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."Yes, I do, because Hoolio isn't like you."His dimples twitch as if they can't decide which direction they're going."What do you mean?""You blame everything on the money itself," I say, reaching for the door."You're like those people who blame guns for killing people and spoons for making people fat.I think Hoolio just didn't like my attitude toward money.You're right about one thing - he would have dumped me once he found out how I felt about money.But you know what? If a guy is going to dump me because I don't like shitty motel rooms, then he obviously didn't care that much about me to begin with, and I'm better off without him."Richard screws up his face like a bad actor in an antacid commerical and tosses his beer can over his shoulder."I never said I had a problem with the money.It's how it makes you people act.The whole point of this bet was to get you all to change your attitudes about money.""And what attitude would that be? That money isn't the root of everything that's bad in the world?""No," Richard snaps."It's this attitude that it makes you better than everyone else, that it gives you the right to do things and get away with things just because you have it.It's like this little protective shield that you all wear so you don't have to deal with anything."I take my hand off the door and walk back over to the railing."You're suffering from tunnel vision, Richard.""What's that supposed to mean?" He folds his arms over his Tommy Hilfiger shirt, which I'm guessing he bought at an eighty-percent-off clearance sale."Everybody finds something they can use as a protective shield," I say."Poor people just have to think of something other than money.Even rich people have to do that sometimes.You do realize you can't buy off everyone for everything, right?”Richard sighs."Maybe.But rich people use money to make themselves feel superior a lot, Shade.Maybe not every rich person every time, but a lot." His forehead wrinkles, making his blue eyes suddenly look cloudy."They have a handy, built-in, get-out-of-jail-free card always ready to go.And that's just not fair."I catch his eye and hold it, hoping he'll blink or look away first."I know what you are, Richard.I have a cousin who's just like you."If it wasn't for the railing, I think he'd fall off the balcony right now."What?" He jerks upright."You think I'm gay? Not that I have anything against gay people - they're another group that takes a lot of crap, just like the poor.But just because I'm the only guy who doesn't want you doesn't make me gay!"I give him my patented half-snort, half-laugh."That's not what I'm talking about."Richard finally blinks, then turns around and stares out at the ocean."Then what are you talking about?""Let me tell you about my cousin." I turn back to the ocean as well, leaning on the railing just close enough to Richard that I feel his shirt sleeve brush my arm.He smells like cheap aftershave and expensive champagne.It's a potent combination."My cousin's name is Cliff," I say, watching a seagull swoop down and snatch something from the ocean.A fish or a piece of floating trash? "He's a few years older than me, and he grew up rich and hating it.I think maybe one of his problems was that his parents didn't pay enough attention to him."Now, every time I'm in a big-box store, I see poor people ignoring their kids.The little brats will be running wild, ripping shit off shelves, leaving it for other poor people who work there to clean up.But Cliff, he didn't care that poor people ignore their kids, too.He just blamed whatever problems he had with his parents on their money."That was just the first thing.When he was fourteen, his dad was arrested on some sort of insider-trading charge.I don't remember the details, just that he eventually got off with a slap on the wrist.He even got another job in stock trading! Well, I don't know if he was really innocent or not, but Cliff got the idea that he wasn't.I think he overheard some conversations between his parents about how easy it was for dear old dad to get off."Richard shakes his head."Is this supposed to convince me that my generalities about rich people are wrong?""No.Just let me finish." I scan the beach for Richard's beer can and spot it rolling along the shore, almost submerged in the tide."The final blow came when Cliff was sixteen.He had girlfriends in school, off and on, but then one night he went to the movies with some friends and he met this girl who was working at the snack counter.Julie.She shoveled some greasy, artery-clogging popcorn into a bucket for him and he fell madly in love [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]