"Miss, come here a second." The old woman's voice came from beside the car.
She was standing by the open rear door, something dangling from one hand, waving me over.
"What is it?" I walked over.
"Miss, this is a designer scarf my daughter-in-law gave me for my birthday. Pure silk, the feel of it is just wonderful."
She held out the rose-pink cloth as she spoke. It was grimy, the hem even coming apart at the edge.
It looked like a rag.
"I left it on the back seat earlier, and when you sat down you didn't bother to look, so you rubbed off a whole bunch of the crystals."
She shook the rag open and pointed at a few faded plastic sequins on it, looking pleased with herself.
"A scarf like this costs ten thousand. Of course, leaving it on the seat was partly on me, so I won't make things hard for you. Just pay half and we'll call it even." She was smiling.
After I'd peeled a layer off her face in front of everyone, she wasn't even bothering to keep up the act anymore.
I turned and glanced toward the car.
The driver and the old man had their heads down. The woman shot me a taunting little smile.
As if to say, let's see what you do now.
I said nothing. I lifted my phone and pointed it at the "designer scarf."
Snapped a photo. Ran a search.
I flipped the screen around and held it up for her to see.
"Ma'am, this ten-thousand-dollar scarf of yours? Same one for sale, four ninety-nine, free shipping."
The smile froze on her face.
"If you really think I damaged it, I'm happy to compensate you."
"But before I pay a cent, I'll need two things from you. First, a receipt or proof of purchase showing this scarf is worth ten thousand. Second, video or photos proving I rubbed those crystals off, and that they weren't already about to fall off on their own."
"The moment you produce those, I'll pay."
The air froze for three seconds.
"Wait till my daughter-in-law digs it out at home and sends it to you—don't you dare try to weasel out of it then!" Her eyes darted away, her mouth still holding the line, but the voice behind it had gone thin.
The woman didn't answer. She climbed straight into the car with the baby.
"Let's go, it's getting late, we should head out." The man's voice came right on cue.
I looked down at my phone.
The little circle on the rideshare app was still spinning.
The sky dimmed toward dark, and the car kept moving down the road.
The music was off. The woman leaned sideways against the window with the baby, seemingly asleep at last.
A rare quiet settled over the car.
My eyelids began to grow heavy.
Just as my mind was starting to slip away, that leg on my right pressed up against me again.
My eyes snapped open.
Swallowing the disgust, I kept myself from moving and studied the old man beside me out of the corner of my eye.
His eyes were shut. His breathing was even, his arm hanging at his side.
He looked asleep.
I drew my legs in and carefully edged half an inch to the left.
The baby stirred, and I froze at once, held there stiff and suspended, unable to go either way.
Another jolt.
The car lurched, and the old man's whole body tipped over with it.
His face pressed solidly against my shoulder.
Carrying the smell of smoke and old age he couldn't hide.
My stomach lurched.
I was just about to shove him off when he suddenly startled awake.
"Oh, sorry about that, miss." He gave me an apologetic little smile. "I was so tired I dozed off."
But tucked in the creases at the corners of his eyes was a flicker of smugness he hadn't hidden in time.
As he spoke, he turned to the right, pressing his whole body tight against the door glass.
Even pulled his legs back in.
I didn't say anything more. I closed my eyes.
But I wasn't asleep.
The car drove into a tunnel. The light vanished all at once.
The next second, a withered hand settled on my knee.
Sliding slowly upward...
