Free Road To Nowhere by Christopher Pike Page A

care. She was having her own affair with a building contractor.
    “You might think Candy was a fool to get involved with such a man and I don’t think that Candy would have argued with you. Her eyes were open. She knew where her affair was headed, which was nowhere. But she liked Henry, she really did. She may even have loved him, although not in the same way she had loved John. In her heart she had decided she was never going to love anyone as much as she loved John.
    “Strangely enough, the whole time Candy was with Henry, she drew very little. For one thing, if it was risky for her to take art classes before, it was doubly risky now. Henry couldn’t be seen with her on campus. Then there was the difference in their abilities. It was her talent that had caught his eye but when he was away from class, he later explained, he liked to forget drawing. Sure, he would comment on a drawing if she showed it to him. He would offer constructive criticism – things to do to improve. Yet he really did not encourage her. Maybe he was jealous. Maybe he was just trying to spare her a dead-end career. Berkeley had more starving artists than any other city in the world.
    “Summer break came. Candy stayed in Berkeley. She had tasted freedom and she didn’t want to have to live under her parents’ roof anymore. She got a job at a department store and one as a waitress – just to make ends meet. Her parents refused to send her money as long as she wasn’t taking classes. But she felt she needed a break from studying. She had managed to complete the second semester with a C average and hadn't dropped any more classes. She continued to see Henry. His wife went to Europe for the summer and she saw him more than ever. She even slept at his house a few times. Henry didn’t have any kids. He didn't think he ever wanted them. They were careful – they thought – and never had sex without using a condom. But condoms need to fail only once to fail altogether.
    “Candy got pregnant. School had restarted and Henry’s wife was back in town by the time Candy found out. She waited two months before telling Henry, or even checking for sure that she was expecting. She was in a classic denial mode. It couldn’t be happening to her, she thought. It would go away. She would wake up one morning and there wouldn’t be a foetus growing in her womb. But she wasn't stupid. She’d had a lot of experience with denial. She was a master at it, and knew all the signs. Finally she went to the campus doctor and had the bad news confirmed.
    “Candy told Henry while they were eating popcorn in the middle of a science-fiction movie about an alien spaceship that was really a part of the mind of God come to visit Earth to save everyone, even the wicked. Candy never did find out how the movie ended. Henry led her by the hand out of the theatre and asked her to please repeat what she had just said. He had heard her right the first time, the poor guy.
    “Henry wanted her to have an abortion. She agreed that would probably be best. He offered to pay for it, and she said OK to that, too. She didn’t have much money. He even offered to take her to the clinic. No, she replied. Too many people might see. Her thoughts were in chaos. She wasn’t trying to deceive Henry. She wanted to think about things a little more. But she didn’t tell him that. She just said she’d take care of things.
    “Candy took the next day off school and went to San Francisco – to the Golden Gate Bridge. For a long time she stood on the bridge with the boats passing beneath her and enjoyed the breeze lifting her hair and the salty tang of the ocean in her nose. She didn’t know why she had chosen that particular place to make such an important decision. Nothing happened on the bridge that helped her make up her mind. She received no sign from God. But when she stepped off the bridge she was clear about what she had to do. She felt it deep inside – an absolute conviction that she had