There are barrels of rubber in the warehouse one hundred meters away from the dock.
The prototype wooden barrel is like a pillar. From bottom to top, the twelve-meter-high ceiling can almost touch the top.
Among the gathering of a group of animals, a polar bear with pure white fur and overalls frowned.
A wide passage was opened from the animal in a few clicks, and the dark brown animal eyes looked at the rhino that he was more familiar with at the scene:
"Unnie, what's going on?"
The moment he saw Bell, he felt like he had found a savior. Ernie quickly shouted:
"Bell, you're here."
On the other side, as they got closer and closer, the smell of blood in the air gradually became stronger.
At the same time, Bell also saw clearly what was happening ahead.
It was a zebra with black and white stripes, wearing a brown overalls.
On his feet was a pair of half-worn shoes.
Judging from the style, the other party should have had a relatively decent job.
About four or five years ago, Bell saw a pair of shoes of the same style, priced at $188.
A pair of shoes costing 188 US dollars is considered a mid-to-high-end price even in the 21st century.
Not to mention this was a hundred years ago in the 1920s.
But there’s no point, because the guy’s going to die.
The zebra was lying on the ground, its thick black-and-white striped neck broken in a heart-wrenching gesture.
His head was pressed under the heavy oak barrel, and black and red sticky blood spread on the ground.
Because iron ions are one of the substances composed of red blood cells, there is a smell similar to rust in the air.
Next to him was a wildebeest wearing a vest, a towel around his neck, and a pair of ripped jeans.
He looked at the zebra lying on the ground, twitching from time to time. His dark eyes were full of fear, and he said tremblingly:
"Maddie was too tired, the barrel was slippery, he didn't catch it, and then..."
Bell ignored Wildebeest's remarks and took a look at the situation in the warehouse.
After confirming that it was not murder, I couldn't help but sigh.
Two days ago, at the moment when these animals came to the warehouse?
Bell knew this day would come.
The loading and unloading work of large cargo ships is not something that ordinary animals can bear.
In fact, even though he weighs more than 1.5 tons, he has the figure of a bodybuilding champion and can reach the height of a North American bison of 2.8 meters.
This job is still quite a challenge!
zebra? Wild deer?
Bell didn't know why these guys came here to join in the fun.
You need to know the loading and unloading tasks of large cargo ships. The stevedores like them are targeting steel behemoths!
For animals like zebras, wildebeests, and wild deer, their targets should be small and medium-sized cargo ships, not large cargo ships that start at more than 300 kilograms.
Therefore, Bell was not surprised by the death of the zebra in front of him, but he never expected that one would die in just two days.
With a sigh, the polar bear looked at the animals around him:
"Which of you has a better relationship with him?"
Among the crowd, Ernie the Rhino raised his head, his mood was very low:
"I, Bell, Madi's son and my son both go to Woods Elementary School and are in the same class. We have met before. He lives on the street next to me. Madi is a very good..."
Looking at Ernie the Rhino who was chattering endlessly and repeating himself, Bell shook his head and patted the other person on the shoulder:
"He is hopeless."
Rhino looked up at Bell, his black eyes flashing with struggle:
"There's really no chance at all."
The polar bear shook his head, gave the other party a helpless expression, and looked at the zebra regretfully:
"His neck was broken. Even if he was sent to the hospital, he might not be able to be saved. And old Lacey is a stingy guy and he won't pay the money."
After the words fell, Ernie the Rhino covered his face and cried:
"What should I do now? Madi just bought a house with a loan last year, and his children are about to start school. Mrs. Madi works in the laundry room. Her little money is not enough to live on. How should I tell her that this is too much? It’s desperate.”
How would you describe the people of 1924?
Children living a hundred years in the future will see this as America's golden age, with rapid technological development.
But for the vast majority of nonwhite immigrants to the United States, the 1920s were a disaster.
For example, a road movie called Green Book a hundred years later told the story of a white driver taking a black ancient music pianist on a tour in the southern United States.
There is a very interesting part in it, which is that black people need to carry a green book when traveling!
You know, this period is already the 1960s of the twentieth century!
New York is a very tolerant city, but behind this tolerance is not the absence of barriers between races.
Rather, there is a force that transcends race and forcibly suppresses the problem of racial discrimination, and this terrible force is called capital!
In the eyes of capital, there is no distinction between white people and black people. There is only one thing to measure a person's value - money!
What is the despair that Ernie the Rhino talks about?
After the zebra named Madi dies, the house he just bought will be taken away by the bank because he cannot pay the loan on time.
Without her husband's stable job source, it is difficult for the wife to raise her children with her meager salary.
Your best option is to leave New York with your kids.
Of course, there is another option that is more cruel, which is to abandon children who cannot provide income and find another way to make a living.
In fact, this is not just a problem for Madi, most of the animal people present face the same problem.
This is a common social problem, faced by capital, everyone is the same.
The polar bear didn't know how to comfort the other person. He could only pat the rhinoceros on the shoulder:
"Maddie is a temporary worker, he has no insurance, and even if he dies, old Lacey won't pay a penny, but I will talk to him."
When Bell expressed his willingness to help zebra, Ernie was so moved that he didn't know what to say:
"Bell, thank you."
The polar bear waved his hand, his expression did not change much, he just reminded the other person:
"Don't have high hopes, I can guarantee up to $1,200."
Twelve hundred dollars is a lot of money, but compared to a life?
The money seemed so cheap again.
Seeing that the twitching on the ground had stopped, his broken head was still pressed under the rubber bucket.
At this moment, the thick plasma no longer flows, which means that the zebra named Madi is completely dead, and an oppressive atmosphere of despair spreads in the air.
It was obviously Madi who died.
But what most people see is themselves.
The rabbit dies and the fox is sad, even though it was Madi who died today instead of himself.
But essentially, what is the difference between them?
At three o'clock in the afternoon, in an office in New York Harbor, expensive wine was poured on the floor, and the bright red liquid soaked into the wool carpet.
The air is filled with the smell of alcohol, women's perfume, nicotine and other smells. It's a luxurious and decadent smell that you can feel after taking a breath.
Bright black patent leather and a red-soled high-heeled shoe were placed on the table.
Old Lacey, who was nearly sixty years old, gasped rapidly, an unnatural red color appeared on his wrinkled old face, and his eyes were bloodshot. As the room heated up, Old Lacey pulled off his tie.
In front of him is a tempting cake.
White cream, dotted with fiery red cherries, the air is filled with a youthful flavor.
Old Lacey was very thin, like a hungry, scrawny old dog, greedily biting the tempting cake in front of him.
The stickiness and silkiness of the cream, the morbid intoxication on his wrinkled face, the veins in his arms bulging, his breathing getting faster and faster, the temperature in the room getting higher and higher, like H2O that is about to be heated to boiling in a test tube.
At that moment when old Lacey was so excited that his whole body was about to tremble.
Outside the office, there was a knock on the door, and an undeniable voice sounded outside the door:
"Old Lacey, give you a minute to put your pants on, we need to talk."
Old Lacey: "..."
A moment later, outside the office, with the corner of his mouth slightly raised, the polar bear heard the heart-rending wail of old Lacey——
Shet, kill you, I want to kill you!
