The breakup

I had a great fight in my cab tonight. I picked up a young couple at the Hilton going out to PB. They had a paper grocery bag between them on the back seat. I took the usual route, I-5 to Grand / Garnett and stayed with Grand all the way to the beach.

Before we got there they started arguing. The girl was drunk and antagonizing the guy. He was probably drunk, too, but he was just trying to calm her down. I heard some rustling, and the paper bag was thrown onto the guy. "This is just ridiculous that you would treat me like this," he said. At the next red light he got out and walked away.

I asked the girl what she wanted me to do. She wanted to leave him and go straight home.

After about four blocks she asked me to pull over and turn on the interior light. She rummaged through her purse and started to cry. I didn't know what to do or say. I didn't think she wanted to be comforted by a stranger, especially a cab driver, so I just sat there.

The meter was running, and this was my last ride of the night, so I didn't care what happened.

She had started crying because the boyfriend had the keys and ATM cards; she had no cash to pay me.

We looked for him for a long time. Clearly he didn't want to be found. Eventually we did find him, and I pulled over. She got out and started cursing at him. ATM cards were thrown to the wind, and a set of keys.

The girl collected all the stuff from the sidewalk and got back in. She wasn't crying anymore, just mad.

We made a stop at an ATM and I got her home. It was $50 plus a $10 tip.