Page 13 - ARRS #582 - The Mystery of the Lost Wallet

Another Random Road Story #582

My startle reflex went off but I kept a lid on it and remained cool.
“You okay?” I asked him, trying not to sound nervous.
“Yeah,” he said in a perfectly normal, regular tone of voice.
My internal threat assessment department went on high alert but I held my
demeanor steady. I went back to the appearance of minding the road.
What the hell’s UP with this guy??
[movement from the back seat]
He’s not moving TOWARD me… but… what the hell is he doing??
He’s bouncing his legs around… like… a kid who has to use the bathr–
Through my mind sped a slideshow of the many drunks who’ve pissed
themselves in or near the cab when I worked for other companies. I thought
of my beautiful Crown Victoria’s plush seats.
“Hey, Mister, do you want me to pull over for a minute?”
I took a chance. I had no idea what he was going to say, or ask why.
“Can you do that?”
Vindicated!
“Sure! Of course I can stop for a minute. It’ll be on the side of the road but
it’s cool. It’s dark,” I said. I was already preparing to get onto the shoulder.
From the center freeway lane I put on my right turn signal and eased over
to the right, scanning the upcoming stretch of road for as much safety and
seclusion as I could find for him. Time is of the essence. Drunks pee without
even realizing it. And my seats are light in color.
Within 10 seconds I saw a decent spot that seemed good enough under the
rushed circumstances. And with nobody close behind me I took my
opportunity to put on my hazard lights and slow down enough to pull onto
the shoulder of the freeway, just past an overpass but not near enough that
passersby could see us in the dark.
Yeah, that’s what I want, for ‘nobody to see us’ as this little 120 lb woman
taxi driver pulls off the road in the middle of the night, in the middle of
nowhere, with a strange man – a strange DRUNK man. And being an
independent cab… means no dispatcher would notice if I disappeared… and
no dispatcher means no call sheet to record my last run… so by the time my
partner missed me tomorrow… there would be no way for him to track me…
I told myself to simmer down, cowgirl up, and handle it.
Why the HELL didn’t I ever follow through with taking one those self-
defense classes at the Y??
As the car slowed I glanced repeatedly into the mirror under the guise of
checking traffic. The man didn’t seem to be interested in me anymore. He
was staring out the window into the darkness and minding his jumpy leg.
Still, as I came to a stop I planned to keep the car in gear and my foot ready
to punch the gas.