Chapter 9

• RICHARD
• I ignored Samson's taunts and kept moving. From my experience, I knew he wouldn't stop talking until he had exhausted all he had to say, and judging by how angry and worked up he was, he had quite a lot to say. So I tuned him out and pretended that his voice was just background noise. I headed straight for the exclusive shopping section. Just before I got there, a tall, pretty middle aged receptionist hurried from her desk and stood in my path. She shook her head slightly.
• "Excuse me, Mr..."
• "Richard."
• She gave me a cool, professional smile which faded a little as she glanced over my shoulder at Samson. He was right behind me, within touching distance and I could feel his breath on my ear. I shifted a little to the right.
• "Mr Richard." The receptionist once more focused on me. "I'm afraid this part of the mall is reserved for exclusive customers only. Are you a premium shopper? I don't think I have seen you in this section of the mall before. But if you are a premium shopper, please show me your card."
• "I haven't actually been to this section before, but I would like to shop here."
• "Well, to do that you will have to purchase a membership card," she said apologetically.
• "And is this card available now? You see, I have to buy some stuff today."
• "Yes, membership cards are available. They will be given to you as soon as you make payment. We have different cards available which give you varying degrees of access to our products and services."
• "Excellent." I rubbed my hands together excitedly. "I will buy a card right away. So... tell me how much does your highest membership card go for?"
• "That will be the platinum plan. It goes for... five hundred thousand dollars."
• Samson gave a full throaty chuckle. "You see, I was right. It's five hundred thousand dollars, not five thousand, which you couldn't afford even if you sold all that you owned. And it's not five bucks either, which I still don't think you have."
• I exhaled in a rush.
• "You have no idea of what I have or don't have, Samson," I murmured.
• And of course even though he was talking at the same time I did, he somehow heard me. His eyes narrowed as he glowered.
• "Oh. It's Samson now, is it? Not sir or Mr Samson anymore. You're still under the influence of your delusions, aren't you? It still hasn't registered that you and your class don't belong here. You see, it turns out that I was doing you a huge favor after all. You could have saved yourself a lot of embarrassment. Now you will have to explain to her that you don't have that kind of money. I guess you're damned lucky that she's the only one here to see you squirm."
• Disregarding Samson's tauts, I stepped closer to the receptionist's desk. "You said it's five hundred thousand dollars?"
• "Yes, sir."
• Samson came to stand by my side. He snorted. "Saying the amount out loud won't make it any less. You know that, right?"
• The woman, frowning now, shot an irritated look at Samson who didn't seem to notice. His attention was fixed on me as I fished out my debit card.
• He sucked in a breath, threw back his head and guffawed, his beer belly, made prominent by the tight shirt he wore, shaking with laughter.
• "And what do you think you want to do with that? Huh?" he asked when he could finally speak as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Are you going to perform some sort of magic trick that will make the money suddenly appear in your account?"
• I handed my debit card out to the woman with a flourish. "I'll pay for the platinum membership."
• "You'll what?" Samson shouted, shaking his head in disbelief.
• "Sir!" the receptionist protested sharply. "Please. I'll have to ask you to keep your voice down. We certainly don't want to alarm the customers."
• "Yeah." Samson lowered his voice a little. "But you'll shout too if you really knew the identity of this riffraff standing in front of you. He is dirt poor, someone who is barely getting by. There is no way in hell he will be able to afford the platinum membership fee."
• I shrugged unconcernedly. "Well, don't get yourself all worked up. We'll soon see if I can pay, won't we?" I nodded to the receptionist. "Go ahead, please."
• Samson, his face flushed with anger, stepped forward and rapped sharply on the receptionist's desk just as she reached for the machine.
• "You know I'm the boss at the other section of the mall, right? I want to buy something so-"
• "But I'm about to attend to Mr Richard. I'll be quick about it. It won't take a minute-"
• "No. Attend to me first," Samson demanded. "This lowlife can wait. It's not like he can even pay anyway. You'll be wasting your time with him."
• "He came here first and so I will attend to him before anyone else, no matter who that person is," she said firmly. "So, please step back sir, and wait for your turn."
• I felt a burst of admiration for this woman. She was the first decent human being I had met since the system changed my life.
• Samson, seeing she would not be shaken in her resolve, stepped back a little. "When you swipe that card, and it gets declined, I promise you that I won't buy what I wanted to. You'll lose a lot of money and I'll have a word with the boss and tell him that you have been driving away paying customers."
• Samson stopped ranting as soon as she swiped the card on the machine. He craned his neck to have a better look at it. The next instant, the machine beeped and the screen showed that the payment was successful. Samson, mouth agape, staggered back in shock.
• "No, that's impossible," he croaked.