America 1982-Chapter 259 - 3: Two Salaries Equals Ingratitude_2
"The driver for a Black television station?" Martin’s eyes widened as he looked at his foam-mouthed brothers on the ground, then back at Page. "A Black television station? Is that like a special channel for broadcasting live executions of Black folk, or maybe a name for some White gang?"
"No, it’s a regular television station, so consider yourself lucky," Page shook his head and bent down to light a cigarette as he spoke.
"Long Beach’s Black unemployment rate is up to 50% this year, meaning one out of every two Black people is jobless. You’re fortunate to be the one with a job."
Martin glanced at the ones lying on the ground, then at the indifferent Black brothers passing by, and finally back to Page. "Here in Los Angeles... do television stations always provide jobs for Black barbers with electric shock gloves?"
"Sometimes they just use guns, usually depending on the person’s reaction," Page said with a puff of smoke, cigarette dangling from his lips.
Martin raised his hands. "Can I go back to Miami? Sir, I’d rather be jobless in Miami right now..."
"Of course, we don’t force anyone," Page said without any change in expression as he turned to walk toward the sedan. "George, wake those guys up, hand the barber over to them, and tell them to send him back to Miami for me. If I see that barber in South Bay again, I’ll send these remnants of the Black Pioneer Union to meet their boss," he said as he passed by George.
"You know, sir, I think it’s important to seize opportunities in life." Martin hurried to catch up with Page as he saw a bear-like White tough getting ready to awaken his brothers on the ground.
Page glanced at him. "Can you read?"
"I got into community college for cosmetology, I have a barber’s certificate. I’m a college graduate, sir, no fake," Martin said. "By the way, may I put my hands down now?"
"Are you good at cussing people out?" Page opened the car door, motioning Martin to get in.
Martin carefully sat in the backseat of the Rolls-Royce, touching the leather-wrapped seat as he said:
"Yes, sir. When I had my barbershop in Miami, those customers were tough. Most of them were Black, you had to cuss at them to make them understand. It wasn’t that the hairstyles I designed were ugly, but because they were ugly themselves. If you tried to explain gently, they would think you’re a pushover, and blame you for their eyes looking like ET’s."
"What’s your name, barber?" Page also got into the car and continued the conversation.
Martin saw outside the stout man waking the fellows up with cold water and tossing a few bills at their faces.
Looking back at Page and swallowing hard, he said, "Martin Hart."
"Martin, I’ve decided to offer you a job," Page rolled down the window and tossed out his cigarette, shouting to George who was talking to the men he had electrocuted, "George, time to go."
Martin asked, "Am I to design hairstyles for some TV host?"
"No, you’ll be a bodyguard," Page told Martin.
"What?" Martin’s face showed confusion as he said to Page:
"I’m a barber, sir. If I knew how to fight, I wouldn’t have almost had my sneakers stolen by those guys."
"You don’t need to know how to fight," Page said earnestly to Martin. "You just need to be in charge of cussing." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Martin opened the door and stepped out. "I’m getting out of the car. If those guys want to steal my sneakers, let them. I’d rather walk barefoot back to Miami than look for opportunities in Los Angeles where everyone is crazy..."
"A weekly wage of two hundred and fifty dollars, with employee housing in Beverly Hills Estate," Page continued from inside the car.
Martin shut the car door and settled back into his seat. "So, sir, whom do you need me to cuss out again?"
...
Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Studio City.
Almost every television network’s headquarters in Los Angeles, along with the West Coast centers of CBS, ABC, and NBC, America’s three major television networks, are located here.
The headquarters of Tommy Hawk’s Black Television, also known as BT Television, are also located here.
In the United States, it is not difficult to start an independent television network, but making viewers aware of it and getting them to watch it is no easy task.
An independent television station refers to one that is not part of the three major television networks and has no cooperation with them, meaning the station needs to come up with the funding to produce or purchase a sufficient number of programs to broadcast on its own network.
Therefore, independent television stations generally do not appear in small cities due to the lack of a large enough audience base. The city with the most independent television stations in the United States is Los Angeles, with New York trailing behind.
Right next to the headquarters of BT Television is yet another independent television station, reportedly founded by an NBA Black basketball star. He spent big bucks to acquire the regional broadcasting rights for a bunch of children’s cartoons and broadcasts them on a roll 24 hours a day. The reason he started this television station was that he never experienced cartoon freedom as a child, so once he had the money, he decided to start his own station for cartoons only.
Meanwhile, at BT Television headquarters, Martin Hart, now dressed in a black suit and trying hard to adopt Page’s stern demeanor, stood silently in the conference room with Page. Tommy, the boss who Martin thought must be seriously ill, sat inside the conference room, looking painfully at Wolfe Tuck, the former Chief Executive Officer of BT Television who had resigned:
