America 1982-Chapter 243 - 83 Powerful Figures
Los Angeles, El Monte.
Under the accompaniment of Lotte Page, Tommy Hawk rushed to the scene and found Dennis sitting on a bench in the community square. His smile was as bright as the sunshine, surrounded by a group of children, and there was Dennis pulling handfuls of candies from a plastic bag beside him and distributing them to the kids, like a warm-hearted young man arriving in a new area, meeting a group of adorable little friends, and thoughtfully giving them a welcome gift.
The scene was as beautiful as a realistic oil painting filled with humanitarian care.
It was completely different from the scene Tommy had imagined: Dennis tied up in a dark, cramped room, his limbs fixed to an iron-framed bed, and then two tall black women standing guard at the door, selling tickets to the long line of ugly women waiting outside, the bizarre ugly women handing over cash and then walking into the room with malicious grins, to greet Dennis who had his mouth sealed with tape and a look of despair in his eyes:
"Baby, mommy’s going to play a game called ’Donkey Fun’ with you..."
Tommy signaled for Mr. Page to wait nearby, then walked over to sit next to Dennis on an empty spot, turned his face to Dennis who was kissing the forehead of every child who came to collect candy, "This is completely different from what I had imagined."
"I know." Dennis didn’t turn to look at Tommy until all the kids had gotten their candies, then he motioned the little ones to run a bit further away and then looked at Tommy: "I suddenly fell in love with this place, Tommy. In these two days here, I found the meaning of life. I love everyone here."
"Everyone or every of-age woman? The two mean entirely different things," Tommy said with a smile.
Dennis laughed and cursed, "Fuck," then said, "Look around, more than a hundred families where children hardly ever see their fathers, wives hardly ever see their husbands... I want to stay here. They need a man, they need a strong protector. That’s why I’m here; God guided me here, hoping I’d change this terrible environment."
"You want to hear my analysis of your words? You’re just fucking vain, wanting to be worshipped by a group of pitiful people to get cheap mental satisfaction, because you can’t get that feeling elsewhere. But here it’s all vulnerable women, you can reap their desire and dependence for you," Tommy said, pulling out a cigarette, putting it between his lips, lighting two, and then offering one to Dennis.
Dennis took a drag on his cigarette, "After those women knew about my plan, they worshipped me like a god, nothing wrong with that. I go be a dumpsite manager, and I wouldn’t get this sense of accomplishment I have now."
"Their adoration for you will last only until they figure out you’re just a drug dealer making a cut. At that point, you’ll be the first one they kick out. Those tough mamas will do their purchasing and selling. Don’t think poor people are all unthinking idiots. The moment it comes down to interests, and your role becomes irrelevant to them, you’ll be killed off in a heartbeat," Tommy leaned forward, arms resting on his thighs, and continued with a smile:
"Say there’s a beautiful mom who’s your right-hand woman. She listens to every word you say, strips at your command, drives out to fetch the goods the moment you ask. But what happens once she realizes that’s all you’re good for and she can’t learn anything else from you? Simple, she calls her best friend’s husband and tells him his wife is being kept by you. He comes back with a gun, shoots you, and she becomes the new leader of this community."
"How could that possibly happen?" Dennis’s beautiful illusion shattered by Tommy’s blunt words, yet he stubbornly refused to accept reality.
Tommy shrugged, looking at the children playing in the distance, "Why not? If I were that woman, I’d get rid of you just as easily. After all, you have nothing more to offer, so why keep you around and share the money with you?"
Dennis opened his mouth as if to say something, but not knowing what to say, finally dropped his head in silence for a while before he spoke softly: "Man, you really know how to crush a friend’s dreams. Yeah, what good is a dumpsite manager to the community? The tricks of a drug dealer, one only has to follow me around a few times to learn them, and then I’ll be worthless."
Dennis really did have a moment where he thought staying in this tiny kingdom of daughters as the king wouldn’t be so bad. He had imagined making money as a drug dealer, bringing profits to the women, being liked by their children, and being able to like those soldiers’ wives.
Until that asshole Tommy, with his calm voice, burst his dream bubble.
"Remember how I asked you for a favor? If you really like it here, really want to help these women and kids, I think you should consider helping me," Tommy said to Dennis.
Dennis curled his lips and looked at Tommy, "Jason said that helping you often means making a little film, so you mean for me to shoot a little film and then distribute the tapes to every woman in the community so they can relax at night watching me star in them?"
