Linda had reappeared. “Well?”
“No, sweetie, I don’t have to go to work today.”
“Just remember, I don’t have to do what you say!”
David laughed. “And I don’t have to do what you say!”
Linda disappeared into Donna’s, well her, room. Lindsey finally appeared, but couldn’t eat. As the two were heading out the door, Linda reappeared.
“Will you be alright?”
“I’ll be fine.” Lindsey assured her.
Linda waved as David and Lindsey got into the car. At the hospital, Lindsey had a favor to ask.
“Please make sure that Linda gets to her summer math class.”
“Well, I was never very good at making any of you do anything. But I’ll remind her.”
Lindsey laughed and went in for her treatment.
As it turned out, Linda did a pretty good job getting to her class on her own. But she didn’t have much else to do.
“What about today?” Linda asked.
“What about it?”
“Do you have to work today?”
“No. Do you?”
Linda laughed. “I don’t have to work.”
“Me either.”
*********************************
Apparently, bedtime had been a point of contention between Linda and Lindsey. So this prompted another exchange with David. He was sitting on the couch watching a movie. It was about 10:00 pm, and this was Linda’s bedtime as Lindsey had determined it. But tonight, Linda appeared in the living room.
“What are you watching?”
“A movie.”
“I can see that. What movie?”
“Dracula.”
Then she threw herself on the couch, waiting for a reaction from David.
“It’s past 10,” she pointed out.
David looked at the clock. “So it is.”
“I’m not tired.”
“I’m not either.”
“I think I’ll just stay up and watch Dracula.”
David handed the bowl of popcorn to her.
“How long is the movie?”
“I think it ends at 11:30.”
“I’m going to watch the whole movie,” she declared.
“Ok, the ending is really cool.”
By about 10:30, Linda had rested her head on the side of the couch and fallen asleep. At 11:30, she stirred and woke up.
“Hey,” David said, “you missed the ending.”
Rubbing her eyes, she got up and headed down the hall.
The next morning, she overslept. Suddenly she rushed into the kitchen. David was seated at the table with his newspaper and coffee.
“Good morning, dear. There’s coffee.”
“I’ll be late for school!”
“That’s ok, I’ll call the school and tell them that you were watching Dracula and can’t make it today,” he said, picking up the phone.
“You can’t do that!” She grabbed the math book from the table and ran toward the door.
“Don’t tell mom!” Then the front door slammed.
“Ok, I won’t!” he yelled.
*******************************************
“You know your grandma was going to…”
“To what?”
Linda looked away. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you, but she was going to leave.”
“And go where?”
“Not that kind of leave. She was planning on committing suicide.”
Now Lisa had heard a lot of things about her grandma. But Linda never spoke to her about Lindsey’s life up until the band released their first album. Now that’s understandable. It wasn’t surprising that Lisa would be fascinated by her grandma’s career in the rock music world. The time before that never really came up, until that day.
Lisa stared at the picture again. “Grandma Lindsey was going to...” Linda cut her off.
“But she didn’t! And that’s all that matters.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“Well, she started staying at the house with the others. It was different after that.”
Lisa looked at Linda again and it seemed to her that Linda was thinking.
“But you said that things were different for you too,” Lisa said.
“Oh they were. Much different. So you see, honey, how things work out for the best.”
Then Linda stood up and walked over to the window. She stared out at the city.
“She said something else. It was years ago. And she only said it once. I haven’t thought about ’til now.”
“What did she say?”
“She lived in Phoenix then, you remember. One day I was talking to her on the phone. All of a sudden, she gave me his phone number. Then she reminded me that I hadn’t called him in a long time. She said I needed to call. She said…” Her voice trailed off and she looked out the window again. “She said she didn’t want him to feel alone.”
Lisa walked over and sat down in the chair. Then she set the photo on the small table beside her. “So what did you do?”
There was a long pause. Linda suddenly turned around and looked intently at her.
“What did you say?”
“What did you do?”
“Well, I…I…you have to understand, honey, people get so busy; there’s work, and then you and your brother came along. Soon there just isn’t enough time to do what needs to be done.”
The expression on Lisa’s face suddenly changed. “You did nothing?”
Linda’s hands began to tremble and she looked away. “I meant to...I really was going to...Mom never brought it up again. I was so busy that I just didn’t remember…”
Lisa turned the key over in her hand and then looked at Linda. “You forgot?”
Linda froze for a moment, just a moment. Then she wiped her eyes with her hand and walked toward the door.
“I can’t talk about this right now.”
***********************************
Lindsey gave him a home. Not the place of refuge where he had lived before. Now he lived in a place of good memories, a place free of all the demons of the past; a place where he belonged, and where life had not passed him by. The gift Lindsey gave to him, she gave to Linda too. Linda had shown him that life was driven by discovery, or better yet, rediscovery. After so many years, she helped him rediscover what it meant to be chosen. He couldn’t think of how he could possibly repay her.
Linda Torrence
Linda is the daughter of Lindsey Larson and Tyler Torrence. Her father was a saxophone player with a Jazz band called the Dixieland Fusion Players. This group traveled throughout the US and Europe, usually playing at smaller venues. Tyler also enjoyed showing up at performances put on by other Jazz bands and joining them for impromptu jam sessions. He finally formed a band called Tyler Torrence and the Jazz Kings. Lindsey meets Tyler at a club in London where Tyler is playing with another Jazz band touring Britain. As the conflict involving Nikki and Kerry is driving the band toward an imminent break-up during the final recording sessions for their fourth album, Lindsey finds herself escaping the tension by driving around London. One night, following an angry exchange with Courtney and Kerry at the recording studio, Lindsey walks into the club where Tyler is playing. He instantly recognizes her, and after striking up a conversation with her, he invites her to join him for a jam session. When she finally leaves to head back to her hotel, Tyler gives her a number where he can be reached.
Following the break up of the band, Lindsey hooks up with Tyler and joins the Jazz Kings as bass and piano player. The two become intimately involved and Linda is born not long afterward. Lindsey and Tyler quarrel incessantly about the future of the band and eventually she quits the Jazz Kings. She later becomes a software engineer, traveling around the country from one assignment to the next, and eventually settling down in Phoenix.
Linda never meets her father and Lindsey never hears from Tyler again. Linda doesn't like the constant travelling, a situation that leads to a strained relationship with her mother. When Lindsey becomes ill, she chooses to get treatment at the Rolling Hills Cancer Treatment center located 20 miles east of Westbridge. During her convalescence, she and Linda live with David and Linda soon forms a unique connection with him. Although she is initially angry and defiant, this slowly changes. Having long ago become adept at stirring up the anger of her mother, Linda finds in David someone she simply can not manipulate emotionally. So it is that Linda finds what she needs most...the same thing Lindsey had needed when she was young...not just a place, but a home. In the garden one evening, Lindsey shares something Linda has never known before: her relationship with her brother and how close she had come to ending her own life. Then she hands Linda an old key...the same key David had given her when she first moved into his house. It is only as Linda finishes school that she realizes just how close she has become to David. And for David, Linda represents renewal, renewal of his connection with Lindsey.
Linda has a daughter named Lisa. Soon after Lindsey passes on, Linda gives Lisa a small beat-up jewelry box that had belonged to her mother. In it is the only photo of Lindsey before the band became popular known to exist. It is a Polaroid snapshot of Lindsey and David sitting together on the concrete step by the kitchen door. Lisa also finds the old key that David had given to Lindsey and Lindsey had given to Linda. In the ensuing conversation, Linda finds herself confronting her own guilt about what she had neglected to do many years before.
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.”
“What did you do?”
“I remembered what David told me. And I thought about that for a while. Then I threw the pills away, and came through the gap in the fence,” she said, pointing at the fence again. “I knocked on the back door, and Courtney let me in. I went to her room and listened to music with her and Kerry. Later that evening, I came out here and sat on this swing. I sat here for awhile, and then David came out and sat next to me.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing at first; we just looked at the garden. And then he got up and said ‘I’m glad you’re still here.’”
“Wow,” Linda said, looking at her mother. “I’m glad too.”
“Then he said, ‘I have something for you.’”
“What was it?”
Lindsey reached into her pocket and pulled out a tarnished key, handing it to Linda.
“A key?” she asked in surprise.
“Yes, a key; a key to this house. Now I know you’ve always resented me for dragging you from place to place, never really feeling like you have a home. And that’s my fault. But I wanted you to be here with me now. You see I thought I had nowhere to go, and then I did. I had a place where I was always welcome. I hoped that you might feel a little of that here too. Randy was gone; but I had friends here.”
Linda handed the key back to Lindsey. “I guess it’s good to be here now,” she said. Then they sat looking out at the garden.
“Will you tell me about Randy?” Linda asked.
Lindsey reached over and put her arm around Linda’s shoulder and smiled at her.
“You would have liked him, Linda…”
**************************************
It was late afternoon when Lindsey’s flight arrived. She had called before she left to tell David that she had scheduled a treatment for late the following day. Getting off the plane, she wasn’t feeling well. Linda looked tired too, and not very happy to be there. They had to sit awhile at the baggage carousels to rest. Linda kept looking at David but didn’t say anything. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
“Don’t be rude Linda!”
David turned to Lindsey. “It’s alright. There’s plenty of time to talk.”
Finally getting home, he gave Lindsey his room. She objected, and said that she’d stay in the loft. David laughed.
“There’s no way you’re getting up and down from the loft; at least right now.”
Lindsey smiled. “You’re probably right.”
Linda looked at Lindsey. “What’s the loft?”
Lindsey and David laughed, and she went to rest. He looked over and saw Linda staring at him.
“Where do I stay?” she asked.
“Where do you want to stay?”
She began walking around the house. She walked down into the basement, and then down the hall.
“Here!” she said, walking into Donna’s old room.
The next morning she emerged from her room around 10:00. Lindsey was still asleep. She went into the kitchen and pulled a box of cereal out of the pantry.
“You’re almost out of cereal!” she hollered.
David was on the couch watching TV, when he suddenly sat up. “Where have I heard that before?” he wondered out loud.
Linda came into the living room and sat beside him. “What’s your job?” she asked.
David looked at her. “My what?”
“Your job; what’s your job?”
That was a funny thing. Nobody had ever asked him that before.
