Today’s flash fiction prompt: Write about a ride sharing service. Inspired by stories and struggles.
Around Town
Rent’s due, but it feels like a good night.
I start my work day at 6:30 with a couple of friends in a ride share. Twelve minutes and twenty dollars later, I hit my stride. Old lady headed to bingo night, young man headed home, a close call with a mom and her toddler headed towards trouble. Before I could find out who the real daddy was, I got another call.
By 8:30, things slow down. I fuel up on gas and an odorless snack, then check the app. No calls. I’m several hundred shy of my goal, so I switch over to another rideshare app and before I know it, the work’s rolling in. I drive across town, uptown, around town and downtown, toting passengers of all ages – with the proper adult supervision. When the clock starts ticking towards 1 am, I usually clock out. But unless I want to start sleeping in my car, I’ve got to make rent.
There’s good money after 1, but it’s not without its risks. Voices are louder, people are drunker, and the odds of a fight are higher. Low ratings and reversed tips are common, too. I mull it over. Just one more rideshare, and I’ll call it a night.
I take a call. Pickup’s near a bar, but it’s a swanky one. Hopefully it’ll mean a nice fat tip. But I’d settle for a quiet ride.
I don’t get one. The couple slides into my car, half dressed and handsy. I check the route, and it looks like we’re stuck with each other for the next half hour. I take all the short cuts I can think of, but it only shaves off a couple minutes. Meanwhile the steam in the back keeps building.
A few blocks from drop off, I hear the second worse thing a driver can hear.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.”
The mood shifts abruptly as first the woman, then the man, begin to hurl in the backseat. It’s all I can do to keep driving straight on the road as they make a mess of my interior. I roll down the windows and speed up. They exit at their final destination without a single word of apology.
Later that night, as I’m hosing down the backseat, I check my progress. No tip from the last ride, but that vomit will cost them 300 bucks. Not the best way to end the night, but at least I made rent.
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