by Max Grant
“Yeah, we’ve got our own marauders here and now. But at least you got a fighting chance; that is if you have the tools and the skills. And there isn’t an enemy crazy enough to attack us on our own turf, what with every second cat and his offspring armed to the teeth.”
“And skilled and practiced and ready.”
“That too.”
“Now that I remember, Monica’s brother Jaime was in the rifle club in high school. When I was a little girl I’d often see him walking to school Wednesdays with his rifle slung over his shoulder. He cleaned that thing for an hour every Wednesday after school and kept it spotless, and I recall her telling me he’d acquired a number of surplus rifles after the war.”
“Yeah, and their culture has no history of respect for individual rights either. But it doesn’t take long to pick up on freedom once you’re here, does it?”
“Not at all. Let’s go to the movies tonight and see an old shoot-‘em-up. I want to review again how not to do this.”
I laughed. “You mean how wheel guns only need to be reloaded after every thirty rounds. And a single-action takes only seconds to reload. “
“Yeah, that’s the scene. And where you can shoot a man half way across town with a stubby six-gun and plug an Indian on the next ridge with a short-barreled lever-action.”
“And stand out there in the middle of the street like a totem pole and never get scratched. The only thing that kept us alive out in the Pacific was concealment. As much as possible you just did not break cover before the other guy did.”
“The Hollywood way is definitely more entertaining. Let’s go.”
I rolled up on Yuki’s place that evening just as she appeared from the doorway of her building. She looked stunning wrapped in the tight emerald sheath that I’d given her last week after the real estate tycoon paid off on an extortion case.
November 1947
Moe rang me up early in the month to let me know he had called a meeting with Max, Lemme, and some other studio executives to develop some accord about ridding their lots of known Communists. They had already agreed in principal to implement a new policy of self-regulation to keep known Communists out, but they were also looking to fire those already present.
Moe’s team was heading up the effort and had established contact with the DA’s office for assistance with identifying suspect affiliations. He told me that the DA had worked closely with the Grand Jury put together in the summer of 1940 to investigate Communist infiltration of the film industry. Moe told me that the principal target at that time had been the Hollywood Branch of the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences & Professions (HICCASP). Only this year it had changed its name to the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA) and it was still in the DA’s radar.
Moe told me that the DA was currently very heavily involved with the California Legislature’s Un-American Activities Committee which was actively investigating a broad range of associations of CPUSA members and fellow travelers. They were also working with the US Congress’ House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) which in September had opened investigations of film industry penetration by the Reds. The DA had supplied several of the 41 friendly witnesses that implicated Reds in the industry and that action alerted the studio heads to the problem. A former president of the Screen Writers Guild, a known CPUSA member, had appeared before the HUAC at the end of last month. That event caught Moe’s attention and prompted this Meet of the Moguls to try and get ahead of the problem.
“Ray, I’d like to have Yuki sit in on the meetings as part of my team. She has a host of knowledge to share, and I’d like her to keep you fully informed of any new information and developments.”
“That’ll be fine with us, Moe. I’ll make arrangements with Sally today.”
“And Sally will be ready with a hefty retainer for Yuki’s time, both here with the team and as she sees fit to continue her research.”
Yuki was enthusiastic about the assignment and made an afternoon appointment with Sally to get details of the upcoming studio conference scheduled for the following week.
* * *
Yuki spent the entire day of the meet over at Magnum, calling at five to say they still hadn’t finished and we’d talk tomorrow. She showed bright and early the next morning looking somewhat fatigued and distracted.
“Well, Boss. That turned into a hell of an event there yesterday. Those guys were all over the place. In the end they decided on a list of organizations whose membership they’d fire outright if they identified them on their lots. They also came up with a loyalty pledge for new hires and will do background checks on them to probe their political history and affiliations. Violating loyalty oaths or concealing background information will be grounds for termination.
“They went a little further than their own employees, though. They also came up with a list of independent talent, you know writers, directors and the like, that will be blackballed by all the studios. So far they got a nice even list of 10.”
“Anyone we know,” I joked.
“Not likely,” she replied. “For all I know they might be among those that are facing contempt of Congress charges this month for refusing to cooperate. The studios seem to share Moe’s main concern, which is to keep un-American types from influencing the product. They felt that this necessitated control over more than just employees to include others doing business with the studios. They agreed they’d all been snookered in the past to putting out propaganda for the benefit of the Soviet Union. And this solely as a result of specific individuals abusing their positions of trust. They want to ensure it doesn’t happen again, so they want these saboteurs gone.
“The Chiefs are hoping that with help from the DA it won’t be too hard to locate their termites. The background they obtained on the 10 was useful. One of them was a Communist Party member in the 1930s and joined the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League before the Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Pact changed their direction. After that went south he joined the Hollywood Writers Mobilization Against the War. Their goal had changed from opposing the Nazis to preventing the US from assisting Britain and France against the Nazi-Communist alliance. Not nice people at all.”
“Anything else interesting from the DA?”
“Lots. By way of background they brought up the fact that most of the original US Communists from the late 1920s and early 1930s were not American citizens. Rather they were Slovaks, Poles, Sicilians, Germans, Jews, and other Europeans, people who had already been steeped in conspiracy and paranoia for most of their lives. The American Communist Party gained support primarily through the growth of labor unions and the proliferation of New Deal agencies.
“They were very successful in penetrating the Roosevelt Administration and all of the New Deal agencies set up during the Depression. You probably recall that Texas Congressman Martin Dies established the HUAC in 1938 expressly to investigate the Red penetration of government and labor in the 1940s, and their sabotage of the war effort.
“Richard Krebs, the ex-Comintern enforcer who wrote Out of the Night as Jan Valtin, testified in front of HUAC in 1941 that commies in the maritime unions were successfully compromising lend-lease aid shipments to Great Britain. War-time strikes at the Allis Chalmers turbine plant in Milwaukee and the Vultee aircraft plant here in LA got the Office of Naval Intelligence involved. FDR had to use Army troops to bust the strike at North American Aviation. Of course all that nonsense ended when Hitler broke the pact and the commie peaceniks turned into war hawks for Uncle Joe.
“One of the WPA programs HUAC particularly focused on was the Federal Theater and Writer’ Projects. Since, they have focused on searching out moles in government and right now they are looking at Hollywood.
“Anyway, getting back to the profile, nowadays the average Communist is an American citizen, usually affiliated with the unions, the government, or with targeted institutions: journalism, education, churches, and the like. Communist networks usually consist of a mix of paid government officials, union
activists, and student leaders at the top. Also certain specialists, depending on the missions of individual cells operating within the network.”
I thought of Ruthie with her nose wedged in the public school curriculum.
“Even yet many of the old guard continue to work actively, covertly or openly, in full support of the Russian military propaganda machine and the Soviet terror state. Despite having knowledge of the recent history of their own people, they are still abetting the enslavement of millions worldwide.
“The FBI profiled the leadership types and determined some common traits. Perhaps the most common are audacity and a taste for mystery. They delight in putting one over on the dupes: the fellow travelers and useful idiots both inside and outside the network. They are typically very strong personalities and they’re effective at enforcing discipline.
“While they tend to have a healthy respect for their American opposition, they view mere liberals as contemptible weaklings. The ACP’s membership declined greatly in 1939 when the liberals abandoned the party after Stalin’s treaty with the Nazis. The pact was a fortunate turn of events that enabled hundreds, if not to see the light, to at least escape Party discipline without retribution.
“That Shafter character is a good example of the leadership type. Moe got a detailed run-down on him from the DA. Seems he was big in the American Peace Mobilization formed in 1940 by the ACP and Young Communist League to support the USSR during the pact. They and the other front groups were funded straight from Moscow through the American People‘s Fund. Both were riddled with Soviet agents, including the founder and operator of the Fund. HUAC labeled them the most seditious of the Communist-led fifth column groups uncovered to date.
“More recently Shafter has become prominent in the American Council of the Institute of Pacific Relations, another Fund-funded communist front that answers directly to the Soviet Politburo. His wife Millie is involved with the China Aid Council, ostensibly a charity for war orphans, but actually a fund-raising subsidiary of the American League for Peace and Democracy, yet another front group.”
“Jesus, he sounds like an octopus,” I remarked. “Maybe that should be their symbol. They got their tentacles everywhere. How does someone keep up the energy level to sustain this kind of treason?”
“A high energy level fits the profile too. It sustains fanaticism and dedication. While the goofs below them may be servants to an idea, the leaders are strictly motivated by dreams of conquest and power. Would this describe Shafter?”
“Oh, yeah. Without a doubt.”
“You see Moe isn’t just content to see these types simply dismissed from the lot. He made it clear he’d like them taken out of the game, permanently hobbled or worse. The dupes he simply wants gone.”
December 1947
As a result of the recent work with Magnum, coupled with Moe’s generous retainer there was enough jingle in the bank now to last us an easy half a year. It looked like Christmas was going to be good this year. I wrote a check for two months rent, set aside enough for Yuki’s salary for the next several months, and drew a few hundred to get me through the holidays.
On impulse, I pulled out an extra three hundred to take shopping. I had absolutely no one to go shopping for except Yuki. I gave it some thought and then hit on the answer.
She was a special girl and she had come of age. I really needed some help with this one so I called Sally over at Magnum.
“Hi Sally, it’s Ray. I could use a little advice. I’m looking to get a Christmas present for Yuki.” I filled her in on it.
She said, “I could send you all over town for that, but let me check around. I think I can find you just what you want, at wholesale.”
I was a little taken aback by that, but I thanked her and she said she’d get back to me in the morning.
Yuki took the call in the morning and patched her in. I greeted her and asked her to hang on a second. I got up and poked my head around the corner to see if Yuki was listening, but she was busy with her emery board. Back on the wire, Sally said, “Ray, can you meet me at noon today down at Jos. Banks?”
“No problem, where is it?”
“Down on Broadway and 4th.”
I told her I’d be there at noon.
I hung up and Yuki popped in.
“Does Sally have a new case for us?”
“Naw, she just called to wish us a Merry Christmas from Moe and the gang.” “Oh, how thoughtful. They’re really such fine people.”
I killed another hour looking at Lupe’s most recent file and finally got up and grabbed my hat.
I told Yuki on the way out, “I gotta meet a man about a horse. I’ll be back a little later.”
She shot me a surprised look of disapproval and muttered, “I didn’t know that about you, Ray.”
I almost laughed in her face, but managed to get out of there first.
Down to Broadway I lucked into a parking slot on the street. Sally was talking to the owner when I made the salon. I walked up and Sally introduced us.
The lady’s name was Ruby. She was a grandmotherly looking woman. She looked like she knew her business. She led us into a back room and snapped her fingers.
A young girl that could have passed for her daughter popped out of the archway of a dressing room wearing a gorgeous silver fox jacket. A Size 2, it looked just right on the petite girl. I didn’t even dare to ask how much this was going to set me back. I just hoped I had enough in the bank to cover it.
The owner said, “I do believe this should do nicely.”
I said, “Oh yes, I couldn’t have chosen better myself.”
Sally must have noticed I had broken out in a sweat while the lady was taking the coat away. She pulled me aside and said, “It’s not as expensive as it looks, Ray. We got the deep Magnum discount on it. It even comes with a life-time of free storage in the vault upstairs.”
At the counter I was presented with a bill for $250 which I quickly paid in cash. The lady informed me that the jacket was registered with the establishment and that we should feel free to seek any assistance we might need over the lifetime of the garment.
I walked out to the street with Sally. She gave me kind of a funny smile and said, “Ray, I hope she likes it. Merry Christmas to both of you!”
I drove straight uptown to the Arms, hid the package in my room, and beat it back to the office.
This was my first Christmas back in the states and it looked like it might be a bleak affair. Yuki and Manny were both making preparations with their families. I had no inclination to return to Virginia because I didn’t feel sufficiently established in my business to take the time off. So I scribbled out a long note to my folks and shipped it off along with a souvenir crate of San Fernando Valley oranges.
Christmas fell on a Saturday that year, and on the last day of work I asked Yuki if I could deliver my present that Christmas Eve.
She said, “Why don’t you come around Christmas day to my parent’s house. I’ll be attending mass with them tonight and staying over. We usually get together there and exchange presents over with the Reyes before afternoon dinner. Jaime and Monica will have their friends there. I’ll be so very happy to have you with me.”
I hadn’t expected this. “Sure, I’d be glad to come along.”
So I dropped by Manny’s later in the evening and watched him and Veda and the kids finish preparations. After they put the little ones to bed, I stuck around there for one drink and took a powder.
On the way back through town I stopped at the Blue Saloon and spent what was left of Christmas Eve with Lucy and the regulars.
* * *
Christmas day at the Reyes house proved to be a joyous and festive occasion. We started out sitting around the tree while the children opened their presents, collected their booty, and waddled off to play. We adults were next. I gave Yuki a silk scarf I’d found down in Little Tokyo the week before. It was snow white with an austere looking bamboo print on it.
Yuki’s mother had gotte
n her father a set of new sushi-carving tools. He presented her with an exquisite, tall, thin-necked ceramic vase that featured a winter scene consisting of an abundance of mountains covered with hundreds of tiny conifers. Yuki gave me a carved, personalized desk set with a fountain pen and ink holder.
Jaime brought a local girl about Yuki’s age he called Tita. Monica was with a neighborhood boy named Hector. It was my first time meeting her mom, Luz, the owner of the corner grocery. She spent much of her time in the kitchen with her neighborhood friends preparing the feast to follow. The dinner was impressive on several levels and I had never experienced anything like it.
Once the afternoon wound down, I asked Yuki if I could give her a lift back to her place. She accepted so we made our good-byes and found the car. I asked if she would like to stop by my place for a nightcap on the way home. Her eyes lifted and she looked straight ahead. She’d never been to my place before, but she agreed and we rolled on toward Hollywood.
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of the Arms. I got her door and guided her over to my rooms, made a fake production of checking the place out for bad guys, and let her in.
I turned on every light I could find.
She hadn’t moved from the doorway so I asked her to pull up a chair. I excused myself and walked into the kitchen to mix her a Highball and pour myself a Bourbon Rocks. When I returned she had taken a seat on one side of the couch and sat there demurely with a quizzical look on her face.
I handed over her drink and told her, “It’s been a good year for me Yuki. You’ve been a big part of it. You really helped me get this business off the ground. I got a Christmas present especially for you but I didn’t think it was appropriate to drag over to the Reyes’ place.”
I walked over to the closet and pulled out the garment bag.
She stood up, taking the bag, and pulled down the zipper and slipped the jacket out. Her eyes bugged out and she gaggled, “Ray, it’s too much! I can’t possibly accept something so… so wonderful, so expensive.”
“You earned it,” I told her. “Besides it’s too late to give it back. It’s got your name embroidered in it.”
