|
 Menu
|
|
|
|
|
Social
|
|
|
|
|
Big Al 3
Contributed by
ramfire
on
Friday, 27th April 2007 @ 02:32:07 PM in AEST
Topic:
toughstuff
|
To the left was a sunken music room with a grand piano. To the right a door held open by Lupota. I walked into Casino’s private study of oak paneling. A large executive desk rested before french doors that looked to lead into a garden area. Casino sat at the desk smoking a cigar. He wore a red quilted smoking jacket with frog attachments. Lupota and Madaly stayed behind me. A dark looking Sicilian was standing just to the left of Casino. The room was ankle deep in expensive rug. There was a three cushioned leather couch against the right wall, matching recliner with ottoman to my left near that wall. A Tiffany chandelier gave light.
Pictures were on the walls. A couple straight back chairs angled waiting in front of his desk.
Casino looked to be in his mid-thirties, a little over weight. He appeared tough and efficient.
He smiled pointing to one of the chairs. “ Have a seat, take a load off your feet. You got something for me to think about?”
I walked over to the chair and sat down. I gave it sometime before I answered.“I’ve got a proposition than can earn you a lot of money.”
“ Is that a fact. Tell me about it.”
“ I can deliver to Detroit two hundred cases of booze every month. They can be yours.”
Casino blew a cloud of smoke to the ceiling. He looked doubtful. “And how do you do that? The Purple Gang won’t let you.”
I took out a cigarette and rolled it between my forefinger and thumb without lighting it.
“ I pay them off.”
Casino smiled. “Dido, give the man an ashtray. Go ahead and smoke. I’m listening.”
The Sicilian came over with the tray. I lit my cigarette and gave Casino his smile back.
“The Bernstein brothers and I are good friends. I’ve known them since they were kids
terrorizing shopkeepers on Hastings Street. Abe, Joe, Raymond, and Izzy run the Purple Gang now and we’ve done business together before. They want a cut of everything I bring across the Detroit River, but that’s Jake with me.. I give them what they want and they leave my system alone. I pump the booze across the Detroit River, fifty gallons to a case, then have it delivered it to Detroit. It’s less than sixty miles from the Ohio border to Detroit and the Purple Gang navigates it down the Dixie Highway.”
“You want twenty thousand grand for two hundred cases. How many gallons in a case?”
“Fifty.”
Casino did some figuring on a note pad. “ That’s ten thousand gallons, or two dollars a gallon. I can put the booze in twenty-five ounce bottles and fill 5 bottle. The cost of each bottle would be forty cents. I take delivery in Detroit.”
“What you do after that is your own business.”
Casino took a decanter and a couple of shot glasses out of his desk drawer. He filled both,.
And gave one to me. He spoke. “ Maybe we can do business. I’ll get back to you later on that. Until then, happy days.”
I sipped a little. It was good stuff, the best I’d tasted in a long time. The man knew how to live. I let it play around in my mouth for a few seconds letting it slid slowly down my throat. The rest of it went down much quicker. I exchanged the ashtray and empty shot glass for my hat from the other chair and stood.
“ I hope we can. I’ll guarantee you two hundred cases a month, and you won’t have to deal with the Purple Gang. I’ll do that.”
Casino spoke to the two men behind me. “Take Mr. Berger back to the Regent.”
He gave me a couple of words. “ I’ll get back to you. Don’t leave town.”
“ Not me.”
We went back to the Packard. Lupota gave me back the Lugar and they dropped me off at the Regent.
Copyright ©
ramfire
... [
2007-04-27 14:32:07]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
Advertisments:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sorry, comments are no longer allowed for anonymous, please register for a free membership to access this feature and more
|
|
All comments are owned by the poster. Your Poetry
Dot Com is not responsible for the content of any
comment.
That said, if you find an offensive comment, please
contact via the FeedBack Form with details, including poem title
etc.
|
|
|
|
· 
Poetry
Community
Members
Areas
Reference
Search
Top
Others
