America's King of Poetry

Chapter 27 Prologue

Regarding Arthur's words, Balmond shook his head with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Indeed, how can there be a gang that does not pump money, but pays subsidies instead?Balmond thinks that this is a joke made by Arthur to win him over, which means that as long as you are willing to cooperate with the Luciano family, you are willing to give you some money.It's just that a joke is just a joke. When we really cooperate, we should take a little bit of water and lower the price a little, so as to give Balmond more profit margins.

Balmond doesn't think the Luciano family is charitable.

The Luciano family is indeed not charitable, but Arthur's thinking is different from any boss.He comes from the 21st century and has seen many business methods.He has seen too much of this business strategy of encroaching on market share through subsidies, waiting until most of the market is monopolized, and then cutting leeks.

Arthur felt that he could seize this opportunity and use the price war to gradually crush the Gandolfield family's drug business in New York and affect their main source of income.

Of course, the drug market is not a legal market operation, and price wars will definitely lead to violent conflicts. At that time, Abramo, who is well prepared, can unite with the Luciano family and work step by step. Starting from the drug market, they will launch an all-out war against the Gandolfield family and eradicate this biggest opponent.

This conversation with Balmond is just the beginning of the war.

Bamond didn't know that he had been involved in a huge vortex.He just regarded Arthur as an alternative, the lottery, and scratched it to see if he could win.Winning the lottery is of course the best, and there is no loss for him if he doesn't win the lottery.

As for his beating up the boss at Cafe 55, of course it was written off.Arthur asked Carlos and Flo to come out, hoping that Balmond would take care of them in the future.Among them, Carlos was an errand boy of one of the Balmond gangs, helping with odd jobs, running errands to deliver a letter, and occasionally doing drug delivery.

Balmond patted Carlos on the shoulder, and said, "It's your family's luck to meet Arthur. Do your best in the future and don't be so timid."

Carlos nodded submissively, and looked at Arthur with a little more reverence.He is timid by nature, and he joins the gang because he is lazy and makes a living, so he can be less bullied and bully others by the way.He didn't have the guts to ask him to kill people and steal goods. He was beating drums in his heart for Balmond's care, and he didn't know how to respond, so he didn't speak at all.

Balmond didn't really take the Carlos family seriously, sold Arthur a favor, and left with two bodyguards.

Flo's mother came out of the room with the two children and grabbed Arthur's hand in gratitude.In addition to facing the pressure of life, the immigrants in these slums are also threatened by the invasion of evil forces, and their living environment is harsh.But even so, they still have to leave their homeland and come to the United States and come to New York. Except for some who are deceived, there is only one reason for immigrating, that is, their hometowns are more impoverished and the living environment is even worse.

"Many families in our rural areas have gone bankrupt, and the price of corn has been falling. The more we plant, the more the price will drop, and the losses will be even greater. Because the corn from the Americans has come in, corn is everywhere, and the manufacturers have kept the purchase price very low..."

Flo's mother talks about why she left Mexico and came to the United States.Originally, the daughter worked in the United States, and the elderly could still live in the countryside. As a result, the North American Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, and American agricultural products began to be dumped to Mexico, causing the price of corn to plummet and many farmers to go bankrupt.They either go to the city to work, or cross the US-Mexico border to the United States to seek food, or switch to other cash crops.

The so-called other crops are cannabis.

From 1994 onwards, Mexico's drug problem will become more and more serious until it is completely unstoppable.

There is only one root cause, and that is poverty.

Arthur has some understanding of this period of history, and he deeply sympathizes with the Mexican people, who are too far away from God and too close to the United States.All Arthur could do was help the poor Mexican family.He came here today to threaten Flo, but in the end he became a person respected by Flo's family.

When parting, Flo and his mother sent Arthur off with a solemn Catholic curtsy to show respect for him.Carlos went downstairs to send Arthur away from the block, and his mother told him, "Don't let those miscellaneous people bump into our distinguished guests." Carlos nodded repeatedly, respecting Arthur all the way.

Arthur understood that when your friends show you respect, you also show them favor.

Carlos escorted Arthur to the door of No. 55 coffee shop to pick up the motorcycle. Arthur looked in through the glass door of the coffee shop and saw the owner of the coffee shop looking out. As soon as his eyes touched Arthur, he immediately hid inside the counter.

Arthur rolled his eyes, and brought Carlos into the coffee shop together. The door opened with a "jingle bell", and the boss was scared out of his wits.He had obviously called Balmond and asked Balmond to teach this guy a lesson, but Arthur appeared unscathed.The boss was afraid that Arthur would ruin his shop, so he could only come out of the counter trembling, at a loss, and said incoherently: "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, what do you want to drink, or do you want money? Or, oh, who is that, ah..."

The boss's face was covered with gauze, and it hurts when he talked about the wound, and he looked ridiculous with his teeth bared.

Seeing this boss, Arthur couldn't help but think of Schmidt. When he opened a store in a New York neighborhood, facing all kinds of black and white forces, the operators were cautious, and sometimes some of their performance seemed ridiculous and pathetic.Arthur did not embarrass him, but patted him on the shoulder and introduced Carlos to him, "I let you lose one waitress, and I will give you back one waiter, so that he can do more and heavier work."

Carlos looked at a loss, how did he let me work in the cafe?Arthur pulled Carlos over and said in a low voice, "Even if you're on the street, you still need a job to subsidize your family. At least you don't ask your sister for money. Also, you can get a lot of news in the cafe. Be smart, kid."

After speaking, Arthur patted Carlos on the face, and Carlos nodded repeatedly. This guy who is about his age, maybe even younger, speaks and acts like a magic that can be admired.The gap between people is really too big.So Carlos stayed at Cafe 55 as a part-time job, and at the same time became Arthur's eyes and ears in Jackson Heights.

Originally, I came to Jackson Heights today just to meet Flo's family, but I didn't expect to have unexpected gains.

Arthur stepped out of the cafe, stepped on the motorcycle, and thought to himself, Abramo said that drugs and gambling were the mainstay of the Gandolfield family's economy. He tried to cripple the drug leg in two months!

Accompanied by the roar of the motorcycle engine, Arthur left Jackson Heights, and he wanted to go back to St. James Cathedral.

……

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon before returning to St. James' Cathedral. It was near dusk, and the sun had already set to the west, below the cross.The shadow of the church was stretched very long, and the shadow of the cross became slender. There were a few ravens staying on the dome of the church. The red sunset in the sky reflected the green bell tower and red walls of the church. It felt like a shadow shrouded the church, looking solemn and solemn.

St. James's Cathedral is not a particularly huge and magnificent building. Compared with the famous Cologne Cathedral, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Notre Dame Cathedral, St. James's is inferior in size, area and ornate decoration.But under the rendering of sunset colors, it still shows a bit of magnificent beauty.

Arthur parked his motorcycle where he had parked it in the morning, under a flagpole with the Vatican flag on it.The door of the church was closed, and the opening time passed. Arthur walked around the entire cathedral, and did not see the haggard old priest again.From the main entrance, he circled back to the main entrance and looked up at the dome of the church.

The dome is not big, but small. This is a Catholic church with a Baroque style, but the overall design is biased towards the simplicity of Protestantism. The combination of red and green is very American.The ravens had flown away, and the sun was still sinking, down from the cross onto the mezzanine.

When Arthur was about to leave, a loud bell sounded from above. Arthur looked at his watch, it was not the hour.At this time, the main door of the church creaked open, and a haggard face appeared in the shadow behind the door—it was the old priest Arthur had seen in the morning.

He was wearing a black robe, looking out with those dull eyes, Arthur felt that he was looking at himself, but also felt that he was not looking at himself.He didn't even know if those eyes could see.Arthur still walked forward, and when he got close to the old priest, he realized that the old priest's eyes were white, without eyeballs, and he was blind.

Arthur and a blind man looked at each other for a while, and said, "Can I go in?"

The old priest's voice seemed to come from the last century, and he replied: "Of course, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Wait for me to do?"

The old priest did not answer, but opened the door to welcome Arthur in.

(End of this chapter)