Unfortunate Happenings

Chapter One

I got into the taxi and closed the door with a soft thud, closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the seat silently praying that no-one would enter on my side. After a few minutes I hear the engine turn over and felt the car begin to jerk forward. I looked around to see who else had entered the car. A woman who looks as if she's a teacher based off her attire and the stress that's written all over her face. A man who looks to be an engineer, if his greasy hands gave any clues. A woman on the front seat who was chatting animatedly with the driver and looks to be one of his regular passengers. I then stretched my neck to see who was on the opposite side of the taxi, I couldn't see very well for she was gazing through the window, but it was obvious enough that it was a woman. I tend to check to see who the other passengers in the vehicle were whenever I travel. I guess it was some sort of mental assurance.

I began to stare out the window for I loved the scenery I was greeted with on my regular route of travel. The engineer was the first one to exit the vehicle, coming off just as we passed the gully. Soon it was just me and a lady left, I looked over to see that she was white and had beach blonde hair. She clearly wasn't Jamaican that I could tell by her attire, but then again you can't really tell Jamaicans from Americans much these days because they aim to look like them, I couldn't decipher whether she was American or British. It was also evident that she had no clue where she was going by the various expressions on her face. She must have felt me staring for she turned around to face me.

"Do you know where Rushtell Park is?" she questioned with a raise of her eyebrows.

With the accent she carried I then decided she was indeed American.

"You're in it right now," I replied then turned to check and see if I was any closer to my stop before turning back to her, "where exactly are you going?"

"Ummm.....I think it called Granite Close?" she answer more in a question than a statement.

I began to ponder whether I should help her or not, but the softer side of me decided to do so for if I didn't someone else will and that person might not have great intentions. I looked down on the seat just realizing that there is a box beside her. One in which she held on to as if her life depended on it.

"One stop driva," I shouted out remember that I had to pick up something from Ms. Joan, "Here", I stated handing him the money.

"This is the stop?" she asked with a questioning look.

"No," I replied, "I have to collect something. It shouldn't take long."

"Okay," she replied agreeing, "How much is the fare?"

"One hundred dollars," I stated.

"Wooow....that's less than one US dollar," she said with her mouth hanging wide open.

"I know, I know, our money has no value anymore," I said and proceeded to get out of the taxi after she had paid the driver.

"That's very cheap for a taxi though," she stated with a frown on her face.

"It's not though," I said, "not really."

She looked at me with a confused face which made me want to explain.

"It's different here, instead of it being one person per taxi. It's five persons per taxi and each taxi has a designated route. For example, the taxi we were just in only runs to Rushtell Park, so all the places that we pass people can come off at, but the final stop is at the end of the of Rushtell Park then the taxi goes back to Spanish Town. Each person has to pay a hundred dollars, so for one trip the driver makes $500. That's not so bad. Imagine how much he makes a day. Also each driver workers for himself unless the car is owned by someone else, but most drivers work independently." I explained as we walked down the road.