An Urban L(ove)ust Story

'Did you sleep with her?’- Alex demanded as she got her handkerchief out; her eyes were welling. 

For the last half hour Francis and Alex had been arguing in Luis' taxi, and were being largely unrestrained in voicing the thoughts each of them had about the other, and Luis had been a patient audience, watching them do so, courtesy of his rear view mirror. 

Luis had been driving his taxi for just over a week now and his older experienced colleagues had told him about the things they hear while they’re working. He wouldn't be the first to have a story to share about a man’s alleged infidelity and the thought of still being the cynosure in the gathering of pseudo-intellectual taxi driving folk later that evening amused Luis a little.

Yes, cab drivers were worldly-wise. As Old Xavier, a mentor of sorts for many of them always says- ‘I’ve learnt more about life driving a cab than most people learn through their education.’

When you’re a cab driver, with little hope of making it big in any other walk of life, words like these work wonders to raise your spirits.

‘That is not the point Alex! I want to give it a shot with Amanda, because the life I’m going to have with her certainly looks more promising that what the two of us have had so far, and to put it bluntly I know that it has been a MISTAKE!’- Francis said; his face had been steadily turning red over these last few minutes.

Luis could see his lips quiver a bit. Men are never too strong, he thought to himself. They are made out to be far stronger than they actually are.

Alex let out a sob; she’d reached the rather infamous hysterical threshold women of her age have. ‘So it was all a mistake you say? Cameron is a mistake? The house we own is a mistake? Oh Jesus, after all this time, this is what all of this means to you?’

‘So you think this is hard for just for you? It’s a big decision, but I’ve thought it out well. How long were we going to pull it off? We couldn’t have lasted and I think that it’d be better for the two of us to acknowledge this and move on!’- Francis said, now shaking visibly.

‘Why should we? Why can’t you see there’s nothing to acknowledge? Why must you always try avoiding seeing the truth? The truth is you’re as filthy as they come! And no matter how much you try to rationalise this you’re going to realize this someday or the other and Amanda will too!’- Alex retorted, as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably.

Luis slowed down a bit and turned around to ask Francis if he should stop, but strangely enough Francis asked him to go on.

Heartless, that’s what this generation is, Luis thought as he suddenly proud of how his Papi had raised him. He fully understood a man’s commitment to his family, and how he must put his family before all else.

The traffic in the evening was as much a cause of displeasure to a taxi driver as a perpetually misbehaving kid is to a teacher in elementary school. There are things you just can’t avoid, and just can’t get used to. Thankfully, there were just a few minutes away from their destination.

‘You know I’ve had it with you! You and your stupidity! It’s as clear as it can be Alex! For once why don’t you think something through? There was nothing in our lives worth continuing this!’- Francis bellowed, his fists clenched and his face contorted menacingly.

Alex sobbed even harder- ‘Our child, our beautiful child! Why do you have to make him go through this?’

‘Can we press on the gas a bit harder? We’re getting late!’- Francis said; his tone rather different from what it had been so long.

‘He’ll be better off without having to listen to his parents scream at each other every day!’ – He continued; his tone as acerbic as it could be.

‘He’ll be better off without having a moral-less father like you!’ – Alex said, almost howling.

‘YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF NOT BEING A GOOD FATHER!’- Francis hollered now turning to Alex with a vicious look on his face.

‘A father who loves his family so much, that he considers fornicating with women as unprincipled as he is as a sacrifice for their well-being’- Alex replied, wryly as she struggled to control herself.

‘STOP NOW!’- Francis growled, raising his clenched fists, his face more menacingly contorted than any face, Luis had ever seen before.

The car screeched to a halt.

‘We’re here sir!’- Luis said; his voice betrayed how terribly distraught he was.

‘You’ll pay right!’- Francis said as he lowered his hands.

‘I paid the last time, Phil!’- Alex complained.

‘Ah well, how much mister?’- Francis asked Luis as he opened his door.

Luis didn’t answer. He just stared blankly at a poster on the telephone box right next to his car.

’20 bucks. Wait, you’re in it?’- he asked Francis disbelievingly pointing at the poster.

‘Err, yeah, just like the poster says. That’s me and that’s Erica! We have a hard time in this town. We’ve got to take whatever comes by our way. We hardly earn! Had to take this one too! Asked the folks to think of a better name but ‘An Urban Lust Story’ is the best they could come up with. You know what? This acting thing gets on your nerve and damn it I’m going to quit soon. Stupid names, stupid scripts, stupider cast. Gosh didn’t it sound ridiculous to you! You just saw almost the whole of Scene III. And we’ve hardly practiced!’- Phil said as he handed Luis his fare.

‘You think we need to go through it once more?’- Erica asked as they walked away from the cab.

They clearly don’t, Luis concluded, they most certainly don’t.