The Price of Collision

Then, Carmen slid back into the driver's seat, grumbling to herself, saying, "Lucky for me that nosy old hag didn't screw things up. My sweet ride should be showing up any minute now."

Patrick was practically buzzing with excitement, rubbing his hands together, saying, "Awesome, we're going to be filthy rich soon!"

The folks in the back seat paid them no mind, convinced they had lost their marbles.

As predicted, ten minutes later, Carmen pulled up to the spot where my car had been rear-ended in our previous life. Sure enough, a sleek, limited-edition luxury car pulled in right behind us.

Carmen shook with glee at the sight. "That's my ticket!"

She hit the brakes hard.

In a flash, the luxury car smashed into my car.

This time, everyone lost it, pointing at Carmen through their tears, asking, "Why does tonight have to be such a disaster?"

"Seriously! If you can't drive, stop showing off with other people's wheels, will you?"

"Let us out! I'm done with this deathtrap!"

"Carmen, you did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

However, Carmen just let out an icy laugh. "Oh, really? Just remember not to come crawling to me when I'm a millionaire."

She stepped out of the car, feigning confusion as she peered at the trunk. "What in the world..."

The guy from the luxury car scrambled out too, his brow furrowed as he asked, "Why'd you slam on the brakes all of a sudden?"

He looked to be in his thirties, decked out in shiny gold jewelry.

Carmen played the innocent. "Oh, did I? I just didn't notice the crosswalk up ahead and wanted to slow down a bit."

She batted her eyelashes, giving her best puppy-dog eyes.

Patrick could not peel his gaze away from the man's car. "Carmen, you're a miracle worker, seriously..."

While he was talking, he glanced at the car owner, and his voice got all tough. "Look, no matter what, if you rear-end someone, it's totally on you!

"How can you get all up in Carmen's face? So, how do you plan to make this right?"

I chimed in, pretending to panic, "Hey, that's my car, and look at the state it's in now..."

Carmen shot me a fierce look. "Yours? If I'm driving it, it's mine, got it?

"I've been letting you borrow it because we're best friends. I never thought you'd go around acting like it was yours."

With a grin, Patrick said, "Yeah, I can back her up on that.

"I'm Yvonne's boyfriend, and nobody knows better than me that Carmen's just been sparing her feelings by not calling her out."

Everyone started pointing and laughing at me, calling me out for being fake. "Wow, Yvonne really likes to play pretend."

"Seriously? Cruising around in someone else's ride and saying it's yours?"

"That's just mortifying."

Right at that moment, the owner of the luxury car glanced at his phone and paled.

He stumbled over his words to interrupt them, turning to Carmen and saying, "So, you're the car owner?

"Here's the deal: I just got back from abroad, and I'm clueless about the local police and insurance stuff. Plus, we've got more of these cars than we know what to do with at home."

His voice shook a bit. "Since I bumped into you, I might as well just hand over the keys."

As soon as he said that, everyone snapped to attention. "No way! Talk about hitting the jackpot!"

"He'll just hand over a million-dollar luxury car?!"

"Holy smokes, talk about striking it rich!"

Carmen was on the verge of tears, her excitement barely contained, yet she tried to play it cool with a dismissive wave. "No way, this can't be happening..."

The car owner shot me a look. "Then, it's yours."

In a flash, Carmen lunged, clutching the car owner's arm. "Well, if that's the case, I'll take it!

"Let's do the title transfer tomorrow. When's good for you?"

Sweat was beading on the man's forehead as he rattled off a number, "Tomorrow afternoon, three o'clock. I'll be waiting at the motor vehicle office."

With that, he flagged down a cab and bolted.