Leah Walker met Mitchell Kendrick while they were students at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980s.
Mitchell Kendrick at school, around 1985.
They started dating around the end of their sophomore year. Their dates largely consisted of outings after school with classmates or chaperoned trips to movies or sporting events.
Leah with Mitchell, the guy she’s dating in high school.
Whenever they’re alone together, Mitchell insists on pushing the boundaries of their relationship. Leah likes Mitchell, but isn’t ready for that kind of relationship with him. Everything changes when Mitchell assaults Leah at his home one afternoon. Intervention by his older sister prevents the assault from going very far, but it destroys Leah’s sense of safety and leaves her badly shaken.
Melinda comforts Leah following Leah’s assault.
A few days later, Melinda suggests a course of action for Leah to regain her sense of control over her life. Leah immediately follows her mother’s advice and enrolls in karate classes.
At Melinda’s suggestion Leah takes steps to raise her confidence.
Mitchell doesn’t fair better with other women, marrying and divorcing multiple times.
Mitchell Kendrick around 2013 in Atlanta.
Leah shares the experience with Genevieve while they’re working out.
G. M. Lupo (ISNI: 0000 0005 0315 9196) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where he has always had a dysfunctional relationship with his hometown. His most recent published work is the novel Another Mother. He is also the author of Atlanta Stories: Fables of the New South and Reconstruction. Along with his novel, Rebecca, Too (2018), and his full-length play Another Mother, these constitute his Expanded Universe of Fictional Atlanta. He has also released a collection of essays, poetry, and stories entitled Words Words Words (2020).
He was the winner of the 2017 Essential Theatre Play Writing Award for Another Mother which had its world premiere in his home neighborhood of West End in August 2017, in the building that once housed the library where he learned to read as a child.
View all posts by G. M. Lupo
