Perfect Impurrfections

Chapter 9

Creeps and Creepers

                Crystal walked to the cab with slight panic unable to forget the smell of the last ride she had taken.  Opening the back door, she couldn’t help taking a quick glance at the window handle just to make sure it had one.  Much too her relief It was there and as an added bonus there were no funky odors wafting out of the vehicle.  Deeming it safe she slid into the car giving the cabby the address for her date of the night.  So far things were looking up compared to the last time, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high just in case.  Her date had sounded nice enough over the phone earlier that day and confident.  It wasn’t likely he would set himself on fire.  Even the driver seemed more professional than the other one, even if he was a little gruff.  She’d count it a win though if that was the worst complaint she had about him. 

                She had turned her attention to her phone texting an update to Anna and trusting that the cabby would get her to her destination in one piece.  She hadn’t noticed that when he stopped it wasn’t for a stop sign or other traffic law.  It wasn’t until the back door opposite her opened to allow a perfect stranger into the car that she took notice.  She sat there speechless as the stranger gave an address to the cabby who nodded before driving off once again.  Knowing the new fare was heading in the same direction helped dissipate her anger a bit, but she couldn’t help the nagging feeling that she shouldn’t.  Crystal looked at the man sitting next to her as he was busy going over emails on his tablet completely ignoring the fact that he had just commandeered her cab ride.  The man was dressed in a three-piece name brand suit and held an air of superiority about him.  He wasn’t a bad looking guy in general but the way he acted rubbed her raw.  It was one of the many things she had against people of wealth.  She had such a hang up about the rich that if she found out that a date came from or had money, she usually wouldn’t give him the time of day.  She supposed that made her a snob in a way too but honestly, she had had more less than pleasant run ins with enough of them to want nothing to do with any of them.

                Crystal was so hung up on her agitation with the very existence of the other passenger next to her that she hadn’t registered that the cab had stopped yet again.  The passenger door opening to allow yet another person in drew her away from the man next to her.  A younger girl dressed more like a hooker then a college girl seated herself next to the driver.  For a moment Crystal feared he had picked one up while working himself, but her speculations were laid to rest as the young woman rattled out an address giggling the entire time.  Her annoyance only raised when she realized the young passenger was going in a different direction then Crystal was initially headed.  She looked at the meter making a mental note of the rate especially when the cabby veered off his original course to take the new fare to her destination ignoring the protests coming from the back seat.  Crystal wanted to reach out and smack the man sitting next to her for complaining about the new woman in the car.  As if he himself hadn’t done the exact same thing not two minutes ago.  The cabby blew the two of them off as he concentrated on flirting with the girl next to him. 

                Before long the cabby once again stopped to pick up yet another fare.  The door Crystal sat next to opened startling her.  It was another businessman but this one was obviously lower on the totem pole then the one beside her.  His suit was an off the rack piece that didn’t fit near as nicely as the other guys suit that had been tailored to him.  The worn out look on his face and large bags under his eyes showed the tell-tale signs of being overworked to get noticed for the purpose of moving up in the world.  From how exhausted he appeared she would say it wasn’t working well for him either.  He glared at Crystal motioning for her to move over in the seat so that he could get in.  At this point she had had enough.  What kind of cab service would allow their cabbies to take multiple rides at once?  It was clear to Crystal that the driver did this regularly and probably double charged some of his fares for their shared rides.  Taking out her wallet she figured out how much of the ride was actually her responsibility.  She had seen a bus stop just up ahead and would rather take a bus to her date then stay in the car any longer.  Handing him the money she made a move to exit when he called out to her.

                “What do you think you’re doing?  This isn’t enough.”  Indignant she raised her eyebrow in challenge.

                “Only two blocks of this ride were actually my ride.  And though the first person you picked up was headed in the same direction it does not entitle you to charge me for his entire ride either.  I am also not paying for the part of the ride that you took out of the way of your original fare’s destination because the next person you picked up blatantly hit on you.  That is the amount of what I rode by myself plus half of the ride in the correct direction before you changed course hoping she’d give you a piece in exchange.”  While Crystal was berating the cab driver the guy beside her that had been ignoring her up to that point was now looking at her with interest as his eyes raked her figure.  Growling in annoyance she stepped from the car waving the other guy in before she stormed off in the direction of the bus stop.  Looking at the time on her phone she checked the schedule glad to see that she was just in time to catch the next bus uptown.  It should only be a block or two from there.

                Crystal sighed in relief when the bus pulled up to the stop on time.  She smiled when the doors opened for her to get on.  The driver was Irene one of her neighbors at the complex who was a genuinely nice person, but she never took s**t from anyone.  She always told you what she thought and called them like she saw them.  Irene would sometimes come down to the gym for one of Crystal’s senior classes.  Irene was only 49 years old but because her body was in rough shape, she had to take the lighter classes if she wanted to exercise.  Crystal loved having her in class and would go out of her way to strike up a conversation with her when she saw her outside working in her flower garden.

                “Well hello sugar, fancy meeting you here.  Hot date tonight?”  Irene asked looking over her outfit for the night.  Crystal beamed a smile at her nodding in response.  She paid the bus fair then did a little turn for Irene.

                “What do you think?”

                “Classy and pretty, I approve.  I can’t stand those girls who parade around showing everything they got to everyone who wants to look.  We all know you got it honey, but if you don’t leave a little mystery the only men you’ll attract are cheaters and pimps.  That’s what I say.”  Irene stated nodding her head with attitude.  She motioned Crystal to move to a seat so she could get back on the route.  Crystal scanned the near empty bus choosing a seat close to the front.  Since they were still on the more rural parts of the city it hadn’t filled up for the night yet, which was a relief to her.  She hated when she had to stand smashed into a complete stranger because there was nowhere to sit.  Irene pulled back into traffic as Crystal relaxed back into her seat.

                The ride was relatively uneventful for the most part.  There were a few stops along the way where Irene picked up some more colorful characters for the night.  It never seemed to bother her either way she would give each one a warm greeting no matter who stepped on her bus.  Crystal noted that some of them seemed to be regulars as Irene knew them by name and would do a little small talk before moving along.  Some of them were rather rude which irritated Crystal to see when Irene did nothing to deserve such behavior.  Irene paid them no mind however and would be polite and sweet no matter what.  It baffled Crystal as she watched this happen with a few of the less sociable passengers.  There was one passenger that Crystal was keeping an eye on though as at every stop the bus made, he kept moving a seat closer to the front.  His behavior could be chalked up to the fact that they might be coming up to his stop soon and he wanted to be close to the door.  Crystal couldn’t help feeling like there was something sketchy about the way he was acting though that just made her leery of the stranger.

                Her feeling about the guy proved fruitful as they pulled up to the stop that Crystal needed.  Just as she stood up to move into the isle the guy beat her to it.  He stood in front of her seat blocking her exit as he threw open his long coat revealing that he was stark ass naked underneath and hairier than a bear too.  Crystal gasped nearly falling onto the seat as she moved back away from him.  The horrified reaction didn’t seem to faze him any as he beamed a partially toothless smile at her as he moved his hips back and forth causing his flaccid member to swing between his legs. 

                Irene walked up behind the man smacking him on the back of the head with such force that his head jerked forward, and his hands let go of the coat he had been holding open.  Rubbing the back of his head he turned to see who had hit him when he was met by Irene’s less then amused glare.  He scrambled quickly to rebutton his coat while ducking away from Irene as if he expected to be struck again.

                “I told you to stop doing that to people Dell.  If I catch you on my bus again with no clothes on, I’ll toss you out on your butt and you can walk.  Do I make myself clear?”

                “Yes, ma’am.”  He quickly agreed shrinking under Irene’s stare as he moved away to sit on a seat near the back.

                “Sorry about that sweetheart, I hope he didn’t scare you too badly.  Dell’s pretty harmless.”  Irene stated waving her hand through the air as if to clear away a bad stench.  Crystal stared at her in wide eyed shock for a moment completely disturbed by what she had just seen.  Assuring Irene she was fine, she got up to exit the bus hoping her legs weren’t too shaky that she fell down the steps.  With her feet planted firmly on the sidewalk she waved goodbye as Irene drove off hoping that she didn’t dream about hairy flashers when she went to sleep for the night.