The trial had come and gone, as had the first major holiday without Louise. Halloween had technically been the first, but the family had spent that day locked in the apartment completely unaware that it was a holiday. Thanksgiving was the first they had acknowledged. The family had realized that it was now time to move on. Bob had finally decided to officially re-open the restaurant. While Tina and Gene were trying to get more involved with their peers once again.
Bob stood nervously outside the restaurant, shifting from foot to foot. Big Bob had run the place for months and while burgers were still the big item. He had mainly run the place like his diner. Today was the first time since the accident that it would truly be Bob's Burgers. Bob was ready this time. He was ready to get back to something close to his old life, but it was still going to be hard. There was a small part of him that wanted to run back to the apartment and hide in his bedroom, but he knew that would be the wrong thing to do.
"Should I make a "Grand Re-Re-Re-Re-Re Opening" sign?" Teddy offered.
"No" Bob replied.
"Yeah, sorry I was trying to be funny, but I guess this isn't a very funny situation." Teddy sighed.
"No Teddy it's OK. It just doesn't feel like a celebration this time." Bob clarified.
"I'm sorry" Teddy apologized.
"I want to get back to my old life. I want to stop being trapped in my grief, but I lost so much. Louise and Linda. Linda is still alive, but the way Gayle talks. The way she talks. I don't think Linda is going to make it much longer." Bob explained through tears.
"Still drinking, huh?" Teddy guessed.
"She's going through a case of wine a week and that's with vodka and whisky. Now she's abusing pills and… and heroine. Gayle is trying to get her help, but she doesn't have the emotional capacity for something like this, and Gloria and Al. They just don't care. They think Linda has earned the right to slowly kill herself." Bob explained.
"Gosh Bobby, I didn't know it had got so bad. I am sorry." Teddy apologized.
"It's hard not to blame myself. If I had just been nicer to Louise. If I had gone and got those stupid buns myself. Louise would be alive, and Linda would I mean she'd still like her wine, but she wouldn't be a raging alcoholic and drug addict." Bob cried.
"Well, it wasn't your fault." Teddy assured.
"God, I don't think I can do this. Maybe I should just sell this place and move closer to Linda." Bob sobbed.
"NO! Bobby! You have to take control! You have to get back in the restaurant! Louise loved this place! She wouldn't want you to give it up! And the apartment is the only home she ever knew! Don't take that away from Tina and Gene. Don't take that away from yourself!" Teddy barked.
"Yeah, you are right. I have to get back to what I loved." Bob agreed.
"Yeah" Teddy confirmed.
"It's just going to be hard doing it alone." Bob sighed.
"Bobby you aren't alone." Teddy whispered extending his hand.
"You certainly are not son." Big Bob agreed.
"Thanks guys." Bob replied. With one last sigh he took the hands of his father and best friend. Before walking into the restaurant for the first time in months. There was no right time but at least the trial was over, and he could finally focus solely on healing.
Tina took one final deep breath before entering the principal's office. Even though what she was about to suggest was absolutely essential and everybody in the school knew why it was dear to her heart. Could she really expect him to listen to a freshman? She was just a little baby who had missed a good chunk of the first semester of her freshman year. He had a million reasons to tune her out.
"You wanted to speak with me, Ms. Belcher?" Principal Fletcher asked.
"Yes, I um I would like to start a chapter of SADD here at Huxley High. As you know I lost my baby sister to a drunk and speeding driver. Who very easily could have killed me and my brother as well. I was surprised and disappointed to learn that we did not have a SADD chapter here. I would love to start one in memory of my sister, and I hopes of sparing other families the same grief that my family and myself are enduring." Tina explained with a trembling voice.
"We actually had a SADD chapter but the teacher who led the group retired a number of years ago. I take it as a personal failing that I did not look harder to find a replacement. If you would be willing to be the student leader. At least until we can form the club and elect an official president. I would be willing to search for a teacher to lead the group. That being said you have to be one hundred percent serious and willing to put in some hard work." Principal Fletcher explained.
"I would consider it an honor." Tina replied.
"Very well, Ms. Belcher. I am proud of you. I know from Mr. Frond and Principal Spoors just how shy you are and cannot imagine how difficult it must be for you to speak up like this. Especially after everything you have endured the past few months." Principal Fletcher replied.
It was lunchtime at Wagstaff, and Gene found himself scooting closer and closer to Damon. He was definitely in love for the first time. He looked deep into Damon's blue eyes. He loved this boy. Damon returned the gaze and smiled at him shyly. Gene's heart fluttered. Damon reached out and took his hand and for a moment Gene was in heaven.
"GENE! Guess what?!" Courtney cried.
"What?" Gene asked mildly annoyed.
"We are having a talent show! The school is having a talent show!" Courtney cried.
"We are?" Gene gasped.
"Yeah, it's um the Louise Belcher memorial talent show." Alex explained.
"The talent show is for Louise?" Gene asked.
"Uh Huh. Remember how we had that assembly a few weeks ago and the student body decided to make a memorial for Louise?" Courtney asked.
"Yeah" Gene replied.
"Well, the faculty decided that we need that a talent show would be a good way to raise money for it. We are also doing a bake sale and car wash!" Courtney cried.
"Oh, that's cool." Gene muttered.
"GENE! That is amazing! You should sing your song for Louise at it!" Damon cried.
"I don't know. It's not ready yet." Gene sighed.
"It's not until after Christmas break." Alex clarified.
"And it doesn't have to be perfect. Just from the heart." Damon reminded.
Linda sat alone in her parent's back yard shed. She tied the tourniquet around her arm and stuck the needle into her vein. She reached for the pill bottle and grabbed a handful. Which she swallowed down with a large gulp of vodka. She injected the needle again. Her heart was racing, and the room was spinning around her. She reached for the bottles but was only able to knock them onto herself. Before collapsing hard onto the floor. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she began to convulse. Her heart rate got faster and faster and then it stopped.
Gayle woke up with a start. She knew that something was very wrong. She looked across the room and to her chagrin Linda's bed was empty. The leapt out of bed and switched on the lights. Linda's bag was gone. A horrible feeling of terror washed over Gayle she raced around the house screaming Linda's name and flinging open every door.
"Gayle! What on Earth is going on?!" Gloria demanded.
"What with all the yelling?" Al yawned.
"I can't find Linda!" Gayle cried.
"Gayle! Linda is grieving her child and dealing with getting out of a terrible marriage! She just needs to clear her head!" Gloria cried.
"She is on drugs mom! She has shot up in front of you guys! And you know why she is banned from the grocery store! Stop denying it!" Gayle snapped.
"You are just unhappy because we are not dotting on you the way we used to!" Gloria snapped.
"You mean enabling! You guys enabled me my whole life and you conditioned Linda to do it! Now Linda is killing herself and I don't have the emotional capacity to handle her! Because it was easier for you guys to coddle me!" Gayle fired back.
"I didn't see you complaining when you were getting away with being unemployed with three cats!" Gloria hissed.
"I finally found a doctor who actually wanted to help!" Gayle shouted.
The shouting match continued until there was a knocking on the door. Gayle answered to find a police officer standing on the porch. Now her heart was really racing. Had something happened to Linda? Was she in jail? Was she dead?
"May I help you officer?" Gayle asked.
"We got a noise complaint." The cop replied.
"I am sorry. My sister is missing, and my parents are refusing to help." Gayle explained.
"What is your sister's name? age? How long has she been missing? Can you describe her and is she at risk?" The officer questioned.
"Linda Belcher she is forty-four years old. She has been gone at least an hour. She is five feet eleven inches tall. She is thin and frail. Her hair is grey, and her eyes are brown. Her face is red, and her eyes are sunken. She is in extreme danger. She is an alcoholic and a drug addict. She is self-destructive and suicidal since losing her daughter in September." Gayle explained.
"We will dispatch officers right away." The officer replied.
From inside Gloria and Al's house the shouting continued. Except now the cop was involved and trying to talk reason into Gloria and Al. Who continued to insist that Linda was fine, and everybody was overreacting.
"Mam, I don't feel comfortable leaving you here. Is there anywhere you can stay?" The officer asked.
"Yes, my ex-boyfriend Philip Frond is staying nearby." Gayle replied.
"Do you have his address?" The officer asked.
"No but I can call him." Gayle replied.
In the end the officer issued a stern warning to Gloria and Al. Before driving Gayle to Mr. Frond's aunt's house. Gayle waited on the porch nervously clutching her luggage. From the carriers her cats were crying. She stood there weeping. She just knew Linda was dead. She had failed her sister. Linda had spent her entire life taking care of her and she couldn't even take care of Linda for a few months.
"Gayle." Mr. Frond called.
"Thank you for letting me stay here, Philip." Gayle sniffed.
"It's no trouble at all and I am sure they will find Linda." Mr. Frond assured.
"I don't think we will Philip. Oh God, I failed her. So hard." Gayle sobbed.
"Gayle" Mr. Frond whispered pulling her into a hug.
It was four thirty in the morning when the police found Linda's body in the shed behind their home. Gayle leaned heavily into Mr. Frond's arms and wept. Gloria and Al were openly crying which made Gayle sick to her stomach. They had not cared when there was a chance to save Linda yet now that she was gone, they were out there weeping.
The moment the phone rang Bob knew it was going to be bad news. It was never good when the phone rang in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Still, he could not imagine the heartache that was about to befall their already devastated family.
"Hello?" Bob greeted with a yawn.
"Bob! It's Gayle!" Gayle cried.
"Gayle? What's going on? Are you OK?" Bob asked.
"Bob it's Linda. She…. She…. Bob… She's dead." Gayle stammered.
"What?!" Bob snapped even though he had been anticipating this call for months now.
"She's dead. It was an overdose. She was in our shed. It had been hours. She snuck out while I was asleep. Oh Bob, I am so sorry!" Gayle cried.
The rest of the phone call was a blur. Immediately after Bob had to deal with a call from a police officer down in Florida who asked him a million unpleasant questions. When that was finally over Bob sat alone on his bed. He knew he would have to tell the kids far too soon. Those poor children had already lost their sister and now their mother. It just didn't seem right. What was even more wrong. While Bob was absolutely devastated by the news. He felt a little relieved. As sick as that sounded. He was glad that Linda was dead.
"What's wrong, son?" Big Bob asked stepping into the room.
"Linda killed herself." Bob whispered saying those horrible words for the first time.