Big Brotherly Things

The perks of the job were always the stories; no one drove these yellow death cabs for the money. Everyone always raved about the gossip they’d catch during the rides, gathering ‘round for drinks and petty poker to share. There’d always be a contest for the craziest story. Some would spill stories of bank robbers in the making, killers depositing bodies at the bridge, and always of the typical shady affair that the asshole would think no one knew about; we all knew though.

We knew everything.

We knew the dark secrets of the city like they were baseball player stats.

The fraudsters, the sloppy cheaters, the drunk clubbers, the big dreamers, the heartbroken.

But rarely we shared about the simple rides, the ones that weren’t filled with adventure, thrill, or romance.

There was this one kid though, climbed in with his little sister. He couldn’t have been more than ten, and I was betting high. He hailed me down in a pretty rough neighborhood with more confidence than I’d have expected. “Where ya headin’ kids?”

“To Benni’s Ice Cream store on King’s please.”

“It’s my birday!” The little girl squealed, her face all cheery and shit.

The place wasn’t far, but with the sketch area, I didn’t question their choice to ride instead of walk. I guess big brother was doing his big brotherly thing.

It took less than ten minutes to get there, they sat politely and happily the whole time. When I pulled up to the curb, I told the kid the total and he just handed me a handful of coins.

“That’s all you got kid?” He nodded innocently. Poor dummy probably didn’t even have enough for two vanilla cones. Darn kids.

I picked a few dimes from the jingle jangle of coins he had handed me and swapped ‘em for some quarters of my own. “There’s your change kid, and happy birthday to your sister.”

He pocketed the change and climbed out, helping his sister with full care and attention.

“Thanks mister!”

Darn cute kids.

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I decided to take a different angle with this challenge of mine, including with going over the word count whoops. I have read some pretty thrilling and unique stories so far for this challenge and thought to go with something cute and simple. Sometimes we overlook the little acts of kindness, but they're still out there.

You can find out more about James' and I's Summer Writing Challenge Extravaganza below:

Also, check out some of the other entries shared: