Philadelphia, Eastern United States, 1978
Philadelphia has a long history compared with the United States of America, and serious security problems have been accompanied by it.
Of course, most of these problems occur in the majority of civilian areas outside the minority rich areas.
In the middle of Philadelphia, a small part of the rich area, high-rise buildings, neon flashing. Even at night, men and women in beautiful and decent clothes still shuttle among them.
But Brown, who was walking home at this time, did not realize it at all.
He was still worried about his food for the next few weeks, and it was only the fool he was following.
The sky is dark and gloomy even at night. Snow flakes with goose feathers fall down, the houses on both sides are sparsely lit, and the street is depressed. Some garbage chase each other along the wind. The snow in the trash can is still cleaner than the street.
But there is nothing wrong with it. People living here can be expected to pay attention to any health problems.
The unlucky Brown walked in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders shrunk. His nose was red with cold, one eye was still swollen and could not be opened, and his mouth was blue with a trace of blood. He could not only see that he was down and out, but also that he had obviously just been beaten.
At this time, he was only wearing a beige sweater with a black leather jacket, and the shield logo of the captain of the United States was reflected on his back. The leather jacket was puffed up by muscles of a slightly larger scale.
When the cold wind blew, Brown shivered and sneezed. Brown rubbed his hands hard. When he felt a little hot, he raised his hand and rolled the newly fallen strands of hair back to his head. His face was very ugly.
When he was almost at the door of his house, he still couldn't hold his temper. He suddenly turned around and grabbed the collar of the black man with long pigtails behind him, and pressed him against the wall. His face was as miserable as Brown's. His face was broken several times.
"Fxxk you, Longfellow, fxxk you every day， Why don't you use your brain full of women's buttocks that day to think about it? Did I say not to sell leaves near the old smoking gun bar! East Street is not enough for you to sell. Go to Old Kane's territory! Hmm? "
Brown's irascible master compared the position of a gun, severely pointed his temple, and continued to scold:
"When I went to pick you up, Old Kane held a Winchester against my forehead! The gun tm was against my forehead! Longfellow! He tm thought I had ordered it! It was Old Kane's territory! Longfellow! It wasn't a cat and dog! How many lives did you have? Hmm?"
Brown punched Longfellow in the stomach with a hook fist and stepped back to let him go. Longfellow bent down and retched a few times. He looked a little timid and rolled his thick lips to explain something.
"Brown, I..."
Brown grabbed his back collar and lifted him up. His forehead was against Longfellow's forehead. He stared at Longfellow's eyes and interrupted him.
"If Lodge's boss hadn't been here, I would have paid for him several times. Guess what? Huh? How dare Longfellow? Guess what? Now that all the leaves are taken, what are we selling these weeks? What are we eating? Huh? Take your collection of yellow posters!"
Longfellow finally recovered from the pain. He still had physiological tears in his eyes. When he covered his stomach and looked up, he saw Brown slamming the door into the room.
It was snowing harder and harder. With the orange street lights, the door next to Brown's house was opened at this time. Rocky walked out with his clothes on, looked at Longfellow's tottering back, covered his stomach, went into the house again, wrapped a cloth in ice, and then turned to Brown's door and knocked.
Brown came into the room, took off his clothes and threw them on the sofa. He lay down for a while, sighed, and then got up and put on his vest, ready to practice boxing against the broken sandbag to vent his anger.
In the simple room, except for a few posters of Captain America on the wall, there was only a small bed with a thin quilt and a wooden table. Beside the table was a small sofa with a lot of spongy bodies exposed. The wardrobe and small refrigerator were close together, and sandbags were placed in the middle of the room. The room is just over 20 square meters, which is very empty
Brown was sitting beside the bed, wrapping himself in bandages, when a knock on the door suddenly rang.
Brown put on his leather jacket again and opened the door. The snowflakes came in with the cold wind, accompanied by Brown's pompous voice.
"Look who this is? The Italian stallion in Philadelphia, the undefeated fighter, the future champion, Rocky!"
Brown turned around with a smile and entered the room. Rocky grunted. Apparently, he had no intention of responding to Brown's teasing. He closed the door behind him and threw the ice wrapped on his hand to Brown.
Rocky's face was unhappy and his voice was as low as ever.
"Little Brown, I heard it..."
"Hmm? Ha ha, it's just a little trouble." Brown froze for a moment, then smiled carelessly.
"I moved here when I was 20, and I watched you grow up..." Rocky didn't finish.
But Brown, who had just put ice on his eyes, understood what Lodge was trying to say. He bent over and pulled out the wrinkled cigarette case in his jacket, lit it up, took a deep breath, vomited it after a deep aftertaste, and the room was filled with smoke.
Brown did not know that the eldest brother sitting opposite wanted to help him, but.
"Rocky, you know, that drunkard died early. You know, I also know that I want to eat! I am a Chinese, and I want to go to a restaurant to get a plate. No one wants it! It seems that I have some disease! If it weren't for those damned racists, I should have just finished high school by now! Get into a good university! Sitting in the office like a human being, I discussed with others which girl to take tonight, or return to my hometown. But I don't want to do this now. I'm afraid I will starve here sooner or later. "
Brown leaned back on the sofa and took another puff of smoke, his face sorrowful, feeling really bad.
Rocky leans over to say something.
As expected, Brown suddenly laughed again and interrupted Rocky. He got up and reached Rocky's side, took him by the shoulder and asked jokingly.
"I heard you were chasing the one in the pet shop... the one in the pet shop? Hmm? Did you taste the sweetness of women?"
"Damn it, how do you know!"
"What's more... It's not so easy. You can't guess that she is Paul's sister. I asked her out to play in the skating rink today."
Paul is also a good friend of Rocky. He works at the meat frozen farm.
"Ha ha ha, is our Italian stallion finally in love?"
"Enough is enough, you bad boy" Rocky got up and punched Brown.
"I'm leaving. You should pay attention to your safety. Nothing is more important than your life, isn't it?" Rocky paused. "Go to Mick's boxing hall tomorrow. He is temporarily short of a partner."
Brown agreed to Rocky and got up to send him out. Today, Old Kane searched the goods for more than 500 yuan. You should know that 500 dollars at this time is a huge amount of money in this poor place. Rocky may not get 40 or 50 yuan for playing an amateur game.
Several times of sparring can't support himself. Without these goods, Brown may have to starve to death. If he doesn't want to starve to death, he will have to work hard.
The broken door creaked when it was closed. Brown bowed his head and swore. He turned around the sandbag and hit it hard. The old sandbag shook, howled and dodged. It was too much to bear.
The next day, at noon
Brown still wore the black jacket with the US team shield on it, and walked out of Mick's boxing hall with the five dollars that his partner had only got in the morning. The sun was slightly dazzling, but it could not melt the ice and snow on the street.
Brown rubbed his aching ribs and thought sadly that he could eat enough before he was born again. Now, he is rolling in this damned mud ditch, and his life is not guaranteed.
Now he is going to try his luck in Gasol's manor to see if he has any good jobs recently.
When he jogged to Gasol's estate, Gasol was just sitting in his black car and left the door. Brown quickly waved to stop the car.
Gasol rolled down the car window, took off his sunglasses doubtfully and looked at Brown.
"Brown? Is the wound on his face better? What's the matter?"
Brown squeezed his nose uneasily and bent over to Pau Gasol. Brown felt that his expression must be flattering.
"Mr. Gasol, you may know that all the food was detained last night. I'm short of money now. Do you think you have any work? I can do any work."
Gasol felt uncomfortable at the collar, pulled his tie, and looked at Brown, who was wearing thin clothes.
Gasol leaned over to Brown, put his elbow on the window, and whispered.
"It's not that bad. There's just a job here. There's a guy named Pickley Kate. He has a bloody nose and a bloody bald head. This watch owes me more than 3000 yuan in my casino. It's said that he is hiding near the department store now."
Gasol raised his hand and waved it viciously. "Find him, cut off his left hand, tell him how to irritate Gasol, and take back all his valuable things."
Brown gritted his teeth and did not hesitate too much.
"Mr. Gasol, leave it to me!"
Pau lowered his head, took his wallet out of his arms, pulled out twenty dollars and put them in Brown's arms.
"Take it first to meet the emergency. My reliable boy, eat a delicious bacon burger to fill his stomach, and then make the job more beautiful. After that, I will give you 300 yuan."
Pau straightened up and shook his hand at the front seat. The driver started the car in time.
"If you don't want to be unlucky, you have to be unlucky."
Brown rolled up the money and put it in his pocket. He watched Pau's car slowly drive away. Then he turned back to find his younger brother Longfellow, who had caused him great trouble not long ago.
Longfellow took a wood axe from his home and quietly gave it to Brown, who had been waiting for a long time. He followed him to the department store. There were few people on the road, and snow piled up on the roadside. When he got near the department store, it became a bit popular.
Brown put the axe in his waist, and the leather jacket just covered it. Longfellow, who was still following Brown, saw Brown stop in front.
"Last night... I'm sorry, I was really angry."
Longfellow would have missed it if it hadn't been too quiet.
Longfellow smiled like a fool and put his arm around Brown.
"Hey, we are brothers. You underestimate me." Longfellow stood up and patted his chest. "The great Longfellow is an iron man."
Brown looked at the smiling Longfellow, his big white teeth shining in the sunlight. Brown felt his eyes flicker, and then he said.
"Yes, brother, you screwed up. Although I forgive you, remember to pay back the money."
Longfellow's big white teeth converged in an instant, and his arm around Brown was also opened, pretending not to hear him, and he began to talk with passers-by.
"Hey, brother, yes, that's right. You know Pickley, the wine tank nose, the balding cerebrum door, the reflective one..."
"Pickley? That gambler Pickley? If you look for him, he lives behind you."
The passer-by pointed to the small building behind Longfellow and Brown, and then left in a smart posture.
Brown and Longfellow turned and looked back, following the guide of passers-by.
An unpopular two-story attic stood there, covered with moss.
Brown took a cigarette out of his arms and lit it. He thought it was hard to find it, but it was so easy. Longfellow stared at the big eyes and said incredulously.
"Three thousand dollars! Three thousand! God! Is he out of his mind? He still lives here."
"Isn't it good to send money to your door?"
Brown picked the corners of his mouth with a cigarette in his mouth. His face was dull all the time. Finally, he smiled a little. He didn't take the money that was delivered to him for nothing.
"Longfellow, go and call the door. Uncle Brown is going to give him warmth."
