At Jeff's friend Zach's house, Tommy sits at the dining table and counts the bills, counts them, and puts his 100 dollars back in his wallet.

The rest of the change added up to about 400 yuan, and Tommy registered the name of each donor and the amount of donations in his notebook, and after making sure that there was no problem with the accounts, he raised his head and moved his cervical spine.

Such contributions are subject to the establishment of a book of accounts for review and investigation by the campaign committee, and it is important to ensure that every amount of money is used for the candidates' campaign expenses.

Jeff was always walking around anxiously, and when he saw Tommy stop, he immediately asked, "Are we going to the police station to bring Martin back?" I...... You didn't say I did what you told me to do, Martin was going to be taken away by the police too, Tommy. ”

"There's no hurry, it's only four hours to take away." Tommy picked up the stack of bills and looked at Jeff, "Don't you want to know how many donations you received from those neighbors?" Four hundred and thirty-seven pieces and seventy-five cents. ”

Jeff was stunned for a moment, and then said with some excitement: "Wow, that's a lot of money, everyone is willing to come up with so much money to support me?" I'll win, right, Tommy? ”

More than 400 yuan, in fact, strictly speaking, it is not much compared to Jeff's income, that is, his income in a week and a half or a week, but the amount is not important, and the most important thing is that for the first time in his life, Jeff LaVine has received so much encouragement, support and trust from so many people, the neighbors know that he may not have a chance, but they are all like Tommy, encouraging him to give it a try.

Tommy closed the ledger, lowered his head and lit a cigarette, and said disapprovingly:

"In 1860, all of Lincoln's expenses for the presidency were only $100,000 combined, but now, just getting a seat in the House of Representatives with a few hundred seats costs about $300,000, and it's so cheap in a poor place like Florida, what makes you think you can win by getting more than $400 from your neighbors on three streets? On average, that's $3.6 each of those parents, and even if you want to have enough money to support you to the final showdown, it means you need to find another 100,000 neighbors who are willing to donate $3.6 to you. ”

Jeff was dumbfounded by Tommy's numbers.

100,000 people, and the entire 18th district is less than 200,000, and meeting Tommy's conditions means that more than half of the population of this district is willing to trust him as well as those neighbors who have known each other for many years, and he will have a chance to raise 300,000 if he gives him $3 each.

"I can't do it, Tommy, no one can make 100,000 people like it, unless it's Elvis, or the Blacksmiths of the Sky." Jeff recovered from his shock and looked at Tommy, "Why don't we give everyone the money back, I'm ...... And if there are really so many people who support me, I promise to give free maintenance of pipes to the families who donate if I am elected, 100,000 people, repair one a day, how many months will I have to repair? Do the math for me, I'm ...... Math is not very good. ”

"About two hundred and seventy years, from this year to your death at the age of eighty-one, you can still leave two hundred and twenty years of free work, let your four children inherit, each of them inherit an average of fifty-five years of work, according to the fact that they start to pay your debts from the age of eighteen, everyone must work without any vacation until the age of seventy-three, to complete it all." Tommy looked at Jeff with a smile.

Jeff stared at Tommy, "You're kidding, aren't you?" ”

Seeing that Tommy didn't respond, Jeff frantically walked to the table and picked up the ledger: "I don't like to be untrustworthy, I promised to give donors free repairs to the pipes if I am elected, but I can't let my son pay off the debt for me, the only way is for me to quit, I don't want my children to be like me, dealing with the smelly pipes every day, and to repay their father's promises, no pay." ”

"Not too many people will be willing to donate money to you, and your small donations are almost all that, why? It's very simple, these people are your neighbors, neighbors, and you have known you for many years, watching you grow from a little child who lost his father and was taken care of by the neighborhood church, and now he has grown up to be a good man who helps the church and the neighborhood take care of other children, and they are willing to give you some money to encourage you, and the kindness they show to you does not mean that the 200,000 people in this district who don't know you should follow suit, so the next focus is on those companies, social organizations, churches and so on that are active in the district, in short, whoever has money, we will raise money for him. Tommy put the money away and got up.

"The next most important thing is not to go to the police station and get Martin out, he has been taken away for four hours." Jeff remembered Martin, who had been taken away by the police, and urged Tommy, "He'...... I don't know why you're asking Martin to lie, and you want me to act with him in front of everyone, it doesn't feel good to lie. ”

"Wait." Tommy sat down on the couch, turned on the TV, and tuned into the local TV news channel: "We'll visit him when all four local TV stations have published Martin's stupid social news, especially the BT TV network that black people like to watch...... Oh~ Look, it's Martin's news, finally waiting for you. ”

When Jeff heard Tommy's words, he also looked at the TV, and saw that the TV's hourly news program was playing local news, and the picture showed the scene that happened in the school parking lot in the morning, Martin stood on the roof of the car, and shouted that Jeff sent a letter to the parents, and the host looked at the camera:

"Just the second day of the special election in the district, there was a campaign storm, the registered candidate Jeff LaVine's campaign manager Martin Hart, that is, the black man standing on the roof of the car shouting, took the initiative to break the news of Jeff's bribery to the gathered people, and he took the initiative to call the police, the funny thing is that the police arrived at the scene, all the voters on the scene did not think that Jeff bribed the election, Jeff also said that he had no knowledge of the bribery, according to him, Martin Hart only met him yesterday, after learning that he was running, offered to be his campaign manager, and the people present were willing to prove that Jeff was framed, and they suspected that it was likely that other candidates instructed Martin to frame Jeff, but Martin insisted that everything was instructed by Jeff, the police said that because he was suspected of defaming others, Martin was taken back to the police station for interrogation, and the latest news that this station has learned from the police is that the handwriting on the so-called Jeff LaVine handwritten letter matches Martin Hart's handwriting, which can prove that Martin Hart lied, And Martin Hart was seen trailing Jeff LaVine into a Costco supermarket yesterday, and the supermarket clerk also said that ten boxes of ten Torjan finger sleeves worth a total of seven dollars were missing. ”

After the presenter introduced the news, he shook his head and looked at the camera: "Martin Hart, I can trust you to be the campaign manager, but I don't quite believe you serve Jeff LaVine. ”

After reading the news, Tommy said to Jeff: "Tomorrow there will be a local newspaper that will continue to publish Martin as a joke, guess what the three black candidates are feeling at this time?" ”

Jeff shook his head: "What does this have to do with them?" ”

"The first to be suspected of sending Martin to frame you are the three of them, the blacks in this district only make up 18% of the total population, these three blacks are typical escorts, even if the three of them become one person and get the votes of all blacks, there is no chance in this district." Tommy extinguished his cigarette, picked up a pack of potato chips on the coffee table, and took out a slice and sent it to his mouth:

"Therefore, the votes of blacks are their trade goods, and the more black supporters they have, the more rewards they can get when they negotiate cooperation with other more powerful candidates in the later stage, and whoever gets the most black support will get better resources in the party, such as not being able to win a seat in the House of Representatives, but the elected person can nominate him to represent his party in the Florida legislature in return."

"But they didn't frame me, it's more like you framed me, Tommy." Jeff frowned and said to Tommy, "Or...... I framed myself myself. ”

Tommy ignored Jeff's words and continued: "Martin behaves too much like an executor who has been instructed to deliberately frame you, the three black candidates will not miss this opportunity, they all know that they have absolutely not done this, so they will be suspicious of the other two opponents, and even splash this dirty water on each other's heads as much as possible, because if in the election, find some stains on the other side and quickly magnify, it will obviously be very helpful for them to win over black supporters, that is, all three black people will go to Martin, Hoping to get the so-called truth, they will observe Martin's follow-up actions, and maybe even find someone to contact him, and do not hesitate to give him an advantage in exchange for him to attack his other two opponents on their behalf. ”

"Why? Isn't it good for everyone to play fair? Why do you want those three blacks to fight each other? Jeff listened with a blank expression: "The truth is that none of the three of them have ever touched Martin." ”

"Nobody wants to believe this truth, and even if Martin says it, the blacks won't believe it, because they need another truth, and that is that it has to be made by the opponent to Martin." Tommy looked at Jeff, "Don't worry, Martin won't frame anyone. ”

Jeff was relieved to hear Tommy's assurance.

"Martin won't name anyone, he's going to be charged with everything on his own, including stealing Trojan and defaming you, and you're going to have to stand up and forgive him, issue a letter of understanding, not hold him legally accountable, and, most importantly, keep hiring him as your campaign manager in the name of the heavy election work." Tommy turned and looked at Jeff.

Jeff had tried to keep up with Tommy's train of thought, but unfortunately he couldn't figure out why Tommy was going around and doing something like this: "I don't understand, Martin was a campaign manager before, and you got it so complicated and it didn't seem to change, why you did all this." ”

"Martin has always refused to tell the mastermind behind that non-existent thing, and the three black candidates have always enjoyed that kind of questioning, and because they believe they haven't done it, they will try to attack the other two with this kind of thing, because Martin would rather risk going to prison for defamation than say who is behind it, so everyone thinks Martin is a very loyal subordinate to that person." Tommy said to Jeff:

"He refuses to betray that person, even if that person doesn't vouch for him to come out, he doesn't confess to the other party, even if you personally rush over and issue a letter of understanding to forgive him, he won't confess to the other party, but he can be moved by your kindness and offer to hope that he can continue to serve as your campaign manager, so he will serve you wholeheartedly next, and it will also be convenient for him to accompany you to a white man to set foot in the black area to win support, and the black people who have watched this scene from beginning to end will feel that Martin is not wrong, he was loyal to the man behind the scenes, You'd rather be accused than keep that person's name, but if you choose to forgive him, the black man will understand why Martin would take you as a white man to the black community to canvass votes, because Martin is a black man who has the virtue of loyalty, and Martin is repaying you for his kindness, and you are a white man who repays the grievances of the black man with virtue. ”

"Why should I go to the black quarter...... Also, can we go pick up Martin now? Jeff had completely given up thinking and asked Tommy.

Tommy shook his head: "No, you have to go to Costco first, and as Martin's friend, you will compensate him for the loss of the supermarket, in exchange for the supermarket's letter of understanding to Martin, in the presence of the cameras and reporters." ”

……

Martin sat in the Miami Police Department's Upper East District Interrogation Room, his eyes nervously watching through the open blinds as the officers in the Miami Police Department's distinctive blue uniform navigated the hallways.

He had been sitting in the police station for seven hours, and in what he considered the most dangerous police station.

There are two separate police departments in Miami, one is the Miami Police Department that brought him back at the moment, referred to as MPD, and the uniforms of the officers are blue, and the other is the Miami-Dade County Police Department, referred to as MDPD, and the uniforms of the officers are brown.

Martin didn't know the significance of the existence of two police stations in this hellish place in Miami, but he knew one thing, it was the MPD that brought him back at this moment in Miami, which was notorious for being unfriendly to blacks, and what he did best was shooting unarmed black people, and then framing the dead for being a deadly threat to the police.

Little Haiti in North Miami and Liberty City, two major black neighborhoods, have never been afraid of MDPD's brown-uniformed police officers handling cases, because the other party's law enforcement methods are relatively gentle, but black people in both communities are trembling against MPD.

A year before he went to Los Angeles, there was a big scene in the Miami Police Department in order to catch two black car thieves in Little Haiti, the full-time SWAT team, the helicopter team, and the anti-gang task force.

Two car thieves who just stole a second-hand Ford Mercury worth up to 700 yuan were sniped by three snipers from the three departments of MPD, and died worse than President Kennedy.

As suspicious as the car thief, it was an unlucky black drug dealer in Little Haiti that day, who thought that the police were coming to arrest him, and consciously had no way out, so he took the initiative to pull out a gun and prepare to kill a bloody road, so the black people of Little Haiti witnessed how the heavy fire of the police made a living person quickly turn into a puddle of debris in more than ten seconds.

I don't know if MPD is to stimulate the black people of Little Haiti, most of the police in the operation that day are black, especially the policemen who shot them, they are all black, and those black people have won the police award for killing their compatriots, which makes many black people in Little Haiti very dissatisfied with the black police of MPD, but they have no choice but to pray that it is best not to provoke MPD when they are begging for a living, because they kill black people and never be soft.

Just as Martin was sitting to pass the time, Fitz, the old policeman who brought him back, pushed open the door and walked in from the outside, holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, and sat down across the interrogation table to look at Martin: "Are you sure you don't call the lawyer, or your family, or the person who instructed you to frame Jeff to take you away?" The items you stole are worth seven dollars, which is not a felony, and the bail is very low, and if you go out and make up the arrears to the supermarket as soon as possible and apologize, it should be easy to get a letter of understanding from the other party, but if you stay here and enjoy the free air conditioning at the police station, Costco and Jeff arrange a lawyer to file a lawsuit for your apology and defamation during this time, you will be in big trouble. ”

"I don't have much to say, officer, it's Jeff who instructed me to steal and then wrote to his neighbors." Martin took a deep breath and continued: "Jeff is actually very sinister, all you see is his disguise, and who knows his true face better than me, the campaign manager?" I know him better than his wife, and he's the real mastermind behind it all. ”

"The purpose of all this is to offend all the neighbors who have known him for many years? In exchange for the support of blacks and Cubans? Fitz took a sip of coffee and looked at Martin dissatisfied: "You'd better name the person who really instructed you to frame Jeff, and confess everything, so as to gain Jeff's forgiveness for you to frame him, and I personally wonder which black candidate came up with such a stupid* frame-up method, they should frame those candidates who have a better chance of being elected, instead of ...... Frame a Jeff whose chances of winning are infinitely close to zero. ”

Martin scratched his face, embarrassedly avoiding Fitz's gaze: "I got the wrong name, no...... I mean, I didn't expect Jeff's approval rating to be zero. ”

"So, someone is telling you right? You were supposed to frame another person, but for some unknown reason, the victim turned into poor Jeff. Fitz had a look I had guessed: "I don't care about politics, but if you want to gain Jeff's understanding, you have to tell the truth and tell who made you do all this." ”

"Jeff LaVine instructed me, he framed himself to gain sympathy." Martin was silent for a moment, looked at Fitz and said seriously.

"If he had that kind of mind, he wouldn't have the naïve idea of going to Washington and telling all Americans that he's a fool." Fitz accentuated his tone: "And you, if you insist on continuing to talk nonsense, the recorder will record all your words, and these words will be formed into words as evidence of your defamation of Jeff LaVine, submitted to the court, I don't care, sitting in the car or here, it doesn't affect my coffee, I ......"

Before he could finish speaking, a policeman outside pushed the door open, and the probe came in and said to him, "Fitz~~ Jeff LaVine came to take him away, and...... He also brought a letter of understanding signed by him in his own name and issued by Costco for Martin Hart. ”

Fitz was stunned for a moment, then looked at his companion: "No! The black man still insists that Jeff instructed him to steal, instructed him to write letters to humiliate the neighbors, and he doesn't deserve Jeff's forgiveness as a kind fool! ”

"Jeff insisted, the sheriff had agreed, and he was now able to go." The companion added.

Fitz looked at Martin and lowered his voice: "Get out of the Upper East Side, get back to your little Haiti, don't show up in my precinct, and if you let me know that you still want to get in trouble with Jeff, I'll let the hounds of the Police Dog Team bite off your eggs,, and you can go." ”

Martin stood up, moving his numb waist, "Jeff is very insidious, officer, he did it on purpose, he wanted to show his generosity, that is what he told me to do. ”

(End of chapter)