by Tony Farraj
“What do we do with the rest? I don’t have anymore room.” Hank asked.
“We’ll have to leave it. Vinnie take the van back to Mr. Spinelli’s dealership. Make sure you wipe it down and remove the tape from the license plates. O’Malley and I will take the truck to the North side and dump it there. Hank, I’ll see you tomorrow.” All three men went in different directions. What took hours of planning was over in minutes. Anthony followed O’Malley to the North side, where they left the truck in a run down part of town. The minute they drove off, vagrants came out of the alleyway and abundant buildings to loot the left over beer. Anthony watched as case after case was pulled from the hijacked truck. He drove O’Malley home and dropped him off at his doorstep. “Thank you for all your help. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Anytime you need something, please don’t hesitate to call.” O’Malley’s soft and gentle voice drifted of his lips.
Anthony watched, as O’Malley seemed to glide to his front door. The large giant of a man turned to wave, his whole large frame nearly blocking out the porch light. Anthony turned the car around in the neighbor’s driveway and headed home. The lights in his own house where off, except the one in the kitchen. He pulled the car in the garage and walked in through the back, where he found Vinnie sitting at the table having a beer.
“Fruits of our labor. Would you care for one?” Vinnie asked with a smile.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Anthony returned the pleasantries.
“Everything go alright?” Vinnie asked, as he seemed to enjoy every drop of the beer he was partaking.
“You couldn’t ask for a better plan.” Even Anthony, who wasn’t much of a drinker, seemed to enjoy the taste of his beer. “Damn, that’s good.”
“Tina is here.” Vinnie said, as he finished his last sip. “If there isn’t anything else, I think I’m going to bed. Good night, boss.”
“Thanks Vinnie.” Anthony took his last sip and made his way to the front bedroom. He carefully opened the door, so not to make a sound.
“Hey, you.” Tina’s voice caressed Anthony’s ears. “I’ve been waiting for you. She sat up on her knees. Anthony watched as Tina lowered the spaghtii strap off her negligee, exposing half of her breast.
“You have?” He walked to the foot of the bed and passionately kissed her. They seemed to have the most intense love making, when Anthony came home late. He pulled her close and caressed the back of her neck. They both fell into bed clutched in each other’s arms. Anthony pulled Tina close to his body. Their bodies curled together, as one.
The following morning, they woke up still in the same position. Tina’s head was still snuggled neatly in between Anthony’s chest and armpit. Anthony still had his arm wrapped around her upper back; he was still holding her tight. He quietly kissed her before getting up and walking to the kitchen.
“You’re up early.” Vinnie said, as he removed the perfectly cooked sausage from the pan and placed in front of Anthony.
“You know I have to go and see Hank about the girls he’s hired.” Anthony wolfed down his breakfast, without ever looking up.
“So, that’s it?” Tina stepped out from the bedroom. “You’re seeing another women?” She smiled at Vinnie.
“No.” Anthony said placidly. “I’m seeing two.”
Tina reached for a dishtowel, crumbled it up like a ball and threw it at Anthony. The towel opened up in mid-flight and landed perfectly on top of Anthony’s head. Anthony removed the towel from his head placed it on the counter. He walked passed Tina, but not before he gave her a solid slap on the ass. She chased him back to the bedroom, where they both fell on the bed laughing like two teenagers in love. Anthony finished getting dressed. He gave Tina a small kiss and headed out the front door.
“When will you be back?” Tina asked, as she leaned against the frame.
Anthony turned to answer her. The mid morning sun shined across her beautiful face. A slight breeze seemed to blow on cue, fluttering Tina’s hair away from her neck. Anthony stood there for a moment taking in by her beauty. She truly did look exquisite.
“What?” She asked, somewhat shy.
Anthony walked back to her side. He grabbed her in his arms and gazed in to her lovingly eyes. “I’ve only told this to one other girl and she was taken away from me. I’m not going to let that happen, ever again.” He paused to catch his breath. “I love you…”
“Anthony.”
“Shhhhh, let me finish. I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us to grow old together. I never want to wake up, without you by my side. Tina, I would be the happiest man alive, if you would be my wife. You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but…”
“Anthony, you don’t have to wait for my answer. The moment you walked in to the showroom, I too had fallen in love. My answer is yes! I would be honored to be your wife!” Tina threw her arms around Anthony’s neck and squeezed. They both stood in each other’s embrace, until Vinnie honked the horn. Anthony gave Tina one more kiss, before he walked back to the waiting car.
“What’s all the excitement?” Vinnie asked. He could see Anthony was beaming from ear to ear.
“I just asked Tina to marry me!” Anthony said, as he gazed at his wife to be from inside the car.
“I’m very happy for the both of you. You two make a great couple.” Vinnie said sincerely.
As they made their way to the club, Hank was putting the final touches in place. The crane operator placed the new sign on top of the club and waited for the workmen to safely secure it to the roof. The electrician quickly worked on connecting the wires, in hopes that the sign would be working, when the new owner pulled up. At the same time as the workers where busting their hump out side, Hank was preparing the two waitresses inside. “Listen, when Anthony shows up try not to do anything to piss this guy off. He has a short fuse and a very bad temper. Please, don’t give him any reason to show you.”
Vinnie pulled up to the front entrance of the club. Anthony got out and gazed up at the new neon sign. The name of the club had officially changed to “Bruno’s”. They both walked in and sat down at one of the new tables and waited for Hank to greet them. Hank stepped out from the back room, with two stunning women, both where tall and lean, with perfect sized breasts.
One had long blonde hair, with big blue-green eyes. The other had medium brown hair, with brown eyes and thick bushy eyebrows.
“Anthony, I would like you to meet Heather and Amber.”
Anthony stared at both women. He was pleased with Hank’s decision, but not too happy about what the girls where wearing. Heather, the one with the long blonde hair was wearing a fish net top and a see through bra. Amber was wearing tiny pink shorts and clear high heel shoes.
“Good morning ladies. My name is Anthony Sakakini. From this day forward, you will no longer strip in the back room for low lives, who treat you like a piece of meat.. You two ladies, now work for me. Everyone that comes into this club will treat you with respect or they’ll have to answer to me. No more of those revealing outfits. Your uniform will consist of a white tuxedo shirt and black shorts or skirt. The choice is yours. Don’t let me catch you doing drugs in my club, don’t show up drunk and don’t try and sleep with anyone that comes in here. You treat me with respect and I’ll make sure you’re treated with respect. Finally, if you do as I ask, I promise you, you will be greatly rewarded. Just how much you’re asking yourself?” Anthony reached in his pocket and handed each girl an envelope, with nine hundred dollars. “Girls, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you know any other girls that want to make money like that, without showing their tits, have them talk to Hank. I guess that’s it, unless you two have any questions?” Anthony waited for a responds.
Both girls shook their heads. “Thank you Mr. Sakakini.”
“Please, call me Anthony. It’s my pleasure.” He excused himself and walked to the bar to get a glass of water. While he had his ba
ck turned, both girls walked up and kissed him on either side of his face. Anthony could feel his face flush with embarrassment. Heather and Amber thanked him once more, before they gathered there belongs and walked out the door, laughing like two schoolgirls.
“I think your such a dream boat.” Vinnie said, with a high-pitched voice.
“Very funny.” Anthony pushed Vinnie towards the front door. “Let’s go.”
Vinnie held the door open and waited for Anthony to slide into the passenger seat, but before he did; he noticed a dark blue van parked on the other side of the street.
“Give me a second.” Anthony asked, as he made his way to the van.
Inside, two field agents sat with surveillance equipment and old fast food wrappers thrown about the floor of the van. They both watched as Anthony approached and peered into the dark tinted widows.
“I know you’re in there. Who do you think you’re fooling?” Anthony spoke loud enough for both agents to hear. “If you’re going to spy on me, you better be more creative then this.” Anthony punched the side window. “Tell Shepherd we’re opening tonight and he’s invited. I’ll save him a booth. You guys have a nice day.” Anthony turned and walked back to the car.
The field agent was on the phone, before Anthony made it to his car door. “Mr. Sakakini spotted us.
Agent Shepherd took a deep buff from his cigarette and watched the smoke rise to the ceiling in his office. “This guy is really starting to piss me off.”
“Sir, he’s pulling away. Do you want us to follow him?” The field agent waited for an answer.
“Don’t leave. I want you to stay and wait for your contact.” Agent Shepherd hung up the phone and stared out of his office window.
Just as the field agent hung up the phone, there was a small knock on the back of the van door. “It’s me.” The voice said nervously. “Open the door.”
The field agent swung the door open and pulled the undercover agent into the van, before anyone could spot her. Amber Thomas crawled in and sat on the floor. The field agent called back agent Shepherd and handed the phone to Amber.
“Does he suspect anything?” Agent Shepherd asked.
“No sir. He handed me an envelope filled with hundreds and asked me to use it to buy a uniform for tonight’s opening.” Amber tagged the money and envelope as evidence and secured it in an evidence bag.
“Anything else going on that I should be aware of?” Agent Shepherd asked.
“The other day, I noticed there was a few empty boxes of beer lying around and now it seems like there are full boxes everywhere.”
“There was a high jacked beer truck found on the North side of town. I wonder if Anthony had anything to do with it.” Agent Shepherd puffed on his cigarette. “Try to find a receipt for the last time Mr. Boudreau paid his bar tab.”
“Yes sir.”
“And Amber, be careful.” Agent Shepherd said concerned.
“I will.” She handed the phone back to the field agent. She knew this was the riskiest part of her job. She quickly exited the van and ducked into the alley by her car.
Across the street, Hank was taking out the garbage, when he happened to see Amber exiting the van. He watched as she slipped into her car and drove off in the opposite direction. He ran down to the pay phone and called Anthony.
“Hello?”
“It’s me!” Hank said nervously.
“Hank? You sound upset, what’s wrong?” Anthony asked.
Hank explained what he thought he saw when taking out the trash.
“Are you sure?” Anthony asked, again.
“I’m telling you, I saw her with my own two eyes. She jumped out of that van and ducked into her car.”
“Alright, I’ll take care of it. Try and find her address. I’ll go and pay her a visit.” Anthony could hear Hank searching frantically for Amber’s home address. “I got it, 18478 Mocking Bird lane.” Hank said nervously.
“Alright, I’ll find out the truth. In the mean time, you make sure everything is ready for tonight.” Anthony hung up the phone and sat back down at the kitchen table.
“Something wrong?” Vinnie asked.
“It seems we have a rat trying to infiltrate our organization; Amber?”
“The waitress?” Vinnie asked surprised. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing, I’ll take care of this myself. I need you to go and talk to Mr. Spinellie and tell him what’s going on. I’m going to pay our waitress a visit.” Anthony jumped into his car and headed over to the west side of town.
Amber lived in upper scale neighborhood. She joined the bureau straight out of college and was quickly assigned to do undercover work for the Federal Government. In her short, but highly decorated carrier, Amber had participated in bringing down drug dealers, prostitution rings and now, maybe an up and coming Organized Crime boss. This was going to be her crown jewel. Meeting Anthony for the first time excited her and gave her a burst of energy that she had to burn off or she’d look nervous tonight for the opening, which in turn could tip Anthony and his associates off about her real intentions. Amber decided to go for a brisk run. She quickly changed cloths and stepped out her door. After some small stretches, to loosen her muscles, Amber turned and began to head down her street, when she suddenly stopped frozen in her tracks. She spotted Anthony’s car slowly coming her way.
“What are you going here?” She asked nervously. “How did you find out where I live?”
“Get in, we need to talk.” Anthony said pleasantly.
“About what?” Amber moved in closer. She wanted to stay calm, trying not to show the terror she felt inside.
“I want you to be my girl. I wantta take you shopping and buy you anything your heart desires.” Anthony said as he smoothly tried to coax Amber into his car. He took out five hundred dollars and placed it on the dash of his luxurious car.
Amber knew how dangerous this was, but if she could gain Anthony’s trust, she could wiggle her curvaceous frame into his inner circle. The reward out weighted the risk. She opened the car door and slid her five foot eight frame into the leather seat. Amber grabbed the money off the dash and stuffed it in her jogging shoe.
Anthony leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek and drove off toward the warehouse.
That same night, Anthony covered the scratches across his arm with one of his fine Italian suits and waited for Tina outside in the front yard. From his walkway, he could see the floodlights dance across the ebony sky. His dream of owning his own club, had come true and just like his mentor; Victor Mazellie, Anthony had a piece of the American pie. In such a small amount of time, he had moved up the organized crime food chain. From a small time hood, to a made man, Anthony Sakakini was a force to deal with. And like storm that pops up without warning and destroys everything in its path, time would tell if he could last as long as his predecessors, but tonight would be his coming out party. Tonight, he would shed his skin and emerge as a true powerhouse in the under world.
As he stood there, he heard the back door close and the garage door open. Tina was standing behind him, wearing a black skintight dress. She looked as beautiful as the first time he saw her. Vinnie pulled the car up and held the door open for them both.
“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but youse two look good.” Vinnie closed the door and backed out of the driveway. Anthony leaned in and gave Tina a hard passionate kiss on the mouth.
“What was that for?” She asked, as she tried to catch her breath.
“I just love you, so much.” Anthony whispered into her ear. “You make me feel happy and so alive.”
The Mercedes made it’s way down the street and through the heavy traffic. When they made the corner, they saw a line of people standing outside the club. O’Malley was standing at the front entrance, letting groups of ten into the club. Vinnie pulled the car up to the entrance and stepped out. He pushed his way to the front and stood by O’Malley. “Whatta doing here?”
“Mr. Spinellie called, asked me
to come down and take care of crowd control. Too many of these people where trying to get in at once, I think it scared some guy named Hank.” O’Malley actually shouted. “I’d take Anthony through the back, if I was you.”
“Good idea.” Vinnie pushed and shoved his way back to the car and drove to the loading dock. There was a few people hanging around, hoping the back door would open, so they could sneak in, without paying the cover charge.
“Hey mister? You think you could lets us in?” A young girl, wearing barely anything asked Anthony, as he stepped out of the car.
“How old are you?” Anthony asked.
“Old enough.” She smiled and gave Anthony a wink.
Anthony walked to the door, clutching Tina’s hand. “Alright, but you better behave.” Inside the music rang in their ears. Anthony looked around and saw several tables roped off. Vinnie fought his way through the crowd and escorted Anthony and Tina to the table.
“Can you believe this turn out?” Vinnie asked, as he sled in next to Anthony.
“This is what I was hoping for. All these people needed a place like this on this side of town!” Anthony said excitedly. All night Anthony watched as people moved in and out of his club. He looked over to the bar, where Hank was busy pouring drink after drink.
When the night began to turn to early morning and the crowd thinned out. Anthony made his way to Mr. Spinellie’s table to pay his respect. “Hey Hank, how’d we do?”
Hank was in deep thought, as he counted the money under the bar. “Forty three, forty four, forty five!”
“Well, what’s the final count?” Anthony asked.
“Fort five thousand and some change!” Hank said wide-eyed.
“Pretty good for an opening night.”
“Pretty good? That’s the most money this place has ever made.” Hank said. He was feeling two kinds of emotions in the pit of his stomach. He was happy to see all that money, but he also knew none of it was his. When you have a partner like Anthony, most, if not all was going to go to him.
