Volume 2: Knocking on Heaven's Door Chapter 55: Kingston in Summer (Part 1)
Opposite the government building in Kingston, the capital of St. Vincent, there was a repainted second-hand fast food truck. Tony Leon's girlfriend Ashley stood on the truck, frying various snacks and hanging a conspicuous sign in front of the food counter:
"We only accept U.S. dollar cash, and refuse checks. If you need to borrow money due to insufficient cash, please contact our Prime Minister Tommy Hawke. The interest rate is fair and the loan will be disbursed quickly."
Two parasols were set up next to the fast food truck. Tommy Hawke, dressed in casual beach pants, was lying on a lounge chair under the parasols, holding a cold beer in his hand.
"How's business, Ashley?" Tommy Hawke asked as he lazily took a sip of beer and looked at the blue sky.
Ashley was wearing an orange fast food uniform. She kept flipping food in her hands and said with a smile, "Where did you find such rich kids? Tommy, you are amazing. The money you make in a day is enough for me to buy your brother enough Trojans to last for ten years."
Tommy Hawke said with a smile, "It sounds like you and Tony have been using a lot, Ashley. I thought you would use the money you earned to plan a wedding or something, but I didn't expect your plan to be so exciting. Ten years... God, is Tony's waist okay?"
"If he dares to say something bad, I'll replace him." Ashley smiled and packed a portion of fried chicken nuggets, onion rings and other food and placed it on the small table next to Tommy.
Ashley has been dating Tommy Hawke's brother Tony since she was fifteen. Ashley's father, Mr. Hull, is also her father's best friend. Tony inherited his parents' loyal qualities. Although he likes to talk nonsense , he never really flirts with other girls outside. All it takes is a wedding and a wedding ring for Ashley Hull to become Ashley Hawke.
Ashley had known the Hawke family for so long that she could talk to Tommy without any scruples, since both families already knew about her and Tony's situation.
"Defense Secretary Miss Catherine said that she needs ten servings of cream ice cream and five snack boxes to be delivered to the special forces commander Frank. The rest is your errand fee and tip." Catherine was followed by four beautiful young black women. She walked out of the government building to the food truck with her head held high, took out fifty dollars and gave it to the black subordinate beside her. The subordinate walked to the food truck and handed it to Ashley, then spoke.
Ashley quickly collected the cash and said, "It's a pleasure to serve you. No problem at all."
The next second, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Tommy, go deliver the goods!"
"My subordinates and citizens are watching here, please show me some respect, Ashley?" Tommy sighed with a depressed look on his face, "I just came back to take a breath."
"Okay, Prime Minister, for the fifty dollars, please get on your bike and deliver the food!" Ashley changed her address.
Tommy looked helplessly at Catherine who was sitting next to him under the parasol. "Queen Catherine, what do you need the special forces to do for you? You should know that the special forces are just reserve militias. The reason they are called special forces is that they have been trained in more firefighting knowledge and skills than other militias."
"The police officers under Dennis have no respect for me at all. When I went to inspect the police station, they didn't even salute me. I'm going to send the special forces to take them to jail." Catherine took a sip of the juice handed to her by her subordinates and said in a cold tone: "This is a really good place. A box of snacks can make countless people work for me."
"Your Majesty, I solemnly remind you that Frank's special forces have been deployed 17 times on your orders in just a day and a half since you took office. The prisons have been overcrowded nine times. Thirty of the 53 students in the summer camp have experienced jail time. Half of the people in the capital have been reprimanded by you for not performing the chest-touching salute. If you continue like this, you will not have a chance to overthrow the Queen of England, but you will be overthrown by the angry people. As the Prime Minister, I need to warn you seriously that if you continue to act recklessly like this, I..."
Catherine held a hundred-dollar bill between her fingers and waved it at Tommy. "Think it over carefully, poor fellow."
Tommy immediately stopped talking, took the money and smiled: "As a loyal comrade, Tommy Hawke will always stand by your side . I am preparing to write a report to help you apply for the Peace Medal. This country is blessed to have officials like you."
After saying that, Tommy Hawke finished the last sip of beer, rode on the bicycle lent to him by Prime Minister Maduf, took the takeaway food handed to him by Ashley, and headed towards the special forces command center as if he knew the way.
…
Inside the Home Secretary's office.
Secretary of the Interior David Shaffer's eyes kept blinking behind his glasses: "Chris, I have an idea. I know some black people in Georgia. If the money they get from crimes is a little bit larger, they can't deposit it into the bank. It's dirty money. We can help them clean it up here and earn their handling fees. Stephen is a rich man, he won't be interested, but we can cooperate, as long as you cooperate with me..."
"I am not interested in making a little money for myself. I prefer to think about how to make money for this extremely poor country. There is nothing here except bananas and sugar cane. At this time, I will consider opening up the offshore financial industry." Chris Ferguson wore a cowboy hat, held a cigarette in his mouth, and a playing card jumped flexibly in his hand: "But it's just a consideration. I don't know if it can be realized."
"You are not interested in making money? Man, do you know what you mean by that? I mean, how can someone not be interested in money? Do you have a grandfather who is full of tubes and waiting to die like the rich guy?" David Shaffer said incredulously: "At least we have to earn back our summer camp fees, right?"
Chris looked at David with a puzzled look on his face: "David, how poor were you before? Poorer than a pauper? You have to earn money just to go on vacation?"
"If I had the brains of poor Tommy, I wouldn't have to think of such petty tricks to make money. Didn't that guy set up this crappy summer camp to make money for himself? Look, I'm the Home Secretary, and if the Home Secretary wants to eat an ice cream, he has to borrow money from him, and then that bastard will calculate the interest for me!" David Shaffer's face was depressed when he mentioned Tommy.
Chris shrugged. "Anyway, I'm not interested. I want to study how tax work works and then complete a report on my experience. That's it."
"How about a casino?" Seeing that Chris was not interested in his proposal, David Xie Bi rolled his eyes and came up with an idea: "The students are all rich people, let's open a leisure casino and make a killing from them. I will be responsible for attracting customers and you will be responsible for killing them. We will split the profits 50-50. You are not interested in making money, but you should be interested in playing cards. After all, you have been playing poker since you were five years old."
Chris' eyes lit up immediately, but he gave a response that made David's expression dull for a moment: "That's a good idea. Besides, I can impose heavy taxes on you, the creator of the casino. That's a good idea. It will help the country make some money."
"So, I pay you 50%, and then you turn around and impose heavy taxes on the remaining 50%? And take away a large sum of money?" David came to his senses and asked.
Chris pushed down the brim of his cowboy hat and said, "Yes, I am the Minister of Taxation. I have no choice but to do this. Let's decide. You open a casino and I will be your dealer and collect taxes from you."
