Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 216 Christmas Eve

Diane Lane was wearing a white fur headband, and her head was fluffy, looking very cute.She took off the thermal down jacket she wore when she went skiing at Rockefeller Center and plopped down on the sofa in the living room.

"You go to the skating rink at Rockefeller Center, is it fun?"

In the afternoons of the few days before Christmas, Diane Lane returned to New York after finishing the filming in Canada of the filming location of "Washing the Lead", and fell headlong into Aunt Karen's house, silent in a sullen manner.

Donna brought what Ronald had asked for through her relationship, booked VIP tickets for the Rockefeller Center skating rink, and went skating with her.Diane regained a little vitality.

"The big Christmas tree lights in front of the Rockefeller Center are beautiful, and there are people proposing marriage in public at the ice rink today. The skating rink is playing the wedding march." Donna replied with a giggle.

Diane Lane changed her sitting position on the sofa, "Why do some people get divorced after getting married?"

Ronald and Donna exchanged glances. Knowing the source of Diane's bad mood, she abandoned her mother since she was a child. This time, she and her new husband found the Canadian filming site, and they argued with Burt that they should get along with Diane, " Compensation" for the debt owed to her daughter for 15 years.

"Hey, everyone. Laura Dern, who played the punk girl with me, her parents divorced when she was very young."

"Hey, half of the couples in America... end up living together forever." Ronald joked.

"Hahaha..." Diane understood the dry and cold smile, "Ronald, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Just ask."

"Did your parents love you before their accident?"

Ronald thought that Diane was going to ask himself about love, but he didn't expect to ask this, and he was speechless for a while, not knowing how to answer.

"I'm sorry to make you sad, Ronald. I can feel that they must love you, because you love them too."

"I just found out that my mother quarreled with my father and divorced when I was two weeks old, and now she says she loves me again. I really don't know whether I should believe her."

"Parents love their children, maybe your mother has some unavoidable difficulties?" It turned out that Diane was because of this, and no one can easily let go of this kind of mother.

"Did you know? My mother used to be a singer who sang in clubs and fucked Playboy's middle page girl, 1957."

"It seems that you have inherited a lot from your mother," said Ronald.

"She said she took care of me when I was a child until I was three or four years old, but I can't remember. Then she moved to Georgia with her boyfriend. New York State law does not support interstate custody transfers, so I went with Bert. Life.

My childhood memory is sitting in the passenger seat of Bert's taxi and driving with him. "

"Looking at it this way, your mother didn't intend to leave you, but a legal issue. She must love you."

"You're right," Diane Lane became happy again, "so I decided to have Christmas dinner with Bert."

Ronald gave him a thumbs up.

"By the way, I heard from Donna that you were nominated for a Golden Globe Award?"

"Yeah, will you go too?" Ronald became energetic when he heard this, and he was also an insider who could participate in the Golden Globe dinner.

"I'm not going, the Ballon d'Or is the trophy to buy."

"How do you say that?" Ronald saw Diane's disdainful face, and said that Diane entered the film and television industry much earlier than him, so he hurriedly asked for advice.

"Haven't you heard the old saying? Buy the Golden Globes, win the Oscars. The Golden Globes call the stars to ask if they're going to the awards dinner, and if the stars are willing to show up, give the award.

If the star does not go, then the second-ranked nominee will be called.This black story was exposed before, and the FTC has suspended NBC's qualification to broadcast the Golden Globe Awards for several years, and it has just been restored. "

"It seems that the Golden Globe Awards has less than 90 judges, which is still easier to operate than the Oscars." Ronald thought to himself.

"But I'm going to the Oscars next year, and if you're nominated for an Oscar, we can meet at Dorothy Chandler's Palace. I think the theme song Fame is pretty cool too, and you have a good chance." .” Diane Lane pretended to be old-fashioned.

"With your kind words, Diane. Which film are you hoping to be nominated for an Oscar?" Ronald asked.

"Hey, none of them. My manager arranged for me to be the female partner of other male stars."

……

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.”

A few days later, on Christmas Eve, Ronald went to Aunt Karen's for Christmas dinner, all the way to Jingle Bells music.

Sure enough, Diane went back to Burt's house to spend Christmas with her old father.

Aunt Karen had ham in place of the bad turkey, herb bread, and desserts with various fillings.

"Amen..." The three finished their prayers, and Ronald opened the red wine bought at the grocery store and poured it for everyone.

"cheers!"

"Diane finally reconciled with Bert?" Ronald asked Donna.

"Temporary ceasefire. Like the Souvier coalition in Afghanistan."

"Um, I thought she moved back home..." Ronald replied.

"Ring, ring, ring..." the doorbell remembered.

It won't fall out so soon, Ronald thought.

"Come on," Aunt Karen stood up and went to open the door.

It was not Diane who entered, but a middle-aged black woman.As soon as she entered the door, she hugged Aunt Karen and cried bitterly.

Ronald saw that it was Mrs. Davis, a good friend of Aunt Karen, the widow of her uncle's comrade-in-arms, and a partner in the leg warmer business.Also a salesman and security guard for the leg warmer company, mother of Bud Davis Jr.

"I don't know what to do. Bud Jr. was arrested and they said they're going to charge him with a federal felony. He's a kid..."

"What's wrong with little Bud? Isn't he working for the leg warmer company?" Ronald was surprised. He always thought that the child of his uncle's comrade-in-arms was working in the company and was on the right track.

Mrs. Davis wept to Aunt Karen about the arrest of little Bard.

It turned out that Little Bud was helping to sell leg warmers in the RTKD store, but was ridiculed by a group of "brothers" for doing the women's business.The hot-headed young Bard gave up his well-paid job to sell pirated tapes to his "brothers".

With the help of some high school girls he met selling leg warmers in the store, his pirated tape business was doing well, and soon became the top few "sales" with the highest sales.

But I didn't expect that in the clean-up operation organized by New York before Christmas, I was caught on the spot and got all the stolen goods.In addition to his little goods, the so-called "brothers" also planted all the inventory in the confiscated warehouse on the head of Little Bud, and the prosecutor who got all the evidence planned to use pirated copies and illegally organize sales Charges of unlicensed goods, infringement, etc., are prosecuted as felonies.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" Aunt Karen scolded Mrs. Davis.

"We black people are often caught innocently, and we are usually released without incident. But this time, Little Bard's so-called friends framed him and put everything on him. The priest of the church said that his felony this time was very serious. Probably can't get away with it unless you have a good lawyer..."

Well, it turned out that Mrs. Davis still thought that she would be arrested and locked up for a few days at most, and she would be released after a beating.

Seeing Aunt Karen begging for help, Ronald had no choice but to pick up the phone.Who made my uncle and Bud Davis be comrades-in-arms through life and death, they died together in Vietnam, and old Bud was seriously injured in order to rescue his uncle, the two widows have a deep bond.

It's not easy for lawyers to work on Christmas Eve. Ronald told lawyer Lindsay Dole about the situation, and she promised to ask about it tomorrow.

"Your aunt's friend's son is troublesome," Lindsay Dole called Ronald back the next day. "If a lawyer can get up early to intervene, then his case is at best a misdemeanor and not worth much.

But now the accomplices in charge of manufacturing and wholesale put all the guilt and evidence on Little Bard.They also concocted so-called witnesses to testify that Bard Jr. was the one in charge of wholesale.

Although the accusation of this witness is ridiculous, the value of the seized pirated tapes has exceeded the upper limit of misdemeanors, and the prosecutor must prosecute him with a felony.Even if there is a good result in court, the sentence can be suspended.

But the felony will follow him all his life, and he will have great obstacles in work and school in the future.Employers in New York State have the right to investigate whether an employee has a felony record before hiring. "

"No way, how many tapes can he sell?"

"The warehouse was found in the public housing next to the subway station in Harlem, and the value of the goods was tens of thousands of dollars."

"Why don't you like working here? Little Bard." A few days later, Ronald and Lindsay's colleague, a big black lawyer Eugene, met Little Bard.

Little Bard pretended to be very strong at first, but after Eugene explained to him the meaning of felony and its impact on him in the future, he also withered.

It seems that Mrs. Davis still taught him well. Little Bard did not become a real violent black in the neighborhood. He looked at the social order in reverse and became a supporter of gangs.

"I'm sorry... it's just that they keep laughing at me for being a bitch, selling things for girls, and I..."

"So our best result is to seek probation, and then appeal to cancel the felony record?" Ronald asked Lindsay and the black lawyer Eugene in the law firm.

"I'm afraid so," the lawyer replied while holding a copy of the case materials.

"Okay, at most, let him come to the leg warmer company in the future, and then do sales." Ronald thought, it seems that Bard can't find other jobs, and he can't continue to go to public high school.Continue to get the goods to sell, and Mrs. Davis restrains him, so there will be no problems for the time being.

After this incident, he should know what happened to his so-called brother, and he was nothing more than a free channel and a qualified scapegoat.

"You're not black, don't understand, Lindsay." Eugene interrupted aloud, smiling.Ronald hired him to participate in the case and also valued his experience in handling black cases.

"We can make him plead guilty, and then..." Eugene whispered his opinion in Lindsay's ear.

"This? I've only seen this kind of operation in Harvard's law textbooks. Is it still possible to do this in New York?" Lindsay asked with wide-eyed eyes.

"Of course, this requires the cooperation of the assistant prosecutor in charge of the case. I remember that your roommate, Helen Gable, is the assistant prosecutor of the Manhattan Judicial District?"

"Yes".Lindsay glanced at Ronald and said, "Let me ask Helen..."

　I have a family dinner today, so I didn't add more, sorry.

　
(End of this chapter)