The Parking Lot Attendant Who Controlled the Stock Market

chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Morning That Changed Everything

I did not sleep that night.

I sat on the floor of my cousin's living room with Derek's phone in my hand and the coin pressed against my chest. My cousin was passed out on the couch. He did not know I was there. He never did. I was just the guy who crashed on his floor and left before breakfast.

The hours moved slow.

At midnight I flipped the coin just to see if anything changed. Three seconds. Derek was still asleep in his fancy apartment. Maya was still gone. The accountant was still waiting. Nothing moved.

At two in the morning I almost threw the coin away. The doubt was loud in my head. Who was I to bet against rich people? I parked cars. I failed out of school. My mother died broke and I could not even afford flowers for her grave.

But then I remembered Derek's shoe on my leg. Maya's silence. The old man's words before he disappeared into the dark.

Three seconds is all it takes to ruin a rich man.

I kept the coin.

At four in the morning I checked the news. Nothing about Kensington Holdings. No merger announcement. No scandal. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.

At six in the morning I made myself a cup of coffee with water from the bathroom sink. It tasted like rust but I drank it anyway.

At seven I called Derek.

"Wake up," I said. "The market opens in two hours."

He did not answer. Just breathing. Then a click. He hung up.

I did not care. He would be there. He had no choice.

At eight thirty I walked to the public library because it was the only place with free wifi and a computer. The librarian gave me a look because of my dirty clothes but she did not say anything. Poor people read books too. Or trade stocks, apparently.

I sat down in the corner with Derek's phone and the library computer and the coin.

Eight forty five. Fifteen minutes until the market opened.

My hands were shaking.

I flipped the coin one more time.

Three seconds.

I saw the news breaking. A reporter on a screen. A headline in big letters. Kensington Holdings merger is fake. Investors lose billions. And then I saw the stock price dropping like a stone falling down a well.

The vision ended and I almost threw up. Not from fear. From excitement. Because I was right. The coin was right. And today, I was going to become someone else.

Nine o clock.

The market opened.

Nothing happened.

One minute passed. Two minutes. Five. The stock stayed exactly where it was. Derek's account showed no change. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears.

What if I was wrong? What if the future changed? What if the coin was broken or the old man was crazy or I just imagined the whole thing?

Ten minutes.

Then a notification popped up on my screen.

Breaking news.

Kensington Holdings merger called off. CEO arrested for fraud. Stock halted pending investigation.

The stock did not just drop. It fell off a cliff. In less than thirty seconds, the price went from forty two dollars a share to eight dollars. Then to three. Then to zero.

I stared at the screen.

Derek's account was not three hundred thousand dollars anymore.

It was one point two million dollars.

One million. Two hundred thousand.

I blinked. The number did not change. I refreshed the page. Still there. I closed my eyes and opened them again. Still there.

I did not know how to feel. My body was cold and hot at the same time. My hands were shaking worse than before. A librarian looked at me like I was sick.

Maybe I was. Sick with something new. Something hungry.

My phone buzzed.

Derek.

I answered.

"You did it," he said. His voice was strange. Not happy. Not angry. Something in between. Like he had just seen a ghost and the ghost was me.

"I know," I said.

"You made more money in ten minutes than I made in five years."

"I know."

"How?"

I looked at the coin in my palm. The eye stared back at me. The number three seemed to glow.

"I got lucky," I said.

Derek laughed but there was no joy in it. "You are lying. You knew. You knew that stock would crash. Nobody gets that lucky. Nobody."

I did not answer.

"Felix," he said. "What are you?"

I stood up from the library computer. My legs felt weak but my chest felt strong. I walked past the librarian and out the door into the morning sun. The city was loud and busy and nobody looked at me. Nobody knew what I just did.

But they would.

"I am the man you should not have slapped," I said. And I hung up.

I had one point two million dollars. I had a debt to pay. I had an accountant with a gun waiting for his money.

And I had a list of names in my head. Every person who ever looked down at me. Every boss who yelled. Every woman who laughed. Every rich man who thought I was nothing.

Today was just the beginning.

I pulled out the coin and kissed it.

Then I called the accountant.

"I have your money," I said. "But I want to give it to you in person. And I want you to bring your boss."

Silence on the other end.

"Why?" the accountant asked.

I smiled. The first real smile I had smiled in years.

"Because I want to make him an offer he cannot refuse."

The accountant laughed. Not the dry laugh from yesterday. A real one. Surprised. Curious. "You are either very brave or very stupid."

"Maybe both," I said. "But I am also very rich now. And rich people get to make demands."

Another silence. Then: "Noon. The garage where you work. My boss will be there."

The line went dead.

I put my phone away and looked up at the tall buildings around me. All those offices. All those rich people sitting in their chairs thinking they owned the world.

They had no idea what was coming.

Noon was three hours away.

I had a coin, a million dollars, and a hunger that would not be filled by instant noodles anymore.

I walked toward the garage.

The city did not know my name yet.

But it would.