America 1982-Chapter 412 - 53
Aside from those hypocritical charity events, this was the first time Julian Farrell had generously treated a group of poor devils from the lower echelons, and yet he didnโt receive the thanks, the praise, or the respect that he had imagined. ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐.๐ฌ๐ค๐ถ
But he definitely caught everyoneโs attention in the room.
Because as he got increasingly intoxicated and, following the crude example of the poor devils, jumped up onto the table and boldly announced his name, declaring a round of drinks for everyone, the initial reaction among those present was one of shock, followed by silence. Then, as anger slowly built up in that silence, eventually the bald tough guy who had earlier treated himself to several beers stared at him menacingly,
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Julian Farrell, the owner of Seaside Shipping." Julian also realized that the atmosphere was a bit off, but he continued nonetheless.
He was sure he had never crossed paths with these poor devils before.
"Iโll give you one chance, you better tell everyone youโre just fucking around." The bartender spoke from behind the bar, "The jokeโs seriously fucking unfunny."
Colin and Hurl, who were used to such dismal places, though unsure what Julian did wrong, knew that the main issue now was to cool down the rage of everyone in the bar. Colin hopped onto the table, put his arm around Julian, and addressed the crowd,
"Of course itโs a joke, what else do you think, poor fools? A billionaire business owner comes here to drink fucking diluted beer, and you donโt even know his identity, you should at least understand your own status. Thinking you could be in the same room with those big shots? Heโs the father-in-law of my son! Get it? He cracks a joke and you donโt even have the damn sense of humor to appreciate it. Now, hereโs the twist, my son is about to make the daughter of Seaside Shippingโs owner bear his children, so after understanding this joke, hurry up and give your fucking belated blessings. You know why no stand-up comedians ever came to perform in this damned place? Because you guys wouldnโt get a joke to save your lives! Julianโs sense of humor is wasted on you all!"
After hearing Colinโs words, everyone in the place burst into roaring laughter once again, the atmosphere swiftly heated back up to the point before Julian had spoken, and the bald tough guy even grinned at the still bewildered Julian on the table and praised him,
"Buddy, thatโs a good joke! But you know what, I wouldnโt fuck his daughter, if he was here, Iโd definitely fuck him in the ass!"
Seeing a bunch of white lower-class roughnecks nodding in agreement, and even voluntarily discussing the queue to fuck him to death, Julian was somewhat shocked.
Is this how these people treat a well-meaning outsider? He had just offered to buy these folks a drink, and their response was to threaten to fuck him in the ass? Julian even saw the barmaid Lady with her outstanding breasts holding a cue stick, making thrusting motions with the thicker end.
He, a shipping magnate from Rhode Island, was being humiliated by a bunch of lowly poor devils from God knows where?
"Mr. Bartender, two beers for everyone, on me, for all those willing to fuck me." Julian may not understand why these people harbored such intense hatred for the owner of Seaside Shipping, but he wasnโt looking for more trouble, so he continued with a smile on his face, raising his voice.
The people in the bar responded warmly this time, lifting the beers he paid for and gesturing to him.
"Thank you, Colin. Without your words just now, I might have had to stay in the hospital for a while. Iโm going to call my lawyer and make these guys go bankrupt." Once the situation had calmed down and he was still standing on the table, Julian thanked Colin beside him for the help, and then whispered,
"I want to see them kneeling before me with the money from selling their properties, begging me to fuck all their familyโs holes before showing them mercy."
"I think a wiser choice would be to leave now, or at least figure out..." Colin began, intending to take Julian with him.
Before Colin could finish, the door to the Milk House was pushed open from the outside, and an elderly white man who seemed to be at least in his seventies walked in. The bar patrons clearly knew the old man well, and as he walked towards the bar, people he passed by took the initiative to greet him.
Then the old man saw Colin, who stood on the table, higher and more noticeable than anyone else, and Julian beside him, who was calculating in his heart how to sue everyone,
At first, the old man was stunned, then he lowered his head to rub his eyes and looked up again: "WTF! Julian Farrell? The owner of Seaside Shipping?"
"You heard that joke already?" The bald tough guy nearby heard the old manโs words, "Thatโs right, although itโs a bit brainy, itโs pretty funny once you get it..."
"Heโs Julian Farrell, the owner of the ship company!" the old man pointed at Julian, "Iโve seen him in Rhode Island! Hoboken shipyard is about to shut down, and we are going to be unemployed because his company snatched our last Navy order!"
The people in the bar quieted down again. The bald man who had just been trying to explain this sophisticated joke to the old foreman with nearly fifty years at the Hoboken shipyard, slowly turned his head towards Julian at the drinking table and spat on the ground:
"So you came here in person to humiliate us, those about to be unemployed because of you? I get the joke now, capitalist. Welcome to Hoboken."
A crowd of patrons surged towards him like a tide, quickly surrounding Julian, eyeing him with malice.
Hoboken Shipyard? Julian remembered the name. It was one of the three giants of the American shipbuilding industry established in 1938 to speed up production for World War II, a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The factory made a fortune during the "Emergency Shipbuilding Program" of WWII, and even due to labor shortages, they offered the same wages to female workers as to men and allowed Black people the same benefits as white workers.
However, Julian recalled that this shipyard should have been closed in the 1960s because not long after the end of WWII, Bethlehem streamlined all of its temporarily expanded shipyards, and there was no need to keep a yard like Hobokenโs that only fitted out emergency vessels.
It seemed that they even had Navy orders until now, but now they had been snatched away by his own company?
Pretty good, knowing that he had taken business from these people, the anger in Julianโs heart actually dissipated quite a bit. He had taken their money, of course he had to tolerate their bad language.
"This man just groped me, Iโm going to charge him with harassment!" the bartender Lady, who was stroking a pool cue, suddenly shouted upon learning that the man she praised for having a great behind was the culprit behind most of the patronsโ unemployment, "My breasts should still have his fingerprints, keep them safe, they could bring enough compensation to Hoboken!"
"Damn right, I saw it with my own eyes, he **ing forced himself on Lady!" the bald man added, coming to his senses.
Julian watched, dumbfounded, as the situation rapidly turned against him, at a loss for what to do. Under the bald manโs encouragement, he did indeed test the feel with twenty-five cents, but he swore to God, it was just out of curiosity, and she didnโt objectโin fact, she stuck her chest out.
He could only look to Colin for help. Colin, seemingly unconcerned, took a drink of his beer, "Well, didnโt you want them to beg you to ** all their holes? Wish granted. Get started."
Though he spoke teasingly, Colin turned his eyes toward Hurl. Hurl pulled Julian down behind him, patting a noticeable bulge at his waist, though hidden by his clothes, "Do you think a rich man would come to Hoboken to visit you lot and only bring cash with him?"
While others were focused on Julian, Colin walked over to the phone, not to call the police, but to call Tommy. In this place, calling the cops wouldnโt do much good, and if that dame really was backed up by everyoneโs testimonies and accused Julian of harassment, it would just anger everyone there even more.
After Tommyโs father explained the situation over the phone, Tommy calmly suggested a solution:
"Pin it on the Blacks and Mexicans. Let Mr. Farrell tell them heโs innocent, that he initially wanted to invest in Hoboken Shipyard, to make it a partnership, but Rhode Islandโs Blacks and Mexicans started protesting, forcing Mr. Farrell to offer them jobs. Reluctantly, he had to cancel the partnership and move the orders to Rhode Island. If these people want to blame someone, they should blame the Blacks and Mexicans all over Rhode Island."
"But thereโs no swarm of Blacks in Rhode Island, and there are no Mexicans. Those Blacks wouldnโt protest," Colin said, puzzled.
"Exactly, there are no Blacks even brave enough to protest, so no one will come forward to contradict the frame-up. Do you expect these drunks to know whether Rhode Island has Blacks or not? To them, Blacks are everywhere, and as for the Mexicans, itโs even less of an issue. Everyone hates Mexicans except their employers. Just tell this to my father-in-law; once he knows the direction, heโll know how to solve the rest. Just because he hasnโt dealt with this kind of people doesnโt mean he doesnโt know how to get out of trouble," Tommy said with certainty.
"What about Julian groping the ladyโs breasts? Sheโs got everyone to testify..." Colin wasnโt worried about anything else; he was concerned about the woman accusing Julian, worried that this trivial matter would cause a rift between Julian and his wife, in which case Colin would be the real culprit.
"You donโt need my help to think of a solution for that kind of thing. Trust me, my father-in-law is far more adept at handling women than you, Dad. If there were any issues, they would have arisen already."
After hanging up the phone, Tommy looked at Odelia in the distance, while Tony noticed Tommyโs amused expression, "Whatโs up?"
Tommy shifted his gaze to Tony, "Dad always seriously warns me not to fool around, to respect my partner and family, yet heโs taken my father-in-law to some sleazy bar to grope a bartenderโs breasts. So, does Father love me more, or does he love my father-in-law more?"
