The Cabbie from Somaliland

On the evening of March the seventh, I found myself standing outside Microsoft’s office in Redmond, frantically waving at a taxi cab on the road.

The car stopped beside me and a heavy set black man got out of the driving seat. With a big booming smile on his face, he ambled towards me, picked up my luggage and stashed it inside the boot.

“Hello there! I’m Abdul (name changed). Going to the airport, brother?” the cabbie asked, as he turned the ignition.

“Yes, Sir.” I replied.

“May I know when is your flight, bro?”

“Its at midnight. We have plenty of time.” I looked at my watch. It was around seven o’clock.

“What will you do at the airport so early?” the cabbie asked as he guided the car outside the Microsoft complex and into the highway that led to Seattle.

“Err…I don’t know. I had nothing to do. So, I thought I’d just go to the airport and wait there.”

I was extremely tired. My interviews that day were very tough and frustrating. All I wanted to do was to get back to West Lafayette and back to the company of my friends. Spending your birthday all alone isn’t the ideal way to spend your birthday! And even though it felt a little weird talking to this huge stranger behind the wheel, I longed for some friendly conversation.

“Can I give you a suggestion, bro?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure…” I replied apprehensively.

“Why don’t you go to downtown and enjoy the city?”

“I’ve been to downtown.”

“So, you saw the Space Needle?”

“Yes.”

“The City Center…museum?”

“Yes.”

“The Pike Place Market?”

“Yup” I yawned.

“But did you see all that at night?” the cabbie winked.

I raised my eyebrows, “Uhh…I guess not.”

“Ok. So, let me take you to downtown then. It is very beautiful at night, bro.”

“You mean, the lights and all that stuff?”

“Yes, bro. Trust me, it is good.”

Why is this guy so adamant of getting me to visit downtown? Does he have any special reason to take me there? I nervously shifted around in my seat. The car seemed hot even though the AC was running.

“One question. Just to confirm.” He turned around and spoke out.

“Yeah?”

“Those guys at the office gave you the coupon?”

I slipped my hands into my pockets and retrieved a yellow slip of paper.

Ah! Now this is what its all about! A wave of relief swept over me.

Microsoft had given me a taxi coupon. I would just have to mention the place I visited and write down the amount and hand that coupon to the cabbie. The cabbie would then cash it at his office.

“Yes, I have the coupon.” I scoffed.

“Oh! Don’t get me wrong, brother.” The cabbie seemed offended. “I know that the company is paying you. But that does not mean I will cheat the company.”

“Uhh…pardon?”

“Some taxi drivers here do that. Take the party to the airport and fill up an amount that is twice the fare. They make it look like the party has traveled to downtown, maybe Bellevue and then to the airport. But I’m doing no such thing.”

“So…uhm…how does this work exactly?”

“I take you to downtown. You enjoy downtown at night. Then I take you to the airport. And fill up the total amount. I get paid more. You get to enjoy. We do something that is perfectly ethical. What do you say?”

“Alright. I guess so.” I raised my eyebrows and nodded back.

“Microsoft is a great company, bro. They call a lot of people here, which gives us our business. I would never cheat the company, bro.”

The company? Makes microsoft sound like some kind of a mafia outfit!

I slouched back on my seat and slight smile formed on my face.

The cabbie then took me to downtown and gave me a guided tour of all the major landmarks. And once we were done with that, we proceeded to move towards the airport.

After a brief moment of silence, the cabbie spoke out again, “May I know your name, bro?”

“Sri.”

“Sri? You are from India, I suppose. Southern part?”

“Well…yeah.” I replied.

“India is a beautiful country, Sri.”

“Ohh…yes it is! Have you been there Abdul?”

“No. But I have heard good stories. I want to visit your country someday.”

“Where are you from?”

“Somaliland.” The cabbie replied with pride.

“Somaliland?” I was pretty sure that there was no such country by the name of Somaliland. “Do you mean, Somalia?” I asked.

“No no. Somaliland. Haven’t you heard of Somaliland?” he seemed shocked.

“Tell me about it.”

“We are an autonomous region bordering Somalia.”

“Ahh…so how is the political situation there? I hear there are a lot uprisings going on these days in Africa.”

“In Somalia, it is bad. It is very bad. Corrupt government. People are living in misery there. But in Somaliland, we follow democracy. We are free.” He replied passionately.

I just nodded. I would’ve wanted to hear his opinions about the Somali pirates. But I restricted myself. What if I say something wrong and this guy gets a little cranky!

The cabbie seemed to understand the situation and quickly changed the topic.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Sri?” he smiled.

“Err…ok, go ahead.”

I would’ve rather had a political conversation!

“Your girlfriend is American? Or is she from India?”

“Uhhh.” I was completely taken aback by this question. “Abdul, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

The cabbie suddenly burst out in laughter.

“You’re kidding me, Sri? You are in the United States of America and you don’t have a girlfriend?”

What the hell! I thought. I regained my composure and replied, “Well, is that a big deal?”

“No. I mean people come here and fuck blond women, bro!”

I shifted a little towards the window, looked at my watch and adjusted my shirt collar.

The cabbie continued speaking, “You came here for an interview, right? You study here?”

“Yeah.” I replied.

“And you haven’t fucked a blond woman yet?”

"Uhh…Nope! I’d rather like to spend my time and energy in doing what I came here for.”

“Very good. I’m impressed. But you look very young, Sri. Now is the time to do a lot of fucking. Once you get older, it ain’t gonna happen.”

"Uhh…probably.” I didn’t know what to say.

“So, you are going to marry a girl from your country then?”

“Uhh…most probably. But then, I can’t rule out any possibility.”

“Diplomatic, eh?” He turned around and smiled. “American women are very good when they are young. You will really enjoy them. You may want to marry one of them and settle here. But once you get old like me, you’d want to get back to your culture, your tradition. And that time it will be a problem. For example, we respect our elders in our culture. They don’t do it here. This and a lot other stuff will come in the way.”

“Well I guess, it is important that the cultures and traditions be passed on to the next generation.” I shrugged.

“Well said, bro. I like your thinking. Your parents would be proud of you.”

“Err…yeah. I guess so.”

And then an instant relief surged through me as I saw the lights of the airport terminal up ahead. The moment we came to the airport, I quickly handed him the coupon and got out of my car.

“Good luck Sri. Hope you clear your interview. And have a safe flight.”, the cabbie spoke out as he took out my luggage from the boot of the car.

“Thank you Abdul. Hope you continue to get interesting customers like me.” I laughed, shook my head and stepped through the automatic doors and into the plush carpeting of the Seattle Tacoma Airport.