7. Aaron

The self-defense class had lasted so long that it had spanned the second period.

I was back in the locker room, having folded the clothes I had borrowed from Carter. He looked at me with some intrigue as we finished changing.

"Do you have any athletic clothes?" he asked me after thinking too hard.

"you assume that because I'm a mechanic I don't have any sports clothes" I said in a mocking tone, " boy are you stupid".

"that's not it, I thought you could keep my clothes in case you need them" said Carter sinking in embarrassment.

I watched, maybe I could keep them, after all the clothes I had were full of grease and oil, the clothes I had borrowed from Carter were the cleanest thing I had worn in years. Still, I needed to clear things up with him.

"That won't make up for the money you owe me" I said.

"I'm working on it, you can keep the clothes as a simple gift" Carter said, " besides, I've been meaning to tell you something important all day".

"I hope it's about paying me" I said with a smile on my lips, almost stretching out my hands to receive the money from Carter.

"it's not that, I got money to buy you lunch, I swear I'll pay you back later" said Carter to my surprise, to the surprise of all my classmates who averted their gaze to see us, not because Carter was trying hard to look more of an idiot than he already was

"We could go now, I know a good place where the food is good, I know you will love it" continued Carter.

"listen Carter, can we talk alone" I asked trying to sound as friendly as possible.

Carter nodded with a smile on his face. We left the locker room and walked between the halls of the building until I could feel that we were alone. I stopped and looked into Carter's eyes, he really did have the face of a jerk.

"you're a bigger idiot than I thought, if you got money why don't you pay me and stop making up excuses to torture me" I said, almost imploring Carter to think with a little common sense.

"no, the money is to buy you lunch, then I'll pay you. You'll really like the restaurant, they sell good seafood... " repeated Carter making me buy my head.

"I can't, I agreed to go with Wallace, he has a car he asked me to fix and I won't miss the opportunity to get money" I said.

"I'll talk to him" said Carter with an expression on his face that stopped showing kindness, it was as if he was about to plunge into anger.

"no you won't, if you are so interested in me going to lunch with you you should pay me and stop acting like an idiot. I assure you Carter, if you touch a single hair on Wallace's head, you'll regret ever meeting me."

Carter reached back and touched his hair, apparently I had put him in an awkward position where his stupid would barely be able to process my words.

"We'll go tomorrow, it's the weekend and you should have more time off" Carter implored.

"no" I said sharply, " I don't know how long it will take me to fix Wallace's car, but when I finish it I will go to my workshop to continue with my work. As you may have noticed, being in stupid academy takes away from the time I should be working".

"then I'll go to your workshop, I'll bring something to eat" said Carter with a charming smile, as if he had come up with the best idea in the world.

"do whatever you want" I replied somewhat wearily at his insistence.

"sure, I'll get in touch with you later, it will be like a date" said Carter intoxicated by his stupid words.

"listen you idiot... " I wanted to say, but Carter was walking away with a smile on his face until he disappeared in the corridors.

I scratched my head, turned on my screen and called Wallace, I had to fix his car to get money to survive the next week.

He told me to meet him on the one hundred and fourteenth floor, that he would wait for me so we could leave together.

When I went downstairs, I found a parking lot of luxurious cars that must have belonged not only to students, but also to several high-ranking officers. With the money from one of those cars I could live the rest of my life without worries.

It was an honor to walk among those cars without a guard considering me a thief. Sports cars that reached a thousand kilometers per hour and could reach the highest point in the sky.

"Here I am," said Wallace sticking his hand out behind a yellow sports car.

It was a Jaguar XF 2233, of the most recent series, its value must have reached one hundred million Jolts. As I got closer, I could see the seats lined with faux fur, white in the shape of a stuffed animal, with several black spots. Different buttons on its steering wheel to play with the speed; a system of signal lights that indicated the condition of the car on the back of the steering wheel.

As I approached, Wallace pressed a button to open the passenger door, which opened upward, making way for me to get in.

Wallace started the car once I buckled my seatbelt. I didn't know why that kid was in the police academy, or why he was afraid of Carter, if I had his money, I would think I owned the school as well as all his students.

"You really have nothing to do with Carter?" asked Wallace, " you seemed close, he even lent you his uniform and bought you lunch."

"he's a jerk who owes me money and I'm sure he thinks with those little favors he can pay me back" I insisted, Wallace seemed convinced with my answer and didn't ask about Carter again.

On the way he told me that he had probably been assigned to the police academy because of his father's work. His father was a congressman and had gone to police school like us, had passed basic training and then majored in law. Wallace had mentioned something about how he didn't know how he got into police school, since he wasn't very smart, but he would certainly study law like his father. I wanted to tell him that the exam was a sham, but I remembered that I was only after Wallace for his money and it was better not to get close.

Wallace drove to the highest part of the city. Where the mansions of the richest, supported on a huge pillar that held a large dome to keep out uninvited people. The famous and exclusive district 1.

There was only one way to enter the dome, through a small gate that was hidden in the southern part of the dome and was guarded around the clock by different robots.

I felt something in my chest when I was able to enter, it was the first time I was in the part of the city. A place that was only seen in pictures and images that passed through the net.

The vegetation was incredible. Wallace lowered the windows and I could tell that I could finally breathe fresh air, it felt different, it was something so fresh and intoxicating that I know how my chest lightened.

About fifty or so mansions stood inside the dome, you could see most of them through the car and it was something that caught my attention, I wanted to have that life, I wanted to never work again.

Wallace drove to a white mansion that was hidden to the west of the city. He unloaded his car in a circle-shaped parking lot he owed, where several cars were lined up just as luxurious as Wallace's jaguar.

"can we eat first, I'm starving" said Wallace before removing the car's security button.

"sorry man, I'm not hungry, I need to go work on your car before it gets dark, I still have work to do in my shop" I said with a pleading face.

"You could stay the night" Wallace said, almost as if he was asking, I shook my head.

Wallace nodded understanding my request. He led me between the gardens of the mansion until we came to a huge cellar, maybe forty meters long. Wallace knocked on the door and a camera began to scan his face. When the cellar opened, I could see more parked cars that gave the impression that Wallace's father was not only a congressman, but a collector, from classic cars that had existed a century ago, to the most luxurious brands that had intoxicated the market.

All the cars matched, except for a Kat 77, a commercial car and one of the cheapest I could find on the market. To my surprise, it was the car Wallace took me to.

The car did not look old, it must have been five years old. Its paint was not yet worn, yet its seats looked worn, as well as several dings that had accumulated on the bodywork.

"I bought this car with my job, when it broke down my father insisted I had better not use it and wouldn't let me bring in mechanics to fix it. You are my only salvation" said Wallace pleadingly.

"I'll see what I can do" I said, touched by his story. Surely he must have suffered a lot at his old job like the rich kid he was.

I plugged my computer into the Kat 77 database, it was a generic car, so it was easy to figure out the problem. Wallace stood watching the whole process, forgetting that he had arrived hungry.

Several lines of code began to run through the computer, showing me every aspect of the cart.

"Can you really read that fast?" asked Wallace when he saw me concentrating. I couldn't answer, not wanting to miss any details of what the computer was throwing at me.

My mind went blank when some red lines appeared, there was something inside the car that shouldn't be there, someone had placed an external agent so the car wouldn't start.

I opened the car door with some care so it wouldn't fall off. I took out several backpack screwdrivers and started to disassemble the steering wheel. Wallace didn't say anything, he just stood there watching.

I removed the steering wheel and observed the different chips that were used to start the vehicle, someone had taken the trouble to solder a chip in such a perfect way that it seemed a natural part of the vehicle. I took out a small torch and started to disassemble it.

"Do you have the keys?" I asked.

"Next to you" said Wallace indicating with his hand a small box that sat in the middle of the vehicle.

I pulled out the keys and started the car, Wallace seemed to burst with joy.

"listen Wallace, I'm embarrassed to say this, but someone went to the trouble of inserting this little chip so your car wouldn't start. Otherwise, it appears to be in excellent condition" I said, knowing that I would charge very little for the job.

Of course, knowing that Wallace came from one of the richest families, I could take advantage and get some extra money, but I had a code of ethics, I had to be fair when it came to charging.

"maybe it's little, but can you settle for a hundred thousand Jolts? Is that all my savings for now? If it's anything more, you could wait for me, I swear I'll pay you" Wallace said before he had the courage to charge him.

With a hundred thousand Jolts, I could live the rest of the month without worries, but I didn't want to be abusive to Wallace, fuck my ethics, Wallace was the one begging me to take that money.

Wallace opened his screen and indicated my registration number to transfer me, his look unsettled, as if he was losing something he had worked hard to get.

What I said next was stupid.

"listen Wallace, maybe I shouldn't ask this, but how do you go about getting the money?"

"I don't like getting money from my dad, so a couple of years ago I started as a gamer" Wallace said, feeling a bit of pride.

I'm stupid, I thought, feeling kind of sorry for Wallace.

"pay me ten thousand Jolts, with that we'll call it even".

"ten thousand Jolts and a meal" said Wallace, " come on, I'll take you somewhere to eat, I urgently need to get the car out of this warehouse".