so yesterday, saturday, we had a big rainstorm in dc. it was awesome. but i got caught out in the middle of it, so after a quick trip to rite-aid for some needed supplies, i decided to hop a cab home. it took a few minutes, but a nice cab/car finally stopped, and i hopped in and told the guy to take me to 36th & T in georgetown. i could tell when i sat down that he was on his bluetooth headset, in the middle of a conversation, but he stopped to say 'OK' and we sped off.
as we drove, i tried to distinguish what language was being spoken. it was nothing i could pick out, but it did have a clicking element to the sound, so i figured it was maybe something from west africa. (i drew this conclusion based on my brother, tim, telling me about the clicking dialects in the cape verde islands....off the horn of west africa.) i continued to listen to the sing-song of the language, and the clicking and the sheer animation that the driver was using to talk.
and then suddenly, in the middle of all the speaking, i thought i picked out the words "sex slave." i was a bit stunned, and thought maybe i had zoned out and my mind was making things up. so i focused again, and about 20 seconds later, he said, in full english, "no. she is a sex slave." um.......excuse me? and then he went back to the sing-song, click-click language.
the ride only lasted about 5 more minutes, but in that 5 minutes, the term 'sex slave' was heard 4 more times, in the midst of the strangely captivating, metered language. i'm not sure if it was just an english language study session going on.....maybe via teleconference? or maybe a prankster english tutor somewhere having a good laugh about the homework list of words he sent home? i guess i'll never know.
but what i do hope is that the thumping i heard in the trunk when i got out of the car at home was nothing more than a loose tire....
(i'm kidding....there was no thumping in the trunk. just muffled screams.)
(kidding again.)
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