Two crackheads get a free ride

A guy was standing at the corner of 7th and Mission, waving desperately. I pulled over. He hurried towards the van, and another guy was behind him. "Oh shit," I thought. When not one but two rough-looking guys get into my cab, I get a little bit nervous.

"What is wrong with you cab driving people? Why nobody ever stop for us?"

"I stopped."

"Yeah. Thank you."

They were very chatty. I was chatty back, to protect myself. I figured, the friendlier I am to them, the friendlier they will be to me. They were going to 26th and Florida.

The first guy had very wide eyes that seemed to almost pop out of his head. He was smacking his lips constantly. The second guy told me to take the freeway. He also asked me if I could take them right back to where I picked them up afterwards. I asked him how long he was going to be in there. He said three minutes. I said okay.

At 26th and Florida, the second guy got out and went into what I was told was his house to "get some money." The first guy stayed in the van with me. He told me about his job at the Moscone Center, "setting up and cleaning the bathrooms." I asked him if he liked the job. He said "Yeah, it pays $11.50 an hour. You can't beat that."

At one point, the first guy said, while we were waiting,

"See that gray building right there?"

"That one?"

"Yeah. I used to live there."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I used to deal while I lived there."

"What did you deal?"

"Crack."

"Ah."

"But I don't do that anymore."

After what seemed like an eternity, the second guy returned from inside the building. He looked distressed. He said he had to stay because blah blah blah blah blah. But then he said "Man, I gotta go though." It was obvious that by "go" he meant go with us, back to 7th and Mission. "Can you wait like five more minutes?" I knew what three minutes were like according to his clock, so I told him that I had to get going. He said "Hold on" and disappeared into the building again.

The meter was about $16. I said to the first guy

"Do you want to get out too and wait for him here? The meter is just going to keep growing. You can just pay me for this now and then get another cab later."

"Okay."

He gave me a $20 bill. I gave him $4 back. Then he said

"Give me that twenty back."

"What?"

"Give me that twenty back."

He held out the four ones to me. I gave him the twenty back and took the four ones. He tried sliding open the door.

"You have to hold the button on the handle."

"Oh."

"So I'm not going to get paid for this fare?"

He left the van. I didn't want to argue. I thought to myself Now you know why cab drivers never stop for you guys.