Because he has the same temperament as Aunt Karen, who comes from a poor family. He doesn't cause trouble, but he's not afraid of it either.
Not daring to drive his new car to Harlem, Ronald chose to take the subway there.
After the subway passed the 125th Street station, it opened a tunnel and walked on the ground. There were gradually more and more dark-skinned passengers, and there was no scary scene like the legendary people robbing each other and carrying guns.
There are also black mothers in Harlem taking their children to musical instrument classes, and there are also black young men in suits giving up their seats to the elderly.
The main public security problem comes from those young boys who have no jobs. Around the age of fourteen or fifteen, it is the time when male hormones are at their peak and they are not afraid of anything. If they don’t have money to play, they can only “think of ways”.
Ronald encountered a group of people on the subway who were roaring past the train. If you avoided their eyes and they saw that you were afraid, they would come forward to harass you and force you to buy some "souvenirs."
Ronald was a strong man. When they looked at him, they looked back, neither afraid nor provocative. Instead, they circled Ronald, exited the carriage door, and jumped over the turnstile.
After getting out of the subway, Ronald quickly stayed away from the public housing area around the subway. This kind of residential area with dense high-rise buildings and various sports facilities downstairs is all public housing built by the government. It is an area with a high incidence of vicious crimes, and there are many drug dealers.
, gangs, all operate here.
When we walked to the residential area where my uncle's comrade-in-arms Bader family lived, the scene here was completely different. This was an old-fashioned private residential area, so old that most of the walls had fallen off. The building was not high, and it was at the junction of two rows of houses.
There is an open space everywhere, and the walls are covered with various graffiti.
This kind of old-fashioned housing looks old, but it is actually safer than newer public housing. The population density is lower, gang members don't like it here, and it is not easy to hide when the police come.
There is a small area in the open space, and the ground is paved with terrazzo, which may be a decoration when it was built. It is now occupied by a group of people.
Another group of young black men in their teens and twenties stood in two groups on the open ground. Both groups looked at the two people on the terrazzo floor in the middle, dancing to the drumbeats played by the loudspeaker recorder.
When they saw a stranger coming, they stopped the tape recorder, and two groups of people gathered around them. They mouthed "yo, yo..." greetings with unknown meanings.
Ronald knew that this was a dangerous sign. Harlem was very united towards outsiders. This was because he was white and did not know their incisions. He would be misunderstood as a plainclothes policeman or other white gangsters.
alright.
He quickly put down the package and spread his hands to show that there was no threat. He stared into the eyes of the two leading black men and said loudly:
"I'm here to see the Bud family, Bud Davis. My uncle is a comrade of old Bud. Do any of you know his family?"
"Bud, Bud, I'm a guest in your house." The crowd pushed out a child whose age was unclear. He was five feet six (1.70 meters) tall, with a very strong build, but a childish face.
"Hey, is this Cousin Ronnie? My mom told me you were coming and asked me to pick you up." Little Bud, who has the same name as his father, came up and fist-bumped Ronald affectionately.
"This is the new popular way to say hello." Little Bud explained when he saw Ronald's confusion.
Ronald followed his example, touched him, picked up the package, and asked: "Are you doing a dance battle?"
"Yeah... we are dancing with people from the Bronx, and we play here every day when we have nothing to do." Little Bud said, "Let's go home first, I will take you away."
"Doesn't this matter to you?" Ronald asked little Bud, pointing to the dance venue.
"Yo, yo...
White guy from outside,
It turns out he is still a tall guy,
I don’t know if I have a brain,
Hide behind little Bud,
Do you dare to come down and dance..."
Perhaps Ronald's pointing and pointing angered the other party. From the group of people who were opposed to Little Bud, a Latino came out, turned on the tape recorder, and with the accompaniment of the rhythm tape, suddenly made up a verse to mock Ronald.
Germany.
"You motherfxcker! Keep your mouth clean. Cousin Ronnie is the nephew of my father's comrade in arms. He is one of our own." Little Bud was annoyed and tried to push him. Two groups of people quickly stepped forward, and the conflict was about to escalate.
.
"Hey, hey... stop." The leaders on both sides quickly shouted loudly to stop the pushing and shoving on both sides.
"Didn't we agree? Today, friends from Harlem and the Bronx, the winner will be decided by dancing."
I put the dual-card loudspeaker cassette player (Boombox) on the gasoline barrel on the roadside again, and played a rhythm tape with only drum beats.
The Latino guy just now was making up lyrics again to encourage the dancers on both sides. Ronald looked quite interesting. I wonder what kind of dance they were dancing, disco?
Bounce, Bounce, Bounce...
The drum beat has a very strong rhythm, which is different from the 4/4 beat of disco.
"Ouch..." Ronald exclaimed as he saw the dancer from the Bronx doing a full Thomas pirouette on the ground, and then rhythmically landing on all fours in turn.
A carp jumped up and down, and started to dance like a robot with all its joints.
"Huh?" Ronald felt that he could dance this part too, so he made a few gestures to himself. It seemed that he really knew how to dance, but he was a little unfamiliar.
After dancing, the dancers in the Bronx made various gestures such as hooking their fingers, raising their little fingers, and raising their thumbs upside down to provoke the people in Harlem.
The boss on Little Bud's side looked back at a young man and motioned him to come forward with his eyes.
The young man wore an old-fashioned top hat, a gray vest, and blue tight basketball shorts, but he lifted the front of the vest over his head, exposing his chest muscles and eight-pack abs.
It started out like a noodle dance, with the whole body as boneless as noodles. It slowly became limp with the rhythm, and then gradually stood up and returned to normal.
Then it was also a gymnastic pommel horse-style movement, but when he was doing it, he deliberately thrust his hips in time with the rhythm to provoke the opponent.
In the end, it was also a carp thrust. After standing upright, he covered his basketball shorts and at the same time thrust his hips towards the opponent to the beat of the drum.
"Hey, it seems like I can do this." A familiar feeling appeared in Ronald's body again.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." The friends in Harlem roared in victory.
This finishing move humiliated the opponent so much. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Harlem contestant on Little Bud's side danced better.
And based on Ronald's experience watching Meg practice, 80% of her has received professional ballet training.
The flexibility, coordination and kicking style of some movements all have the shadow of ballet. The most important thing is that when he performs kicking movements, his toes will unconsciously straighten.
What's even more coincidental is that Ronald seemed to have seen his figure in the movie clip in his dream, flashing by in the group dance scene.
Ronald couldn't help but applaud him.
"Hey, white guy, it's your turn." The boss on the other side pointed at Ronald.
"That's bad, cousin, you shouldn't applaud. According to the rules here, participating in the applause is equivalent to acknowledging that you are from our side, and the other party can challenge you." Little Bud quietly told Ronald the rules of the dance.
"Hey, can you do it, white guy?" The boss here also had a bad tone. If Ronald couldn't jump, it would be terrible for him to turn victory into defeat.
"Let me dance." Ronald suppressed his excited body slightly and signaled the other party to start playing the rhythm band.
Bounce, Bounce, Bounce...
Ronald first crossed his hands and placed them on his knees, and then began to switch hands with the rhythm, making it seem like he was switching knees.
Then he simulated climbing a ladder in the air with his hands, one, two, three times..., three, four... times. Everyone saw something interesting. Ronald was imitating the painter's movements of climbing the ladder. Although there was no ladder,
But the performance was so lively that the buddies in Harlem started to cheer.
Little Bud saw that his eldest cousin could actually dance this kind of black dance, and couldn't help but cheer loudly, "Oh...he is my eldest cousin Ronnie, the nephew of my father's comrade in arms, my eldest cousin!"
"
Then the air pulls the rope to walk,
The air wipes the glass while walking,
Ronald was so excited that he put one hand on his chest and followed the rhythm with his palms, simulating the beating of his heart, thump, thump...
Move and hit, move and hit, dong dong... dong dong dong, the drum beat of the recorder changes.
Ronald turned around, keeping his feet pinned still. He pressed the top of his head, then put his finger over, motioning to the ballet dancer to throw his top hat over.
As soon as the man threw it, the top hat flew over high. Ronald caught it steadily with his hand and put it on his head. Then he covered the top hat with one hand and put his other hand into his trouser pocket, thrusting his hips in time with the rhythm.
"Yo, yo, look, look, how is my eldest cousin dancing?" Little Bud played again.
Ronald danced very happily. It seemed that this was a dance that he had been able to dance in his previous life, and his level was not bad. Once he danced it, he became proficient.
He took off his top hat and quickly threw it back to the ballet dancer. Ronald changed his dance posture, snapped his fingers with his right hand, raised his legs high in the air, and ran on the spot.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
After stopping to show off, Ronald changed his movements again, still raising his legs high, as if running forward...
But the whole person was moving backwards.
Well, I'm still a bit unskilled at what I did.
"Wow!..."
The whole crowd exploded!
Several dancers, including those from the Bronx across the street, were more discerning than the general audience and rushed up to surround Ronald:
"Hey man, what's your move called?"
"I call it Moonwalk."
"Can you teach us?"
After demonstrating two more moonwalks to the dancers, Ronald said he wanted to see little Bud's mother, Mrs. Davis. Everyone gave him friendly fist bumps, hugs, and goodbyes. As long as they treat you as one of their own,
Black brothers are actually very nice.
Ronald quietly pulled over Little Bud and asked him to tell the dancer who had studied ballet to find a place to meet near Little Bud's house, and he could introduce him to a job as an extra.
"What about me, Cousin Ronnie, can I be an extra on the set?" After Little Bud agreed, he asked himself again. It seems that black people also have dreams of becoming stars.
"How old are you?" Ronald looked at Barney's figure, and it didn't look like he could dance.
"I am 14 years old, my sister is 15, and my younger sister is 13."
"Are you in middle school? The production crew has legal regulations and cannot hire actors under the age of 18."
"Are you lying to me? Cousin, you can't hire actors under 18 years old, so how did Shirley Temple make a movie?" Little Bud smiled, as if he had seen through Cousin's trick.
"You are very smart, little Bud. There are indeed young actors making movies, but that requires hiring tutors to make up lessons on the set, which your family cannot afford." Ronald looked at Bud's hopeful face turning to disappointment, and added, "I
I can’t even afford it.”
"Okay, I understand. Anyway, cousin, don't forget me when you have the chance." Little Bud quickly recovered from his disappointment and walked home with Ronald.