The Last Killer

Chanier was wrapped in an old apricot-yellow brand-name thin trench coat, and walked in the dark alley where the cool breeze was picking up.He's starving to death now, and he's trying to pick himself up with something like a cold beer, but he only has a few coins in his pocket.

He just got out of Rikers Island Prison last month. For the 11-year sentence, he can be released after serving two-thirds of the prescribed time, so he actually only spent seven years and four months in prison—he didn’t feel that it was worthwhile at all. A lot of things can be wiped out, such as accumulated wealth, status in the gang, and all the beautiful girls who once loved him to death.

Think back to those blood-splattered fights—it was a turbulent time known as the "Red and Blue Wars," when two major gangs in New York, the Cripples and the Bloods, were locked in a frenzied melee for turf.Not only did the gang chiefs open fire, but the various factions in the alliance also clashed endlessly. Other small gangs fished in troubled waters, scrambling for leftover food scraps from the mouths of the two fiercely fighting white sharks.

In this environment, every gang member's blood is ignited like oil, and Chanier is no exception.A member of the Blood Gang he led fought a big fight with a branch of the Cripple Gang. The incident was triggered by a member of the other party whistling at one of his girlfriends, shouting "Hi, bitch", and then stabbing him himself. The personal grievances quickly escalated into gang fights.

In fact, this kind of thing is very common. Gang members basically regard extortion, drug trafficking and fighting as three meals a day.But at that time, the FBI and SWAT team joined forces to suppress the gangster forces, and there was an urgent need for some negative models to make an example to others. Shanier was very unlucky to be selected and became one of the targets.The double informant who took money from both sides betrayed his whereabouts to the police, and he was caught by the FBI.

In order to escape the crime, he spent an astonishing amount of money to hire a gold medal lawyer. The lawsuit lasted for three years, but he was finally told that the accuser was the federal government, and he had no choice but to plead guilty—the federal government is always right. , even if you were accidentally arrested because you were passing by soy sauce at that time, as long as you go to court, you must plead guilty. This is a matter of principle that concerns the face of the government.Of course, as for what crime to plead and how many years to sentence, you can bargain with prosecutors and judges, make deals with other gangsters in exchange for prison terms, and you can also stuff gold into the weighing pan of the Statue of Justice to tilt the balance of the trial Towards your side - that's another story.

In short, for this lawsuit, Shanier spent most of his savings and finally persuaded the Statue of Justice at the gate of the court to shorten the 40-year sentence to 11 years.During the lawsuit, he spent three years in the detention center, and after the final trial, he continued to serve the rest of his sentence in Rekers Island Prison, and finally he was released from prison with nothing to worry about.

Shanier, who had just been released from prison, still had the idea of ​​making a comeback, but it turned out that disasters, like windfalls, always came one after another—his most beloved girlfriend, a second-rate singer, took the remaining millions of dollars and got married with black bodyguards. Run away to live in Mexico; the hall he led was annexed by other forces of the Blood Gang. When he was just released from prison and tried to contact his old subordinates, he was almost tied up by the new boss and thrown into Sheepshead Bay; he asked his old friends for help , but many people's communication methods have failed, and some people who can be found are not much better than him. At most, they can only help a few small denomination banknotes, and the few who are famous are not even willing to see him.

After seven years, the whole world has changed.But the monotony of prison life blurred the concept of time, making him feel that everyone was betrayed overnight.

He is angry, jealous, and resentful, and then struggles, frustrated, and exhausted. The sharp lack of material conditions and the rapid decline in living standards finally brought his focus back to the most primitive and practical items-eat enough, wear warm clothes , Have a place to live.All this needs money, and what he has nothing at the moment is money.

money money!When you don't need it, it's piled up in the safe like stacks of straw paper, and when you really need it, it's really fucking hard to make money!Just get a job first?Gas stations, fast food restaurants... No, he can't afford to lose face, he is used to being served by others, and if he goes back to serve others, he would rather kill himself!

He walked to a vending machine on the corner of the street, hesitated for a moment, and finally dropped the few coins left in his pocket in exchange for a small can of coffee.He treasured the canned coffee he had sniffed at once, thinking blankly about the way out for the future.

His figure was vaguely reflected on the glass cabinet of the vending machine. He was tall and lean, with short golden-brown hair and long, narrow dark green eyes.He used to be a very attractive handsome guy when he was well-dressed, but now he is down-and-out and unkempt, and his charm has been compromised, but he still looks above the standard, but his face is full of bitterness and hatred, which makes his high nose bridge and tight thin lips There is a hint of bad luck.

If you don't want to starve to death on the streets, you have to accept reality, Chanier.He silently swears to himself reflected in the glass, even if he is going to steal or rob, he has to find a way to get the first sum of money, and then start from the beginning again, and once again climb to the position that belongs to you!

It was as if God had heard the cry in his heart, and kindly opened a window in front of him——he suddenly found an advertisement list posted on the wall behind the vending machine, which clearly read in black and white A certain environmental protection agency recruited a group of volunteers to participate in "risky" wildlife protection activities in different places for a period of three months, with food, accommodation and travel expenses included during the period, and the treatment was unbelievably generous.

Shanier is not a young man just out of school eager to find a job. He is very aware of the filth and sinisterness of the society. He carefully read this advertisement with a skeptical attitude, pondering the possible pitfalls in the words and sentences, and quickly found it. What is unusual: The advertisement does not require any academic qualifications, qualifications, or physical fitness for recruiters, but only emphasizes the need to have "the spirit of devotion to the cause of environmental protection."What kind of "devotion" method?Shouldn't he be a savage in the isolated primeval forest? Shanier sneered at himself, feeling that his current living conditions were not as good as savages—at least they didn't have to worry about food and drink.

His eyes stayed on the salary for a long time, he counted the four zeros at the end of the number 3, and finally made up his mind - no matter how hard it is, it will only be three months anyway, and as for "certain risk", hell, this Is there a more dangerous place in the world than a prison bathhouse?He fought more than a dozen fights before and after, smashing seven or eight heads ruthlessly on tiles and iron pipes, and he basically stopped coveting his ass—although it was limited to behavioral deterrence, the wretched view of adultery is always They are everywhere, but he has already cultivated to be invulnerable to all poisons, and he is too lazy to pay attention to those eyes that cannot cause real damage.

Tearing off the advertising leaflet, he threw away the empty coffee can and followed the directions to the recruitment address.

An hour later, he found a four-story building that was half-new and not old. He walked up to the second floor through the narrow stained stairs and entered a spacious reception room.Immediately, a staff member came forward to inquire, and distributed several forms for him to fill out carefully.

In the two columns of "relatives" and "contact address", Shanier thought about it, filled in "none" truthfully, and then handed in the form.He was ushered into another large room to wait, told that the results of the review would be out shortly, and that they would decide on the spot whether to hire him.

There are about 50, NO.[-] people in this room, all waiting for the result boredly.Chanier glanced around: black men in fat rugby shirts and dirty sneakers, middle-aged blue-collar men in suits and leather shoes with haggard faces, thin old men with gray hair trying to hide them with line caps, and some who clearly came from the slums and roamed the streets. Such a young man... He suddenly felt a little strange, why did this environmental protection agency post job advertisements in those inconspicuous corners of the backward streets? Don't they want to hire more high-end people?

Maybe there is something tricky in it, such as the salary is too thin, and the actual salary is much less than the promise; or some safety or sanitation measures are not up to the government standards, so they dare not make a big show, Shanier thought to himself.But he didn't intend to leave just now, in fact, he was desperate.

After waiting for a long time, the crowd inevitably became irritable. At this time, some staff delivered meals: bread, pizza, sandwiches, coffee, and juice.

Shanier also unceremoniously took away the portion he couldn't finish, and after a hearty meal, he lazily wanted to smoke a cigarette.He made this request to the staff without hope, but the other party honored it very politely. Everyone in the room who wanted to smoke received a small box of tobacco. Although it was a miscellaneous brand, it still cheered everyone up.

After eating and drinking enough, he had the mind to look at these people carefully, guessing boringly among them who might become his temporary colleagues.After a while, his eyes stopped on a figure in the corner of the room.

——It was a fancy-dressed Asian young man, about 23 or [-] years old, who looked like a Chinese or Japanese, reclining on a sofa chair with his legs crossed, playing a deck of cards as if no one else was there.Under the bright fluorescent light, his chiseled side face is facing Chanier. His long eyelashes and sharp jaw seem to be drawn by a painter's fine brushwork, depicting delicate and beautiful lines with love.

Chanier's eyes lit up, and he looked at him with great interest, hoping to capture the moment when the other party turned his face around.

Not long after he got his wish, the young man seemed to feel the staring eyes, and turned his face to glance at a probing look.

After Shanier saw him clearly, he nodded politely, and then turned his face away.The other party's appearance is pretty, but not so beautiful that it is amazing, and the cheap and bad clothes and the hair dyed blond are less beautiful - Shanier always believes that for the yellow race, The most suitable hair color is black hair, too light hair color with not fair skin is simply a loss of taste.

This Asian youth looks like a bird with gaudy feathers, which makes Shanier have the urge to grab him and repaint him-if this was eight years ago, he would definitely do it , but now he no longer has the leisure and spare money to train those beautiful boys and girls. In fact, he himself is being painted and trained by the scorching society.

At this time, the staff walked into the room again and issued badges with numbers to some of the waiting people. A total of 24 badges were issued, and others who were not issued were politely invited out.

Looking at the room where the number of people dropped sharply, Chanier knew that the remaining 24 people, including himself, should be the ones who passed the preliminary review.The strange thing is that those who are decent in comparison are mostly eliminated, and the rest are ashamed and disheveled like vagabonds.

In the following personal interviews, those who remained were called to the small room next door to have a private conversation in turn. They never returned. People were unavoidably nervous and began to chat in low voices.Shanier felt that he had nothing to say to guys of these levels, and would rather stand in front of the coffee machine and keep refilling his cup.

On the sofa nearby, young Asians are still playing with a playing card with a nude girl pattern in their hands. While regretting his lackluster sitting posture, Chanier sincerely admits that under this group of people who are very aesthetically destructive Among people, he is a rare seductive existence.

He thought about it, and decided to get to know each other in the past—if a certain relationship can be further developed, it can barely be called an affair.

"Hi, need coffee?" He walked over to the sofa chair, handed over a full and clean mug, and greeted in a relaxed and friendly tone.

The young man looked up at him, took the cup unceremoniously, did not thank him, just smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled.

But in this smile, Shanier's whole body seemed to be electrified, and the fingertips that touched each other began to tingle.

Those cheap clothes, poor taste, messy matching, including his most hated dyed hair (even a little black at the root, oh, disgusting two parts)...all incongruities It's all been watered down, even though it's just a fake, perfunctory smile!

He was suddenly very interested in getting to know the other party in depth, both in terms of identity and body.

"My name is Chanier," he warmly extended his hand towards the other party, "Maybe in the next three months, we will become colleagues and partners, how about getting to know each other?"

The young man shook hands with him indifferently, "Luo Yi."

Chanier took the opportunity to sit down next to him, and put his arms on the back of the chair behind him naturally like he did countless times before, "Their job advertisements attracted you, right, about environmental protection, to be honest Yes, I also think that human beings demand too much from the earth, cutting down forests and hunting wild animals..."

"—No, I'm not interested in environmental protection at all." Luo Yi interrupted his improvisation.

Shanier hid her embarrassment well, and asked with a smile: "Then what are you interested in? Maybe we have common hobbies..."

"Money." The Asian young man answered very simply, "I'm only interested in money." He glanced harshly at the appearance of the person who approached him, and said in a nonchalant tone: "I know what you want, Do you want to sleep with me? No problem, two hundred for one time, five hundred for the night, plus props. I haven't been in this business for a while, but for the sake of you being a handsome guy, I will consider whether to pick you up list."

He turned out to be a male prostitute... Shanier was so shocked that he lost his voice for a moment.It's not that he has never met a sex worker who has no shame in openly negotiating prices, but he didn't expect to meet one at this stall.The previous thoughts about training and having an affair were ruined in a hurry. The other party was a bus-type existence, and it was completely unnecessary for him to bother cleaning the engine and repainting it. There is also another reason: he simply can't afford to pay for whoring now, not to mention one night, it's not enough for one visit.

He turned his face almost immediately, got up and said: "Sorry, I haven't messed up enough to rely on buying sex to meet my needs!"

The other party didn't seem to mind being discriminated against by profession, and after finishing the cup of coffee creakingly, handed it back to him: "Excuse me, pour me another cup."