S123 - Zelenka-Morrison, Fey

[Ruggahissy]

Name: Fey Zelenka-Morrison
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Protesting, Anti-Capitalism, Partying, Drinking, Cooking, Celtic Art

Appearance: Fey stands out at 6 feet even and weighs 135 pounds, putting her at the low end of the healthy weight scale. She tries to avoid hiding her height or slouching but still walks with a bit of a shamble, hunched slightly forward. Her body is tall and lanky, rectangular in shape without much in the way of curves in the bust or hips, and with knobby elbows and knees, large hands, and size 12.5 feet that mean she mostly shops for shoes in the men’s section. Coming from mixed Irish-Czech heritage, Fey’s skin is pale white and her hair is a very light, almost platinum blonde. She shaved her head in sophomore year but has grown it out somewhat since, and it now sits at an awkward inch and a half in length, styled into a messy pixie cut as its gotten too long to spike. Matching her body, her face is angular and long, with a straight nose and pronounced chin, balanced by her large blue eyes and wide mouth.

Fey dresses in a cross between shabby-casual and deliberately counter-culture, her wardrobe fitting poorly. Her most identifiable clothes are omnipresent baggy military-style jackets, a lighter beige one in warmer weather and a puffy dark green one in the winter, each with various political insignias haphazardly patched on. She’ll wear slogan T-Shirts, tank tops, hoodies or sweaters without paying attention to brand, and almost always wears jeans with boots, flat Converse-style sneakers, or light hiking shoes. Fey isn’t pierced outside of her ears, on which she wears basic stud earrings, but wears an assortment of silver or leather jewelry including bracelets, rings, and necklaces. Her favourites are her heavy silver ring with a Celtic cross design, and a Celtic knot necklace. She uses foundation, concealer and eyeliner on a regular basis but doesn’t go overboard with makeup. Fey has a slight but noticeable Boston-area accent that becomes more pronounced when she drinks.

On the day of the winter trip, Fey was wearing her green jacket over a plain olive-coloured faded hoodie, jeans and black lace-up Doc Martens.

Biography: Fey was born on February 2, 2004 to Erik and Ciara Zelenka in Lynn, Massachusetts, and took on her hyphenated surname Zelenka-Morrison when her parents divorced in 2013 and Ciara reverted to her maiden name. The only child of the couple, Fey currently lives in Salem’s waterfront area with her father, Erik’s current wife Aleesha Nwoko, and Aleesha’s two children from a previous relationship, 13-year-old Andre and 10-year-old Paradise. Although Fey had at first lived with her mother following the divorce, she came to live with her father and stepfamily in 2018 before the beginning of high school, owing to his significantly larger income, her mother Ciara’s issues, and Salem’s overall reputation as a better place to live than Lynn.

Growing up in Lynn, Fey’s family hovered in the lower-middle class. Her mother worked nights as a bartender, and her father worked mostly days for the MBTA Commuter Rail System. Both Erik and Ciara had large extended families spanning from Boston to Salem, and at times when neither could be home Fey also spent some time with an assortment of grandparents, aunts, and cousins. There was never serious discussion about expanding the family at home; especially with their financial situation both Erik and Ciara felt one child was plenty.

Fey was a rambunctious toddler, easily excited and inquisitive, and learned to speak and walk quicker than the average baby. Neither of her parents would be considered disciplinarians, but having an active young child forced them to sometimes be draconian in punishment, with a series of time-outs and verbal warnings. Fey seemed to adjust as she grew to school-age, becoming quieter but still an active reader and learner.

As she went to school though, Fey’s demeanour changed. She never really felt that she fit in with others that much, and even as a 6 year old was tall and awkward. Her parents didn’t have much funds to set aside for expensive hobbies or group activities, and while Fey was a hard worker at school, her grades were never better than average. She did enjoy art and took an interest in drawing and sketching, although she didn’t pursue it seriously.

Her parents’ divorce came partly as a result of changing status levels and lifestyles, as Erik had been studying to receive his diploma during Fey’s childhood and found himself promoted to management at work, whereas Ciara had been content to remain as she was, with her drinking and nightlife also causing problems in the marriage. When Fey was 9, her parents announced they were separating after Erik got a job as a station manager in Salem overseeing traffic on the Eastern Route of the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport line. While the separation was amiable, Fey always felt that her dad had been almost too eager to leave, as if he’d grown ashamed of them. She remained in Lynn with her mother in their rented two-bedroom apartment, seeing her dad on alternating weekends and holidays.

In middle school, Fey began hanging out with some of the more delinquent kids at school, not having really found a group of her own. Her grades slipped and Fey took to bullying, staying out late and indulging in petty vandalism, getting drunk for the first time at 13. This cumulated in a 2017 shoving match late in the seventh grade that earned Fey her first in-school suspension and had her parents brought in.

Ciara recognized that Fey was having difficulties, but was having difficulties herself owing to a string of toxic relationships since her breakup and her own expanding issues with alcohol. Ciara would occasionally be helped out by her immediate family members living nearby when it came to keeping an eye on Fey, but most of them were similarly lower to lower-middle class and several had family with issues of their own. Ciara’s own issues were seen by most family members as problematic but still ordinary. There was some talk about Fey staying with her father at that time, although Erik’s new marriage and the difficulties involved with moving schools late in the school year nixed that. Ciara’s parents were willing to step in and let Fey live with them for the two months remaining in the seventh grade to keep a stronger eye on her while Ciara tried to get her life more in order. This kept Fey mostly homebound and on curfew, and led to at least some resentment at her grandparents' old fashioned ways, although Fey did manage to pick up a few new interests during that time and the summer. Staying home also kept her from being able to go out and put a stopper in any further exposure to alcohol or other substances for the time being.

Fey had spent more than a few nights home alone due to her mother’s night job, and making her own dinner had more appeal than just throwing something into the oven, so her grandmother Siobhan made it a mission to teach Fey some basic cooking techniques. Fey, mostly for lack of being able to go out, gave it a try and found she’d actually enjoyed being in the kitchen. She started watching some Food Network during late nights and coming up with different ways to turn cheap food into something tasty. She had a naturally inquisitive palate and soon found that she liked styles from pretty much anywhere, and has since then become a rather talented home cook. She also began to learn some about her mother’s Irish heritage from her grandparents, and picked up the inklings of an interest in Celtic mythology and artwork from them.

As the eighth grade started, Fey returned back to live with Ciara, and things seemed to go more smoothly on the surface. Fey’s grades at school didn’t improve and she still hung out with much the same people, but despite a few close calls she stayed away from any trouble or discipline. Then, in the spring of 2018, Fey’s mom started talking to her about the possibility of going to high school in Salem and staying with her dad’s family. For Fey, who’d had plenty of visits to Salem the past few years, the idea of the city wasn’t appealing, but after a few weeks it became clear she didn’t have much choice in the matter. Although Ciara had tried to keep it together for Fey’s sake, her drinking issues had continued, and her family made the decision that both Ciara and Fey would be better off with Fey at least starting the school year with Erik’s family while Ciara got treatment. Fey has stayed in Salem ever since, even though Ciara has been two years sober, mostly from the agreements of both her parents that Salem’s a better place for her. But Fey also herself has held a good deal of resentment internally towards Ciara since then, and privately doesn’t want to return.

Fey’s first summer in Salem was a time of transition and getting to know her stepfamily. She didn’t exactly like the small-town boredom of Salem, but did enjoy the town’s eccentric vibe and the school’s more eclectic student body. The lack of cliques was a refreshing change from middle school in Lynn, while the lack of school success in academics or athletics helped her feel at home. Fey continued to get mediocre grades without being in danger of failing, and made friends among similar slacker or unaffiliated students easily enough. Not having much in the way of hobbies or passions herself, Fey was skilled at feigning interest and hanging around the fringes of various groups, which sustained her socially for the first year or so of high school.

Outside of cooking, Fey also broadened her interest in Celtic mythology and artwork shortly after moving to her father’s house. This started as rebellion; Erik’s wife Aleesha was a lecturer at Salem State University and with an assortment of West African-inspired art at her new home, and Aleesha was also very concerned with keeping Fey’s step siblings Paradise and Andre aware of their roots and the importance of social justice, an endeavour Erik fully supported. Partly from rebellion, partly from genuine interest, Fey grew more interested in the Celtic roots of her mother’s Irish heritage and began to decorate her own room with Celtic artwork.

This caused some tension in the household, as Aleesha was already concerned about Fey’s attitude towards her and her children, and was worried about the connection between some Celtic symbols and the White Nationalist movement. Not wanting to confront Fey herself and create further issues, she ended up pushing Erik to get more involved. Fey’s relationship with her dad had always been good overall, but Erik was a non-confrontational and non-disciplinary type who hadn’t lived with Fey for some years, so there was still a clear distance there. He and Aleesha did talk with Fey about it though, and although Fey was first defensive she grew to understand Aleesha’s concerns, and even did some reading on her subjects to try to get a broader understanding.

This, along with the turmoils of the Canon presidency, and Aleesha’s interest in social justice activism, spurned Fey to develop leftward interests of her own, including the problems of wage theft and housing issues facing low-income Americans like many from her mother’s side of the family. The Parkland High School shooting in 2018 was also a driving force. She found more friends of this type at school, and had seemingly finally found a social group she truly connected with. By tenth grade, Fey was more enmeshed in Salem’s growing activist community. She shaved her head and took to wearing baggy clothing and camo jackets, and began attending some activist get-togethers and protests as well as various parties. Said parties would sometimes include alcohol and weed, and while Fey was never much of a smoker she took quickly to drinking again to fit in, finding it helped her feel much looser and better in social environments. While Fey had known her mother had problems with alcohol, she also considered drinking to be just something people do, especially given her Irish-working class background, and never connected the dots that she might eventually have an issue. She never drank at home and almost always kept her drinking to parties and nights out, where she became known around school as a girl with an increasingly high tolerance as high school went on.

During the COVID pandemic, Fey stepped back some and was mostly housebound, but did manage to get out with her family’s blessing to some protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests, so long as she stayed away from anything violent. She also managed to sneak out to some parties under the guise of activist meetings, not wanting to lose the social gains she’d achieved over the previous year.

When in-person learning and American life returned more to normal in early 2021, Fey was excited to get back to being at school and joined in with other activist-minded students. When fellow student Natasha White formed the Vanguard, an official JEM activist group of sorts, Fey eagerly joined in, and while she wouldn't describe herself as a full-borne communist, she fit in well enough with the group's status as a loose collection of activist-oriented students who hang out together rather than a truly organized force. She’d also acquired a cousin’s ID, and given that she was tall and looked older than she was, began to be the one bringing drinks to parties rather than the one mooching off others. This both helped and hurt her in the eyes of others. To some at school, Fey was the life of the party, to others, she was someone trying way too hard to fit in, and someone who cared more about the social aspect of activism rather than any real details. It didn’t help that Fey was never much for debate or argument. While Fey claims her main passions are fair wages, basic income, and school violence and shootings, she also tends to agree with points without much prompting, and isn’t much for pushing too hard to persuade or convince others to actually join leftist causes. While these issues have been brought up, Fey usually gets defensive and sometimes sullen, usually agreeing to whatever someone says to get them off her back while privately dismissing them.

Fey doesn’t currently have plans for further general education after completing high school. Her grades are a fairly steady state of C’s and B’s, and while she could apply to community college, she thinks she’d rather look for an entry-level starting job in a restaurant and plan to head to culinary school eventually. She also has started planning out Celtic tattoo designs she hopes to start getting after she turns 18.

Advantages: Fey is tall and can be intimidating, and doesn’t back down easily. While not exactly charismatic, she has a knack for avoiding confrontation with people and, if not getting them on her side, at least getting them to drop the subject. Socially, she has a decent circle of acquaintances and few real enemies, with very few people having reason to hold deep enmity towards her. Fey likes to fit in, but doesn't have too many people she truly cares about and may not risk herself for the sake of others in a true life or death situation.
Disadvantages: Fey can be seen by some as a leech and a follower, and doesn’t have extremely close relationships with people as a result. She nurses grudges internally. Although she’s big, she’s not in the best of shape. Fey’s not an alcoholic, but is a binge drinker and won’t be able to use alcohol on the island to deal with stressful or hectic situations as she does in real life. She’s not much of a forward thinker or planner.

Designated Number: Student No. 123

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Designated Weapon: MMA gloves dipped in glue and broken glass

Conclusion: She's tall, she holds grudges, she seems like a scrapper! Enjoy the gloves! - Abby Soto