by Joe Corso
Nick laughed. “You guys are all right.” He pointed to Bull with a cigarette between his two fingers. “Tell Red that if he’s ever in Kansas City, to look me up, and tell him that I won’t forget the favor he did for me here.”
“Red ain’t like other bosses. He figures what’s yours is yours, but what’s his is his, and I pity the poor sap who tries to take what’s his away from him.”
Civella nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go along with that. I’m the same way. I’ll kill any motherfucker who gets in my way, but if he needs it, I’ll give a friend the shirt off my back.”
Bull agreed. “Yeah, you and Red would get along great. It’s too bad you live in different parts of the country.” Then Bull had an idea. “Hey, I just thought of something. Did you ever see any of James Roman’s pictures?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did. Why?”
“Do you remember the club that was in the movie?”
“Yeah, it was really something.”
Bull slapped his thigh. “That’s the Starlight Club. Red owns the place; it’s his baby, his pride and joy. Every so often, he gives a bash there and he invites all of his friends from around the country to attend. He has the best food money can buy and he makes sure he hires the finest entertainers in the business. He spares no expense that night. Last party he gave, he hired Sinatra and the Rat Pack and they loved performing there. I’ll have him call you to invite you to his next party. Bring your wife because it will be a night she’ll never forget.”
Civella’s eyes lit up. “My mouth is watering already. I’m gonna hold you to that promise, understand? Besides, it’ll be good for me and the wife to get away, so make sure Red sends me an invitation.”
Chapter Ten
Doctor Ben woke up groggy, as if he had been drugged, but he knew that it was the jet lag that made him head for the kitchen to get a cup of JoAnne’s strong, dark coffee. He refused the fresh hot crumb cake JoAnne offered him, saying that the coffee would do fine. Ben carried his coffee into the living room, where Bull and his men were all sitting around and talking among themselves.
“Has anyone checked on Frank yet this morning?”
The men in the room weren’t nurturing men, but if they happened to be up during the night, they did make it their business to check to see how he was doing. It was Richie Fingers who answered. “He’s resting, Doc. I checked to see if he had a fever. He’s breathing easy and his head feels cool.”
Joey Bones smiled. “Well, he made it through the night and he’s still here.”
Dr. Ben nodded. “That’s a good sign. I have to tell you, I was worried that Frankie might not survive the night, but he did. Now we have to keep our eye on him and let nature do its work.”
The doctor turned to Bull, who had just left the kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee and another crumb cake.
“Man, these cakes are delicious. Where did you get them?” he asked, looking at JoAnne.
“I buy them from the small bakery right down the street from here. He makes them fresh every morning. I figured you men would like something fresh out of the oven, so I walked down to the bakery and bought three dozen of them.”
When she finished speaking, the doctor interrupted. “Excuse me, Bull.”
“Yeah, Doc?”
“I need one of you to take me to a store to buy some items.”
“What do ya need, Doc? I’ll send Richie out to get it.”
Ben was a little embarrassed as he looked sheepishly at JoAnne. “Well, since I’ll be here for a few days, I’ll need some fresh underwear, a few shirts, some socks, and a nice hot shower, and I’ll have to borrow someone’s razor.”
New York City
The Diplomat Hotel
Piss Clam waited by the curb while Red and Trenchie, decked out in Valentino Maximus suits, walked through the entrance of the Diplomat Hotel past a sign indicating that the Jazz great Miles Davis was appearing at the hotel all this week. Thanks to a pretty young lady at the reception desk, Red quickly found themselves walking through the door to Mr. Shaunessy’s office.
“Yes, can I help you?” a beautiful young secretary asked.
Red smiled disarmingly. “We’d like to see Mr. Shaunessy, please.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No. I’m afraid not.”
The young woman assessed the two men standing before her. She noticed the gold Rolex watches and the expensive suits and monogramed silk shirts they were wearing and, thinking that they might be important clients, thought better of telling them to leave.
“Please have a seat and I’ll let Mr. Shaunessy know you’re here.”
She stepped out from behind her desk and walked into Shaunessy’s office. A few minutes later, she told the two men that Mr. Shaunessy would see them. Shaunessy appraised the men just as his secretary had. There was something about the two men that made him a little uncomfortable. It was just a feeling he had, but he brushed it aside and told the two men to have a seat.
“Now, what can I do for you?”
Red handed Shaunessy his gold embossed Starlight Club business card with the club’s address and his name on it as president. Shaunessy recognized the famous Starlight Club and was impressed.
“I have to tell you, Mr. Fortunato, that I’ve been dying to visit the Starlight Club ever since I saw it in the James Roman movie. Is it as beautiful as it looked in the movie?”
Red nodded. “Even more beautiful when you see it in person. And that brings me to why I’m here. I’m having a special night of entertainment in the fall with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack as the entertainers, and I would like you and your wife to come to the club as my guests.”
Shaunessy was confused and he looked it. “But…but, you don’t even know me. I…I don’t understand. Why would you invite me, a man you don’t even know, to an event like that?”
Red gave Shaunessy a tight-lipped smile. “You see, I have a very good friend who works here and I want you to see that no one gives him a hard time. Do that for me, Mr. Shaunessy, and you’ll have a friend in Big Red Fortunato.”
The name Big Red Fortunato suddenly hit Shaunessy like a hammer. Sitting there before him was the big-time gangster whose name had made headlines in the papers a year ago. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this visit from the two gangsters. Shaunessy looked at Trenchie as if he had just seen the man for the first time and then his gaze turned back to Red.
“Do I know this friend of yours, Mr. Fortunato?”
“Yes, I believe you do. His name is Joseph Gatto and, if I have my facts straight, he’s a director in this hotel. Joe has a beautiful wife and two great kids and I just want you to make sure that no one bothers him. Will you do that for me, Mr. Shaunessy?”
“Why, why, of course I will,” Shaunessy said, stumbling over his words.
Red stood. “Give me your card, Mr. Shaunessy, and I will make sure that you get a personal invitation to the party I’m giving and dinner and drinks will be on me. I want to thank you for taking a load off of my mind, because if you hadn’t been so accommodating, I would have had to resort to a more disagreeable option. But I leave that sort of unpleasantness to my associate here,” Red said, pointing to the hulking form of Trenchie standing beside him and, as he stood, Trenchie seemed to fill the office. Shaunessy was sweating now and trying hard not to show how nervous he was.
“Don’t worry about your friend, Mr. Fortunato. I’ll make sure no one takes advantage or bothers him.”
“Good,” Red said. “If ever you should need a favor from me and if it’s in my power to do it for you, then you can make book that it will be done. Thank you for your time and have a good day.”
Trenchie face twitched, which, in his case, was a laugh. “That donkey almost shit his pants when you mentioned Gatto’s name.”
Red laughed along with him. “Yeah, I almost couldn’t help laughing when I saw the expression on his face when I mentioned Gatto’s name. Did you see the way his eyes widened?”
; Trenchie laughed and had to dab his eyes with his hanky. “He won’t give Joey any more trouble. In fact, I’d say that Joey has found himself a new friend in Sean Shaunessy.”
That evening, Joe Gatto came bounding into the Starlight Club, asking to speak to Red. Red spotted Joe on his Vericon monitor when he walked into the club, so he left his office and walked out to the bar to greet him.
“How’d you make out today with your boss?”
Gatto, still in his suit and tie, shook his head. “That’s why I stopped in here. I don’t know what you said to him, but he’s a completely different man than what he was yesterday. He told me that he was satisfied with the improvements I’ve been making in my position and he told me that if I needed help with anything, to just go to him and he’d take care of my problem. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I would have bet you a hundred to one that he would never say what he said to me today. I just wanted to tell you about my day, Mr. Fortunato.”
Red put his hand out and Gatto took it. “I’m glad everything worked out for you. I’ve invited your boss to a party I’m giving in the fall. Sinatra will do the entertaining. I want you to bring your wife. I’m gonna put you both at the same table as your boss and his wife, and don’t worry about the cost because it’s on me.”
Gatto was at a loss for words upon hearing the news that Red had just given him and he looked at Red disbelievingly.
“My job is secure?”
“Yep.”
An emotional Joe Gatto looked at Red as though he was about to cry. “Red, about that favor you said you might want in the future. Just ask me and consider it done.”
Red smiled and patted Gatto on the back. “Right now, the only favor I’m asking you to do is do your job at work and make me proud of you…and show up at the party I’m giving in the fall. Leave your telephone and home address with Tarzan before you leave. He’s handling the guest list.”
Joseph Gatto walked out of the Starlight Club with a bounce to his step and a relieved, happy look on his face.
Chapter Eleven
Between rehearsing scenes for his new picture and training for his next fight, Swifty was courting Tiffany, which left Henri and Gonzo wondering what to do during their time off. They attended a lot of baseball games but always in some sort of disguise. Many times, the two boxers would appear in public dressed in clothes that many of the fellows that hung around street corners would wear. At ballgames, they would wear baseball caps, dark glasses, and military-type cargo pants with a Dodger’s t-shirt. If it was a cold night, they might wear a hoodie over the baseball cap and, with the dark glasses, they were indistinguishable from the movie stars they actually were. Henri had purchased two tickets to a Thursday night Dodger-Giant game for him and Gonzo, but Gonzo, who rarely had much dialogue when filming his scenes, had a rare scene scheduled for the following day in which the script called for him to have a long narrative. So he begged off, saying that he had to study his lines. Henri understood his friend’s dilemma; so instead, he called Lana Thompson on her private line and told her about Gonzo having to prepare for tomorrow’s scene. He explained that he had an extra ticket and he asked her if she would like to attend the ball game with him. Lana had filmed many scenes with the studio’s handsome leading men, but she admired the down-to-earth genuineness of Henri and his friends, so she accepted.
“How do you want to dress tomorrow?”
Lana knew exactly what Henri meant. “I don’t want to be recognized, so I’m not going to wear makeup, and I’ll be dressed in rather dowdy clothing.”
“Yeah, me too. The last thing we want is to be recognized and spend the rest of the night signing autographs or being chased by photographers.”
Even in a plain dress and wearing no makeup, Lana Thomas was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Lana looked Henri over when she opened the door to her apartment. “Not bad. No one would recognize you as Henri Valesquez, the famous movie star,” she said kiddingly.
“I wish I could say the same for you, Lana. You’d even look good in my grandfather’s baggy pants. You better not forget to wear a baseball cap because with that face and hair, you’d be recognized in a minute.”
She laughed. “It’s sweet of you to say that, Henri. Wait a minute and I’ll put the rest of my disguise on. In other words, I’ll do as you suggested and put on my Dodger’s cap.”
When the two young actors left Lana’s apartment, no one but the doorman recognized them. When the game ended, Henri said that instead of going to a regular restaurant where they could be recognized, he suggested they try a hamburger joint that he and his buddies discovered on Hollywood Boulevard that just happened to serve excellent hamburgers.
Lana smiled radiantly. “I think a hamburger sounds perfect, Henri.”
Finding a parking spot wasn’t easy in congested Los Angeles, so Henri parked his car a block away and the couple walked to the restaurant. As they got closer to Heavenly Hamburgers, Henri noticed a few men standing around watching two men who were fighting. One of them was an older gentleman who was busy defending himself against a man who definitely looked like a professional boxer. Henri could see that in a few minutes, the old man would be hurt badly.
“Lana, please wait by the entrance to the hamburger shop while I help the old guy. If I don’t, he’s gonna get hurt bad.” As Henri worked his way past the group of young men watching the fight, one of them grabbed Henri by his shoulder and pulled him off balance, but as he turned, Henri threw a right hand that flattened the guy. Then he stepped in front of the old man and hit his antagonist with two jabs and he ducked as a right hand flew by him. Within a minute, Henri knew that he was fighting a professional. The two men fought furiously, fighting in spurts, trying to figure the other guy out. Henri and his opponent were fighting toe to toe until they found themselves backed against a bus parked at a bus stop. Suddenly, Henri’s opponent threw a devastating right hand that missed Henri and smashed into the side of the bus. The guy put up his hand and sat down beside the bus. “Enough. I had enough.”
Henri sat down beside him. The guy was breathing hard. He took a hanky from his pocket and wiped his brow and then he wrapped it around his right hand and turned to Henri. “You handle yourself like a pro.”
Henri took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline rush leaving him. “So do you. Now what the hell was that all about?”
The guy put out his hand and Henri took it. The guy winced as he momentarily forgot about his swollen right hand.
“I forgot about the fist. Should of used my left hand; this one is pretty swollen.”
Henri laughed. “That’ll happen when you hit the side of a bus.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. My name is Frankie Riff. What’s yours?”
“Henri.”
“Henri what?”
“Valesquez, Henri Valesquez.”
Riff leaned over and took a closer look at Henri and he started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Henri asked.
“You. You’re what’s funny.”
“Me? What’s so funny about me?”
“It’s funny because I go and get into a fight with the welterweight champ of the world. I got to stop behaving like this.”
Henri gave him a sidelong glance. “I’ve been wondering about that. What’s a pro like you doing fighting in the street like a common thug?”
Riff looked down at his shoelaces. “Yeah. I hear what you’re saying. If I was a violinist, my friends would want to see me play the violin. But you see, I’m a fighter, so they want to see me fight.”
Henri nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I see what you mean, but still, why are you lowering yourself like that? From what you showed me, you’re a damned good fighter.”
Riff picked up his swollen right hand. “I have a fight scheduled in two weeks. Now, from the looks of this swollen hand, the fight is going to have to be cancelled.”
Henri stepped around the bus and looked over towards Heavenly Hamburgers and saw a very nervous L
ana Thompson walking quickly toward him. She walked up to him and threw her arms around him and held him tight.
“I was so worried about you. What made you do something so reckless?”
Henri smiled as if what he did was nothing out of the ordinary. “I saw the old man being beat up by this guy and I knew I had to do something to help him.”
“Help him? You could have been killed.”
He put his head back and laughed.
“It was just a fight and I wasn’t going to be killed.”
Just then, Riff stepped out from behind the bus and Lana’s eyes widened in fear. Riff put up his hands in defense.
“Whoa. I’ve seen the light. I’ve been converted and we’re all friends now.”
Riff was certainly a rascal, but a likable rascal. He narrowed his eyes as recognition set in. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you Lana Thompson?”
Lana didn’t say anything, but Henri nodded. “Don’t tell anyone. We’re just two people going to the Heavenly Burger for one of their delicious hamburgers.”
Riff nodded. “Sure, I won’t say anything, but would you mind if I tagged along? Fightin’ you kinda made me hungry.”
Lana gave Henri a look that said, “Don’t you dare,” but Henri wanted to know more about the personable guy he had just fought, so he said, “Sure.”
Riff smiled. “Wait here a moment while I tell my friends that I won’t be going back with them.”
A few minutes later, Riff came bounding back. “Okay, that’s settled, and I’m free to get a bite to eat.”
Instead of feeling awed by the two celebrities, Riff treated them like they were regular guys and even Lana was beginning to feel comfortable with the rough, tough, likable Frankie Riff.
And so it was that boxer Frankie Riff had a bacon cheeseburger backed up with an order of French fries and a chocolate milkshake with the world’s most glamorous movie star and the welterweight champion of the world in the Heavenly Burger restaurant in Los Angeles, which, much to his regret, was for that one night only. When Henri asked him why he was eating such a fattening meal, he simply replied that with his busted right hand, he was no longer in training.