I. March ’98, NYC

Ya get all kinds drivin’ cab here’a Ern, I swear’s.
Ya got’s ya basic drunks, right, you kin catch
A buzz just sittin’ inna cab widdem, all dat
whiskey dey’s sweatin’ out! Den ya gots da groups,
can’t keep dere hands offa each udda! Den ya
gots pissy basta’ds, mopy schmucks, hatein’a world.
And da women, Ern, I tell ya! Dey’da craziest bunchadem all!
You ‘member dat pissy broad, doncha Ern? Da one widda fake
Address from some tool, da one in Winoville, trieda
stiff me ferdda fare’a? Oh yeah, you knows dat bitch!
Ahhh, hell, whaddeva. But ‘ey you ‘member dat’udda’lady
Da udda one widda fake address in Winoville? Da nice one?
Yeah, you ‘member dat udda lady..Whadn’t ‘ah name Nancy?

II. March ’97 NYC

So Ern, dis lady gets inna my cab tonite, I asks ‘ah where’a
She’s goin, an’ she give’s me dis bogus address. So I turns aroun’
An’ I swears I knows ‘ah, but whuddeva. She’s got dis real weird
Look to ‘ah like she’s been runnin’ scared fa too long ‘ah sumetin’.
So’s ‘ah course, I lets ‘ah know, right, bouts da place?
Da look she ‘ad onna face, iddabou’ broada tear’a ta my eye, Ern,
I swear’a. An’ she jus’ says, real quiet-like “Please, I need to see.
My son Sam’s there.” So I takes ‘ah dere, it’s in Winoville,
Nuttin’ere, ah course. An’ she don’t say a word, Ern, I t’ought
She was just gonna break inna liddle pieces. An’ onna way back,
She tells me ‘ow dis kid, Sam, run away a couple months ago,
Tryin’a make it inna “Big Apple,” he said. Bu’ she tells me ‘e’s
Really lookin’ for ‘is pops. Guess da old man kinda went
Nuts from da war, run off or sometin’. Guess da kid was like,
11 or sometin’. So we gets back tadda station an’ I says “’Ey, you
Gotta place ta go, right? Family ‘ah sometin’?” She says yeah, she
Gotta sista’a sometin’. I says ok, we’ll take care ‘ah’yahs, don’ worry
Bout dah fare’a nuttin’. I go an’ get da ticket, put’er onna bus, and I
Says “’Ey, you ev’a get da idea ta come back, you gimme a call.
You gotta ‘ave somebody been born inna City ta find somebody
‘ere.” Wunna if she’s ev’a gonna come back, Ern? I’d prolly pop one
Off inna my noggin, I had ta deal wid da shit she did. Helluva hand
She got dealt Ern, helluva hand.

III. August ’97 NYC

So dis kid comes ta get inna my cab tonite, Ern, an’ I don’t tink anyting
‘bout it den. Clean lookin’ kid, right, just comin’ from some tiny town,
I dunno. But I swears I know dis kid, right, sometin’ ‘bout da
Way ‘e walks, ‘is face ‘ah sometin’, like I seen ‘im when ‘e was little,
Or I seen ‘is pops. So ‘e gets in, tells me ‘is name is Sam, ‘annat jus’
Made it worse! I swear ta ya’s Ern, I knows dis kid, I seen ‘im befor’a!
Anyways, an’ ‘en ‘e asks me if I knows a cheap place ta stay. So’s a course I tell’im bouts dat boardin’ house yer old lady runs, he says sure, he don’t know
Anybody inna City, sounds good. So we’a drivin’, shootin’a shit, whaddeva,
An’ I says “Whaddya doin’ in da Big Apple, kid?” ‘E tells me ‘e’s gonna
Be da next white Louis Armstrong, sometin’ like dat. But dat’s not all,
I can tell; doin’ my job Ern, ya know people, right? So den’e tells me ‘ow
‘e’s gonna look for’is pops too, da old man run off tadda City whenna
kid was little. An’ ‘e’s got dis picta, Army picture, an’ I swear Ern
I seen dat picta’ befor’a, seen dat family befor’a. But it’s da first time inna City for
Da kid Ern, an’ I see so many people I coulda seen ‘is pops too.
Anyway, I dunno why but I drops ‘im off an’ gives ‘im my name,
Case ‘e needs some help ‘ah sometin’, I dunno. I jus’ ‘ope dat kid makes
It alright Ern. I wond’a ‘ow ‘es doin’?

NBC NYC, Morning edition:

“The unidentified body of a young man was found in Times Square this morning, apparently the victim of a mugging. The police claim all his valuables were taken, most likely to pay for drugs. In other news…

IV. August ‘88

So dis guy tonite, ‘e leaves a picta inna back’a my cab tonite, Ern.
Nice Army picta; Wife, Kid, Husband, liddle ting onna back says
“We love you Jim! Nancy and Sam” Dis ‘appy picta,
An’ dis asshole just leaves it in my cab, what da hell!
Anyways, he gets in says ta take ‘im tadda Square. So
I says ‘atssa big place, you gotta address ‘ah sometin’ pal?
‘E says naw, just take ‘im tadda Square, dat’s all. So I says ok
Pal, your money. An’ we’a drvin’ an’ I’m tryin’ ta talk ta dis
Guy, asks ‘im ‘is name ‘e says Will, ‘ah Bill ‘ah sometin’
Like dat. An’ I’m lookin’ at dis guy inna mirror an’ see dis pair a’ eyes.
Ern, I’m telling ya’s you ain’t nev’a seen a pair a eyes like dese!
Crazy eyes, dead eyes, like a fish ‘a sometin’, I dunno. So ’ I says ta
Myself “Self, you bedda watch ya ass wid dis one!”
So we get dere, I leddim out, an’ den I drive away.
An’ dis guy, ‘e just stands dere, like ‘e’s got no place ta go!
I dunno what happened to ‘im den Ern, I just went back
Tadda base, cleaned my cab, an’ found da picta. I dunno
‘bout people like dat Ern, I dunno…

NBC NYC, Morning edition:

“An unidentified man shot himself early this morning in Times Square. The police have ruled it a suicide and have no leads as to the man’s identity. In other news…”