I've been busy not writing... and doing... stuff.
Below is a story I wrote last year. It's going to get recycled, along with a few other stories on here, for a zine I'm hoping to put out at some point. But I sure do a lot of hoping sometimes.
Anyway!
I really like this story.
I was watching Taxi Driver a lot and a not really liking my living situations and spending a lot of time in my room. This is what came of that.
Theodore didn’t do this job because he liked it. Working
long, countless hours shuttling all these assholes from point A to B as quickly
as he could had lost its appeal. Chasing all these bells and flags left him
feeling drained and taught him to despise people.
“Cab 26 pick up, please.” Dispatcher 143 said.
A smile crept onto Theodore’s face.
At least 143 was nice to talk to.
He picked up his mic, cleared his throat and answered,
“this is Cab 26. How are you 143?”
“I’m doing fine,” she giggled back.
“Good, good. That’s great.”
“Could you do me a favor, babe?” 143 asked.
“Good, good. That’s great.”
“Could you do me a favor, babe?” 143 asked.
“For you 143, I might.”
“Could you take a fare to the airport? I know it’s out of
the way, but everyone else is taken at the moment. It would just tinkle me pink
if you could make it over there?”
Theodore sat up in his yellow cab, put it into
Theodore sat up in his yellow cab, put it into
drive and asked, “where to?”
“2nd South and 3rd East, Liberty
Midtown Apartments.”
“One of these days I’m going to have to meet you, and find
out who I’ve been doing all these favors for,” Theodore laughed.
“Oh Teddy, you’re the best...”
And as he sped his way towards the mark he said, with a
smile on his face that 143 couldn’t see, he simply answered…
“Anything for you,
143.”
-
Theodore’s shift had ended a couple of hours ago. It was
about 1:30am and he had parked at a Mexican restaurant at the south-east corner
of North Temple and 8th West. He sat slumped down in his cab peering
towards the opposite corner of the intersection, at the pink-haired girl,
wearing a long brown fur coat. She had been standing there for about 30
minutes, around the time her last job ended. She had taken the man who had
approached her by his arm and escorted him up the street, away from lights and
people so that they could do what he had come there to do. Theodore didn’t
think any less of her because of her line of work. People need to eat. He drove
a cab, she had sex for money. She stood there, moving her legs to and fro to
keep warm. He put the cab into drive and made his way across the intersection
and back around. He pulled up to where she stood and rolled down his passenger
window.
“Hi, I’m Theodore.”
“I’m Janet.”
“Janet, it’s nice to meet you. Do you need a ride
somewhere?” Theodore said with a smile.
“Oh no, I’m waiting for a friend, they should be here soon,”
she answered.
“Well, I know I’m in a cab, but I was wondering if I could give you a ride somewhere? I was just
headed home, that’s why I’m still in the yellow. ”
“Ohhhhh baby! Why didn’t you just say so?” Janet said as she
approached the car.
As she got close, Theodore leaned over and opened the door
for her.
“And a gentleman, too!"
As she sat down in the cab, she moved all the way across the
bench seat and sat next to him.
“It’s okay if I sit in the middle, right?” she asked with a
smile on her face.
As Theodore caught her gaze, he took in all her features.
She was very attractive. She must have been around 35 years old, her skin was
dark and smooth and her smile was very endearing. He wondered if 143 looked
anything like Janet.
Her amber eyes met his, “What did you say you’re name was
again?”
“Theodore.” He answered.
She put her hand on his thigh, squeezed and said, “alright
Teddy, let’s go for a ride.”
“Okay,” Theodore said with a smile
-
It was about 11:30pm, Teddy waited for his next fare in the
parking lot of the huge oval park that sat near the intersection of 700 East
and 1300 South, playing with a lock of Janet’s soft, pink hair.
“Cab 26, are you there?”
Theodore cleared his throat and answered, “143, is that
you?”
“No Teddy, it’s the other girl of your dreams,” 143 said
sarcastically.
“Ohh 143, there’s nobody else but you in my mind.”
143 was laughing out loud now, “Oh Teddy darling stop, some
people need rides.”
“People?! Oh no, not people! Can I just sit here and talk to
you all night?” Theodore joked.
“Yes, people! And no you can’t. They’re waiting at 9th
and 9th and I need you there 5 minutes ago.”
“I’m there in 4.”
“Thanks Teddy, you don’t know how much it means that you’re
going to do this for me.”
Theodore slipped the bit of pink hair into his shirt pocket
and started making his way towards the 9th and 9th
district.
“Anything for you,
143.”
-
143 had sent Theodore to 2nd and 2nd around
9pm to pick up another random who needed to make their way home, this time it
was some businessman catching a late ride home after getting his fill of
expensive cocktails.
“Hey man, could you get me back to my condo on 7th
and 33rd ?” slurred the suit in the backseat.
“You got it, should be 20 minutes or so with traffic.”
Theodore hated picking up these drunk, rich types, he kind of
weekend warrior who only had his money and his wardrobe to talk about.
“Hey! You’re not my regular guy, but I guess that’s cool.”
“Yeah, he was a little slow to the draw, huh?”
“Did you see that chick I was with, man?” he asked. “She had
some melons. If I could, I would pay to do terrible things to her.”
“That’s great, really.” Theodore answered.
“You ever done cocaine off a stripper’s ass before?” the guy
kept going. “That’s the life, dude. That’s the life…”
This guy was a jerkoff and this was why Theodore hated
picking up drunks. Just as he was reaching to turn up the radio to drown out
the businessman’s banter, a call from dispatch came through.
“Teddy baby, pick up.”
“Yeah, 143? What’s up?”
“That guy is a real creep,” she answered.
“I know, he just keeps talking and talking and talking.”
“Aren’t people just the worst?” 143 asked.
“Yes, they are.”
“Hey man, who the fuck are you talking to up there?” the
businessman asked from back.
“Would you do me a favor, baby?” asked the lovely voice on
the other end of the radio.
“Anything for you,
143.”
-
It was about 8am when Theodore arrived at the shop. He
rarely stopped by, if not only to get his cab’s bi-annual maintenance taken
care of. He had only gone into the offices once of the cab company for his
short interview with his boss, Dave Shumaker. Despite his few visits he had
never had the chance to make it by the dispatch office and meet 143. Today, he
thought, was the day he’d finally get to put a face to the voice. He parked his
taxi outside and made his way in, passed Enrique who was on a creeper, working
underneath another yellow taxi.
“That you, Ted?”
“Sure is! How are you, E?” Theodore stopped and stood beside
the car as Enrique continued to work.
“I’m good, man. How’s the cab?” he asked as he continued to
work under the vehicle.
“She’s good, she’s good.”
“You gonna be here for a bit? I can take a look at her if
you want,” he offered.
“Oh no, I’m only going to be here for a bit but like I said,
she’s doing fine.” Theodore answered.
“Alright, well I’ll see you around, bro.”
“Yeah, good to see you.”
Theodore left the shop and made his way inside to the small
building that made up the offices of the taxicab company. He made his way
towards where he believed the dispatch could be. Did he hear 143’s voice? He
swore he could. He reached the door, where he thought she would find her and
stopped. He could hear chatter and hissing and pops from radios. He took a deep
breath and reached to turn the handle of the door.
“Ted? Is that you?” Theodore jumped when the voice came from
behind him and as he turned around, he met the eyes of his boss, Dave.
“Shit, sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you, my boy,” the old man
said.
He stood there in his old faded blue jeans, and ruffled white
shirt, a friendly old face accented by big wire framed glasses.
“You’re fine Mr. Shumaker, long night, my nerves are kind of
shot.” Theodore replied.
“Well sleep will fix that, you know!”
“Yes sir, I seem to be having trouble with that lately.”
“You know, Ted, while I’ve got you here I wanted to talk to
you about some things.”
Theodore wanted so badly to meet 143. He could hear the
hisses and pops and the radio banter still coming from the room behind him and
he could anxiety begin to well up inside him.
“What’s up?”
“Well some of the other drivers have been coming to me and
telling me some peculiar things,” said Shumaker.
“Oh? Like what?” Theodore asked suspiciously.
“Well first, Johnson said that there were two or three days
in a row where he saw you sitting in the same parking lot downtown, just
slumped down in your cab, staring off into nothing.”
“Well I…” Theodore began.
“And Filmore said he saw you out and about in your cab, even
taking fares when you weren’t even on duty… you know you can get in serious trouble
for that, right?”
“Mr. Shumaker, I…”
“And then Rodriguez came in last night mad as hell, ranting
and raving about how you poached a regular of his. Some hotshot, businessman who
always needs a pick up from 2nd and 2nd real late.”
Theodore was at a loss of words. The color drained from his
face and the palms of his hands grew damp.
“I want you to take the rest of the week off, Ted. Get some
sleep, you might feel better.”
“Yeah, sure thing…” Theodore said blankly.
“What are you doing here this early, anyway?” the old man
asked.
“Oh I was just stopping in to say hello, figured I’d swing
by the dispatch office and see who I take all my orders from.”
Mr. Shumaker looked at him strangely.
“Dispatch office?” he asked.
“Yeah! I was just about to head in when you caught up with
me.”
“Are you talking about this room?” Shumaker said as he
pointed over Theodore’s shoulder to the door, behind which the lovely 143 sit.
“Yeah, I can hear talking and radios in there.”
The old man moved to the door and before opening it said,
“This isn’t a dispatch office, this is a broom
closet, my boy.”
And sure enough behind the door lay a janitors cart, on
which sat a radio that someone had left on. The hisses and pops echoed miles
inside Theodore’s head.
“We don’t even have a dispatch office, I share the space
with the other two guys who run the bells.”
“Guys?” Theodore asked. “What about Dispatcher 143?”
“Who?”
“Dispatcher 143, the girl who does dispatch later at night.
The one I take all my calls and do all the favors for?”
“Son, there is no woman dispatcher at this company,” the old
man replied.
Theodore’s head started to pound, and his vision began to
blur.
“Ted, are you alright?” Shumaker asked. “I think you should
head home, I think you need some rest.”
“Yes… I’m sorry Mr. Shumaker… I’m… very tired… I…I’m going
now.”
Theodore made his way out of the offices and back through
the shop, headed towards his car. As he stepped out into the morning light, he
saw Enrique examining the trunk.
“Hey,” Enrique called as Theodore approached. “What the hell
did you hit, man?”
As Theodore joined him at the back of the car, he saw what
Enrique was talking about. Blood from the bashed head of the businessman had
somehow made its way onto the rear bumper of his taxicab. He must have missed
it when he wiped down the car the night before.
“Oh… I… don’t know… rabbit? Yeah, a rabbit…” Theodore was
flustered.
“Are you alright, bro?” Enrique asked.
“Yeah, fine. I have to go.”
As Theodore pulled away from the cab company, he checked his
rearview mirror and saw both Mr. Shumaker and Enrique watching him as he drove
off.
-
“Cab 26 pick up, please.” 143 said over the radio.
The pounding in his head seemed to ease.
Theodore reached for his mic, cleared his
throat and said,
“I missed you, 143.”
“I missed you too, Teddy. I’m sorry we didn’t get meet, but
maybe one day.”
“Yeah, I really look forward to it...”
“Hey, Teddy…”
“Yes, 143?”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything for you,
143.”
