Ness still could not make out his face as he squinted within the beaming headlights that where uncomfortably shining upon him until the amused Polizzi then spoke again, eager to conclude their impromptu meeting “Listen Ness! I’m not stupid enough to kill you and get the feds on me, way too much heat for my liking but I will tell you this, leave my operations alone! As you can well see there’s no press here to save your ass this time, like when you strolled into my Harvard Club like a prize fucking goose a few months back! That type of shit ain’t gonna fly here in Cleveland! You got to confess that moving my club around after you closed it down was a stroke of pure genius don’t you think? Hehe! Anyway! This is my town and we do things a little differently here than Capone did back in Chicago ok!?”
Ness did not look around as he feared what he might see and desperately tried not to show the primal fear that was now welling up within him, simply continuing to focus upon the featureless Polizzi. The infamous mobster’s facial features then finally began to come into view as the he squinted and squirmed within the torrential rain that now besieged them all, his eyes finally adjusting to this grim setting. Polizzi was a well-built, tall and dark haired man who was dressed in an expensive black three piece pinstripe suit which was ironically accompanied by a gleaming silver art deco owl tiepin, silently expressing to all to whom they were talking too. His had a distinctively volatile and aggressive aura surrounding him by the way he carried himself, as though he could explode at any minute and this was made even more intimidating by his impressive physique. This aura was evident in the way that he confidently walked upon leaving his LaSalle and also how he stood there facing him, with a naturally gifted strength that few could master unless they had been brought up under the proper set of harsh life circumstances. He had handsomely chiselled facial features and his dark piercing eyes matched his jet black and sleeked back hair whilst he had the unusually distracting habit licking his lips every time he spoke, as if he was pleasurably absorbing the taste of his own filthy worded mouth.
He oddly reminded Ness of the current Nazi foreign minister to London called Joachim Von Ribbentrop whom he had recently read about in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Von Ribbentrop wanted to appear to be as sophisticated as his English counterparts where, but could never shake off the aura of brutishness of the cruel regime that had spawned him. The same went for Polizzi because he was pretending to be some sort of sophisticated intellectual but he could simply not hide the animal that lay underneath this false exterior, no matter how much expensively stylish clothes he wore or whom he selectively surrounded himself with. The brute underneath remained clear and ever present to the trained eye and showed that he was pretending to be something else, something different, something less violent and less aggressive but every now and then his slightest mannerism or facial expression would revealing show his true primal nature.
Ness had only ever heard of Polizzi from his numerous meetings with county prosecutor Cullitan and had seen a few unbecoming photographs of him laughing with his trusted associates at an Italian restaurant prior to this dramatic meeting. The well-built man was so much more intimidating in real life and much more so than the lilac-green suit loving “Scarface” Capone ever was, whom looked positively childlike compared to Polizzi, even with the famed scar viscously etched down his face. Polizzi looked like a man whom would not tolerate dissent and would clamp down hard on any sign of weakness from his fellow mob members, predictably making examples of any one whom did not fit in with his harsh regime of totalitarian suppression.
Polizzi then continued to speak once more after licking his lips in enjoyment of his crudely vulgar use of the English language “Now you listen here you prick! I’m a legitimate businessman see! So let’s do business and make a compromise so to speak. You’re going to lay-off my businesses down at the docks and in Kingsbury Run because if you don’t then I’m going to have to hurt you and the ones that you love. Like that pretty little lonely wife of yours sitting at the lake house with her six cats. What’s her name again?...er?... Edna? That’s it, Edna!” The angry Ness gritted his teeth together in frustration because he had a distinct feeling of déjà vu because Edna had already been threatened before back in Chicago by Capone and now this reoccurring feeling make him feel physically sick to his stomach. He was further infuriated because he could just see that Polizzi was smiling as where all his mobster goons around him, sniggering within the shadows at the familiar plight of the famed lawman. The anger he felt within him was almost uncontrollable because he wanted to lash out at the arrogant Polizzi as he smiled under his umbrella but he forced himself not to do so because he understood the imminent danger that he was already in. He still loved Edna immensely even if they relationship was failing and possibly nearing its end and he still felt incredibly protective of her, just as he had been when he had defended her back in Chicago from Capone’s violent intentions.
Polizzi then paused to allow the sniggering to continue before he added to the mobs amusement with yet another cruel idea “Hell! I might even kill the god damn cats too! What the fuck, right boys!? Hahaha!” He once again looked around and enjoyed the continuing goon sniggering as a defiant Ness stood there even more agitated and angry now at the thought of Edna being once again in the crosshairs of yet another gangster. Polizzi then leaned in closer as he saw Ness’s hatred for him welling up within his eyes, feeding off the negative emotion like a parasite that was well versed in devouring the negativity of others in order to live. He leaned in so close in fact that Ness could distinctly smell his expensive musky aftershave along with his choice of whisky that he had been so liberally drinking just prior to their prearranged meeting. He then happily whispered to the defiant ex-prohibition agent as he relished in Ness’s instinctively primal reaction, almost willing him to attempt a violent act upon him “Perhaps I’ll even let my boys here work over that lovely blonde secretary of yours, Miss Poppy Rose Valentine. I think all my boys here would like a piece of that ass! You know, playing with her for a while before… Well! I’m sure you get the picture!”
The defiantly brave Ness could no longer hide his contempt for Polizzi as he looked into his hateful eyes with an immense anger, just barley seeing his shadowy smug face smirking within the combined bright lights of the LaSalle and Chrysler’s ahead. Then after moment’s hesitation whereby he willed himself to not be lured into the mobsters trap, he relaxed and loudly replied with a subversively venomous response that was cleverly understated “I heard that Doctor Joseph Romano ran the Mayfield Road Mob now and not you!? I also heard that you need the help of the Jewish Crime Czar, Moe Dalitz in order to control the Cleveland Syndicate? Is that true Polizzi?”
The motionless Ness stood there and trembled with an internal fear because he could not believe what he had just said to the dangerous Polizzi whose shadowy face remained motionless within the bright lights. He appeared to be just staring at him as if he was slowly processing what the defiant lawman had just said and was actively analysing how to reply to this public show of disrespect in an appropriately violent way. After a while Polizzi then slowly turned around to face his silent men and as he did so, he put something on his right hand which Ness could not see. The silent anticipation was almost maddening as only the falling rain could be heard around them as it struck the tarmac within their well-lit section of the darkened street. Then Polizzi spoke whilst still facing his men but in a louder and sinisterly baritone tone, as if his own Mister Hyde had now taken over from his more socially acceptable Doctor Jekyll “You know you may have been ‘untouchable’ back in Chicago right...well?…”
Polizzi then swung around and sucker punched the unaware Ness in the stomach with his silver plated, owl motif knuckle dusters. “The Owl” hit him with such immense brute force, power and strength that he was immediately winded and uncontrollably fell onto his knees and shock as immense pain reverberated and pulsated around his shaking body. Nothing else mattered to him as he lay there broken upon the wet tarmac,
not Poppy or Edna because all his mental processes had now ceased to function because his body was attempting to pool all its limited resources in a fruitless attempt to relieve the immense pain which now dominated his mind. A deadly calm Polizzi then slowly knelt down whilst he carefully took off his treasured silver plated owl knuckle dusters and put them away before he spoke again to the defeated Ness “Now look what you made me do? I don’t want hurt you Ness, I hate, No! Deplore violence! Really I do! You see I’m not scared of your subversive disrespect that you just unfairly showed me but I am scared of the taxman! The taxman put Capone away, not you! The taxman chased my predecessor away, not you! Are you listening to me?! Ness?! Ness?!”
Polizzi paused as he could see the hurt Ness was struggling to stay upright on his knees and was close to going into the foetal position on the ground and so he quickly put back on his gloves and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head up into the light as he did so. The irritable Polizzi looked at him in disgust as he could now see the warm blood liberally oozing from Ness’s nose and mouth, the sight of which troubled him because it was a publicly violent manifestation of his underlying self. He then decided it would be better to use his gloved hand under his chin and lifted his head up so as he could talk to the insolent lawman face to face, secretly hating the necessary act of aggression that he had forced him to do. Polizzi was then irritated as a disorientated Ness attempted to uncontrollably grab his freshly pressed suit, brushing off his desperate hands as they clasped for any sense of pity within his merciless assaulter.
The cruel Polizzi then continued to speak whilst looking at the struggling Ness in closer inspection within the light of his LaSalle “Jesus! Show me some god damn respect would ya, now where was I? Oh yes! So with you coming into town on your ‘I’m-the-new-sheriff-in-town-high-fucking-horse’, you’re ruining my good business here and it’s simply unacceptable!” After another moment of curiously inspecting the bloodied face of Ness, Polizzi then let go of his chin and took a moment to wipe his gloved hands with a handkerchief that was immediately given to him by his shadowy assistant whom held his umbrella. Ness immediately slouched back down onto the tarmac in a foetal position now that Polizzi had released him, clutching his stomach in pain as the rain washed the blood away from his open mouth into the awaiting puddle below his face.
Polizzi looked at the broken Ness in disgust before he irritatingly spoke whilst looking up at the rain, always hating when he would had to resort to his baser lower instincts of physical domination “Jesus! Will it ever stop raining in this godforsaken city!” Immediately the attentive accompanying faceless umbrella goon moved his umbrella closer to the disgruntled Polizzi before the mobster continued to speak whilst looking at the defeated Ness as he lay in the blood soaked puddle “You leave me alone and I leave you alone, Capiche!?” Polizzi then tossed the used blood stained handkerchief onto the incapacitated Ness, turned in disgust and swiftly walked away with his solitary attentive goon. The goon struggled to keep up with his cruel master as he nervously held the umbrella above his head until the blinding lights of the LaSalle and Chrysler’s completely masked his departure.
Ness felt his warm blood slowly seep from his nose and mouth and into the awaiting puddle that his face was now half submerged in. He then defiantly attempted to withdraw his head away from the dirty puddle and did so with the predictable resulting pain which immediately reverberating around his entire body. After a hesitant moment he slowly opened his eyes and saw himself looking back at himself from within the blood soaked puddle as he felt yet more of his warm crimson fluid escaping from his open mouth. He had not wished to give Polizzi the satisfaction of breaking him in front of his own men but the sudden pain was so unbearable that he had not been given a choice to hold on to his precious pride.
He then he heard Polizzi shouting from the unseen shadows beyond the beaming lights “You’re in my city now and we do things a little differently here! I heard what you did with Capone’s offer, you spat it right back in his fucking face! You gotta learn some respect kid! I see everything that goes on in this city! I own the muscle and I know who fucks who and how they like to be fucked! I’m like a fucking owl! Hence the name hoot, hoot! Hahaha!” Polizzi laughed as did his mass of silhouetted goons in unison until Ness heard the laughing abruptly stop as the back door of his LaSalle slammed shut.
The abruptly non-smiling Polizzi then sat back into the luxurious leather back seat of his LaSalle and felt almost disgusted at himself for succumbing to the overwhelming urge of indiscriminate violence. He had not been given a choice by the defiant Ness whom had disrespected him in front of his men, insinuating that he required others in order to obtain ultimate power in the Cleveland underworld and thus publically insinuating that he was weak. This warranted an immediate and forceful reaction by him to ensure his dominance within the group of jackals that he now possessively controlled with his iron fist.
He then smiled to himself as he thought about how the clever lawman had been so wonderful set up thanks to the dependable mole he had embedded deeply within his so called “clean” department. He had simply wished to send a clear message to lay off his affairs after both Ness and Cullitan where pressurizing his businesses with their continued onslaught of investigations into the Mayfield Road Mob’s numerous illicit financial activities. Even though his predecessor was now safely exiled away in Mexico, these investigations where having a negative knock on effect into his business dealings and thus ultimately his powerbase within his newly won organisation. He was a little startled that Ness knew so much about his proposed secret takeover of the underworld by teaming up with the Jewish mob, but felt satisfied that he had achieved the desired effect of frightening him enough to warn him off. He had been advised by his close associate to leave Ness to him and not to interfere with him because of the army of press that he always held in reserve but Polizzi had not heeded his shadowy associates words because he always followed his own predatory instincts above all else.
After a few minutes of letting the broken and defeated Ness ponder his own mortality within the rain, Polizzi then spoke quietly to his driver whilst he eagerly took out a fresh new Cuban cigar, lit it up and poured himself a glass of rich whisky from his glass decanter “I want him to have a ready supply of how ever much opium and alcohol he needs. Get him into contact with some of our private doctors and make it look like an accident. Hopefully it’ll keep him slow and out of my business dealings” The loyal shadowy driver then shook his head in agreement before the satisfied Polizzi sat back within his leather seat and puffed the rich cigar’s sweet taste of violent victory. He held this wonderful taste deep within his prison like lungs before gently releasing it back out and into the surrounding air in a long singular expulsion, attempting to create a multitude of various smoke shapes as he did so.
After a pondering moment of watching the smoke slowly dissipate into the warm air which filled the LaSalle’s interior, he continued to speak in a more relaxed manner “I also think I’ll order the hit on Joseph Romano in a few weeks, seen as Ness already knows about it, and solidify my control of the mob. Now give the order and let’s get the hell out of here!”
Back on the rain soaked street the broken Ness was still looking at himself within the blood soaked puddle and wondered if he would survive this meeting as the illuminated rain fell all around him, rippling the bloody puddle and further distorting his defeated reflection. The rain lit up like fire as it passed through the intense lights of the surrounding automobiles, further enhancing the dramatic scene that was currently unfolding before his reluctant eyes.
All of a sudden the surrounding tommy guns erupted in a cacophony of flashes and noise, deafening the defeated lawman and adding further discomfort to his current situation. A petrified Ness could see the flashes of gunfire erupt all around him as he heard the dying moans of the battered wagon’s glass shatter and tires pop. Ness was now holding both his hands over his ears in a vain attempt to lessen the tremendous noise that
surrounded him and prayed that he would survive this traumatic night. The mobsters blasted away at the crippled wagon with continual fire for at least ten traumatic seconds before they finally stopped.
One of the shadowy group then hastily ran up to the smoking wagon and put something on its bonnet before then running back to the awaiting Chrysler. All automobiles then then screeched away in military unison as they all loyally formed behind the lead LaSalle and drove back of into the murky underworld where they came from. They left the broken and defeated Ness, an unconscious Gerber and an obliterated wagon in their wake of destruction and after few minutes the trembling Ness could distinctly hear the exhausted voices of both Merlyo and Zalewski coming closer. Both exhausted and wet detectives came running through the relentless rain with their weapons drawn as they shouted “Ness!? Gerber!? You guys ok!? Ness!? Gerber!?”
They both then saw the defeated Ness lying by the bloody puddle, groaning and the unconscious Gerber lying motionless by the obliterated and smoking husk of the destroyed wagon. At first Ness was unable to reply to them because of the resonating pain that was pulsating from within his wounded stomach but as they came closer he managed to gather the strength to finally vocalise words again “I’m fine! Gerber fainted! Please check him!” The concerned Zalewski immediately confirmed Ness’s statement about the poor Gerber as he knelt down next to him and nodded to the equally concerned looking Merlyo. Merlyo then knelt down near to Ness and put his arm around him and attempted to help him up whilst he spoke “Jesus! Are you ok?”
Ness nodded as he leant awkwardly upon the smoking husk of the dead wagon and looked at the breathing Gerber, reassured that he was still alive after the recent turn of deadly events. Merlyo was impressed with Ness’s resolve because he wanted to stand up under his own diminishing strength but could not as he still clutched his stomach in pain. This caused Merlyo to help him up by using the bonnet of the smoking wagon as leverage and as Ness carefully balanced himself, he noticed that the wagons bonnet was not only covered in bullet holes and shattered glass fragments. He also saw a giant dead fish ominously staring back at him with its cold dead eyes and knew all too well what this foreboding mafia message symbolised, “sleeping with the fishes”. In other words he would be dead if he continued with his current investigations with Cullitan into the Mayfield Road Mob’s illicit activities.
The Noir Evil Page 20
