America 1982-Chapter 71 - 26: Look at with New Eyes

Stack upon stack of documents were hastily loaded onto Dennis’s Jeep amidst the chaos, leaving the police to blockade the door to prevent the wild boars from fleeing the factory grounds. Dennis himself drove the vehicle full of files toward the government building at a breakneck pace.

The photographers apparently hadn’t noticed Dennis’s departure, focusing all their attention on the far more captivating scene inside the factory, where Kevin and Frank were in the midst of a wrestling battle with several white security guards.

In Dennis’s car, besides the documents, only Chris and that intern who had worked as a county tax commissioner in their family were present, hastily rifling through the papers.

By the time the vehicle reached the outside of the government building, Tommy, Stephen, David, and the others were already waiting and quickly gathered around. Tommy stared at Chris who, even after the car had stopped, continued to sift non-stop through the files:

"What’s the situation?"

"We can confirm that they’ve been evading taxes, but they only dodged the taxes of this country, not the portion due to the United States." Chris lifted a document and handed it to Tommy, saying, "This one is an account book recording the workers’ debts at the sugar factory."

"Treating black people like slaves and exploiting them — once this news is leaked by its opponents, not even the President can save Bolton Sugar Industries," Stephen said with conviction.

"Go up and take pictures, then hand them over to the lawyers to be taken away." Tommy gestured for the others to help carry the documents upstairs, "The originals must be kept safe. I expect they’ll be coming to claim them soon, and we mustn’t anger them; we have to return everything as is."

Just as Tommy had predicted, in less than an hour, the person in charge of the sugar factory arrived at the government building with the factory’s security personnel, demanding the return of various ledgers that had been taken.

"It’s you who first lacked enough respect towards us! That’s why we did this!" David, the pudgy one, said sternly to the person in charge, "You cut off the power without any prior notice; this is your punishment!"

"You want to punish us? Let the real Prime Minister of this country step forward, and I’ll show him that the loss of jobs for six thousand workers is a punishment for whom," the person in charge said sternly, "I don’t care if it’s a summer camp or some other program, in short, a factory is not a playground for children. Hand over the ledgers, and I’ll allow you to steal electricity for your games, or I’ll have more than six thousand unemployed workers come here to listen to you explain."

David seemed intimidated by the stern tone and bowed his head, huffing. Stephen walked in from outside the door, "David, let Chris give them back the ledgers."

"Stephen~" David looked to Stephen with reluctance, "He doesn’t respect us."

"Then it’s time we teach them some respect." Standing beside David with a hand on his shoulder while staring impassively at the person in charge, Stephen said, "Zoey found a document— the United States promised to aid with twenty million US dollars but failed to deliver. We are now contacting the United States, and if they don’t pay up, according to the contract, we can shut down the factory."

"You can take the ledgers back now, but wait and see, we’ll be coming for you soon," rejuvenated by Stephen’s words, David spoke defiantly to the other side.

...

The Caribbean Sea, Barbados.

In the U.S. embassy for the Caribbean region, Zoey sat with an elegant posture in the waiting room, accompanied by Kevin who was helping with security.

"Miss Zoey Winters, when I called home, my kids were very fond of your summer camp program, but I never expected to see you here in person—especially Zoey, my wife always praises you, saying that you are the perfect example of a young lady." A young employee of the embassy walked into the waiting room with a smile and greeted them proactively, "I am the embassy secretary, Jody."

He then waved at the camera lens of the video recorder parked next to them, "I’ll be on camera too, right?"

"Mr. Jody, I’ve called countless times asking for an audience with Ambassador Edward Bolton," Zoey shook his hand and then said seriously, "but there has never been a response."

"Edward has returned to the States for a medical check-up. Is there something you wish to discuss with me?"

"Why don’t you guess what I’m about to talk about?"

"I think it’s that economic aid?" Jody chuckled, "Please, kids, that’s a lot of money. When the United States does something like this, there’s a formal and painstaking process. It’s not as easy as giving a gift between friends. How about this, let’s set aside this issue, but personally, I can arrange to have two televisions from the embassy as a gift for your high school cabinet. You can bring them back to that country; they’ll surely appreciate your efforts."

"We’re discussing a very serious matter, aren’t we, Mr. Jody?"

"Maybe it doesn’t need to be that serious — it sounds almost like a joke, especially since you brought a cameraman from an entertainment show with you."

"It might be a joke to the United States, but it’s a disaster for this country."

Zoey bowed her head and after a long while, slowly raised it again, "In my personal information for the summer camp application, I wrote that I didn’t want to be the well-behaved, sensible lady in everyone else’s eyes. I didn’t want to be the sweet girl who smiles in the face of malice as if it doesn’t matter. From the first day of joining the camp, I wanted to change, but I was persuaded to wait for a better opportunity. Now I am certain, now is the opportunity I was waiting for."

"What are you talking about?"

"I’m not going to say any more, you American bastard! I’ll let you know how a model lady does bad things!" Zoey suddenly threw the coffee in her hand at Jody, and then violently smashed the coffee cup onto the ground, "I hope your wife sees this on TV and still praises dear mother as a lady worthy of emulation by all girls."

...

"Zoey caused a ruckus at the United States Embassy, and now she’s being detained there, waiting for her parents to take her back to her country. Already, over a dozen newspapers have called Lincoln High School, hoping to interview us." Tommy Hawk, with a cigarette in his mouth, looked toward Stephen.

Over the past few days, most of the time the spotlight was on others, while Tommy stayed low-key and calm in his office.

"Does that mean, you’ve achieved your goal of drawing attention with this drama, and now it’s my turn to take the stage?"

"Yes, get ready to go to Washington. I’ve directed those newspapers to interview you and Zoey in Washington. I’ve used up everything I can think of." Tommy exhaled and relaxed back into his chair, "Call your father, he should have a way to make sure this whole thing looks like a comedy."

"Tommy, we should rely on ourselves." Steve frowned slightly, "You’ve directed well, there’s no need for other powers."

"Don’t misunderstand, Stephen. I know your dad is a prominent figure, I never thought about using his power, only need his help to pass a message."

"What message?"

"Simply put, it’s to give a heads-up, to give them some time to buffer so they won’t be speechless when faced with your questioning, making it easier for them to put all the blame on the English."

Stephen picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number, "Dad, I hope you can watch the Neil Children’s Channel recently."

"I’ve seen it, even the newspapers featured that new program. You’re playing the Finance Minister, but it looks like you don’t get much screen time. Son, it seems that the roles of the Police Chief, the Tax Minister, the Minister of the Interior, and even the Defense Minister are more attractive," Stephen’s father teased from the other end of the phone with a chuckle.

"How is grandfather?"

"The usual, lying in the hospital, unconscious, kept alive by machines. Don’t be too sad, your grandfather has been like this for seven years now. He’s trapped on that bed, unable to move. Don’t take his passing too hard."

"I’m not sad because I’ve hardly ever seen my grandfather since I was a child. I’m just asking, I’m now eighteen, as the heir, am I qualified to embark on some adventures I want to pursue myself?" Stephen calmly asked into the receiver.

"That depends on what kind of adventure, Stephen."

"I’m going to Washington to attend the America Cooperation Organization’s weekly meeting as a representative of Saint Vincent. The Reagan Government has agreed to give Saint Vincent twenty million dollars in aid to exchange for the country’s sugar industry. But when the sugar industry was taken away, the United State didn’t pay. I’m going to the weekly meeting as a representative of Saint Vincent to denounce the United State and urge them to fulfill the contract."

"Wow, you’re much more outstanding than those cadets. This is what you should be doing. I was worried you’d be out there catching wild pigs and stealing wires like them, but now there’s no need to worry."

"Yes, I want to play house in Washington, and then I hope you can help me pass this message to the other side, so they won’t be speechless when the time comes."

"Playing house in Washington, is that your idea?"

"So, doesn’t it sound like something I could come up with?"

"Of course, you can come up with it. Very clear thinking, son. Politics is like that, the art of compromise, you’ve impressed me," his father complimented.

Stephen hung up the phone dispiritedly and looked at Tommy, "I just realized, that’s the first time he used the phrase ’impressed me’ to compliment me. Yet, it wasn’t even my idea."

"It has to be your idea because no one else can even enter the conference hall in Washington."