Chapter 4: The Big Collision

At 3:30 PM, Max strolled downstairs, hopped into his Cadillac, and cruised home on his usual route.

On the side of the road, in a beat-up old Toyota, Elena spotted the Cadillac turning at the intersection. She whipped out her phone, dialed a number, and said, "The fool's on the move!"

After getting a response, she fired up her car and tailed him from a distance.

The road was pretty empty, and Max was speeding along. He got a call halfway: "Honey, you grab the kids. I'll whip up some chocolate chip cookies for them tonight."

Hitting a narrow two-lane road, the Cadillac bounced over a small rock. Max instinctively slowed down, swerved a bit, and dodged the rest of the stones.

Some jerk had tossed rocks on the road.

Max slowed down again, his attention snagged by something at the small intersection up ahead on the left.

It was a giant teddy bear mascot, waving a colorful flag that read, "Teddy Bear Sale This Weekend."

His kids were crazy about teddy bears, and Max had grown to love them too. He couldn't help but steal a few more glances.

On the other side of the small intersection, the greenery was thick. Harris crouched low on his bike, one leg on the ground, eyes locked on the teddy bear across the road, waiting for the signal.

They'd practiced a few times before, and his busted left arm was killing him, making his face twist in pain.

Harris gritted his teeth and psyched himself up, "Sixty percent chance of success. I got this!"

At that moment, the teddy bear mascot across the road dropped the flag.

Harris pedaled hard and shot out, gritting his teeth and muttering, "For the money!"

When it comes to cash, the poor can pull off some crazy feats.

The teddy bear mascot at the intersection dropped the flag with its left hand, then made a fist and placed it in front of its furry belly. It twisted its waist and thrust its hips like it was trying to bring down a plane from the sky.

Max had never seen such a hilarious teddy bear mascot before; he almost burst out laughing.

A big chunk of his attention was glued to the teddy bear mascot on the left.

Harris shot out from the greenery on the right.

Max caught sight of a figure and instinctively slammed the brakes.

A collision sound rang out, the car shook, and someone hit the pavement.

Max's mind went blank for a second. Then he snapped back, cursed, and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt to check things out.

The car wasn't going fast, so he figured it wouldn't be a big deal.

An old bike lay askew in front of the Cadillac, its rear wheel still spinning. The right front headlight cover of the Cadillac was cracked.

A young white guy lay on the road, screaming in pain.

Harris didn't need to fake it; he was genuinely in agony, a searing pain that made him scream his lungs out.

Max hurriedly asked, "You okay, man?"

The pain was so intense that Harris didn't want to answer. Only after Max asked again did he, pale-faced, say, "My left hand, it's broken!"

Max was shocked and briefly thought about bolting, but then he noticed the teddy bear mascot coming over from the intersection.

There was a witness.

Martin picked up a small camera from a bench by the road and ran over. Just then, Elena drove up. He tossed the camera in the passenger seat and waved.

Elena glanced at Harris on the ground and immediately sped off. She needed to rush to a pre-arranged spot to make a copy.

Martin took off the teddy bear's head and pulled out his phone. He loudly asked, "Mr. Rivera, need me to call the cops?"

Max recognized Martin and looked stunned.

Harris propped himself up with one hand and said, "Call 911, get an ambulance!"

Of course, Martin wasn't gonna call 911. Holding the teddy bear head in one hand and his phone in the other, he asked softly, like he was following a boss's order, "Mr. Rivera?"

Max knew he couldn't let anyone call the cops. He'd calmed down by now.

A regular car accident was no biggie, even if it broke someone's arm.

But driving under the influence of drugs causing serious injury? That was a felony; he could end up in the slammer.

"This is a minor issue, no need to waste public resources." Max looked at Harris, his tone gentle, like he was taking full responsibility: "The main responsibility for this accident lies with me. I'm really sorry. I'll cover your medical expenses and compensate you for lost wages and other damages."

He glanced at the bent bicycle handlebars: "I'll also cover any other losses."

Harris, gritting his teeth in pain, said, "I'm applying to college and prepping for the SAT. Now that my arm's busted, my chances of getting into my target college have dropped by eighty percent!"

The gentleness on Max's face slowly faded. He looked at the young man's attire and the old bike, then stood up: "Alright, we'll go through the normal process. You can hire a lawyer to sue my insurance company. The insurance company will handle your compensation."

As long as this kid had a functioning brain, he'd know what to do.

Martin raised his phone and pressed the number 9, saying, "Mr. Rivera, I'll call 911 for you."

"Stop! This is none of your business!" Max wanted to kick this fool away. He squatted in front of Harris: "Kid, I'm very sincere about settling this. I'm deeply sorry for what happened today, but sincerity goes both ways. I'll show you my sincerity, and you'll show me yours, right?"

They'd discussed Max's psychological bottom line beforehand. Harris held up three fingers: "I'm seriously injured and will miss my exams. $3,000! $3,000 to compensate for my losses."

The gentleness on Max's face vanished: "A thousand dollars. I'll give you a thousand dollars at most."

Harris looked at Martin: "Call 911 for me, please."

Two cars passed by, and Max didn't want to deal with any good Samaritans. He forced a smile: "I'm a responsible person. Two thousand dollars, no more."

Harris said, "Alright, two thousand dollars. You need to pay immediately."

Max breathed a sigh of relief. He went to his car, took out his checkbook, and wrote two checks for a thousand dollars each.

Harris, having seen many checks at Scott's store, confirmed they were legit and accepted them.

Max opened the driver's side door, ready to head home and make chocolate chip cookies for his kids. He said to Martin, who was blocking the way, "Can you move aside?"

Martin's hand suddenly reached over and closed the car door.

Max, realizing something was off, patted Martin's teddy bear costume: "I have something to do today. I'll contact you later."

Martin smiled and said, "Mr. Rivera, I'm actually a good Samaritan who likes to help people. If I don't call 911 to get help for the injured, I'll feel guilty and won't be able to sleep for days."

Max got wary: "Kid, what are you trying to do? I'm warning you, don't mess around!"

Martin didn't want to drag this out any longer and said directly, "My new boss is worried I'm not working hard enough. He set up a small camera to watch me, and it's pointed right at this intersection."

Max's face darkened, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, scanning every part of Martin.

Martin worried he might have a gun: "My boss just passed by and took the camera. If you need it, I can call him to bring it back."