by Bill Sage
“I have considered everything very carefully,” Judge Roth began. “I wanted to look at the whole picture, so I went over each of the incidents of misconduct that occurred during the trial and the circumstances surrounding them, putting it all in context. It was a difficult trial and emotions got out of hand.” Roth paused here, looking at his notes.
“It's true, Mr. Goldman,” Roth continued, “emotions were flying on both sides. In fact, Mr. Wilcox was fined $500 for his outburst.” He closed the file and gazed at Goldman. “I think there has to be fairness and a measure of equity in conducting jury trials.”
Goldman was still standing at the counsel table with his arms at his sides. He nervously wiped his right hand on his pant leg.
Roth picked up a pen, opened the file, and took one last look at Goldman. “With all that in mind, I've made my decision. Anything else, Mr. Goldman?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Thirty days.”
51
THAT NIGHT JAKE CAME TO AL’S house to toast the end of the trial and talk about the hit on Mangano and any other matters they needed to hash out.
But first Jake wanted to thank Al for what he’d done in the Mangano case. As he passed through the doorway, Jake squeezed Al’s upper arm and said, “You sonofabitch, you did it. I can’t…”
Shaking his head, Al said, “Jake, I didn’t do much, and besides, it was my honor.”
Jake gazed at him with a grateful glow in his eyes.
Taking a step back, Al said, “Jake, whatever I did, I can assure you it wouldn’t match what you’ve done for me. It never could’ve been any other way.”
The crucial thing for Al was that he’d done something to protect Jake, like Jake had done for him numerous times. Al felt proud that he’d stood by him and had come through when he needed it most. To him that made a statement about the respect and loyalty he had for Jake.
They walked into the living room. “You gotta know how much I appreciate what you did. It could’ve meant some bad shit falling on you, but you did it.”
Al gave him a warm smile, he truly loved the guy. “How about having a little Macallan?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
Al went into the kitchen, poured out two glasses of Macallan, no ice, and brought them out to the living room. They sat on the couch, watching the news on TV.
“You wanna just sit for a while before we jump into Mangano and other stuff?” Jake asked.
Al shrugged. “Yeah, Okay.”
“Maybe talk about other things. I don’t know.”
“Other things?”
“Yeah, just talk,” Jake said, shrugging. “We don’t always have to talk about business. Let’s take a break from all this shit, take our time.”
“Sure, that’s fine.” Al figured he’d let Jake go first.
They both took swallows and watched the TV story about President Reagan and Yuri Andropov, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, working out a bilateral deal on nuclear warheads.
Al said, “Reagan’s making America great again.”
Jake nodded his agreement. “Yeah, that trumps everything else.”
After waiting several minutes for Jake to ask a question, Al decided to jump in and bust his balls a little. It was Jake’s idea and he was sitting on his hands not saying anything.
“You…you serious about asking questions?” Al said.
“Yeah, you got something?”
“Well, there…there is something I’ve wondered about for years.”
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
“When I waited for you outside Buffalo Betty’s house, did you bang her?”
Jake laughed and shook his head. “Oh shit, not that again. I know you spread that rumor, but as I told you a million times, she wanted to tell me something about coach Grant.”
“That took 45 minutes?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Get off it.”
Al took a few seconds. “Okay, here’s something else, something serious. You ever think about Elsa? I mean, think how your life would have been?”
Jake sighed and looked down. “Yeah, more than you think. I really loved her,” he said with a touch of emotion in his voice. “Never came that close with anyone else.”
“Did killing Gerard get the whole thing started?”
“I always wondered how it’d be. But when I did it, it just came naturally.”
“So what are you saying? You’d be doing hits, Gerard or no Gerard?”
“Yeah, that’s what I think.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.”
“It’s what I do,” Jake said softly.
The serious expression on Jake’s face and his matter-of-fact tone was starting to crack Al up, so he quickly looked away, taking a swallow of Scotch.
They sat in silence for a while, watching TV.
Al finally said, “Maybe it’s time for us to get back to the business at hand.”
“Wait,” Jake said. “There’s something I’ve been wondering about too.”
“Okay.”
“Lev Keller.”
“Oh, yeah. He was a bad ass.”
“I knew he was a hitman, but there was something about him even my father wouldn’t tell me. And you know, everybody was terrified of him. Did Ziggy ever tell you anything about him? You know, what his story was?”
“He did. I went to his house after my father’s funeral. While we were talking, I asked him about some of the old Purples and I mentioned Lev. At first, he was reluctant to talk about him, but I pressed him hard. Eventually he gave in.”
Jake sat still, fully concentrating on what Al was saying.
“He said he was fierce, almost crazy,” Al went on. “The story about him was that he burned a SS officer alive when he was in Germany during the war. Ziggy said he didn’t know if it was true, but it scared the shit out of everybody.”
“Holy shit! He was a scary guy, but I never…”
“Don’t worry, he said he liked us.”
“I used to drive his Cadillac to the front door of the Vets Club. I’m glad I never scratched the bumper,” Jake said.
“I know. But let’s get back on track. What’s going on with Mangano? Any word on whether he’s going to go back to the feds and into the protection program?”
“I talked to Claudio and he doesn’t give a shit what Mangano does. Once a stool pigeon, always a stool pigeon. That’s it.”
“So, you getting ready?”
“Well, finally Claudio knows the protection thing won’t be happening for a while. So he’s planning on throwing a party for Nick. To celebrate. That could be a good time.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“I’ll be working with Ben.”
“Ben,” Al said, raising his eyebrows and nodding. “That’ll work.”
“Gold Coupe deVille. Brand new,” Jake said, nodding once.
Al gave him a knowing smile.
“The only other thing I think needs to be taken care of is Goldman,” Jake said with a half-smile.
“Don’t worry about him. If anything, he probably thinks Lopez is the guy you’re working with, not me.”
“Lopez?”
“Yeah. He was in court when that guy attacked the DA during sentencing. After all the commotion, he went up to Goldman. Told him he liked to watch trials.”
Jake sat stone-faced.
“Lopez came to the courtroom two more times. And most importantly, he was there when I declared the mistrial. I don’t think Goldman ever bought Lopez’s court-watcher line. If he ever thought about it, he’d think he was the guy calling the shots.”
Jake showed no reaction. Al thought he wasn’t buying it.
They stopped talking and watched the news. It seemed to Al that neither one of them was concentrating on what was on TV. Al was thinking about Linda, and since Jake had whacking Mangano already figured out, Al thought he was probably thinking about Hamilton.
As usual, Al was correct. A few minutes later, Jake bent forwar
d and said, “Al…”
Al turned and looked at him.
After a pause, Jake went on. “Hamilton…he needs to pay. There needs to be some serious payback. You know that.”
Al knew that to Jake what Hamilton did wasn’t just an attack on Linda or even Al—what he did made him an enemy of his. It was personal for Jake, that’s why he kept pressing Al to make Hamilton pay for what he’d done.
Al said, “I just need to work out a few details and then it’ll be a go.”
“I got to say this to you. I know you, you won’t forget. You’ll want justice. That’s the way you are, always have been.”
“I know,” Al replied. “It’s gonna happen.”
52
NOW THAT THE MANGANO TRIAL was finally over, Al wanted to spend more quality time with Linda. It was a Saturday morning and it looked like it would be a nice day. They always had fun on days like this.
He had to exchange a shirt he’d bought at Nordstrom’s. It was the wrong color. This could be a perfect time for them to be together.
Al dialed Linda’s number.
“Hello,” she said sleepily.
“Hi, sleepy person.”
“Oh, Al, it's you.”
“The Mangano trial is finally over. Now I can get it out of my mind. We can do something, have some fun.”
“I’d love to see you.”
“I got to exchange a shirt at Nordstrom’s, then maybe we could have lunch.”
“That’d be great. You know I miss you.”
“Me too, you.”
Then after a pause Al said, “Would you wear the pearl necklace I gave you?”
“Sure, I love it. Any special reason?”
“No, just wear it, okay?”
“I'll think about it,” she said coyly.
After hanging up, Al got ready.
It was close to 10:30 when Linda arrived. She looked sexy and was wearing his pearls.
Not wanting to waste any time, they jumped into Al’s car and sped to the mall. It was a perfect day, so Al took the top off his Porsche.
As they drove on the freeway, Linda said, “I contacted the Marriott in Newport, and they can work with us. All we need to do is set a date.”
“That’s great. We’ll have to figure it out.”
“It’s just a matter of coordinating with my father to get a date. I need to find out when he’ll be in town.”
“Okay, baby.”
After a few minutes of driving, they were almost at South Coast Plaza. Linda turned toward him, touched his arm, and smiled. “I love times like this. You and me, doing stuff…”
“It’ll always be this way.”
A few minutes later they arrived at the mall and went to Nordstrom’s. The salesperson didn't give him any hassle on exchanging the shirt. They left and walked around the mall, going into a few stores.
After window shopping for a while, Al stopped and stood in front of Linda. He put one hand on her waist and drew her closer. “Those pearls would look good with a nice black dress. You know what I mean, simple and elegant?”
“I already have one, Al,” she said with a puzzled look on her face. “You know that.”
“I know, honey, but I want to buy you another one. One from me.” She’d bought her black dress two years ago, when she visited Milan with her father.
Linda looked surprised. “You shouldn't do that.”
“I shouldn't be in love with you either. But I still want to buy you a dress. Maybe for Aaron’s bar mitzvah.”
She stood silent for a while, letting his words sink in. “Oh, Al,” she finally murmured, putting her arms around his neck and gently kissed him on the lips.
They walked to a nearby dress shop and looked inside. “I've been thinking about getting a new one, anyway. The other one is getting out of style.”
Al knew she was just saying that. That’s one reason he loved her so much. He also knew she liked it when he sprung surprises on her and understood the rule they followed when he bought her something new.
No matter what it was, she had to wear it when they made love as soon as they got home. That was his ironclad rule no matter what it was.
One time when he’d bought her a food mixer, he unwrapped it and placed it on the pillow on the other side of the bed. “I guess I can't make you wear this,” he said smiling. “But at least it'll get a proper initiation.”
The first shop didn't have exactly what she was looking for, so they went to two other places. In the last shop, they found what they both had in mind. When she came out of the dressing room to show Al how nice the dress was, she looked so pretty and happy it made him break out into a broad smile.
I wish this moment would last forever.
When she saw the smile on his face and the way he was watching her, she gave him a warm and knowing smile. Al liked that about her—she seemed able to read his mind.
Except for the length, the dress was perfect and he told the saleslady to wrap it up.
“It'll take two weeks for alterations,” she advised him.
Before Al could say anything, Linda spoke up. “We're taking it now. We'll bring it back later for tailoring.”
Al looked over at her and smiled.
They left the dress shop and walked through the mall to the car. “What do you think? Still want to stop for lunch?” Al asked.
“That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I know sometimes you get impatient.”
“Just kidding,” Linda said, smiling. She stopped walking and touched his arm. “I want to go home with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“The sooner, the better,” she said, reaching for his hand.
They went to Al’s car and drove home, a little faster than usual. As soon as they got there, Linda went to the bedroom to change into the dress.
“Don't forget to wear the necklace too,” he said.
She didn't answer. Then he thought he shouldn't have said that. She probably wanted to do that on her own. He went into the other bedroom and put on a pair of Levi's, nothing else.
“Why don't you put on some Bach?” she called out.
“Okay.” He loved Bach and put on the third Brandenburg Concerto.
Al poured himself a small glass of rye without ice, and sat on the couch and waited. It seemed like it took forever. The anticipation was killing him because he was thinking that when she came out she’d be wearing nothing under her new black dress.
He knew that because that was their rule when he bought her dresses or skirts.
Finally, she came out, smiled, then closed her eyes, looking away. Al figured she was feeling slightly self-conscious. That was something he liked about her.
She walked to where he was sitting and stopped. Then as she looked at him, she slowly pulled the dress up a few inches. They both laughed because it was too long.
He took Linda’s hand and guided her to sit next to him. He leaned toward her and gently kissed her on the lips. It was a soft, long kiss.
After a few seconds, she parted her lips and he savored her lovely mouth with his tongue, tasting its sweetness.
As they kissed and caressed each other, Al could hear her gently breathing in and out. He loved hearing that sound. When he eased back an inch to look at her face, he saw that her eyes were closed.
Al could feel the warmth of her body as he ran his fingers lightly across the dress, over her breasts and down to her naked thighs.
Then he drew back and finished the last of his rye.
They kissed again. Linda moaned and he could hear her heart pounding faster. With one hand around his neck, Linda placed her other hand on Al’s Levi’s and fumbled for the brass buttons.
He knew it would be impossible for her to unfasten them using only one hand, but he did nothing to help her. She tried again and again and finally gave up. Then she put her hand on him from outside his Levi’s.
When Al felt her do that, he lightly glided his hand underneath her dress to where it
was wet and soft. She murmured a hushed, moaning sound and eased her head back against the couch.
After three or four minutes of intense kissing and caressing, he couldn’t resist any longer. “Let's go,” he whispered.
53
IT WAS LATE IN THE EVENING. Judge Roth sat in his dimly lit chambers.
A small desk lamp was the only light shining in the building. A radio sitting on the middle shelf of the bookcase played softly. Roth reached for the dial and ran it through several stations until he found a classical music one.
Then he looked over at the couch, his face resolute and cold.
Hamilton was meeting him at the courthouse to get his kickback money and to deliver a notarized copy of the S&L equipment contract.
Roth placed Linda’s black briefcase on his desk and opened it. He saw bundles of cash sitting inside.
A minute or two later he checked the clock. Then standing up, he looked over at the couch again. “It’s time,” he said, nodding once.
Roth put on his suit coat, went down the stairs to the side door. Cracked it open and waited for Congressman Hamilton.
He didn't have to wait long. Hamilton showed up in less than five minutes, carrying a large brown pouch. Roth assumed he had the contract in it.
As Hamilton drew closer, Judge Roth opened the heavy metal door and looked over at him. When Hamilton entered, Roth got a whiff of his aftershave, but it seemed toned down a little. “Hi, Bob. Nice night.”
“Yeah,” Hamilton said in a curt voice. “I’ve been working.” He was wearing a pink polo shirt, white slacks and brown loafers, no socks. “Where's your office, Roth?” he asked.
“On the second floor, this way.”
Roth led him up the stairway and they walked upstairs. They went through the hallway behind the courtrooms and came to Roth’s chambers.
“Well, here we are,” Roth said as they entered.
“This is your office? Not too fancy, is it,” Hamilton said, looking around the room.
Roth wondered why Hamilton made such a pointless remark. He took it as another indication of Hamilton’s hostility and arrogance, reinforcing the decision he’d already made.
“Maybe you’d like to come in here sometime and decorate it for me,” Roth answered back.
