"Once," he began, "I made the mistake of taking a ride with a couple. My wife and I had been fighting all day about my junky car, which was in the shop, and about our lack of money (our most popular debate topics), and so I went out with friends to a bar. At that time, I was living in the Naval base in Oakland, California. The bar was a regular hangout for me and my naval buddies, only located about 15 miles from the base. My friends decided to leave early, but I didn't feel like going home to another tirade yet, so I stayed there until closing time. I had been chatting with a middle-aged couple at the bar, a man named Patrick and his wife Evyline. They were pretty friendly and I thought I'd seen them in the bar from prior visits. When I was getting ready to leave, I realized I didn't bring enough money to pay for a taxi."
"'Oh, we could take you home,' Evyline noted. 'We go in that direction anyway.' Evyline looked at her husband with a strange glance, and he just grunted it would be okay."
"We went to the parking lot and the car was sporty with dark windows. It was a two-door vehicle, so I had to scrunch my 6 foot 2 inch frame into the back. Evyline decided she would drive as Patrick was nearly falling over drunk. We were on our way. Around 10 minutes into the drive, Patrick already began to fall asleep. A few moments later, he started snoring loudly. It was a bit annoying. I joked with Evyline about it, but she didn't seem to find it funny at all."
"'He's always snoring like that and I can't sleep at night. It's ridiculous! We aren't actually married even, and it really pisses me off!' She continued ranting for a good 5 minutes about his faults, working herself up into a frenzy."
"I kept quiet, although she started swerving on the freeway in the lane and kept looking back at me, turning her head away from the road. All of this freaky activity was frightening me considerably. Then she took an exit off the freeway. Suddenly, she reached next to her seat and pulled out a long blade that glinted against the street lights. We'd taken another turn into a side street and were going much slower now, so I had less focus on her bad driving and could pay attention to the new turn of events. She brandished the weapon while continuing to scream about how Patrick was such a jerk."
"Calming down, she asked me turning her head back, 'His name isn't Patrick, you know? He wanted me to use this knife to take your identification and wallet, but he's the real jerk. Should I kill him?'"
"Stunned, I simply stared back at her wordless."
"'No-one would miss him, and he's such a pain in the ass.'"
Clearing my throat, I reasoned, "'Well, erm, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Maybe, if you just talk to him about these things, you two can work it out.'"
"She stopped the car with a jerk as I braced myself. Opening her door, she bent down to grope in the front seat below the steering wheel. 'Oh my god, I lost one of my contacts,' she muttered, 'and I can't see a damn thing now. Could you help me find it?'"
"As I inclined forward, I noticed that she'd placed the knife onto the front seat's cushion. I pushed the seat forward as she stepped aside for a moment to give me room, then I picked up the knife stealthily before getting out of the car. She moved back to bend down over the seat, while I paused a moment, then I told her I had to go take a piss in one of the yards after all the beer I'd drank. Walking behind the car toward the sidewalk, I looked back. She was still bent over muttering. I ran like the devil was after me along the sidewalk back in the direction we'd driven."
"A few minutes later, I pulled into a yard with an underpass where I could hide. I waited trying to calm my breath. Eventually, I heard a car drive by slowly with the woman shouting out the window, 'Hey, where did you go mister? I thought you wanted a ride home?'"
"I waited there until she passed by and then for another hour or so before I walked home. It was daylight by the time I made it back to the base. My wife was sleeping in the apartment, so I didn't bother to wake her up. I never said a word to her afterwards about the entire incident."
Looking up from the driver's seat into the rear view mirror of the two-door Camaro, he summarized to me, "So, as I said, you have to be very careful when accepting a car ride from strangers."
Snoring in the seat beside him, the man's wife was pretty loud after getting inebriated earlier in the bar where we'd met. "My wife is such a pain in the ass..." He bent down and felt in the area beside his seat. Pulling out a large knife with the metal blade glinting in the street lights, he asked me, "Should I kill her?"
"'Oh, we could take you home,' Evyline noted. 'We go in that direction anyway.' Evyline looked at her husband with a strange glance, and he just grunted it would be okay."
"We went to the parking lot and the car was sporty with dark windows. It was a two-door vehicle, so I had to scrunch my 6 foot 2 inch frame into the back. Evyline decided she would drive as Patrick was nearly falling over drunk. We were on our way. Around 10 minutes into the drive, Patrick already began to fall asleep. A few moments later, he started snoring loudly. It was a bit annoying. I joked with Evyline about it, but she didn't seem to find it funny at all."
"'He's always snoring like that and I can't sleep at night. It's ridiculous! We aren't actually married even, and it really pisses me off!' She continued ranting for a good 5 minutes about his faults, working herself up into a frenzy."
"I kept quiet, although she started swerving on the freeway in the lane and kept looking back at me, turning her head away from the road. All of this freaky activity was frightening me considerably. Then she took an exit off the freeway. Suddenly, she reached next to her seat and pulled out a long blade that glinted against the street lights. We'd taken another turn into a side street and were going much slower now, so I had less focus on her bad driving and could pay attention to the new turn of events. She brandished the weapon while continuing to scream about how Patrick was such a jerk."
"Calming down, she asked me turning her head back, 'His name isn't Patrick, you know? He wanted me to use this knife to take your identification and wallet, but he's the real jerk. Should I kill him?'"
"Stunned, I simply stared back at her wordless."
"'No-one would miss him, and he's such a pain in the ass.'"
Clearing my throat, I reasoned, "'Well, erm, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Maybe, if you just talk to him about these things, you two can work it out.'"
"She stopped the car with a jerk as I braced myself. Opening her door, she bent down to grope in the front seat below the steering wheel. 'Oh my god, I lost one of my contacts,' she muttered, 'and I can't see a damn thing now. Could you help me find it?'"
"As I inclined forward, I noticed that she'd placed the knife onto the front seat's cushion. I pushed the seat forward as she stepped aside for a moment to give me room, then I picked up the knife stealthily before getting out of the car. She moved back to bend down over the seat, while I paused a moment, then I told her I had to go take a piss in one of the yards after all the beer I'd drank. Walking behind the car toward the sidewalk, I looked back. She was still bent over muttering. I ran like the devil was after me along the sidewalk back in the direction we'd driven."
"A few minutes later, I pulled into a yard with an underpass where I could hide. I waited trying to calm my breath. Eventually, I heard a car drive by slowly with the woman shouting out the window, 'Hey, where did you go mister? I thought you wanted a ride home?'"
"I waited there until she passed by and then for another hour or so before I walked home. It was daylight by the time I made it back to the base. My wife was sleeping in the apartment, so I didn't bother to wake her up. I never said a word to her afterwards about the entire incident."
Looking up from the driver's seat into the rear view mirror of the two-door Camaro, he summarized to me, "So, as I said, you have to be very careful when accepting a car ride from strangers."
Snoring in the seat beside him, the man's wife was pretty loud after getting inebriated earlier in the bar where we'd met. "My wife is such a pain in the ass..." He bent down and felt in the area beside his seat. Pulling out a large knife with the metal blade glinting in the street lights, he asked me, "Should I kill her?"
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