Dorsai - Taxi

I heard him say "But of course", and from the corner of my eye, saw him leave the bedroom. He was back in just a minute or so, setting a mixed drink and another bottle of beer on the night stand before going back to the chair he'd been in.

Jyota was able to sit up a little more, and used me as a backrest while she reached out for the drinks Richard had brought in. Never before or since has something as simple as beer tasted so good to me. I think I must have gone through half the bottle in less than a minute; Jyota killed a full quarter of her drink the first time the glass touched her lips.

Probably half an hour went by with the two of us just sitting there; I was perfectly content to have an arm wrapped around Jyota and take an occasional sip from my beer as I tried to get myself back together.

Jyota was the first to speak when she finally told me "That was quite… something."

"Yeah, it was. I'm not sure what, but it was definitely something", I replied.

"You did a perfectly marvelous job of finding what I wanted, and then doing it. You are indeed quite the gentleman!" – the last with a small laugh.

I gave her a small hug and responded "After you asked me to, what else could I do?"

"Well, thank you, sir!" she said, lifting her glass in toast.

"It was my pleasure, I assure you" I answered, touching my beer bottle to her glass before the two of us drank.

It was perhaps another half hour before each of us had finished our drinks; I was done first, and Jyota quickly took the last swallow of hers before setting her glass and my bottle on the night stand before she told me "If you'd like to clean up a bit, a shower perhaps, I would be delighted to keep you company. Richard will wait until after you've left, of course."

That was an offer I couldn't refuse, and I said so. She turned to look at me, and I could see that she was pleased when she said "Shall we, then? I should imagine that you would like to get to your own bed and get some sleep tonight."

I had the feeling that the two of them weren't done for the night, and that I was being dismissed after having provided them with whatever service or inspiration they needed or wanted from me – but Jyota was being so thoughtful and polite about it that I didn't really mind. They'd gotten something from me, and I sure as hell had gotten something from them (well, her, anyway), and wasn't inclined to try and renege on the deal. Besides, I could think of worse things to end a workday than spending a little time in the shower with her.

We spent a good twenty minutes in the shower together, nineteen of which were spent with my hands on her as she laughingly took care of washing me off. She didn't mind her hair getting wet, and I got the chance to find out that it made a heavy, sensuous rope in my hands before she took it away from me.

As we were getting dried off, she told me "There are some things I wouldn't say before Richard, of course, so I should like to thank you again, Jim, for being with us tonight. You're quite the lover, and you've brought me no small amount of pleasure. More, in fact, than I've felt in quite some time. You've every reason to feel pleased with yourself!"

I reached out to cup her face in my hands and answered "If I was a good lover, then it was because I had you to inspire me. You're a very lovely and sexy lady, and if I brought you that kind of pleasure, then that is what I'm pleased about."

She gave me a delighted smile, and the brief kiss the two of us shared was somehow more intimate than the ones before. We finished drying off, and went back out to the bedroom to get dressed before going back to the living area. Richard was sitting there, waiting for us, dressed and as friendly and sociable as when I'd first walked into the room. I made an excuse about having to leave, and he stood up to shake my hand and tell me they'd enjoyed my company before handing me an envelope. I didn't bother opening it, knowing that it was the bonus she'd said they wanted to give me; besides, I'd learned enough by then to know that it wasn't considered 'proper' to do so. Jyota escorted me to the door to their suite, and gave me a kiss on the cheek while tolerating the soft pat I gave her ass.

Back down in my cab, I opened the envelope to see that they'd tipped me a thousand bucks: ten crisp new $100 bills. Between that, and the time I'd had with Jyota, I figured I must have done one hell of a job of driving them around. I got my rig fired up and headed home, where my cat Demosthenes chewed me out for making supper late.

The next day, I got the call to take Richard and Jyota back to the airport. I didn't say or do anything to indicate that I knew anything about them that I hadn't learned in my cab. But as I drove, I noticed that while Richard was looking out the window, Jyota was looking at me – and when she saw me looking at her, smiled in a way that I knew was just for me.

When we got to the airport, I got their stuff unloaded for the skycap, and made sure they had all of their stuff. Richard gave me a nice tip on top of the fare, and after he'd gone over to tip the skycap, Jyota told me "Thank you again, Jim, for all you've done."

The skycap and I both watched them (okay, her) walk away until they were lost in the crowd.

I've never seen or heard from them since then – though there have been a few times that I thought it was Jyota when I saw a woman with long, black hair, or another tallish Indian woman with the right shape.

Those few hours that I spent with Jyota have remained sharp and clear in my memory, and I know that I'll always treasure them. I don't know what the deal was with them, and probably don't WANT to know – it's enough for me that I was able to have that little bit of time with her. One lasting thing that came out of the experience was that after getting to talk to Jyota, I was inspired to get a few books and learn something about India, and the religions and cultures there, and what I learned has given me even more to think about and learn from.

Things were slow, even for early on a Monday evening late in the month, and I was thinking about getting an early start on my days off when Dispatch called on the radio to tell me that Bob Dickens, the night manager of a local hotel, wanted me to call him. I knew the guy pretty well, and rather than just call on the phone, decided to head on over.

When I got there, he told me "Jim, I've got a problem that maybe you can help with. I've got a couple of kids that can't pay the full rate to stay here tonight, but their train home isn't until tomorrow. If I let them stay anyway, even at some corporate rate, I'll catch hell from the manager tomorrow; he's a new guy fresh from the home office, and being pretty hard-ass. I can't think of anyplace they could stay until they leave tomorrow, and was hoping you had a solution. As long as you've been in this town, I figure if there's an answer, you'll know about it."

I couldn't help looking at him in confusion when I asked "What do you mean by 'kids', and why the hell can't they stay at someplace like the Rescue Mission? Granted, it isn't a hotel or anyplace, but they'd be someplace reasonably secure."

"Come on, I'll show you." he said, before leading me into his office.

Then I saw them, and knew what the problem was.

Both were female, and Black. The older of them looked to be maybe 18, and reminded me of Vernee Watson, the Mayors secretary from that old TV program "Carter Country"; the younger of the two was obviously related, couldn't have reached 16 yet, and bore an uncanny resemblance to a young Lisa Bonet. Both looked terrified, and I could see that they'd been crying. The older of them probably could have gotten a bed on the Women's side of the Rescue Mission – but no way in hell were they going to let the younger in. Normally, someone could spend the night waiting in the bus or train station – but the ages of these two made that pretty iffy, even if they weren't female. Bob's place was the least expensive of the decent hotels in town, so if they couldn't afford his rates, then sending them anyplace they could afford was just asking for trouble, given their ages (and quite frankly, looks).