Capítulo 4: Chapter 4: The Collision
At three thirty in the afternoon, Max went downstairs on time, got into his Cadillac, and drove home along the familiar road.
By the roadside, in an old Toyota that had seen better days, Elena spotted the Cadillac turning into the intersection and pulled out her phone to make a call. "The idiot is on the road!"
Getting a response, she drove and followed from a distance.
There weren't many cars on the road, and Max drove quickly. Along the way, he took a call: "Sweetie, you go pick up the kids. I'll make chocolate chip cookies for them tonight."
Entering a narrow two-lane road, the Cadillac jolted as it ran over a small stone. Max instinctively slowed down, slightly turned the wheel, and avoided the other scattered pebbles.
Whoever left those stones on the road must have been a real jerk.
Max slowed down again, suddenly attracted by something to the left ahead.
It was a giant teddy bear mascot holding a colorful flag that read "Teddy Bear Sale This Weekend!"
Max's kids loved teddy bears, and as a result, he also grew fond of them. He couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.
Across the street from the teddy bear, in the lush shrubbery, Harris crouched low on his bike, one leg on the ground, staring intently at the bear and waiting for the signal.
His previously broken left arm ached terribly from the rehearsals, contorting his face in pain.
Harris endured the pain, silently calculating: "The success probability is over sixty percent. I can do this!"
At that moment, the teddy bear mascot across the street dropped the flag.
Harris kicked the bike pedal, launching forward, gritting his teeth and mumbling, "For the money!"
The lure of money gave the poor supernatural strength.
The bear mascot that dropped the flag suddenly made a fist with its left hand, placed it in front of its fluffy belly, then twisted its waist and hips in a comically fast motion, almost as if trying to swat down a plane from the sky.
Max had never seen such a ridiculous teddy bear mascot before and almost burst out laughing.
A significant portion of his attention was drawn to the absurd bear on the left.
Harris dashed out from the greenery on the right front side.
Max glimpsed a shadow and instinctively braked.
A collision sound echoed, and the car shook as someone fell onto the road.
Max was momentarily dazed, then snapped back to reality, cursed, unbuckled his seatbelt, and hurriedly got out to check the situation.
The car wasn't speeding, so he thought the issue wouldn't be severe.
An old bike lay toppled in front of the Cadillac, its rear wheel still spinning, while the right front light cover of the Cadillac was cracked.
A young white man lay on the road, screaming in agony.
Harris didn't need to act; he was genuinely in pain, the kind that drilled into his bones, making him scream at the top of his lungs.
Max quickly asked, "Are you alright?"
The pain was so intense that Harris didn't want to answer. Only after Max asked again did Harris, pale-faced, reply, "My left arm, it's broken!"
Max was horrified. Just as he contemplated fleeing, he noticed the absurd teddy bear mascot approaching from the intersection.
There was a witness.
Martin picked up the small camera left on a bench by the road and ran over. Just then, Elena drove by, and he placed the camera in the passenger seat, gesturing to her.
Elena glanced at Harris on the ground and immediately drove off to duplicate the footage at the prearranged location.
Martin took off the teddy bear head, pulled out his phone, and loudly asked, "Mr. Max, do you need me to call the police?"
Max turned to see it was Martin, looking as though he had seen a ghost.
Harris propped himself up with one hand, sitting up, and said, "Call 911, get an ambulance quickly!"
Of course, Martin wasn't going to call 911. Holding the teddy bear head in one hand and the phone in the other, he quietly asked, "Mr. Max?"
Max couldn't let anyone call the police now; he had already calmed down.
A normal traffic accident was nothing serious, even if it broke an arm.
But driving under the influence that caused serious injury was a felony that could land him in prison.
"This minor issue doesn't need to occupy public resources," Max said, looking at Harris with a seemingly genuine concern. "This accident was mainly my fault. I'm terribly sorry. I'll cover your medical expenses, and I'll compensate you for missed work and such."
He glanced at the bike with its twisted handlebars. "Any other losses, I'll cover them as well."
Harris grimaced in pain and gritted his teeth, saying, "I'm applying to universities and preparing for the SAT. Now that my arm is broken, my chances of getting into my target university have dropped by eighty percent!"
The warmth on Max's face slowly faded as he looked at the young man's worn clothes and old bicycle. He stood up, saying, "Fine, we'll follow the normal procedure. You can get a lawyer to sue my insurance company. The insurance company will handle your compensation."
Any sensible person would know what to do to benefit themselves.
Martin lifted his phone, ready to press 9, and said, "Mr. Max, I'll call 911 for you."
"Stop! This has nothing to do with you!" Max wished he could kick this idiot away. He squatted in front of Harris, saying, "Kid, I'm sincerely trying to settle this with you. I'm terribly sorry about what happened today, but sincerity goes both ways. I'll show you mine, and you'll show me yours, right?"
Having discussed Max's psychological bottom line beforehand, Harris held up three fingers. "I'm badly hurt, and this will ruin my exams. Three thousand dollars! Three thousand dollars to compensate for my loss."
The warmth vanished from Max's face. "One thousand dollars. I can give you at most one thousand dollars."
Harris looked at Martin. "Call 911 for me, thanks."
Two cars passed by, and Max didn't want to encounter a Good Samaritan. He forced a smile, saying, "I'm a responsible person. Two thousand dollars. No more than that."
Harris said, "Deal. Two thousand dollars, and I want the money now."
Max sighed in relief, walked to his car, found his checkbook, and wrote two checks for a thousand dollars each.
Harris, having dealt with many checks at Scott's shop, confirmed they were valid and accepted them.
Max opened the driver's door, ready to go home and make chocolate chip cookies for his kids. He told Martin, "Can you step aside?"
Martin suddenly reached over and closed the car door.
Max slowly realized and patted Martin on his teddy bear costume. "I have plans today. Contact me later."
Martin smiled. "Mr. Max, I'm actually a Good Samaritan. If I don't call 911 for the injured, I'd feel guilty and wouldn't sleep for days."
Max grew wary. "Kid, what do you want? I'm warning you, don't fool around!"
Martin didn't want to drag this out. He said plainly, "My new boss was worried about my lack of effort and gave me a small camera to monitor me, pointed right at this intersection."
Max's face turned dark, his eyes sharp as eagles, scanning every part of Martin.
Martin worried he had a gun. "The boss passed by earlier and took the camera. If needed, I can call to have it brought back."
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder