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Chapter 14
Smiling, Constantine said, “Hello, Carlos. How are you doing? Come on in.”
Carlos never imagined Constantine treating him this way. They were always enemies, ever since they were children and they met in kindergarten. He came in and Constantine closed the door behind him. “I‘m doing very well, thank you,” he said. “I came here because I thought you wanted to talk to me.”
“Yes…”
“You called upon me somehow.”
“Yes, I did.”
They walked all the way to the primary living room, where Robinson, Kay and Kim sat.
They were done with their drinks and they were getting ready to leave. “How are you doing,
Carlos?” Robinson said and gave Carlos a big hug. Kay also gave Carlos a hug.
“Hi,” Carlos said to Kim, smiling.
“Carlos,” said Kay, “this is my twin sister, Kim.”
Carlos and Kim shook hands. “It‘s nice to meet you. I‘m Carlos Roman.” “It‘s very nice to meet you, too.”
Seeing that they were leaving, Carlos didn‘t sit down. He didn‘t want to keep Constantine out of bed any longer because Constantine really needed to sleep.
“I‘m glad that you guys are all here. I just wanted to apologize for making your lives a living hell.”
“Not me,” said Kim. “You changed my life in a good way.”
“If that is all you wanted to say,” Carlos said, “then I‘m leaving. I have to go to work tomorrow, and you do, too.” He headed to the door, along with Robinson Kay and Kim.
Just when Carlos was about to walk out the door, Constantine held him by the arm and said, “Wait.”
Carlos turned around. “Yes.”
“I hope you know I meant every word I said.”
“I know that. You‘ve changed. Thank you for opening the doors of your home to me.” “Call me or come over anytime, Carlos. I‘d like us to be friends.”
“You got it,” said Carlos and gave Constantine a big hug, the first in years. Everyone said goodbye and went home. That night, Constantine turned on his laptop,
opened his internet browser, checked his email, and then he took his clothes off except for his boxers and put on some comfortable pajamas. He went to sleep that night. He slept from ten o‘clock in the morning to four o‘clock in the morning because he had a lot of email to read, one thousand new email messages. He read very fast, though, and luckily, his email inbox had unlimited storage for his messages and he never deleted them because he was protected against junk mail. Email was from family and friends that had turned his back on him in the past. Now, they were offering him their support.
The morning after, Constantine got up at four o‘clock sharp and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Mr. Smiley‘s house was only two miles from Constantine‘s house, so Constantine would have enough time to get ready and he wouldn‘t be late. Constantine‘s phone rang. Despite the noise of the water, he knew someone was calling him but he ignored it just for a moment because it was dangerous to get out of the shower wet. He could slip and fall, and although he would recover in no time, the fall would hurt like hell. Opal waited for the voicemail to come on