Runaway Taxi

Blaze pulled up to where a woman stood waving him down and put the taxi into park. He caught her eyes through his dark sunglasses and they held him. Dark and deep they held something that he couldn’t place. Something that shouldn’t be in any young woman’s eyes. She was around early twenties like himself but the way she held herself added age.

She stepped into the taxi and pointed to a dark car pulling out ahead of them.

“Follow that car.”

He hesitated and the muscles under his eye twitched.

She reached her hand into the pocket of her black dress and he thought he saw the form of a gun. Quickly he shifted the car into drive and started after the vehicle now quite a ways ahead of him. After a few moments of losing ground to it the girl leaned forward in the back seat and caught his gaze in the rear view mirror.

“Can you drive?”

Catching her meaning he glanced one more time at her pocket and then picked up the pace. He passed the two cars in front of him, leaving an open stretch between himself and the dark car, which he recognized to be a Kia Forte Koup. He presses down on the gas pedal. His speedometer raced to 65 as they passed a 45 mph speed limit sign. He winced. In his five years of driving he had never received a speeding ticket, or any ticket for that matter.

What will she do when we catch up? If we catch up. He realized that despite the hectic pace the car was still evading them. He drifted around a corner and passed a few more cars that were in his way. Almost too late he saw the brake lights of a semi in front of him and screeched to a halt. He knew that whoever they were chasing hadn’t stopped but it was impossible to see past the giant in front of him. He jammed the vehicle into reverse and began backing up. Fortunately no one was behind them. When he got far enough back he returned the shifter into drive and jerked into the wrong lane. He skillfully avoided the oncoming cars and sped after the dark car in the distance. Once he passed the stop light he switched back onto his side of the road and went even faster. Someone honked and he glanced to see that he had nearly hit them. The chase had taken up all the room in his mind.

I thought I had left this life behind. All the dark memories of his past came back. He had been fortunate not to have gotten caught then but now he was doing it again. He was using his driving skills against people again. I let myself get caught up in the wrong. I’m just driving this lady where she wants to go.

Despite the slowing down of his thoughts the car was still flying at an unreasonable speed. Blue and red lights in the distance caught his eye and his heart jumped but he didn’t slow down. The car in front of them was closer now. Suddenly it swerved into an ally and Blaze almost rolled the taxi. They made the turn, narrowly missing a dumpster, and followed the Kia Forte Koup around a few more tight turns.

The young taxi driver was forced to slow his pace drastically in order not to kill himself as well as his mysterious passenger. Once they came out onto a less traveled country road he spared a look at the young woman leaning way forward in her seat without a seat belt. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why she was in this line of work, if that’s what it was. Her black hair was neatly pinned to her head in a fancy bun, and her dark eyes were extremely capturing, but they still made him uneasy.

He flipped on the radio and saw a small grin tilt her lips. It was playing an upbeat song and he found himself going faster. The road went straight for some time but he was going near 90 and time meant nothing. Blaze wondered how long they could go at this speed before the taxi quit. 

Swinging around a gradual turn he saw they were heading back to the city. The police. A strange excitement rose inside him, yet his face remained hard set. As they neared the buildings Blaze drew up next to the dark car and held his ground there. The young woman pulled a semiautomatic pistol from the pocket of her black dress and rolled down the window.

“Pull up farther,” she ordered.

Now what do I do? Blaze asked himself. The man driving the Kia Forte Koup tried to pull ahead but his car was already bobbing. Low on gas perhaps. They sped closer and closer to the skyscrapers and small shops. Blaze was unfamiliar with this end of town and if the chase led there he was sure to lose sight of the other vehicle.

“I said pull up farther.”

He glanced at her and fell back from the other vehicle a little.

“Why do you want to kill him?”

“That’s my business.” She pointed the gun at him and put on her meanest look.

He didn’t even feel nervous. Both of them knew that it would be quite the accident if she killed him at this speed. And somehow he knew she wouldn’t.

“I’m not going to do anything until you tell me what I want to know.”

She squinted at him and lowered the weapon.

“He’s done wrong.”

Blaze didn’t react.

“He’s wanted by the police anyway.”

Still nothing.

“He . . .” A tear formed in her eye. “He’s my step-father. He hurt my mother and I’m going to . . . to kill him.”

“You say he’s wanted by the police?”

He barely caught her nod.

Then I’m not needed. Blaze slowed to 50 mph just as he noticed a police car pulling up on a side road. The man in the dark car realized it too late and was forced to stop as the officer’s car pulled in front of him. Blaze passed politely. He took a deep breath and was thankful he hadn’t been pulled over instead. Compared to the pace they had been going at it felt like they were crawling but it gave him time to think. He didn’t stop until he was well in town. Then he pulled up beside a diner with sparkling red lights.

He turned in his seat and studied the girl who looked even younger now. He held out his hand and after a minute she obediently placed the weapon in it.

“I trust you won't try that again.”

She looked broken when her eyes met his. She nodded. 

“Where do you want me to take you?”

“Here is fine.”

Should I let her go?

She was already getting out. She grabbed the door to shut it but paused. “I’ll hand it to you. You can drive.”