Volume 2: Knocking on Heaven's Door Chapter 60 Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it hurts a lot
At sunset, Tommy Hawke walked to the Kingston Seaview Pier boardwalk carrying two beers. Like the previous few days, the old and fat Maduff wore a beach hat, sat on a small fisherman's stool, and fished quietly.
"Given your current body shape, would it be painful to sit on this fisherman's stool?" Tommy stood next to Maduf, handed him a beer, and then asked while admiring the sea view in the distance.
Maduf took the beer, took a sip, and said slowly and sighingly: "Sometimes it's painful, sometimes it's very painful."
"Since you can see the problem this way, Mr. Prime Minister, then I don't need to be too tactful in what I say next. If playing with us high school students in the past few days was just painful, then from now on, everyone in this country will become a clown-like character, with the purpose of pleasing the eyes of Americans. Then it may be a very painful moment for you and this country." Tommy Hawke simply sat down on a reef next to him and spoke to Maduf.
Maduf put down his beer, retrieved his fishing line, rearranged the bait, and cast it out again. Then he looked at the white boy in the sunset who was talking to him like an immature high school student. He smiled and said, "Maybe I have guessed a little bit of your train of thought? It started in the UK and ended in the UK?"
"Yes, because there are two problems in this country now, belonging to two equally powerful groups but with different external manifestations. One is called the government and the other is called capitalists. The former is hypocritical and the latter is barbaric. My life as a student at the bottom of society since childhood has taught me that you can never get both Penthouse and Playboy with the money for one magazine." Tommy looked at Maduf and shrugged.
Maduf looked away, looked at the sea, and said with a smile: "Don't think I don't know what those two magazines are. Kid, your path to study sounds very erotic."
"So I think that saving the government's face and pushing the aid issue onto the UK can give the US government a chance to buffer, allowing them to represent credibility and justice and stand with us against the capitalists. Although it won't really change the capital game, they are still willing to do something like punishing the overseas factories of Bolton Sugar to gain the goodwill of this country and the imagined government of most Americans." Tommy Hawke raised his head and took a sip of beer, then smiled at Maduf:
"Just like you asked me every day before, why don't you experience the daily work of a real prime minister, my answer is always the same, this job is too tiring, especially for a position like this one in a small country, it's even more tiring, sitting in this position is far less comfortable than making money as a capitalist, when national policies affect my business, donate money to buy off politicians to vote against the policy, hire a few lobbying companies to do public relations in the White House, and persuade the government to withdraw decisions that are not in my favor, instead of like this, I have to consider the dignity and face of the citizens of this country, that's not a problem that a selfish person like me should consider."
Maduf grinned, his eyes looking at the heaving sea in the distance: "You are not a selfish child, Tommy, I knew it the first time you came, so I signed a contract with you because you took the initiative to offer to share the money you earned with us, and selfish people would not do this, at least Bolton Sugar did not do this."
"So, from the moment you didn't choose to split the bill, I should have realized that this situation would happen." Tommy put down his beer, took out a cigarette from his pocket, turned his body slightly to avoid the sea breeze, lit a cigarette, and said with a smile.
"In fact, I also think that the job of Prime Minister is too tiring. I... I studied medicine in Nottingham, England. At that time, this country was still a colony, and the medical environment was poor. Uneducated black people could not go to the same hospital as white people when they were sick, and could only go to simple clinics for treatment. I wanted to be a doctor at that time to treat them. I started as a doctor and worked my way up to become the chief medical officer of this country. I wrote to the British Overseas Colonial Department, the Colonial Governor's Office, and even teachers and classmates at British universities, hoping that they could give this country a little bit of assistance. Finally, after years of hard work, Britain decided to build a medical school with an affiliated hospital here..." Maduf suddenly laughed when he said this:
"Do you know what happened at this time? That's right. The United States forced Britain to give up this colony. St. Vincent became independent. My years of hard work came to nothing. The medical school didn't come. The British also left, leaving behind countless high-level positions that black people had never been able to get. The Americans told us that although we helped you bring freedom, you don't have to take it to heart. If you really want to thank us, you can cooperate and join my Inter-American Cooperation Organization. I will open a factory and give you financial support. By the way, you only need to establish two political parties, like our United States, to form a national institution with separation of powers, and this country can function completely... There are only nine highly educated congressmen in the country, and they were forced to split into two parties, six on one side and three on the other. If I hadn't been unable to beat the Americans, I would have ridden my bicycle to Washington to scold those bastards. When it was clear that this country didn't even have a university or a decent hospital, and 80% of the people were illiterate and couldn't even write their names, the suggestion given was to establish two political parties first?"
"St. Vincent is not the first victim, nor the last. Maybe saying this will make you feel better?" Tommy Hawke said, exhaling smoke and lowering his head.
Maduf took a few sips of beer, then looked at Tommy with a smile: "Kid, has anyone ever told you that you don't look like a high school student at all?"
"Not like it?" Tommy looked down at his own attire, then looked back at Maduf and asked.
"Sometimes not, sometimes very not." Maduf laughed. "For example, now, according to your train of thought, I guess... it will be the high school student among you who graduated from Harvard High School and prays to God all day long that his grandfather will go to heaven as soon as possible to complete your final plan? This is not something that a high school student can come up with. High school students prefer to complete this kind of popular and passionate experience by themselves."
Tommy flicked the gray ash, and it flew away from the cigarette. Before it even hit the ground, it was blown away by the sea breeze.
"Of course I want to, but I don't have a rich grandfather who can make me pray that God will take him away as soon as possible. Stephen is a real elite high school student, a child of destiny. He doesn't need to consider whether he is really that good. His family is there. He has never made a big mistake and has never brought shame to his family. He is excellent. He can be in the limelight. The family behind him will naturally like it and then add fuel to the flames to expand his influence and increase his popularity, whether in business or politics... Except for him, even other students including Catherine cannot fully digest the influence brought by this incident, because Catherine still needs to go to the children's TV station to brush up her resume. As for me coming forward myself, it will be a 100% loss of opportunities. I can tell you now what my family will do when they know I am going to Washington. My father will take a group of unemployed workers to publicize in the community. My dear son Tommy went to Washington to negotiate with the United States on behalf of a country. We will drive to Washington to support him~~ Then the neighborhood neighbors will considerately call the mental hospital and the police station for my father for free. Come on! Colin Hawke is drunk again!"
At this moment, the fishing line suddenly shook, and Maduf skillfully and slowly reeled in the line, patiently engaging in a tug-of-war with the hooked prey. Finally, a banana fish that was at least 70 centimeters long was pulled out of the water by him!
"It seems that my luck has improved a lot since you came, kid. " Maduf said happily to Tommy as he looked at the struggling and jumping prey.
Tommy drank the beer in his hand and jumped down from the reef: "So, sometimes it's painful, sometimes it's very painful? What do you think?"
"Whether it's painful or embarrassing, it's just a process. The most important thing is the harvest. As long as the result is good, it doesn't matter whether it's painful or embarrassing." Maduf took off the hook and put the fish into the bucket next to him: "Don't feel guilty about what you are going to do next, child. No matter what the outcome is, this country and I will be sincerely grateful to you."
Tommy Hawke took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, you are probably the smartest person in this country. Although you look like a postman, I hope you understand that we may still receive some gratitude, but I am afraid you will never be appreciated in this country again. Americans are very vengeful. After keeping a low profile for a while, they used the ignorant citizens to attack you and force you to step down. And what you paid for..."
"I just said, Tommy, if this country can get fairness in this matter, it won't be painful for me." Maduf re-baited and threw the fishing rod towards the glittering sea, interrupting Tommy's words: "Also, I'm not the smartest person in this country, but whether I'm smart or not, I just want to use this rare free time to fish quietly."
Tommy nodded in understanding, then turned and walked slowly back the way he came, muttering softly the words his mother had whispered in his ears since he was a child:
"He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, no beauty that we should admire him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was despised, and, as it were, one from whom men hide their faces, we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. They made his grave with the wicked, and his tomb with the rich, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth..."
