screenwriter mystery

Chapter 50 The Clown Mask
Bang bang, bang bang——

"vomit……"

"Hey, what are you looking at!"

"none of your business."

"I know you're laughing at me, at my height..."

"You want to fight, man."

"You think I'm afraid of you!"

New York, subway.

As a subway facility built in the last century, it was perhaps one of the most advanced transportation facilities in the entire world at that time.

However, with the passage of time and the negligence of management.

Today's New York subway has become one of the dirtiest subways in the world, with peeling graffiti on the subway stations, garbage and rats on the tracks, and drunks and their vomit and grumpy trains 24 hours a day. New Yorkers, signals that come and go, all of these have become the iconic daily life of the New York subway.

Of course, even if the New York subway has many problems such as dirty environment, frequent accidents, and never being on time.

But it has at least one unique advantage.

That is cheap enough, although not beautiful, but at least cheap.

It is enough to support the necessary transportation needs of the poor, and it is uninterrupted 24 hours a day.

Huddled against the railing, Arthur's head was stuck in front of the blurred glass of the subway, looking at the dark shadow outside the window.

Behind them, a group of black people are nodding their heads to the music playing, ignoring the distress caused by this practice.

The expressions on the faces of everyone in the car were indifferent and mixed with disgust.

The "New York Times" previously reported that the main reason for delays and interruptions of the New York subway is that there is too much passenger flow, which prevents the subway from leaving the station on time and reduces the speed of trains.

Based on this report, the MTA responsible for maintaining the New York subway made an amazing decision-in order to solve the chaos of the New York subway, they decided to remove some of the seats on the subway to free up more space to accommodate more passengers.

That's right, in the face of the delay problem raised by the "New York Times", the MTA's response was not to increase the number of trains and divert passengers, but to directly split the seats and let everyone squeeze together more densely.

It has to be said that this decision of the MTA is very in line with the characteristics of capitalism.

……

"Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

Like a can of sardines, he kept walking through the densely packed crowd. At this time, Arthur's thin body became his advantage in moving in the subway.

Through the dense crowd, Arthur got off the subway amidst the sound of cursing.

Holding his skinny thighs, he breathed a little, then reached out and touched the keys in his pocket to make sure that they had not been stolen by someone who was stealing the sheep. Then he felt relieved and continued to walk towards the exit of the subway. go.

Coming out of the subway station, night has fallen.

The sporadic street lamps shone on the road, not only did not have the effect of illuminating, but made everything around them look dimmer.

Arthur walked on the dirty roads, and the neighborhood was in a mess. It was difficult for people to associate it with the bustling international metropolis of New York.

But make no mistake, this is part of New York.

The New York City Bureau spends a certain amount of police force and expenses every year to transform the vicious crimes and neighborhoods in the urban area. The improvement in the past few years is indeed good, but with the gradual increase in the number of illegal immigrants and the environment Economic downturn factors, high unemployment rate.

The crime rate, which had been falling, was on the rise again.

The United States has elected an unprecedented black president, but it does not mean that the quality of black people will be improved.

Passing through the dark place where the street lights couldn't reach, Arthur noticed a few homeless men curled up inside looking up at him, and looked at them blankly, and Arthur seemed to see his own self in it. figure.

If he lost his job at the bar, it might not be long before he would be one of them, too.

In a trance, Arthur didn't notice the situation under his feet, and accidentally tripped over something on the side of the road.

"Feel sorry."

Staggering to stabilize his body, Arthur turned his head and apologized.

Only then did he notice that a homeless man was sitting there in the shadows by the side of the road, with patches on his body and a worn cloak wrapped around his body.

And the item that tripped him was the old suitcase in the hands of the homeless.

Because of the collision with him, the suitcase fell to the side of the road, and the lid popped open and the contents spilled all over the floor.

"I didn't mean to, I didn't see it."

Seeing the items scattered all over the floor from the suitcase, Arthur quickly stepped forward to pick them up, while apologizing in a low voice.

Oddly enough, however.

Looking at the objects scattered from his suitcase, the homeless man had no intention of going forward to clean them up. He just stood in the shadow and silently watched Arthur's actions.

And so it was, under the silent gaze of the tramp.

Arthur picked up the things on the ground one by one, and he found that most of the things spilled from the suitcase were ordinary items, such as gloves, key chains, pens and other groceries.

And just as Arthur picked up the last item on the ground and was about to put it back in the suitcase, the homeless man who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke.

"unnecessary……"

The tramp's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

Under the cloak, he stared at the mask in Arthur's hand with his cloudy eyes, inexplicably.

"It's yours now."

Hearing what the tramp said, Arthur's expression froze slightly.

He looked down at the mask in his hand, a crudely made red clown mask, grinning at him with a cheerful expression.

His eyes fell on the clown mask, and Arthur felt that the originally melancholy mood in his heart seemed to become a little happier in an instant, and the corners of his mouth that were pulled on his face unconsciously curved up slightly.

Withdrawing his gaze, Arthur's heart was once again filled with sadness and sadness, as if the moment of happiness just now was just an illusion.

Looking at the homeless man in front of him, Arthur shook his head and said.

"I do not have money."

"Actually, you've already paid for it."

However, the homeless man smiled meaningfully and said hoarsely.

"..."

Hearing what the tramp said, Arthur's expression froze slightly.

"But, I didn't give..."

"In this world, there are many ways to pay."

Opening his mouth to show his jagged teeth at Arthur, the tramp grabbed the handle of the suitcase, then turned and disappeared into the shadows behind him.

On the side of the road, wait for Arthur to react and look again.

The figure of the homeless man has long since disappeared.

Staring blankly at the location where the homeless man disappeared, Arthur was in a daze for several seconds before looking down at the clown mask in his hand.

(End of this chapter)