Thursday, June 6, 2013

DAY 6: Icebox

Courtesy: punchng.com

Today’s Prompt:
Take two people who dislike each other and stick them in the backseat of a cab. What happens?
Word Count: 2,206

No storm clouds gathered when the cloudburst ripped off the sky’s high ceiling and stripped them of alternatives. As a cab pulled up before the empty sidewalk, they were stuck with only two options; to either get their butts in or get it wet. Each climbed into the cab on the opposite side, barely aware of the other’s thereness. (Correction, in their hurry, both men registered company, but none knew for a fact, who he was trucking with.)
They both chanted “Hi” but when their eyes met, the temperature inside the cab plummeted below sub zero.
                The chill ran like a single thread through seamless tapestry and ate up the warmth until the air inside the cab crackled. The mismatched company was like the weather in The Odyssey; they hauled a climate change in the car, but it was not rain. A painter and a gentleman of the bar had managed to churn out a blizzard inside a taxi.

The cab bucked down the street, its headlights beaming full blast into oncoming windshields, garnering furious honks from passing vehicles. The cab picked a tremble as thunder walked and talked. Inside, Lionel Richie sang Stuck On You through the speakers. Josh Akam (/arkham/), the painter and Reuben Idem (/he them/), the advocate sat in dead silence.
                “It’s a real gullywasher and I ain’t heard zilch from the weather forecaster and I been on the radio all day. Where is anybody when you need them?” said the cabbie, wiping the windshield with a towel. He turned around briefly and studied his passengers sitting like ice statues each staring out at the storm on his side of the window. “People, is it cold in here or is it just me?” Silence. “Tsk.” The cabbie turned around and observed he was headed for a bump in the road. He veered to the right but the cab was going too fast. The impact chucked the vehicle into the air and yanked the passengers out of their seats into each other’s arms.

                “Get your hands off me, fool,” said Akam, shoving the lawyer away.
                “Easy on the suit, Picasso,” said Idem, brushing imaginary dust off his suit.
                “Ain’t we just the 3-piece combo of the moment,” said the cabbie, keeping his eyes on the road for a change.
                “Bet, you left your posh SUV back home to stand guard over your land, ugh?” said Akam.
                “And your overrated wagon’s sitting in your garage just in case my SUV trespasses on your property.”
                “Funny, I don’t recall the last time my home was completely empty.”
                “Oh, I forgot,” said Idem, a smirk ran the stretch of his chubby face. “Mr. Freakazoid has a dog.”
                “And a wife,” said Akam. “Don’t you forget that; and a wife.” Then he added. “Unlike some people I know.”
                “Is that so?” said Idem, facing Akam square in the face. “Correct me, if I’m wide of the mark, which I’m usually not when I get on your pitiful case; I used to think your wife and dog was one and the same?”

The cabbie had an ear pasted to the backseat. He’d pictured a scenario where the dispute fell flat and this mobile court disintegrated into a whirlpool of confused madness.
                “Now that I think about it, you two never mentioned where you were going. Not that I recall though.”
                “Shut up and drive,” the Accuser and the Advocate yelled. The cabbie couldn’t help wondering if it was a rehashed job.
                “Thought you’d like to know,” the cabbie said. “In a few minutes, this road’s gonna give on an intersection. What’s it gonna be? Right, left, or drive on through?”
                “Drive right through.” Again in almost perfect unison.
                “Then you won’t mind if I took a detour. It’s the safest short cut around town. And mind the glass, it’s breakable, you know?” The cabbie whose name you don’t really wanna know took quick peek at his passengers and…
                “Watch the road! Watch the road you fool, are you trying to get us both killed?”
                “Damn, such attitude from men who can’t wait to tear each other apart,” said the cabbie. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

The cab ducked between two tall buildings and went bumping along a dirt road.
                “So much for your safest short cut,” Idem, the Advocate said, as the cab dive-bombed a depression, rattling his teeth.
                “By the way,” Akam, the painter-turned-Accuser said, not yet over the fight. “It’s not escaped my notice the way you’ve been gloating over my wife, recently. Doesn’t that qualify you as a sex-crazed maniac? I keep thinking I might return home someday and find you bust into my home and violated her.”
                “You’re a veritable source of pain, has anybody ever told you that? Quit the name-calling, I don’t wanna fight you…”
                “Fight me? I won the case remember? The land’s mine already. That’s the reason you been bitching every damn time you saw me. Even the flowers on your side of the land are graying. I bet they hate your freaking guts, too.”

Reuben Idem glanced out his side of the window at people scurrying about in the rain. He seemed worn-out from arguing. The cabbie heaved a sigh of relief. All was peaceful and the fight could have taken place eons ago. Lionel Richie’s voice poured through the speakers singing Sail On.

“Let me get something straight, Dali.” Idem pulled off his suit and laid it over his lap, stroking it like a pet. “I wanna know how it feels to live on another man’s property. To throw a foulmouthed lie in court, like you did, and win over some guy’s family land and occupy same with the helpless owner standing by? Cause if I had my way, you’d be as homeless as those people on the sidewalk.”
                “Oh boy, you gotta be kidding me.” The cabbie pulled a face. “Ladies, ladies, you end this right now and the cab fares on the house. This mobile court of law is hereby adjourned.” He slammed his fist against the dashboard and knocked over some CDs.
Akam was massaging his neck when Idem addressed him. He winced as if he had been dealt a blow below the belt.
                “If you want a war why don’t you go pick on somebody your size? I won the lawsuit because I am the legal owner of the land.”
                “Naw. The way I remember it you won cause your father who passed ownership to you was a townsman, while my unfortunate father was an outsider who happened to own a land here.”
                “What!” The cabbie pumped the brakes and sent his passengers flying out of their seats. “Ain’t that a bitch? I’ll take it anyway I get it, bro. If I was from out of town and I owned a place to hang my hat and park my car in some strange town, I’ll go with it. 100%.”
                “You don’t have to break every bone in my body to make your point, you know,” Idem said.
Akam grunted. “Easy on the pedals, cabbie. I got family waiting for me.” He turned to Idem. “You are the lawyer so tell me what part of the law places a local above an outsider?”
                “There’s no law in this part of the country. All they got is a bunch of clowns in costumes and an excuse for a judicial system. They all run jungle justice around here. It’s only a matter of time before the government get wind of these fools and run ‘em out of court, literally. And you, where will that leave your sorry butt and your dime a dozen paintings? And let’s not leave the dog out of this.”

Akam and Idem both owned houses by the lake. The houses once belonged to their fathers who had erected no walls to mark the boundary of their properties. The idea for a wall was Idem’s who wanted some privacy as he called it. The men got into a dispute about ancient landmarks, which was settled in court. Akam won the lawsuit and Idem screamed foul play up and down the aisle. Of course, he vowed to appeal and challenge the court order.
                Ever since the lawsuit, the men have been on non-speaking terms. If Akam’s wife Ada saw these two in the same cab, she would shit a brick.
Idem lived alone, well, not exactly, ‘he lived with his jeep and gadgets’ as Akam’s wife loved to explain it. Idem’s car had developed a glitch just around the corner where he bumped into Akam and a few moments before the downpour. He left it at the mechanic’s. Akam on the other hand, was out sightseeing. He loved taking long walks to inspire his muse. Akam had a wife, a boy and a dog.
                Fate used these circumstances to stick two sworn enemies in the backseat of a cab.

Akam sat ramrod straight as if someone had run a current of electricity through his side of the seat. “You know what, I’m peeved about you dragging my wife into this bull.”
The cab slowed to a crawl. I Can’t Make You Love Me by Boyz II Men had replaced Lionel Richie.
                “Just because she don’t let you get anywhere near her don’t make her the butt of your jokes. I’ve been really trying, doing my best to let it pass, look the other way. But you never get it, do you? And I believe the reason is pretty simple; you are the only family you got. It’s impossible for such a man to understand relationships.”
                “Nice speech for a man who doesn’t know squirt about dignity,” Idem said.
Akam points a finger in Idem’s face. “I’m not going to say this a second time, get the dang off her case.”
                “Let me guess or you’ll paint a butt naked portrait of me and present it to the people who visit at your gallery?”
                “I just might.”
                “Hey, guys, fellows. You don’t need all this drama. You guys are both respectable citizens. You really wanna fling your R-E-S-P-E-C-T out the window cause of this… this… this…” He fumbled for the right word in his mind but just before his brain could process the phrase and present it to his vocal cords, Akam lashed out at him.
                “Mind the road, cabbie. This thing’s way out of your league. This water runs deep and it’d be sad to have an innocent guy drowned in its waves.”
                “Nobody’s drowning but that bitch you left at home…”
                “Now, that’s the last straw. I’m going to punch your lights out right this minute.”

Akam threw a punch at Idem. Had Idem hesitated for one second, Akam’s fist would have detached his head from his body. But he ducked in time and the punch went over his head and straight through the window. Akam hollered as shards of glass pierced his flesh.
                “Okay. That’s it, gentlemen. This claptrap goes so far. We gonna have a little talk and if we can’t get a neutral ground, your silly butts can hail a cab.”
That did it. It was the end of the fight. The cabbie swerved into the curb and administered first aid.
And surprise, surprise, Idem helped Akam into the backseat of the cab then, shut the door quietly. He went around and hopped in on his side mindful of fragments of glass. The cabbie handed him polythene to hold over the busted window and keep out the rain.

The cabbie turned the ignition, put the car in gear and hit the road again.
After some moments of awkward silence, Idem shattered the melting ice.
                “Can I tell you a story, Akam?” Idem turned to Akam who had his eyes closed. “Do you want to know why I picked on your wife every time we got into a fight?”
                “Man, you really think it’s wise to bring that stuff up at this moment? You got a spiritual problem or what?” The cabbie was openly furious. “Take a look at the man. He’s had it.”
Idem continued. “I mean, seriously. I’m not trying to pick a fight, I’m happy to be alive right now.”
                “Okay.” Brown sighed. He didn’t open his eyes. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
                “She dumped my ass for you. I’m amazed she never mentioned it to you. She wasn’t one to keep a secret.”
                “Now that’s some crazy ass shit. All this for the love of woman?” The cabbie turned to Akam. “I bet when she dump your ass too, she gone get out there and sing, ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’

Akam with a grin spread across his face was the first to see it and screamed. “Watch the road, stupid.”
The cabbie spun around but there was nothing to watch out for anymore. The cab was over the sidewalk and knocking down a lamppost. They all scrambled out as the post dropped on the roof of the car creating a bad dent.
The storm had piped down to a sprinkle. The cabbie walked up to his cab and assessed the damage. The CD player was still in business and Boyz II Men was performing End of the Road.
                “This crazy mother is adjourned,” he said.


Eneh Akpan
June 6, 2013



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