I drank my last cup of warm coffee on one of those lonely Sunday nights and waited for a couple of customers before going home. Usually, I would be at home by now, but my friend’s mother went through a rough surgery. He asked me to use his taxi overtime for a couple of weeks or so before he could go back to his life. I didn't want to make him sad even further. I accepted his request, plus I offered to give half of what I earned, which made him even happier. But, compared to him, I couldn’t grow to like these night owls.
From college girls who smell like alcohol and vomit shouting at each other, losers who complain about everything while smoking weed, or shady people who look like sex offenders, I listened to all of them. I never thought about my job tiring me this much in such a short time. I have been a cab driver for years, but listening to people blabbering about useless things half-awake took a toll on my mental health. Every night I wondered how my friend didn’t go insane from listening to the tenth girl babbling about a boy dumping him after a hookup. I couldn’t bear it anymore.
I felt happier that day as the rain poured out of the sky like a glass of water. Sure, less customer means less money, but I couldn’t care less. I got a sandwich and two cups of coffee to keep me awake until 2 AM. Since I did not get a customer for an hour, I decided to dust off to home and have a good sleep. I called my friend to see how he had been holding up, and he said his mom got better and he would take the cab tomorrow. In a way, I felt relieved not only for his mother but also for myself. If I spent another night cleaning the seats of dried vomit, one of those idiots would feel my wrath.
As I finished my second cup of coffee and drove to head home, a lady with a fedora and a suit waved her hand to me in front of a bar. I wanted to head home, but the idea of putting my friend down so I could sleep another hour didn’t sit right with me. I stopped next to her, and she sat next to me, which was something I rarely saw. I couldn’t help but blush as her vanilla perfume mixed with the smell of rain cleansed my body. I concurred that she must’ve been from a rich family who hung around bars because she seemed careless. She had no signs of anger or sadness wearing down her face as if I found an angel in the wild. She put her suitcase in the back after she cleaned it with her hand.
“Hello, sir. I forgot to get an umbrella so excuse me for ruining the seats.”
“Oh please, don’t worry about it, ma’am. As long as it is water, it is fine by me.”
“I am glad to hear that.”
I drove the car to the endless maze of the city as the rain softened.
“Where would you like to go, ma’am,” I inquired.
She waved the fedora and fixed her hair from the mirror.
“I don’t know this city, so I will tell you where to go from the GPS.”
Feeling more energized, I nodded and drove inside the city. I’ve had customers like this once in a while, and they paid a good amount of tip. She gave me the directions, and we chatted along the way.
“I noticed that you are quite tired. Are you working all night?”
“Not at all, my friend has a sick mother so I take care of his cab as well. He told me she got better so I am glad for him.”
“I am glad she got better. It must be rough to manage both cars at the same.”
I chuckled and turned right. “Oh, for sure! You don’t know how many times I had to clean coffee and vomit from the seats. I am so exhausted these days.”
“Think about how your friend is grateful to you. It goes a long way to do things and leave it at that.”
I gave a short answer, and she didn’t talk to me further. We both watched the rain and the illustrious signs that bloomed from each corner of the streets. After driving for half an hour, she told me to stop the car.
“I will deliver this suitcase to someone, wait here until I come back, please.”
Except, she ran without the suitcase. I shouted to bring her attention, but she raced like a rabbit. If I had seen where she went, I could bring the suitcase to her, however, she disappeared into the alleys. Instead of doing anything useful, I sat down in my seat and grumbled. From the mirror, I noticed that the suitcase was open the whole time. It piqued my interest and I checked it, just to see hundreds of thousands of dollars with my own eyes. I have never seen this much money before in my life. Countless thoughts rushed to my head about how should I run away with this, or bring it to the police. I knew how to control myself, however, and put the suitcase back where she sat. It took a lot of restraint, but I did it.
After a while of pondering about life, the girl came back and tossed the suitcase to the back. She shook her hat as she grinned at me.
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“That piece of shit promised me he would be there tonight, and who do I find? Nobody.”
“I am sorry about that. Who were you waiting for?”
“Someone that promised me a lot of things. Never mind, let’s go to our next location.”
One thing I noticed was that she did not get wet at all, and that included her hat. I didn’t see any umbrella with her so that put me off in an inexplicable way. Yet, her gentle talk made me feel a bit better.
“Sorry for making you wait here. Here, I bought a cup of coffee to make it up for you.”
I didn’t get a gift in such a long time, let alone from a cute lady like her. I immediately drank the cup as she looked for my approval. It felt exhilarating to drink a rich coffee like this in a long time. As I finished it, however, the whole world turned into a bowl of soup, and everything melted into each other. She wasn't bothered by my sudden anguish. A terrific headache ravaged my mind. I noticed her reaching for the suitcase, read my final prayers, and closed my eyes. Tonight would be the last day of my life, or so I thought.
I woke up and found everything in order, except her. Her uneven breath and the missing suitcase raised some questions in my head. But I focused on the more important matter. She spiked my drink and God knows what she did to me when I passed out. Her smugness didn’t drop one bit even after I turned red from anger.
“I found the idiot that has been waiting for me. I left the cab for a bit and raced to where he was while you slept like a prince.”
Her unabashed indifference was almost admirable if I forgot what happened to me a minute ago.
“Get the hell out of my cab. I am calling the cops on you.”
Her face finally dropped, and a set of confusion clouded her eyes. The air inside got heavier and I could feel a tide of anxiety pushing me to the edge every second. She looked outside for a moment, and that is when I sank to my seat from the scenery.
Every building, every human, every light I saw distorted in various shapes and forms that I couldn’t make out of. It was like looking at a reflection of yourself from a frosted glass. Worse, I had doubts about the “people” outside. Their body had distorted and shrouded in coal black. Even my cab’s lights proved no effort in lightening them up. Two gigantic blue eyes resided on their face, and everything else had been removed. In that confusion, the girl wrapped her arm over my back and whispered in my ear.
“If I will leave now, you will die. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
I only nodded because I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t know where I was, or the identity of this mysterious girl. I had to get out of here, and I could only achieve that by playing her game. I faced death a lot of times in my life, yet, I had to deliver my one and only friend’s car. The girl leaned to the seat and watched the outside for a while. I didn’t want to break the silence and rested for a bit with my potential murderer.
“You know,” she pointed to the creatures, “It is hard to trust people nowadays. Look at them, aren’t they so scary from here? You never know them until they show it to you.”
“I suppose. That’s how life works.”
“Or that’s what you believe? You are so afraid of people you would rather stay in your bubble.”
Those words stung me in the heart, and I couldn’t help but glare at her. She ignored me and offered her smoke. I pushed her hand, and she didn’t say anything further. I had to consider my options and I couldn’t do that on the edge. I closed my eyes and listened to the rain as the breeze from the window filled my lungs with fresh air. Pondering on what to do, I thought about my life until this moment. My father died decades ago from a car accident, and I had to take care of my bedridden mother. Thankfully, my aunt took care of her while I worked, otherwise, I don’t know how I could come this far in life.
I noticed the girl eyeing me a few times, but when I looked back, she immediately looked away. After doing this a few times, she closed her window and gleefully looked at me.
“I need your help one last time. Wait here until I finish my job with someone. Don’t interact with the people outside. You will irritate them by doing that.”
“What if they get me?”
She stared at me for a second and left the car. The last thing I wanted on this Earth after being alone with my murderer was to be with creatures that wanted my blood. At least I had a sense of normalcy with her being around, so being all alone felt more uncomfortable than ever. However, I had to trust her, like she trusted me. I had no other option.
I listened to the sound of rain hitting the car for a while. Since neither my phone nor my watch worked, I couldn’t estimate how much time had passed since she disappeared in the rain. Worse, I noticed the outsiders looking at me more and more as they passed by. I felt like an abnormality in their world, and I was. I averted my eyes to the steering wheel to avoid as much eye contact as possible. However, I could still feel their eyes on me. My body recoiled when I heard a knocking next to me. Another one knocked from the right side. I didn’t react to either of them and absolved myself in my thoughts. It continued for half an hour until it became unbearable.
All of the boiling anxiety led to a panic attack, and I lashed out at these creatures. I said whatever came to my mouth at that moment, and to my dismay, this only angered them even further. Some kicked the car, some hit the windows and some tried to open the door. I knew I was done for. She warned me of one thing, and I failed at that. All of my life rushed to my brain at once, and I couldn’t help but sob in my seat. If this was the last moment of my life, I would cry one last time.
When I woke up from my slumber, I couldn’t see the creatures anywhere. The girl seemed to be busy drinking a cup of coffee. When she noticed me, she cheered up and hugged me.
“Thanks for waiting for me there. I don’t know what I could’ve done without you. You endured what many people wouldn’t even dare to try.”
She gave me her steaming cup of coffee with a check.
“You deserved a good coffee and a good rest. Don’t worry about me, I will drop off here.”
I hesitated to drink the coffee and put it next to me. Before I thanked her, she disappeared in front of that bar, the place I picked her up. Baffled, I walked outside to see if this bar was the same. Everything matched up the same, and finding no answers to any of my questions, I returned to my car. I threw the coffee out of the cab, picked up the check she gave me, and read the note behind it.
“A hundred thousand dollars. Now you can spend time with your mother! Isn’t life beautiful?”
I never talked about my family to her, but realizing that thinking about this would be pointless, I went home for a long rest.
I will never find out who was this girl, however, I am forever thankful to her for changing my life for the better. I stopped being a cab driver, but I still talk to my friend often to make him feel less lonely in this world. I befriended many people and enjoyed life more than ever. If you see a girl in a suit asking to be picked up, don’t refuse her offer. You will not regret it.