The vampire in the cab

Bad things often come together in a hurry.

This of course belongs to the general theory. But if several bad things do come together, it is not a generalization. Missing a girl you were supposed to meet, losing your shirt button, seeing someone you don't want to see on the train, getting a toothache, rain coming on your doorstep, getting stuck in a cab due to a traffic accident - if any jerk says something bad is going to come together, I'm sure I'll knock him to the ground.

You must be like that too, right?

After all, that's what generalism is all about.

That's why it's hard to get along with people. From time to time, I thought how wonderful it would be if I could spend my life lying down as a cobbler or something.

However, the world of doorway cushions also has its own doorway cushion type of generalism and its own hard work. So, it doesn't matter how.

Anyway, I was locked up in a cab on the clogged road. The autumn rain was "barring" on the roof of the car. When the meter jumped, the "click" sounded like a shotgun barrel stabbing me in the head.

That's all!

Besides, it's only my third day of quitting smoking. I want to think of something happy, but I can't think of anything. I had no choice but to think of the order in which to undress girls. First glasses, followed by the watch, the "clattering" bracelet, and then down ......

"I said sir," the driver suddenly spoke up, just as I was having a hard time getting to the first button of my shirt. "You think there are real vampires?"

"Vampires?" I looked at the driver's face in dismay. The driver also looked at my face in the rearview mirror.

"Vampires, the ones that drink blood ......?"

"Yes. Does it really exist?"

"Not a vampire-type existence or vampires as a metaphor or something? Not blood-sucking bats or science fiction vampires or something? But a real vampire?"

"Naturally." With that, the driver moved the car forward about fifty centimeters.

"It's not clear," I said, "it's not clear."

"Not clear is not good. Believe or don't believe, one of the two."

"No." I said.

"You don't believe in the existence of vampires?"

"No."

I took a cigarette out of my pocket and put it in my mouth, not lighting it, just holding it between my lips and twirling it.

"How about ghosts? Believe?"

"Spooky rather think there."

"Not think, answer with Yes or No, okay?"

"Yes," I couldn't help it, "I believe."

"Believe in the existence of ghosts?"

"Yes."

"But don't believe in vampires?"

"No."

"Then let me ask you: what is the difference between a ghost and a vampire?"

"A ghost is the opposite of a corporeal being, I guess." I blurted out. I was very good at this.

"Ho."

"However, vampirism is a value transformation with the corporeal body as the axis."

"That is, you acknowledge opposites and disavow value conversions, eh?"

"Once the inexplicable is acknowledged, it can't be closed."

"Sir is really an intellectual."

"Hahahaha, seven long years of university study."

The driver looked ahead at the winding train of cars, picked up a thin cigarette and lit it with a lighter. The mint flavor swirled in the car.

"But what, if there really are vampires how do you?"

"I'm afraid it hurts my brain."

"Just hurt your brain?"

"You mean no?"

"No. Belief is a noble thing. If you think there's a mountain, there's a mountain, and if you think there's no mountain, there's no mountain."

Kind of like the old Tonopah ballad.

"Is it like that?"

"It's like that."

I sighed with an unlit cigarette in my mouth, "So, you believe in vampires?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why? To believe is to believe."

"Is there any empirical evidence?"

"Belief has nothing to do with empirical evidence."

"Then so be it."

I turned back to the girl's shirt and unbuttoned it again, one, two, three ......

"There is empirical evidence." The driver said.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Prove it."

"I am a vampire."

We were silent for a few moments. The car was only five meters further than it had been a moment before. The rain was still "clicking". The meter was over fifteen hundred dollars.

"Excuse me, can I borrow your lighter?"

"Yes."

I lit my cigarette with the big white lighter the driver handed me and inhaled the nicotine I hadn't smoked in three days.

"That's enough of a blockage." The driver said.

"Blacked out." I said, "But the vampire thing ......"

"Uh."

"You're really a vampire?"

"Yes. There's no point in lying about it."

"So, when did you become a vampire?"

"It's been nine years. It was the year of the Munich Olympics."

"Stop time, you'll always be beautiful."

"Yes, yes, that's a good point."

"Can I ask another question?"

"Please, please."

"Why did you become a cab driver?"

"Because I don't want to be bound by the concept of vampires. Cloaks, carriages, castles - that's not good. I pay my taxes and have my seal registered. I dance at discos and play pinball machines. Not normal?"

"No, there's nothing abnormal. It's just that I can't figure it out."

"You don't believe me?"

"No?"

"You don't believe I'm a vampire, do you?"

"Of course I do." I said in a panic, "If you think there's a mountain, there's a mountain."

"That's all."

"So, to suck blood from time to time?"

"It's..., vampires."

"But there's blood that tastes good and blood that tastes bad, right?"

"Yes, there are. Yours doesn't. You smoke too much."

"I've quit for some days, but I'm afraid I still can't."

"It's good to smoke blood, but it's good for girls anyway. It's like a one-two punch."

"It seems understandable. In terms of actresses, what kind of drink is good roughly?"

"Kishimoto Kashiwako - I think hers is good enough; Mayukiji Junie is not bad; and the one who is not exciting is Momoi Xin. That's the general idea."

"Let's hope it works."

"Yeah."

Fifteen minutes later, we said goodbye. I opened the door to my room and turned on the light, and drank a beer from the refrigerator. I called the girl I didn't happen to meet after drinking. When I asked, there was a good reason why I hadn't met her. That's all.

"I'm telling you, it's best not to take a black cab from Nerima Ward for a while."

"Why?" She asked.

"There's a vampire driver."

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

"Worried about me?"

"Needless to say."

"The black-painted car in the Nerima district number?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Good night."

"Good night."