Between (9 page)

“
Gary, let’s go! Come on!” Mom bellowed at the top of her lungs, slamming the trunk shut. She climbed into the passenger seat and pulled down the visor mirror to check her lipstick. Dad came bumbling out the door, dressed in his usual weekend garb: stark white legs poking out under blue shorts, a Hawaiian print shirt flowing over his round belly. He walked to the car, muttering to himself.

“
Wallet, check. Keys, check. Phone, check. Sunglasses…” He stopped mid-stride, patting himself on the chest and thighs, then touched his hands to his head and found the missing item there.

“
Check.” He smiled and climbed in through the driver’s side door.

Taking Aiden’s hand, I led him into the backseat and made him climb in before me. “You go first. I want you to be able to see out the window.”

He hesitated. “I’ve never been inside one of these. Most of the ones I’ve seen before were crumpled like…” He stopped before he could finish with, “like the one you were in,” but we both knew what he’d started to say. I tried to lighten the mood.

“
It’s okay. Cars are kinda like horse-drawn carriages but without the horses. Don’t worry; nothing’s going to hurt me now,” I said with a reassuring smile.

My younger self leaped in next to me and slammed the door, then began dancing in the seat and fiddling with her iPod. I stared at her in amazement, seeing this reflection of myself in a way I’d never been able to before.

“
It’s so strange. I mean, I know that’s me when I was fourteen, but it’s so surreal to have her sitting there and me sitting here. And she doesn’t even know I’m watching her. Bizarre.”

“
Aye, it does take a while to get used to it. I remember the first time I cast a memory and saw myself. It was something of a shock.” He looked across the seat and a smile played across his face. “Still, I think she’s quite bonnie, even if she isn’t clothed decent.” I rolled my eyes, since we were essentially wearing the same thing.

“
What is that white string hanging from her ears?” he asked.

“
Oh, that’s for listening to music,” I began, but then Aiden jerked backward as the car engine suddenly roared to life beneath us. I put my arm out instinctively to steady him like he’d done to me in the horse carriage. We both realized what I’d done at the same time and he smiled.

“
I see what ye mean about it being alike.” Dad backed out and closed the garage door with the push of a button on the dash. Aiden’s eyes grew wide like he’d just seen a magic trick. “That door just shut by itself! Is there someone else inside the house?”

I opened my mouth to answer but was cut off when Mom switched on the radio and loud, thumping music flooded the car. Aiden startled at the unexpected sound and assumed a defensive position, his eyes darting around in confusion, not comprehending where it was coming from.

“
It’s all right,” I said. “I know you’re going to have lots of questions and I’ll answer every one, I promise. But maybe you should just sit back and enjoy the ride for now.” He nodded and made that familiar Scottish harrumph in his throat. We sped through the neighborhood with ease but ground to a halt when we hit the freeway.

“
Damn traffic. I swear it gets worse every year,” Dad groused.

“
And you complain about it every year. We could move closer to town like I told you before, but no, we won’t. So instead we just sit in traffic and I listen to you bitch about it.” Mom shook her head with an air of resigned irritation, and looked out the window. Dad glowered but didn’t say anything, his hands gripping the wheel.

“
I thought you were going to take me to a happy memory from your childhood,” Aiden said. “They don’t seem very happy to me.” My counterpart sat cheerily humming away with her earbuds in, oblivious to the tension in the front seat. Realization pressed down on me like a wet, heavy cloak.

“
I guess I just never paid attention to it. I didn’t know how unhappy they were until later.”

Aiden gazed out the window in awed silence and I tried to see the city through his eyes. Nearly everything around us would be completely foreign to him: planes in the sky, enormous cranes littering the cityscape for construction projects, streetlights, neon signs for restaurants, and gigantic photos of people pasted onto billboards. My mind whirled at how I might begin to explain it all. We drove past skyscrapers so tall we couldn’t see the top of them and accordion buses that were the length of four cars combined.

The monorail train cruised overhead on mammoth concrete pillars and people of every size, shape and color crossed the street in front of us. Some were taking pictures with digital cameras, others drinking from plastic fountain cups, but all of them new and different to Aiden. I glanced over at him, worried that it might be too much, thinking maybe I shouldn’t have brought him here. To my surprise, he seemed to be enjoying himself, his eyes scanning the city with interest as we drove.

Dad parked and we got out. I pointed up at the Space Needle excitedly. “See the windows that wrap around it? We’re going to ride up to the top and look out over the city. It’s amazing.” He shielded his eyes with one hand, squinting up at the top of the building shaped like an enormous pushpin.

“
Aye, if you say so.”

I took his hand as we crossed the street and made our way inside. Mom immediately got sucked into the gift shop, picking up all the little trinkets and thumbing through merchandise with the Space Needle logo.

“
Oh, for God’s sake, Elizabeth,” Dad barked. “We haven’t even been to the top yet and you already want to buy all the crap they sell. Come on.” He headed up the ramp with us trailing behind, until we came to the end of the line of customers waiting for their chance to ride to the top. Aiden shook his head in disapproval at two teenage girls wearing cut-off shorts and tight tank tops.

“
That’s not right. I cannot imagine their fathers know they’re strutting about so indecent. Or is that how whores dress now?”

I was shocked at first, but then laughed out loud. He straightened up, offended that I was laughing at him. “They’re not whores!” I said. “They’re just teenage girls, probably about my age, out enjoying the sunshine. That’s just what kids wear now. It’s no big deal.” It was a losing battle so I just shrugged and dropped it. The line crept slowly forward and I became acutely aware of my parents’ bickering as we waited. I gazed with longing at the younger me, wishing I could use the iPod myself to tune them out.

Aiden broke into my thoughts and asked, “I saw a building of some sort when we were standing outside. It was blue and copper and red, and it rolled like waves instead of having walls, but people were going into it through a door. What is that?”

My face lit up and I instantly recognized the EMP from his description. “That’s the Experience Music Project building and the Science Fiction Museum. I love the EMP because it’s all about music: listening to music, playing music, learning about music. There’s a huge tower of guitars in the center, and you can mix and record your own CD if you want. The Science Fiction Museum is pretty much about aliens and robots and make-believe monsters from comic books and movies.”

He stared at me blankly. I realized with chagrin that I hadn’t really clarified anything at all, but had actually said a bunch of gibberish to him.

“
All right, then. Truthfully, I don’t have to understand all of it. I’m just happy to be here with you.” We finally made it to the elevator and crowded in with a bunch of strangers for the ride to the top. The attendant spoke in a soothing voice, recounting the history of the Space Needle, explaining that the structure is 605 feet tall and that the glass elevator we were standing in travels at a speed of ten miles per hour or 800 feet per minute. The rest of the crowd seemed to be barely listening to her while Aiden hung on every word.

His face turned a little green while he stared out the glass panes of the elevator, but he looked excited, too. I felt a rush of pride in him for his willingness to experience something so radically new. Within seconds, we made it to the top and stepped onto the Observation Deck outside. Aiden’s jaw dropped as he gazed out over the expansive water, the snow-capped mountains and the city below. I pointed out areas of interest.

“
See that skinny line there with all the tiny cars moving across it like ants? That’s the road where we came in, where Dad was complaining about the traffic. And over there are the skyscrapers that were so tall we couldn’t see the tops of them. Now they look like children’s toys!”

Astonishment shone on his face. “You were right, my love. It is the most incredible view I have ever seen. It reminds me of the Five Sisters of Kintail, a mountain ridge near my home in Scotland.” He shook his head in wonder and then grinned at me with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I’ve always wondered how we must look to God as he watches over us from heaven, and now I know the truth. We look like ants.” I laughed out loud and hugged him close, breathing in the fresh air and Aiden’s warmth.

Dad put his arm around my look-alike. “So what do you think, kitten? Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

She gave him a silver smile, her mouth full of braces. “Yeah, it’s awesome. I looked through the telescope and you can see everything from here. There’s Alki Beach and Gas Works Park and some funky building that’s growing grass on the roof. Here, you try.” She pulled the telescope over for him to take a look and he bent down to take a peek.

“
You’re right, that is cool.” He stood up and leaned over the telescope with a strange, sad smile on his face. “Lindsey, pumpkin,” he said hesitantly. “I love you so much honey, no matter what. I hope you know that.”

She stared at him, forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Yeah, I know. I love you, too.” Her eyes searched his for the rest of the story, since his declaration seemed really random. He sighed and gave her a bear hug. “Dad! You’re squishing me!” she protested, squirming out of his grasp. He tickled her ribs and she giggled, grinning up at him. She held his hand as they walked around the rest of the deck, pointing things out to each other.

I watched them walk away, a new understanding heavy in my chest. “He knew it was over, with my mom, I mean. They didn’t get divorced for a few years after that, but he must have known it wasn’t going to last.” A tear slid down my cheek. Aiden drew me into his arms and his strength buoyed me. He didn’t say anything, but simply held me as I processed the emotions. The beautiful view and the sunlight on the water calmed my spirit.

“
I really wanted to share this with you,” I said, “because I remember it so fondly, this trip to the top of the Space Needle. But I didn’t realize how hard it would be to see my parents again.”

“
I know just what you mean,” he agreed. “I saw both of my brothers when I showed you my own death, and I hadn’t seen them since that day. It’s not easy. We don’t have to stay, if you want to go.”

“
No, there’s more I want to share with you from this day.”

Mom came around the corner, her face pinched in irritation. “There you are!” she said. “I swear I have been around this thing ten times trying to find you!”

Dad didn’t seem at all ruffled by her agitation, but looked boyishly happy holding onto the hand of fourteen-year-old me. We headed back to the car, Dad having somehow miraculously diverted Mom’s attention from the gift shop on the way out. He bought a cotton candy from a street vendor, which younger me messily picked apart with her fingers, getting pink threads of sugar everywhere.

“
Mmmm… I’ll have to cast some cotton candy sometime for you to try. It’s nothing but spun sugar, but it’s so yummy.” We barreled back into the car and drove the short distance along the waterfront to the aquarium. “You are going to love this place!” I was nearly hopping with excitement, pulling Aiden by the hand across the street. My enthusiasm made him laugh but he looked a little nervous, unsure of what to expect.

The large lobby area showcased a floor-to-ceiling glass wall of a fish tank. It was feeding time and a scuba diver floated in the tank, breathing from an oxygen tank and speaking through a microphone to the crowd as she tossed food to the fish. Aiden cocked his head to the side, obviously trying to make sense of the scene but not wanting to ask. The diver asked questions about the fish, and kids in the front row tried to outdo one another with raised hands to be the first to answer. Another employee stood by the side of the glass wall, speaking into a microphone that allowed both the crowd and the diver to hear the children’s answers.

“
Come on, there’s lots more to see,” I urged, dragging him by the hand. We entered the jellyfish circle and his eyes widened in wonder. A thick glass tube ran up from the floor over our heads and back down, filled with water and floating jellyfish. A neon light illuminated the tube, making the gelatinous orbs glow in fluorescent hues as they pulsed, moving gracefully through the water.

“
I don’t know what I’m looking at, but it’s very beautiful.”

Rather than take the time to explain, I moved on to the octopus tank, craning my neck to see where the creature was hidden. “Look! There he is!” I exclaimed.

He squinted at the glass, unsure of what he was supposed to be looking for. The octopus camouflaged itself to look like a piece of coral and was barely visible. A child in front of us knocked on the tank and the octopus suddenly changed to an angry red and swam away in a swirling mass of suctioned tentacles.

“
What the bloody hell?!” Aiden jerked upright and backed away from the tank, nearly knocking me over. I laughed at his unnerved expression and explained how an octopus can change colors, but he just frowned and shook his head, apparently convinced that the creature was freakishly unnatural. “I don’t like it,” he harrumphed. As we moved on, he warily kept one eye on the octopus like it was going to jump out of the tank at any second.