Hot Box. LA Uber and Lyft tales. when yr driver is a writer

not alecia, but a tribute

she was so pretty

is everyone pretty these days?

she looked like alicia keys back there talking to her friend

friend was so loud i could hear

friend was all, im so. fucking. unhappy.

it wasnt going to be a long trip. just from dtla to frogtown so she could pick up her car from where she parked the night before.

youd be surprised how many of these trips i do for people. responsible people who dont wanna drink and drive, not even for a few miles.

makes me happy.

makes me wish uber and lyft gave us one free ride a month

to give to the good people.

friend was getting heavy, pouring her heart out

talking about how shes got no mans

job doesnt love her

shes getting older

oh, we all getting older sis, alecia said

which is not something i woulda said, because hi, look at me

i kept listening though because men handle these things so much differently than women. i was quietly studying

alecia was so supportive and just let friend vent

talking about how she hates her apartment

hates how bad she wants to try ozempic

hates so many of her clothes

grrrrrl, i’ll take your clothes, alecia chimed

making them both laugh

summer night in elysian park

dark

quiet cuz ICE scared the mexican families away

who should be out there barbequing,

birthday partying, pinata swinging

kids running, dogs running

but now, it was pretty empty except for a few scraggly coyotes and a couple guys in the brambles

still there? alecia asked

baby?

there?

ok, if you can hear me, i’ll call you back when i get a signal

i’ll call you back gurl.

i turned the radio up a little

train train, elvis sang, to a simple rockabilly beat

god i love LA, alecia said, as we finally emerged from the park and took in the sparkly lights across the 5

cypress park and glassell park just chillin’ over there, lookin’ all pretty

almost like everythings prettier after the darkness

elvis slapped his knees to the beat from inside the speakers

from inside the past, where everything

hey im back, alecia said

lets toot some rails

she told her friend

k?

see how much they tipped