America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 57 Neighborhood Defense Alliance
After breakfast at the hotel, Martin went to the lobby and called Benjamin.

Last time, when Benjamin wanted to send him to the Sacred Valley, he had said that he was a film and television graduate from the Savannah College of the Arts.

Martin mentioned the accent issue, and Benjamin asked Martin for help, so he helped contact the person without saying a word.

In just a few minutes, a contact method was given to Martin. Martin drove to the Atlanta branch, found the relevant personnel, and obtained the audit qualification and relevant class schedule for the Department of Performance.

After attending professional classes for a morning, Martin went to a nearby professional bookstore in the afternoon and bought auxiliary equipment such as a tape recorder and tapes.

He called Kelly Gray, who was still in Washington on important business.

Martin was not in a position to say those words over the phone, so he could only wait for her to come back.

Returning to the Clayton community and arriving at the school bus stop, Martin found two skinny black boys who wanted to harass Lily.

Lily was almost as tall as Elena.

Martin drove over and honked the horn, and Lily hurried over.

The two skinny black boys refused to give up and wanted to catch up.

Martin pulled out a short-barreled shotgun from under the passenger seat, and the two black guys turned around and ran.

Lily got on the passenger seat and snatched the gun from Martin.

Martin put the gun to the other side and said, "Let Harris pick you up from now on."

"Give me a gun." Lily pulled a knife out of her bag: "I'll let those bastards keep an eye on me!"

Of course Martin wouldn't give it.

Back at Carter's house, Elena was still practicing making cocktails, and Martin told her what had just happened.

Elena said, “Harris, you will be responsible for picking up Lily from the school bus station from now on.”

Community security has collapsed recently. After dinner, no one wants to go out and everyone is busy doing their own things.

Martin put on headphones and listened to the recording to practice his accent.

You will have to practice when you have time in the future. This is a long process.

As the night deepened, a black business car approached Clayton
Scott Carter lay on the seat in a strange posture, looking out the window from time to time. All the street lights outside were broken and it was pitch black.

By the moonlight, he saw two black men running out of an alley and robbing a unlucky guy.

The car drove a short distance and just stopped when the driver shouted, "We're here, get out!"

Scott moved his legs to get out of the car. Even though he had taken two painkillers beforehand, it still hurt and he could only move forward in a limp manner.

When I arrived at the store door, it took a lot of effort to lift the rolling door.

He walked in, and from the originally dark shadows, four black men in black clothes ran out and rushed into the store before Scott closed the door.

The black gun was pointed at Scott's face.

Scott was dumbfounded. Old Black, who came from South City, was so damn good at utilizing his talent.

The bald black man holding the gun said, "If you don't want to die, take out all your money."

Another old black man pulled down the shutter at this time: "We have plenty of time."

Scott raised his hands: "Don't shoot, I'll pay! I'll pay!"

Money is not as important as life.

He gave away the money he earned tonight before he could even warm it.

"That's just a few hundred dollars!" The black man holding the gun said, "You've been treating us to a lot of dinners at the bar lately, and you even said you made a lot of money. Are you kidding me with just a few hundred dollars?"

Scott said, "No more, really no more!"

"Search!" The bald old black man gave an order, and the other three old black men rummaged through the drawers and cabinets.

The night was long, and the black men had long since set their sights on Scott, searching every corner of the grocery store.

With the gun pointed at his head, Scott didn't dare to move.

The grocery store was not big, and the black men quickly found several wine boxes filled with banknotes of various denominations.

Scott was shaking all over, but he couldn't do anything.

The old blacks opened the rolling doors and disappeared into the night.

Scott didn't even dare to call the police because there were too many stolen goods in his store whose origins were unknown.

"My money! My money!" Scott's legs went limp and he sat down on the ground. Then he jumped up again: "My butt!"

…………

In the morning, at Carter's house, five people were eating breakfast around the coffee table.

Martin looked at Harris, who had the cast removed, and asked, "How did you do on the SAT?"

Harris knew that Martin didn't know the specific score value, so he said, "You did well in the test, but your social practice is relatively poor. You will have a better chance of success if you apply to a public university."

Martin asked, "What about tuition?"

Harris already has one to consider: “Student loans.”

Lily suddenly interrupted: "You won't be able to pay it off even after you retire."

Elena took the lottery ticket out of her pocket, compared it with the result in the newspaper, cursed, and threw it into the trash can.

Martin asked, "No?"

Lily said first: "She has always had bad luck."

Mr. Wood came in from outside at this time and said with a smile: "You are all here."

Elena quickly threw the kettle under the coffee table: “Wood, what’s wrong with you?”

Mr. Wood sat on a chair. "There have been frequent robberies around the community in the past few days. We called the police but got no response. I contacted many people to make complaints, and the West City Police Department finally sent someone to discuss with us. Martin, I heard that you have joined a very influential social organization, and I would like to invite you to come with us."

Elena looked at Martin, and Martin said, “Mr. Wood, I’ll go with you.”

Lily couldn't help it again: "It's all those black Xs, they should be sent to the zoo!"

This time, Elena ignored Lily.

Martin changed into slightly more formal clothes, took his ATL Freedom Association work ID, and followed Wood to the outskirts of the community.

Ashley, Welbeck, Nani, Valencia and others who have a little prestige in the community have all arrived.

After waiting for a while at Nani's community supermarket, representatives from the police station arrived.

A black policeman.

Nani, who had a bad temper, tried to use polite language: "Officer, ever since those black gang members came to the community, the law and order in Clayton has been ruined!"

The black officer said, “This is not about black people.”

Nani couldn't help but say, "Before the blacks came, Clayton had bad security, but it wasn't this bad!"

The black policeman stood up and asked: “Are you discriminating against black people?”

"No, absolutely not." This big hat was pressed down on him, and even the person in the White House couldn't handle it. Martin quickly grabbed Nani and showed his work ID.

The black policeman glanced at the Freedom Club's ID and didn't dwell on the issue. He said coldly, "We will strengthen supervision of this area, but our police force is limited and we can't maintain a high frequency of patrols. I have a suggestion for you: form a neighborhood defense alliance. You report the members to the police station and they will register you."

Having said this is like saying nothing.

The black policeman looked at his watch and said, "I have other work to do, so I'll stop here."

The other party had the advantage of skin color, so there was no way to discuss the issue of black people. Everyone could only watch him walk away.

Nani asked, “What should we do?”

"I'm old, but I want to help the community," Wood said. "I have a long gun."

Welbeck said: "Let's form a patrol!"

Fletcher asked, "What about the expenses?"

Everyone was silent. The money the poor earned was just enough to support their family.

Martin said something practical: "Post notices on community bulletin boards, reduce going out at night, and don't go to remote places even during the day. Count households that own guns and exchange contact information with each other so that if you are attacked, others can provide support."

Wood said: "Statisticians, let's report it. If those black people really want to attack the community, we can proactively defend and fight back."

Joining the defense alliance will save a lot of trouble when shooting. Martin thought about it and said, "Elena and I have guns."

That afternoon, Nani, Wood and others took the list to the police station and registered it.

The Clayton community's Neighborhood Defense League is officially established.

The fence in the yard was almost non-existent, so Martin and Elena collected a lot of cans, filled them with gravel, and tied them to the front and back fences of the yard.

(End of this chapter)