AUGUST, 1993, SEATTLE, WA
OF ALL THE shocking things that had happened to Lindy over the course of the last several years, she could have narrowed down the most shocking moment of all to be the precise hour that Kimberly Cobain showed up knocking at her front door.
"Holy shit," were the first words out of Lindy's mouth when she answered to the knock, taking in the sight of a tiredly smiling Kim standing on her door mat.
"Hi Lindy," Kim said naturally. "Do you remember me?"
"Of-of course!" Lindy stammered, unable to believe that Kim was asking her this question. Although radically different in many ways, she could see the traces of similarities in Kurt and Kim's faces and would have never had a problem identifying them as siblings. Next to that, she had never forgotten the pictures that Kurt had showed her of Kim and the few spare times that they had spent together in person.
"Come in," Lindy beckoned, stepping aside so that Kim could enter.
I'm in the twilight zone, Lindy thought as Kim stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed and her eyes wandering.
How many damn times was a Cobain going to randomly arrive unannounced at her apartment?
"I would have called, but I forgot to ask Krist for your number," Kim explained apologetically, as if reading Lindy's mind. The smile on her face was pleasant and friendly.
"Oh, don't worry about. I'm used to Krist just giving out my address at this point," Lindy said dismissively, though her inner voice was insisting that a phone call may have been appreciated. She was still in her work scrubs and her hair was hanging in a loose ponytail, tendrils cascading around her face. And there was the small, little reminder prodding at her that she hadn't seen Kim in years.
"Well, I guess I don't have to ask if my brother's been here," Kim laughed. She waved her hand towards the couch, where one of Kurt's easily recognizable flannels lay rumpled across the cushions. Lindy had been wearing it the night before in place of a sleep shirt.
She blushed crimson. "About that . . . I know it's all crazy . . ."
"It's more than crazy," Kim reiterated. "It's absolutely fucking insane."
"Right," Lindy said, ducking her head so that Kim could not see how embarrassed she was.
"I don't mean you and my brother's relationship. I mean the fact that he's going to die from all the heroin he's doing."
Lindy's head snapped up as soon as Kim uttered the word 'heroin.'
"I've been trying so hard to get him to stop," Lindy admitted in a strained whisper. Kim walked forward, reassuringly touching her hand to Lindy's arm.
"I know you have. Krist told me all about it. My mom and I have been wearing ourselves thin trying to come up with ideas on how to stop this madness. She suggested we reach out to you and get you to talk to him. Mom seemed to think that bringing you back into his life would snap him out of it."
"Wrong," Lindy muttered. Kim laughed, but she sounded sad.
"You can imagine our surprise when we called Krist and he confessed to us that Kurt had been secretly seeing you for months now. We didn't believe it for a second there, but after awhile, we did."
"It's because he's so damn reckless," Lindy reasoned uneasily, feeling guilty that Kurt's family members had now been dragged into the disarray.
"Oh, it's got to do a little with that. But I was thinking more along the lines of how he's always been in love with you. Next to Bean, you're the only person that I've ever seen him love so much."
