[Zhongyingmei] At the end of time

Minnesota 10 years ago

In every city in every country in the world, there will be such an area, where the lowest and poorest people in that city live, where alcoholics, gamblers, and criminals are telling the most indifferent stories in the world.

Annie is the most famous prostitute in this chaotic place. Her appearance is a mixture of innocence and evil, and she has a kind of amazing beauty. When she leans on the bar and drinks with her eyebrows lowered, there is a girlish sadness in her eyes, but when she When he opened the door of his own room, the corner of his mouth raised as if he had been kissed by a devil.

Annie didn't get up until noon. She casually put a stack of banknotes left by the previous night's guests on the table into the drawer, and shouted to the living room, "What's for lunch today?"

The door of her room was pushed open, and there stood a little girl who looked only seven or eight years old at the door. The girl's appearance seemed to be carved out of her, but Anne's eyebrows showed the vicissitudes of life, while the girl's eyes were full of vicissitudes. Only numbness that doesn't match age.

The girl counted a few dollars from Annie's money locker and said, "This week's lunch is the same, boiled beans and bread, and I'll be back before dinner."

Annie watched the back of the girl leaving, lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply into her lungs, and then exhaled forcefully, as if she was provoking this unfair fate and laughing at herself.

After she finished smoking a cigarette, she wandered into the living room. Calling it the living room is not accurate. Only a dark brown sofa in the corner that was brought back from the trash can can show its function as a living room. Dining rooms and kitchens are used far more than living rooms.

Another corner of the living room, separated by a yellowed curtain, smelled like a public bathroom with a clogged sewer.Basically, people who come here will choose to communicate directly with Annie in Annie's bedroom instead of a living room that smells of oily smoke and sewer.

The guests who came to the house were criminals and failed gold diggers, and none of them had the pleasure of chatting with Anne.Chatting is a useless foreplay of the night, usually perfunctory when they identify each other at the bar.

After the girl went out, she knocked on the door next door with ease, then trotted all the way and squatted under the window next door. Ten seconds later, the door next door opened, and a drunken cursing sound came: "Who the fuck is this? Did it happen again?" The daughter of that stinky Annie? What kind of mother gave birth to..."

The girl completely ignored the neighbor who would greet her mother for 5 minutes every day and uttered obscene words that would kill her one day, and she was staring intently at the neighbor's window, where a little boy was struggling to get out.

The girl stood up and picked him up. The boy smiled shyly at the girl. He looked much lower than the girl, probably only six or seven years old.

The two walked through the alley to the street together, and the boy asked, "Luna, are we still going to work in the bar today?"

Luna shook her head: "I heard that there is a street art exhibition at noon today, let me take you to see it."

The boy didn't know what a street art exhibition was, but he nodded without hesitation.He knew that Luna was different from everyone else in the alley, that her clothes were always neat and tidy, that she never played with the other children in the alley, that she knew a lot of things that no one else knew, that there were times when He doesn't understand her, but he adores her unconditionally.

The two had no money to take the light rail, so they walked for an hour to the upper city, and saw the paintings, sculptures, and photographs of various street artists under the rows of tents on the street. Luna took the boys and looked at them one by one. , Occasionally, Luna will explain to him in a low voice when encountering something that the boy does not understand.

The two barely finished their shopping, and Luna lowered her head and said to the boy, "John, I'm going back to cook for Annie, let's go."

John obediently followed Luna away, which was a rare color in their gray life. Most of the time they went out to follow the garbage truck in an attempt to steal something that could be used or sold, or It is to go to the back kitchen of the bar in the alley to do odd jobs to earn a small piece of beef or bread.

Of course, it’s not always so smooth. It’s not uncommon for John to be chased down the street for a few blocks or to do a white job all afternoon because of a small mistake. Because John occasionally plays with other children in the alley, he doesn’t Caring too much about these things, Luna can't bear these things even more.

John always remembered that they were chased three streets by the driver of the garbage truck. John was caught by the driver once, and the driver slapped him in the face. Luna rushed over and bit the driver hard, and pulled him across Only one supermarket survived.

The two stood panting in the corner, and John proudly showed Luna his booty: "Look! It's a jacket."

Luna's eyes were a little red, she grabbed the jacket and threw it out.

John stood there bewildered: "Why...are you unhappy?"

Luna took a deep breath, looked at the toe-leaking shoes John wore in the cold winter of Minnesota and his cheeks flushed by the wind, and walked over to pick up the jacket silently.

Luna said, "John, no one deserves to suffer such humiliation."

John didn't understand: "But we can only do this, otherwise there is no way to live."

Luna opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't say it in the end, she just sighed, and there was some fatigue in her eyes that John didn't understand.

In those days, it was hard for them to survive, and dignity was like an outdated luxury, people knew it existed, but they never thought they could have it.The persistence and stubbornness in Luna's bones have almost been reduced to a layer of ashes under the polishing of life, reminding Luna that she once had dignity, but now a gust of cold wind can blow them away.

After the two finished their dinner, Luna nestled on the sofa and read the worn-out comics that Annie's regular customers had given her. Annie walked over, glanced at the comics that Luna was reading, and said casually: "Their real people and comics Nothing like it."

Luna looked up at her: "Have you seen them?"

Annie picked up the comic and flipped through it; "I've only seen one, here, this is your father."

Looking at the person Annie pointed at and the wolf claws stabbed out from the back of that person's hand, Luna felt that the world had become mysterious: "Wolverine?"

Annie nodded indifferently: "Yes, he was the only person I slept with during those two months."

Luna: ...Wow

Annie seemed to try her best to remember it, and then said: "And he hasn't paid me yet. He doesn't know what I do, so he probably regards me as an affair."

"Damn, he was the only one who slept with me and didn't pay me. I didn't want to do it at the time, but he was really charming. I met a lot of men. He has a unique way of attracting women. temperament."

"Of course he didn't give me money, but he left me other things."

Annie painted a perfunctory heavy makeup behind the curtain, changed into a low-cut dress with so little fabric that people couldn't bear to call it clothes, and stepped on a pair of cheap black high-heeled shoes ten centimeters high to go out to 'work'.

Luna stayed alone in the room, gently stroking the Wolverine in the comics, and sighed about the impermanence of fate, but those sighs were too delicate, and quickly disappeared in the smell of wine in the alley.

Next door came the sharp cries of John's mother. John's father was a robber on the run. He drank and gambled all day long. Every night when he came home, he would use John's mother to vent his bad luck.

The crying lasted for nearly half an hour. Luna continued to read the comics without any surprises. At this time, there was a knock on the door. Luna opened the door and found Little John standing outside the door, with tears still in the corners of her eyes. , There was blood flowing down the exposed arm.

Luna let John into the house, without asking, she knew that John's father had beaten him after drinking. Luna found the medicine box to stop John's bleeding, and gave him a comic book, and John soon became happy again .

At ten o'clock in the evening, there was another knock on the door, and John's body twitched obviously. It was not uncommon for John's father to drag him out of Luna's house before. Luna looked at it worriedly. Glancing at John, he frowned and went to open the door.

Standing outside the door was John's mother. Her face was haggard, with deep wrinkles carved between her brows. After seeing Luna, she raised the corners of her mouth: "I'll tell John to go back. His father just fell asleep."

Luna turned around, and John had already come out and stood behind her. His mother stroked Luna's hair: "Thank you so much for playing with John all the time. I heard that you are still teaching him to read. He has been in poor health since he was a child. I I'm always afraid that he will be bullied by other children..."

Her voice was gentle and kind, and that kind of tone that really belonged to a mother made Luna even a little uncomfortable. Luna was used to her mother treating her indifferently and equally, until now she suddenly realized that she was only seven years old, It is the age of making love at the knees of parents.

John's mother handed Luna a bowl with a tooth missing. Luna took it, smiled stiffly, and quickly closed the door.

Seeing too much discrimination and malice, Luna has lost the ability to deal with this kind of kindness. She leaned against the door and thought with some annoyance: I should at least say thank you just now, but fortunately there is still a chance. You can chat with her when you return it to her.