Typically (but not this time) when I go there, I encounter a handful of others, mostly men, of varying ages, uncoupled men, or, if they are in partnerships, you get the feeling they wont last.
Both the he and the she in this relationship are professional white collar types. But it has not always been thus. For a number of years he was a Madison cabbie (and the assorted types who congregate here often are as well) and there is nothing more fascinating than listening to his tales of the city’s underbelly.
Because, apparently, there is an underbelly to this town. One that sweats its way into the open late at night. One where you suspect that the drop-off point for the passenger is also the drop-off point for, well, other stuff. One where poor women with children and with bundles that you imagine contain all their worldly possessions are transported to Beltline motels where they will await affordable housing.
God, you need to be tough to do the night runs. You need to insist on pay and try not to imagine how those dollars were procured. There is no romanticism or poetry (even if indeed, my friend, in his spare time, dabbles in poetry) about driving those who cannot or will not sleep. Though now, in the aftermath, there are tales to be told -- chilling tales with unfinished endings, for who knows what happens after the door slams behind the rider, never to be seen again by you, or maybe anyone.
[I have to say this: in addition to Madison’s underbelly, there is also the matter of this writer’s belly. I was told to show up for appetizers and drinks. Okay. I’m thinking peanuts and pretzels. But no. The photo tells part of the story. The rest is in my stomach.]
lox, leek cheese, fruits and stories
I was good friends with a cab driver once. I thought he made up some of his stories.. until we started talking WHILE he was working and I could hear the passengers myself. Wow, I realized he was NOT making up the stories. He had the night shift 5pm-5am. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteI know this cab driver...even though he has a belly...he ain't heavy, he's my brother. He has always been able to tell good stories. I'm sure his cab stories are true, but his gift is that he can take a true story and make it as strong as good fiction. The kind that takes a long time to digest1
ReplyDeleteeszter: still, don't you think, as rachel below would tell you, that they spin it out with added drama?
ReplyDeleterachel: for real? you're his sister? I think he's also good at pokin' around in life and surrounding himself with good material. The Q is --has he always been this way?