America 1982-Chapter 663 - 6: The Devil Never Repents

The dark blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan rolled back in front of Tommy, the young girl who had previously tried to intimidate him by lifting her shirt now crawled from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s, curling up in a ball, looking at Tommy in terror as he stood still drinking Coke.

Tommy tossed away the empty Coke, and spoke earnestly to the frightened girl, "Don’t worry, girl, I’m not a human trafficker, nor am I a gangster."

The girl’s tears had ruined her makeup, leaving two black streaks down her face as she looked at Tommy tremulously, unsure of what to say.

She felt that the worst decision she had ever made in her life was getting into that motorcyclist’s car. The fool had stolen the car on a whim, and before they could get a hundred meters away, the luxury car automatically shut off and wouldn’t start again. Then, two SUVs suddenly appeared with two stout men carrying automatic weapons. Both she and the man had raised their hands in surrender immediately, only to watch one of the men toss him into the backseat of the SUV like luggage, while the other searched her thoroughly, took her phone, and then gave her two choices—either join the man in the backseat or sit in the driver’s seat of this damned luxury car and drive it back the way they came.

She hadn’t ruled out the possibility of jumping out of the car and running away halfway, but they had obviously anticipated this move. In the time it took her to walk from the motorbike to the luxury car, they had recited her name, home address, and other details, letting her know they knew where to find her, or her poor family.

What kind of people had she provoked?

The girl promised with a sobbing voice to Tommy, who had resumed his place in the driver’s seat and was now wiping the dashboard and steering wheel with disinfectant wipes, "Mister, I won’t say anything to the police, as long as you let me go, I promise."

"If you want, you can tell the police anything you like, girl. The Page who just grabbed you, his father is the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. I mean he may not be able to directly handle what’s happened here, but he could probably offer some professional advice," Tommy made a quieting gesture to the girl, then spoke to his wristwatch:

"Page, that kind-hearted and generous young man who was willing to let me cop a feel of his girlfriend’s tits—what about him?"

There was a snap and a scream from the other end, followed by Page’s voice: "He’s generously racked up over three thousand bucks debt to you again. However, his file shows a history of assault and sexual offenses. For your safety, I’m planning to hand him over to the professional debt collectors outsourced by KeyBank at the next stop."

"He’s a good kid, not old Martin! What’s wrong with you? Has electrocuting Martin stopped being a source of pleasure for the Pages? Upon hearing the sounds of electrocution and screams, Tommy complained to Page, "Louis, Martin’s white wife, called me last time, asking me to pay for Martin’s medical bills. She said Martin’s potency has declined now he’s in his sixties, which led her to cheat and eventually they divorced. And all the losses should be considered work-related injuries, because your grandfather, father, brother, and you all found various reasons to zap his waist over the years! I’ll say it again, electrocuting anyone but Martin’s direct descendants won’t earn you any bonus points!"

"That woman’s credit line at KeyBank is three times that of the man’s," John Page shifted the subject without any inflection in his tone.

Tommy hung up the phone, started the car, and looked at the girl, "Well, let’s chat. I’m curious, how is it that your generous boyfriend could only rack up a three thousand dollar debt to me, but your limit is much higher than his? Does this mean you and he are not on the same page, a rich girl and a poor boy in a runaway love story?"

"I just hitched a ride with him, I’ve known him for a few hours, I... I’m a dancer, but there’s no work in Basto. Luckily, I got a chance for an audition at a theater in Fort Smith, Arkansas. If I pass, they’re willing to give me a three-month performance job," the girl explained earnestly, trying to calm herself, seeing that Tommy had no intention of harming her.

Tommy clicked his tongue, "You could buy a plane ticket. Swapping miles for sex with drivers isn’t very profitable. With your looks, I mean just rent a room in any motel, you could earn enough for a round-trip plane ticket in one night. Fort Smith is almost three thousand kilometers away, girl. If you’re counting on hitching free rides, I guess you’d catch every sexually transmitted disease there is before you even reach your destination."

"I paid for the ride. I wanted him to take me to Nidos ahead, I checked online, and the flights departing from there are cheaper, almost half the cost," the girl explained that she just wanted to go to the Nidos airport, over a hundred kilometers away to catch a discount flight, not planning to ride a Harley across six thousand miles hooking up for rides.

"What’s your name?"

"Jenny, Jenny Ebbeson."

"Shit, my daughter is also called Jenny, but she’s quite a bit older than you, married to a German husband, with kids, now settled down in Germany," Tommy took his hands off the wheel, leaving it to autopilot, lit a cigarette, and said somewhat nostalgically.

Jenny observed Tommy’s expression from the side and asked tentatively, "Are you and your daughter not on good terms?"

"Not good, but not bad either. She grew up without much presence from me while I was busy working, but I wasn’t neglectful about spending time with her, just that... How about you and your father?" Tommy looked towards the scenery by the road.