Clement “Clem” Jarreau

 Name: Clement Jarreau
Nickname: “Clem”
Age: 70
Ethnicity: African American
Occupation: Owner of a rundown convenience store that sits at a crossroads—figuratively and literally
Current Status: Watcher, gatekeeper, and quiet historian of things best left forgotten 

Clem is the kind of man people avoid making eye contact with—but not because he’s loud. It’s the stillness that unnerves them.

He’s lean and wiry, but not weak—there’s strength in his slow but calculated moves. His skin is deep walnut brown, worn and weathered from decades under hard sun and more complicated truths. He wears a glass eye on the left, milky and unblinking, which makes his real eye—sharp, amber-brown, and intense—even more unsettling.

He usually wears a frayed flannel shirt, suspenders, and work boots older than some of the kids who come into his store. His salt-and-pepper beard is trimmed only by instinct, and his wide-brimmed hat rarely comes off, even indoors.

He sits like a man who's seen too much and survived all of it.

• Blunt & Observant – He won’t say much, but he’s clocked everything. He watches, listens, and stores truths like currency.
   
• Wise but Unforgiving – Clem carries old wisdom—but doesn’t extend mercy easily. If he helps you, it’s because he already knows how the story ends.
   
• Dark Humor – His jokes cut close to the bone. They aren’t always funny—but they’re always true.
   
• Loyal to the Right People – Clem doesn’t trust easily. But if he chooses you? He’ll protect you in ways no one else can.

• Survivor of the System – Clem knows what it’s like to be erased, forgotten, silenced. He didn’t just live through darkness—he made a deal with it.
   
• Haunted Loyalty – He once trusted the wrong person, which cost someone their life. He’s never forgiven himself. He never will.

none

Clem starts the story in shadows—content to watch the fire burn from the porch. But over time, he’s drawn in by Fara’s spirit, by the way she reminds him of someone he couldn’t save.

By the end, Clem makes peace with one truth:
You can’t outrun the past. But you can make sure it doesn’t swallow the next girl whole.