Torn to Pieces – Chapter 21 – Jackie finally talks about Kelly and Brenda and Dylan get some good advice
Casa Walsh – a few weeks later
'Okay, Donna, how does this look?' Brenda says as she holds up a piece of poster board.
'Oh, Bren, that looks great. Kelly is going to love it!' Donna says.
Brenda smiles and lays the poster down to put a few finishing touches on it. Jackie had told David that she was going to visit Kelly at the end of the week and to tell the group that she would take a few things with her.
Brenda and Donna had spent the last week putting together photos, scrap book pages, and writing letters for Kelly.
'Okay, I'm going to fold this up now. What else do we have to pack up?' Brenda asks as she rolls the poster.
'Okay, we have the page of Kelly's favorite quotes, pictures from graduation, a mixed tape with all of her favorite songs on it, and the book of letters that we've all written to her. Do you think that's enough?' Donna asks.
Brenda laughs out loud. 'Yeah, Don, I think that's enough.'
'Well, we better get going and drop this stuff off,' Donna says.
Brenda and Donna make their way down the stairs and are about to leave.
'Hey guys, where are you going?' Brandon asks.
'We're going over to Kelly's to drop this stuff off for Jackie to take with her. Did you have anything else you wanted to send?' Brenda asks.
'Nope, I think you got it all. Do you need me to go with you?' Brandon asks. He shows his concern plainly on his face.
'Brandon, Jackie can't hurt us. We'll be fine. We'll meet you guys at the Pit in an hour, okay?' Brenda says as they walk out of the door.
Donna drives over to Kelly's house. David is waiting outside on the front steps for them.
'Hi guys,' David says.
'Hey David, I think we got everything. Is Jackie still going to bring this stuff to Kelly, or did we just waste a whole lot of time?' Brenda asks.
'No, no, she said that she was going to and she hasn't said otherwise, so I still think she will.'
'Okay, good, because Kelly is going to love this stuff!' Donna says with excitement.
'David,' Brenda walks up and sits next to him, 'are you alright?'
'Not really, Bren. Jackie just told me that she's selling the house and that we have to move out of here in two weeks. I'm not really sure where I'm going to go,' David says sadly.
'Why is she selling the house?' Donna asks.
'I'm not sure, but I think she wants to move to a place that's a little smaller or something like that,' David says.
'Can you live with your Dad until school starts?' Brenda asks.
'Yeah, probably,' David says.
'I know it might not be the best thing in the world, but at least you'll have a place to sleep, right?' Donna asks.
'Yeah, I guess. Well, let's get this stuff inside and then get out of here, okay?' David says and gets up.
'Okay,' Brenda says as she exchanges a worried look with Donna.
They enter Kelly's house and walk into the kitchen. Jackie is sitting at the table feeding Erin and turns to look when they enter the room.
'Hello girls,' she says.
'Hi Jackie, we brought some things over for you to bring to Kelly when you see her. Thank you so much for agreeing to take them with you,' Brenda says sweetly.
Jackie lets out a deep breath. 'It's no problem, Brenda.' She pauses for a few seconds while looking at Brenda.
'Brenda, I just want to say that I'm sorry for my daughter's behavior. I never got to apologize to you or to Dylan. I'm very glad that you two were not hurt,' Jackie says.
'You don't have to apologize to me. I just wish that we could have seen this coming and stopped it before it got out of control,' Brenda says.
Jackie nods her head. 'I also want to say that I'm sorry for being distant and secretive. Kelly specifically asks me not to tell any of you where she was and I think I just took it too far by not telling you anything at all. I just wanted to let you guys know that Kelly is doing very well in therapy and that I think she may be starting to resemble the daughter I knew and the friend that you knew. She just needs some time away and I'm going to let her stay where she is for as long as she wants to,' Jackie explains.
'We understand. We just don't want her to think that we've forgotten about her or that we've moved on or anything. We think and talk about her every day. Please make sure that she knows that,' Donna speaks up.
'I will, Donna, I promise,' Jackie says.
'We're going to pick up Andrea and then head down to the Pit for a while, okay?' David says to Jackie.
'Okay, David, be careful.'
They walk back out to Donna's car and get in. She pulls away from Kelly's house and start driving toward Andrea's grandmother's house.
'Well, one good thing has come out of this, I guess,' Brenda says.
'What's that?' David asks.
'Jackie actually admitted to being a bitch about this whole thing. Let's hope that she keeps up with her end of the bargain.'
'Yeah,' Donna says sadly.
The Peach Pit
Brenda, Donna, David, and Andrea walk in to the Pit and over to an empty table.
'Okay, we need to shake this sullen mood right now. David, go put something upbeat and fun on the jukebox,' Andrea says.
David gets up and walks over to the jukebox.
'So, how'd it go?' Brandon asks as he walks up to the table.
'Not as bad as we thought it would. Jackie actually apologized and said that she would let Kelly know how much we think about her and miss her,' Donna says.
'Wow, that's great,' he says as they hear Chubby Checker belting out of the jukebox.
Dylan and Steve walk through the door and over to the table where they are all sitting.
Dylan immediately goes to sit next to Brenda and grabs her hand, pulls it to his lips and kisses it.
'You okay?' he whispers to her as Steve is keeping the attention of the rest of the group.
Brenda nods and produces a weak smile for him.
Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital, San Francisco
Jackie walks into the hospital and checks in. She gets in the elevator and rides it up to the sixth floor. She signs herself in at the desk and waits at one of the tables for the nurses to bring Kelly out of her room.
'Hi Mom,' she hears Kelly say. Jackie gets up and gives her daughter a hug.
'Hi sweetie, how are you today?' Jackie asks her.
'Fine, group was really good this morning and I have an appointment with Dr. Stuart later this afternoon,' Kelly says.
Jackie looks at her daughter. She smiles at her and caress the side of her face with her hand.
'Well, I have got to say that you look great, honey, even without makeup on,' Jackie says.
'Thanks, Mom,' Kelly says with a smile.
'Your friends bombarded me with things for you,' Jackie says and pulls out the bag of stuff from Brenda and Donna.
Kelly begins to pull things out of the bag and smiles. She opens the poster to see that it's covered in magazine cutouts of hot half-naked men and articles on the latest beauty tips.
She pulls out the pictures from graduation and looks through them with tears in her eyes.
'I wish I could have been there for graduation. I'm so mad at myself for missing it,' she says. She continues to flip through the pictures until she gets to the last one.
All of her friends were in the picture standing in front of the school holding a huge sign that read 'We love you and miss you, Kelly!'
'They really do ask about you every day, Kel,' Jackie says to her.
'Yeah, I'm sure they do,' Kelly says sincerely.
'So, what's the plan for you? Have you decided what you want to do?' Jackie asks her.
'Mom, I'm not ready to go back there. I'm going to talk to Dr. Stuart today, but from what she told me last time, they'd be willing to put me in the outpatient program,' Kelly says.
'That means you have to stay here in San Francisco, Kelly,' Jackie reminds her.
'I know, Mom. I think this is really helping me though. I have never felt better about myself than I do right now and I don't want to stop going to therapy until I figure the rest of this stuff out,' Kelly explains.
'Well, let's talk about how we're going to do that then,' Jackie says.
The Community Center
Dylan and Brenda walk into the Community Center for a session with Mike. They had decided together that with everything that they had learned about Kelly recently that maybe they needed to talk about it some more.
'Welcome back,' Mike says as Dylan and Brenda sit on the couch.
'Well, I have to say that you two look great, very healthy. How's this relationship progressing this time? Any issues thus far?' Mike asks them.
Dylan looks over at Brenda, takes her hand, and says, 'It's great. No issues. I've never felt better about us as I do right now.'
'Wow, that's quite a statement, Dylan,' Mike says.
'He's right. We're doing really well, talking to each other about what's going on, and not letting anything go by,' Brenda adds.
'Good, well, what would you guys like to talk about today?' Mike asks them.
'Kelly,' Brenda says. Mike nods and writes a few things down on his pad as she is talking.
'Jackie, Kelly's Mom, finally gave in and let us give her some things to take over to where Kelly is. Donna and I made a poster, put some pictures together and a few letters that everyone had written,' Brenda says.
'Kelly was only supposed to stay at the facility for 6 weeks, but she elected to stay for longer and is going to miss out on going to college with the rest of us,' she continues.
'Everyone's just kind of really depressed about the whole situation and it's bringing us down. We don't have all of the information and I think that is what's making everyone crazy,' Dylan adds.
'With everything that happened with you guys and Kelly, it's definitely understandable that she would want to stay in therapy for as long as possible. When a normally sane person realizes that they have done something so completely irrational, it rocks the entire core of who they are. It's not something that you can deal with easily or quickly,' Mike explains.
'I definitely understand the need for Kelly to want to see this thing through to the end, I think what I'm most afraid of is that depending on what Jackie actually tells her, that she'll think we don't love her anymore or miss her terribly,' Brenda says with tears in her eyes.
'I can't imagine how alone she must feel right now and without knowing if she actually knows that we're here to support her through this, is just nerve-racking and a little frustrating,' Brenda continues.
'I'm just going to go out on a limb here, but if Jackie was willing to finally bring good tidings from you guys to her, she'll know that you care and that you support her. You guys and the rest of your friends are going to have to find a way to miss her and remember her, but at the same time, get on with your lives. If she's making progress where she is, then she'll be out of there in no time at all and right back here with all of you. You need to give her the space and the freedom to get well and come back a whole person,' Mike says to them.
'Right, so is there anything we can do that will help us to get on with our lives easier? I think that's not only our problem but all of our friends too,' Dylan says.
'Brenda, I have a suggestion for you and maybe some of the other girls in your group. Start a conversation book for Kelly. Every time you think in your head something like 'Oh, I have to tell Kelly that' or 'If Kelly was here she would say,' write it down in the book as if she really was around. It may help get those thoughts out of your head, instead of just letting them bounce around and get cooped up in there,' Mike suggests.
'Okay, that sounds like something I can do,' Brenda says.
'As for the rest of your friends, maybe you should get together and really talk about how everyone feels about Kelly and the fact that she needs to be away right now. Come to some sort of conclusion or pact at the end of that conversation. If you as a group make a decision and stick to it, then it will cease to be an unresolved issue and will maybe help you guys enjoy your last summer before college,' Mike says.
Brenda and Dylan both nod at his suggestion.
Dylan's house
Brenda and Dylan sit on the couch in his house discussing how they are going to bring up Mike's suggestion to their friends and what the outcome of that might be.
'Bren, maybe we should just tell them straight up what he suggested and see what they think,' Dylan says.
'Yeah, maybe. I think we need to keep a close eye and Steve though. I'm not sure that he's going to want to let this go calmly,' she says.
'Well, he's going to have to deal with it sooner or later. The sooner he gets everything off of his chest, the better he's going to feel. I'm not sure if we can convey that without him biting our heads off, but it's worth a try,' Dylan says.
Brenda nods her agreement with him. She looks over at him and smiles.
'Maybe after we tell them and get through this, we should consider a group trip away from here. I just feel like I need to maybe we all need to just get away from all of this drama for a little bit,' she suggests.
'That's a great idea, Bren. If they all agree, that would be a good way to get closure on this whole thing,' he says and grabs her hand.
'How about we delay the inevitable for about an hour before we go down the beach club to meet them, huh?' she says and gets up off of the couch.
'You don't have to tell me twice,' he says and stands up. He wraps his arms around her and begins to kiss her.
She loses herself in his embrace for a few seconds, and then gently pushes him back down onto the couch. She straddles him, smiling. She puts her hands on the sides of his face and kisses him gently.
She feels his arms tighten around her waist as he pulls her as close to his body as he can get.