"I didn't expect you to show up here!"
Donnie, seated in LeBron's car, heard him speak.
"I heard Nucky thinks highly of you, not only giving you a loan but also letting you supply me. Now you come to the commodore's dinner, aren't you afraid of Nucky finding out?"
LeBron James said with ease.
Although Donnie and he were now in a partnership, in truth, Robert had been the one in contact with LeBron James during this time, not Donnie.
After listening, Donnie laughed and asked, "I heard that people from the North District speak very directly. Could it be that you, LeBron, have been dealing with white folks so much that you've also learned their technique of speaking?"
The already dark-faced LeBron James, upon hearing Donnie's words, appeared even darker... not that it was noticeable.
"I know you must have another batch of stored liquor. Sell it to me at a price lower than the one we agreed on, and I won't tell Nucky about tonight's incident!"
This was the real reason LeBron James had Donnie get in the car.
Even his distillery hadn't officially started producing rum and whiskey yet, but he could get a steady supply from Donnie. This made LeBron James believe Donnie must have a considerable stash.
Even though Donnie was currently supplying him, LeBron James understood that Donnie was Nucky's important ally to keep himself in check.
Naturally, Donnie became his biggest competitor in Atlantic City. Adhering to the principle that the friend of an enemy is an enemy, Donnie also became an enemy in LeBron's eyes.
Donnie leaned against the car window, took out a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket, drew one, placed it in his mouth, then lit it up. Only when the smoke began to fill the car did Donnie look at LeBron.
"Nucky has given the entire Atlantic City's private liquor brewing business to you, and now you're also at the commodore's dinner. Aren't you afraid of Nucky being unhappy?"
LeBron James's expression darkened as he said coldly, "The commodore and I are brothers, we've known each other for years!"
Donnie laughed and said, "You shouldn't be telling me this; you should be thinking about how to explain it to Nucky!"
With a creak,
LeBron James brought the car to a stop, looked at Donnie coldly, and said, "Get out, from now on, you'll be my enemy!"
Donnie disembarked nonchalantly, without so much as a glance at LeBron James, and walked straight towards the boardwalk.
With such poor emotional intelligence, he wants to compete with me?
When Donnie returned to Block Tavern, he saw it was crowded, with Robert and John busy on their feet.
Donnie greeted the bar's patrons on his way to the bar counter.
"Donnie, why is your family's liquor tasting worse, nothing like the rum we used to drink?"
"That's right, Donnie, you're cheating your gods!"
Some customers complained loudly.
Unconcerned with their complaints, Donnie said, "The only place in Atlantic City you can get such pure rum and whiskey is Block Tavern. If you're not satisfied, you can try another tavern!"
Donnie's words left the grumbling people disgruntled, but they had to admit, even if the liquor at Block Tavern wasn't what it used to be, it was still the best drink they could find in any Atlantic City tavern!
"We might as well bring Lolita to Atlantic City. You two are just too busy to handle it all!"
Donnie suggested to Robert, who was mixing drinks.
Without even looking at Donnie, Robert replied with a touch of resentment, "If you could just stay at the tavern like you should, we wouldn't be short on hands!"
Donnie spread his hands and said, "Clearly, that's a suggestion that's not going to happen!"
As Donnie began to enter the power center of Atlantic City, he would become busier, hardly able to attend to the tavern business.
Not at all surprised, Robert said, "John has already spoken with Chris and Magichi from the village, and they'll be coming to Atlantic City in the next couple of days."
In fact, Donnie had previously told John to find more staff, as Donnie's business wasn't just the Block Tavern but also included private liquor production and transportation. The most dangerous part was the transportation from Elwood Village to Atlantic City.
As for Chris and Magichi, Donnie was familiar with them. They had grown up with John and were his trusty aides.
Upon hearing the two were on their way, Donnie surveyed the tavern and quickly found the target he was looking for.
He placed his little fingers to his mouth and emitted a sharp whistle, attracting the attention of the other tavern customers. At that moment, Olman turned around as well.
Then Olman saw Donnie waving at him.
Olman approached with mixed feelings. Initially, he had lured Donnie to the hotel on Eli's behalf to coerce him into handing over his stash of liquor, only for Nucky to appear suddenly, revealing the relationship between Donnie and Nucky to Olman.
This made Olman very worried. Although at the time Donnie said it was nothing, in the following days, Olman had invited Donnie multiple times, only to be rejected.
"Dear Donnie, is there something you need?"
Arriving at Donnie's side, Olman asked warmly.
Donnie fetched $25 from the drawer and handed it directly to Olman, chuckling, "Same as always, two Colt 1911s, 50 rounds!"
Olman pulled out $20, leaving $5, and said, "We're friends now, the whole thing will just be $40!"
Donnie naturally took back the $5, expressing his thanks, "Thank you!"
"Oh!" Olman exclaimed exaggeratedly, "My dear Donnie, if you treat me so formally, I won't be happy!"
Donnie laughed heartily, clapped Olman on the shoulder, "Yes, my friend!"
After Olman left, Robert watched his retreating figure and muttered, "This must be the convenience that comes with increased social status!"
Donnie nodded in agreement, "Exactly, in fact, there's no real relationship between Nucky and me, but since he showed up, they assumed we're good friends!"
Robert replied, "From what you've said, I gather that this so-called rise in social status actually means gaining Nucky's approval."
Donnie spread his hands, expressing indifference, "At least that's the case in Atlantic City at the moment!"
Robert questioned, "If Nucky knew you were attending the Colonel's dinner tonight, would your status still continue to exist?"
Although Robert's words were the same as what LeBron James had said, Donnie still smiled happily, "Do you really think Nucky isn't aware of the Colonel coming to see me before?"
Unable to help himself, Robert shook his head, "I really don't understand what goes on in your minds, why can't I figure out the schemes?"
Donnie lightly patted Robert's shoulder, laughing, "You don't need to understand too clearly, there's a lot of fun in these matters!"
"The more you say so, the more curious I get!"
Impatiently, Robert served a beer to a customer at the bar.
"You guys mind the shop, I've got an important errand to run tomorrow!"
Grabbing a bottle of beer from the counter, Donnie greeted the others and headed upstairs.
The next day!
By the time Donnie woke up, John had already left Atlantic City and returned to Elwood Village, first to transport a batch of alcohol and then to pick up Chris and Magichi.
"I think we should switch cars!"
Seeing that Donnie hadn't left the tavern immediately, Robert sat down in front of him.
"The previous car, though Raven repainted it once, could still be troublesome if someone recognized it, and it no longer meets our current cargo volume!"
"Then find Olman and buy another truck!" Donnie said carelessly.
Nucky had previously told Louis about Donnie's income during this period, but in reality, that income was still inaccurate.
At first, Donnie bought $500 worth of alcohol from William, then borrowed another $1000 from Nucky, and also, George's death had brought Donnie an income of $5000.
To keep it hidden from Nucky's eyes, that $6000 was spent by John driving to Philadelphia to buy alcohol, not in Atlantic City.
After returning, the explosion of Nucky's warehouse allowed Carl to use this batch of alcohol to blend more drinks.
In short, at that time, Donnie had at least $20000 worth of stock in hand.
However, in order to deceive Nucky, Donnie only marketed about $10000 worth of alcohol in Atlantic City, with the rest being gradually sold at Block Tavern. Let's not forget that Donnie was essentially making a no-cost deal.
So, as of now, Donnie had accumulated over $15000 in cash.
Even after deducting the $1300 he owed to Nucky, Donnie still possessed $13700 in cash.
In the United States of 1920, this amount of money was a considerable fortune!
That's why Robert could now boldly suggest to Donnie the idea of changing cars.
"By the way, what do the customers think of the alcohol we've been blending?"
Donnie asked.
Robert spoke casually, "You saw yesterday's situation yourself, they'd have to keep any opinions to themselves, at least our tavern's alcohol hasn't killed anyone!"
LeBron James had hurriedly produced a batch of rum and whiskey blend with industrial alcohol to cope with the alcohol shortage in Atlantic City, which ended up killing several of the city's hard drinkers over the past few days.
The worst thing is to compare products, and although Block Tavern's alcohol wasn't as good as before, at least it was safe!
"If that's the case, then there's no problem!" Donnie said, not too concerned. After checking the time, Donnie stood up and smilingly said.
"Alright, I'm off to see Nucky now, you'll have to fend for yourself at lunch today!"
"I might as well just head over to Lisa's place!" Robert joked.