THE GAP
A short story of 1700 words
© David Lowe, May 1994
For an instant, Will's eyes were caught by the sight of a bare-breasted hooker standing outside a luxury car showroom. Then a woman stepped out in front of his cab. Black against black. Will hit the brakes. The old taxi squealed reluctantly to a stop. The woman got in as the adrenalin was still whizzing through Will's blood.
'Christ I'm sorry, I didn't see you-'
'The Gap. As fast as possible please.' Her voice was coarse, but wavery. The woman sounded as though she'd been crying.
Will eased the taxi back out into the William Street traffic as horns blared and high beam headlights blinded him in the mirror. One finger jabbed the meter on. He'd almost forgotten it again. Where had she said she wanted to go? The Gatt? If that was the name of a new club then Will hadn't heard of it.
'Excuse me,' he said. 'Where was it you wanted to go again?'
'The Gap. South Head. The opposite way to where we're going.'
'Right, right. I've got you now. Sorry. It's been a long shift.' Will chanced a grin in the rear view mirror. Black eye shadow, black hat, black clothes. Tear-stained mascara. Not bad looking. The woman didn't answer his gaze. Then it sunk in. The Gap. Oh no. Not on his first shift.
Half-hoping a cop would stop him, Will made a U-turn at the next set of traffic lights. The blinker lever snapped off in his hand as he turned it on. That was all he needed. It continued clicking as the wheel straightened up.
The other drivers had warned him not to come up to the Cross on his first night. Hadn't said anything about how to deal with suicides though. Christ, he had to say something.
'Been a good night?' Will ventured.
'Can't you turn that fucking blinker off?' said the girl.
'Umm. No. It's stuck. Sorry.'
The back seat returned to stony silence. Will looked at the clock on the dash. Its light was broken. Still, it had to be 3.30am at least. One hour left. $415 for twelve hours. Not a bad night. Until now.
'Do you mind if I have a smoke?' asked the woman.
Keep them talking, that's what Will had heard. 'Yeah, sure. No worries. Just open the window.'
'Have you got a light?'
Will glanced below the dash. There was a tangle of wires protruding from the hole where the lighter was supposed to be. 'Sorry. It's broken,' he explained. 'You can have one of my peppermints if you like though.'
'Peppermints,' said the woman, with a dry cackle. 'Jesus fucking Christ'.
Will glanced in the mirror again. She was fiddling with something in her bag. Obviously it would take more than peppermints to make her change her mind.
People shouted from car windows as Will turned against the direction of the stuck blinker and down towards Double Bay. The woman didn't notice anything was wrong until she saw the harbour down on the left.
'Where the fuck do you think you're going?' she demanded.
'The Gap,' said Will innocently. 'Like you said.'
'This is not the way to the Gap.'
'Sure it is. Scenic route.'
'I didn't ask for any scenic route.'
'That's okay,' said Will. 'No extra charge.'
She leaned in over his shoulder. Will could smell whisky on her. A hand with broken nails shoved $20 into his shirt pocket.
'Take me to the Gap mate. Now.'
She was more desperate than Will had realised. Obviously he would have to try another strategy. Blinker still blinking the wrong way, he turned the old taxi back on to New South Head Road.
'Tomorrow's a new day, you know,' said Will in a voice which he hoped sounded cheerful. 'Its always darkest before the dawn.'
'What the fuck are you talking about?'
Will battled on. 'It's just that, you know, things aren't always as bad as they seem.'
'How the hell would you know? You're just a kid.'
There was a pause.
Will tried another tack. 'Did someone treat you badly? Did your mother die?'
'Twenty years ago. Not that it's your fucking business.'
'Is it a bloke? Drugs? There are people, you know, who can help with that sort of thing. Lifeline...' Will trailed off.
'Look mate. I don't know what kind of mental problem you've got, but just drive the fucking cab. All right?'
Vaucluse. He'd have to think of something quick. Suddenly the gear box made a strange clunking sound, and then roared. Will slowed down to a crawl. The car refused to change up from first gear. The owner had said the gearbox was on its last legs. Will had been worried about it all night. Now he could have kissed the bloody thing.
'What's happening now?' asked the girl.
'It's the car. Gearbox. Nothing I can do.' Will suppressed a chortle. 'We're going to have to go back into the city.'
'Look. Forget it. Drop me off here.'
'How could I do that? Out here in the middle of nowhere? At least let me radio you another taxi.' Anything to stall for time, Will thought to himself.
'Look here Mr...' the girl peered at his ID card. '...Will Reynolds. If you don't let me off right here I'm gonna-' She was cut off by a mighty bang from the engine as the taxi topped the hill. Suddenly the gearbox returned to normal. Back into Drive. Will's heart sank. At least the blinker had stopped blinking.
The girl closed her mouth and sat back in her seat. Now what was he going to do?
Will threw the car into a hard left turn, towards Watsons Bay. Tires squealing, he turned right and then left down narrow side streets and blind alleys. Cats ran for their lives as Will collected dustbins and dog kennels on the front bumper. The taxi's one remaining headlight wheeled like a spotlight until Will came to a stop in a dead end under an enormous figtree. The harbour glinted in the moonlight beyond a quiet beach.
'You crazy little bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing?' demanded the woman.
Will bowed his head. 'I couldn't let you do it. I just couldn't. Sorry.'
'Couldn't let me do what, you crazy fuck? What the...' Suddenly realisation spread across the woman's face. 'You thought I was going to...? You think I'm a...'
Will turned to look at her as the woman burst into peals of hysterical laughter. 'Why would I need a cliff to kill myself when I could just take a cab ride with you?!'
'You mean-'
'I've got friends who live at the Gap.' The woman's face grew hard again. 'So take me there, now.'
Something in her expression punctured Will's newfound hope. The woman did mean to do it after all. He was sure of it. Perhaps if he feigned ignorance?
'I can't. I'm lost.' Then Will had another idea. 'I've lost the Gregory's too.'
The woman leaned in close to his ear. 'Back up this street,' she said coldly. 'First left. Second right. First left.'
With a sinking heart, Will put the taxi into reverse. It began to rain gently as he turned the taxi up the hill. The demister was broken and only one wiper worked. The one on the passenger side.
As they got back up to the main road the lighthouse swung through the rain like a great scythe. Will peered through the condensation-soaked windscreen.
'Past the lighthouse,' came the command from the back seat.
Feeling like an automaton, Will obeyed. Soon he could see the green wire anti-jump netting along the cliffs. There was no one around. The woman directed him up a side road and then along a one way street which ran behind some palatial mansions. Across the road was a path leading up to the cliffs.
'Stop here,' said the woman.
Will stopped.
'How much is it?' she asked.
Will looked at the meter for the first time since the trip had begun. '$22.65,' he said.
The woman thrust a $50 note at him. Will moved one leg to cover his bulging change bag. 'Sorry, I can't change that. We're going to have to go and find a petrol station.'
'Keep it,' the woman barked, throwing the note into his lap. She got out of the car and slammed the door.
Will leapt out of the car just in time to pull the woman out of the way of a bus which came from nowhere.
'Leave me alone,' said the woman. She shook his arm away and began walking up the path. Will followed her like an anxious dog.
'Look, don't you think there's any hope in the world?' he pleaded. 'What about South Africa and the Berlin Wall? What about the hopes for peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland?'
'Go away!'
Will persisted. 'I've known people who killed themselves. It destroyed their families and friends. You can't just think of yourself in these situations-'
The woman turned. 'For the last time, you raving lunatic, I am not going to kill myself. I'm just going to look at the view before I visit my friends.'
'But it's raining,' Will implored. 'There won't be any view.' The woman accelerated. Will accelerated to keep up.
Suddenly the scrubby heath cleared. They had reached the cliffs, past the northern end of the safety fence. Surf boomed below. Wind whipped the rain into Will's eyes. The woman in black strode towards the cliffs like an angry shadow. She reached the edge. Desperately, Will ran to grab her by the arm.
The woman shook him off angrily. 'Look you mad bastard, get back in your taxi and leave me alone!' She gave Will an enormous shove. With a cry of shock, he slipped on the wet rock and fell with a scream over the edge of the cliff.
In the distance, the North Head light winked through the rain.© David Lowe, May 1994