• val mayfield

biography.

VALERIE ROSE MAYFIELD WAS BORN TO SUSAN AND SAM MAYFIELD ON APRIL 12TH IN THE YEAR OF 1968 AS THEIR FIRST BORN CHILD. SHE WAS THEIR PERFECT LITTLE FLOWER BORN WITH A HEAD OF BEAUTIFUL AUBURN HAIR AND SHE WAS EVERYTHING THEY HAD EVER DREAMED. AS SOON AS SHE COULD WALK, VALERIE WAS OUTSIDE RUNNING AROUND AND GIGGLING HAPPILY AS THE SUN SHONE DOWN ON HER. DESPITE HER FAIR SKIN, SHE NEVER SEEMED TO BURN OR EVEN TAN AS MUCH AS SHE WAS OUT IN THE HOT CALIFORNIA SUN.THREE YEARS INTO HER HAPPY LIFE, ANOTHER DAUGHTER WAS BORN AND HER PARENTS NAMED HER MAXINE. FROM THE MOMENT THE YOUNG CHILD SET EYES ON HER SISTER, VALERIE WAS COMPLETELY IN LOVE. SHE NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE MAXINE’S SIDE, ALWAYS FIDDLING WITH HER TINY HANDS AND PLAYING WITH HER SOFT AUBURN HAIR. THERE WAS NO DISPUTE AS TO IF THE TWO WERE SISTERS AS MAXINE WAS BORN WITH THE SAME FULL HEAD OF GINGER LOCKS.ONCE MAXINE WAS ABLE TO WALK PROPERLY, VALERIE WOULD HOLD HER LITTLE HAND AND THEY WOULD RUN AROUND TOGETHER IN THE LOS ANGELES SUN. THE FAMILY WOULD OFTEN GO TO THE BEACH WHEN THE PARENTS WEREN’T WORKING AND VALERIE WASN’T IN SCHOOL WHICH THE TWO GIRLS DEARLY ENJOYED. THE TWO WERE INSEPARABLE, EVEN SHARING A ROOM WITH EACH OTHER. THERE WAS NEVER AN UNHAPPY MOMENT WITH THE SISTERS AROUND, GIGGLES FILLING ANY SPACE THEY WERE IN.VALERIE’S ENTIRE CHILDHOOD WAS FULL OF HAPPINESS AND LOVE OR, AT LEAST, THAT’S WHAT SHE THOUGHT. A MONTH OR SO AFTER HER 10TH BIRTHDAY IN 1978, SUSAN AND SAM SAT THEIR TWO LITTLE GIRLS DOWN WITH SOMBER EXPRESSION ON THEIR FACES. BEING THE OLDER OF THE TWO, VALERIE IMMEDIATELY CAUGHT ON THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG AND TEARS BEGAN TO ROLL DOWN HER CHEEKS AS THEY BROKE THE NEWS OF THEIR DIVORCE.THEY EXPLAINED TO THE SISTERS THAT THIS WOULDN’T BREAK THE TWO OF THEM UP AND BOTH OF THEM BELIEVED THEIR PARENTS AS ANY CHILD WOULD. SINCE MAXINE WASN’T DEEMED OLD ENOUGH BY THEM TO CHOOSE WHICH PARENT SHE WISHED TO LIVE WITH, SHE ENDED UP LIVING WITH THEIR MOTHER. THIS WASN’T THE CASE FOR VALERIE. SHE WAS GIVEN A CHOICE AND WITHOUT KNOWING THAT SHE WOULD BE SPLIT FROM HER BELOVED SISTER WITH HER DECISION, VALERIE CHOSE TO LIVE WITH THEIR FATHER.IT CAME THE DAY THAT SAM WAS TO MOVE OUT OF THEIR FAMILY HOME AND VALERIE HAD PACKED ALL OF HER THINGS PERFECTLY INTO BOXES. AS SHE EMERGED FROM HER ROOM, SHE NOTICED THAT IT WAS ONLY HER THINGS BEING REMOVED FROM THE RESIDENCE AND THE REALIZATION HIT HER LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN. THE 10 YEAR OLD RAN THROUGH THE HOUSE TO FIND HER SISTER AND BURST INTO TEARS AS SHE TOOK THE 7 YEAR OLD INTO A TIGHT HUG. SHE EXPLAINED TO HER SISTER THE BEST SHE COULD WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THE YOUNGER SOON BEGAN TO CRY AS WELL. THE TWO STAYED THAT WAY FOR AS LONG AS THEY COULD BEFORE THEIR NOW SEPARATED PARENTS CAME TO FIND THE TWO GIRLS AND PEELED MAXINE FROM VALERIE’S TIGHT GRIP.❝ VAL, DON’T LEAVE ME! ❞❝ I LOVE YOU, MAX! ❞WAS THE LAST THING HEARD AS THE ELDER SISTER WAS TAKEN FROM HER ONCE HAPPY HOME TO MOVE TO ANOTHER PART OF THE STATE WITH HER FATHER.IT WAS SAFE TO SAY THAT VAL WASN’T EXACTLY HAPPY WITH THE NEW ARRANGEMENTS SHE HAD FOUND HERSELF IN BUT UNBEKNOWNST TO HER, THEY WERE MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT HER SISTER WAS GOING THROUGH WITH THEIR NEW STEPFATHER AND STEPBROTHER. IT WAS RARE THAT VALERIE AND HER FATHER WOULD GO TO VISIT MAXINE’S HOUSE BUT IT WAS A COMMON OCCURRENCE FOR THE YOUNGER SISTER TO VISIT THE TWO IN THEIR NEW HOME. THE TWO GIRLS WERE STILL AS CLOSE AS THEY COULD BE DESPITE LIVING APART, CONSTANTLY ON THE PHONE TO EACH OTHER AFTER SCHOOL TO SEE HOW THE OTHER WAS DOING. THE TWO WOULD GO TO THE MOVIES TOGETHER MOST WEEKENDS AND THEY WERE ATTACHED AT THE HIP WHENEVER THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE EACH OTHER.A SPLIT CUSTODY AGREEMENT WAS TRIED WITH VALERIE SPENDING WEEKENDS WITH HER MOTHER, SISTER AND NEW STEPFAMILY BUT SHE DIDN’T GET ON WITH THEM VERY WELL AT ALL. BILLY WASN’T THE BEST STEPBROTHER TO HER AND HE WOULD OFTEN BE FOUND PULLING ON THE OLDER MAYFIELD’S HAIR OR TRYING TO PUSH HER AROUND. SHE DIDN’T TAKE IT THE WAY THAT MAX DID, SHE STOOD UP FOR HERSELF. THE BOY WAS ONLY A YEAR OLDER THAN HER SO SHE FELT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE WHENEVER HE GOT A BIT TOO FULL OF HIMSELF.NEIL AND SUSAN NOTICED THAT THE TWO WEREN’T EVER GOING TO GET ALONG SO THE DECISION WAS MADE FOR VALERIE TO LIVE WITH HER FATHER FULL TIME FROM THEN ON WHICH SHE WAS HAPPY WITH EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT MEANT SHE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SEE HER LITTLE SISTER AS OFTEN AS SHE’D LIKE.IT WASN’T LONG AFTER THAT WHEN THE DECISION FOR THE HARGROVES TO MOVE TO HAWKINS WAS MADE AND THE SISTERS WERE DRAGGED APART SEEMINGLY FOR GOOD THIS TIME. THIS CAUSED FOR VALERIE TO PUT ALL OF HER ENERGY INTO THE CHEER SQUAD AT HER HIGH SCHOOL THAT SHE HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF SINCE THE YEAR BEFORE WHEN SHE WAS A FRESHMAN. IF SHE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT HER SISTER HAD BEEN LITERALLY STOLEN FROM HER, SHE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SLIP INTO THE DARK DEPRESSION THAT WAS ALWAYS CREEPING AT THE BACK OF HER MIND.DESPITE HAVING LITERALLY NO IDEA WHAT WAS TRULY GOING ON IN THE SEEMINGLY QUIET TOWN THAT HER SISTER HAD MOVED TO, THE NEWS OF BILLY’S DEATH AND HER STEPFATHER LEAVING THEIR MOTHER REACHED VALERIE SOON AFTER IT HAPPENED. HER INITIAL REACTION WAS ONE OF RELIEF WHICH SHE IMMEDIATELY REGRETTED BUT THE TWO MEN HAD BEEN AWFUL TO HER FAMILY SO SHE WAS THANKFUL THAT THEY WERE FINALLY GONE FOR GOOD. HER SECOND REACTION WAS ONE OF PURE PROTECTIVENESS AND SHE KNEW THAT SHE COULDN’T STAY IN SAN DIEGO ANY LONGER.APPROACHING HER FATHER, VALERIE SAT HIM DOWN AND EXPLAINED THAT SHE WISHED TO MOVE TO HAWKINS TO BE WITH HER SISTER SO THAT SHE HAD SOMEONE TRUSTWORTHY TO TAKE CARE OF HER AS MAX HAD PREVIOUSLY INFORMED HER ELDER SISTER OF THEIR MOTHER’S ALCOHOLIC TENDENCIES. HE WAS UNDERSTANDABLY UPSET BY HER DECISION BUT SHE WAS GOING TO BE 18 THIS SCHOOL YEAR AND HE AGREED WITH HER ONCE HIS SADNESS HAD DISSOLVED A LITTLE.VAL DIDN’T INFORM HER SISTER OR MOTHER OF HER PLANS. MAX HAD GIVEN HER THE ADDRESS OF THEIR NEW TRAILER WHEN THEY HAD MOVED THERE IN CASE SHE EVER WANTED TO VISIT SO SHE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE HER NEW HOME WAS. SHE PACKED ALL OF HER ESSENTIALS INTO TWO SUITCASES, KISSED SAM GOODBYE AND GOT ONTO THE EARLIEST BUS TO INDIANA.

basics.

personality.