Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 240 Jeff is very insidious
At the home of Jeff's friend Zack, Tommy sat at the dining table counting the bills. After counting, he put his hundred dollars back into his wallet.
The remaining change added up to only about four hundred yuan. Tommy wrote down the name of each donor and the amount of donation in his notebook. After making sure that there was no problem with the account, he raised his head and stretched his cervical spine.
Such donations require accounting records to be kept for review and investigation by the campaign committee, and it must be ensured that every penny is used for the candidate's campaign expenses.
Jeff was walking around anxiously. When he saw Tommy stop, he immediately asked, "Are we going to the police station to bring Martin back? I... You didn't say that I would do as you ordered and Martin would be taken away by the police, Tommy."
"No hurry, it's only been four hours since I took it away." Tommy picked up the stack of bills and looked at Jeff: "Don't you want to know how much donations you received from the neighbors? Four hundred and thirty-seven dollars and seventy-five cents."
Jeff was stunned for a moment, then he said excitedly: "Wow, that's a lot of money. People are willing to give so much money to support me? I will win, right Tommy?"
Strictly speaking, more than four hundred dollars was not much compared to Jeff's income, which was only about his income for a week and a half or a week. But the amount was not important. The most important thing was that for the first time in his life, Jeff Lavin received encouragement, support and trust from so many people. The neighbors knew that he might not have a chance, but they all encouraged him to give it a try, just like Tommy.
Tommy closed the account book, lowered his head to light a cigarette, and said disapprovingly:
"In 1860, Lincoln's total expenses for the presidential campaign amounted to only $100,000. But now, just getting a seat in the House of Representatives, which has several hundred seats, costs about $300,000. And it's so cheap in a poor place like Florida. What makes you think you can win by getting more than $400 in donations from your neighbors three blocks away? On average, that's equivalent to each parent giving you $3.6. Regardless of winning or losing, even if you want to have enough funds to support you to the final showdown, it means you need to find another 100,000 neighbors willing to donate $3.6 to you."
Jeff was speechless at the number Tommy said.
One hundred thousand people, and the entire District 18 has less than 200,000 people. To achieve the conditions Tommy mentioned means that more than half of the population of this district is willing to trust him like those neighbors he has known for many years. If everyone gives him $3, he will have a chance to raise $300,000.
"I can't do it, Tommy. No one can make 100,000 people like him, unless it's Elvis or Aerosmith." Jeff came back to his senses from the shock and looked at Tommy: "Why don't we return the money to everyone? I... and if so many people really support me, I promise that if I'm elected, I will repair the pipes for free for the families who donated. 100,000 people, if I repair one pipe a day, how many months will it take me to repair it? Help me calculate it, I... I'm not good at math."
"About two hundred and seventy years. You start repairing from this year until you die at the age of eighty-one, and you can leave two hundred and twenty years of free work for your four children to inherit. Each of them will inherit an average of fifty-five years of work. Assuming that they have been paying off your debt since they were eighteen, each of them must work without any vacation until they are seventy-three to complete all the work." Tommy looked at Jeff with a smile.
Jeff stared at Tommy blankly. "You are kidding, right?"
Seeing Tommy didn't respond, Jeff walked to the table and picked up the account book frantically. "I don't like to break my promise. I promised that if I was elected, I would repair the pipes for donors for free, but I can't let my son pay off my debt. The only way is for me to quit. I don't want my children to be like me, dealing with smelly pipes every day, and repaying their father's promise without any compensation."
"Not many people will be willing to donate money to you, and your small donation will only go so far. Why? It's very simple. These people are your neighbors who have known you for many years. They have watched you grow from a child who lost his father and was taken care of by the neighborhood church to a good man who helps the church and the neighborhood take care of other children. They are willing to give you some money to encourage you. The kindness they show to you does not mean that the two hundred thousand people in this area who don't know you should follow suit. So, the next focus will be on those companies, social organizations, churches and the like that are active in this area. In short, whoever has money, we will raise funds for him." Tommy put away the money, stood up and said.
"The most important thing now is to get Martin out of the police station. He's been taken away for four hours." Jeff thought of Martin being taken away by the police again and urged Tommy, "He... I don't know why you let Martin lie and made me act with him in front of everyone. It doesn't feel good to lie."
"Wait a little longer." Tommy sat on the sofa, turned on the TV, and tuned to the local TV news channel: "Wait until the four local TV stations have broadcast Martin's stupid social news, especially the BT TV network that black people like to watch, then we will go to visit him. I... Oh~ Look, it's Martin's news. I finally waited for you."
Jeff heard what Tommy said and looked at the TV. The hourly news program was broadcasting local news. The picture showed what happened in the school parking lot that morning. Martin stood on the roof of the car and loudly talked about Jeff sending letters to parents. The host looked at the camera:
"On the second day of the special election in this district, there was a campaign disturbance. Martin Hart, the campaign manager of registered candidate Jeff Lavine, the black man standing on the roof of the car and shouting, took the initiative to expose Jeff's bribery to the gathered people, and he took the initiative to call the police. The funny thing is that when the police arrived at the scene, all the voters at the scene did not think that Jeff bribed the voters, and Jeff also said that he had no knowledge of the bribery. According to him, Martin Hart only met him yesterday, and after learning that he was running for the election, he took the initiative to serve as his campaign manager. The people present were willing to prove that Jeff was framed and... They all suspected that it was other candidates who had instigated Martin to frame Jeff, but Martin insisted that everything was instigated by Jeff. The police said that Martin was taken back to the police station for questioning because he was suspected of defaming others. The latest news we have learned from the police is that the handwriting on the so-called Jeff Lavine's handwritten letters matches Martin Hart's handwriting, which can prove that Martin Hart lied. In addition, someone saw Martin Hart following Jeff Lavine into Costco yesterday. The supermarket salesperson also said that ten boxes of ten Torjan finger rubber sleeves were lost, with a total value of seven dollars. "
After introducing the news, the host shook his head and looked at the camera: "Martin Hart, I can believe that you are the campaign manager, but I don't quite believe that you serve Jeff Lavine."
After reading the news, Tommy said to Jeff, "Tomorrow there will be local newspapers that will continue to publish the trouble Martin caused as a joke. Guess how the three black candidates feel now?"
Jeff shook his head: "What does this have to do with them?"
"They are the first three people suspected of sending Martin to frame you. Black people in this district only account for 18% of the total population. These three black people are typical runners-up. Even if the three of them become one person and get all the black votes, they have no chance in this district." Tommy crushed his cigarette, picked up a bag of potato chips on the coffee table, took out a piece and put it in his mouth:
"So, black votes are their bargaining chips. The more black supporters they have, the more rewards they can get when they negotiate cooperation with other stronger candidates later on. Whoever gets the most black support can get better resources within the party. For example, even if they cannot win a seat in the House of Representatives this time, the elected party can nominate them to represent their party in the Florida Legislature as a reward."
"But they didn't frame me. It's more like you framed me, Tommy." Jeff frowned and said to Tommy, "Or... I framed myself."
Tommy ignored Jeff's words and continued, "Martin's behavior is too much like an executor who was instructed to deliberately frame you. The three black candidates will not miss this opportunity. They all know that they definitely did not do this, so they will suspect the other two opponents and even try to throw this kind of dirty water on them. Because if they can quickly magnify some stains on the other party in the election, it will obviously be very helpful for them to win over black supporters. In other words, the three black people will go to Martin, hoping to get the so-called truth. They will observe Martin's subsequent actions and may even find someone to contact him, and even offer him benefits in exchange for him to attack his other two opponents on their behalf."
"Why do you do this? Isn't it good for everyone to compete fairly? Why let those three black people fight each other?" Jeff was confused: "The truth is that none of the three of them had any contact with Martin."
"No one wants to believe this truth. Even if Martin says it, the blacks won't believe it because they need another truth, which is that it must be the opponent who asked Martin to do it." Tommy looked at Jeff: "Don't worry, Martin won't frame anyone."
Jeff breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Tommy's assurance.
"Martin won't reveal anyone's name. He will bear all the charges alone, including stealing Trojan and slandering you. And you must be magnanimous and stand up, forgive him, issue a letter of understanding, and not pursue his legal responsibility. And, most importantly, you must continue to employ him as your campaign manager in the name of heavy election work." Tommy turned around and looked at Jeff.
Jeff has tried his best to follow Tommy's train of thought, but unfortunately, he has no idea why Tommy would go through so much trouble to come up with such a thing: "I don't understand. Martin was the campaign manager before. You made it so complicated, and it doesn't seem to have changed. Why do you do all this?"
"Martin has always refused to reveal the non-existent mastermind behind the scenes. The three black candidates will always enjoy this kind of questioning, and because they firmly believe that they did not do it, they will try to use this kind of thing to attack the other two. Martin would rather risk going to jail for defamation than reveal the mastermind behind the scenes, so everyone thinks that Martin is a very loyal subordinate of that person." Tommy said to Jeff:
"He refused to sell out that person, even if that person didn't bail him out, and he didn't betray the other person. Even if you personally rushed over to issue a letter of apology to forgive him, he still refused to betray the other person. But he was moved by your kindness and took the initiative to offer to continue to serve as your campaign manager. Therefore, he will serve you wholeheartedly in the future, and it will also be convenient for him to accompany you, a white person, to the black area to win support. The black people who have watched this scene from beginning to end will feel that Martin did nothing wrong. He was loyal to the mastermind before and would rather be accused than keep that person's name. But you chose to forgive him, and the black people will understand why Martin took you, a white person, to the black community to canvass for votes, because Martin, a black person, possesses the virtue of loyalty. Martin is repaying you, and you are a white person who repays evil with kindness."
"Why should I go to the black area...and, can we pick up Martin now?" Jeff had completely given up thinking and asked Tommy.
Tommy shook his head. "No, you have to go to Costco first and compensate the supermarket for its losses as Martin's friend in exchange for the supermarket issuing a letter of understanding to Martin, in front of the cameras and reporters."
…
Martin sat in the interrogation room of the Miami Police Department's Upper East Side precinct, his eyes peering through the open blinds as he watched the officers, wearing the distinctive blue uniforms of the Miami Police Department, move through the corridors.
He had been sitting in the police station for seven hours, in what he considered the most dangerous police station.
There are two independent police departments in Miami. One is the Miami Police Department that brought him back now, referred to as MPD, and the police officers' uniforms are blue. The other is the Miami-Dade County Police Department, referred to as MDPD, and the police officers' uniforms are brown.
Martin didn't know the significance of the existence of two police stations in this damn place of Miami, but he knew one thing for sure: the MPD that brought him back was notorious in Miami and was notoriously unfriendly to black people. They were best at shooting unarmed black people and then falsely accusing the dead of posing a deadly threat to the police.
Little Haiti in North Miami and Liberty City, the two large black communities, have never been afraid of MDPD police officers in brown uniforms coming to investigate cases because their law enforcement methods are relatively mild. However, black people in both communities are terrified of the appearance of MPD.
The year before he went to Los Angeles to make his living, the Miami Police Department had a grand scene in which the three elite departments, the full-time SWAT team, the helicopter team, and the anti-gang task force, were mobilized to catch two black car thieves from Haiti.
Two car thieves who stole only a second-hand Ford Mercury worth no more than seven hundred dollars were shot by three snipers from three MPD departments. Their death was more miserable than that of President Kennedy. The two car thieves probably couldn't understand until their death why they could enjoy a more miserable death than that of President Kennedy for just stealing a car.
The same question as the car thief was raised by an unlucky black drug dealer in Little Haiti that day. The drug dealer thought the police were out to arrest him, and feeling cornered, he took out his gun and prepared to fight his way out. The black people in Little Haiti witnessed with their own eyes how the police's heavy firepower could turn a living person into a pile of minced meat in just a dozen seconds.
I don't know if MPD wanted to stimulate the black people in Little Haiti. Most of the police officers in the action that day were black, especially those who fired shots. Those black people won commendations from the police force by killing their compatriots. This made many black people in Little Haiti very dissatisfied with the black police officers in MPD, but they could do nothing about it. They could only pray that they would not provoke MPD when making a living, because they would never show mercy when killing black people.
Just as Martin was sitting there killing time, the old policeman Fitz who brought him back pushed open the door and walked in, holding a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand. He sat across from the interrogation table and looked at Martin: "Are you sure you don't want to call a lawyer, or your family, or the person who instructed you to frame Jeff to take you away? The items you stole are worth seven dollars. This is not a felony, and the bail is very low. If you pay the debt to the supermarket and apologize as soon as possible after you get out, you should be able to get a letter of forgiveness from the other party easily. But if you stay here and enjoy the free air conditioning at the police station, and Costco and Jeff arrange for a lawyer to sue you for your apology and defamation during this time, you will be in big trouble."
"I have nothing to say, officer. It was Jeff who instructed me to steal and then write letters to his neighbors." Martin took a deep breath and continued, "Jeff is actually very insidious. What you saw was just his disguise. Who else knows his true face better than me, the campaign manager? I know him better than his wife. He is the real mastermind behind all this."
"He planned all this just to offend all the neighbors who have known him for many years? In exchange for the support of blacks and Cubans?" Fitz took a sip of coffee and looked at Martin with dissatisfaction: "You'd better tell me who really ordered you to frame Jeff and confess everything. This way you can strive to gain Jeff's understanding of your false accusation against him. I am also very curious about which black candidate came up with such a stupid frame-up. They should frame those candidates who have a better chance of being elected, instead of... framing Jeff, whose chance of being elected is infinitely close to zero."
Martin scratched his face and avoided Fitz's gaze awkwardly: "I got the name wrong. No... I mean, I didn't expect Jeff's support rate to be zero."
"So, someone instructed you, right? You were supposed to frame someone else, but for some reason, the victim became poor Jeff." Fitz had an expression that I had guessed a long time ago: "I don't care about politics, but if you want to gain Jeff's forgiveness, you must tell the truth and explain who instructed you to do all this."
"Jeff Laven instructed me to do this. He framed himself to gain sympathy." Martin was silent for a moment, then looked at Fitz seriously and said.
"If he had this kind of brains, he wouldn't have the naive idea of going to Washington to tell all Americans that he is a fool." Fitz emphasized, "And you, if you insist on continuing to talk nonsense, the recorder will record all your words, and these words will be put into text and submitted to the court as evidence of your defamation of Jeff Lavin. I don't care. Sitting in the car or here will not affect my drinking of coffee. I..."
Before he could finish, a policeman pushed open the door, poked his head in and said to him, "Fitz~~Jeff Lavin is here to take him away, and...he also brought a letter of understanding signed by him and issued by Costco for Martin Hart."
Fitz was stunned for a moment, then looked at his companion: "No! This black man still insists that it was Jeff who ordered him to steal and write letters to humiliate those neighbors. He doesn't deserve the forgiveness of Jeff, the kind-hearted fool!"
"Jeff insisted, and the sheriff has agreed, so he can go now," the companion added.
Fitz looked at Martin and lowered his voice: "Get out of the Upper East Side, go back to your little Haiti, and don't show up in my jurisdiction. If I find out that you still want to make trouble for Jeff, I will let the hounds of the police dog team bite off your balls, nigger, you can leave now."
Martin stood up and stretched his numb waist. "Jeff is very insidious, officer. He did this on purpose. He wanted to show his magnanimity. He instructed me to do everything."
