Chapter 118 08: Abdul (8th update)
“Hello, I am a maintenance worker at the Alloy Wrench Company. This is my work permit. Have you made an appointment for pipe repair at ten o’clock? ?”
District 19.
A residential community somewhere.
Abdel, who was carrying a tool bag, raised his work ID card to the surveillance camera. Today is his seventh day working alone.
"Oh, yes, my grandfather made an appointment."
The door was opened, and Abdul's eyes lit up. The person who opened the door was a pretty young woman.
"Please come in with me."
"Okay, do you need me to change my shoes?"
"Huh? No, just come in."
"Yeah."
Abdel entered the room and saw many photos of buildings hanging around. The most prominent one was a photo of the Iron Tower taken from above.
Without looking too much, he followed the woman to the kitchen.
She pointed to a puddle of water on the ground: "The faucet is leaking a little, and it can't be closed tightly, and I don't know why water often seeps out from the ground."
" There should be a leak in the water pipe at this location." Abdul rolled up his sleeves, opened his tool bag, and prepared to start the inspection.
The young woman brought some fruit and milk and put it on the table: "Don't worry, you can eat something first."
Abdel looked at her sincere smile and nodded subconsciously with a shy smile.腆: "Thank you so much."
"My name is Caroline. I saw your job card. Is it called Abdul?" Caroline took the initiative to chat.
"Yes, nice to meet you, Miss Caroline." Abdul responded awkwardly.
Caroline said: "Just call me Caroline. I am an architecture student. Because the project I recently participated in is related to the study of the housing dilemma of immigrants, so I want to talk to you about life. Topic, do you mind?”
Abdul thought about his difficulties over the years and smiled bitterly: "You ask, I know everything you can say."
"How old are you today?"
"Twenty-five, I have obtained the junior certificate and can cope with most situations. I usually ask some old employees for advice."
". It turns out that the company will keep wages so low"
" .There is nothing we can do”
"In terms of guarantees, the implementation situation."
"Those who came to power a few years ago have improved the situation."
Abdel did not just chat, he answered the other party while working. Most of the problems are based on personal experience and insights, so there is no need to think about them specially.
"Hey, I'm back. Is the plumber here?" A voice suddenly came from the door.
“Here we are, working on it now.” Caroline replied.
As it happens, Abdul has also completed repairs and inspections.
“This is a tip, thank you for your help.” Caroline handed over the money and tip, and marked satisfaction on the questionnaire.
"Thank you, thank you." Abdul took the money, glanced at the old man who came in, and picked up the tool bag, "Hello, sir, the water pipe has been repaired."
The old man stopped him: "Wait."
After that, he walked over to check.
"Grandpa, I've checked it," said Caroline.
The old man nodded, but continued to check. After a few minutes, he said to Abdul: "It's okay, please."
"Bye." Caroline said to him Wave your hands.
"Bye."
"Grandpa, why don't we go to the Iron Tower tomorrow?"
"Dear, I have something to do tomorrow."
Abdel left the house, the sounds in the house gradually faded away, walked for a while, and returned to the car.
It was necessary to check. He didn't take it to heart. On the contrary, he was more happy that he met a friendly beauty today and received a good tip.
Tuk tuk tuk.
The car window was knocked, and he turned around to look. His hand holding the money tightened instantly, and his heart seemed to skip a beat.
Standing outside the car window were two Xiaohei.
Abdel instinctively wanted to drive away quickly, but after a closer look, it seemed that he had seen these two people before?
It’s not about recognizing the faces, that’s a bit difficult, but the clothes.
“Hey, brother.”
Prudently lowering a section of the car window, it can only accommodate the space where the palm of the hand can be put in. A hip-hop guy didn't mind, and instead pulled it close.
"Hey, I remember you. You are from the same community as us. Don't worry, we have rules. People in the same community are all brothers."
Abdel's expression was stiff: "Thank you, thank you."
"But, we have a little thing that we need your help with, brother. Is this okay?" Another serious-faced Xiao Hei inadvertently raised his hand, revealing the gun on his waist.
Abdel squeezed the money in his hand: "Okay, please."
"The old man in the house you just came out of is a scumbag and looks down on us all day long. I want to rob him of this kind of immigration and blatant discrimination. Of course, I just want to teach him a lesson and let him remember that we can’t mess with him.” Hip-hop Xiaohei pointed to the house where Abdul had just repaired the water pipes. , said with a smile.
Abdul swallowed, feeling a little dizzy. He unconsciously tried to reach out to the gear, but from the corner of his eye, he saw another black guy holding his waist, as if he was about to take out a gun and shoot at any time. .
Although he seems not qualified to say this, from what he has seen and heard, most of these people are very emotional, and sometimes they even turn against each other and start a gunfight over which channel to watch on TV. Therefore, he did not dare to gamble.
However, Caroline's face flashed through my mind. At least, she did not discriminate against us.
"Brother, brother, do you misunderstand? There is a woman in that family who is very friendly to us and is still doing something about immigration."
The hip-hop little black eyes seemed to light up: "Oh, you mean, there is only an old man and a woman in this family?"
Abdel's breathing stopped.
Oh my God! What a stupid thing he did!
"I, I don't know, there may be others." He was sweating profusely and trying to make up for it.
Seemingly thinking that the information was enough, the hip-hop guy glanced at the serious guy, and the two of them bowed to Abdul and left.
Abdul stayed there for a long time before being woken up by an urging phone call.
“Do you still want to do it?!”
“Sorry, sorry! I’ll be right back!”
For work, he suppressed all his thoughts and drove back to the company .
At seven o'clock in the evening, Abdul rode his bicycle back to the north of District 17, an old apartment, which is now the base camp for these ordinary immigrants.
But he knows that here we can only share joys and sorrows, but not wealth and honor. After saving enough money, he must move out of here, at least to places like District 19.
Thinking of District 19, he had already deliberately avoided it. The memory resurfaced, and he sighed, carrying his bicycle back to his door. He glanced at the room at the end of this floor with some concern. He vaguely remembered that that was where the two Xiaohei lived.
Open the door and enter the house.
“Mom, I’m back.”
The room is not big, which is also a common phenomenon in slum apartments. Compared with those where seven or eight people live in one room, it is no more than a place where you can live in your own home. Three people are already pretty good.
"You've worked hard today. Come on, the moussaka has just been made. Fahd, don't look at your phone. Come and get the pocket bread."
Fahd is Abdul's younger brother. As a teenager, I took advantage of the opportunity to participate in some activities some time ago and grabbed some things, but was snatched away by others and beaten. Now I am recovering at home.
The living room in the house is the dining room. There is a small TV on the old TV cabinet. There is an iron tower ornament next to the TV cabinet, and there is a family photo, which is a photo of a family of four under the iron tower. It was taken not long after Abdul arrived in Gaul with his family.
A family of three sat around a dining table that had a missing table leg and was held up by a wooden stick.
“Tai Simi.”
A few people were talking about the quarrels between some parents, which neighbor had found a good job, the price of vegetables and so on had increased, and whose daughter seemed to have reached the age of marriage.
"Mom, I am today."
During the exchange, Abdul could not suppress his worries and told his mother frankly.
The mother frowned: "It's the Martin brothers? They are not good people. I heard that, remember, this is none of your business. No matter what happens, just say you don't know and don't worry about it. No business."
"What does the life and death of those white-skinned people have to do with us? We can only find jobs if they die." Fahd said vaguely while eating bread.
The mother glanced at Fahd with a complex expression: "Your thoughts are becoming more and more extreme. Have you joined the chat rooms of those 'noble' organizations again?"
Fahd's cheeks are full of food. , shaking his head crazily.
After dinner and watching TV with his mother that he didn’t like, Abdul found an excuse to go outside.
This old apartment building looks like a student dormitory building. There is a corridor outside the door, and you can see the outside scenery from the corridor.
He made excuses to come out just to smoke, which he originally wouldn’t do, but there is a need for communication in this area where he works. Many locals like to smoke and talk while communicating, in order to better blend in with them. , Abdul also learned.
This is relatively less harmful. After all, some young people smoke more vigorously, and he doesn't dare to imitate them.
After smoking the first one, and just as he was about to take another, he saw Brother Martin downstairs.
He couldn't see clearly the expressions of these two people in the dark night, and they were wearing gray-black clothes. If he hadn't had good eyesight, he wouldn't have noticed.
Abdul could only tell from their steps that they seemed to be in a panic, and they were still carrying a bag in their hands.
He quickly put away his cigarette, turned back to his room, leaned his back against the door, and took a deep breath.
"Abdul? What's wrong?"
"They came back without Martin."
The mother nodded, supported the wall, and looked nervously at the door.
Not long after, they heard rapid footsteps approaching and passing by.
“Huh”
Tuk-tuk-tuk.
Before they could finish breathing, a knock on the door startled them.
There was no peephole in the door. He could only hope that the person knocking on the door was not the Martin brothers, but maybe a neighbor who came to visit and borrow two kilograms of flour.
"Hey, I'm Martin, open the door." What the person outside the door said shattered Abdul's illusions.
Taking a deep breath, he gave his mother a reassuring look, buckled the safety chain of the anti-push door, and slowly opened the door to one side.
"Brother, haha, I don't have anything special to do with you. I'm thanking you for this money. Take it."
Hip-Hop Xiaohei slipped a handful of bills to him through the crack of the door.
Before Abdul had time to reply, he heard the other party continue to say: "Remember, we didn't look for you this morning, and you didn't see us. Are you clear?"
< br>He looked up and saw Xiao Hei's smiling face with cold eyes.
Looking at the other serious Xiao Hei who said nothing, he seemed to have no choice.
"Okay, I've never met you, we don't know each other."
"Okay, very good, say hello to your brother and mother for me."
Hip-hop Xiaohei remained calm. The ground threatened, and then left with serious Xiao Hei.
After closing the door and comforting his mother, Abdul returned to the room in a daze, lay on the bed, and stared at the crumpled banknotes with a trace of blood in his hands, dazed.
(End of this chapter)