America 1982

When Tommy pushed his bicycle back to the rented apartment, Ashley had left, leaving Melonie sitting on the sofa in the living room drinking tequila.

Noticing that Tommy had been staring at her, Melonie looked away from the TV and looked at Tommy: "What's the problem?"

"It's nothing, it's just that alcohol will make the redness and swelling on your face that was covered with makeup become obvious again." Tommy sat on the other end of the sofa, pointed at his face and said, "So, as a minor, now Can I have a drink? Since these drinks were bought with the money I earned."

Then he took out a cigarette and handed one to Melonie. Melonie took the cigarette and held it to her lips. Tommy lit the lighter and handed it over to help Melonie light it.

Melonie took a drag on the cigarette, then looked back at the TV: "It's just a cup."

"Thank you." Tommy poured himself a glass of wine and took a sip: "How are you doing at work?"

Melonie stared at the popular CBS sitcom "Ties" being played on the TV and responded coldly: "It's so good that I'm determined to change my job."

Melonie has a typical Italian appearance, with long black hair and delicate facial features. Compared with women of German or Irish descent, she is also relatively petite. At this moment, she is holding a wine glass with an expressionless face and drinking sips. Agave.

The beauty is cold and the wine is cold.

"Why is your ex-boyfriend causing trouble for you?" Tommy observed his aunt's face and continued to ask carefully.

Melonie turned her head and glanced at Tommy: "That has nothing to do with you."

Then he drank the remaining wine in the glass and walked towards the bedroom.

"Good night, Melonie." Tommy said, looking at the other person's back.

"Bang!" The bedroom door made a bang as Melonie closed it from inside, like a response to Tommy Hawke.

Tommy Hawke was sitting alone in the living room, looking at the messy coffee table, and suddenly smiled bitterly.

It turned out that the previous bastard had brought several adult magazines home. No wonder his father, who had always talked about his family, did not dissuade him at all when he wanted to move out.

At that moment, Colin Hawke's thoughts should be what he told himself tonight, regretting ever having the son who caused Bethea to be taken away for foster care.

It's just that Tommy has no impression of this at all, or he is not sure whether those magazines belong to him, because occasionally he and Tony's classmates will bring such women's magazines for circulation when they are guests. But now that he knows the answer now, then As Colin Hawke said, it was he who owed it to this family because it was because of him that Bethea went to a foster home.

He has an unshirkable responsibility, so he needs to find a way to make up for his mistakes and bring Bethea back.

Of course, another reason is that if he is planning to enter a good university, he had better handle his family relations well, otherwise when the university calls to investigate his situation, both his father and Tony can easily use this matter. Ruining his path to education.

Taking back Bethea's custody rights is very simple, but also very difficult. The simplicity is that as long as you take out the money and meet the various tricky conditions set by the judge, Bethea can go home as soon as possible. The difficult thing is that if you want to satisfy Those conditions are nothing short of a fantasy for blue-collar workers like Colin Hawke, who lost his job in a large company and turned to odd jobs.

Thinking of this, Tommy got up and went back to the bedroom to take out pen and paper, and then began to list the conditions for bringing his sister home again on the coffee table.

The first is that Bethea needs to have a separate bedroom of no less than fifteen square meters in her native family with a children's exclusive wardrobe and desk.

Tommy put a check mark on it, but hesitated and added the suffix of two hundred dollars.

Her home is an independent house with three bedrooms, belonging to her father, herself and Tony respectively. Bethea has been living in the attic arranged by her father before. Although the rigid limit of less than 15 square meters is a bit cramped, but It is decorated very warmly. Many families in Warwick will decorate the attic to be very cute and let their children live in it alone. However, apparently from the judge and the Child Protection Agency, Bethea cannot live in the attic.

If he wanted to take Bethea back, he would need to give up his or Tony's bedroom to Bethea. Of course Tommy had no objection to this, but he would need to spend two hundred dollars to renovate his or Tony's bedroom.

Article 2: The monthly family income must not be less than US$850.

My father’s monthly salary as a temporary worker at a shipbreaking yard varies between US$600 and US$700 due to varying working hours. Plus Tony’s income, it should be enough, but Tony’s salary cannot be reflected on the tax return. , he is an apprentice, and his remuneration is settled in cash, so to meet this standard, he either needs to wait for Tony to become a full-time apprentice, or he needs a stable monthly income of no less than two hundred US dollars, which is reflected in the family income tax return.

Tommy added the suffix two hundred dollars a month to the second item.

Article 3: The family guarantees that Bethea’s growth and education expenses will be no less than $70 per month, and the observation period is two years.

This one is to record Bethea's expenses every month and keep the bills for people from the Child Protection Bureau to check to determine whether the expenses conditions are met. Tommy is not too worried about this. Seeing his dad today In order to offset the consulting fee, he did a good job of seducing the female lawyer in front of the other party's husband. He was sure that his father would pay far more for Bethea than the seventy dollars.

Hook.

Article 4: The family promises to purchase various commercial children’s insurances designated by the Child Protection Bureau for Bethea.

Tommy wrote a suffix of thirteen hundred dollars after the fourth item.

Yes, if Bethea wants to return to her original family, then the original family needs to purchase various child combination insurances for Bethea that cost up to $1,300 a year for at least two years.

The official explanation is that the Child Protection Bureau needs to ensure that children return to their original families during the two-year observation period to avoid any problems as much as possible. Complete insurance can minimize this risk.

Another answer is that the underwriting companies of these insurances are the sponsors of various political parties, or simply the business of some congressmen before entering politics. They make money openly and openly by relying on the name designated by the Child Protection Bureau.

That's why it was easy for Bethea to be sent to foster care by the Children's Administration, but so difficult to bring her back.

"This is simply not a problem that a high school student can solve." Tommy Hawk looked at the piece of paper and let out a depressed breath.

With only Dad and Tony, there is no chance of bringing Bethea home, and the same goes for him as a high school student. Not to mention the stable and continuous monthly income of two hundred dollars, but the one that is as high as thirteen hundred dollars a year. The insurance cost was already a big mountain that stood between Bethea and them.

On the TV, CBS's popular drama series had finished playing. Providence TV switched back to its own nightly news program. The host said to the camera:

"New York City's measures to increase tobacco taxes have been going on for a month. The government is optimistic that the new cigarette tax can increase New York City's tax revenue by $63 million and help citizens quit smoking. However, New York City smokers obviously don’t think so, the following is an interview excerpt..."

Tommy Hawke was listening to the New York smokers on the TV cursing the city government's decision to raise tobacco taxes. Suddenly, a white young man rushed out from the side and shouted at the camera:

"Ed Curry (the then Mayor of New York) must have never bought a pack of cigarettes himself! This bastard makes New Yorkers spend an extra three hundred dollars a year on cigarettes! I would risk my life for three hundred dollars! He This forces us poor people to commit crimes just to buy cigarettes!”

"Turn off the TV and go to bed! Otherwise, I don't know if that guy will take risks for three hundred dollars, but I promise, I will drive you out to the street because you can't sleep because of the noise." The bedroom door opened, Melonie, who had already changed into a set of rose-red pajamas, said to Tommy Hawke who was watching the news with an angry face.

Tommy Hawk turned off the TV, put away the piece of paper he had written on, and bowed slightly to Melonie like a student facing his teacher. "Okay, my dear landlady, teacher and aunt, Miss Melonie, good night, oh~ can you congratulate me a little bit?"

After saying that, he walked towards his small bedroom with a smile.

"Congratulations? Congratulations for what?" Melonie asked, staring at Tommy Hawke's back carefully.

"Congratulations, I'm entering the fucking adult world starting tonight." Tommy Hawke turned around and smiled at Melonie, then walked into the bedroom and closed the door.