Rides

In Michelle's story Aparna felt it is the lonely fight of a women, alone, single and yet never giving up. The intense emotions were painted in red, blue and green. She was Michelle's regular rider. Whenever they met, they loved spending time together. Michelle would talk about her rainwater collection, her plants her effort to buy a house, the hope and hopelessness and learned helplessness being in a capitalistic country. The insecurities of old age and the scare of elderly homes, they talked on the world. Aparna would never want to settle there rather travel back to her own homeland to her own share of the world which she could never find in any alien land.

Wanda was different, she was frustrated and troubled, she loved herself. She left the Dover for Florida and got back as soon as possible unable to find herself a place there, having brought up two girls alone she told she lost herself and her good looks. But now youth was coming back to her, and she loved gush of air on her face during ride leaving Aparna to shiver a bit in the drive back home from job. Aparna too felt Wanda was beautiful. She hoped Wanda would find better suitors. Aparna could not imagine the way one night stand goes. Just knowing a person for moments, sharing each other ... matching apps were never her world .... she considered sharing body was profound than just sharing few moments.

To Aparna body retains impressions and memories and a stranger for some hours was out of her arena of thoughts.

She was a custom-made woman at heart, who came back home cooked, made her home and never complained. Yet she was considered in her community as a strange woman. Woman who dared sipped wine and never forgot the relationships she ended up once and who felt obliged to being in it until she felt used and abused.

But these rides were her story time.

Saqquira had another stranger story of being a driver and a social worker with child service who left that job and found peace in driving. She could not handle stories. Happenings which broken homes hid in their depth burried often under their carpets.

Farha was young and young and bubbly, she went to parties and celebrations, and she would show off her make up, sharing a common space with Aparna.

Milton tried to remind her that they could have an accident a day, and they laughed, Milton kept worrying about people who would hire cab at night doing very insane things drunken and intoxicated. He explained an incident and said these days no one could be trusted.

Aparna's rides were full of stories of real people who live a common man's life. She rode with Soldiers who have seen wars. She has traveled with strangest of strange people. She traveled with people who never could predict her nationality, she has traveled with Nancy who was Amish but lived a modern life struggling to balance faith, culture and the yearning to live a new pattern of a mixture of it 

She rode with Flo who told how she had come from Gautemala and struggled, catching buses traveling and wearing just single attire .and later establishing herself ,finding a place for her in that world 

There was Jack who always praised her enthusiasm, and who laughed loudly while being with in ride and she also traveled with James with four wives and still alone sleeping hugging pillows.

She always had a story looming in air ...each ride brought her. She kept these rides ...on and off to work and it filled her vacuum, and she treasured those moments.

Her rides went on and ...she would listen, and she meant someone meaningful in some people's life.