TWO years ago 43-year-old Arnett Gardens taxi driver “Scallawa” almost died when he was shot in the back by a passenger.

Scallawa, who has been in the business for 12 years, told the Jamaica Observer that while loading the vehicle one night, he placed a man in the car not knowing that the man harboured thoughts of robbing and killing him.

“Man tek me [boarded the taxi] right yah so already [Cross Roads] and carry me weh. [Him] seh if me a go let dem off down di road and by the time mi reach down the road a him jook me and tek weh me car, and shoot me inna me back,” Scallawa said.

Adding that the incident happened so fast, the taxi driver said the only thing he could do at the time was plead for his life. But, he said, the armed passenger was unmoved by his cries, hell-bent on ending his earthly days.

“It come in like angel pan mi. Mi swear seh a did good somebody. When mi check it out a him a tell mi seh a dis him come fah,” Scallawa said, pointing to the vehicle.

He also said that, prior to the attack, the passenger seemed very kind and soft-spoken.

“Mi beg him nuh shoot me, yuh know, but him never care. Mi tell him seh him can get the car and everything, but him still shoot me. True him jook mi wid the gun, mi a tell him seh fi tek it and nuh kill mi, but him still wah kill me,” he said.

“A couple a mi friend dem dem get kill out here too, enuh. [A lot] of youth dead in a di business. Mi end up spend nearly two weeks in the hospital,” Scallawa said, noting that a helpful stranger saw him on the side of the road and rushed him to hospital.

Explaining that he was relieved that the other passenger, an elderly man, wasn’t hurt because he was able to escape before the robber fired a shot, Scallawa said, “Weh mi a show you seh, out yah so a hell place, a nuh bed a rose. Right now nuff woman drive wid me [and] them tell mi seh if me and dem inna things [in a relationship] me couldn’t run taxi, because taxi work a risk work.”

He also told the Observer that since that day, he has not seen his Toyota Corolla car that was stolen, despite a police investigation.

“I never get it back; from that me a drive people car,” the taxi driver said.

Scallawa indicated that while he has some fear operating a taxi, he continues to do it because it is his only source of income.

“Yuh have to look outta yuh eye because you never know which criminal a go tek yuh [away],” he said, adding that utilising this instincts is how he stays protected.

Name: Scallawa

Age: 43 years old

Length of career: 12 years

Route: Cross Road, St Andrew, to Arnett Gardens, St Andrew