by Steve Shadow
“I’m Sgt. Dulovski,” he said. “Me and the two officers are here for crowd and traffic control. I get 50 and they get 25 each.”
“Wait a sec, ain’t you guys on duty? What’s with the stick-up? Aren’t you assigned here?”
The big cop heaved a large sigh while his patrolmen started snickering.
“What are you, some kind of virgin? Come on, you know how things work. Don’t bust my balls with bullshit; just hand over the geetus and let’s all be pals.”
He laid a huge hand on my shoulder and squeezed. He bared his yellow nicotine stained teeth in what I assumed was supposed to be a smile. I sighed and reached in my pocket and counted out the money as we stood in the lobby with people filing by. Just another day at the office in the city that works. Although, just like on Orwell’s animal farm, it always seemed to work better for some than for others.
Dulovski put the cash in his pocket and signaled for his men to move to the entrance.
“What’s your name, kid?”
I told him and just like that, we were now pals. “Hey, you want a piece to carry? You know what with all the cash here.”
“Are you nuts? I don’t want a gun. I got you for that, don’t I? Just stick by my side and everything should go fine.”
It was still 30 minutes to the start of the fights. One of the guys in the ticket booth signaled to me. He told me in broken English that they were running out of singles. I turned to my new cop buddy.
“Hey Sarge, anywhere we can get some singles around here?”
“Sure, Jackie, my boy; you just follow me.”
We went outside to his squad car. On the side of it was written in large letters, “We serve and protect.” I am sure the irony was lost of Sgt. Dulovski. A squad car was not my favorite mode of transportation but at least I was sitting in the front seat and not behind the cage in the back. That is usually where I found myself whenever I had dealings with our lovely police force. We drove down the dark deserted streets. I did not spend much time in the ghetto and found the area creepy and dangerous looking. We pulled up in front of a large corner bar. It seemed to run the entire length of the block. It had no sign in front but I could see that the lights were on inside. Dulovski motioned for me to get out of the car. He exited carrying a shotgun. We entered the bar. The place was long and narrow. All the faces inside were black. They turned to look at us. A hush fell over the room and everyone seemed to shrink inside themselves and stare into their drinks. Dulovski walked up to the bar and waved the bartender towards us. Everyone continued to keep their eyes down. You could hear a pin drop in the place.
“Hey Lucius,” Dulovski said. “We need some change. Give this boy all the singles you can.”
“Yes suh, what evah you needs.”
I stepped up to the bar and asked if he had 100 in singles. The bartender reached behind him into a cabinet and came up with two bundles of cash. I opened the cloth bag I was carrying and gave him five 20’s. I smiled and thanked him.
Dulovski waved a farewell at Lucius. “All right gentlemen, let the drinking continue. You be good boys and you won’t see me again tonight. Let’s go Jackie.”
I let out a sigh of relief once we were back in the squad car. “No one in there seemed very happy to see us.”
That got a laugh from my driver. “I wouldn’t be happy to see me either if I was a shine. Got to keep them down here where they belong. They all know how things work; we all got our place in the big scheme of things and the place for them is down here with the rest of the animals.”
“Shit,” I said. “Not only are you a sworn protector of the citizenry but a true example of Chicago’s finest to boot. This must be my lucky day.”
He turned to me with a smirk on his face. “Don’t be a wise ass. That kind of shit only leads to bad endings.” He laughed out loud, reached over and slapped my leg. “Are we having fun yet, Jackie?”
Ah, I thought to myself, sweet home Chicago.
9
I got back in time to get the box office the singles they needed. The fights were about to start. I stepped inside the arena to watch. It was loud and everyone in the place was shouting at the top of their lungs. I could feel the excitement permeating the place. The building reeked from the sweet odor of cotton candy and the pungent smell of spilled beer. The whole scene reminded me of the gladiator contests from films about the Roman Empire. The announcer was screaming something which I could not understand. As the mariachi music began blasting again the crowd rose to its feet and started cheering even louder. The fighter introductions began. From one corner of the auditorium I saw Danny strutting down the aisle with Chuey on his shoulders. They were both wearing gaudy colored luchadore masks. Chuey had on a bright blue cape and blue wrist bands. He waved to the screaming crowd. The place was electric; the lights flashed, the music echoed around the overheated room which was rife with the odors of sweat and a palpable sense of anticipation. The other wrestlers were introduced with the same level of noise. The designated villain entered the arena. He wore a red and black mask. He strutted around the ring shaking his fist at all the people who were booing him. I could not help but smile at the phony but effective spectacle. I was excited and proud to be a part of such an event.
The matches proceeded with predictable results. The big finish to the evening came when Danny and Chuey fought a tag team finale against the winners of the first matches. It had all the usual manufactured drama that I had seen and loved so many times before. Chuey made some cute moves scuttling between the wrestlers legs and bouncing off the ropes onto the black-masked bad guys shoulders. With Danny seemingly hurt, Chuey pulled the move he had done on the mob goon in the theater and pinned his opponent to the canvas. When his partner jumped into the ring to try and pull Chuey off of him, Danny sprung back to life and did a flying drop kick and that ended the match. Everyone was cheering and throwing cups and candy into the ring. It was chaos. The wrestlers ran for the dressing rooms. Danny hoisted Chuey on his shoulders again and strode the ring in victory. The lights flashed and the spots rode in crazy patterns across the cheering faces of the crowd. The music blared as the fighters left the ring. After a few minutes the crowd began to file out. Parents were gathering up stray children and a lot of money was being exchanged as a payoff on bets that had been made. I watched the end of the evening’s festivities from upstairs.
Just prior to when the last bout of the evening was announced I had closed the box office and had Dulovski escort me upstairs with the night’s receipts. We went into a room with a large table. It had a huge glass window overlooking the ring. Seated around it were the state revenue people. The box office money was dumped on the table along with the ticket stubs. After everything was counted and checked against the tickets the state took its cut. We had gotten a discount on the rent of the arena in exchange for not getting any of the concession revenue. In retrospect this was not such a good deal and I planned to re-visit this arrangement for the next set of matches. It turned out that the gate was not as large as I had expected it to be. After figuring in the payment to the wrestlers and all our other expenses I had about three thousand dollars. I bundled this up and put it into a cloth bank bag. Dulovski suggested I leave it in the squad car until we were done for the evening. I was hesitant at first but did as he said.
I stood at the window and watched as people filed out afterwards. As far as I could tell everyone seemed to be pleased with the show.
I had to hang around and wait for a half-hour until the wrestlers showered and changed. Chuey was glowing and all excited when he and the other wrestlers came out from the dressing room.
“You see Jack? I told you we make good show. How much money we make? Mucho dinero?”
I hugged Chuey. “Yeah, you guys were great. No, not so much dinero but hey, this is only the first time. We do better next time. Hey, where is Danny?”
“I think he maybe hurt his back a little. He not doing so good. Shelly is with him. We go back to my house for to eat. Mucho comi
da y bebidas. Rosa do big cooking. You come and bring Danny and Shelly with you, si?”
“I don’t know Chuey. I want to see about Danny; maybe I will take him to my place so he can get some sleep. I don’t think he will get much rest at your place. I’ll come by in the morning and take the guys to the airport.”
I thanked the wrestlers for the good show and told them I would pay them in the morning. They balked at this and started chattering in rapid Spanish. Chuey quieted them down. He told me they wanted their money now. I looked at Chuey.
“I think maybe you pay them, Jack. Always we get paid after show.”
“OK Chuey. You wait here and I’ll get the money from the cops.”
I retrieved the cash bag from the squad car and said my farewell’s to the Sergeant and his men. Despite my dislike of Sgt. Dulovski I invited him and his officers to come to the theater anytime they wanted. I found it was always best to stay on the good side of the cops in this town. When I got back inside Danny was leaning against the wall with Shelly holding him up. I gave Chuey the money and told him to pay the guys. He counted out the agreed upon price to the four Mexicans. He then took his and Danny’s share. I kept the balance as I wanted to open a corporate account for the future matches. They left with big smiles and a lot of backslapping. I turned to Danny. He looked a little green and was grimacing in pain.
“Are you OK? Do you need a doctor or the emergency room?”
“No, it’s only my back. I just need to rest and lay still for awhile. It’ll be fine by the morning. I don’t want to go back to Chuey’s; they will be at it all night. Is there a place we can go for the night where it’s quiet?”
“Danny, why don’t you come back to my place? It’s small but you and Shelly can have the bedroom.”
He thanked me and we went out to my car. Me and Shelly had to walk him there very slowly. She seemed disgusted rather than sympathetic. We put him in the back seat where he could stretch out a little. I asked if anyone was hungry. Danny said he just needed to sleep but we should get something after we dropped him off. I drove to Chuey’s and got their bags. I had to beg off the party in order to get Danny to my place.
We finally made it to my apartment. I had a one-bedroom home on the third floor of an elevator building. When we got upstairs and inside I helped Shelly lead Danny to the bedroom. She assisted him in getting undressed. She then rubbed some kind of lotion on his back and got him into pajamas. He still did not look so good. Once he was tucked in she came into the living room. She walked up to where I was seated.
“See what I mean? He is just way too old for this stuff. Look at him; he’s a mess. He won’t walk right for a week. I just hope it ain’t his kidneys and he starts pissing blood. Shit, I already went through that once with him. Well, let him sleep. God, I’m starving. Is there anywhere to get something good to eat around here?”
“For sure,” I said. “I got a place I go to around the corner. It’s got terrific Italian food and wine. Are you sure we should go and leave him alone?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I gave him a couple of sleeping pills. He’ll be out like a light for 8 hours at least. It’s just you and me dude.”
We left my place and walked to the restaurant. The night was cool and Shelly hugged my arm as we walked. She had changed and made herself up and was wearing her usual tight jeans and a leather jacket. She was looking a lot better than the first time I saw her. I was feeling pretty good about the success of the matches and thought that maybe this could turn out to be lucrative if done right. I was all jacked up and kept chattering about the fights. I asked her again about Danny. Shelly assured me that he would be fine. She said it was just that as he got older it took more time to recover. She looked at me with a sly smile.
“Everything,” she said. “I mean everything takes a long time to recover, if you catch my drift.”
She then squeezed my arm even tighter. Along with the excitement of the night’s fights and in spite of my promise to myself, I was warming up to the idea of a little May-December funfest.
Over dinner she talked more about the days when she and Danny were young and barn-storming across Mexico and the southern part of the States. She told me some pretty wild tales of dope-fueled orgies and all night romps on deserted Mexican beaches. We polished off our salads and pasta carbonera and washed it all down with two bottles of primo chianti. By the time Carmen, the restaurant owner and a good friend, comped us some spumoni we were feeling no pain. I had to excuse myself to use the restroom. As I passed Carmen he winked at me.
“That’s a good lookin’ gal, Jack. But ain’t she a little old for you?”
“No. it ain’t like that, Carmen, its business.”
He winked and pinched my cheek. “Sure it is, Jack.” He walked away laughing.
I stood over the urinal with my dick in my hand. I was thinking unwholesome thoughts about Shelly. Carmen was right; she was, given the right light, still an attractive woman and got better looking with each glass of wine. I was getting hornier by the minute. I told myself that I needed a little self-control or I would do something I would regret. Of course this was a familiar routine for me. My dick was always leading me down the garden path but hey, what’s a boy to do when nature calls? I zipped up and wove my way back to the table on unsteady legs.
We finished up our coffee and I paid the bill. Carmen hugged me and kissed Shelly’s hand. She smiled and curtsied, nearly falling over. On the way back to my place she asked if I had any more wine at home. I told her I did plus I had some fine reefer if she would care to indulge. She answered by reaching around and squeezing my ass. Well so much for self-restraint. I had never gotten it on with a woman as old as Shelly. I preferred younger girls but I had heard some stories about older chicks and now wondered if it was time to find out if they were true.
When we got back to the apartment Shelly checked on Danny. He was fast asleep. She told me again that she had given him two sleeping pills and he was going to be out for the night. She kicked off her shoes and spread herself out on the couch. I poured us some wine and rolled a couple of joints. The night went where I thought it would. Shelly proved to be even more than I could ever have hoped for. It wasn’t until 5 in the AM that she finally staggered off to bed and I passed out on the couch.
10
My encrusted eye lids unglued themselves as the morning sun came blasting through the window. I reached out my arms behind me to stretch and fell off the couch onto the floor. My head was pounding and my crotch was a mess of dried love juice. Through the pain in my head I smiled while remembering last night. Jesus, she was something else. I would never again look at an older woman in the same way. I got to my hands and knees and slowly made it to my feet. I blindly staggered off to the bathroom. I pushed open the door and found Shelly sitting on the toilet. She looked as bad as I felt. Whatever vision of luscious womanhood she had achieved last night was gone in the bright mornings glare. She looked up at me through puffy eyes and a face smeared with makeup. Her huge tits hung in her lap. She unfurled some toilet paper and wiped her hairy bush. Without a word she got up, flushed the toilet and strolled past me. I watched her mottled ass jiggle like jelly on her way back to the bedroom. I mumbled a good morning as I turned to take a leak. There is nothing like the cold harsh light of reality to squash the romantic dreams of a misguided youth. I stepped into the shower and hoped this would prove to be a pleasant Sunday. Despite my problems with the theater and the union this wrestling deal seemed to be taking off. Shelly might prove to be a problem but at least something was looking up after a year of frustration. Obviously I was thinking about another universe than the one I lived in.
11
I made some coffee and soon Danny and Shelly presented themselves in all their glory. She had huge gray bags under her eyes and he walked bent over. He kept making sighing noises like an old man.
“Danny, are you OK?” I asked. “You sure you don’t want to see a doctor?”
“Nah, thanks kiddo. It’s just
my back; it’ll loosen up. Let’s go over to Chueys. I want to say good-bye to him and the boys before we head home. I’ll see the chiro there and I’ll be fine.”
Shelly threw him a dirty look and shook her head.
“Hey,” Danny said with a pained smile on his face. “We put on a good show last night, didn’t we? That place was rockin’ and rollin’.”
He forced another grin through the pain he was obviously in. We got dressed and stopped at the Gold Coin for a little breakfast. After some food and a lot more coffee everyone perked up a little. Shelly started throwing sly glances my way when Danny wasn’t looking but I pretended not to see them. It had been a great night but I didn’t think I wanted a repeat performance. Once again I had let my dick lead me down a dark alley.
When we got to Chuey’s place the boys were hung over but ready to go. Chuey said they were happy with the matches and would be willing to return again. He gave Danny a big hug and we said our farewells. I drove the Mexicans to the airport and after many hugs and handshakes they departed. Chuey and I went back to his place and planned out some future wrestling dates. He had a schedule all worked out. He explained to me how the wrestlers wore different costumes and used different nick-names so the crowd didn’t know they were seeing the same guys over and over. He assured me that Danny would be OK and ready to go in a couple of weeks.
“Chuey, do you think he’ll bring Shelly with him to every match?”
The little guy started laughing and slapped me on the arm.
“Ay Jack; I think you have long night with the senora, si?”
“Oh, so you know about Shelly, huh?”
He kept chuckling. “Si si, she muy sexy senora. It no problema ; Danny, he know she like to make sexy with all the men. I think she afraid of getting old. You no worry, she have everyone. This is why mi Rosa no like her. But you know, is nothing.”
