As we pulled away, she was still standing there on the porch… watching.
I chuckled, then remembered I needed to call Marcos.
He answered on the second ring. “Yo! Yo! Yo!”
“You found a mule yet?” That was my greeting.
He switched to Spanish real quick. “Hola también para tu grosero trasero, hermano!” (Hello to your rude ass too, brother)
Then he went right back to English.
“Damn, bro. I ain’t talked to you in four days. I didn’t get a simple ‘I’m thankful for you, Marcos’ text for Thanksgiving or nan. After all I do.”
“Marcos…”
“Aight. Fine,” he laughed. “I’m thankful for yo’ ungrateful ass then, since you got too much pride to say it.”
I shook my head.
“But I was just about to call you about that issue.”
“Uh huh.”
“For real. I ain’t locked in an official one yet…”
My jaw tightened.
“But,” he added, “Imighthave a potential.”
That got my attention.
I leaned forward in my seat. “I’m listening.”
“So boom… I took this Uber last night. Driver was a female… a calm one, too. Most of ‘em talk too damn much or act nervous.”
“And she didn’t? “I questioned.
Because details mattered. In this business, small things told big stories.
“Nah. She was real collected. Check this. So, somebody almost ran her off the road—I’m talkin’ reckless driving, cuttingher off… the whole thing. Most folks would’ve been either screaming, shaking, pulling over, calling the police, crying… something! I mean, she cussedonce,but after that, she straightened the wheel and kept driving. I think she could be the one.”
“So you think she’s a good candidate because she got road rage with manners?” I asked dryly.
Marcos laughed. “Nah, nigga. What I’m trying to point out is that she stayed calm in a situation that would’ve had most people reacting off emotion. A mule who panics is a liability, but agoodmule knows how to keep it together. That’s the kind of temperament we look for, right?”
“Facts… but being calm in traffic and calm when your freedom is on the line are two different things. I’m not looking to hire an Uber driver; I’m looking for somebody who can move weight and won’t fold the moment a cop asks questions. If flashing lights make her start explaining herself, she’s useless to me. So what other quality stood out to you that makes you think she could be the one? ‘Cause being calm once doesn’t automatically make you built for this life.”
“Well, she did get this call from her friend, who was watching her little brother. The kid is clearly sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but whatever it is, it ain’t small. The way they were talking? It sounded serious.”
I tugged at my beard, pondering. “So you think she’s desperate.”
“I mean… she wasn’t driving the latest model car, and shewasworking on a holiday…voluntarily. Like, who the hell wakes up on Thanksgiving and says, ‘You know what sounds fun? Driving strangers around the city.”
That made me smirk.
“Still,” he added, “I wouldn’t call it sloppy desperate. More like… drowning quietly.”
That part piqued my interest because quiet desperation was the most useful kind.