Advertisement T.C., 17, grew up with his mom in Chicago but has been spending this summer getting to know his father, who he hadn’t seen for four years before mid-June.
Since then, Torrence has shown T.C. his music — everything from Stevie Wonder to Red Hot Chili Peppers — helped him land a job at Red Lobster, where Torrence also works, and talked to him about mistakes he has made so T.C. can learn from them.
“I want to teach him how to be the best T.C. that he can be,” said Torrence, 44, while T.C. nodded and smiled.
“One of the reasons I’m glad he’s here is I wanted him to see a different way of living. I wanted him to see that not every time you’re walking down the street, somebody’s trying to sell you drugs. ... That you can walk down streets and not feel threatened.”
Torrence worries about the violence in T.C.’s South Side Chicago neighborhood.
T.C., who shares his father’s name, said it’s gotten worse since he was a kid.
“When I was little, we used to play in the fire hydrant and run around,” he said.
Now, it’s different.
“There shouldn’t be a limit to where you get to go, but there’s a limit,” he said. “You can’t walk around everywhere. You got to watch your back wherever you go.”
The violence, T.C. said, comes from drugs, hatred and people claiming blocks that aren’t theirs. He tells stories of standing on a sidewalk or in a park, and sprinting home when gunfire has broken out.
He finds more peace in La Crosse.
Torrence moved to La Crosse in 2001, five years after he and T.C.’s mom divorced.
His sister had come here first, and his mother, who Torrence and T.C. see almost daily, followed.
“Mom got kind of tired of the madness of Chicago,” Torrence said.
Torrence said where T.C. lives in Chicago is not really a bad neighborhood. It’s just that if you can only afford a certain amount of money for rent and the bills, there are certain places you’re going to end up living, and some of those places are nicer than others.
It’s going to be a sad day when T.C. takes Amtrak home Aug. 27, but Torrence said he’s going back to an excellent mother, whom T.C. misses.
“I’m going to do what I can do from up here in La Crosse to stay in his head and keep him focused,” Torrence said. “I’m praying for him. He has a whole community praying for him.”
And after T.C. finishes his junior year of high school in Chicago, he plans to move here to be with his dad, who has shown him, among other things, how to be independent and the value of getting to work early.
“When I walk or if I ride my bicycle through here, it’s quiet, and you don’t have to worry about watching your back,” T.C. said. “You can walk wherever you want.”
Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.
