Two in a Taxi

Even though the driver breathed a sigh of relief Jenna was not so confident. She brushed chips of glass from her hair and clothing as she gingerly regained a sitting position. Peeking over the back seat, she couldn’t believe the size of the hole in the back window.

“Why are they shooting at us? My God, get us out of here.” She wheezed, pulling her inhaler from her pocket.

“I’m trying.” the nervous cabby barked as he backed his cab off the metal fence. A headlight clanged as it swung from it’s wires.

A burst of medication cleared Jenna’s lungs. “ There’s a hundred dollar tip if you can get me someplace safe real quick.” But she knew that wasn’t possible. They had already passed the last exit before the bridge and traffic was not heavy enough to keep their pursuer a safe distance back.

The shift lever refused to go into drive. The cabby pounded on it in frustration for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the lever slid into place and the taxi jerked into traffic.

“A thousand yellow cabs in this city and I had to pick this one. How did I get so freakin’ lucky?” Jenna yelled, leaning toward the driver.

“Shut up lady, or I’ll rob you myself and take away your inhaler.” She took another dose and hoped that he was kidding.

¤¤¤

The guys in the red van were toying with them. They could have easily overtaken the taxi on the bridge and finished them off right there. Instead, the van hung back just long enough to give a false sense of security. Suddenly, bright flashes of yellow lit the night air like giant fireflies as lead richocheted off the rear panels. Pedestrians huddled in doorways or dived to the cement. One bullet flew through the already blown out back window and hit the rear view mirror.

“They’re just trying to scare us.” Jenna yelled, wrapping her arms around her head as the driver weaved through traffic and ran a red light. “If they really wanted to kill us, they would have done it by now, right?”

They bolted through another red light, narrowly missing a tractor trailer trying to make a left turn. The grill of the big rig seemed only inches from Jenna’s face when the cab driver floored the gas pedal and slid them neatly around the truck. The red van was momentarily blocked. Blaring horns could be heard from two blocks away.

“Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would want to kill me. I’ve never done anything wrong, unless, Frank’s wife, she found out. Frank said she’s the jealous type.” Jenna began to regret having ever met Frank.

“I said shut up lady.” The driver’s sudden outburst made her jump. He pulled a 22 caliber handgun from the glove compartment and waved it in the air. She got the point. The panicked driver pulled into a dimly lit parking lot, turned around, and looked Jenna square in the face. The driver was a middle aged woman! “You got two choices. Get out and take your chances they won’t gun you down right here or get behind the wheel.”

¤¤¤

She chose the latter. Things quickly went from bad to worse. As she slid over, the driver’s knee hit the glove box. The door popped open and a baggie full of a white crystals fell to the floor. It was then that Jenna realized they were running from a duped drug dealer. As she hurridly turned right out of the lot, she could hear a strange whirring noise coming from the engine.

Driving with no mirrors was like driving blind. There was no way to see if the van was still behind them. The woman, whose name was Violet, soon proved to be a lousy lookout. All she was interested in was fondling the bag of little rocks. It seemed everywhere Jenna looked there was a red van. She made a right through a yellow so fast she nearly put the taxi up on two wheels. And ran two stop signs before she discovered they had gone in a circle. She slowed down, the noise from the engine was worse.

“Pull over under that street light and leave the engine running.” Violet ordered. “ As long as we’re in a neighborhood in plain sight of a lot of potential witnesses, Bull won’t do anything.”

“Why don’t we just paint bullseyes on the back of our heads?” Jenna said sarcastically.

They were surprised when a large black woman shuffled up to the taxi, pulled open the rear door and got in. “ Take me to 89th Street.” she demanded.

“Can’t you see this taxi is not on duty?” Violet snapped.

“Your on duty light is on. Now take me to 89th Street.” she demanded again.

Violet jumped from the car and offed the light with one round. The woman ran from the vehicle, leaving the rear door open. She took a few steps then turned abruptly, pointing at Violet. “I Know who you are now. You’re Bull’s girl. Word’s all over the streets you pulled a fast one on Bull. Stole a taxi and run with the rocks. Oh girl, you shoulda taken me to 89th when you had the chance. You mighta got out safe.” She shook her head and walked away.

¤¤¤

Violet’s face was looking pastie white under the street lamp. Or maybe that was fear. “The light was on. That’s why I got In. That’s how I ended up in this mess with you. Why didn’t you turn off the damn light?” Jenna glowered at Violet.

“I figured with a passenger in the car Bull wouldn’t do anything.” Her bottom lip quivered.

“You stupid woman. You jeopardized my life on a maybe. We passed plenty of witnesses already. Do you see the cops coming to our rescue. No. Even the cops won’t mess with this Bull person.”

Violet leaned into Jenna’s face and screamed, “You’re really pissin’ me off. You better shut up or I’ll shoot ya myself.” The barrel was pointed right at Jenna’s chin, her finger shaking on the trigger. It was clear that Violet was desperate.

“You might as well, Violet. Get it over right here, right now. We’ll never make it out of here alive anyway.”

Violet placed the pistol on the floor. Her face dropped into her hands and she began to sob. “I had to do it. I figured if Bull didn’t know I took them I could sell the crack balls and get me and my kid out of this filthy city. I don’t wanna be a runner for a drug dealer any more. I don’t want it to happen to her.” She paused to catch her breath and tried to compose herself. “ I knew I had to do something when Bull tried to recruit my forteen year old daughter a week ago. Do you know what will happen to her? First she’ll start using, then selling, or worse. Nothing good comes of it. That’s what happened to me. And noone walks away. Bull will make sure of that.”

¤¤¤

“Stop you’re blubbering, here comes a red van.” Jenna tried to make a run for it but the taxi wouldn’t shift into drive. They had no idea they had left a trail of transmission fluid, and the rest of it puddled beneath the car.

The van approached from the left with it’s lights off and pulled in front of the battered yellow vehicle. Two lineman sized figures got out. They wore jeans and oversized hooded sweatshirts so the hood covered most of their faces. They stood, one on either side of the taxi, with their hands in their pockets.

Then someone else exited the van. Jenna could see the fear in Violet’s face. Violet swallowed hard and took a deep breath, so deep it was like it would be her last. Jenna knew this had to be Bull. She would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so dire. The person approaching the taxi was barely five feet tall and wore a red fedora.

They leaned against the passenger side where Violet sat shaking almost uncontrollably. “ I’ll have to make an example of you and your friend, Violet.” A small hand snatched the bag from her lap. That soprano voice could only come from a woman.

“And you,” she looked at Jenna, “You won’t be seeing my Frank again. Frank recognized you when you got in the taxi. The worm spilled his guts and begged for your life in exchange for his. I obliged him. Get in the van, I’ll take you home.”

Violet’s and Jennas’s homes burned to the ground by daybreak. The local newspaper reported that the bodies of three females were found in the debris, foul play was not suspected and there was no link between the two fires. Bull put the paper down and laughed.

§§§
Click here to go to Guestbook

© copyright by Maryanne Hayes 2001. All rights reserved.