America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 13 Trump Card
After removing his makeup and changing his clothes, Martin came out of the temporary dressing room and went to a place where he would not interfere with other people's work. After observing for a while, he found where Fatty Andrew was.

While the other party was free, he walked over: “Mr. Andrew.”

Andrew still remembered Martin: "Didn't go to collect the money? Can't find the finance office?"

Martin smiled and said, "I just happened to see you when I came out. I came over to say thank you."

Andrew was very impressed with him: “You did a good job.”

The fat man was an employee who followed his boss closely. Martin changed the subject: "I'll see my friend later and ask her to contact friends with the same aspirations. I'll also trouble Mr. Andrew for help then."

"No problem." Andrew thought for a moment and said, "Since you support freedom and progress and are willing to contribute, you should also pay more attention to social current affairs. If you encounter anything that is not conducive to the Freedom Association, notify me in time."

He has said similar things to many people he knows in order to please his boss.

In order to get promoted, he kept up with his boss.

Martin naturally agreed.

A brand new BMW 7 Series drove up Farmer's Road, attracting a lot of attention, and Andrew's eyes also turned over there.

The car stopped, and the young female assistant who got off the passenger seat opened the back door. A short-haired woman in a business suit lowered her head and got out of the car.

Andrew waved at Martin and strode over there.

Martin asked a passing extra, "Who is that? So impressive."

The temporary actor kept walking and said casually, "The boss of the company."

Martin understood that this was Kelly Gray, a backbone member of the ATL Freedom Association.

He soon discovered that Andrew could not talk to Kelly Gray, but was very familiar with the female assistant.

Robert suddenly flashed over from behind: "Let's go get the money together, I want a damn big dinner tonight!"

"Hey, buddy, you kept me waiting for so long, why don't you treat me to dinner tonight?" Martin asked.

Robert followed him to the finance office: "Another day, another day."

It was not even four o'clock yet, and the scenes for the two of them had been finished. They each signed a check for $100 and went to the gathering place for the extras.

Martin saw Jerome and went straight over to him: "Captain, this is today's salary. I will pay the dues."

Now he was certain that Jerome had certain abilities and connections in Atlanta's bottom-level actor market.

It's much better than him running around aimlessly.

Of course, the money cannot be given all at once. There are more than 20 people in the troupe, both old and new, and Jerome must remember him at all times.

Jerome put away the check and was very satisfied with Martin's attitude. The first thing he thought of doing after earning money was to pay it back. It turned out that he was right.

There is still $200 left. Don't worry, I can get him to pay it back soon.

People's hearts are sometimes complicated. Jerome was in a good mood and asked one more question: "Do you have living expenses? You can leave some."

Martin said: "I work in a nightclub at night, and the income is enough to maintain basic living."

Jerome put away the money, and Martin took the opportunity to ask about the situation of Gray Film and Television Production Company.

This is a local Atlanta company. It is not very large and has never produced a theatrical movie. It often cooperates with cable TV stations to shoot late-night programs. It also invests part of its funds every year to produce videotape movies and directly promote them to the DVD market.

The boss, Kelly Gray, studied at the University of Southern California, worked in Hollywood, and was greatly influenced by Californians. She is currently one of the more active liberal figures in Atlanta.

A little after four o'clock, a large number of extras came back, and Martin and Robert followed the group onto the bus and returned to downtown Atlanta.

Martin got the car, had a quick dinner, and rushed to West Avenue. Before he could park the car, the door of a Wrangler two parking spaces away opened and a burst of loud shouting was heard.

Martin got out of the car and locked the doors.

A black woman with a thick waist and a big butt got out of the passenger seat of the Wrangler. She pointed at the car and cursed: "How dare you pick up girls in front of me, you loser! If I hadn't paid for you, how could you be here today? Now that you're rich, how dare you give me the cold shoulder!"

A bald black man came down from the other side and said, "Who are you calling a loser? Believe it or not, I will divorce you and kick you out."

The hot-tempered black woman got anxious and pulled out a small, shiny silver pistol from her basketball-like chest: "Boyette, I'm going to beat the shit out of you."

Not to be outdone, the bald Boyet pulled out his M1911: "Come on, let's see who gets killed first." The old black couple pointed guns at each other and looked like they could open fire at any time.

Martin quickly moved away and came to the door of the club. He found that Ivan, the stubborn one, was in high spirits and asked, "Do you know these two psychopaths?"

Ivan pointed to his head and said, "Aren't all of them sick?"

Bruce came out from the porch and slapped Ivan on the head: "Don't say such troublesome things at the door! We are civilized people!"

Ivan felt very aggrieved: "I am talking about the recognized fact. They are just like normal people at ordinary times. When they are a little emotional, they turn into brainless beasts."

At this time, someone ran out from the door of the black bar opposite and tried to persuade the black couple to stop.

Martin asked, "The person across the street?"

Bruce said: "The man's name is Boyette, the owner of a black bar, and the woman is his wife, Betty. They both have a background in South City black gangs."

Martin scratched his head: "A couple quarreled and used a gun."

Bruce lowered his voice and said, "Black gangs have extremely serious tendencies towards violence."

Martin remembered this and stayed away from those two black men next time he met them.

The two entered the club, changed their clothes and went to work. There were very few customers tonight, and at most there were no more than 30 people.

Martin took the $1 tip and put it in his pocket.

Bruce envied: "I heard that every bartender has a unique skill, do you have one?"

Martin said, "Of course." He stretched out his hand to Bruce, "But not for civilized people to see, because civilized people like posters."

I can't say I have any special skills, but I know a few cocktails that haven't appeared or become popular in this era, such as Paper Plane.

The tall and thin man with blond hair and ponytail came in from outside at this time. When he saw Bruce, he complained: "Who is that bastard at the door? He asked me to buy a ticket to enter."

Martin didn't need to ask, it must be Ivan.

Bruce just smiled foolishly.

The ponytailed man turned his gaze to Martin: "Handsome, you're wasting resources by selling alcohol! Vincent was wrong, he put you in the wrong position!"

As he spoke, he went upstairs.

Martin asked with his eyes.

Bruce replied, "The boss hired Michael, the nightclub PR. It should be because the customer flow is not improving, so the boss called him over. This guy is in trouble."

He teased Martin: "The bartender has to work part-time as a scavenger. It's our job to deal with Michael's body. Can you use acid? Can you remove bones?"

Martin said seriously: "I will let civilized people lick him into a big hole!"

Bruce's face was serious: "You still owe me a month's poster, and a big ass actress."

The former is easy to solve, but the latter is too troublesome. Martin forced a change of subject: "If the club closes, you will lose your job."

Bruce said, "No, the boss still has some cards to play."

Martin was curious: "What's the trump card?"

"Solicit opinions from your subordinates." Bruce was clearly not joking: "Choose the best solution from them."

He looked around the club and said, "When we changed our business, someone suggested opening a gigolo club. The owner made the choice and went to Las Vegas to investigate, and then opened the House of Beasts."

Martin thought, no wonder business is bad, the club originated from this unreliable method.

He looked at the empty place and thought carefully.

When he was free again, Martin asked, "The club is not doing well, where are the people who give suggestions?"

Bruce pointed to the circular stage and said, "The boss made Hart dance on it until he gets better."

(End of this chapter)