Where Did You Have Your Hand Made?

Where Did You Have Your Hand Made?

Hell's Kitchen was unusually quiet that night. Alvin held the tiny girl in his arms, chasing away her nightmares whenever she frowned.

A dreamless night! Of course, Alvin had not slept at all. Early the next morning, he unusually skipped his run. Instead, he bought breakfast from Uncle Cheng's stall by the door and returned to the Restaurant.

After helping the little princess, whom he had startled awake, wash up, he rudely woke Nick and Frank.

When Frank woke up and discovered that his disabled son had kept watch beside his bed all night, he punched himself in the head in shame.

On the very first day they had acknowledged each other, he had made his eight-year-old son take care of him. Frank was deeply dissatisfied with himself. Although his son's care had greatly improved his injuries, he had neglected his family too much in the past. It turned out that with family taking care of him, even such severe injuries could heal so quickly!

Frank could not have been more satisfied with his son. The only bad thing was Alvin's attitude. Who treated my son like that?

If I'd been in a bad mood, I'd have turned you into a beehive long ago. But his son liked that sort of thing, tirelessly picking fights only to get cursed out again.

Hell's Kitchen felt a little strange that day. Alvin drove his pickup to stand guard outside the school as usual. Frank remained at the Restaurant to sort out the apartment rental.

The roads were especially clear that day. Every vehicle along the way voluntarily moved aside when it saw Alvin's ancient Ford pickup.

A trip that normally took thirty minutes took only fifteen today. Alvin even felt a little smug. The people here had finally recognized his contributions. He was probably one of Hell's Kitchen's leading figures now.

Only after getting out of the truck did Alvin realize something was wrong. Something he did not know about must have happened. Everyone looked at him with awe and reverence.

The rebellious boys and girls in bizarre outfits who usually filled the school had all disappeared. With everyone keeping their heads down and behaving obediently, Community School looked like some elite Ivy League academy.

Even Vice Principal Nelson, who usually stood at the school gates, looked at Alvin with a mixture of awe, terror, and disbelief.

Growing impatient, Alvin snapped at Nelson, "What the fuck is going on? Are aliens invading Earth?"

Nelson bowed respectfully and said somewhat obsequiously, "Good morning, Principal. Your heroic feat last night must have spread throughout all of Hell's Kitchen by now."

Alvin froze for a moment, then understood. Bloody Jansen's mess from yesterday had been pinned on him after all. He considered explaining, then decided against it. There was no point talking to a guy like Nelson.

His sudden fearsome reputation made his work exceptionally easy that day.

Judging by the brats' behavior, their parents must have grabbed them by the ears and warned them over and over that morning!

From a distance, he spotted Professor Cage, who shouted in a voice like a broken gong, "Alvin, how many people did you kill yesterday?"

Alvin had enough problems already and did not want to deal with the old rascal. He turned, jumped into his truck, and fled back to the Restaurant.

He had returned early today, so he could marinate the beef. Yesterday, he had used leftovers from the day before.

He carried fifty kilograms of beef from the freezer in the Basement, placed it on several large trays, and brought it to the first-floor dining hall to thaw naturally. Then he poured black pepper and salt into several large bowls and mixed them together.

Little Ginny enthusiastically helped Jessica. Carrying a small rag, she followed Jessica everywhere, doing whatever Jessica did. Alvin felt certain the Restaurant would be twice as clean as usual today.

He praised Ginny and kissed her on the cheek. The little girl became even more enthusiastic about her work. Although she knocked over several spice jars, industriousness was a quality that deserved praise.

The busy morning passed quickly, and Peace Hotel officially opened for business. As usual, many diners arrived at the Restaurant right on time.

The only difference was that diners from Hell's Kitchen all respectfully came over to greet Alvin. Those who had come because of his reputation behaved no differently than usual.

Fifty steaks did not take Alvin much effort. The sweet-and-sour ribs and tomato beef stew he had promised Ginny yesterday took considerably more time instead.

When the two dishes came out of the kitchen, many diners complained that no one had told them there was such fragrant food available. Naturally, the complainers were all the ones who had come because of his reputation.

Alvin held Ginny as he sat on a tall stool behind the bar. Jessica, being highly unprofessional, also squeezed over. Each of them held a bowl of rice and ate with gusto.

After eating more than half her meal, Jessica's instincts as a beautiful young girl kept her from getting a third bowl of rice. She left Alvin and Ginny laughing as they continued eating.

Seeing that Ginny had eaten enough, Alvin refused her request for a third helping. He kissed her sulky little face, poked her round belly, and made her laugh again before clearing away the dishes.

A little after one o'clock, when diners normally stopped coming in, three uniformed police officers and a righteous-looking middle-aged man in a suit entered the Restaurant.

Alvin recognized two of the officers: Michael and Scott. They were the first to greet him. The enthusiastic Scott even came up to high-five and bump fists with Alvin, making the other female officer in uniform frown.

The righteous-looking middle-aged man was much more at ease. He naturally took a seat at the bar and smiled at Alvin. "Hello, Mr. Alvin. I've heard for a long time that the steaks here are excellent. I've always wanted to try them, but never had the opportunity. I wonder if I might be lucky enough today?"

Seeing Alvin frown at him, the middle-aged man continued, "Oh, I haven't introduced myself. George Stacy, Commissioner of the Big Apple City Police Department." He held out his hand to shake Alvin's.

Alvin shook his hand and said apologetically, "You may have to wait until tonight to eat. We've already sold out of today's lunch portions."

George was good-natured and did not mind. "What a pity! You wouldn't mind giving me a glass of water, would you?"

"Of course." Alvin gestured for Jessica to serve lemonade to the commissioner and his group.

The policewoman leaned toward the bar, propped her left elbow on it, and tapped the surface with her fingers to signal Alvin to come closer. "Can't you make an exception?"

Alvin ignored her rudeness and turned to Michael and Scott instead.

Michael gave an awkward smile and explained, "This is Officer Misty Knight, the new chief of our Hell's Kitchen Precinct." Then he stepped aside, clearly not fond of his new superior.

Alvin gave an amused smile. "Then I should congratulate our Hell's Kitchen police department on getting a new chief."

Looking at Misty, he added, "Did you replace the doors, too? The previous chiefs suffered quite a bit."

Misty was clearly hot-tempered. She slammed her right hand down on the bar. With a loud bang, a steel arm left a visible dent in the thick solid-wood counter.

No one left the Restaurant. Most of the diners who had come because of Alvin's reputation had already gone. The ones remaining were local Hell's Kitchen residents who knew some of the details. They watched Alvin with excitement, eager to see how he would handle it.

Alvin studied Misty's exquisitely crafted mechanical arm with interest and said, "Officer Knight, if you give me the number of the company that made your arm, I can forgive the damage you did to my bar."

Misty glared furiously at Alvin. "Alvin Ye, we suspect you are connected to yesterday's Long Island massacre. You are now a suspect and need to cooperate with our investigation."

Alvin looked at Michael and Scott, who stood behind Misty with their heads lowered in silence, and knew those two were setting her up. But who cared?

You could not ignore your own stupidity just because someone else had set you up.