The big
older Pontiac
sped along eating up mile upon mile of highway. The driver slouched indolently
behind the wheel, his left elbow resting comfortably on the car window fingers
steadying the wheel but not gripping it, tapping in time to the classic rock on
the radio. His right hand gripped the wheel at almost the top, but even that
grip was relaxed, almost lazy. His rich hazel eyes were hidden behind aviator
style sunglasses. He had a strong chin with a neatly trimmed goatee which
matched his equally neatly trimmed short black hair.
The highway he was on stretched the length of the
country, The Trans-Canada Highway, and he was driving west from the prairies
towards the West Coast. The Rocky Mountains
stretched before him, running north to south, like an impenetrable barrier. But
Evan Kirby knew better; the highway found its winding way through mountain
passes across the continental divide over several ranges ending in the Pacific Coastal Range
and the sea. There by the sea, on the great Fraser River Delta which two
million or more souls called home, lay Vancouver :
a port city, a crossroads of the world. But the draw there for Evan was the
rich and bountiful entertainment industry. Evan Kirby was a guitar player. He
had played with an assortment of bands in prairie towns and cities but, drawn
to classic rock and the new innovative sounds coming out of some of the west
coast studios, had decided to try his luck in Vancouver . After all, he had reasoned, the
weather's warmer there too.
The car was a cluttered mess and a Marshall amplifier took up more than half of
the back seat. Some fast food bags and beverage cups littered the floor. On the
seat beside him was a Calgary
newspaper, a copy of Guitarplayer Magazine and a couple of CD's. As the car
cruised further into the mountains the Calgary
radio station he had been listening to started to crackle and break up. Evan
steadied the wheel with a couple of fingers only and loaded a CD into the
player. The car was filled with the sound of Led Zepplin as he cruised through
the Banff National Park Gates.
Just west of the Banff
townsite there were a couple of hitchhikers along the road. The first two were
a grubby looking pair of men which Evan barely looked at. But his eyes were
drawn to the slim girlish figure standing alone clutching a small pack to her
side almost as though it were a teddy bear. The wind was blowing her long
straight blonde hair wildly from beneath her hat, a crocheted close-fitting
soft turquoise cap. She wore a pair of flared, faded and somewhat tattered blue
jeans and a shirt that was a tight fitting long sleeved soft knit fabric in a
darker turquoise than her hat with a dragon boldly painted across the front.
Evan whistled under his breath as he pulled over to pick her up. 'Geez, she's
just a kid.' he thought, 'They just get younger.'
She seemed to struggle to pull open the passenger door
and he was again struck by how young and fragile she looked. She put her bag on
the seat between them and managed a shy smile at him before her eyes slid
self-consciously to her hands in her lap. "Thanks." she said in a
near whisper.
Evan put the car back into gear and glanced over his
shoulder before accelerating back onto the highway. He glanced sidelong at his
passenger, wondering what she was running away from. "How far you
going?" he asked.
"Vancouver." she murmured softly, still only
one word.
Evan chuckled lightly to himself. "Great," he
told her, "I'm headed there too, you're in luck."
"Thanks." she whispered again.
Evan concentrated more on his driving now as the road
wound it's way through some of the most spectacular scenery on the continent,
the highway clung to mountainsides and traversed canyons and wound through
rocky valley floors. He cast occasional surrepetitious looks at the girl beside
him. She, for her part, was absolutely silent but her eyes watched the passing
scenery with something akin to reverence.
The Led Zepplin CD ended and Evan reached for the other
case on the seat beside him. He held it out towards the girl and she looked at
him with a question in her eyes.
"Put that on will ya." he said with a grin.
She glanced at the CD and smiled shyly. She fumbled a bit with the CD player
but managed to get Evan's CD in. The sounds of Treble Charger filled the car.
Though he was still watching the road, he smiled as he noticed that she was
tapping her feet in time to the music.
"You like?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said softly, another one-word
answer.
"Cool." he replied. "They're pretty good,
they rock, ya know? By the way, I'm Evan."
She glanced briefly at him and lapsed into silence, her
eyes again falling to study the papers and magazines between them. When a few
moments went by without a word from her, Evan tried again.
"I'm Evan." he repeated softly, "What's
your name, kid?"
Her fingers brushed the magazine cover nervously before
she finally spoke, "I'm Sky," she answered, "and I'm not a
kid."
He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as the
big car negotiated an especially tight turn with a dizzying drop off on his
left, but all the same he'd noticed her fingers had passed over a headline
which read The Sky is Crying - SRV Gone Ten Years as she had found a voice to
introduce herself. He smiled to himself.
"Okay Sky, pleased to meet you." he told her.
"So what takes you to Vancouver ?"
"You do." she said, with a sarcastic tone.
Evan laughed deeply and heartily. She had spirit and
spunk for sure, he thought, maybe after all she was old enough to be out on the
road. She laughed nervously too as though relieved he had not become angry at
her sarcasm.
The car sped on eating up miles of road. Past Field, BC
as they had passed from Alberta
to the most western province and through Golden. As they continued through the
valley between one mountain range and the next towards Revelstoke, Evan began
to feel hungry and tired. 'Time for a break,' he thought, then almost guiltily
he wondered how long it had been since Sky had eaten.
"We'll be in Revelstoke in about twenty
minutes," he told her, "I need to get gas, and I'm gonna grab a bite,
okay?"
"Okay," she said, still watching the ever
changing scenery as they sped along.
When he slid from the car at the gas station she clung
to her backpack and watched him with something akin to fear in her eyes. He
wondered again just what she was running from or perhaps it was running to. He
made a half-hearted effort to clean the highway dust and squished bugs off the
windshield and when he started on her side of the glass he waved and winked at
her through the window and was pleased when she relaxed a little and stuck out
her tongue at him.
He pulled into a twenty-four hour highway diner just
down the strip from the gas station and slid out of the car once more. Sky
hesitated. Evan leaned his six foot frame over to peer across the seat at her.
"You coming?" he asked.
She got out, still carrying her pack and followed him
into the diner, her shorter legs moving almost at a run to keep pace with his
long lazy strides. They were shown to a booth in a quiet corner of the almost
empty diner and the hostess poured Evan a mug of coffee then left to get the
glass of cola that Sky had requested. Evan stirred a couple of large spoons of
sugar into his black coffee and glanced through the menu. He watched as Sky
didn't offer to open her menu but instead idly toyed with the cutlery and paper
napkin. The hostess returned with the cola and Sky thanked her softly.
"You're welcome hon," the hostess said, then
turned towards Evan. "Your server will be with you in a moment."
He smiled up at her and nodded his thanks. As she walked
away he took a long swallow of the coffee. "Man, I needed that." he
chuckled. Sky smiled shyly at him and took a tiny sip from her cola, as though
trying to make it last a long time. He stretched his legs comfortably beneath
the table and leaned back lazily in the booth.
"Better eat now," he told her. "I'm not
planning on stopping except for gas between here and the coast, it's gonna be a
long night."
She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and toyed with
her straw. He was about to say more but decided against further comment as the
waitress approached with a pad in hand. He guessed, correctly, that she did not
have enough money to afford eating. 'I'm a sucker,' he thought wryly, 'But what
the hell.'
"Are you ready to order?" the young woman with
the pad asked with a tired smile.
"Yeah thanks," Ewan said. "We'll have two
cheeseburgers deluxe, with gravy for the fries."
"Alright Sir, thank you." she said, scribbling
quickly and picking up the menus. Sky stared open mouthed at him as the
waitress moved away. He grinned at her in mock shock.
"What? You do eat, don't you?" he asked.
"Evan, I can't pay for this." she told him.
"I'm kind of broke, you know?"
"Yeah, I kind of guessed, Sky." he answered
her. "It's my treat okay? No strings, don't worry. You look like you could
use a meal."
"Thank you." she murmured. She took another
sip of her cola and lowered her face away from his again. He watched her hand
as her fingertips brushed across her eyes and came away shiny with her liquid
tears. 'She's crying.' he marvelled. He stifled his first instinct to comfort
her and instead changed the subject.
"Glad you like Treble Charger," he said.
"There's a lotta cool stuff happening in music these days. I'm kinda
hoping I can get in with some players in Vancouver
and get a regular studio gig, ya know?"
"You're a musician?" she asked.
"Yeah, guitar player." he said "Figure
I'll get some work out there pretty easy. How 'bout you?"
She took another drink from her cola before replying.
"I'm going to join my boyfriend."
He considered that for a moment, wondering if her
parents knew she had up and run after some guy, and also, if the guy had any
idea she was on the way to join him. He drained his coffee and
caught the waitress with just a quick nod and smile for
a refill. As he sweetened the coffee once more, he tried to draw her out more.
"That's cool Sky." he smiled. "Bet he's
happy you're gonna join him. Musta been hard to be so far apart, huh?"
The waitress came back with their cheeseburgers and Sky
was silent until she had left again. Then, as she took her first bite of the
burger, she mumbled a barely audible answer.
"He don't know I'm coming exactly. But he'll be
happy to see me, I just know it."
Evan got the impression she was trying to convince
herself. He took her lead and started on his own burger, letting the conversation
slide for a while. In the light and face to face like this, Evan guessed she
could not be more than half his age, fifteen maybe sixteen. After getting half
way through his meal in silence, he took a long swallow of ice water and let
his curiousity find voice again.
"So, your boyfriend," he began tentatively,
"He go out to Van for work too?"
She eyed him as though she were considering one of those
sarcastic answers, but his soft hazel eyes met hers with nothing more than
kindness and concern. She dipped a fry into the gravy and watched the gravy
drip from it onto her plate as she spoke. "I don't know. He just split, ya
know?"
Evan nodded, "Yeah I remember what that was like.
When I was sixteen, I just split. Couldn't handle my parents and teachers
telling me what to do anymore. And there was this chick, well ya know, she
thought we was getting married or something. And hell, I was only sixteen. So I
just split." He reached for the other half of his burger, concentrating on
the food once again and letting his words sink in.
She ate her fries in silence for a while, her free hand
nervously playing with a long strand of her blonde hair. Finally, she took a
deep breath and looked away from him, out the window as she spoke, "It wasn't
like that. He's just confused and scared is all. He'll be so happy when I get
there. It'll be okay. After all, he's gonna be a daddy."
"Damn!" Evan exclaimed, all pretense of
deference gone as his shock was obvious. Sky moved uneasily in her seat, taking
a hold of her backpack as though she was going to simply run. He quickly
recovered some of his dispassionate tone and added with a kind smile,
"Congratulations that's awesome. Eat up girl, you're eating for two."
The waitress came by just then and refilled Evan's coffee mug for the third
time. She took Sky's now empty cola glass and asked her if she wanted more. He
quickly interrupted and ordered a glass of milk for the girl before she could
speak. Sky at first looked angrily at him but her face softened to a shy smile
before she spoke.
"Thank you, Evan." she said. "That would
be good for the baby. Ryan would take care of me like that, ya know?"
"Sure kid," Evan agreed, half heartedly. She
did not protest his choice of words. They both silently went back to eating.
Sky finished before him and excused herself to find the
ladies room. He was surprised that she left her pack with him at the table.
'Perhaps a gesture of trust.' he thought. As he finished his fries between sips
of the strong black coffee, he wondered what sort of home she had left behind
and whether she had even considered how she would bring a child up on the cruel
streets of a big city like Vancouver. His logic told him that she should be
going home, certainly her parents must be worried and, like any parents, though
they would be upset with her situation, they would help her. Sky's own
assessment of her boyfriend was probably quite correct too, he thought, the kid
had run because he was scared. Evan doubted that Sky's sudden appearance in
Vancouver would change that any.
She returned to the table just as he gulped down the
last of his coffee. He grinned at her, as he stood up, "Finish your milk,
I'm just gonna recycle this coffee. Then we'll get on the road." She
smiled gratefully up at him and took the milk glass in both hands as he turned
away.
When they got back to the car, he unlocked her door
first and held it for her as she settled herself back on the wide front seat.
He opened the trunk and pulled a blanket out. When he got into the car, he
draped the blanket across the back of the long front seat. He noticed she was
no longer clinging to her back pack but had left it on the seat between them.
He motioned to the glove compartment in front of her.
"There's some more CD's in there." You're in
charge of music, okay?"
"Okay." she giggled and quickly retrieved the
small stack of CD's. As he started the car and headed along the service road
back to the main highway, she was going through each CD, examining the covers.
She finally selected Red Hot Chili Peppers just as Evan put his foot down and
accelerated west again along the highway.
Evan relaxed into his comfortable driving posture as the
big car ate up the miles. Beside him, Sky continued to watch the scenery go by
but as the sun was setting quickly ahead of them the once sharp images were
becoming indistinct and the mountain peaks, once towering majestically over the
road, began to blend into the darkening sky behind them. Evan tapped his hands
in time to the music and resisted the urge to draw the girl into further
conversation. More than a half an hour had passed when she finally broke the
silence between them. "Evan?" she asked tentatively.
"Yah." he drawled lazily.
"If you were sixteen and your girl got pregnant,
you'd be pretty scared, huh?" she asked softly.
Evan's fingers briefly stopped their rhythmic tapping.
"Yeah baby, I'da been scared shitless."
"I know Ryan was scared." she conceded.
"But he tried to hide it, you know? Like he was all mad at me and all.
Then I heard from some of the kids that he'd split for the coast. And I got all
scared too, you know? Like maybe he was just mad at me."
Evan took a deep even breath before he answered her.
"It's a scary thing for both of you, Sky. That's a new life, a new person
growing inside of you now."
"Yeah, I know," she murmured. "I don't
know if Ryan can handle that, you know? We haven't known each other long. Like
we met at the roller rink where a lotta the kids hang out. And he was so great,
you know. And my girlfriends said, 'Like go for it, he's so good looking.' Then
he invited me to go to this party and, well, you know....." her voice
trailed off. Evan was struck by the irony that she couldn't bring herself to
tell him that she had gone to bed with this so-called boyfriend but now found
herself carrying his child. He made no comment, waiting for her to continue.
When she spoke again, her voice was choked with emotion and unshed tears.
"Now I've just gotta find him, you know? I can't do this alone. Damn, I'm
so scared."
Evan glanced sidelong at her, noting her hands were
clutched tightly together in her lap. The expected tears didn't come but her
face turned away from him and she stared out into the growing darkness. Evan
spoke, without taking his eyes from the highway, "Sky, you have every
right to be scared. But you gotta let that fear work for ya, baby. You've got a
baby coming now and that baby needs you. What;s best for your baby, Sky?
Running to Vancouver, where you might find this Ryan guy and he might help you
or not. That don't sound too good for you or your baby, ya know?"
"I know." she whispered, then sobbed almost
desperately, "But I can't go home now! Mom and Dad, don't even know I'm
pregnant. They'd kill me." When her tears came, they were silent.
Again Evan resisted his first urge to comfort her.
'God.' he thought, 'You're in way too deep here Evan, this is a kid, having a
baby!' He drove in silence as she cried herself out. Finally when she calmed a
bit he spoke again.
"Sky, I don't think you're giving your parents
enough credit. After all, girl, they raised you. And look at all the courage
and smarts you've got. To be out here at all took guts, girl. Maybe you should
think about telling them where you are, you know. And what's been going on.
Then just see what happens. You can call when we get down close to Vancouver,
then if you don't hear what you want, you don't have to do anything about it.
Just go on and look for Ryan. That's if you still think he wants to be
found."
She was silent for so long that Evan was unsure if he'd
gone too far. Finally, she sniffled a couple of times and turned from the
darkness towards him. "You really think it'd be okay? My parents, I
mean." she asked.
"Yeah baby," he assured her. "They'll be
upset, of course, but it'll be fine."
"I'll think about it, Evan. "Cause Ryan, ya
know, he's too scared I think." she said into a silence made more profound
by the fact that the CD had just ended. Evan smiled in the darkness.
Sky changed the CD again, sliding Goo Goo Dolls into the
player. Shortly after that, Evan noted that she had slipped into a far more
relaxed posture. Within a couple of miles, she had slumped over onto her
backpack which made a good pillow. He reached behind him and pulled the blanket
down from the back of the seat, spreading it across her sleeping form as best
he could. Evan hummed to himself as the big Pontiac continued eat up the miles,
winding down through the Fraser Canyon towards the coast.
Hours later, as Evan decelerated into a service road in
Abbotsford, Sky stirred beside him. She yawned, stretched and rubbed the sleep
from her eyes. When she sat upright, he saw her glancing around, trying to get
some bearings, the post midnight darkness combined with the nearby brightness
of street and neon lighting completely hid any landmarks from view and Evan
wondered if she would have recognized them in any case.
"We're in Abbotsford, sleepyhead." he told
her. "Almost there. Thought I'd stop for a coffee and maybe if you still
wanna make that call...." he trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.
"Umm Evan, I'd have to call collect." she said
softly. "I really didn't bring much with me."
He pulled in to an all night diner parking lot and
parked next to the building where a neon blue strip lit up a pay phone. He
turned to face her, reaching across the back seat for his jacket as he spoke,
"So call collect. I'm betting they won't mind much about a few bucks for a
phone call, just so they know their girl's okay, ya know?" Without waiting
for her response, he slid from the car and she watched his retreating form
enter the diner.
When he returned with a large styrofoam coffee cup in
his hand, she was standing shivering in front of the phone. Evan put the coffee
onto the roof of the big Pontiac and grabbed the blanket from the front seat.
She looked sidelong at him as he draped it round her shoulders and her hesitant
fingers picked up the receiver. He stepped a respectful distance away as she
placed the call, picking up the coffee and staring into the darkness. It took a
few moments for the operator to connect the call and she looked up at him with
fear in her pretty eyes. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and a
thumbs up from the hand not holding the coffee. Then her full attention went to
the phone and he knew he had gambled right and her parents had accepted the
call.
"Daddy," she said uncertainly. Then,
"Daddy I'm okay. I'm in Abbotsford." Another pause and then, "I
hitchhiked, I was looking for Ryan." She listened a long time and cast a
tear-filled glance at Evan. He nodded as positively as he could at her. At last
she spoke again, her voice shaking, "Daddy I have something to tell
you..." a short pause, then her words came in a sobbing rush, "I'm
pregnant. That's why I was looking for Ryan. And then Evan gave me a ride and
he said I should call you, and I ... " She looked directly at Evan now,
tears streaming again, but listening still. Finally she spoke again, "Evan
is a guitar player, he's going to work in recording studios in Vancouver, he...
No Daddy he's really been nice, he said to talk to you. Daddy, I wanna come
home." she finished plaintively. She listened for a long time then,
without warning, thrust the receiver towards Evan. At first he shook his head
in dismay, then he relented and took the phone.
"Hello?" he said hesitantly.
The voice on the other end was firm but not angry.
"I understand you picked up my daughter, Evan? That's right isn't it?
Evan?"
"Yes Sir, my name is Evan Kirby." he said
keeping his voice even and calm. "She kinda looked like she needed a friend.
I'm a sucker for strays, ya know?"
"Seems to me, young man, I owe you." the other
man said, "Meredith was lucky that it was you that picked her up and
convinced her to make this call."
Evan had looked in some surprise at Sky when her father
had mentioned her real name. The girl would always be Sky in his mind.
"She convinced herself, Sir. I just listened, ya know?"
"Don't call me Sir, Evan. The name's Geoff
Cavanaugh." Meredith's father told him. "I have a last favour to ask
of you, if you could see your way clear to drive my girl to the Vancouver
Airport? I'll see that a ticket home is waiting there for her."
"Yeah Mr. Cavanaugh, it'd be a pleasure." he
replied.
"Thank you, Mr. Kirby. I won't ever forget what you
did for her."
Neither Evan nor Sky spoke for much of the rest of the
drive into Vancouver. It was starting to get light and the city was grey and
somewhat somber under early morning cloud cover. Evan tuned the radio in to a
local Vancouver classic rock station. Beside him, Sky gazed around at
everything as though trying to memorize it; her first ever view of Vancouver.
He rapidly located the route through the city to the southside and the
International Airport.
"You don't have to come inside with me." she
told him half-heartedly.
Evan chuckled at her. "Of course I do, baby.
Completes the circle, ya know?" he parked the car, pocketed the key and
walked beside her to the terminal.
She picked up the ticket which her father had left for
her. With Evan protectively beside her, they found their way towards the
departures hallway. She stopped just short of the security clearance area and
looked up at her tall travelling companion. Tears filled her eyes once more.
"Evan, thank you." she whispered, solemnly
sticking out her small hand to shake his larger one. He winked at her and,
instead of taking her hand, opened both his arms and wrapped the slim girl in a
warm big brotherly hug.
"Thank you, sweet Sky." he crooned at her.
"Take care of yourself, kiddo. And take care of your baby, okay?"
He stepped back and she turned towards the gate. She
looked back over her shoulder, smiling through her tears, "Good bye
Evan," she called, "I'll look for you on MTV."
He grinned at her, blew her a kiss and called back.
"If it's a boy, Evan's a good strong name, ya know?"
She turned and was gone.
Thirty minutes later, Evan Kirby sat in front of the
viewing lounge windows in Vancouver International Airport and watched the 767
lift into the sky heading east. He took and long drink of yet another sweet
black coffee and ineffectually wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. He
arose, leaving the rest of his coffee where it sat, and strode quickly towards
the exit doors.
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