The Way It Works Read Online Free

myself. She’s so beautiful. And I like her so much. All I want is to be with her. It comes out of my mouth before I can stop it.
    She’s still smiling. She thinks I’m funny.
    â€œWhy do you wear that suit all the time?” she says.
    â€œWell,” I say, “it was a present from my mother. And she used to say that the world judges a man by how he looks. So I always try to look my best.”
    Yolanda nods.
    â€œI always felt like it was more important what you have inside,” she says.
    â€œThat too,” I say. “But people don’t give you a job just because you’re a nice person. You have to look the part.”
    She laughs again.
    â€œWalter, I would love to go out with you again,” she says.
    â€œGreat. What about tonight?”
    â€œI can’t make it tonight. But I’m free tomorrow night.”
    â€œTomorrow night it is,” I say.
    How you going to pick her up, fool ? says a voice inside my head.
    But I’ll worry about that later. Right now I have an interview to get ready for.

CHAPTER SIX
    F rom the postal center, I head straight to the bus station. There I change into jeans and a T-shirt. I grab my copy of Seven Habits . Then I take my suit to the dry cleaner’s, which is just around the corner. They tell me it’s going to be a while.
    I have nowhere else to be, so I go outside to wait. I lean against the wall and start re-reading Seven Habits . This book has all the secrets I need to know to make it in business. I want to master all of them.
    â€œHow’s it going, Walter?”
    I look up. There’s a bum sitting against a building, about twenty feet away. He’s got a sign that says HOMELESS—PLEASE HELP . In front of him is an empty hat. At first I think he’s just some panhandler. But then I realize I know this guy.
    â€œHey, Scooby,” I say. “It’s going great. How are things?”
    When I first lost my place, it was too cold to sleep in my car. So I spent a couple of weeks in a shelter. It was not an experience I care to repeat. But Scooby and I got to know each other there. He’s a good guy. Maybe forty years old. Not very clean, and he looks sick all the time. But he’s friendly. And smart.
    â€œBusiness is terrible,” he says. “This economy is in trouble. Nobody has an extra cent these days. And all the Ponzi schemes in the news are making things worse.”
    I go over and sit down next to Scooby.
    â€œWhat’s a Ponzi scheme?” I ask.
    â€œIt’s a kind of scam. It’s when investors promise people really high returns that they can’t deliver. It’s a con game.”
    â€œI didn’t know anything about that,” I say.
    â€œLet me tell you something, Walter,” says Scooby. “In the world of finance, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
    â€œHow do you know all this, Scooby?”
    â€œI used to be in business. I had five convenience stores. And two houses. But I lost everything.”
    â€œHow’d you do that?” I’m amazed. If I ever got that far ahead , I think, the last thing I would do is lose it all.
    â€œI borrowed too much,” he says. “I thought the economy would keep going up forever. But when things started heading south, I lost everything. We call that being over-leveraged.”
    I feel like I ought to be taking notes. Scooby knows a lot more than I realized.
    â€œSay, Walter,” says Scooby, “I’m pretty hungry. You wouldn’t have a few bucks you could give me, would you? I can pay you back when things pick up.”
    I know Scooby isn’t a drunk or a drug addict. He really will spend the money on food. So I reach into my pocket to peel off a few small bills. But then I remember I’ve changed my pants. My money isn’t in my jeans. It’s with my suit. How could I have forgotten that?
    â€œScooby, I’ll be right back,” I say.
    I