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per-view, sporting events of all kinds, medical shows, and the news, among other shows that the men his age liked. “Oh, my God, Carlos, I haven‘t offered you anything to drink?” He walked up to Carlos and gave him a hug.
Incredibly, Carlos was living this new reality, too, and even though he made it possible, he didn‘t remember what he had done. It really was as if nothing had ever happened, and Cameron and Michelle had their problems, but it wasn‘t anything that they couldn‘t work out. They had disagreements, just like everyone else, but they never screamed, never insulted each other, and when they argued, it sounded like they were just talking, not arguing. The only thing that made it an argument was that each one continued to defend their point of view, until they got tired of talking about it, and then kissed and made up. “It‘s ok, man. I just came to see if I could borrow…Nah, never mind.”
Smiling, Cameron said, “Borrow what?”
“I need to borrow your car for a few days. Mine just broke down, and I don‘t have the money for repairs or for another one, at least not right now. I could make monthly payments on one, but…man, it‘s just for a few days, while I get ready to buy a new car.”
“Exactly how many days do you need it?”
“…Like three days.”
“Three days? That‘s not a problem at all. Let me see if Michelle will let me borrow her car and then have her sister pick her up, take her to work, and then bring her back home for the next three days.” Cameron wasn‘t really planning to do this, and he had the ability to hide his true intentions from Carlos. In reality, he planned to give Carlos up to thirty thousand dollars for a new car, royalties that he‘d gotten for his first published nonfiction book. Cameron loved writing nonfiction about telling people how to do things or take a certain approach to life to make life easier for themselves. He‘d never written fiction before, and he wanted to try it, but he didn‘t think he was good at telling stories. He was planning to start his first novel this weekend and then ask Carlos for his valuable feedback. Besides his work, which earned him eight thousand dollars a month, minimum, as a professional computer programmer for a reputable computer company, every six months, Cameron would get a royalty check for each of his published books, and he had a fortune which estimated ten million dollars, and that was just in the five years he‘d been writing. Thirty thousand dollars was chump change to him, and that‘s why he was planning to give this money to Carlos. He left the living room and then went to his and Michelle‘s room. The kids were already putting their pajamas on to go to bed. He said hi to Michelle and then a few minutes later, he walked back out of the room. He didn‘t tell her about having to lend his car to Carlos and asking her sister to take her to work and bring her back home from now on.
“So what did she say?” said Carlos, believing that Cameron told him the truth. Cameron was using his newfound ability to take Emadorians and humans alike for fools. He found that technique on the internet a few days before and he was putting it to good use. He didn‘t dare to share this with anyone else because he knew how catastrophic the results would be.
“Carlos, it‘s not happening.”
“What?” said Carlos, astonished and saddened. “You can‘t let me borrow your car? She said no? My car broke down five blocks from my house, at the parking lot of a supermarket, and I had to go back home, change my clothes, and walk all the way here. That‘s ten miles, Cameron, and it really sucks, but I‘m not going to get mad at you. It‘s just too bad. I guess I‘m going to