Any metropolis that should be as bright and bright as heaven in the minds of ordinary people has its dark corners that are like hell.
The same goes for Manhattan.
The Gralf family, who have fallen directly from the clouds of the city to the lowest point, have experienced this very well during this period. Laura Gralf lost her restaurant job last month for attacking diners. Simon hinted that Ben Grace, who was already impatient, kicked the mother and daughter out of the apartment she rented for them.
A family of three people who were completely bankrupt experienced what it was like to live on the streets for the first time.
A real wandering joint.
Except for a few clothes thrown out by Grace, the three of them only had a total of less than 20 US dollars in cash, which was not enough for a meal.
With some expectations, I made a few calls to some old friends from the past. As a result, the whole of Manhattan was still avoiding them like the god of plague. In the end, Laura Gralf had no choice but to dial the home numbers of her three brothers. In any case, this was their last resort.
The call was connected, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the eldest brother hung up the phone with great force. They were obviously still grudges about the fact that her children missed Brown University because of her stinginess.
The second brother and the third brother did not hang up the phone immediately.
After chatting for a while, I heard that she wanted to take her two daughters back to Georgia to live for a while, but they both immediately refused. In their words, it turned out that they all knew that the Gralf family was in big trouble in New York. It's just ordinary small farmers in the southern United States who don't want to mess with these.
Without the help of her three brothers, even if she wanted to forcefully return to Georgia with her two daughters, it would be impossible because she simply could not afford the travel expenses.
The first night came quickly.
The mother and daughter wandered among the brightly lit streets of Manhattan until late at night. They found that this city was so big, but there was no place for them at all. Until they finally couldn't walk any further, they found a park where the surroundings seemed to pop up from the ground. The homeless people who came here had different looks, and huddled in a corner of the park lawn to spend the night.
Early the next morning, because of breakfast, the younger daughter had a quarrel with Laura Gralf, thinking that she had offended Grace, causing the three of them to live on the street.
The eldest daughter also looked at her with a bit of hatred.
Laura Gralf didn't have a good temper either, so she directly slapped her little daughter in the face. She felt that if it weren't for these two trolls, she would be more relaxed. After getting angry, she even said that if she didn't want to follow her, she would just get out. Don't you like to run away from home? Anyway, now that you have no home, you can leave wherever you want.
After a lot of quarreling, they still managed to get it together.
Always have to live.
Laura Gralf tried to find another job, but after three days of struggling, she was rejected by both the waiters in restaurants and shopping malls and the small businesses recruiting front desk helpers. However, several of them rejected her because of Laura... Gralf's appearance was obviously moved, but he quickly drove her out again as if he got some reminder.
On the fourth night, a man driving by noticed a mother and daughter huddled in a corner of James Park in Greenwich Village. He came up to chat with her. When he learned that the three women were actually a mother and daughter, his eyes glowed green and he started to drive. For a high price of US$1,000, he only needed three people to get in the car with him.
US$1,000, in the past, would not even have been enough to buy Laura Gralf a bottle of cosmetics.
Now, the mother and daughter, who have not had a good meal for several days, have reached their weakest will. Of course, they also know what kind of women men regard them as. However, for 1,000 US dollars, they can find a place to stay and have a good sleep. Sleep, you can have a very good meal, you can...
The man seemed to see Laura Grahl's looseness and directly raised the price to $1,500.
Then the eldest daughter, Cathy Gralf, suddenly exploded, yelling at the man to get out.
But the man was very patient and said that this was already a very high price. The top call girls in Manhattan could only get so much. Ordinary street girls only cost $50 a time. He sensed Cathy Gralf's resistance. , the man took a step back and said that she could do nothing but just get in the car together.
Noticing that Cathy Gralf had pulled his sister away from her mother again, the man took a step back and said politely that the sisters only needed to watch.
After all, Laura Gralf, who still had some sense of shame, saw the reaction of her two daughters and thought for a moment to test the man if she could get in the car alone. Unexpectedly, the man immediately turned his back. Although he did not refuse, he also The price was directly reduced from US$1,500 to US$100.
After talking fluently, the mother and daughter finally got into the Ford car parked on the roadside.
Immediately, the police descended from the sky.
In New York, certain things are illegal.
The mother and daughter were imprisoned for the first time.
A full five days.
In this world, there are many people who deliberately commit crimes and live in prison because they cannot survive. However, if you have actually been to prison, you probably never want to go back to that place again.
The three crimes committed by the mother and daughter were not serious, but after learning about the relationship between the three women, even the prison guards who were used to seeing all kinds of evil things could not understand that Laura Gralf actually took her two daughters with her. They did this kind of thing together, so their attitude towards her became even worse.
Asked if she had a contact who could bail them out, Laura Gralf could only leave Grace's phone number.
When the mother and daughter thought Grace Spurter had completely forgotten them, the agent finally showed up five days later, and they moved into the basement in the East Village.
This is a public dormitory prepared by Elite for contracted models in the early stages of their careers.
It’s a small room with four beds. The kitchen and bathroom are shared, but that’s it. Each bed costs US$1,000 per month, which is enough to rent a single room outside. However, this is actually one of the sources of income for model agencies. Since you have signed a contract with Elite, if you want to receive training, become famous, or become a supermodel, you must accept the company's arrangements, or to be more precise, squeeze.
After the rearrangement, the mother and daughter will have a monthly living expenses of US$2,000. This money comes from Laura Gralf's two daughters, US$1,000 each, and Grace said she will continue to nurture them.
As for Laura Gralf, she was arranged as an assistant to her two daughters. Her daily job was just to accompany them to participate in various model training courses, as well as occasional odd jobs. Basically, they were all trials where she could not go on stage. She pretends to be a model, works as a clothes rack for various studios, but has no chance to appear on the catwalks of magazines.
In fact, this is the living situation of most young models in the early stages of their careers.
There are so many beautiful girls in the world, and it's not that easy to stand out with just a body and a face.
After arranging these, Grace seemed to forget about the three of them again. The only thing that needed to be informed on weekdays was the agent's assistant.
After experiencing the experience of sleeping on the streets and being imprisoned, the mother and daughter finally recognized their situation.
The feasting and pampering of Manhattan's upper class has completely left them. Now, the Gralf family is just a few ants at the bottom of this metropolis.
a new day.
I don’t quite remember what day it is today, it’s probably the end of July, probably a Friday.
Laura Gralf was awakened by the quarrel, and sat up irritably from the hard bunk bed that she had not been used to for several weeks. She saw her little daughter Victoria rushing back to the room with tears on her face. She cried and threw herself on the bed on the other side. Outside, there was the sound of the eldest daughter arguing with another girl.
Cursing in a low voice, Laura Gralf lay down again with her head covered.
Don't want to care.
In fact, it’s not too noisy.
The girls who broke into this metropolis and struggled to climb up would be as docile as kittens in front of the big men, but few of them were really easy to talk to each other.
Soon, the eldest daughter also walked in from the outside with choked sobs.
He threw the washbasin on the ground indiscriminately, with towels, toothbrushes, etc. scattered all over the floor. Noticing that her mother was covering her head with a thin blanket and deliberately ignoring it, Cathy Gralf kicked the plastic washbasin hard again. The sound of cracking sounds came from the feet.
Laura Gralf immediately sat up and stared at her eldest daughter: "Cathy, do you think these things don't cost money?"
Cathy Gralf's eyes were still filled with tears, and she stepped hard on the cracked plastic basin. She also glared at her mother: "Vicky and I earned the money, you are the one who made the money." Spending our money.”
After being contradicted by her daughter, Laura Gralf became a little angry and blurted out: "I am your mother."
Cathy Gralf didn't give in: "I don't have a mother like you. If you hadn't angered Ms. Grace, how could we live here. Ms. Grace was so good to us at first, and it was all because of you. It’s because of you.”
The mother and daughter were quarreling when another tall blonde girl walked in from outside carrying her own toiletries.
Seeing the messy room, the girl named Angela Lindworth didn't say anything. She put the toiletries on the shelf, silently climbed to her bed on Victoria Gralf's upper bunk, and started from the bedside. I found makeup tools from my locker and started drawing on my face.
Angela Lindworth is 15 years old and comes from Kansas City, Missouri, in the middle of the United States.
Since last year, the girl has frequently sent her information to a modeling agency in New York, and was initially signed by Spectrum Model Agency. Daniela Pusteva, who was favored by Elite during this period, came from this company. .
However, the Spectrum Model Agency is now on the verge of bankruptcy, and its models have begun to go their separate ways. When Grace poached Daniela Pusteva from this company, she noticed Angela and found that the girl was also a good talent, so they hired her together. Come over.
Arranged here for the time being.
Ms. Grace had warned her in advance not to have too much interaction with these three women, and if they had any special actions on weekdays, they should call her at any time. The smart Angela naturally understood, and at the same time learned from Grace The lady knows that the agent is really trying to train her in her daily arrangements, so she becomes more obedient.
Today I am going to work as a fitting model in the studio of the famous designer Isaac Mizrahi. It is said that he is also cooperating with Daenerys Entertainment's Gaomen Films to shoot a documentary. I may have the opportunity to appear in it. , the opportunity is rare, Angela has no intention of paying attention to the messy affairs of the mother and daughter.
Ignoring the quarrels in her ears, Angela prepared carefully. Finally, Angela put on a pair of navel-baring T-shirts and denim hot pants that showed off her figure. She completely ignored the mother and daughter who were still fighting each other, put on her bag, and Left the dormitory.
Seeing Angela leaving in high spirits, Cathy Gralf put away her thoughts of fighting with her mother and began to prepare.
She also has work today.
As for breakfast, where do models need breakfast
As soon as she put foundation on her face, there was some movement outside the dormitory. It was a greeting, and the voice of the girl who had just quarreled with her happened to be that of the girl who had just quarreled with her. Her tone sounded flattering and humble.
Cathy Gralf had just stood up from the dressing table stuck between the beds on both sides. Grace Spurter, who was still wearing a black OL suit, but because of her experience during this time, had obviously become more of a strong woman. Just walked in.
After sending Angela away and following back, Grace glanced at the messy room with displeasure on her face, but she just said to the three women: "Hurry up and change your clothes and follow me." Then she turned to Kai. Qian frowned and said, "Wipe off your face. What does it look like?"
Cathy Gralf was a little aggrieved. She had just put on foundation, so of course she wouldn't look good, but she didn't dare to refute and smiled at Grace.
Laura Gralf sat up from the bed and saw that Grace was obviously getting more and more radiant during this period, as if she was many years younger. The hatred in her heart welled up again. She had never forgotten that this woman had robbed her. Her chance to climb up to Simon Westeros.
That's Simon Westeros.
However, Laura Gralf, who was just resentful in her heart and did not want to experience what happened at the beginning of the month again, did not dare to show any hostility.
Although this place is not much better than a prison, there is no need to sleep on the streets and there is no need to worry about food and clothing.
As for the past life, it didn’t even appear in my dreams a few times during this period.
The mother and daughter got dressed obediently, without putting on makeup, and then left the dormitory with Grace, went to the street outside, and got into Grace's car. Cathy Glalf asked cautiously: "Grace." Ms. Lace, what are we going to do?”
Grace glanced at the three mothers and daughters crowded in the back seat, didn't answer, and just started the car.
The car drove through the crowded streets of Manhattan in the early morning for half an hour. Finally, Grace took her mother and daughter to a women's club on Lexington Avenue in the Upper East Side.
Throughout the rest of the morning, Laura Gralgh felt like she was back to her old self.
More than a dozen professional technicians were surrounding the mother and daughter.
From head to toe, haircut, eyebrow shaping, hair removal, skin care, manicure, massage...
By noon, the mother and daughter, who were in somewhat bad personal condition due to the experiences they had experienced in the past few months, returned to the Upper East Side, where women were radiant and exquisite. Finally, someone sent a shelf full of luxury brands for the family of three to choose from. , this kind of treatment has never been experienced by Laura Gralf before.
Although during the morning maintenance process, several nurses-looking girls took several tubes of blood samples from three people, and also took samples from the mouth and other private parts, as if they were doing a physical examination, but the Gralf family did not Pay attention to these details.
There is nothing left.
Grace Spurter could never sell them.
Even if it's sold, so what? It won't be worse than living in the basement, right