America's King of Poetry

Chapter 33 Anna

Russell came out of the yacht charter shop with the money paid by Silvis, put the sports bag in the trunk, and looked at his watch again.

"She should wake up at this time, what should be done next..."

Russell muttered, opened the door to get in the car, then opened the storage box on the passenger seat, and pulled out a manual from a stack of tapes.This is a "Parenting Handbook" for parents of children under the age of 10, 1990 edition, published by the University of Chicago Press.

It was borrowed by Russell from the community library.

When he went to the library to borrow books that day, the fat aunt at the front desk kept looking at him curiously, and finally couldn't help but said, "There are child care services in the community, and the price is not high. If you need it, you can come to me." Russell nodded, and fled with the borrowed books.Let him kill without blinking his eyes, but let him take care of children...

"...reasonably arrange children's activity time. The morning is the best time of the day. It can be used to learn some basic skills and cultivate a sense of art. In the afternoon, it is easy to fall into sleepiness. You can take your children for outdoor activities and play with your peers...play..."

When Russell read the contents of the "Parenting Manual", he felt more headache than reading the instruction manual of weapons in Vietnam.The booklet lists all kinds of outdoor activities that children should participate in, such as picnics on the lawn, learning to ride a bicycle, and simple sports.But Russell didn't know how to do it, picnic on the grass, which grass to go to?What should you bring for a picnic?Riding a bicycle, there is no bicycle at home.Simple sports, what are simple sports?basketball?

"Shit!" Russell looked at it for a while and threw the book back into the storage box, started the car, and left the Imperial Harbor pier.

Russell lives in the Clinton area on the west side of Manhattan, also known as Midtown-West, but there is a more familiar name there, that is "Hell's Kitchen".

"Hell's Kitchen" is a well-known slum area on Manhattan Island. In the early years, a large number of poor Irish laborers and other ethnic minorities gathered. The urban construction was poor and the law and order were chaotic.However, because the rent is cheap and it is relatively close to the center of New York, many singers and actors who come to New York to work hard choose to settle here to pursue their dreams and seek opportunities to make a fortune.There have been many celebrities here, such as the famous action superstar Sylvester Stallone, the pop queen Madonna and so on.

After parking the car downstairs, Russell got out of the car. Before getting out of the car, he looked at the mirror and smoothed his hair with his hands.According to the manual, parents should maintain a clean and tidy image in front of their children, which will help children develop good hygiene habits.

After getting out of the car, Russell took out the sports bag containing the money in the trunk and held it in his hand.For many years, Russell has been handling the money of the three corners. He will take the cash received in batches to different shops, bars, and clubs under the name of the Luciano family, and pay taxes by disguising business funds, laundering it into legitimate money.

Everyone trusts Russell, he is neither greedy nor lustful, and has no desire for money.No one knew what Russell wanted, and they didn't want to know, they only knew that Russell was reliable.Even if he holds the money alone, everyone is very relieved.

Russell clutched the purse and cast his eyes about him cautiously, always cautiously.Over the years, there have only been two incidents of trying to rob his purse. One time, the snatcher was directly shot and his head was blown off; once, he was pointed at the head with a gun, and then he calmly took the gun over, blowing the heads of the two people.From then on, the gangsters in the Clinton area did not dare to provoke this man who often wore black sportswear, and no one knew what was in his bag.

It was afternoon, and there were usually no robbery incidents. Russell left the parking lot and crossed the road. After crossing an intersection, he came to the downstairs of the apartment building, a building with a light yellow exterior wall.Russell climbed up the iron escalator on the outer wall of the apartment, reached the third floor and took out the key to open the outer door. The moment the door opened, he felt something was wrong, there was someone!

Russell immediately took out a gun from his arms and aimed at the person behind the door, and a cry came, it was a woman.Russell saw that it was Flo, a Mexican who worked as a maid in Tony's villa.She was facing Russell's black gun barrel, and she was terrified and dared not move.Russell put away the gun, looked at Flo and said, "Why are you here?"

Flo was still in shock, stroked his chest, swallowed, and said: "Yes... Arthur asked me to come. I called you, but I couldn't get through, and no one answered. So I came here and waited for you. I just wanted to open the door to take a breath, but..."

It was only then that Russell remembered that his mobile phone was broken by the little girl playing house, and he didn't have time to fix it.Russell understood what Arthur meant. He must have asked Flo to take care of the little girl. During this time, Russell had a big head.After entering the corridor, Russell took the key to open the door. As soon as the door was opened, Russell felt that his blood pressure was a little high.

The floor of the house is covered with white down, and all kinds of graffiti are drawn on the walls, including villains, big trees, and the sun. The clean walls that were originally light yellow were painted in a mess.What was even more frightening was that there were several dead mice lying on the floor of the living room in a circle, with Russell's broken Nokia 2110 in the middle.The little girl sat cross-legged next to the dead mice. She picked up the broken mobile phone and listened to it for a while, then put the mobile phone back among the dead mice.Repeat the action after two seconds.

Flo felt disgusted and terrified watching such a scene. Who is this little girl?

She remembered seeing her at Tony's villa that night, and she saw the little girl whisper something in Larry's ear, and old Larry rushed out of the house and jumped into the swimming pool and drowned.For this reason, Flo has been having nightmares for several days, and she hesitates whether she should do the job introduced by Arthur-to come to Russell to help take care of the little girl.In the end, the desire for money still defeated the fear in her heart, but she was shaken again after seeing this scene.

Russell put down the sports bag in his hand, walked up to the little girl, picked her up and put her on the sofa, then threw a few dead mice into the trash can in the kitchen, wrapped them in black plastic bags and threw them at the door.Seeing that Flo was still in the same place, he said: "Go to work, I will give you money, the same as when Tony was there. Clean up, cook a meal, and you can go home."

With that said, Russell took out a roll of banknotes from his sports bag and threw it directly to Flo, "This is the advance payment, you take it first."

Flo took the banknotes and put them in the small bag she carried with her. After getting the money, she felt much more at ease, and started to clean Russell's apartment.The little girl sat on the sofa blankly, without saying a word.After living with Russell, the little girl never spoke.Russell was originally a taciturn person, so one can imagine how silent the two were together.

The down quilt scattered on the ground was swept into the trash can, the messy objects were classified and tidied up by Flo, and the empty dusty vase was wiped clean and put back in place, only the graffiti on the wall could not be cleaned up temporarily.The layout of Russell's house is very simple. There is a sofa and a carpet in the living room, a table, two stools and a large wine cabinet. There is no TV or radio. The only large household appliance is an electric fan in the corner.There is not even a bed in the bedroom, just a Simmons mattress, a simple wardrobe, and a huge safe.

After tidying up, Flo felt that everything was lacking in the house. For example, the little girl had no bed at all. When she asked Russell where the little girl slept, Russell said that she slept on the sofa.Flo hurriedly said that sleeping on the sofa is not good for the child's physical development, and she should buy a children's bed for her.Russell nodded and said he would buy it.

Almost packed, Flo decided to go downstairs to a nearby store to buy some groceries and daily necessities to liven up the humble apartment and prepare dinner.Flo put on her shoes, took her shopping bag and was ready to go out. The little girl jumped off the sofa, walked up to Flo, looked up at Flo, her pair of watery eyes seemed to be talking.She wanted Flo to take her out with her.

Flo looked at Russell, and Russell nodded and agreed that Flo would take the little girl to go grocery shopping. According to the "Parenting Manual", letting the child accompany the parents to participate in some social activities will help him understand this society and better integrate in the future.Grocery shopping should be considered a social activity.Apart from killing the mice and destroying the furniture, the little girl hasn't caused any major troubles during this time.

So Flo gently took the little girl's hand and went out together.The natural motherhood of a woman relieves Flo of her fears, and the sweet little girl reminds her of her own daughter who died of polio in Mexico.The little girl's hand was a little cold, Flo clenched it a bit, and led her carefully down the stairs.

The little girl is short and can only go down one step at a time.While holding the little girl by the hand, Flo asked, "What's your name?" The little girl didn't respond, and just concentrated on going down the stairs.Flo had just asked Russell, and Russell didn't know the girl's name either.She didn't answer anything, but it was strange that she was not deaf.

"How about I call you Anna? I once had a daughter named Anna. It's a simple and nice name."

The little girl looked at Flo and nodded. Flo laughed, and it seemed that she agreed, and she will be called Anna from now on.

The two walked slowly to the first floor, when a large black and yellow Rottweiler suddenly jumped out and barked at Flo.Flo was so startled that the shopping bags in her hand fell to the ground, but she protected Anna first.

Not far away, a middle-aged white man with a shy belly was watching and snickering. He was holding a dog leash in his hand. He was the owner of the dog.Seeing his dog screaming in fright, he obviously had a sense of accomplishment, and he yelled over here, "Good baby, good baby! It's okay, it doesn't bite, it just barks a few times, so don't be afraid."

But the way he bared his teeth and drooled, was quite scary.Anna hid behind Flo, but there was no fear on her face. Regardless of Flo's exclamation, she walked up to the Rottweiler and stroked its head.The barking dog calmed down, then squatted down in front of the little girl, purring.

The smile on the dog owner's face disappeared, when did his dog become so obedient?This guy is the owner of a nearby raw meat factory, and he always likes to scare women and children with big dogs for fun.

Flo was also very surprised that Anna tamed the raging dog without a word.Anna turned her back to Flo, her lips moved a few times suddenly, and she muttered something towards the Rottweiler. The brown-black eyes of the Rottweiler were fixed on the little girl's lips.As soon as the lips stopped, the Rottweiler suddenly turned around and ran towards the road. A car happened to pass by. With a "bang", the car and the dog collided together.The mighty Rottweiler fell in a pool of blood and was beaten to death.

Seeing this scene, the dog owner rushed to the road, holding the dead Rottweiler and roaring like crazy.He rushed to the cab of the car and pulled out the driver who killed the dog, and the two quarreled in the middle of the road.And Anna took Flo's hand and shook it, signaling to leave quickly, it was time to go to the mall to buy groceries.Surprised Flo calmed down, she didn't want to be involved in this kind of conflict, so she led Anna away quickly.

Not long after walking, there were two "bang bang" gunshots, and Flo quickly looked back. The crowd on the road had dispersed, and the driver got into the car and fled quickly, leaving only the body of the dog owner and his Rottweiler lying in a pool of blood.After a while, there was a long and mournful sound of a police siren's "whoosh" in the distance.

Flo looked down at Anna, and subconsciously wanted to take her hand away from her little hand, but found that it was tightly clenched, and she couldn't pull it out no matter what.

(End of this chapter)