Chapter 4: Peace Hotel 2

The sheriff's words got picked up by an old black dude nearby, who snapped, "You greedy bastard, you corner-cutting scumbag, not even God can save your sorry ass, and you still want respect? Alvin must be out of his mind to trust a piece of shit like you."

The old guy was quick with his words, clearly knowing the local lingo. Whenever he needed to cuss, he'd swap it out with some black slang that was hard to get. But even with those swaps, his cussing was so smooth you had to give it up for his rap skills.

Fudge ran over, all hyped, and gave the old man a high-five, laughing, "Old Kent, that was sick!"

The sheriff, fuming, glared at the two of them and waved his fist but didn't dare to do anything. Alvin didn't let anyone throw down here. Those who tried before didn't end up too well.

Just then, the wooden door of the restaurant swung open, and in walked a drop-dead gorgeous Eastern European chick. She scoped out the place and made a beeline for the bar, giving the sheriff a look that said, "Move it."

Surprisingly, the pissed-off sheriff gave a sheepish grin and said, "Hi, Daria," as a greeting. He then grabbed his water cup and snagged a seat that had just opened up.

The stunning woman slid onto a barstool, nodded at a few folks around her, and seductively pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and, with one hand propping up her chin and the other holding the cig, watched Alvin hustling at the far end of the bar.

Jessica slammed a glass of lemonade in front of the stunning woman and said stiffly, "Miss Daria, no smoking in here."

Daria gave Jessica the once-over and smiled, "Oh, lucky girl. Can I finish this cig? I think a few gentlemen around here wouldn't mind." She then glanced around the bar. Except for Matt, the nearby guys all nodded without thinking.

Jessica shot a glare at the uncooperative dudes, ignored their grumbles, and served the first steak to the blind Matt, thoughtfully placing the knife and fork in his hands.

With ten burners going at once, the steaks were done in no time and served to the customers. Alvin wiped his hands with a towel, walked to the bar, and poured himself a beer.

"Daria, you need to get Saul and Dom in check. I just saw them blocking a hot chick outside the restaurant. No wonder you only have a bunch of stinky men here," Daria said, covering her mouth and laughing, totally ignoring the looks from the "stinky men."

Alvin ignored Daria's words and instead shouted at Nick, who was arguing with Old Stan about who was stronger, Batman or Captain America, "Nick Castle, it's 8:30 now. I'll check your homework at 10. If you haven't finished, you got an hour and a half left. Kid, you don't wanna know how I punish lazy kids."

Nick clutched his head in frustration, let out a painful cry, and quickly wheeled himself to a small door by the stove. He opened the door, stood on one leg, and hopped up to the second floor.

The diners in the restaurant burst into laughter. Fudge teased, "Nick, you better hurry up. I don't wanna see you pushing a wheelchair while sweeping the streets, haha!"

Nick, hearing this, grabbed the handrail, made a face at Fudge, and quickly hopped up to the second floor.

Once the small door clicked shut, Daria stubbed out her cigarette, pulled out ten stacks of $20 bills from her tiny handbag, and slid them over to Alvin. Her eyes were a mix of pleading, longing, and a bit of insecurity as she looked at him.

Alvin glanced at the $20,000 in front of him, shook his head, took half of it, and pushed the rest back to Daria. "I know you got some new girls smuggled in from Eastern Europe. Send the underage ones to school. From now on, just pay me $100 a month. Let the girls who wanna go legit save some cash and get outta here."

Daria shook her head, "That's not how it works. If you only take $100 from me, the other gangs will find out, and we'll all be in deep shit. Right now, the girls and I are doing okay. Their income is actually pretty good. Last week, two girls saved enough to move to L.A." She pushed the money back to Alvin.

"Please take it, Alvin. You're a good man. I know you don't want our dirty money, but I beg you to take it. I can't bear to be under the control of other gangs again," Daria said, her face showing a pleading expression that was hard to refuse.

"Take it, Alvin. We all know you're a good man. You'll protect their safety, but if you don't take her money, it'll break the rules of Hell's Kitchen. The nearby gangs will go nuts. We know you're not scared of them, but this will put the girls in danger," Old Kent chimed in.

Alvin, being a straightforward guy, thought Old Kent made sense. After a slight hesitation, he called out to the chubby Sheriff, "Come over and take it. You got 15 days to get two food trucks. If you cut corners again, I'll have Saul chat with you."

Sheriff, slumping his shoulders, muttered, "Two grand is only enough for one food truck. Alvin, you're a fair guy. You can't let me take a loss."

Alvin poured another beer, handed it to Sheriff, and said, "This is your punishment for being greedy. No next time, okay?"

Alvin's gentle expression made Sheriff even more scared. He quickly said, "Okay, okay, I get it. There won't be any more problems. I promise!"

"Old Kent, who in the neighborhood is struggling the most? Go ask if they want to run a food truck," Alvin said, ignoring Sheriff's promise. He believed Sheriff wouldn't dare to play tricks again and instead turned to Old Kent.

Old Kent thought for a moment and said, "Lilith is raising three kids alone. She could use one. Archie has a family of six with no jobs; they could use one too."

"Then tell them to go to Sheriff's garage and watch. If they have any special requirements, let Sheriff modify it directly," Alvin said, waving off Sheriff, who was clutching the money bag.

Alvin then turned to a black man at a table near the door, who was wolfing down his food, and said, "JJ, when you leave, escort Sheriff. It's not safe for him alone."

JJ, a retired Marine who had gotten into some trouble and fled to Hell's Kitchen, had become the security guard and driver for Alvin's restaurant.

"Got it, boss," JJ said, swallowing the last bit of steak, downing a large glass of lemonade in one gulp, and standing up to leave with Sheriff.

As they opened the restaurant door, they saw a woman even more stunning than Daria, followed by two police officers, walk into the restaurant.

Seeing that the two police officers were familiar, JJ didn't think much of it and left with Sheriff.