Paul pulled up to the mechanical arm and placed his key card in. The mechanical arm flipped up and the spike strip laid down. Paul pulled his key card out and placed it on top of the key card box. He raced through just before the spike strip popped back up and the mechanical arm swung down, both narrowly missing the Mustang. Bob went next. Again, I held my impulse to rush down there. How was I going to make such a bold entrance go down smoothly? I scanned with the binoculars along the path Paul and Bob were walking and fate intervened.
I noticed a man and a woman studying Paul and Bob intently. It looked like they noticed how they had just shared the same key card. I saw the man pull his phone out. Paul and Bob walked to the boat and didn’t notice the curious older couple behind them watching which boat they were headed to.
I knew I had the opportunity to save them both from getting busted. I made my way through the throng of wedding guest and into the parking lot. I decided not to bother with my truck because parking down there might prove hard and bring my truck into view. The impossibly steep hill I started running down was only one lane each way and there wasn’t any room for pedestrians. I got going so fast I almost went down around the first turn and instead only grinded into the bushes over the curb. I gathered myself and took off running again but this time I ran leaning back so I wouldn’t go faster than my legs could keep up. At the bottom of the hill I carried a pace that wouldn’t be too obvious. I made it to the parking lot and thought out the issues. I found the curious couple and realized they had their back to me so I entered the parking lot quickly. I kept watch on the couple and noticed the man still on the phone. I still had a six foot fence to deal with that required a key. It was on the same walkway the couple was on. They still had their backs to me and I stood poised to jump the six foot gate. I grabbed the gate and felt it move enough to cause noise and ditched that idea. I was also under the most lighted area so I walked away from the couple down the path to where the gate turned the corner for a few feet. It was darker and secluded from view. I scaled the fence and hustled to Paul’s boat.
I hopped right on Paul’s boat and felt it rock from the impact. Paul rushed from the cabin with Bob sticking his head out behind him. I broke through their shock with urgency.
“The Harbor Patrol will be here any minute!! Don’t even hesitate; give me all of your shit to stash!!”
I watched Bob look to Paul for guidance and Paul wasted time by explaining, “This is who I was telling you about. This is my partner B.J.”
I interrupted the formalities. “Paul!! If you don’t want to go to jail tonight, give me all of your felonies to stash!!”
Right then, the throaty sound of a Harbor Patrol boat made its presence felt nearby. Bob reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a good sized Tupperware container duck-taped shut. I grabbed it just as the Harbor Patrol spotlight flashed intermittently through other boats in the way. Both Paul and Bob ducked back into the cabin and I remembered I had dope on me also.
I checked my impulse to take off running and realized the Harbor Patrol and possibly the curious couple would see me. I looked at the boat docked next to Paul’s. I looked around and didn’t see anyone in nearby boats and realized the small amount of dope I had was in my sock. I grabbed it and threw Bob’s Tupperware bowl and my little bag on the deck of the boat right next to me.
The Harbor Patrol pulled up in a turn that threw a wake of water that buoyed Paul’s boat and the spot light lit me up. I squinted my eyes against the glare and saw three Harbor Patrol officers poised to jump on Paul’s boat. Another officer stood at the wheel below the spotlight with a microphone in his hand.
“All aboard the Viking this is the Harbor Patrol! Come to your deck where we can see you! We are going to board your vessel!”
Paul and Bob came up from below and I yelled out for their benefit. “Is it illegal to want to sell a boat now?”
I whispered to Paul, “Someone saw you and Bob share your key card.”
The Harbor Patrol came aboard and I watched everything click into place.
Paul ran with, “I’m just trying to sell my boat. What’s the problem?”
I noticed one of the Harbor Patrol officers looking at a tattoo Bob had on his arm. The officer had the same tattoo on his arm and I realized it was a Navy tattoo of honor. That officer admitted to Bob that suspicious circumstances had been reported and they were here to check it out. His expression showed it wasn’t a big deal. The other two officers took a quick exploratory search without moving anything around in the cabin and came back to the deck. The now friendly ex-Navy man asked Paul, “Why would you even want to sell your boat and lose this slip?”
Paul responded, “To be honest, I really don’t want to sell it?”
The ex-navy man looked at his Navy comrade Bob with a look that said, is he pulling your chains?
Paul twisted it with, “If I do sell, it would be for financial reasons.”
Bob played the part of buyer and told Paul sternly, “You better not have had me drive here for nothing!”
I watched the Harbor Patrol get back on their boat and wave as they pulled away. I followed their boat and watched them apprise the older couple of the situation. It looked like everyone was a winner.
CHAPTER 58
I stood across from Paul in the cabin charged with adrenaline staring at Paul like he had stabbed me in the back.
Paul avoided his deceit by asking, “How in the hell did you pull that off? How did you know the Harbor Patrol was coming and how did you find my boat?”
I cut through Paul’s interference and red tape and decided I was the one who’d be doing the interrogating. “Paul, what’s up with you man? Is your word worthless to you? I thought we were going to hit Bob up together to run down our plan. Is this how you get down, by going behind my back?”
I was on the verge of taking Paul down to the ground if he responded wrong. I watched his and Bob’s expressions and Bob threw him a life preserver by saying, “Hey B.J.! Your partner Paul told me you wanted to meet me and talk business so don’t think he was blowing you off!”
I cut him off to determine if our plan was on the table. “Did he tell you we want to buy up the ingredients so you can cook a batch for us so we can get a mechanic shop started for Paul and make you an integral component over here in South Orange County where all of the money is at?”
Bob shook his head no and looked at Paul. “We didn’t get that far into it… Paul told me some good things about you, like how hard you collect money… But he also said you came out of nowhere…”
I looked at Paul ready to take him to the ground for the implication that I might not be trustworthy yet.
Bob continued, “He mentioned you wanted to be a big investor, but things like that take time. I’d have to make sure that all of my counter parts are on the same page and everything is copasetic. You don’t want to rush things in this business or step on anyone’s toes.”
I watched Paul’s expression change to relieved at how Bob was putting it. He came to his own defense. “I couldn’t just drop you on him point blank, and it’s not an introduction you can do over the phone either… So to be one hundred percent honest with you, I was building you up tonight to get Bob to meet you.”
I looked at Bob and it didn’t look like that was exactly the case.
Paul added, “At least that was what I was planning to do…”
I realized the stage was set for me to run my empire building ideas but found I was at a loss for words. It felt like my ideas might be a delusion of grandeur if I couldn’t nail everything down immediately.
I stuck out my hand for Bob to shake, “It’s good to meet you. I’ve been willing this to happen. Let’s go out on the deck and get some air.”
Out on the deck Bob asked, “How did you know about the Harbor Patrol and those people who called them?”
I pointed to the cliff and the Chart House restaurant. “I was up there with binoculars looking for you guys. I heard Paul’s exhaust and saw y
ou both come out of the S-turns. I watched you both circle through the parking lot at the end over there in the Marine Institute and talk through your windows. Then I watched you both enter the parking lot over there and share Paul’s key card. It looked a little suspicious so I checked to see if anyone was watching. It was just one of those feelings. While scanning the walkway I saw an older couple staring at you and follow you while getting on the phone.”
I watched Paul and Bob’s expressions register that they were impressed with my observations. I finished off the explanation.
“Let’s go back into the cabin so I can talk business. Your Tupperware package is safe.I threw it and a small amount of my dope on the boat next to this one.”
I saw the relief on Bob’s face. “That’s good man… It’s not all mine. My resources in San Berdoo are heavily involved in it as usual. It’s never all mine.”
Bob thought, It’s usually all Ricky’s. Bob went over it all in his mind, how he grew up with Ricky and how they had played on the same baseball team; I was the catcher and Ricky was the shortstop. Then as we got older and started road dogging it together we had each other’s back, always. In fights I’d always rush in like the pit-bull and take the abuse while Ricky would dance around and land all of the beautiful combinations he’d tell me about later. Looking back, Bob realized, yet again that in the drug scene, Ricky was the one connected and I’m just his loyal worker doing what I’m told. Like a loyal dog.
I saw Bob considering his integral components he mentioned and focused my attention towards what everyone wants. Paper bills with Benjamin Franklin’s face on them. “Bob, now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you something. Paul and I can liquidate your speed down here for twice as much money as you can in San Berdoo. We’ve got a safe house ready for you to cook batches and within a couple of months we can put together at least a hundred grand. We want to split that in thirds and Paul and I are going to put our two thirds into opening up a mechanic shop to have a legal front that will be there for you also.”
I knew I was winging it but Bob looked impressed. I added, “Let’s take this to the next level and stop running in place.”
Bob said, “I like the way your mind works, but let me tell you something. I’m loyal to the bone to my partners I grew up with. I can’t ditch my partners.”
I could see that no matter how much I baited the hook with a massive amount of hundred dollar bills, I wasn’t going to break through Bob’s loyalty. It was time to use my far reaching potential and try another tactic. “Bob you’re from San Berdoo. Your Inland Empire is made up of desert and mountains and you’re more spread out and less dense than we are down here. What I’m getting at is there are more speed cooks where you’re at and probably less pay numbers to get rid of it too. With less pay numbers in your area, you’re going to connect the dots a lot faster and start fighting over them. That must be happening already if an ounce of speed is only worth $400. Over here it’s worth $800 because there are more pay numbers than there are dealers with good product. If you guys are starting to fight over the same pay numbers it’s a good time for you to branch off and come down here.”
Bob nodded his head seriously and said, “Man it’s eerie that you just said that. I mean I live there and it wasn’t like that a year ago… But it’s getting like that fast. Other big business men and their cliques are starting to scope out our clientele, or our pay numbers, as you call them. Some of it I can understand because some of our clients are in other people’s neighborhoods that are becoming more organized and there’s more speed flooding in from Mexico. It feels like some of our liquidators are getting vultured and pulled away from us. That’s why we were so glad to meet Paul.”
Bob gave me a skeptical look and asked, “Do you know people in San Berdoo?”
I saw Bob’s mind having trouble understanding how I could predict all I said without knowing people in his backyard. I was about to tell him it was all common sense and supply and demand but Paul jumped in.
“Bob since I met B.J., everything he does is like this. He’s a pro and catches on extremely fast. That’s what I meant by saying he came out of nowhere hard and fast. It’s hard to keep up with him.”
I felt like I had that fat Cuban cigar in my mouth again and continued with my Momentum as my mind spun out another scene. “Okay. I hit the nail on the head with that one. Let me tell you what is sure to follow. Drama! Drama equals all kinds of problems popping up. Drama equals more enemies from animosity rearing its ugly head. This agitates your once, well organized structure and ushers in his friend, chaos. Chaos leads to squandering money, taking more risk, and raises your chances of getting busted. Bottom line, less profit and more jail time.”
I studied Bob to see if he could keep up with my Machiavellian philosophy. Was I leading the horse to water? Was he there yet and ready to drink over here in South Orange County? It didn’t look like he was reading into the depth of the picture I was trying to predict so I threw the kitchen sink at him.
“A better explanation of the drama I’m suggesting over fighting over the same pay numbers could go down like this: Picture having your regular clients, who you’re scooping money from to keep your operation running, getting pulled away from you with better deals coming from somewhere else. You can expect that, it’s just business. But what about when it gets dirty and the drama gets stirred up with rumors. What if someone whispers into your clients’ ears, or around town that you’re being watched by the feds to keep people away from you? Then what naturally follows is people speculating that you’re possibly working with the feds. Now you have to decipher where that noise originated and make an example out of the instigator to show everyone what happens to people who put your name on the airwaves. Even if you handle it perfectly, you just advertised yourself, anyway. With less people in San Berdoo, you can expect your reputation to catch up with you a lot faster and reach law enforcement’s desk. Soon you’ll be on a high wire act, with people demonizing you from the side lines waiting for you to topple over so they can get to the spoils. I know that’s some ugly drama but it’s the natural way of things in this devil business.”
I realized what I’d just said was deep and pictured myself with that fat Cuban cigar blowing smoke rings. What I didn’t realize is how true what I’d said was and that I was going to be on that same high wire on my own unicycle trying to determine where the demons were.
Bob thought, now I can tell B.J. is reaching too far. It was eerie in the beginning how he could know all of those things about my area though, but now he’s off. It’s not like that where I’m from. We don’t mess around with throwing that fed kind of shit on the airwaves. Too many people have already been made examples of with crime scene tape, chalk and body bags. But, could it be on its way to being like he’s predicting? Bob looked at Paul and wondered why he seemed to be riding the fence on his partner B.J. earlier. It’s probably because he’s scared B.J. is going to take over his business and go directly through me.
I watched Bob decide something and look me directly in the eyes. I felt my plan sliding away from me and wouldn’t let Bob look away.
“B.J., you earned some big points tonight. You saved us from getting busted and losing a lot of product. I’m going to tell my partners in San Berdoo and it’s going to benefit you in the future. But like I said earlier, these things take time; they don’t happen in one night. I’ll also mention you want to invest in the chemicals to get a discounted price…But I can’t make any promises.”
I looked at Bob as hard and determined as I could and realized my grand plans were slipping away. I felt myself having to look at my life without those grand plans and desperately didn’t want to face what was before me. I was desperate. “Bob, check this out!! You’re not going to meet anyone more about the business than me! I just lost $40,000 and my brother to juvenile hall because of some rat. I’ve got nowhere to live, no family to call, and just my instincts to fill the void”
I got up and started pacing and f
elt like now I was looking like a loose cannon. I’d said earlier that I had a place we could use as a safe house for him to cook dope! I also detected too much whine in my voice and hated myself for it. I tried to fix it by proposing, “Do you have any collections you need made? Anything you need help with? Let me earn some more points to get on the ground floor with you. I need to make this money back I just lost!”
It looked like Bob was thinking about it so I elaborated. “You need something that needs to get handled; I’ll handle it so you don’t have to get your fingerprints on it. I’ll handle it on general principles and make sure it’s a righteous housecleaning!”
I watched Bob nod his head and say, “That’s pretty much how we operate. We don’t get our hands dirty unless it’s personal, like an informant, or someone who bullies a woman or kids.”
That was music to my ears! “I found out the piece of shit that ratted on me also raped a beautiful girl. If I can find him I’m going to beat him within an inch of his life and drop a bunch of L.S.D. in his mouth so his mind never comes back; so he can’t do any more damage to anyone else. Do you need anything like that done on a similar piece of shit so you don’t front yourself off? I could be a resource of yours no one knows about or could identify. On the flip side of that nobody down here knows about you and your partners so you could establish your operation down here.”
That was absolutely all I had left to say. My hustle tank was empty. I stared at Bob and watched him think with my future on the line.
Bob thought, “Something about this B.J. wants me to have him in the car with me. He’s relentless and sharp! Maybe he’s right about a lot of the shit he was saying earlier. It would be nice to open up shop down here where all of the money is. Would I still have all of the doors open for me in San Berdoo..?”.
ROLL CALL ~ A Prison List (True Prison Story) Page 18
