David pointed to a run-down station wagon parked in the street in front of the house.

“I take it that’s Lindsey’s car.”
Kerry looked at him. “Of course.”
David looked at Kerry. “Why’s Lindsey here?”
Courtney nudged Kerry out of the way. “She plays bass.”
“Yeah, I got that part.”
Kerry looked at the ground. “I think she should crash over this weekend.”
“Why?”
“To practice,” Courtney said.
Kerry pushed her. “It’s called rehearsing, shithead!”
David looked at Kerry. “I think there’s more to it than that.”
Kerry kicked at the ground. “There is.”
“Well, it can’t hurt to crash for the weekend.”
Courtney jumped up. “She knows the rules! Kerry told her.”

The three of them went back into the house. Lindsey looked rather nervous. David could tell that she didn’t want to go back to her parents’ house. She had a little bit of that look Kerry had before she found out that she could stay. David sat on the couch across from Lindsey.

“Ok,” he said, “Play!”
Lindsey looked confused. “Me?”
“You’re the bassist…play bass!”
“Play what?”
“Jam!”

There was a moment of silence, and then she began to play. David expected to hear her make a bunch of noise. But she didn’t. She could really play, and David was impressed. She stopped about 15 minutes later.

She looked at the floor. “Did that suck?”
David smiled at her. “That definitely did not suck.”
Lindsey got a big smile on her face. “Is it ok to crash?”

“So what do you see?”
Lindsey stopped again, and turned to face Courtney.

“All kinds of things. Sometimes it’s different, but some things are always the same. It’s a lot better though.”

Courtney shook her head. “Than what?”
Lindsey began walking. “Than here.”
“I guess so,” Courtney mumbled.
Lindsey pushed her. “You should try to remember your dreams.”
“Why?” Courtney asked.

“Because you have to be some place, and dreams are a pretty good place to be.”

Lindsey Larson: Bass Guitar

Sister of Randy Larson, Tammy Hedrick's sort-of boyfriend. Forgotten by her parents and haunted by the disappearance of her brother. Lindsey and Tammy begin to jam together in Aunt Elizabeth's basement. Before long, Lindsey searches for a band and one day meets Courtney and Kerry in gym class. Lindsey joins the fledgling band, and then brings Tammy in as second guitar player. She eventually moves into David's house, sleeping in the loft David built over the garage many years before. She seeks what she lost in dreams, only to realize later in life that she could move on. Ultimately, she finds what she needs most in the person and house of David. She later brings her daughter Linda into this world she knew when she was young to fulfill the same need. She remains famous as a critically-acclaimed hard-rock bassist after the band dissolves.

Lindsey paused as she began to cry again. Linda did too, but she wiped her eyes and tried to hide it.

“My mom said Randy would never call again. She said he didn’t give a shit about us. I told her that he cared about me.”

“And?”
“And she said that he didn’t give a shit about me either.”
“But that’s not true!” Linda yelled out.
“Back then, it was hard to tell. I thought that maybe…”
“Maybe what?”

“That she was right.” Lindsey wiped tears from her eyes again. Linda looked away.

“So I decided that I had enough, and just couldn’t deal with it anymore. So I walked to school, and sat out back of the science building.”

She pointed to the back fence. “The old high school was just on the other side of that fence; well, I mean the back of the science building was. I bought some pills from a guy at school and decided that it was time.”

The meaning of Lindsey’s words fully struck Linda, who became quite agitated.

“You mean you were going to kill yourself?” she asked in astonishment.

Lindsey looked at Linda. “Yes, yes I was. And as I sat there trying to work up the guts to do it…I saw it.”

“Saw what?” Linda called out impatiently.
“I could see light just over the top of the fence.”
“What light?”
“The light from this house.”