Chapter Four:
“Taxis are water soluble.”
-G. KELLY
“I’LL TELL YA, this would be a pretty nice place, if it
weren’t for all the Perverts.”
The taxi driver said this the same way he had made all
his comments since picking us up: over his shoulder while
carelessly steering his vehicle full tilt through the melee of
traffic.
I had ignored most of his chatter, which didn’t seem to
bother him. He apparently didn’t expect a response, but this
last comment caught my interest.
“Excuse me, but aren’t you a Pervert … I mean, a
Pervect?”
The driver nodded vigorously and half turned in his seat
to face me.
“There. See what I mean?”
Frankly, I didn’t. If there was logic in his statement, it
escaped my comprehension. What I did see, however, was
that we were still plunging forward without slacking our
speed. There was a tangle of stopped vehicles ahead which
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the driver seemed obliyious to as he tried to make his con-
versational point. A collision seemed inescapable.
“Look out!” I shouted, pointing frantically at the obstruc-
tions.
Without losing eye contact, the driver’s hand lashed out
and smashed down on the toy stuffed goose that was taped
down in front of him. The thing let out a harsh, tremendous
“HONK!!” that would have gotten it named king of the
geese if they ever held an election.
“Anyway, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.” The driver
finished and turned his attention forward again.
The traffic jam had miraculously melted away before he
had finished speaking, and we sailed through the intersection