Taxi

I was walking down Frimley High St, desperately hoping a taxi would pass. My car was in the garage getting fixed and it was starting to rain. I needed to get home to see Karren before she went out for her weekly girls' night out. I was just about to give up when a black cab pulled up in the layby in front of me. As I approached the back door opened all by itself and I hopped into the back, all nice and dry, a refuge from wet. 

Before I could actually tell the driver where I wanted to go the car pulled out of the layby and started off up the High St. "Yeah I need to go to Mytchett, somewhere near the shops", I said to a silent reply.

All I could see was the back of the driver's head, he was wearing a hat and I couldn't see his face in any mirror. He drove up to the roundabout but instead of taking the right at the roundabout, he took a left towards Farnborough.

"Hey, you're going the wrong way" I called out from the back but the only response was the driver's hand as he lifted it from the wheel and waved his fingers at me through the glass. What was this taxi I thought as I looked around the back? There was no phone number or name of the Taxi company printed anywhere I could look and I could hardly see the front as the glass divider started to mist up with what looked like steam.

"Oi driver, what's going on?" I called out but the glass had all steamed up now and I couldn't even see the back of his head anymore. It was then I noticed smoke coming out of a vent in the back. What was this car I worried thinking the worst as the smoke welled up in the back? My head felt dizzy and I could taste chemicals as my eyes got heavy, before I knew it I was asleep.

I woke with a jolt asleep on the back seat of the taxi. Where was I, this wasn't Mytchett. I felt my pockets looking for a pen or anything I could use as a weapon. I was expecting something bad to happen at any moment. I sat up and noticed the driver was still in the front of the car now that the knockout gas had gone and the air was clean. I could easily see the bottom half of the driver's face in the driver's mirror.

"Where am I?" I demanded, but the only reply was his mouth opening and I could see in the mirror a beefy grin with a grill full of gold. It was then that the side door to my left opened all by itself.

There was no mention of money for the fare and I took that gladly as I got out of the car. Where had he taken me I wondered as I stood on an unrecogniable road in front of a big house? There didn't seem to be anything else around and the taxi just sat there with the door open on what looked like the gravel and potholes of a country road. I looked around but there was nothing but bushes on the other side of the road and it seemed that this house was the only building about.

Curiously, I decided to walk to the front door. The multi-coloured paving slates and big statues of animals all around the windy path of what seemed like a very posh house gave me an eerily cold feeling up my back. What was this place I wondered as I walked further and further towards the front door?

As I got nearer to the house, I could see that the front room light was on and a man's head rested on the back of a large armchair as what looked like a big bunny rabbit bounced around in front of him. 

It was obviously a costume and the bright pink bunny pranced around in front of the man hopping up and down with its paws waving around as the sound of classical music could be faintly heard from the room. I heard an owls call and startled I turned around. I could see the road and the taxi was still there with its engine running and the back door wide open. It was obviously expecting me to come back. Would I be going back, I had just been drugged and kidnapped, what was I thinking?

This was so strange I thought as I approached the window from the side so that nobody could see me. It was then that I noticed that the man in the chair was my boss Neil and he was sitting topless with a tray of truffles on his lap. He would occasionally throw one onto the floor and the big bunny rabbit would leap down and gobble it up. Neil was throwing the truffles nearer and closer to him and the bunny hopped around from sweet to sweet approaching my boss with every hop.

I slid up behind a bush near the window so that no one could see me and then I noticed the bunny had got right up to Neil's lap. He patted the head and stroked the fur of the bunny before pulling the head off. To my disgust the person inside the bunny costume was Karren. 

"Good bunny", I could faintly hear Neil say as he pushed her head downwards. Repulsed I turned around to face the front door and noticed an old vintage car sitting like a prize on the other side of the path. There was a big can of diesel next to the car and without thinking I rushed towards it and picked it up.

What was I doing I thought as I walked towards the front door, evil intent in my mind, betrayal, and disgust at Karren's infidelity. I didn't even have a lighter on me and went to put the can down when out of nowhere a hand stuck out in front of me with a gold Zippo in it. 

I looked around instantly to see a suited man but no visible face just the same golden teeth as the taxi driver with the night light illuminating them clearly. He was obviously intent on letting me carry out my evil deed, but I didn't care I grabbed the lighter and took the can to the front door. 

I poured the diesel through the letterbox until the can was empty, then struck the zippo on my thigh to get a flame. I popped the lighter through the letterbox and quickly walked away as the flames lit the mansion up like a Christmas tree. I ran back to the taxi and jumped into the open door. The faceless driver was already seated as if he had magically materialised from the house to the taxi.

The same golden smile lit up the mirror and the first words he had ever said were spoken. "Home?" a deep crackling voice asked as I stared out the window looking at the house now wildly on fire. What had I done I thought to myself and then fuck it, this driver was obviously an accomplice and I doubted I'd see him again, and well, the slut deserved it. 

I was so gutted; I was actually going to propose to Karren this weekend using the bonus money Neil had just given me to buy a ring. I wondered how long those two had been lying to me as I watched the glass of the windows pop one by one from the lack of oxygen in the burning house.

"Yeah home" I replied, "and don't spare the horses" I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible and the taxi reversed up the gravel drive quickly, and once again the back of the cab filled up with knockout gas. 

I woke up at my house, not that I had ever told the driver where I lived, and got out of the taxi. I wanted to get away from him as fast as I could but he stuck his hand out of the window as I was about to walk past it.

"That'll be £20, sir," said the deep golden lit voice. I stopped suddenly, thinking how cheap a fare he wanted for a murder conspiracy tour into the country. "For the lighter of course." the driver added, and I thrust a score into his window and watched as he sped off up the road. What had I done I thought to myself.

Impulse, lust, and revenge are not a good combination. I walked to the front door and opened it. I guess I'll be looking for a new job soon I thought as I solemnly walked to the lounge looking at the engagement ring I had bought for Karren.

© 2022 All Rights Reserved Robert Reid