CHAPTER THREE
GREEN, THE COLOR OF MORE THAN MONEY
It was six o’clock on the morning of Black Friday. Some of the women’s natural alarm clocks had woken them up. Too bad they could not go shopping.
Chloe’s natural alarm clock woke up for her morning jog. She ran one lap around the cube.
New clothing was provided by the Qadarians. It would be provided every day. When they got dressed in the clean clothes, they met at the table for breakfast. Again, it was a spread like they had the day before.
The Qadarians felt it was time to introduce themselves to the rest of the human race. Six ships descended on London, Beijing, Sydney, Rio de Janiero, Cairo, and Washington, D.C.
When they decloaked the ships, every channel on TV showed the footage, from CBS and FOX to ESPN and TBS to QVC and Lifetime Movie Channel. Basically, every channel in the book showed it, even the premium channels.
The ships were each shaped like an arrowhead. They measured two and a half miles long by one mile high by one mile wide. Slowly, they descended to a hover about fifty feet above the ground.
A ramp was lowered to the ground in front of the White House. The Qadarians showed themselves to humanity for the first time.
They averaged about 7’ 6” in height and 150 pounds. They were tall, gangly and humanoid. They had three fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. They were pale grey in complexion. They lacked ears, hair, nose and genitalia. Their eyes were slightly larger than a human’s and lacked an iris, just a dark pupil. Their mouth was slightly smaller than a human’s.
In the cube, the humans wore the translators to be understood by the Qadarians. Outside, the aliens wore universal translators so the humans could understand them.
Meeting them outside the White House were President Martin Sinclair and President-elect Dorothy Wheeler, who had defeated Sinclair in the election a few weeks ago.
“Greetings. We come from the planet Qadaris. You may call me Tobias. I’m the leader of the Qadarians. We received a beacon from Eli Offenberger and responded. Is he here?”
They did some research to find the whereabouts of Dr. Offenberger, the man in charge at the VLA.
“Dr. Offenberger died a few years ago from a brain aneurysm,” President Sinclair said.
“It was he that sent the signal that led us to your planet. We have observed your race for the past few weeks. Yours is a primitive world with a primal race of people. We are not here to judge. In fact, we have the technology to make your race better.”
“Such as?”
“We have seen much talk in your news about diseases such as cancer and AIDS. We have a vaccine that can cure any viral or bacterial disease.”
“Even the common cold?”
“Yes.”
“Forgive me for being skeptical. I would need to see proof before I agree to distribute this to the general public.”
Using an amplifier so that everyone within earshot could hear, “Is anyone here sick?”
A man walked forward who was suffering from walking pneumonia. Tobias met him. He handed him a red tablet and asked him to take it. The man swallowed the tablet. Fifteen minutes later, he was symptom-free.
“We will be in touch to set up stations across your planet.”
Tobias ascended the ramp back into the ship. The ramp rose, and the ship took off.
Among the people who saw the display was Howard Whistler, an unemployed postal employee from Newark, New Jersey. He was a man filled with hate, hate toward the post office, hate toward the government, and hate toward anyone who disagreed with his point of view.
He didn’t trust these aliens as far as he could throw them. He had seen many movies and TV shows that portrayed aliens as exterminators, only here to rid themselves on the planet’s occupants and take what they can carry.
He knew he couldn’t take on the aliens himself. So, he started a blog voicing his opinion and his plan to send them packing.
Back inside the cube, the twenty-four had just finished lunch when Levi spoke to them.
“Good day. The information you gave us yesterday was very helpful. Today, we want to know about an emotion similar to anger: jealousy or envy. Can you give us an example of a time when you were jealous or envious?”
Neveah was the first to speak. “I admit. I was jealous when I saw my man looking at another woman. If he is with me, his eyes should be focused on me and me only.
“By looking at another woman, he is telling me I’m not good enough for him, that he wants to be with somebody else. When I caught him, he denied it. We fought the whole way home.”
Pastor Dennis was next. “When I think of jealousy, I’m reminded of the story of Saul and David.
“After David had slain Goliath, he was in good graces with King Saul. That was until they returned home.
“1 Samuel, Chapter 18, Verse 6: ‘When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.’ Verse 7: ‘As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’’
“Saul was jealous that they liked David more than him. He thought might lose his kingdom. Saul had asked his son to kill David. Instead, he warned David about his father desire.
“David left to see the prophet Samuel. On three different occasions, Saul sent men to kill David. Each time, the men joined Samuel in worshipping God. Finally, Saul himself went to kill David. He, too, joined Samuel in worshipping God.
“Saul continued his jealous pursuit of David. In the end, David had an opportunity to kill Saul. He cut off a corner of Saul's robe. , but did not kill him. He confronted Saul afterward and told him he could have, but he would not betray his master.
“Saul saw the error of his way and left David live. In return, David swore not to kill him.”
“For years, I have been trying to get on any kind of game show,” Twyla said. “I applied to Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, The Price Is Right. If it was a game show, I tried to get on it.
“And every single time I tried, I got denied. How could some of these people have gotten on over me? I’m smarter than them, more entertaining than them.
“I deserve to play Final Jeopardy or Plinko. I deserve to use a lifeline. I deserve to win!”
“I know what you mean, Twyla,” Chloe said. “I’ve been trying to get on a reality show for years.
“Like you, I’ve tried them all. My husband doesn’t want to do The Amazing Race. I’ve been turned down several times for Survivor and Big Brother. Fortunately, I don’t need to go on The Biggest Loser or The Bachelorette.
“I even tried out for The X Factor last year. I know I’m not the greatest singer, but I’m not bad. Apparently, Britney and Simon didn’t think I was good enough to make it past the first round.
“Sooner or later, they will make a reality show that I will be on. I will keep trying until I make it. I’m not a loser; I’m a winner.”
“I wish I could get on The Biggest Loser,” Christian said. “I’ve tried every kind of diet out there. No matter what I try, I just can’t lose weight.
“Meanwhile, my friend Leon Douglass can eat whatever he wants and never gains a pound. I hate him!
“I wish I could afford liposuction or gastric bypass surgery. Not on a garbage man’s salary. And my insurance doesn’t cover elective surgery.”
“I wish my insurance covered the surgery I wanted,” Bella said. “I get jealous when I see guys staring at girls with big boobs.
“I mean, look at mine. They barely make a bump on my shirt. I’ve got nothing.
“Because of them, I lost out on some dates with guys I really wanted to go out with. They wanted the dumb blond with the big boobs, not the smart brunette with no curves.
“If I had implants, maybe those guys would have liked me. I know I would feel better.”
“Don’t say that,” Michael said
. “You’re beautiful just the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you different. You were created as you are for a reason. If guys can’t appreciate you for you, then they don’t deserve you.”
“You sound like my dad.”
“He sounds like a wise man.”
“I’m jealous of vegans,” Robin said. “I so want to go vegan. It’s not just enough to not eat anything with a face. I want to say I don’t eat anything that came from something with a face.”
“So, why don’t you just go vegan?”
“Because I’m weak. I gotta have my cheese. Cheese makes anything taste better. If I had to give up cheese, I’d just as soon stop eating.”
“I get so jealous of those who get everything handed to them on a silver platter,” Quincy said.
“My mom had to work two full-time jobs just to make ends meet for me and my four brothers and sisters, and still we went without some of life’s luxuries. Meanwhile, some people don’t have to lift as much as a finger and get whatever they want.
“Even today, before I went to jail, I had to work a full-time and a part-time job to cover my bills. Yet Veronica did absolutely nothing but spent what little I had left over. In fact, she went over budget and expected me to make up the difference. Life isn’t fair.”
“My first quarter at the University of Toronto,” Cassidy said, “I pledged a sorority, Delta Zeta. It seemed like a respectable group of women.
“Little did I know they were jealous of me. They told me about a party they were planning that weekend. It had a beach theme, with everyone wearing their swimsuits.
“I wore my best swimsuit, a royal blue one-piece. I was rockin’ that outfit.
“I knocked on the door. Sissi LaRoche, the rush chairwoman, opened the door and showed me to the room where the party was taking place.
“I walked in. Sissi shut the door. I saw I was the only one there wearing a swimsuit. Everyone else was dressed up.
“I tried to open the door, but she had locked it. I was bawling my eyes out. I had never been that embarrassed in my entire life.
“Whether they wanted me or not, I wanted nothing more to do with that bunch of jealous hags.”
“I’ve been friends with Duane Gilliam since I was in grade school,” Benjamin said. “But there is a part of him that always has to one-up me.
“Last year, I bought a forty inch HD-TV. He had to buy a forty-six inch 3D-TV with surround sound.
“For my anniversary, I bought Tracy a gold necklace. For his, he bought his wife diamond earrings.
“Even as kids… I had GoBots. He had to have Transformers. I had a Nintendo. He had a PlayStation.
“He could never let me get the best of him. He always had to show he was better than me.
“Well, I’m CEO of a major bank and he is a chiropractor. Think I won in the end.”
“I had a friend I was jealous of,” Travis said. “His name was Garrett Sambuco. He was a linebacker on our football team.
“I was the quarterback, and yet, he was more popular than me. He dated the prettiest girl in school after she shot me down.
“And he got better grades than me. I know he didn’t study much, between football practice and his job at Applebee’s.
“How did he do it? How does he get everything he wants while putting zero effort into it?”
“I get jealous almost every time I leave the house,” Michael said. “Ever since Serena dumped me after high school, I can’t help but feel that way whenever I see a happy couple.
“I haven’t found anyone like her since then. Every time I see a couple holding hands in public or kissing in public, I can’t help but wish it was me.
“I know that one day I will be that happy, but it’s not today. I don’t know when it will be. Until then, I will dream of that day.”
“There was an opening for Captain in our precinct,” Wyatt said. “I was the best qualified for the position, so I applied for it.
“A number of others did, too. One of them was a slacker named Kent Edwards. He didn’t care about the job. He could do it; he just chose to give it about half effort.
“He was also known as an ass-kisser, a brownnoser. Willing to suck up to anyone who could advance his career.
“Well, I guess it paid off because he got that promotion over me. Guess it’s not what you know but who you know to get ahead in life.”
“When I was filming Separated at Birth,” said Jessica, “I played a character named Hannah Chapman. She was jealous of her adopted brother.
“She was in love with him, but he wanted nothing to do with her. When she found him dating another woman, she killed him.
“Later, she fell in love with her adopted sister when they roomed together in college. When she caught him with a man, she tried to kill both him and her sister.
“In the end, she was the one who was killed. A victim of jealousy.”
“My younger brother could get away with murder when we were kids,” Brody said. “He could color on the wall with crayon and never get punished. But if I left one scuff on the floor, my mom would chew my head off.
“Then, there was the time he broke my mom’s crystal vase, and he blamed me for it. I denied it, but whose side did she take? His, of course.
“Even now, I served my country proudly, and he still lives with them, never having to pay rent or food. He doesn’t even try to look for a job. They say nothing to him.
“And yet, if I were to ask them for five bucks, it would be as though I was asking for their life savings.”
The other eleven told similar stories about their encounters with jealousy.
When they finished their stories, the Qadarians created a meatloaf dinner for them, with scalloped potatoes and asparagus.
As night fell on the cube, the twenty-four had started bonding. It was almost like Chloe got her wish. It had a Big Brother or a Real World kind of feel to it.
Outside of the cube, construction began on the first of the curing tents in New York, D.C., and Miami.
And in New Jersey, Howard checked to see how many hits his blog had. It was up to four thousand seven hundred twelve by ten o’clock. His cult grew by the minute.