TIME FOLLOWS ME

CHAPTER THIRTY POLUKAVILLE CHERRY TOP SERENADE

CHAPTER THIRTY

POLUKAVILLE CHERRY TOP SERENADE

In a few hours I was completely dry and I had no trouble getting out of the city. A family with a station wagon gave me a ride north. They were packed with luggage and two kids in the back seat, but made room for me. I talked to the kids, "What grade are you in?"

"Grade four", the first one said. And we chatted about sports and stuff.

Usually families would drive by at a real slow pace maybe fifty miles an hour so I could see the approach really well. I would make out the driver, usually male and the wife and kids. The kids would have their noses pressed against the glass and sometimes just for fun, I would make a funny face to them as they passed and they would be kind of surprised. Sometimes they would wave.

Well this family was the exception and they talked to me, "Where you going son?" They seemed pretty conservative and I wondered but didn't ask if there was some religious reason why they picked me up? I hadn't been told lately that I looked like Jesus but I knew the resemblance was there. Maybe they were just curious. Two curious people meeting in the middle of Polukaville and it was alright.

Crossed into the great state of Washington B.C. and felt as if I was at least near, a heart beat away from the border that had a familiar ring British Columbia. Made good time and kept picking up rides. Lots of small rides didn't amount to much but still I was happy to be moving, no long waits.

As sure as the sunrises it will set. It was getting dark, darkness blacked out everything accept the headlights on the road. Got let off outside some small built up area at a ramp that led back to the turnpike. I was not sure what I was going to do and didn't think I would be lucky enough to get a ride. Thought about looking for a place to turn in for the night.

Out of the darkness I noticed another guy with a pack approach me. He was hitchhiking too and had a dark beard, black curly hair and he looked a lot like Cat Stevens. When we said our hellos I said, " Does anyone say you look a lot like Cat Stevens?"

"Ya, they do, I play guitar to and just heading home to Tacoma. Been away for a weekend adventure."

"So do I. I know some Cat Stevens songs."

"Cool, far out.

Why don't we hitchhike together as probably no one is going to pick one of us up anyway?"

"Sure why not."

We walked down the ramp when we heard a loud beep behind us, then the unmistakable glow of a bright red revolving cherry top. The patrolman trained his side-mounted spotlight on us and then got out of the car.

"What you guys doing here? Let me see some I.D."

Cat and I got out our wallets and passed over some I.D.

"You're O.K," he said to Cat.

"From Canada are you? You know you're not allowed to hitchhike on the freeways boy. If you were any younger 16, I would have to put you in jail, you hear?"

"Yes sir, but we were on the ramp not the freeway."

"Mind you stay on it too."

He gave back our I.D. and Cat and I kinda laughed at our close call with the law.

We had been out for a while and were still about forty miles from Tacoma. Cat says, "Enough of this."

We walked back to the crossroads where there was one streetlight and under it a pay phone. He put in a few quarters and dialed a number. After talking briefly and smiling this mischievous grin he had, he said, "I called Karen my girlfriend and she's going to drive out and pick us up. You'll really dig her, she's so cool."

Sure enough, in less than an hour Karen arrived and gave Cat a big hug and said hi to me. I rode in the back seat with the two of them in front making all "lovey-dovey" talk. We laughed as we recalled the story of the Cherry Top.