Seeing this, Maria Dillard shook her head, exhaled, changed her tone, looked at her cousin's back, and said softly: "I know what you think in your heart, you know mine, everything we do is for this community, everything here has accompanied us to this day, the light here and the darkness here we have witnessed with our own eyes." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

Cornell Stokes didn't move, but his shoulders, which shrugged from angry breathing, slowed down.

"Do you remember Mabel Mabel?"

"Nope! I remember Uncle Pete! Cornell Stokes spun around and glared angrily.

When Maria Dillard heard this name, which had long been buried in her memory, she couldn't help but be stunned, and then reacted, raising her palms with hatred, disgust and disbelief, and asked angrily, "Uncle Pete...... Hey! Cornell, what the hell are you thinking! ”

"I was supposed to be a musician!" Cornell Stokes shouted loudly, then shook his head, his eyes showed a look of regret, and his voice trembled slightly, "I could have walked out of this dark corner, and I would have been surrounded by prostitutes, marijuana, guns, and bullshit Mabel!" ”

"You can't say that about Mabel!"

"She's your mom, not mine!"

"Conor ......"

"Shut up!" Conor Stokes scolded, just as his cousin had forced him to look at him before, and he glared at Maria Dillard condescendingly, "Your mother paved the way for you to the light, but pushed me into the darkness, do you know, my hands...... I should have touched the piano keys in my hands, but it grabbed the pistol, the bullets, and it was stained with blood, Uncle Pete's blood! The blood of the only one who supported my dream! ”

Maria Dillard was so shocked by the sudden outburst of her cousin who had been raised as a mafia that she could only open her mouth, but the eloquent mouth that was at the end of the media could not say a word of justification.

She knew in her heart that everything that Cornell said was true, that her late mother, Mabel Stokes, had established everything in her and Cornell's childhood, including prostitutes, marijuana, and gun trafficking, was full of sin, and that she, as the daughter of Mabel's mother, had been plotted by her to go to the light, and even became a politician, a city councilor, and often appeared in the media, promoting all her political strategies for the rise, reconstruction, and revival of Harlem, with gentle words and a smile on her face. It's as if she's the embodiment of light in Harlem.

Her cousin, Cornell Stokes, was not so lucky, even though he had a very good musical talent, and when he played the piano, he would be inspired to create a great piece of music, and he was definitely a musician's material.

However, his dream could not be realized, and he could only go out on the streets under the domineering guidance of Mabel's mother, mingling with the gangsters, doing all kinds of messy things that would not achieve anything.

Maybe one day he'll be an important part of the gang and continue what Mabel's mom did, and maybe he'll have a child who he'll want to carry on his unfulfilled wish to become a musician, even if his child would prefer to be like him.

But Mabel's mother would never have imagined that the father who was most likely to become a big man in the underworld became a law-abiding citizen after going to prison once, and Connell, who was once even a little cowardly, became the most prestigious boss in Harlem, Dad has changed, and Cornell has also changed, but Connell still can't let go, can't let go of the blood he was forced to stain his hands, and can't let go of being forced to kill the only uncle Pete who was really good to him.

Maria Dillard closed her mouth, sighed, reached out and grabbed her cousin's hand, which was stained with blood, and sighed, "Cornell, perhaps...... It was a mistake for you to go down this path today. ”

Cornell Stokes laughed dismissively, how can even a mistake be corrected? All this was already predestined.

After listening to Maria Dilardwin's voice, her voice became firm again, and she wiped the blood on Cornell's palm with a handkerchief, and said: "But we have come to this point and there is no possibility of going back, for the sake of Harlem, for our ideals, we can only continue to walk, so ...... Cornell, you have to do it! Get rid of Domingo's gang and get out of Harlem! ”

Cornell gritted his teeth when he heard this, closed his eyes, he didn't like these things, but his dislike doesn't mean he won't do it, he has done too many things he doesn't like over the years, and now even if he doesn't want to do it anymore, it's impossible, he is no longer just himself, he also represents the underground forces of Harlem, and even the cousin in front of him, who represents the hope of Harlem's rise, this politician!

"Damn it!" He yelled, and wrestled Maria Dillard's palm away.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Maria Dillard's face.

She glanced at the waiter who walked in at the door, smiled slightly, and patted Cornell's arm gently.

"Come on, have a drink, at least you don't need to worry about these things now."

She walked over to the bottle that the waiter had placed on the table, poured two glasses, and raised her eyebrows slightly to glance at the stout waiter, and his ill-fitting waiter's costume, which looked a little funny, but made it even stronger.

"I haven't seen you." She said accurately, and seemed to be sure of her memory.

"Ma'am, I'm in the back kitchen." Luke Cage nodded, his face flat, and he turned to leave.

"Hey! Don't go, turn around. Maria Dillard commanded.

The voice also attracted Conor Stokes, who had calmed down again after venting.

"Look at him, how's that?" Maria Sindra asked, looking at him.

"Whatever." Cornell waved casually.

"Hmm." Maria Dillard nodded, turned to Luke Cage and said, "Handsome guy, you don't have to wash dishes in the kitchen in the future, I have a better way out......"

At this moment, a burst of shouting and scolding suddenly came, Cornell Stokes frowned, and two black men came out of the entrance of the room, and carried a struggling black woman in a red dress in, and one of them said to him as soon as he entered: "Water viper, this woman is hiding outside to record." ”