America 1982

"My dear friend: When you read this letter, you should also have received the little gift that your lovely child, the kindest little angel in the world, forwarded to you for me."

"Maybe you will be wondering, is this guy Jeff LaVine drunk and giving the wrong gift? No one among friends would use this kind of gift to maintain friendship, not to mention, it is still passed on to children. I’m going to talk to him about this issue in person tomorrow.”

"In fact, I did something more courageous than drunkenly giving the wrong gift, and I ran as one of the candidates in the special election in my district."

"The reason for running is that I believe that the beautiful 18th District needs to be more racially diverse. The purpose of this gift is to hope that all white residents will use Trojan to show their tolerance for racial diversity. In this district, give More living space for Cubans and black people.”

"The greatness of America lies in love and tolerance, your most loyal friend in this area: Jeff LaVine."

A somewhat cramped utility room at the after-school children's activity venue provided by the Catholic Church in Miami's 18th Ward was temporarily used as campaign manager Martin's office.

At this moment, Martin took the letter written to the parents of the child in Jeff's name from Tommy. After reading it carefully, he thought for a few minutes and then said to Tommy with a sudden realization:

"Boss, I understand what you are thinking. You are going to make Jeff offend all white people, make him seem to be rejected by the white group, and win the sympathy of Cubans and black people with an image of being pitiful and tolerant of other groups. After all, In his letter, he called on these white people to use Torjan more to prevent unwanted pregnancies, so that Cuban immigrants and black people can have more children, right?"

"Make a hundred copies of this letter." Tommy did not answer Martin's guess, but said to Martin seriously: "Write it all by hand. You can't ask anyone else to help you. After Jeff and the children end today's assembly It has to be done before, and then when those little guys go home, let them take it back to their parents.”

After finishing speaking, he handed Martin several ball pens and a stack of letter paper: "After you finish copying, remember to burn the originals I wrote."

"Let everyone believe that it was Jeff who wrote it, right? I understand." Martin was about to refuse, but he saw Tommy take out fifty dollars from his wallet and hand it to him: "Fifty cents a letter, more work, more reward. "

Martin asked doubtfully: "But... there are only more than seventy children, who should the rest of the extra letters be sent to?"

"There is a missionary children's hospital in the next street. Go to the inpatient area and send a letter to the children who are hospitalized due to illness." Tommy said with a casual expression: "Also, I don't want everyone to think that this letter was written by Jeff. You wrote it, and when someone comes to your door, you have to admit that you drafted the letter yourself."

After Tommy finished speaking, Martin, whose brain was shut down by the operation of delivering letters to children in the children's hospital, turned around and walked to the side:

"Also, after you finish writing, remember to put them in separate envelopes, and attach a Torjan to the envelope. Now I'm going to see how Jeff behaves in front of children."

Martin looked at the thick stack of letter paper and made up his mind not to go to the children's hospital to deliver the letter, lest he be chased by the angry accompanying parents. As he was picking up a pen to write a letter, he saw Paige appear at the door with her arms folded, her face blank. stared at him.

"That's great, Mr. Page. Are you watching me at the door like a fucking prison guard?" Martin scratched his head frantically, then lay down on the simple table and began to copy: "I won't escape from prison, don't worry. .”

Page looked at Martin's movements and said, "No, Tommy asked me to tell you while you are writing this letter what you need to pay attention to after being taken to the police station by the police."

"What?" Martin raised his head after hearing what Page said, and asked in confusion: "Why the hell did the police want to trouble me, just because I stole ten boxes of ten boxes worth seven dollars in Costco supermarket?" A piece of Trojan?"

"Did you steal those?" Page was slightly startled.

Martin confidently said to Page: "What do you think? The boss didn't give me the fucking money to pay the bill, but don't worry, fortunately, the supermarket will never suspect that black people will steal that thing. They think that black people are sleeping when they go to bed." Never use that stuff.”

"There are some discrepancies with the boss's instructions, but it's not a big problem. Now listen carefully." Page said to Martin.

Martin felt that Page was affecting the speed at which he made money, and his tone was a little impatient: "What are you listening to? A retired white policeman who shot a black man in a racist manner taught me how to be a fish in water in the police station? I am a black man, and black people can cope with it in the police station. The police have their own ways, please, I'm working, I'm not slacking off."

"Listen to what Tommy asked me to convey to you. As a campaign manager in the police station, how should you help increase the visibility of the people you serve, and how to maximize the benefits if you frame potential opponents," Page said.

Martin frowned and looked puzzled: "Why doesn't the boss tell me in person?"

Page showed the electric shock device on his waist: "Because the effect of this teaching method is more intuitive."

Tommy walked to the church activity room and watched Jeff holding a children's version of the Bible on the stage and loudly telling the story of Adam and Eve who were expelled from the Garden of Eden by God because of their mistakes. Sixty or seventy children were sitting around him. around, eating snacks or candies that Jeff provided to them for free.

"This story tells us that if you don't listen to God, you will be punished. God is like a teacher. He allows us to understand all the truths in the world. However, Adam and Eve's behavior of taking apples that do not belong to them is obviously very, very wrong. , God punished Adam and Eve and expelled them from the Garden of Eden. The consequence was that they forever lost the opportunity to live in such a beautiful home. Therefore, children, we cannot be like them and take other people's things as our own. , be a good boy and only do the right things." After Jeff finished telling the story of the Garden of Eden, he looked at the children and gave his understanding of the story.

Tommy stood in the corner, quietly listening to Jeff tell an entire story about the Garden of Eden, and then slowly exhaled.

Jeff's eloquence was a little bad, and he could only read out the contents of the book, which was dry and not vivid at all, but the last sentence reminded Tommy of his childhood. His mother would tell herself and Tony every night before going to bed. Most of the stories were biblical stories, because she was a devout Catholic. At the end of each story, she would tell him and Tony to do the right thing, just like Jeff.

"Jeff ruined this sentence, he is not suitable to be a woman." Tommy finally gave such an evaluation in his heart.

A little white boy who looked about seven or eight years old swallowed the food in his mouth, and suddenly asked Jeff a question in a puzzled tone: "Why did God only drive Adam and Eve out of their home, but not Dare you teach the real bad guy a lesson, the bad snake that tricked Adam and Eve into eating the apple? Isn't it the real bad guy?"

Seeing Jeff's face immediately become stunned, Tommy realized that his brain was now in a mess. This was a bad sign, because if children saw his reaction, they would ask more questions to get answers. In other words, it’s not just children, it’s the innate aggression of people.

"The book says that God created all things, but that bad snake was also created by God, just like Adam and Eve. So why did God create a bad snake?"

"Why did God create so many pythons in Florida? My dad said that there were more pythons in the Everglades than people. He also said that he saw a python crawl into a neighbor's house and eat the neighbor's dog. .”

"After Adam and Eve ate the apples, they realized that they were not wearing any clothes. Why did God let Adam and Eve live in His Garden of Eden for so long without clothes? Did He invite other friends to his home as guests and trick them into taking off their clothes?"

"I know, he is a pervert. It was mentioned in an episode of the cartoon "Chief Bresta" that there is a bad guy who likes to trick children into going to his house. Is God a bad guy who likes to trick children? Who is he and the bad snake? Even worse?"

"The snake is not a bad guy! The snake said that after Adam and Eve eat the apple, they will have wisdom and distinguish good from evil. God is bad. He hopes that Adam and Eve will always be two idiots who can't even put on clothes!"

"Uncle Jeff is the idiot. He can only read stories and do experiments with solid wood balls and wooden boards! He never gives an answer every time he asks a question!"

Sure enough, after the first child asked the question, more children joined the battle group and began to ask all kinds of weird questions questioning God's behavior, looking at Jeff who was caught off guard with twinkling eyes.

Jeff probably didn’t expect that he would cause such an uproar just by telling an ordinary story about Paradise Lost. The children’s questions would soon overwhelm him like a tide. What’s worse, these children would soon regard God as God. A copper smelter who knew what he was doing!

It was his own fault. As a believer, he should help these little guys resolve their doubts on behalf of God, but he didn't know what to say to these little guys who were eager for knowledge. He could only look at the other person handing out candy for help. Two school worker friends.

The two school guards gave Jeff a helpless look. After all, Jeff was the smartest of the three of them.

Jeff opened his mouth and opened the children's Bible book, but there were no answers to the questions raised by these little devils.

"Because God wants them to distinguish good from evil through their own eyes, and to understand how to take things to keep out the cold through their own bodies experiencing cold, rather than through other people's mouths. God can give life, but wisdom needs to be acquired by oneself through learning." Tommy approached the children with a smile, and spoke to help Jeff as he walked, attracting all the children's attention to himself. He gently touched the head of the little boy who had just asked a question with his hand, then lowered his body and squatted on the other side. before:

"Just like I'm telling you right now, the water in Miami's Treasure Beach is bottomless, and there's also the Kraken Kraken hidden in it. He comes out every day to drag the yacht into the sea with his tentacles, and then opens his mouth to eat it. Do you believe it? ?”

Tommy made a gesture of showing his teeth and claws, which made the little guys laugh out loud. A little girl said next to him: "That's weird, there is no Kraken on Treasure Beach, and the water is very shallow."

A group of children also nodded in agreement.

"Why do you think there is no Kraken? Why do you think the sea water is very shallow?" Tommy looked at the little girl with encouragement in his eyes.

The little girl said to Tommy: "Because the school had previously organized us to go to Treasure Beach for a parent-child camping activity. We stayed at Treasure Beach for a day and a night. No matter day or night, we did not see Kraken surface."

"May I have your name?"

"Emily."

"Very good, Emily, think about it, do I look like that bad snake just now?" Tommy looked at the little girl with gentle eyes: "If you haven't seen Treasure Beach in person, you might think I Take it seriously, right? After all, how could an adult be willing to deceive a cute little girl like you? Then think about it now, why didn’t God just let Adam and Eve eat apples?”

The little girl named Emily nodded as if she understood. Under Tommy's eyes of encouragement and praise, she said hesitantly: "So, God wants us to see it in person, so that we can know whether the bad snake is a bad snake." lie?"

"Very Good! That's a very correct answer!" Tommy exclaimed with an exaggerated expression.

The little girl laughed happily.

The Bible is a bad religious book with countless logical loopholes. Later generations continue to wipe the butt of the predecessors. The real reason why God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden is recorded in the original text of the Bible: People can distinguish between good and evil, just like us. I am afraid that if they raise their hands, they will also take the fruit of life and eat it to live forever.

In other words, God is worried that they have already possessed wisdom after eating the fruit of wisdom. If they eat the fruit of life and gain eternal life under the temptation of Satan, they will be no different from Himself who created them. He created human beings. He hopes that humans will worship him, not that he wants humans to become him.

Through this incident, God tried to make Adam and Eve understand that they had to learn to think independently. This excuse was completely improvised by Tommy. It had nothing to do with God's real thoughts. It was just to help God, or to help Jay. My husband is just wiping his butt.

Just like today's clergy, they find various reasons that sound gentler and more compassionate to beautify the dark history before God. It is not for God. After all, if it is really for God, they should tell the believers straightforwardly, God likes his followers to be naked idiots forever.

Seeing that the children thought they had the answer, Tommy immediately struck while the iron was hot and said: "So, I want you to understand that dear Uncle Jeff is definitely not a fool. He wants you to learn to think independently. Do you understand?"

"When Chief Bresta is fighting criminals, he doesn't always have to ask his uncle before he understands how to catch the criminal. He must have the wisdom and courage to face difficulties alone. I think you are very, very rude. , Uncle Jeff and his friends prepare cookies and candies for you every day, and tell you beautiful stories. Instead of thanking him, you question him and ridicule him. Think about it, hey, you little guy, what if You bring delicious candies to your good friends every day, but your good friends eat the candies you bring, but laugh at you for dressing like a rabbit with a shaved buttocks today, what will you do?"

"I...I might...pretend that nothing happened, and then use candy wrappers to pack the poop mixed with powdered sugar the next day, pretending to be soft candy and give it to them to continue tasting." The little boy who was pointed out by Tommy The boy seriously thought of a way to teach those guys who dared to laugh at him.

This method of revenge is fucking Florida, Tommy thought to himself.

But he still had a smile on his face: "What should you do if you don't want dear Uncle Jeff to prepare a fudge made of poop for each of you tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Raven."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jeff."

The children apologized to Jeff.

Jeff responded in a hurry: "It's okay, kids, I promise I will never make poop gummies. I will continue to bring you candies tomorrow."

"Uncle Jeff has forgiven you, but he wants you to do him a small favor, and that is to bring your parents a small gift that he carefully prepared." After Tommy saw the children apologizing, he stood up and faced Walking towards the original corner: "When you go home, someone will give you the gift."

"I...when did I..." Jeff was a little surprised when he heard Tommy say that he had prepared gifts for the parents of these children.

Tommy stood in the corner and turned to look at Jeff, who was surrounded by children: "It's Martin. Your campaign manager Martin used his own money to help you thoughtfully prepare gifts for their parents. Let's continue with the next story. , Jeff.”

It’s too late, so I won’t divide it into chapters. Nearly 5,000 words~ divided into two chapters seems too small~