by Ieva, Bob
“Pull that handle down and back up the tractor until you here it hook up to the trailer. Once you hear that pull the tractor forward and tug a couple of times to make sure it is locked. The trailer should not move.
Now get out of the tractor and roll up the wheels on the trailer.”
I did everything he told me and the he made me drop the trailer and do everything over about 20 times until I knew what I was doing.
At noon time John said, “Let’s go to lunch, when we get back you will drive around the terminal making right turns, left turns and U-turns. After that we will practice backing in, then going on the road to see how you can drive this thing.”
We went to lunch and had plenty of food and came back in about one hour. John showed me how to handle the truck around the terminal, how to turn in every direction and how to back up to a dock. I started to get pretty good at it so he said, “Now for a road test, are you ready?”
I said, “Yes.” We went out on the road and I must say that I did pretty well. I was proud of myself.
John said, “You have taken to driving these rigs real fast I believe you are ready to go to work. I will see to it that the manager puts you with someone who can show you the ropes and help you out.”
I said, “Thank you John.” We said goodbye. It was dark out and my car was in the front of the terminal so I had to walk to the front.
As I was walking I heard a big crash on the street and walked to the fence to look to see what happened.
What I saw was straight out of a movie, a guy dressed all in black was walking over to a car that was against a light pole and he had something in his hand. I finally realized what it was. A gun was in his hand and he walked over to the car and just shot the person in it.
I saw everything. I even got a good look at the man with the gun. He turned to go back to his car and saw me looking. He pointed his gun and shot at me. I ducked behind the tractors hoping he didn’t see me. At that time I saw John come running out of the terminal.
He saw me and said, “Are you okay?”
In the meantime the guy in black got into his car and took off. I told John what had happened and he said, let’s go inside and call you father. “You just witnessed a gang hit.”
15
My Father
When we got inside the terminal I was shaking. We called my father and John told him what happened. My father said, “Put my son on the phone.” I got on the phone and could hardly speak. My father said, “I know you are all shook up but you need to calm down I will be there as soon as I can. One thing, if the police come you didn’t see anything or hear anything do you understand me?”
I said, “Yes.”
“If the police do come, let John do all the talking. I need to make a few calls and then I will be there.”
I said, “Yes.”
John and I heard the police and ambulance sirens as they showed up across the street. They went over to the car that was against the pole and looked inside. There they saw a man slumped over the steering wheel and bleeding from his head. They were looking around to see if anyone saw anything. They look over at the terminal and saw the office lights on.
After they checked out the scene they started to walk over to the terminal. When they got there they knocked on the outside door and waited for someone to answer. John said to me, “Remember what your father said; you didn’t see or hear anything. I will do the talking. If they ask you anything, just short answers only, you got it?”
I said, “Yes.”
John walked toward the front door and answered it. He said, “Can I help you?”
The one cop said, “I am Detective Williams and this is my partner Detective Meyers. We were wondering if we can come in and ask a few questions about the accident across the street.”
John said, “Sure but I really didn’t see the accident.”
They came inside and saw me sitting there and said who they were, “I am Detective Williams and this is my partner Detective Meyers. We would like to ask the both of you about the accident across the street. Did either of you hear the crash or see anything out of the ordinary?”
I said, “I didn’t see it or even hear it.” John said the same thing.
They said, “Are you sure?”
John and I said, Yes.”
Well a witness said that he saw someone in this yard standing by the tractors in the back of the terminal. That area had a great view of the accident. So, are you sure you didn’t see the accident?”
I said, “Yes sir."
“Well would you mind if Detective Meyers looks around by the tractors?”
John said, “No go right ahead.” Detective Meyers left and went toward the back of the terminal. At that time I remembered that the gunshot hit the tractor and probably made a bullet hole in it. I started to get nervous again and Detective Williams asked if I was okay.
I said, “Yes, I have never spoken to the police before especially detectives.”
John said, “He is a very sensitive kid and gets nervous in front of people and I guess he gets more nervous with people such as police.”
At that time Detective Meyers came back and said, “Bill (Detective Williams) can I see you a moment?”
“What is it?”
He whispered something in his ear and Detective Williams looked over at us and said, “I will need your names to show that we spoke to you. Kid what is your name?”
“Joey.”
He said “and your last name?”
“Toranetti.”
He said, “Are you Antonio’s son?”
I answered “Yes.”
“And your name is?”
“John Talucchi. I’m the shop steward of this terminal.”
Detective Williams said, “Well I think that is all I need for now, but here is my card and if you think of anything else please give me a call. Have a good night.”
When they left I told John, “Remember when I told you; the killer shot at me? Well he may have hit one the tractors I jumped behind. I think they found the bullet hole and possibly the bullet.”
John said, “Don’t worry about it. We will come up with an answer for that.”
My father showed up about 20 minutes after the police left. I was really glad to see him.
16
Arthur, My Father
John told my father about the two detectives and when Joey gave his name they asked if he was your son. My father said, “Did Joey tell them?”
“Yes” said John.
My father said, “That’s good so that means I know them enough to work things out if need be.”
My father said to me, “How are you doing Joey?”
I said, “Okay.”
"Did you get a good look at the guy who did the shooting?”
I said, “Yes.”
“Did he get a good look at you when he shot at you?”
“I think so.”
“Look everything is going to be okay. Arthur is checking who the shooter was and who the person in the car was. Once we find out we can then take action against the shooter.”
At that time the phone rang at the terminal. John answered the phone, “Hello,—Oh hi Arthur this is John,—yes Tony is here,—okay hold on.”
“Yes Arthur did you find out anything? What?—Do we know who set it up?—Okay, thank you.—Yes Joey is okay, thank you.”
My father looked at me and John and said, “The person in the car was Carlos Barone’s nephew, Gino Barone.”
I asked my father, “Who is Carlos Barone?”
He said, “He is very high up in the South Brooklyn Family. Gino was a real loud mouth and always causing trouble with everyone. We do not know who hired the shooter or who he is yet. This could be a personal hit.”
“Joey lets go home and then we will figure out what to do.”
“Okay, but what about my car?”
“Leave it here and we will come back tomorrow to get it.” John said, “I will bring it to you tomorrow.”
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sp; My father said, “Okay, thanks John. Oh and John watch yourself when you leave tonight, this guy may still be in the area.”
“I will Tony, thank you.”
17
At Home
When we arrived at the house my father said, “I think it would be wise if you didn’t start work on Monday.”
“Why, I asked.”
“If this person actually saw you he will be at the terminal watching for you. If he sees you he will follow you and get rid of a witness, meaning you.”
“If I don’t go to work then I am showing that guy that I am scared and I will lose any respect for myself and I won’t be able to go anywhere. If you have a couple of your friends follow me and he does try anything you will know who he is and catch him.”
“That’s taking a big chance Joey.”
“I know, but how else will we be able to catch him. No one is admitting they know who hired him to shoot Gino Barone.”
“Okay, I will call Arthur and see what he has found out. In the meantime I want you to think about this and I really mean think like an adult not a hotheaded kid.”
“Okay Dad.”
At about this time my Uncle Tommy showed up. When he came in the house he said, “Are you doing okay Joey?”
“Yes Uncle Tommy. I am okay. Do you know who may have hired the shooter yet?”
“Not yet. Is your dad here?”
“Yes in his office calling Arthur.”
Tommy went into the office and closed the door. He was in there for about an hour when my father and Tommy came out. They were both looking at me and my father said come into the office with us. I walked into the office and they told me to sit down. I did.
My father said, “Joey what you want me to do is to take a chance that this person may be able to shoot you. I am not comfortable with that. Uncle Tommy said that he wants to be at the terminal on Monday to see that you get a friend of his to ride with you. He also wants you to bring this with you. My father pulled out a gun. We are going to the range today and get you accustomed to shooting it. This is for protection. Uncle Tommy’s friend will be armed also. This is the only way I will allow you to go to work on Monday. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
At that time the doorbell rang and my father opened the door, it was Detective Williams and Detective Meyers. “Hi Antonio.”
“Hello detectives.”
“Can we come in? We have some more questions about last night.” The detectives looked at me and said, “Are you sure you didn’t see or hear anything last night?”
My father said, “Why don’t you and Detective Meyers come into my office and we can talk there.”
My mother, in the meantime, wanted to know what was going on. My father looked at me and shook his head to signal yes. I told her everything that had happened last night and she had an absolute fit. I was having a hard time trying to calm her down when my father came out and told her everything is going to be okay. She finally calmed down and went into the kitchen.
In my father’s office everyone sat down and my father told the detectives he had told me to say he didn’t see or hear anything until he was able to find out more about the incident. My father told me to come into the office and tell the detectives what I saw. I did. I also said that the shooter shot at me but missed because I ducked behind a tractor as soon as he pointed his gun. The bullet hit the tractor.
Detective Williams asked, “Did you get a good look at him?”
“It was dark, but he was white, about six feet tall, and he looked like he had a good build.”
“Could you recognize him from a mug shot or a line- up?”
“I don’t know.”
Detective Williams said, to my father, “Do not do anything on your own.”
“Well, my son is going to start work tomorrow and we think that the shooter may have had a good look at him and will be on the lookout for him. Tommy said he would put his body guard with him in the truck for safety reasons.”
Detective Williams said, “What if I dressed as a truck driver and went along with your son as a helper? I would feel better with this because I could have an unmarked car follow us also. If the shooter does show up we are in a better position to handle the situation. What do you think?”
My dad looked at Tommy and they gave each other a look and they both said, “Okay.”
I was kind of glad because I didn’t want to carry a gun since I don’t have a license and I could go to jail.
Detective Williams said, “Good. What time should I be there?”
“At 7:00 a.m.”
Tommy said, “I will set everything up with the terminal manager.”
“Good, said the detective. I will see you there at 7:00 a.m.”
18
Uncle Tommy
Uncle Tommy, his wife Julia, his daughter Maria, and Maria’s friend Joanna came over for dinner that night.
Julia is blond, blue eyes, with a stout build, and is very attentive to Uncle Tommy. She listens to every word he says and does whatever he asks.
Maria is a very beautiful young girl with blond hair, beautiful blue eyes, and will someday steal someone’s heart. She is a junior in high school and very smart. Maria said, “Joey this is my friend Joanna McDonald.”
Joanna is about two years older than Maria. Very beautiful, light brown hair down to her waist, beautiful hazel eyes, about five feet two inches, well-endowed and very sexy. I was always afraid of girls and could never approach them. I would shake and get tongue tied. This girl made me almost pass out trying to even say hello. I knew inside that I had to get my courage up because I really wanted to get to know her. But as usual I stumbled for words and just said, “Hi.”
She gave this great big smile and said “Hi” back to me. I think I started to get real red in the face because she laughed a little. I felt like a total fool.
As the night went on my father and my uncle went into my father’s office to talk about the next day. Maria came over to me, away from her mom and friend and said, “Joanna thinks you are very nice and would like to get to know you. So, please get your act together and speak to her.”
I said, “I can’t I am too scared of making a fool of myself.”
Maria laughed and said, “You’re not afraid of fighting the biggest person, telling someone off, and being shot at, but you are afraid to talk to a beautiful girl. You are nuts. Go over there and talk to her, I will protect you.” She laughed again.
I went over to Joanna and smiled. I said “If I am acting like a fool I am sorry but I find it very hard to speak to a beautiful woman.”
She said, “I do not think you are acting like a fool because I too have a hard time talking to a man.” We both looked at each other and laughed a little. We started to talk about what we were going to do about jobs and she told me she was going to go to college and wanted to be a teacher.
I told her “I didn’t want to go to college I wanted to be a Teamster and drive trucks.”
She said, “They make good money. Your uncle can probably help you get a job.”
“He has gotten me a job I start tomorrow morning.”
As the night went on we started to talk even more and just before they were leaving I asked if she would like to go to a movie sometime.
She said, “Yes, I would love to.”
I said goodnight to everyone and told my father about Joanna. He said, “That’s great just don’t talk about your situation at this time. She will not understand. Okay?”
I said yes. “Then I said goodnight Dad and Mom.”
19
The Job
I arrived at Transamerica at 7:00 a.m. and saw Detective Williams outside the terminal gate. I went over to him and said “Hello.”
He said, “Hello” back and said to call him by his first name, Bill.
There were a lot of guys hanging around and one of them said to us, “Hi I’m Gino.” We said hi and introduced ourselves. Gino said, “The coffee truck will be here soon. The coff
ee is okay but he has good breakfast sandwiches.”
John, the steward, came over and said to Detective Williams, “What is your first name?”
“Bill.”
“Good. The dispatcher will start giving out work around 7:30 a.m. You guys will be the last ones called. Joey, do you remember how to drive the truck?”
“Yes I remember.”
“I was originally going to let you go out with a driver to help you out, but I was told what is happening with Bill this morning. All I can say is be very careful out there, the both of you.”
“We will” I responded.
“Great, I will see you later.”
I received my tractor number and my delivery instructions around 8:05 a.m. and was given instructions on how to get to the location. I was given the telephone number to call the dispatcher if there were any delays.
We went out back and found the tractor that was assigned to me and I noticed it was the same tractor with the bullet hole in the fender. I showed it to Bill and started to laugh. If the shooter didn’t see me he would definitely recognize the tractor he hit when he shot at me.
We hooked up the tractor to the trailer and checked all the lights and started on our way. I was a little nervous but once I started to move I relaxed and everything went smoothly. I drove slowly so I wouldn’t make a mistake.
Everything went well and by the end of the day we didn’t have any incidents. We did the same thing for the next three days. On the fourth night, the detective said, “I do not believe the shooter knows who you are so I believe everything is going to be okay.”
I called my father and told him “The detective believes that the shooter doesn’t know who I am and that he doesn’t need to be with me anymore.”
My father said, “What do you think Joey?”
“I am not sure. What if he didn’t come after me because I had someone in the truck?”
“I think you are right Joey. When you come home we will talk about it. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay.”