User blog:LexPetitxVampire/Taxi

I used to be a taxi driver in California. My route started at a popular park in California, by the mall. It was divided into three sections; a baseball diamond, a playground and a nature trail - always preferred the nature trail myself. My shift didn’t start until eight, so rarely I got any passengers, which I prefer. I’m usually left alone most of the night, sometimes a car rolls by pulsing rap but other than that, solitude.

The only reason I seeked this job was to make extra money. Since my shift was usually dead, I spent it reading by book light while waiting in the silent darkness, the book that night, if I remember correctly, was Dracula. I glanced up from my book when I saw someone sitting in the backseat. A young woman with skin as pale as marble. She handed me two hundred dollar bills and told me the mall.

The mall was closing in an hour and would only cost five bucks, the mall was within walking distance. “Would you like change back?”

She held her hand up to say no. I shrugged. $200 is $200. I drove her to the mall and dropped her off. She spoke not a single word for the entire trip, but hey, small talk bothers me. I pull around to the food court side and there she is, waiting for a taxi. I dropped her off not even a minute ago and she had already made her way to the other side of the mall.

She could have sprinted but I saw her enter the mall. There was another taxi, ushering her in, but she got into my taxi. She handed me another $200. This time she wanted to go to CHOC, which would be a free ride, you can actually see the hospital from the mall. But $200 is $200 and now $400. She said not a single word and I dropped her off at CHOC.

I parked and waited in the motel across the street, the motel where families stayed if their kids were in the hospital. Fallen leaves swirled across the pavement outside of my taxi cab. There was a loud bang, I dropped Dracula and screamed, I couldn’t believe my eyes at what they saw. The same woman had her face and fists pressed against the glass. “Help me!” She was covered in blood. “He’s going to kill me!”

She got in and threw $200 more at me. I took her to the hospital near my house. I dropped her off by the emergency doors and watched her go inside. She walked up to the counter, turned around and walked back out. Not covered in blood. She got back in and told me the park and handed me $200. I dropped her off, where I watched as she circled my taxi and got back in.

Another $200 was handed to me and she told me the mall. She said nothing, I dropped her off. I didn’t go to the food section, instead, I planned on going back to the park. A woman, the same woman, jumped into my taxi. She was beaten and bruised and crying. She gave me two bloodied hundred dollar bills in an erratic motion. “They mugged me! Please take me to CHOC! My daughter is there!”

I dropped her off. I watched her go inside despite the car directly behind me laying on its horn, letting out a long and impatient blast. She walked up to the counter, turned around and walked back out. Not covered in bruises. She got back in and told me “the park” and handed me $200. She touched my shoulder. That’s how I know the story is real. There is a burn mark in the shape of her hand on my shoulder. I quit the next day thinking maybe I had fallen down the rabbit hole, or took one too many pulls off the ol’ peace pipe.

No one else has picked her up.