The Way It Works Read Free Page B

arms and shakes his head.
    â€œYou been towed,” he says. “That’s it.
    You want your car back, you gotta come down to the impound lot. Or pay me right here.”
    â€œPay you? How much?”
    â€œTwo hundred and seven dollars.”
    â€œWhat? That’s robbery!”
    â€œThat’s what it costs.”
    â€œWhat gives you the right to charge me money for my own car?”
    â€œI got a contract with the city,” he says.
    â€œThat’s what gives me the right. That’s the way it works.”
    There’s no way I can afford to part with that much money. I decide to come clean with the guy. I hope he takes pity on me.
    â€œLook, man,” I say. “Two hundred bucks is practically all I have. I can’t afford that. And I need this car. I…I live in it. I got nowhere else. Times are tough. This is my home right now.”
    I was hoping he would understand. But when he hears I’m homeless, that seems to make things worse. It’s like a magic word in reverse. When somebody hears it, they harden their hearts against you. It’s like you’ve got a sickness, and they don’t want any part of it.
    â€œPay me, or I’m rolling,” he says.
    There’s no way I can do it. So I ask him to wait while I take my toiletry bag out of my car. The rest of my stuff is already at the bus station. At least I don’t have to carry it all.
    â€œWhen you come up with the cash, you can have your car back,” says the driver. He gives me a card with the address of the impound lot on it. “There’s a daily storage fee.
    The longer you leave it, the more it’s gonna cost you.”
    â€œGreat,” I say. “Nice to meet you too.”
    Then I watch as my car disappears down the road.
    It’s a long walk back to the city. By the time I get downtown, it’s nearly nine o’clock. I decide to go straight to the postal center. For the first time, I hope Yolanda isn’t there. I’m ashamed to see her right now. I don’t want her to see the defeat on my face.
    But she’s behind the counter, talking to someone. When I see her through the window, I almost turn and walk away. But she’s already seen me. So I go in, acting like everything’s fine, and shoot her a smile. She smiles back. At least she’s too busy to talk.
    I check my mailbox. Nothing.
    Then I go to the computer and check my email. There’s a message for me:
    Dear Mr. Davis, We would be happy to give you an interview. Please come by today at 3 : 00 pm .
    Sincerely, Capital Investments, Inc.
    Capital Investments is one of the new firms in the financial district. They have offices in a beautiful building with gold windows. I haven’t done too much research on it yet. But it looks like a multimillion-dollar corporation.
    And they want to talk to me.
    Suddenly my whole day has changed. I clap my hands and pump my fist in the air.
    â€œWhat are you so happy about?”
    I turn to see Yolanda smiling at me. Her customer has left. I jump up and smile back.
    â€œJust a little piece of good news,” I say. “Could be a good lead.”
    â€œThat’s nice. Haven’t you been to bed yet?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Uh-oh, I think.
    Can she tell I slept in my car ?
    â€œYou’re still wearing your suit,” she laughs. “And your knees are dirty.”
    I look down. There are soiled patches on my pants, where I hit the ground when I fell out of the car.
    â€œOops,” I say. “Yeah, I was up late.”
    â€œDoing what?”
    â€œI was, uh…praying. Thanking God for such a wonderful date last night.”
    â€œFor real, Walter?” She looks like she doesn’t know whether to believe me or not.
    â€œYeah. And I was also praying that if I asked you out again, you would say yes.”
    Uh-oh , I say to myself. You better shut up.
    You don’t have a car anymore .
    But I can’t help