It was New Year's Eve and Mitch Hargrove was hard at work, had been all evening driving his cab. Tonight he'd probably end up working until long after sunrise. Yeah, the hours were long but as long as the drunks kept calling, the tips would most likely be good.
Mitch didn't mind drunks as long at they weren't the belligerent kind. He really had no patience with a belligerent drunk. Of course the threat of dropping them in the middle of nowhere usually calmed them some.
New Year's Eve was a good time for Mitch to work since he was never much of a party person, his wife and young son were quiet and homey. She never even considered going out and hailing in the New Year and although she'd have preferred to spend the evening with Mitch, she was all too happy to just stay in and read by herself.
Mitch could always use the extra money he earned, what with a toddler at home and his wife just now able to start thinking about getting back to work. They had some debt, but once both of them got back to working, they should clear that out quickly, even after paying for child care.
Up ahead Mitch spotted someone hailing a cab and quickly pulled up along the curb. At first it looked like just two women, but at the last second a male friend slipped in beside them. Instead of heading them home, where he might have to make three stops, the three occupants wanted to head downtown to some club, where he dropped them off, collected the fare and got a sizeable tip.
Folding the tip, he slipped that into one pocket while putting the rest of the fare into his little box. He then headed back out onto the street where he cruised up and down a four block by ten block strip of night club after night club. It was surprisingly early in the evening when he got his favorite type of fare, a UFO.
When Mitch first stopped the car he didn't figure he'd land a UFO, it was a guy who actually hailed him, but as he reached back and opened the back door behind him he saw the guy help a woman into the car and then close the door behind him. He expected the guy to run around and climb in the other side, but instead he stepped up to the front door.
Rolling down his window he heard the guy say, "Look my date here got a little too drunk and well, I didn't really want to leave the party this early."
Mitch then heard another guy a few steps away add loudly, "And he's already found a replacement for her."
"No, no don't listen to him. Look here's her address, if you could make sure she get's home safely, well here," he handed Mitch a fifty and then pulled out another one. "Look this first fifty should cover the fare... you keep the change, and here, here is another fifty for getting her there safe."
