America's King of Poetry

Chapter 9 You're Awake

The design of the stadium will take into account the diffusion and collection of sound to ensure that the cheering enthusiasm of the audience is amplified in the stadium and create a warm stadium atmosphere.Arthur's gunshots echoed in the hall, making his ears ring and his hand shaking.It was the first time Arthur fired a gun, punching a hole in the roof of the Carlow High School gymnasium.

The brawl subsided quickly, but the scene became even more chaotic. The game must not go on, and everyone fled in all directions.Only Artest was still standing in the middle of the field blankly. He looked at Arthur, not knowing what to do for a while, he was very worried that Arthur would shoot himself.

It's not impossible, in Brooklyn, people are shot and killed every day, anywhere, for any reason.

Including on the basketball court.

Artest even wondered, is there a gang behind the game who made a bet?Their outstanding performance cost them money.So the gang members want to shoot themselves?Artest felt that his hands and feet were immobilized, and he watched the man walking towards him with a gun, and his teammates were yelling "Run Ron" at him, but he couldn't move his feet.

The man had a bloodstained face and was wet all over, with curly black hair pressed to his forehead, and an Italian face, but with a lower nose and less deep-set eyes.He walked all the way, leaving footprints on the court floor with his dirty shoes, came to the front, and raised his gun...

He put the gun in his arms... God, Artest felt his heart was about to jump out, he let out a long sigh of relief, this guy didn't come to kill me.For the 15-year-old Artest, he is not afraid of fighting and fighting, but guns and death, to be honest, no one is not afraid.What's more, this man has a terrifying aura. As he walked over slowly, Artest didn't even dare to move a step.

If Artest knew what this man was thinking, he would definitely be surprised.

Arthur walked slowly because his ears were a little stunned by the shock. Ears are the balance organ of human beings.He walked up to Artest and thought, this kid won't hit me, right?The guy had mania the way he played fans a decade later.

Fortunately, there was no conflict between the two. Artest swallowed and said, "I won't fight anymore."

Arthur laughed, and he picked his ears. The two happened to be standing near the technical table. Arthur reached out and tore off a page of the scoreboard from the technical table. Then he picked up a marker pen, wrote a phone number and his own name on it, and handed it to Artest, saying, "If you have any trouble, call me."

Artest took the plastic scoreboard marked with "0" and looked at the number on it, feeling full of question marks.The man showed up at the arena like a gust of wind, fired a shot into the air to quell the chaos, left a phone number, and left the arena with a girl before the police arrived.Artest felt that he was dreaming, and until many years later, he would still dream of the gunshot in his dream. He thought it was the gunshot that changed his destiny, but he didn't know it at the time.

Ten minutes later, the police came to the arena, learned about the situation, and restored order in the school and the arena.Artest was called by the police for questioning. He showed the police the phone number Arthur had given him, and the police called.

"Hello, this is Luciano's restaurant. Do you need anything? We have coffee, beer, pizza and sausages, and the delivery range is five kilometers. Please leave your address, phone number and name."

The police looked at each other. Is this a restaurant's takeaway phone?

"Why did he give you this call?"

"I...I don't know, he might be delivering food." Artest was also a little confused, why did this person give himself a restaurant order number?In fact, the reason is very simple, because Arthur doesn't have a phone at home, and he can't pay the phone bill. He usually uses the ordering phone of Luciano's restaurant, and naturally he only has the number of the ordering phone.

The policeman shook his head, what is this? Although someone shot, there were no casualties. It is not a big deal for Brooklyn.The police don't have time to take care of it. If in China, illegal possession of firearms would be traced to the end, but in the United States it is just an ordinary security incident.

In the end, Artest and his teammates packed up, took the bus and left Carlow High School. There was no result in this game, and there would be no rematch. Artest's only gain was the 0-point scoreboard that he put in his backpack and wrote a restaurant phone number.

……

Arthur took Gina out of the school. Gina didn't change back to her usual clothes. She wore cheerleading tights, short skirts, and a bright yellow headband on her head. She pulled her thick, girly hair behind her forehead. Her full and smooth forehead looked like pebbles in a river.

She got into Russell's Camry with her arms around Arthur, wrapping around Arthur like an octopus, her bulging bust clinging to Arthur's arms, making Arthur flustered.The girl's admiration was simple and childish. A man fished her out in the chaos, held her in his arms and fired a shot, shocking everyone. She thought it was cool, and this was the man she wanted.

"Don't hold Gina so tightly...I'm all wet." Arthur's body was wet, which made Gina's tights wet, and the color of her skin was revealed, a healthy and delicate wheat color.Gina didn't care about that, she giggled and hugged even tighter.Arthur smiled wryly and could only shake his head, thinking that the little girl was naive.

But Arthur himself was also a little excited. It felt really good to shoot a gun. No wonder it was so difficult for Americans to ban guns. It was so exciting.

"Arthur, what did you give that kid just now? What was written on the scoreboard?" Gina leaned her face closer and asked curiously.

Arthur scratched his head, thinking about how to answer Gina's question. He couldn't say that he knew that this was a future NBA star. I wanted to get in touch with him.On the way to Brooklyn, apart from thinking about killing Tony, Arthur was also thinking about how to survive and grow in the future. Could he be a cook all his life?

1994 was not a very early crossing point, and it was not in China but in the United States. He didn't know much about the industrial history of the United States.Because he has worked in finance and sold silver before, he knows that the financial securities industry brings in money very quickly, but it is not so easy to enter this industry in the United States, the capital of capitalism, and he needs to accumulate.

The Luciano family's property would be a raw capital, but there were too many gray and black things, and Arthur didn't want to get involved too deeply. He wanted to have a clean economic source.The moment I happened to meet Artest in the gym, an idea was born in my mind. It would be a good entry point to get a relationship with these yet-to-be-known future NBA stars.

Yu Peng was a basketball fan in his previous life, and he knew a lot about the history of the NBA and gossip about the players.For example, he knows that Artest, Odom, Alston, Brand and others are all good friends. If they can win them over, they will enter the NBA in the future, and they will have to bear a considerable amount of agent fees.

Moreover, the sports industry in the United States is developed, and it is inextricably linked with high-level entertainment, political circles, and business circles. If there are connections, there will be connections. If there are connections, there will be space.Arthur had a lot of thoughts in his mind, so he took out his pistol and fired that shot, which was like the starting gun on the starting line. After firing, he was about to start running forward.

But why stand on this starting line?Arthur didn't understand.

"Arthur? Arthur?" Seeing that Arthur didn't answer, Gina leaned closer and breathed out on Arthur's ears, making him itchy.

She also gently touched the scar on Arthur's face with her hand, and she didn't ask how the scar came about. She firmly believed that it was normal for a man to have scars, and she only asked him if it hurt.

Arthur blushed, and Gina giggled. She didn't really want to know why Arthur left a phone call for a black kid, she just wanted to tease him, and she liked him so much at the moment.

"Stop messing around with Gina, I know that kid, Artest, let him contact me when he has time, that's all." Arthur was really embarrassed, being teased by a little girl, and he could only blame himself for having too many things in his heart.Also, Russell was driving in front. He didn't say a word as if he didn't exist, but he still felt awkward.

Russell seemed to feel Arthur's embarrassment. He turned on the car stereo, and the gothic song of the band "Washing the Face with Tears" came out again, sweeping away the ambiguous atmosphere in the car. The smile on Gina's face gradually froze. At this time, she began to feel a little cold, and it was really uncomfortable to soak her clothes in water.

Arthur didn't go to work in the restaurant anymore, Russell sent Arthur to the door, and it was getting dark.

The two agreed to meet at Luciano's restaurant tomorrow morning to discuss the assassination of Abramo, which is scheduled for the day after tomorrow.According to intelligence, the day after tomorrow is the day when Abramo will meet his lover.

Arthur and Gina went upstairs together, and Gina clung to Arthur's arm as if glued to him.After arriving home, Arthur went to take a bath first, Gina yelled to take a bath with him, but Arthur quickly refused, he just wanted to take a bath.

"Arthur, do you not like me anymore? You always avoid me." Gina couldn't hide her emotions and asked with melancholy eyes.

"Oh no no, no, I... I have important things to finish tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so I have some concerns. I'll cook for you after I finish washing, okay?" Arthur coaxed Gina carefully. Gina had never been treated like this before. She bit her lip and nodded, and went to the room to change clothes.

For a veteran in love like Arthur, coaxing a 17-year-old girl is like playing, but it's just a little tiring.

After taking a hot bath happily, Arthur actually went to the kitchen to make dinner.Although the original Arthur was a cook, his cooking skills were quite bad, and he was just a handyman.Now Arthur is one of the three good men in the new century, and his cooking skills are very good. He fried a steak and cooked some pasta. There was still pizza in the refrigerator from the restaurant the day before yesterday.

Gina had a great time eating. Arthur used to go out at night to fool around, to drink and gamble.Today, Arthur seems to have a new look. For Gina, who lacks the warmth of the family, it feels like a person who has experienced the cold wind has entered a shed sheltered from wind and rain, and drank a bowl of hot broth. The comfort makes people want to lie in bed and sleep to death.

After dinner, Arthur put his arms around Gina and watched TV on the sofa. ESPN TV had a live NBA game tonight.

On March 1994, 3, the New York Knicks played away against the Indiana Pacers. There are many stories about these old enemies in the 25s.But to be honest, the basketball games in the 90s were really ugly, and it happened that the opponents were Eastern defensive teams like the Knicks and Pacers, and the game was so ugly.

The two sides scored 22:14 in the first quarter, the Knicks took the lead away, and the Pacers only scored a poor 14 points.

Although Gina is a cheerleader, she doesn't really have much interest in basketball, and soon falls asleep in Arthur's arms.

And Arthur was quite boring watching this defensive battle. To be honest, he experienced a lot of things today, his head was groggy, and his eyelids began to droop.

The game between the two sides was still playing on the TV, and Dick Stockton's familiar commentary voice made people feel very cordial.

"Patrick Ewing got the rebound, New York Knicks got a chance to fight back, Harper pushed half court, but didn't launch a counterattack, they still held...Pacers...Dale Davis...Arthur...Arthur...Arthur..."

Arthur has closed his eyes, only his ears are listening to the commentary on the TV, but he seems to hear someone calling his name.

who is it?Who is calling my name?

This voice is so familiar, so familiar.

Arthur suddenly opened his eyes, and he recognized whose voice was Dick Stockton's voice!

He saw that on the TV, Dick Stockton was sitting in front of the commentary seat, facing the camera, and said, "Arthur, you're awake, Arthur."

(End of this chapter)