Taxi Driver Chapter Three

Here is the third chapter of Taxi Driver, in case you are behind or would like to reread the previous chapters again, here is everything Taxi Driver related.

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Chapter Three

It was a chilly and snowy Saturday in January. Evan had just woken up from a bad dream.

“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked him, as he was shaking up from his nightmare.

“Nothing, just go back to sleep, babe.” Evan said as he kissed her forehead.

Evan knew she had been tired, since she was eight months pregnant, so Evan laid there until she had fallen back asleep. He knew he would only have to wait a minute or so for her to go back to sleep.

He quietly got out of bed, and got dressed. He walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. He remembered all of the times his Dad made him cups of tea with some biscuits. Evan always loved tea, even from a young age. He sometimes joined his sisters in their tea parties. He wanted to be just like his Dad, and he knew his Dad drank tea a lot.

He sat down at the dining room table, knowing that Elizabeth wasn’t going to wake up for at least another hour. He decided to call his sister, Olivia.

After a few rings, Olivia answered.

“Hello?”
“Hey, how are you?” Evan asked.
“I’m swell, just eating an apple, just watching the kids are play with their dolls. You?” She replied.
“I’ve just been thinking. I want to visit Dad… alone.”

Olivia didn’t say much, there was a small pause.

“I just felt like there was an unfinished conversation the last time we all visited. I was going to go today, and I have a favour if I could ask you.”
“Uhm, sure. What did you need?” Olivia asked.
“Well, I was wondering if you can tell Sarah to not come and visit Dad today. You know how she is, everything always has to be about her.”
“Why can’t you tell her that?” Olivia wondered.
“You know, you two have always been so close. And she would think I was being mean or whatever.” Evan expressed.
“Okay, I get it. Tell him I say hi.” Olivia said.
“Thank you so much. I should get ready to see him. See ya. I love you, Olivia.”
“I love you, too.” Olivia said, hanging up her phone.

Evan washed his mug, and left Elizabeth a note.

Elizabeth,

I went to visit my Dad, be back in a few hours. Left at 9:30. I love you.

-Evan

Evan slowly walked to his car, and paused before he started the car. He was starting to feel emotional. He began thinking about how much different his father might look. Evan knew his father was in pain.

He finally started the car, and drove to the hospital. He stopped by and picked up a cup of tea for him and his Dad in the cafeteria. He then walked into Dad’s room.

“Son, you came back! Where’s Elizabeth?”
“She’s resting, Dad.” He replied as he transfer his Dad’s tea into his mug.

“Did you come for me, or for the journals?” Theodore wondered.
“Uhm, both. But mostly just for you. Before I forget I called Olivia and she told me to say hi.” Evan chuckled.

“That’s sweet. I am going to miss everyone, you know. To be blessed with this big family. I love everyone of you.” Theodore said.

Evan walked over to the end table, and grabbed the journal.

“I’m just going to restart this journal entry, Dad. I had a hard time focusing with everyone was walking in.” Evan confessed.

“Wait, I just realized that you started with a newer journal. And her story began at the end of another journal. Unfortunately Amelia couldn’t find it, so let me tell you her story.” Theodore said, looking disappointed.

Evan nodded, taking a sip of tea.

“I had picked up this girl, she was really shy. She would always make sure we went the same route back to her house. Because she only ever paid in cash.” Theodore began.

“Did she ever tell you why?” Evan asked.

“A good story cannot be interrupted. The first time I saw her was January of 2020. I saw that she had a bruise on her neck. I didn’t think much of it, until a bit later. I normally picked her up at grocery stores or the liquor stores.”

“How old was she, did you know?” Evan wondered.

“She was 23 years old. Anyway, she told me I could only help her load her things into my car, never unload her belongings. I thought it was kind of strange, but the journals will tell you more.” Theodore explained.

“Okay,” Evan said, picking up the journal.

Evan began to read the journal entry…

“January 24, 2020

I saw her again. I can tell she was having another bad day. She always told me to not worry about her, but that only made me worry about her even more. I can tell that she was in trouble. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to do something. In the past, I have driven her to liquor stores, other times it would be to her friends’ houses for parties. Suddenly, the answer came to me, I knew what to do. This time was going to be different.

This time she had asked me to take her back to her house. I finally thought this was the time to talk to her. I told her that the house is toxic. And that her boyfriend was toxic, too.”

Evan stopped reading the journal. “Wait! How did you know that?” Evan questioned.

“Keep on reading, Evan.” Theodore said as he was drinking his tea.

Evan continued reading the journal entry.

“Alice looked confused, as I knew she would have. She asked me how I knew that despite her never telling me anything. I then explained to her that I needed to take her to a Woman’s Shelter, instead of her house. I knew she wasn’t happy with that decision. She claimed that no matter how much he has hurt her, she will always love him. I asked her if we can chat over a cup of tea, my treat. She eventually agreed. We discussed what she should do next. I told her that she should leave him. She deserved someone better, and someone that truly loved her.

She had many questions. I did my best to explain everything to her. I told her that I had an ability to take people where they need to go, instead of where they needed to be. Although it does take some time for me to get a good reading on my clients and what is happening in their lives. She was baffled, that someone in real life had that ability. I told her that I had the best interest to ensure that she would be safe. I told her I’m a father of three, and I wanted to help like she was my own daughter. I had offered to pick up a few things that she might have wanted to bring with her to the shelter. She seemed hesitant about going to a shelter.

She explained that she always bought the exact change, so her boyfriend knows she wouldn’t go somewhere else. She admitted that he would get jealous if he saw another man helping her carry groceries.

I gave her some money, since I knew he was in charge of their finances. I wanted to give her a lot of help, because I know I would never be able to forgive myself if something more happened to her. I know that I would never want my daughters to go through this.”

Evan paused from reading the journal entry and asked, “Wait, did Mom ever know about this?”

Theodore shook his head.

“I never could tell her about this magical power. Although she knew about the journals.” Theodore admitted.

“But Dad, why are you telling me this after all of these years? I mean, I was four years old, you knew about this my whole life.” Evan asked, with a bit of anger in his voice.

“Well, son, I just figured there was no moment than this to tell you until now. I am dying, you know.” Theodore explained.

“We talked for a long time, and for the first time, I saw her smile. She agreed to go to a Woman’s Shelter. I told her I was happy that she was finally seeking the help she needed. I gave her my address and number if she needed anything else.”

Evan finished reading the journal entry.

“She also wrote me some letters over the years. Do you mind passing me the stack of the letters?” Theodore said.

Evan walks over to the night table, and hands them to his Dad. Theodore then goes through the three envelopes. Evan noticed that each envelope contained many letters, and that each envelope had a name on it. He finally came across Alicia’s envelopes. Evan looked intrigued.

“Here you go, son.” Theodore said handing the envelope to Evan, as Evan cleared his throat.

“December 19, 2020

Dear: Theodore,

Merry Christmas, I hope this reaches you before then. I wanted to thank you for all of the help and support you have provided me over the past year. You are an amazing human being. Your kids must be lucky to have you as their Dad. I know I would have been.

I am finally done with living my life in secrecy. I have learned so many things that I wouldn’t have learned if it won’t for you. I decided that there is so much more to my life, than being ashamed of my past.

That is why I am wanting to better my life and to help others as well. I am going to work toward being a teacher and I couldn’t be happier. I can’t even remember the last time I had any goals for myself.

Right now, I am just focusing on me, and instead of looking for love. Maybe I’ll find true love one day, but for now, I am going to love myself.

I was able to move out into a bachelor apartment for the time being. It’s my own oasis. Here is my new address.

Thank you so much again. I hope you and your family are doing well. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Warmest Wishes,
Alice

There were many letters like that, Evan assumed, but stopped reading them because he had a lot of questions.

“You did all of that for her?” Evan thought that was the best question to ask first.

“Yes, son. I never wanted her to suffer anymore. And my secret power saved her life.” Theodore expressed.

“I’m happy you did this, Dad. How long have you had this secret power for? Like how did you get this?” Evan curiously wondered.

“As long as I could remember, Evan. Perhaps we should read another story? Stephen or Deryck?” Theodore hopefully said.

He hoped he could spend more time with Evan, since he knew there wasn’t much time left.

Evan looked a tad stressed out, and needed to leave. He looked at his phone, and saw zero notifications.

“Uhm, Dad, Elizabeth just messaged me, she wants me to grab her some lunch. I should go.” Evan lied, hoping that his Dad wouldn’t know.

“Oh, okay. If you must go, than that’s okay, hopefully you come back and visit soon. There’s more I have to tell you.” Theodore revealed.

“Yeah, of course.” Evan said, trying to hold back his dicomfort of the conversation as he grabbed his coat, giving his Dad a hug before he left.

Theodore was sad that Evan had to leave sooner than he expected. He was left alone for a few moments, until one of his nurses came in and gave him his medicine.

Evan was crying in the elevator, but he knew he had to leave for he was hiding a secret of his own. He didn’t want to tell his Dad about for that would only add more stress to Theodore’s life, and he didn’t want to do that.

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