Chapter 315
Eight o’clock the following morning.
Luke and his family arrived again at the hotel conference room to verify their identities and were told that they could not carry weapons into the White House.
At 8:35 a.m., two buses drove downstairs of the hotel, and the award recipients and their families were allowed to take the buses to the White House.
Going to the White House was nothing new; parts of the White House, and parts of the time period, were open to the public for visitors, and Robert had visited the White House when he was young.
But this visit to the White House was different, the grandson was awarded the highest honor by the President, and he himself became an invited guest to watch the ceremony, when he went back to see his old buddies could have something to brag about.
Linda had been up at six in the morning, hired a special makeup artist and dressed in her best, as a single mom, there was no prouder day than this one.
Fatty had been videoing with Maggie, his fat face flushed and looking excited.
He hadn’t eaten since last night in order to look skinny for the camera, and this morning he only ate an egg and drank a glass of milk.
Li Zhaonian got into the car and sat in a row with Luke, the two whispered something.
Luke enjoyed communicating with this uncle, the two had a lot of common ‘language’, which is why he wanted to train his younger brother to understand Chinese culture, so that he could have someone who spoke his hometown’s language in the future.
The United States is an immigrant country, multi-ethnic and multi-national, while integrating into the local society, it is also necessary to retain the culture of their own people.
This is not to engage in special, nor is it a sign of non-conformity, Anglo-Saxon, Jewish, African-American, Mexican have been integrated into American society, but also retain their own ethnic culture.
Many Afrikaners even openly fly the flag of their ‘home’ country in their yards.
Val was excited today as well, dressed up and with a lot of hairspray on her head, looking left and right as soon as she got in the car.
A man of Mexican descent with a bandaged left hand walked up to the car, glanced to the back, and walked over to the seat in front of Val.
Val stared at the other man, “You Chris Franco?”
The Chicano man asked back, “Yes, you know me?”
“Sure.
A man with an AK entered a Wal-Mart supermarket and fired indiscriminately, causing dozens of casualties and injuries to customers and supermarket staff.
You bravely stepped forward and hit the gunman with a bottle, which was also spotted by the gunman, causing the killer to shoot you, you were shot twice, I’ve been following the shooting, you’re a hero.”
Chris Franco, a man of Mexican descent, laughed, “I’m not as good as you make me out to be, I’m not a cop and I’m unarmed, but seeing the gunman go on a rampage in the supermarket, it was impossible to do nothing.
I casually picked up a beer bottle and threw it, but I’m not a professional pitcher and it took me a couple of throws before I hit the other guy, the good news is that he stopped going after the other customers, the bad news is that he set his sights on me, and left me with some ‘gifts’.”
Chris Franco pointed to his arm, “Actually, I didn’t play much of a role, just did what I had to do.”
Val said, “You’ve done a great job, and it’s because you’re not a police officer that makes this incident all the more rare.
I’m also a supermarket worker who receives all sorts of customers every day, and you’re definitely the most righteous customer I’ve ever seen.”
Val handed the other party a business card, “If you come to Los Angeles, be sure to visit our supermarket, we’ll be happy to serve you.”
“Thanks.” Chris Franco smiled and asked rhetorically, “Sorry man, I don’t know you yet, are you here to receive your award too?”
“I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself.
My name is Val, and I’m here with my nephew to claim my award.” Val pointed aside to Luke, “This is my nephew Luke, who took down the gunman in the Las Vegas shooting.”
Chris Franco looked over at Luke, “Wow wow, no wonder you feel a little familiar, I’ve heard about you, super impressive.
When you have time, be sure to tell me about the situation, it must have been thrilling.”
“No problem, when the award ceremony is over, we can go to the bar for a drink and catch up.” Luke had also heard about the supermarket shooting located in Texas, which ended up killing 23 people and injuring 23 others, and is currently ranked seventh on mass shootings in the United States.
Chris Franco praised, “Good idea, let me invite you for the first round.”
Sitting next to Luke, Li Zhaonian joked, “Man, never grab the check in front of a Chinese person.”
“Haha ……”
The crowd laughed.
In the midst of the small talk, the bus drove towards the White House.
Luke was also a bit excited, what was important about this award was not only the medal itself, but also the meaning and influence behind it.
Luke crossed to Los Angeles just a few months to get the highest honor medal in the police community, this is a recognition of his ability, but also shows that he chose this path is correct.
Luke would be carrying more honor and responsibility on his back, and at the same time, a new beginning.
After arriving at the White House, all the passengers on the bus were once again screened, and then the award recipients and their families were separated, and Luke and other award recipients were placed in a lounge.
Ten people were honored with Luke, which also included Fattau Brandi from the Las Vegas Fire Department and Chris Franco, a Mexican-American civilian.
Seven people, including Luke, wore police or fire uniforms, and there were three civilian honorees.
White House staff rechecked the identities of the crowd while explaining the award process ……
The awards ceremony was held in the west lobby of the White House, with white walls, yellow curtains and a picture of Washington hanging in the center.
The staff was already setting up at the podium, testing the microphones, and the observers walked in one by one and sat in the chairs under the lectern.
Robert, Linda, Li Zhaonian, Val, and Fatty were among them, whispering to those around them.
At nine twenty-five, reporters also stepped into the venue, and all the major news stations set up their live broadcast instruments.
At nine thirty minutes, the old white man with a head of fluffy blonde hair walked into the venue, and was flanked by the staff as he walked up to the speaker’s podium.
He was the current president of the White House, King Know It All.
King Know It All walked up to the speaker’s podium, stood by the microphone, the corner of his mouth rose slightly, first looked at the audience on the left, and then looked at the audience on the right: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
Today is a special day, and we are here to welcome some heroes who are the cornerstones of this country and have contributed greatly to its security and stability.
A lot has happened in the past year, this country has changed dramatically, becoming safer, richer, and more democratic than ever before, but there have also been some unfortunate things that have happened, such as the Las Vegas shooting, the arson in Arizona, the shooting in Texas, the school attack in Ohio …… ”
King Know It All sighed, “While I offer my deepest condolences to the victims of these events, there are also heroes that have emerged behind these events, protecting this country and its citizens in various ways and actions.
Now, let us bring these heroes to the stage.”
King Knowles turned sideways and looked behind him at the aisle of the lectern.
The honorees, led by Luke, then walked to the podium.
King Know It All led the applause.
There was also a round of applause from the stage.
Luke’s group stood in two rows, one row being the recipients of the Medal of Valor for Public Safety Officers, led by Luke.
The other row was civilians who had performed valor in the incident.
King Knowles said a few words of praise and then began to present the awards.
King Knowles walked up to Luke first.
Although both received the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, Luke ranked first in terms of both the impact of the case, and personal merit.
King Know It All, who was taller than Luke by a few centimeters, pointed at Luke and said, “Hey, stick boy, I know you.
Luke from the LAPD, I like L.A., it’s a very artistic city.
I’ve met your chief, Frank, a couple times at parties, he’s a real classy guy, always likes to have a stern face, but he seems reliable.
I was impressed with him, but he didn’t give me much of a shit at the time.”
Luke laughed, “That’s certainly Frank’s style, but he shouldn’t take it personally, not you, but everyone.”
King Know It All smiled, “You’re right, when you get back to L.A., say hi to him for me.”
“I will.”
King Know It All took the medallion from the side and walked behind Luke to help him wear it.
It was a beautiful medal, a gilded blue enameled inverted five-pointed star surrounded by a laurel wreath. The seal of state was engraved on the obverse of the center disk and Luke’s name was engraved on the reverse.
The medal is one of the few U.S. medals with a collar ribbon; the vast majority of the others are lapel ribbons.
Regardless of which president presents the award, the perks and benefits that come with this national honor will stay with these police officers for the rest of their lives.
“This medal suits you.” King Knowles held out his right hand.
“THANKS Sir, nice to meet you.” Luke shook the other man’s hand.
After King Knowles finished handing out the medals to the public safety officers, he started giving out certificates to the civilians.
However, the civilians only had certificates of recognition, not medals.
When the awards were over, King Know It All said a few more floor words and then left the podium, and the entire award ceremony took less than an hour.
However, the significance for Luke and the others was different.
From today onwards, the people on the podium could be addressed as ‘heroes’ wherever they went, and were still recognized by the state as having conferred the title.
This title held great honor and potential benefits for police officers and firefighters.
Luke rejoined his family and hugged each other.
Chubby went to touch the medallion with his hand and was slapped on the back of it by Linda, “Don’t move.”
Humpty Dumpty retracts his hand with an aggrieved look.
Linda cupped the medallion in her own hand, “Wow wow, this is a beautiful medallion! I must hang it on the wall in the living room when I get home.”
“Mom, I thought you wouldn’t let me move it? Why can you touch it?”
“Because I’m your mom.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Shut up or you’ll lose your allowance for the next month and the month after that.”
Little Fatty “……”
After the awards, Luke and his family were given a guided tour of the open areas of the White House by the staff.
After wandering around for half an hour before leaving and walking to the entrance of the White House, Robert suggested a family photo.
A fitting end to the awards ceremony ……
Fatty, being the idle one that he is, yelled that he wanted to go to the Natural History Museum.
Luke’s eyes, however, were drawn to a line of people walking not far away.
Several FBI agents walked up to the entrance of the White House, their eyes scanning the surrounding area, Luke was familiar with the feeling, like searching the crowd for suspicious people.
Luke made a snap decision, “Let’s go, to the Natural History Museum.”
“Yay, still old brother is good to me.” The little fat man cheered, happily trying to jump up, but I don’t know if it was because he was too fat, his toes didn’t leave the ground.
At this time, the civilian awardee Chris Franco and his family walked out of the White House with a smile on their faces, everyone’s faces were filled with warmth and pride.
Several FBI agents walked up and stopped in front of Chris Franco, “Are you Chris Franco?”
Chris Franco smiled and asked, “It’s me, you guys saw the award ceremony live?”
“That’s right, but that’s not why we’re looking for you.” A white man in an FBI uniform flashed his credentials, “I’m FBI agent Giovanni Urser, here’s my credentials.”
The smile on Chris Franco’s face tightened, “What do you want with me?”
“Chris Franco, in 2016, you were sentenced to 18 days in jail for stealing a television set from the Pistillo Mall.
This is a warrant for your arrest.
We are now required by law to arrest you.” FBI Agent Giovanni Urser waved his hand, signaling his accompanying agents to make the arrest.
“No, I’ve just been honored by the President, you can’t do this to me ……,” Chris Franco said with a look of fear and anger, his body involuntarily stepping back.
Fata’u Brandi, also an award recipient, walked over and stepped in front of the FBI agent, “What do you want? This is the White House?”
We were all conferring awards from the same podium, and although we couldn’t talk about one honor and one loss, if Chris Franco was taken away, the other award recipients would be equally disgraced.
FBI agent Giovanni Urser flashed a warrant, “This is a warrant for his arrest, and I have the authority and responsibility to arrest him wherever he is.”
At this point, Luke no longer stayed out of it, and took the arrest warrant to check that it was indeed a real and valid warrant, and then, returned the document to Giovanni Usher.
Luke was also confused about what was going on and stepped aside for the moment.
FBI agent Giovanni Usher took out his handcuffs and arrested Chris Franco in public.
Chris Franco didn’t dare to resist, but just kept pleading, “You can’t do this, I’ve just been awarded a hero certificate by the President, you can’t take me away as a criminal ……
This is unfair, you guys can’t do this.”
“Click click click ……”
The flashbulbs around them went off.
The reporters from the TV stations all gathered around, asking questions in a variety of ways.
“Why did you FBI arrest Chris Franco, he was one of the civilian heroes who was awarded a certificate this time.”
“Can you tell us what crime Chris Franco committed?”
“Is there a deeper reason here as to why you are arresting someone in front of the White House?”
FBI Agent Giovanni Usher escorted Chris Franco into the car, “Sorry, no comment.” The door was then closed and the car left the White House.
Seeing the situation, Luke rushed to dodge.
If he didn’t leave, he would be surrounded by reporters and asked questions, he didn’t know anything, he didn’t know anything, so why get involved in the whirlpool.
Luke ran away, the other award recipients were surrounded by reporters, another pass of 100,000 reasons.
Back in his hotel room, Luke was still thinking about it and felt a little unsettled.
The President had just presented Chris Franco with a certificate of recognition, praising him as a valiant citizen.
It turned out that this hero had been caught by the FBI in front of the White House in the blink of an eye.
So is he a hero or a fugitive?
Not only the same batch of award recipients felt uncomfortable in their hearts.
The one who is most upset should be King Knowles, which is a bare-faced slap in the face.
Luke estimated that the probability that King Know It All is now in the White House office angry cursing, with King Know It All’s character definitely did it.
Luke suddenly missed Los Angeles a little.
Eight o’clock in the evening, the hotel terrace bar.
Luke ordered a root beer and drank while thinking about things.
A fragrant wind came, Luke raised his eyes and looked, a beautiful figure wearing a long burgundy dress came over, exquisite face, long legs in the front and back, it was the beautiful detective Orty.
Luke asked, “What would you like to drink?”
“Bloody Mary.”
“It goes well with your outfit today.” Luke smiled and said to the bartender, “A Bloody Mary.”
“What’s the rush to find me, big hero?”
“I want to change my plans, cut my stay in Washington short, and head back to L.A. early.”
“Why?”
“You promised to be a guide and show me around D.C., but you bailed.”
“Come on, the Captain Luke I know isn’t that petty.”
Luke scanned the area, leaned forward and whispered, “A civilian awardee was grabbed by FBI agents in front of the White House, did you know that?”
“I knew you’d ask about that. So, I poked around before coming here and Chris Franco was released again.”
“When?”
“Just about half an hour ago.”
“The FBI got the wrong guy?”
“No.
But the agency that issued the original warrant wouldn’t take the man, and the FBI then released the man.”
Luke asked rhetorically, “Does that seem normal to you?”
Orty thought for a moment, “It might not be normal in other countries, but this is America.”
“That’s what I don’t like about Washington.”
“You didn’t say you didn’t like Washington before?”
“It’s not too late to say it.”
“So what do you want now? Do you need me to keep digging deeper?”
Luke thought for a moment, “No, I don’t want to get too involved, when we get back to L.A., even if the White House is hijacked, it’s none of my business.”
“You’re such a man of the world.” Orty laughed.
Suddenly, a voice rang out next to him, “Hey, beautiful, can I buy you a drink?”
A white man with a glass of wine in his hand and a few drinks in his hand walked over and stood beside Orty, looking Orty’s figure up and down.
Orty craned his head, “Are you talking about me?”
“Of course, is there a hotter chick here than you?”
“You have a good eye, but I have company.”
The white man lifted his glass and pointed at Luke, “Are you talking about him?”
Luke laughed, “That’s right, we have some personal business to discuss. Sir, you may go.”
The white man, who was tall, wiggled his fingers, “NoNoNo, you’re the one who has to leave, now it’s my turn to have a drink with this beautiful lady.
I’ll give you thirty seconds to disappear from my sight immediately.”
Luke’s eyes were sharp, sizing up the other man with interest, if this was Los Angeles, this guy would already be on the ground.
The white man looked at his watch and pointed his right index finger at Luke, “Ten seconds left.”
Without warning, Orty grabbed the white man’s right index finger and reversed it.
“Ah!”
The white man let out a cry of pain, and with the direction of Orty’s force, he bent over and knelt on the ground.
“Pain pain pain, my hand ……”
“Next time, you’d better ask me what I think before you make an invitation.” Orty raised his foot and kicked him in the chest, and the white man was kicked to the ground, all liquored up.
The white man glared at Orty and Luke and ran off cursing.