parents'; he doesn't want to treat his wife the way his father treated his mother. Mel wants to have a strong relationship with his wife, and eventually a good, loving relationship with his children. He's determined to fight against his genes and do what's right, no matter what it takes. That's what Mel has always been: a fighter for what's right.
Full Name: Mel Richard Jamison Clark
Date of Birth: October 3, 1986
Place of Birth: Chapel, Texas
Parents: Leandra Clark and Earvin Willis
Siblings: Derrell Samson (half-brother)
Other Relatives: Angela Clark (maternal grandmother), Ronald Clark (maternal grandfather)
