Just Call Me Chauffeur

I didn’t even offer

yet you just assume

because we live in the same space

that I will drop everything

to take you to that place.

-

I tell you I’m cold

I tell you no,

that I’ll be late to that job

that actually pays me.

-

Yet I do it anyway

and I do it for free.

-

I have no business there

as I have no money to spare

yet I still drive you

just because you asked me to.

-

I don’t know if I want to hurt you

or

if I want to hurt myself.

-

You don’t like the way I park

and complain that I should move to a new spot.

Well, you can just find yourself a new ride.

But I don’t say that.

Instead, I simply smile.

-

I wanted to be back by five thirty

instead you’re just getting in line then.

So I can’t take you to that other place.

It’s fine, you assure me.

-

Everyone’s quiet.

The car ride is silent on the way back.

It’s as if you know you’ve done something wrong

yet you don’t tell me sorry

or even thank you.

-

I offer to let you out early.

I don’t have time to drop you off at the dorm.

There’s only twelve minutes

before I’m late.

At the next stop sign,

my car is almost crushed

by the UPS driver turning

up the street I’m on.

-

I have too much stress for this.

-

You slam my door way too hard

at the parking garage and almost leave

me behind. I try to walk slowly

so that I don’t leave you behind

but there’s only seven minutes

for me to make the fifteen minute walk

so I leave you behind.

-

When I get back to the dorm,

I only have three minutes left

and the door won’t open

though my card unlocks it.

You arrive before I even get

into the building and swipe your card.

Now the door opens and I shoot inside.

-

You split up, without a word to me.

One goes across the hall,

the other to my room.

I even say, now that I’ve sat down

with two minutes left

that that wasn’t about you guys,

I wasn’t trying to leave you behind.

You scarcely acknowledge that before

you move to sit in the hall, literally

outside our door.

-

That trip benefitted me

not in the least bit.

I had no money to spend,

no gas to spare,

and, least of all,

not the time to waste.

Yet I did and

I did it all for free.

I didn’t even take a thank you

or a sorry-we-almost-made-you-late-to-work.

-

Instead, you can just call me Chauffeur.