Completely in the Dark

“Alley Cat” echoes from a banquet hall at the Thunderbird Motel in Bloomington, Minn.

It’s a Tuesday night. Nov. 30, 1976, in fact.

Pan the camera from the hall to the lobby, all decked out with faux and authentic Native American artifacts, where a 17-year-old boy slouches on a sofa, brownish-blonde hair falling into his eyes, his arms crossed.

He stares at a TV, bored out of his mind.

His mother is still in the hall, watching an organ recital hosted by Bodine’s Music.

They’re having their somewhat regular mother-son cultural appreciation night out.

It’s going swell.

***

Three days after the post-church date with Linda, I told Kristi about Linda. She … didn’t take it well. That same afternoon my first driver’s license arrived, so it was bye-bye learner’s permit. With wheels at the ready, I called Linda on Thursday to see if she wanted to go a…