6 to 6: Don’t Die Before Your Mother

Outside the hotel, two little old ladies climbed into the back seat of my cab and felt the air conditioner. “2212 North Inn Road,” one of them said.…


6 to 6: Dodi’s Luck

Her face has more wrinkles than a crackhead’s last dollar bill, but her legs are slim and tight and she has alluring feet with painted toenails like…


6 to 6: The Cab Knows the Way

Whoever Nancy Gantry is, she lives in Bumfuck, Egypt. She’s scheduled for a 2:45 p.m. pickup. My teeth rattle as I progress down the washboard dirt…


6 to 6: Drano

It was not possible to pass a kidney stone the size of a golf ball. Cory wouldn’t be able to work until after the surgery, which was in a couple of…


6 to 6: The Hot Light

My ear sweats with the cell phone pressed against it. Riiinnnnnggggg. Riiinnnnnggggg. Riiinnnnnggggg. Riiinnnnnggggg. Riiinnnnnggggg. Riiinnn...…


6 to 6: A Day with Melanie

Melanie’s talking as she walks up the sidewalk toward my cab. She’s talking as she opens the door. She’s talking as I ask her where she wants to go.…


6 to 6: Grocery Day

Francisca Verdugo needs to go to Food City. I’m a few minutes early, so I sit in my cab and wait for her to come out. The sun shines down on the big…


6 to 6: A Pair to Draw To

It’s too early for this shit. The sun is an ember under a bear rug, and I’m full of vinegar. I pull my cab up to the trailer park to find the gates…


6 to 6: Sonja’s Ring

Sonja is a big black lady, a sweetheart. Her body’s falling apart at age 43: knees, back, innards. She can’t drive anymore. She took my cab to work…


6 to 6: A Spiritual Adventure

I am dispatched in my cab to one of Tucson’s many “spiritual retreats.” I feel my chakras squinching up as soon as I pull in. A line of pine trees…