MARIGOLD // Dave Grohl

III. Hello / Goodbye

Seattle, WA

April 10, 1994

Part I

Sarah's cab pulled up to the front entrance to the Unity Church of Truth, and the doors were propped open. She stepped out of the cab, adjusting her black dress and fixing her hair before walking through those two doors, expecting all hell to break loose.

The first person she saw when she entered the church lobby was Kurt's mom, Wendy. She was talking to Kimberly, his younger sister, who had tears in her eyes. Kim glanced up and saw Sarah, immediately pointing over to her, and Sarah watched as Wendy swiveled around and rushed over to hug her.

"Oh sweet Sarah, thank you so much for coming," Wendy spoke softly, and Sarah was able to eventually bring herself to hug Wendy back. "I know you meant so much to him. He probably meant a lot to you, too."

"Yeah, Mrs. O'Connor, he--"

"Oh, please love, call me Wendy. You and James have been a part of this family for years," Wendy insisted, finally pulling away, keeping her hands on Sarah's shoulders. "It's been so long since I've seen you last. It seems like it was just yesterday that Kurt came to family dinner and told us how you traveled across the country to study art. He was so proud."

"I've always felt guilty for leaving," Sarah admitted, and Wendy trapped her in a hug again.

"Nonsense!" she exclaimed. "You were pursuing your dreams! And Kurt would never stop bragging about how his best friend got herself to and through college by herself. That's ambition, sweetheart."

"Thank you," Sarah said, and Wendy pulled away once again, wishing her the best before moving on to greet the next guest. There were a good 200 people there. James and Krist were talking, Kim was talking with Tracy Marander, and even Donald Cobain was there, sitting alone in a pew. Dave was nowhere to be found.

"Oh my fucking god, Sarah, you made it!" Sarah heard a shrill voice call her out of nowhere, and she could barely turn around before Courtney nearly knocked her over. At nearly 5'9", Courtney towered over Sarah by four inches. Plus platform heels.

"Babe, I'm so sorry for your loss," Courtney said, taking Sarah's hands in hers. What the fuck? "He never stopped talking about you, even after you disappeared off the face of the earth. Where did you go? He didn't hear from you for years!"

That's because you fucking cut him off from all forms of communication! I was there the whole goddamn time! Sarah screamed in her head, ready to release those same words in real life, but she bit her tongue. This was Courtney Love.

"I went to New York to pursue art and we just lost contact, I guess," Sarah opted for this statement instead. She didn't want to start any trouble. Courtney nodded, taking this information in before handing Sarah a CD from a basket she was holding on her left side. Sarah held it up to see the cover, and it was a picture of Courtney with a full face of makeup and hot-rolled hair, holding a bouquet of flowers. The title was in the top right corner: Live Through This.

"It's Hole's next album. Each attendee gets a pre-release version of the record," Courtney explained to Sarah as if she were five, and Sarah just stared. Courtney was not showing any signs of grief. She was fucking promoting her album at her husband's memorial service. So much for morals. Courtney surely didn't have any.

"Thanks," Sarah said, and Courtney winked in approval, turning around on her heel. A few steps into walking away, she turned back to Sarah, jabbing her finger in front of Sarah's face. "If you say anything to Grohl about this, I will find out, and I will kill you."

Jeeeeesus.

Courtney stomped away again, and James took that window to approach Sarah. "What did she have to say?" he whispered. Sarah flashed the album in front of James, beaming with sarcasm.

"I got a pre-release copy of Live Through This! Aren't we all so lucky?" she remarked, and James chuckled.

"That's Courtney for you."

"Yeah, well, I don't like it, I want to return it."

"We all do, Sarah, trust me. But Kurt loved her. For some reason. And if we're part of Kurt's family, Courtney's part of ours, too."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Then count me out. Where's Dave, anyway? He's the only one I haven't seen."

"Wasn't invited, I'm assuming," James admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets, visually uncomfortable and lowering his voice into a whisper. "He and Courtney have a shit ton of unresolved beef between them. And Kurt's death made things, like, ninety-nine percent worse because he thinks Courtney killed him."

"She what?!" Sarah yelled, and James moved his hand over her mouth quickly.

"Shut the fuck up! Do you want to get us killed, too?" James whisper-yelled, bringing Sarah back to Earth. "Krist was saying Dave is off his rocker and thinks either Courtney killed him or had someone kill him. But here's this P.I. named Tom Grant who's doing an investigation and has some pretty convincing evidence."

"I'm not talking about this," Sarah waved her hands in an attempt to clear her mind. "I can't talk about this."

Thankfully, the bells began to ring in the sanctuary, signaling for everyone to sit down in their respective pews. The Austins sat down next to the Cobains, and the service began.