My Confession to a Taxi Driver

The rain pounded hard on the cracked cement sidewalk outside of an old brick New York City apartment building. It was around 11:00 at night and the street in front of the apartment was empty. The only sound that could be heard was the constant tapping of the rain against the building and a cat searching through the dumpster in the side ally.. Suddenly, the old green door to the apartment slammed open. A blonde woman about 27 years old stumbled out dragging a trunk and yelling something that could barely be heard over the thundering and pounding of the rain.
"Tommy! Tommy! TOMMY! Get your little butt out here! We need to leave now! Tommy! Where are you?" She screamed.
"Mommy! We can't leave Bert!" a young boy replied back from out of the window right above the door.
"That stupid dog" she muttered to herself. "Don't worry Tommy. Mrs. Peters promised to take care of him."
"But he won't understand. He needs me!" the boy of about 8 years old answered.
"Honey, the dog will be fine. You need to come down here right now. We need to go! Grab your coat and come down."
"But Bert!" the little boy whined.
"Tommy! Get your butt down here now before you make mommy any madder than she already is!"
"Okay..." he said reluctantly. The little boy's head disappeared from the window seal and the blonde woman continued to drag the beaten trunk to the curb. She sat down on it and waited for her son. The only light there was a street lamp that flickered as it was soon to burn out, but anyone could easily see in her face that she was tired and upset. There was a creaking noise and she turned around to see her brown haired son slowly shuffle his feet towards her in the rain, reluctant to go. She motioned for him to sit down on the trunk with her and he did. He laid his head on her shoulder as they continued to get soaked.
"Mommy, what are we doing?"
"Remember sweetie, we're going on a long trip...just as soon as a lousy taxi driver will come and pick us up."
"Ok mommy...you promise Bert will be alright?"
"Yeah, just go to sleep now."
The two waited for another half hour as the rain continued to soak them and then the long-waited-for headlights of a yellow taxi came from around the corner onto the once empty street. She waved at the taxi while still sitting down and it pulled over to the curb next to her. She picked up her sleeping son as the taxi driver came out and got her trunk and stuck it in the back. He was a strong man who was in his late 20's also. He had dark hair, a great smile, and was wearing a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt which made him seem slightly gay, but when she climbed into the back of the taxi, she saw a picture of what she assumed to be his girlfriend and him. She put her sleeping son in the seat next to her and put on his seat belt. The taxi driver sat down in the driver's seat and looked back at her.
"Where are you headed?" he asked.
"The airport please."
"One airport coming!"
They sat in silence for awhile. The little boy continued to sleep as his mother thought about how she was probably ruining this poor taxi driver's car by dripping all over it, while she stared out the window. The taxi driver then decided to break the silence.
"I'm Xander...Harris. And your name miss?"
"Buffy. Buffy Summers."
"Nice to meet you Buffy Summers. So where's your flight to today...or should I say tonight, or soon this morning." He chuckled to himself but then stopped as soon as he saw that Buffy was not chuckling. "I guess its not that funny."
"Sorry, I'm going to L.A."
"Oh, nice city. Used to live there myself. I worked as a bar tender there. Best damn bar tender in the city!" She looked at him disapprovingly.
"Well, maybe within four blocks, but I was pretty good. So, why are you going to L.A. miss Summers?"
She stared at the floor of the taxi which was covered with gum, tissues, fries, and eww....was that a dead rat? She continued to stare and then she saw something that she hoped was just for him and his girlfriend but made her want to move out of her seat because she didn't know what they had been doing in that taxi.
"Miss Summers? Buffy?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm going to get away...or actually...go back...or...its complicated."
"Oh, do you have family there?"
"Yes, well kind of, not really, maybe, ugg....that's complicated too... Tommy, my son, his father lives there."
"Oh, so you're going back to see your husband then."
"No, well, ...ugg, that's complicated too. Can you lay off the tough questions? You wouldn't understand."
"Oh, ok. So its one of those complicated things that us taxi drivers don't understand."
"No! Its nothing to do with you being a taxi driver its just...my life is a mess! Ok?" Buffy started to tear up and Xander saw this and became silent for awhile.
"I'm sorry Miss Summers. I didn't mean to make you that upset. Maybe I could help?"
"I doubt it. Anyways, why would you want to listen to my problems. No one else does. It would just end up depressing you and making you feel sorry for me and I don't need any sympathy. I know that I fu**ed up and I've gotten over it."
"I don't think you have by the way those tears are streaming down your face. Go on, you can tell me what's wrong. Remember, I'm an ex- bartender! It was my job to listen to people's problems...and get them drunk...which gave me lots of money, which made Anya my girlfriend very happy, which in turn made me extremely happy, like that time we were in this taxi and I'm going to far aren't I?"

Buffy chuckled at this.

"It's a long story." She said.
"I've got a while. When's your flight?"
"To be honest, I don't have a plane ticket yet."
"Well then I'm hear to listen for as long as you like."
"Alright, but let me tell you in advance, it's not a pretty story, and I don't know how its going to end. Eight years ago, I was married to the perfect man and lived the perfect life. Then, I made the biggest mistake of my life..."