
Final Project: Holden Style Writing
This Guy Really Got Me
An epic piece of literature by Max Duckworth
I had been sitting in the back of that goddam cab for hours. This driver was really a moron, no matter how many times I told him to take one of the back more empty roads he stayed on the busy ones with damn near a million others cars waiting for the light to turn green. He must of figured that the longer he takes the more I’m gonna pay him, but I was spent up – I mean it. There’s no way I’m gonna pay this guy for making me sit in the back of his crumby cab. These kind of people kill me, they really do.
It was so damn cold out tonight. I was freezing my ass of in this cab and the dumb bastard didn’t even turn on the heating for Christ’s sake. I didn’t really care much; it’s just that people’s laziness can really get in my nerves sometimes. I gave myself a hard time thinking about all the other poor people that had to freeze their ass off in this cold taxi, and then the people in the summer. That’s the deal with Ney York, too damn hot in the summer, too damn cold in the winter. Did this guy even put the air conditioning on for the poor people in the summer? The coldness was getting to me, it really was.
The cabbie hadn’t even said anything to me yet. I am really getting sick of morons like this. So what I did was, I tried to strike up a conversation. “Do you know what happens to the ducks when the lake in central park freezes over?”
“What ya tryin’ to do mac?”
Mac? If there was a word I hated more, I got enough of that crap from the last cabbie, that stuff kills me. “I’m not tryin’ anything. Just curious.”
“I dunno where the hell they go, and who the hell gives a damn about a few stupid ducks”
This bastard was really starting to get on my nerves. “I give a damn about a few stupid ducks! Ya know what, let me out here. I have better things to do than sit in this damn traffic!” I got out and slammed the door as hard as I could but I was too damn cold to do it hard enough to intimidate the guy. Walking wasn’t so bad, I do it quite a lot actually.
“You gonna pay the fare or what?” The cabbie asked. I ignored him; this moron wasn’t worth my time- the stupid bastard. I started walking a few blocks. My legs started to ache and stuff so I called another cab. This guy could tell I was as drunk as hell and tried to take advantage of me and charge more than an average fare. I didn’t really care, I had money.
I fell on to the back seat the second the car door opened. “Where to?” The cabbie asked.
“You tell me.” I had nowhere to go. I told the last cabbie to drive around until I saw a hotel that looked nice. “Ya know any good hotels I can stay in?”
“One, on the other side of town though.”
The lying bastard, this guy was a thief, he really was. I could name a million hotels between wherever the hell we were now to the hotel he just mentioned. I didn’t care; I was as drunk as hell. “That’ll do.” I told him.
The guy was quite a talker, I was up for it. I felt like chewing the fat a little bit myself. This guy was a nice fella, he really was. “You want to get a drink?” I asked.
“Sorry, can’t do that. Savin’ money for the wife. She wants a big diamond ring for Christmas. How the hell is a cabbie supposed to provide stuff like that?”
I was sorry I asked; he went on a rant about how his wife is always wanting whatever she saw in a shop window. Why the hell should I care? I really hate it when people start ranting about whatever they can get their hands on. I roomed with a guy a couple of years back for about two months. Anything would set this bastard off. Door’s unlocked, get mad. My bed isn’t made, get mad. Leave the lights in the can on, get mad. I get mad at him for getting mad, get mad. He killed me, he really did. So what I did was, I put so many things out of place that this bastard damn near had a heart attack. But of course, after punching me in the face and damn near knocking all of my teeth out, he got me kicked out of the dorm. That bastard killed me, he really did.
“You got a wife?” The cabbie asked.
“Uhh, no,” I replied.
“Lucky bastard, what I would give to be single. Imma be bankrupt if my wife keeps wanting to buy stuff like a goddam ring.”
Sorry I asked. “Oh, really?” I asked, trying to be polite.
“Anyways, so how long ya in New York for?” He asked.
“I’m not really sure yet.” I responded.
“It’s a beautiful place isn’t it.” He asked.
Yes it is, I can’t get enough of these beautiful car fumes. “You got that right.”
“One thing I don’t get, where do the ducks go in the winter?”
This guy got me, he really did.