The Cab

The styrofoam box made a soft squeak sound in my lap and I placed my hand on it, letting the rumble of the bus be the only sound filling my ears. I looked out the window and watched the rain slowly start to lay itself on the window. I could look down into cars and see couples holding hands, children watching TV shows, and people singing songs I couldn’t hear at the top of their lungs. The rain eventually blurred my view and I sat back to take in the people around me. No one sat next to me in the multicolored plastic seat, but someone sat opposite me with their legs tucked under them. I admired their ability to sit like that, and pondered trying to move my own legs to cross, but knew my body would never quite bend that way. They were enthralled with something on their phone, and by the reflection in the plexiglass behind their head I saw it was a block of text. I wondered if it was a book or an article, but couldn’t make out the words enough to figure out what. I tried to casually look at the other people on the bus, but a stern old woman caught my eye and glowered at me, clutching her purse in her lap closer to her chest, so I looked back down at the styrofoam box in my lap. I opened the lid just enough to see the rich, creamy frosting peak out before shutting it again. A soft whiff rose into the air and I sighed. Cake was the only thing that made the day worth it.

I’d trekked thirty miles from my home to a job interview wearing my least comfortable, but most flattering professional wear, only to find that the job had been filled that morning. I was qualified, and had been so excited to finally be qualified for a job instead of overqualified or looked at like I was mad for wanting to work in food service after eight years of school. I just needed a job, and the little I made pet sitting for my neighbors had helped me take the bus and buy the piece of cake that now sat in my lap. The cafe I bought it from had been right next to the bus stop I’d gotten off at and had caught my eye as a tranquil calm looking place, with dark orange walls and a big rainbow flag billowing in the wind that would eventually bring the rain clouds. Once I’d left the building I decided to get a scone or something from the cafe, but the chocolate cake had been sitting in the display case and it hadn’t taken much prompting from the barista for me to buy a slice.

Now it was all I could think about, to the point where it took me a moment to realize we had been stopped for a long time. I looked up and saw that traffic had backed up. We rarely got rain like this and I knew it meant there was probably an accident as I watched the traffic light blink through the colors one by one. The sirens came, and awkwardly cars honked and shifted to let them through. The bus driver threw their hands in the air and started to make calls on the radio. I felt the people on the bus start to rustle. The rain blurred the traffic lights and the sirens into a mass of reds and blues. The first person to get up was someone dressed in business clothes. They leaned in to talk to the bus driver who shrugged and opened the door. This prompted the grumpy old lady and two teenagers to exit after the business person. Umbrellas bloomed above them as they hopped up onto the sidewalk. I’d forgotten an umbrella myself, and there was a sinking feeling in my stomach that I was going to have to hoof it to the next bus stop, if the buses were able to reroute there around the accident.

The bus slowly emptied and the person across from me looked around suddenly, realizing we were the last on the bus. After a moment of taking in the situation we were in, they made a swift exit themselves. With a bit more hesitation, I made my way to the front.

I asked the bus driver if they thought another bus could reroute to the next stop, and they shrugged and told me they were trying to figure it out right now, or I could just stay and wait.

I looked ahead at the police in their rain gear waving wildly at traffic as wafts of impatience rolled off the sitting cars around us. Honks, yells, and distant screeching surrounded us. I was starting to feel a little too warm and knew I had to get off the bus. I told the bus driver I’d like to get off and they let me without another word.

The rain felt good on my hot skin as I made my way past the accident. I tried not to look, but I caught flashes of what looked like a totaled taxi and a few other cars sideways around it. I overheard a conversation being yelled over the noise: “If the taxi hadn’t showed up where it did, pretty sure we woulda had a lot more bodies on our hands.”

I shuddered and hunkered around my box, barreling forward as the rain became less refreshing as it soaked through to my bones. The sky was dark at the edges and I knew it wouldn’t let up anytime soon.

I got past the accident and was able to relax a little bit as traffic thinned. The sirens were still filling the air behind me, but the chaos felt far enough away that I could start to think about getting home. When I got to the bus stop, someone announced to the huddle of people, largely from the bus, that the bus app said the delay was 45 minutes. Everyone emitted various groans and started whipping out their phones to call ride shares. I thought about it myself, but I knew it would cost around $50 and I didn’t have the money for that. On top of that, I knew the bus I was supposed to catch at Cedar only ran for a couple of hours more, and with the bus ride to Cedar being over an hour itself, I knew I was facing the possibility of getting stranded. However, once I got there, the rideshare would only be about $20, which was still painful, but not as bad. So as the small crowd dissipated to different spots to catch their cars, I sat down by myself at the bus stop and reserved myself to waiting. I only checked my phone a couple of times, as my battery was already down to 50%, and wished I’d brought a book or something. I’d thought my phone would last me the whole trip, but I hadn’t counted on the delays.

I watched the cars pass by and shivered as the temperature began to drop. I was still soaked from the rain, even as I was kept from it now under the small shelter that had probably been built to protect from the sun more than the rain, but it did the job regardless.

After about twenty minutes, I decided to check the bus app myself. It loaded slowly on my old phone, but finally it showed up and the red numbers read: 1hr 25mins. I slipped the phone back into my pocket. I was going to miss my bus. Not only that, but I was starving, cold, and now I had to pee. I must have looked very miserable, because a man approached me, an umbrella casually leaning on his shoulder.

“Do you need a cab?”

I sighed. “Yes, but I don’t think I can afford it, sorry.” Knowing cabs were usually even more expensive than ride shares, I didn’t even think of the possibility.

“It’s a slow day, I’ll give you a deal. How far you going?”

Hope, flickering in my chest ever so slightly, began to rise. “I live over in Oakden.”

He whistled. “What’re you doing all the way over here?”

“I had a job interview.” The words came out as dejected as I suspected they would.

“Ah, not a good day huh?”

I ran my fingers over my little white container. “No.”

“Well, you know what, my grams lives over that way and I’ve been meaning to say hi to her all week. How about I just happen to drop you off around that shoe shine on 2nd.”

That was two blocks from my house. I brightened up immediately. “Really? I don’t have cash on me.”

“It’s fine, I’m Roger by the way. What’s your name?”

“Hadley.” I followed Roger back to his cab that was parked farther up.

“That’s an unusual name.”

“Family name.” I said automatically. It wasn’t from my family exactly, but the whole story was more than I felt like going into. Actually, I hadn’t told anyone in a long time about my mom’s sister’s best friend’s cousin named Hadley that had died at the age of 3 in my mom’s arms at a pool party. That was just too much for a casual conversation. And no one usually talked to me past that lately.

“Nice. So’s mine. Uncle Roger was a hoot and a half.”

I nodded as he started to pull into traffic.

“So tell me about this interview.” He said it so nicely, so warmly, that I was actually compelled to do so.

“Well, I’ve been job hunting for about six months.” He whistled again. “After I got my degree. I finally got something in my field, and it was looking really good, but apparently someone had come in early - they had an interview later in the day, but got the times mixed up so they just let them interview early and they were qualified so they hired them on the spot. I didn’t even get to see them, and the secretary had missed the whole thing since she’d just gotten to work herself, she’d just heard about it.” I slumped back into the comfy seat. “But thank you, thank you so much for the ride.”

He eyed the box in my lap. “Get yourself a comfort snack?”

“A slice of cake.” I licked my lips.

“Sounds good.” I saw his eyes studying me in the mirror. “You hungry?”

I nodded. “Starved.”

He popped open his glove box and tossed something back at me. “Go for it.”

It was one of those utensil sets that comes wrapped in plastic with to-go meals. I’d said no to a very similar one earlier thinking I’d eat the cake slice at home. I didn’t even hesitate; ripping into the plastic, letting the fork tines help me open it, and freeing the flimsy napkin as well to help me stay neat as I dug into the cake. It was as delicious as I’d imagined, and before I knew it, it was gone.

“Good?” He asked after a moment.

I wiped the corners of my mouth. “Fantastic. Thank you for the fork.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head. “Say, that’s not nearly enough food, wanna stop by my grams with me? She always has loads of food.”

“Oh I couldn’t impose.”

“She’d love to have a new friend.” There was something about the way he was talking, I was once again just convinced it was a good idea. That alone made me suspicious, but after the day I’d had, I shoved my fears aside.

“Why not.”

“Fantastic!” He shifted gears and suddenly the rain stopped. “Would you look at that.”

I looked out the window; the sky had cleared right up. An old car drove by, and another, and I thought about the car shows they had at the fairgrounds. I never went, but they happened often enough that it wasn’t odd to see them.

Roger started to talk about his grams, and how she’d lost her husband a few years before. I stopped looking out the window and was entranced by his eyes every time they met mine in the mirror.

Before I knew it, I’d spaced out most of the conversation and we were pulling into the driveway of a small yellow house. I didn’t recognize it, even though it was right off a road I was familiar with. He led me through a white gate lined with roses and an old woman in a sage green dress and chunky brown heels wrapped her arms around him. Her hair was tinted purple and her glasses with horn rimmed. I could see the resemblance as her nose hooked as his hooked and her eyes shined like his did.

“Did you bring another straggler?” She asked, not unkindly.

“Yes, this is Hadley, who has had a terrible day and I thought could use some of your cooking before going home.”

“Welcome Hadley! I’m Charlotte, but you can call me grams.” And she enveloped me in the warmest hug I’d felt in a long time. “Come in, come in, let me get some food into you!”

And boy did she have food. Even though Roger had said so, I was surprised a woman living alone had so much food ready without knowing we were coming. She loaded my plate with potato salad, ham, and fresh baked bread. I was full before my plate was empty, but I managed to nearly eat everything which made grams smile. Roger didn’t eat, and I noticed he chewed on a pipe and looked out the window wistfully instead. She didn’t say a word to him, but did serve him a tall glass of water instead.

She offered what she called a salad that looked more like jello, but I had to refuse as I was about to bust and it was also an unnerving green color. She smiled sweetly and cleaned up after me, humming.

“We should get going.” Roger said after we’d sat for a minute. I nodded and thanked grams for the food, and went out to the car as I heard him hang back and have a moment with his grandmother before coming back out looking almost sad. I looked at my phone but I didn’t have service. I sighed and put it back in my pocket.

When I finally looked at the car, I stopped. “Where did your cab go?”

“Don’t worry, get in.” He said, opening the door of a much chunkier looking cab than we had come in. It reminded me of the taxis I saw in old movies.

My styrofoam box was sitting in the back seat. Carefully, I scooted in and held it in my lap as he shut the door for me. He got in and we sat in silence for a moment. Someone walked by the car with slicked back hair and an outfit that looked like it’d been worn in the show Happy Days.

“Roger?”

“I know, Hadley.”

“What’s going on?”

He sighed. “I don’t usually do this, but...well, you’ve had a bad day, and I think I can help you with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if I told you that you could get you that job you wanted?”

I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean?” I felt it again, that irrational trust coming over me.

“Trust me?” He said, as if reading my mind.

“Yes.” I said automatically. “Only, how?”

He rested his hand on the gear shift. “What’s the address?”

He drove us back and after he shifted gears, I noticed all the houses looked familiar and the cars were modern. The sky was clear, but I saw clouds in the distance. When I looked at my phone, it told me it was 9am, and the date hadn’t changed.

“It’s this morning.”

“It sure is.”

I didn’t say another word as he drove and the suburban houses turned into the tall city buildings I’d just come from. The food in my belly felt heavy as I sat there, realization of what was happening slowly trickling down. My clothes were dry now, and I fixed myself up in my camera phone as we approached the building.

“Leave that, I’ll throw it away.” He said, pointing to the box.

“Are you sure?” I asked, and then realizing how much he’d helped me I added, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Live a long, happy life.” He said wistfully. I got out of the cab and he drove away. I took a deep breath and walked into the building.

The secretary wasn’t there yet, but a woman in a bright salmon suit was just coming in with her coffee. “Are you here to interview?” She asked, her eyebrows raised.

“I am, although I think I mixed up the times.”

She smiled, “That’s fine, I’ve got some time right now. Come on in.”

It was quick enough. She looked over my resume that I’d emailed in, and declared me perfect for the job. As I left, I saw the secretary I’d meet later coming down the street and I crossed it so she wouldn’t see me. I ran into someone as I turned to go toward the bus stop, and the glowering woman I recognized from the bus cursed at me under her breath as I said sorry repeatedly.

Within a minute, I caught the bus, grateful it was a different bus driver, and was on my way home.

My heart full, my stomach even more so, I leaned back in the seat observing the mostly empty bus. I looked at my phone and saw that it was two hours before the accident. I wondered if I could prevent it, and decided that it was unlikely since I hadn’t changed anything at all. I’d half expected someone else to show up to that interview early, the person who stole it in the first place, until I realized…

I had stolen the job from myself.