Party

Dean received a special adult gift for Christmas. On the same day, he also sent the Price List to more than a dozen of his friends by email for the first time.

He enjoyed a warm dinner with his father, and then went to his aunt's house for a Christmas family party.

Everything seems to be on the right track, at least in the last few days of 1988.

Also during Christmas, the tranquil club in the east of the city also held a party.

However, unlike other places in Youngstown that sing and dance or drink all night, the party at the tranquility club is too quiet.

There is no unlimited number of drinks here, let alone small groups. Some are just people sitting together, and everyone enjoys delicious food and whispers in an orderly manner.

Everything was restrained, and even the music of the party was replaced by pop songs with religious elements.

In the words of the eldest sister Anna: This is a quiet club. You can't touch anything related to "alcoo, tobacco" until you completely sober up.

In order to avoid everyone's inner restlessness, even a little noisy rock music is not good.

After eating a beef burger and a small portion of cheese-flavored macaroni, Ryder felt that his stomach was full.

This is the first time he has enjoyed such a rich food in the quiet club in nearly a month.

Previously, because of the withdrawal reaction, he vomited what he had eaten, and the bread hot dogs chewed in his mouth without any taste.

Maybe it's because the food is not delicious enough, or maybe it's because he lost his sense of taste. In short, he didn't have any good memories of the food during that time.

But now that feeling seems to be back, and his taste buds are slowly recovering. Ryder himself can feel that his body is slowly getting better since he stopped taking addictive drugs.

For the first time, he felt that life was no longer so dissenable, and he even had a little vision for the future.

After secretly drinking the beer poured out to him by his patients, Ryder finally burped with satisfaction. Although Sister Anna prohibits everyone from drinking, people can always get a little beer from messy channels to relieve their glut.

Because of the effect of alcohol, Ryder felt a trace of warmth in his body. Maybe it's time. You can't see the snowflakes under the street lights outside the window.

Saying goodbye to the people around him, Ryder got up and put on his coat and was ready to go out.

"Ryder" eye-catching Anna found him who walked to the door at the first time.

"Everyone is enjoying a big dinner. Won't you be together?"

"Anna, I have eaten enough. Look, my stomach is even protesting. Ryder straightened his stomach and showed that he couldn't eat it anymore.

"Well, it seems that you are having a good time tonight." Anna was amused by his movements, but then glanced out of the door without a trace, "Where are you going so late? This is not a good time to go out.

"I'm going out for a walk," Ryder shrugged his shoulders. "You know, today is Christmas, the time for family reunion. Maybe I should take a look. I don't need to say anything. Just take a look. Anna, you..."

"OK, I understand." Anna is very gratified that Ryder still has family in his heart, which can sometimes become a belief or motivation for those who are "sobering up".

Anna knows this feeling, and she has experienced everything. Ten years ago, she was also a motorcycle girl who swallowed magic drugs and fast customers, and was more stubborn than cattle.

In the years of quitting addiction, her mother, who was far away in the countryside, once became her inner sustenance and motivation for persistence.

She also had countless impulses to give up, or sneaked back to her hometown in Mississippi and let everything go to hell.

Fortunately, she persisted, and her family was the biggest motivation for her support.

Now Ryder wants to sneak back to see his family, and Anna understands that kind of psychology.

While being ashamed of them, I long for their encouragement. If you really don't have the courage to face it, then standing outside the window and watching the lively life scenes of their loved ones is also a comfort to them.

"So, do you need me to go with you?" Anna looked back at the people in the hall.

"No," Ryder quickly refused. "I just went to see and didn't intend to do anything. You should accompany David. He has made a lot of efforts for the club during this period.

Anna looked back at David with a smile on her face. David is her husband, a Puerto Rican, with a pair of squinted eyes.

Although he is not good-looking, David works very hard. He does all the work of mason and metal recycling. Of course, he is also in the quiet club.

Thinking of David, Anna also thinks it's time to reward him tonight. So she turned around and took care of Ryder. "Okay, be careful yourself. There was a shooting in the east of the city two days ago, and it was not peaceful here.

"I'll be careful." Ryder shrugged his shoulders. He has nothing to say about the shooting. If there is no gunfire in the east of the city, he will even be a little unaccustomed to it.

After saying goodbye to Anna, Ryder went out and strolled around Lincoln Park near the Serenity Club before slowly turning to Xihai Street further east.

It is a famous place of ichthy and dragons in the east of the city, addicts, gamblers, prostitutes, and all the dirty things you can think of can be seen there.

When Ryder arrived here, the F&N food market was as chaotic and noisy as ever. Africans, Hispanics, Puerto Ricans, Italians, you can see all kinds of people.

Don't get the misunderstanding that they are not customers here. They are just used to having fun here.

For 20 dollars, you can pick a street girl with heavy makeup, and you don't have to go to the hotel, just go directly to the uninhabited alley where the street lights can't shine. No matter how bad it is, the bridge hole by the river is also good, and no one is picky in the east of the city.

Of course, in addition to women, you can also spend $20 to play a domino on the street. If you are lucky, you may be able to make a lot of money.

As Ryder sees now, the flirting of women, the shouting of men, and the moaning of drunkards constitute the main colors of Christmas in the east of the city.

As for why the price of these fun is 20 dollars? That's because the market price of 0.1g express is $20.

Existence is reasonable, and everything has its own laws.

After wandering around the food market, Ryder found his goal.

"Hey, Anthony, where's Flipp?"

"Ryder?" The black teenager named Anthony was very surprised when he saw Ryder. "I didn't expect you to be alive. They said you were dead before."

"ComeOn! I just went for a little treatment. Ryder spread out his hand and looked helpless.

If a person disappears in the east of the city for a month, he is likely to die in an inconspicuous place.

It may be shot, or it may be just freezing to death or death from illness. Who knows? After all, these can be seen everywhere in the east of the city.

"Is it true that Edwin said that he saw you near the Madman Club?" The Madman Club in Anthony's mouth is the Tranquility Club.

"Almost" Ryder shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to talk much about it, especially on Xihai Street.

"Oh, my God, Ryder, you really went to the Madman Club and came out alive?" Anthony's big black eyes were full of curiosity. "Did they tie you up and force you to read the Bible every day? Did they force you to drink urine? Did they do something too much to your buttocks? ..."

"WTF?" Ryder had to interrupt Anthony's chitter, "I'm just going to quit my addiction, not to the fax club!"

"Forget it," Ryder waved his hand. "Take me to see Flip. Isn't he looking for this? I have it in my hand."

When Anthony looked over, Ryder was swaying a brown phone card in his hand.

"Ohshit! Ryder, where did you get these internal cards? The same $20 phone card is $5 cheaper than a convenience store.

Both Flipp and Redmond like to use it to talk about business. You know, they make a lot of phone calls every day.

"Okay, Anthony, take me to see Flip, and we'll talk about the rest when we come back." Unlike Anthony's excitement, Ryder was a little vigilant when he heard the news.

It seems that the cards that Dean and others sold before really attracted the attention of the east of the city.

There is a very prosperous business in the east of the city, that is, selling leaves. Teenagers to teenagers, old people in their sixties, regardless of men, women, old and young, may take two sips.

Of course, with the decline of Youngstown, the business has slowly spread to the whole city. The more people buy, the more prosperous their business will be.

In order to avoid the police tracking, Flipp never uses landlines, and public phone booths all over the street is the best choice.

The so-called internal card that Dean made before is very suitable for their appetite. The quantity is large, and the price is cheap.

"Ryder, if you have extra internal cards, remember to leave two for me. I can pay for them." Anthony is also a little greedy for this so-called internal card.

He can buy them for $15 and then sell them to rich white people for $20. Especially those white people who urgently need to make a phone call and can't find a phone card at the airport.

"If there are many, I will leave it to you." While perfunctory to Anthony, Ryder was led by him to a room behind the food market.

This is one of the strongholds where Flipp usually stays, and it is also the site of the Ayers Street Beach Gang. And the Hihai Street outside belongs to Flipp.

Anthony skillfully greeted the two black people outside the door, and then told them about Ryder.

"Yo! Ryder, I heard that you came out of the Madman Club alive? A tall and thin black man at the door couldn't help looking at it curiously.

"Yes, I just feel that my body is getting worse and worse, so I want to stop first." Ryder had to pretend to be a light-hearted explanation.

"MotherF*cker, you are completely wrong about the order. Only flying leaves will make you concentrate and give you endless strength. The black man at the door motioned to his partner standing beside him, where a strong black giant was agitating his chest muscles.

"ComeOn, let me go to the gym. It's better to kill me." Ryder said he was not that material.

"Haha, you are self-aware. Go in. Boss Flipp is waiting for you. Seeing Ryder admitting cowardism, the black man proudly mocked and let Ryder and others into the room.

There, there was a black man with sunglasses and a big gold chain, sitting on the sofa waiting for him.