Solace & Rosanna

Solace was the fourth and final child born to Isolinda and Ace Tynan. To affirm their love, they had decided to give their baby a combination of their names. They were delighted when they realized that they had given her a name that actually meant support and comfort. And the baby Solace had been a comfort to them. They had wanted two boys and two girls and Solace had obligingly been born a girl. The running joke around the Tynan apartment was that Solace would be a comfort to her parents in their old age. Her siblings, Ace, Jr. “A.C., Robert “Robby” (named after Isolinda’s brother, Roberto), and Miranda “Mira” (named after Ace’s mother) were in various stages of marriage, divorce, and engagement, respectively.

Solace considered herself the bohemian of her family; and her family whole-heartedly agreed. Her father and older brother were pharmacists (or drug dealers as Solace loved to call them). They, however, were not as fond of this moniker as most people might imagine. Her brother Robby had dreams of becoming a great baseball player. To this end, he bounced around from one minor league to another. Solace teased him that he should try to sign up with the Mets. “They can’t do any worse! And you might even improve their performance at this point in the game.” Solace knew or cared nothing for baseball, but the school for the blind that she had attended used to drag them to Met games. When she was lucky, she was able to feign sickness and hang out with cute Nurse Baldwin. Her sister, Mira, was studying to become a nutritionist, hoping to land a job working for a “mega-celebrity” as she called them.

To the Tynan’s unspoken disappointment, none of their older children had proven to have an ounce of talent when it came to the performing arts. However, this did not deter Isolinda and Ace. They took them to see Broadway shows, plays, and concerts in the park so that they might at least gain an appreciation even if they had no inclination in pursuing the arts.

The first time Solace opened her mouth to sing, Isolinda began to cry. This was not an unusual response. She cried over any achievement of her children. Consequently, she was never seen without a clean handkerchief. Both Solace and Ace cried many private tears when they learned that Solace would be visually impaired. They sent her to public school from her first to eighth year and then she was sent to a school for the blind.

“Why are you sending me away?” Solace cried, even though she knew it was not cool to whine when you were thirteen years old.

“We’re not sending you away, Sollie.” Ace replied, holding his daughter’s trembling hand. His was shaking as well.

“Your guidance counselor says it’s the best thing for you right now.” Isolinda said as her handkerchief moved ceaselessly across her tear-stained face.

“She couldn’t guide a mouse to a piece of cheese. Why can’t I just go to public school?” Solace asked, becoming louder and more shrill.

“Calm down, Solace. I know it’s difficult for you to understand this now, and you won’t believe us either, but you will learn to get along as a blind person.” There. Ace had finally said it. He had tried to deny the truth for thirteen years, but it was time to face reality and maybe come to some kind of peace.

“And besides, Sollita. We checked and they have an excellent music program there. We wouldn’t send you somewhere that you wouldn’t like.” Isolinda choked on these words for deep in her heart of hearts she did not want to send her daughter away, but she and Ace had talked it over a thousand times and had come to this conclusion and it was all planned. But maybe the could… No.

“Please mama, daddy… Don’t send me away. I can be just like any other kid. Really.” Solace wailed.

“You know what, Sollie, you’re special.” Ace had tried to comfort her but Solace’s rapid-fire wit cut to the quick.

“I’m not special, like a…a retard,” she yelled.

“Solace!” Isolinda cried, “Don’t ever say that again.”

“Solace, you know we don’t say that word in this house,” Ace scolded.

“Well, that’s how I feel right now…like a freak who’s going to be shut away for years.”

“Solace, you're going to be picked up every day. You’re not going to miss anything.” Ace reminded her.

“But—“ Solace sniffled.

The summer seemed to have sprouted wings before the September Solace was to enter the Hampton School for the Blind. As any stubborn, rebellious teenager, she had made up her mind that she was not going to like anything about the place. Much to her chagrin, she would soon be changing her mind about Hamtune, as she would come to call it.

Being visually impaired in a sighted household and school had its advantages and drawbacks. Solace learned early on to play her “poor little blind girl” act when she wanted something from her teachers or to weasel her way out of homework assignments. They were such pushovers! This routine did not, however, work with her family. Her parents had seen Solace’s “PLBG” act and had warned her siblings not to be taken in by their cute little sister.

Unbeknownst to their parents, though, the Tynan children had worked out a system of bartering. Each child had a “best subject” and they rotated in doing each other’s homework. Solace did the math assignments, Mira, the writing Robby, the history and Ace, the science, of course. In order for Solace to do her fair share, the assignments were read to her or put on her trusty tape recorder. As they were only a year apart, this arrangement worked out fairly well until someone didn’t do the requested assignment on time.

At times, assignments were sabotaged when the two parties involved were feuding and since they had made a pact not to divulge their homework helper plot to their parents, all the offended individual could do was complain to any sibling who would listen.

In Solace’s first year at Hampton, she realized that she was not special after all. Everyone was blind. She found this turn of events both refreshing and frustrating. No more PLBG act. The teachers at Hampton assured the Freshmen during orientation that no pity could be sought or would be tolerated. Groans could be heard throughout the auditorium.

In Solace’s first year, she learned many skills that would benefit her in life, but the one skill which she prized among all others was learning to read Braille music as this allowed her access to her beloved music. She practiced incessantly. She had set her sights on becoming a vocal student and voice teacher and nothing would sway her from this goal. To that end, she drove her brothers and sisters to distraction, singing non-stop. They actually paid her not to sing. And, of course, she joined any musical production at Hampton.

It was in one of these productions, in her Junior year, that she met and fell (head first and body last) in love with a member of the cast—a lovely young lady named Lizette Johnson. This revelation turned Solace’s already dramatic world into full-blown hysterical status!

Solace was to play the lead in the Sound of Music. She was thrilled as this was one of her all-time favorite musicals, no matter how corny Ace and Robby thought it was. As the cast assembled in the auditorium for their first rehearsal and Mr. Cramer droned on about schedules and learning lines and music, Solace turned to hear what sounded to her like the most sexy voice she had ever heard. Who did it belong to and why hadn’t she heard it before? She later learned the dulcet tones had been created by a girl with shoulder-length, dark hair. Solace could not tell whether it was black or brown, but it did not matter. It was her voice that sent shivers through Solace’s entire body. That voice could coax the cream out of an Oreo cookie!

“Solace? Are you with us today?” asked Mr. Cramer sarcastically.

“I’m not quite sure,” Solace responded honestly, slowly coming out of her fog. Faint snickers could be heard from her cast members.

“Well, I know you’ll have this memorized in a week, but try to stay with us anyway, Ms. Tynan.” Mr. Cramer finished.

Usually Solace had no problem learning lines or music, but she found that she could not concentrate on any task without Lizette’s voice floating silkily through her head. And the times they had lines together were nearly impossible. Each time Lizette would recite a segment, Solace would stand there for a half a beat, mind completely focused on Lizette soft lips and the sounds emanating from them.

“Solace, are you feeling well today? Mr. Cramer asked in concern. He had directed Solace in several productions, and she had always exhibited nothing less than professionalism. Now, she seemed to be falling apart. “Solace?” he called again.

“Yes, Mr. Cramer?” Solace said without turning to face him.

“I asked if you were feeling all right. You have the next line.”

Solace could feel her face turn red as. She held up her bulky Braille script and checked her line and recited it.

“Well, that was about as believable as toast. Let’s take ten, folks.” Mr. Cramer called. The cast members relaxed and made their way backstage. Squeals could be heard as young blind boys “accidentally” bumped into the girls in front of them, attempting to grab an unsuspecting derriere.

Solace and Lizette made their way down the short flight of stage steps. Although Lizette was a year older than Solace, she looked much younger. She had confided to Solace that her parents babied her and would not allow her to do the terrific stuff she had learned in school and did not believe that she could lead an independent life. Solace had advised her that she should think about going away to college. She would live to regret that advice.

“Solace, come with me to the bathroom, okay?” Lizette said nonchalantly. She certainly did not have to ask twice. Solace would have followed her off the edge of the earth if she had asked. They made their way to a nearby rest room. They hadn’t been in the room five minutes before Lizette pulled Solace to her, placed her lips on hers and gave Solace her first real kiss.

“Is that my next action? I hope I got it right.” Lizette breathed.

“Yeah,” sighed Solace. That was all she could manage.

Lizette leaned in for another kiss, which Solace did not deny her. They wrapped their arms about each other and moaned softly. They were lost in young passion and only broke apart when they heard the wooden outer door of the bathroom squeak, signaling that someone was coming in. They rushed to separate stalls and stood there frozen. Solace pinched herself and let out a silent yelp.

“Solace? Are you in here?” called her friend, Maria.

“Uh, yeah! I’ll be right out, Maria!” Solace called back and flushed. She left the stall, washed her hands and blew Lizette a kiss in the direction where she knew Lizette was hiding. She left the bathroom thinking, Oh shit! What the hell do we do now? But she wore a huge smile.