Sheriff's words were overheard by an old black man nearby, who cursed, "You greedy son of a bitch, you corner-cutting motherfucker, God can't even save your goddamn ass, and you still want people to respect you? Alvin must be out of his mind to trust a piece of shit like you."
The old black man spoke very quickly, seemingly accustomed to the local customs where all swear words were replaced by some unintelligible black slang. Yet, he still managed to curse so smoothly, which made one admire the rapping talent of black people.
Upon hearing this, Foggy excitedly ran over and high-fived the old black man, laughing, "Old Kent, well done!"
Sheriff glared angrily at the two, shaking his fist, but ultimately dared not act. Alvin did not allow anyone to fight here; there had been defiant fellows who caused trouble here before, but their fates were never good.
Just then, the wooden door of the restaurant was pushed open, and a beautifully dressed Eastern European young woman walked in. She scanned the restaurant, went directly to the bar, tilted her head at Sheriff with her chin up, signaling him to move aside.
To his surprise, the angry Sheriff gave a sheepish smile, said, "Hi, Dalia," as a greeting, and carrying his water glass, found a seat that a customer had just vacated and sat down.
The beautiful young woman gracefully sat on a bar stool, nodding greetings to a few people around her. With a captivating charm, she took out a cigarette, lit it, propped her chin with one hand, and held the cigarette with the other, watching Alvin, who was busy at the back of the bar.
Jessica heavily placed a glass of lemonade in front of the beautiful young woman and said stiffly, "Miss Dalia, smoking is not allowed here."
The young woman, Dalia, sized up Jessica and smiled, "Oh, lucky girl. Can I finish this cigarette? I think a few gentlemen around here wouldn't mind." As she spoke, her sparkling eyes swept to the left and right of the bar. All the men nearby, except Matt, involuntarily nodded.
Jessica glared at the few uncooperative men, ignored their protests, and delivered the first completed steak to the blind Matt, thoughtfully placing the knife and fork in his hand.
With ten stoves firing simultaneously, the steaks were quickly all cooked and served to the customers. Alvin wiped his hands with a towel and walked to the bar to pour himself a beer.
"Alvin, you need to rein in Thor and Dom. I just saw them blocking a beautiful woman outside the restaurant. No wonder you always only have a bunch of stinky men here," Dalia said with a giggle, covering her mouth, once she saw Alvin was done with his work, completely ignoring the glances from the "stinky men."
Alvin ignored Dalia's words and instead shouted at Nick, who was arguing with Old Stan about who was stronger, Batman or Captain America: "Nick Castor, it's 8:30. I'll check your homework at 10 o'clock. If you haven't finished, you have an hour and a half. Kid, you don't want to know how I punish a lazy child."
Nick groaned, clutching his head in frustration, and quickly propelled his wheelchair into the bar, to a small door next to the stove. He opened the door, stood up on one leg, and hopped and skipped up to the second floor.
The diners in the restaurant burst into laughter, and Foggy even teased, "Nick, you better hurry up! I don't want to see you sweeping the streets in that wheelchair, haha!"
Upon hearing this, Nick grabbed the handrail, turned back to make a face at Foggy, and quickly jumped to the second floor.
As the small door closed automatically, Dalia extinguished her cigarette and took out ten bundles of twenty-dollar bills from her small handbag, pushing them towards Alvin. Her eyes, looking at Alvin, held a mix of pleading, longing, and a hint of insecurity.
Alvin looked at the twenty thousand dollars in front of him, shook his head, took half, and pushed the other half back to Dalia, saying, "I know you have a few new girls who smuggled in from Eastern Europe. Send the minors to school, and from now on, just pay me 100 dollars a month. Let the girls who want to work in a legitimate industry save some money and leave this place."
Dalia shook her head and said, "This isn't according to the rules. If you only charge me 100 dollars, and the other gangs find out, we'll all be in trouble. Right now, the girls and I are doing very well; their income is actually quite good.
Last week, two girls even saved enough money and moved to Los Angeles." She then pushed the money back to Alvin again.
"Please, you must take it, Alvin. You are a good person, and I know you don't want our flesh money, but I beg you to take it. I really can't bear to be controlled by other gangs again." Dalia's face showed a pleading expression that made one feel immense pity.
"Take it, Alvin. We all know you're a good person, and you'll protect them, but if you don't take her money, it breaks the rules of Hell's Kitchen, and the nearby gangs will go crazy. We know you're not afraid of them, but that way, they'll be in danger instead," Old Kent chimed in.
Alvin was a straightforward person, and Old Kent's words made sense. After a slight hesitation, he called out to the fat Sheriff, "Come and take it. Fifteen days, two food trucks. If you cut corners again, I'll send Thor to have a chat with you."
Sheriff, with slumped shoulders, protested in a low voice, "Twenty thousand dollars is only enough for one food truck, Alvin. You're a fair guy; you can't let me lose money."
Alvin poured another beer and handed it to Sheriff, "This is your punishment for your greed. There won't be a next time, alright?"
Alvin's gentle expression instead made Sheriff afraid, and he quickly said, "Okay, okay, I understand. There definitely won't be any more problems, I promise!"
"Old Kent, who in the neighborhood is struggling the most? Go ask if they want to operate a food truck?" Alvin ignored Sheriff's assurances; he believed Sheriff wouldn't try any tricks again. Instead, he turned to ask Old Kent.
Old Kent thought for a moment and said, "Lilith is raising three children alone; it's very hard for her. She'll need one. Archie's family of six, all unemployed, will also need one."
"Then notify them to go to Sheriff's garage and supervise. If they have any special requests, have Sheriff modify it directly." After saying that, he waved away Sheriff, who was desperately clinging to the money bag.
Alvin said to a big black man sitting at a table by the door, devouring his food, "JJ, when you leave, give Sheriff a ride. He's not safe alone."
JJ was a Marine Corps veteran who, after getting into some trouble, fled to Hell's Kitchen and became Alvin's restaurant's security guard and driver.
"Okay, boss." JJ swallowed the last bit of steak with his head tilted back, chugged a large glass of lemonade, stood up, told Alvin, and then signaled Sheriff to leave the restaurant.
As soon as they opened the restaurant door, they saw a woman even more beautiful than Dalia, followed by two police officers, entering the restaurant.
Seeing that the two police officers were acquaintances, JJ didn't think much of it and drove away with Sheriff.