America 1982-Chapter 40 - 39: The Way Home_2
Tommy lowered his head and sighed, "I think I’d better go talk to Mr. Will and ask him to keep this a secret for us."
"No need, look at the way he’s looking at Melanie, not to mention spilling the beans, he would probably agree to help sell these cigarettes to Canada without a second thought. When I first met your mother I had that same lovestruck expression on my face."
Tony walked over from the Italian’s ship and, upon seeing the scene between Tommy and his dad becoming much more relaxed, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Well done, Dad. Like me, you’re not controlled by money. Although I’m curious why you made the right choice, it’s not important anymore. Right is right."
"Come here, the most loyal and reliable son in this family." Colin opened his arms, hugging his two sons, one in each arm, and looking out over the vast sea, he said loudly, "Of course it’s the right choice, without a doubt, we’ve all made the right choice, for each other, for the family."
"How many boxes of cigarettes are on the ship?" Tommy, being hugged by his dad, looked towards the cargo stacked on the ship and asked. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"Three hundred boxes, one hundred for Thomas, one hundred for me, and the others pooled together for one hundred," Colin Hawk said with a broad smile, revealing quantities.
"Where did you get the money to buy a hundred boxes of goods?" Tommy asked incredulously, "Under normal circumstances, it’s hard for you and Mr. Morin to scrape together enough money to buy a hundred cheap beers at a small bar."
Tony also spoke up, "I’m curious about that too."
"Lads, I’ve got to keep some stories to tell on the way back, to slowly share with you," Colin Hawk let go of his two sons, turned around, put his fingers to his lips and gave a loud whistle, then shouted to the old mates who came looking at the sound, "Mates! Help the guests with the cargo onto the ship, and then head home!"
...
On the return journey aboard the K.K.S., Mr. Morin took over the helm from Tony. Tony, carrying a drink, sat side by side with Tommy on the deck, both of them wearing thick coats, leaning back slightly, looking up at the night sky and stars that were gradually fading away with the upcoming sunrise.
Mr. Rocco Waldman and Mr. Wilson were on board D.T.F., following the fishing boat on its left rear side, steered by Mr. Green.
Everyone else in the cockpit was resting with their eyes closed, including Mr. Will Kendrick, who was the most agitated before. Now, he leaned on the cabin opposite Melanie, constantly nodding off. Wrapped in a cotton coat, with a half-eaten biscuit in her mouth, Melanie leaned against the cabin wall, sound asleep with no regard for her image.
Colin Hawk counted the bills in his hand, making sure they were correct several times before neatly placing them into his backpack. He then walked out of the cockpit, came up to the deck, and sat down next to his two sons who were about to enjoy the sunrise at sea. He handed the backpack to Tommy Hawk, then lowered his head to take out a cigarette, lit it with a match, took a drag, and mused, "It’s all inside. This is the most money I’ve ever handled in my life. Counted it seven times, a total of a hundred and forty-five thousand, those Canadian tobacco dealers are really rich."
"Why give it all to me?" Tommy Hawk, puzzled, opened the backpack to glance inside and asked his dad.
With his hands behind his back, just like his sons, Colin Hawk replied, "When I was counting the money for the fourth time inside, Melanie told me it was best to hand the tax payments over to you. It blew my fucking mind that I had to pay taxes to the American government, which had no part from start to finish, after buying a batch of cigarettes in international waters and selling them in another. Now, I finally get why the Soviet Union wanted to attack America. If I were the powerful Soviet Union, I’d have blown up those shameless bastards at the White House a long time ago. Well, now it’s up to you, son, to figure out how to pay those damn taxes. Morin, Green, Waldman, they all agree with me, none of them wanting any trouble, and they trust you now. They think your plans are better and more reliable than those of their old man who’s led them for years. The only one who disagreed was Wilson. He insisted on depositing the money into the bank himself to see if anyone dared to take what was his, but ultimately we persuaded him to drop that foolish idea."
"Without a tax record to explain the origin, depositing it recklessly into the bank would lead to an investigation, and the money would be confiscated, possibly even landing the person in jail," laughed Tommy Hawk. "Mr. Wilson was right to drop the idea."
Tony grabbed the bottle of liquor and took a swig, then passed it to Tommy, snorting with a "Heh," "So how could anyone not want to beat the shit out of America, that bitch’s son? It does nothing and just steals the hard-earned money from us poor folk."
"Now can you tell me where you and Mr. Morin got the capital from, Dad?" Tommy Hawk took the bottle, tilted his head for a drink, and breathing out the alcohol fumes, handed the whiskey to his old man.
With the bottle in hand and a cigarette dangling from his lips, Colin Hawk gazed towards the horizon where the first rays of the sun were about to appear: "Ruby."
"I should’ve known. No surprise there,"
"Yeah, I should’ve guessed the only way Dad could’ve raised the money."
Seeing both his sons sporting a look of having guessed already, Colin Hawk began discontentedly, "Hey! It wasn’t what you’re thinking. I told Ruby, ’If I wanted to borrow twenty grand, but did not want my house taken away if I can’t pay it back, what can I do?’ Ruby’s a good guy, he gave me a suggestion. He said there’s a medical center in Boston that recently wanted to find people for HIV research. They were willing to pay fifty thousand to a healthy male volunteer plus free lifetime medical service. Plus, if they found a cure, they might put the guy’s name in medical history. And before they studied me, the doctors could help me save some ’tadpoles’ for future breeding. Ruby mentioned that after being studied, no women would want to have kids with me, which is nonsense. My charm is obvious, even if I don’t mess around. Then Ruby said he would loan me twenty thousand. If I paid it back on time with interest, all’s well; if not, I’d have to either volunteer myself or find someone to send to the medical center for research. To be honest, after hearing that, I was tempted to pick the second option. This money’s like manna from heaven. I told him that if I got back safe but had lost the money, I’d let them study me. If I didn’t make it back, I’d let the medical center study my uncle who lives out in the boondocks of Worcester, Massachusetts. It’d kill two birds with one stone: they do their research and cure his chronic hearing loss for free."
