by Joe Corso
“Sure, I’ll have someone take them out and I’ll have them stored in the basement. There’s a room down there we can put them in. No sense cluttering up this little room.”
“Good. That’ll work fine. Can Tony show one of my men what to do here? I mean, you are filming the Republican Primary that night, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right; we’re filming the Republican Primary that night.”
“Can Tony show one of my men how to run this equipment?”
“Sure. Nixon won’t give his speech for another two weeks. Have your man meet me here at ten a.m. tomorrow morning and I’ll have Tony show him how to run the camera, set the audio up, and whatever else he needs to know. Your guy will be a pro by the time Nixon gives his little talk.”
“That’s the plan then. The night of the speech, my two guys will be here. One in the closet and another working the camera and both of them will be heeled.” Carbo tugged on Red’s arm. “Red, you know how much I hate talking to cops, but do you want me to call my contact at the local precinct? Or maybe the Feds?”
“No I don’t trust any of them, especially the Feds especially since I don’t know how deep Reynolds' tentacles reach into the local police departments. The cops are probably honest, but I can’t take that chance because Reynolds just might have one of them reporting back to him under the guise of national security. We’ll handle this ourselves. It’s safer and I can control it. Besides, my guys are old hands at this, and they can take care of themselves.
CHAPTER 24
Piss Clam and Joey Bones showed up at exactly 10 a.m. and after making sure they were who they said they were Vic, Carbo’s bodyguard, escorted them to Carbo’s office. Carbo had Tony with him After introductions were made, Carbo nodded to Tony. He motioned for the two men to follow him. He turned sideways to look at them and said, “We’re heading up there. I call it ‘the Eagle’s Nest.’ It’s the highest room in the Garden.”
Tony was a patient and informative teacher and he put the boys at ease with his relaxed method of showing Piss Clam the intricacies of what he would have to do that night. He taught him everything he needed to know in order to do a good job. Piss Clam was a natural; he took to running the camera like he was born to it. Joey Bones was elected to stay in the small storeroom, or “the closet,” as Tony referred to it. Joey drilled and installed a small peephole in the door Jeff had given him. Looking straight at the peephole, it was practically invisible to the naked eye, but looking out from inside the closet it allowed Joey to see a perfect panorama of the small camera room. Then he cut out a six-inch by twelve-inch slot, chest high in the door. Then he installed a stainless steel cover with one-inch spacing between links. Then, he secured a screen over the links. Joey wanted to be able to sweep the room with his gun. If anyone attempted to control the room, he would see it and he’d have the element of surprise on his side. He worried about Piss Clam, though. He wondered if he could act fast enough to save Piss Clam. If someone barged into the room and took Piss Clam unaware before he had a chance to defend himself, could he react in time? He couldn’t worry about something that may or may not happen, but he gave himself a silent reminder to keep his mind an eye on Piss Clam. His safety was paramount to getting the job done.
By the end of the second day, Piss Clam had a good working knowledge of the job. He would become an expert in the next few days. He learned to work the cameras, change the reels, make sure the sound was at the right decibel, and do the job professionally without disappointing anyone. It had to be filmed perfectly the first time around because he wouldn’t get a second chance to do it right. When Piss Clam told Red with a proud grin that he and Joey were all set, Red shook his head and stared at Piss Clam for a moment. Then he reached out and turned his face first to the left then to the right as if he were studying him. He shook his head again while still not saying a word. Then, as if an internal decision had been reached, he asked Piss Clam if he knew where Bubbles could be reached. “Find him and tell him that I want him to make you up on the morning of the speech. You’re gonna wear make-up that’ll make you look like an old man of about Tony’s age.” Bubbles was a Barnum and Bailey clown and one of a number of circus clowns who lived in Corona when they weren’t on the road with the circus.
While Red was busy orchestrating and arranging the protection of Richard Nixon, Trenchie was busy protecting Marilyn Monroe. She was becoming restless though, and to keep her from becoming bored, Trenchie asked her if she’d like to take a ride with him and spend a little time with another woman, his wife. Marilyn was terribly bored without Red to entertain her. “Sure, I’d like that,” she said, smiling. “How far do you live from here?”
“It’s about a twenty-minute ride, less if the traffic is light. I live in College Point. It’s just a little past Flushing.” Trenchie called Mary from the pay phone in the Starlight Club and told her he was bringing a woman home as their guest to spend a few hours with her.
“Do I know this woman?”
“It’s a surprise. You’ll know her when you see her.”
“Come on, Trenchie. Don’t do this to me. If you’re going to bring a woman to our home to visit me, I ought to know her name.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right. I’m bringing Marilyn Monroe home with me.”
“Very funny, Trenchie. Now quit fooling around and tell me who she is.”
“I just told you, it’s Marilyn Monroe.”
“All right. I can take a hint. I won’t ask you again. Bring the woman here, whoever she is, and in the meantime, I’ll put some coffee on.” Trenchie was concentrating on his wife and hadn’t noticed, but Marilyn was listening, amused, at the conversation taking place.
“Okay, I got to go now,” Trenchie said. “We’ll be there in about twenty minutes, so make sure you put that pot of coffee on. See you in a little while. Love you. Bye.”
Marilyn was surprised at how tender this big tough man was when talking to his wife. On the ride to College Point, Marilyn asked Trenchie, “You really love your wife, don’t you?” Trenchie gave her a halfhearted smile; at least she thought it was a smile.
“She’s the best thing that happened to me in my life. She’s a great gal and I’m a lucky guy to have her. So yeah, I can honestly say I really love her. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I never talk to anyone about my private life.” She smiled and felt good that he thought enough of her to tell her something as personal as being in love with his wife.
“Mary, we’re here.” Mary came out of the dining room, untying her apron and laying it over a kitchen chair. “Mary, this is Marilyn and I’m kinda protecting her.” Mary was speechless. She had seen Marilyn Monroe in the movies, but she never thought she would meet her in person. She didn’t know how to act. She was about to say something, but Marilyn stopped her.
Marilyn smiled at Mary and told her why she came here. “Trenchie knew I was getting bored, and to tell you the truth, I was getting antsy. So, he asked me if I’d like to take a ride to College Point to meet you. So, here I am, and I’m must say that I’m very pleased to meet you.” That broke the ice between them and, from that point on, they were just two women talking to one another as equals.
“Would you like some coffee?” asked Mary.
“Yes. That would be swell. I could really go for a cup.”
The cry of a baby broke the spell. “James is awake.”
“James. Is that the name of your baby?”
“Yes. We named him after James Roman, the movie actor. You know, he gave me away when Trenchie and I were married.”
The two women walked to the nursery and while Mary changed James’s diaper, Marilyn told her, “You’re a very lucky woman, Mary. You have a husband who loves you, a beautiful son, and you had the most handsome man in the world give you away at your wedding.”
Mary beamed and she began to tell Marilyn of the night at the Starlight Club when James Roman walked across the dance floor holding a tray with a small box on it. “I never met him before, bu
t I did see his movies. All I knew was the hottest star in the world was walking towards my table and I knew something was up and I didn’t care what it was either.” The two women laughed as if they had been friends for years.
Marilyn spoke. “You know, Trenchie told me that if I met you, I’d like you, and he was right. You know – Dreaming of being an actress is more exciting than being one. I wish I had a friend like you with me in Hollywood that I can talk to once in a while. Believe it or not, it gets very lonely there.”
Mary was touched. “You poor thing. If you ever need someone to talk to, you just call me.”
CHAPTER 25
The Starlight Club’s ballroom had been closed while Artie’s crew re-built the room. At present, Angelo was applying the finishing touches on his renovation of the four columns. The ceiling was finished, complete with twinkling, colored lights that shined against a black ceiling, giving the illusion that you were looking at a million stars glittering against a black sky. The floor didn’t need replacing because most of the bomb damage was to the walls above the floor. The explosions had hit the walls and columns with the exception of the floor in the bar, which was badly damaged. The bombs that were thrown into the bar bounced off the walls and landed on the wooden barroom floor. The ballroom, on the other hand, was hit from the other side of the building, so when the bombs were thrown into the room, they exploded in the air or off the walls before they hit the floor. Angelo replaced the section near the back door where fire did most of the damage. The rear walls had been completely destroyed by federal agents and had to be rebuilt from scratch. It was sad to see the building so completely destroyed. It looked like one of the buildings you saw in pictures taken in Europe just after the Second World War. But now, the Starlight Club was about to be reborn like the Phoenix rising from the ashes. The place was looking better than it did before it was destroyed.
The door to Red’s office was open and Artie peeked in. Red wasn’t there, so he strolled over to the front bar and found him sitting by the window, reading the sports section of the Daily News. Red took his eyes from his paper, looked up, and saw Artie standing there, so he put the paper down and invited him to have a seat. “What’s on your mind, Artie?”
“Good news, Red. My part in the rebuilding of the Starlight Club is finished. Now it’s all up to Angelo. He’s busy putting the finishing touches on his columns. They’re very important to him and he’s determined to make them as beautiful as they were before. And if you ask me, he’s done a great job on them. The columns are looking great, as good as they were before and maybe even better. The renovations he made to the ceiling are impressive. I know you’ll love the job he did. Come on. I’ll give you a tour.” Red put down his cup of coffee, jumped up from his chair, and followed Artie into the ballroom.
When he walked into the ballroom and saw the job Artie and Angelo did and how beautiful it was, he choked up, but he would never show weakness in front of Artie. He recovered quickly and suppressed his emotions. “It looks beautiful, Artie. You did one hell of a job re-building this place.” Red’s gaze turned to Angelo, who was high on a scaffold, putting the finished touches on the third column. He turned around and spotted Red.
“How-ah you like-ah the room, Padrone?”
“It’s beautiful, Angelo. I love it.”
“Yes-ah. It’ah did-ah come-ah beautiful, no?”
Red pointed his hand at him, laughing. “As soon as I take care of some unfinished business, I’m throwing a grand re-opening party the likes of which have never been seen anywhere, and you two are invited. Artie, don’t forget, your wife is invited too, so don’t you forget to bring her. Angelo, you can come with your son or bring a guest it you like.”
Artie was thrilled; he had never been to one of Red’s parties. “Gee, Red. That’s great. I’m looking forward to it and I know my wife will be thrilled to come to the party. I’m always working and I hardly ever get a chance to take her anywhere. So this will be a treat for her. She’s always talking about coming here. Will you have entertainment?”
“I’m hoping to get Sinatra if he’s not booked for that night. If I can’t get him, I’ll get someone else. Maybe Dean Martin or Perry Como, we’ll see.” Just then, Marilyn walked into the room.
“My goodness, what a beautiful job they did in this room! It’s absolutely breathtaking.”
“You can thank Artie here. He’s responsible for bringing it back to life. He re-built it exactly the way it was, the way it used to be, and the way I wanted it to be.” Red looked around the room, suppressing a smile. “I didn’t realize how much I missed the place.”
Artie pointed to the ceiling with a wave of his arm. “Look what Angelo did with the ceiling.”
Red smiled. “It’s like looking at the night sky with thousands of twinkling lights. Look at the variety of colors reflecting off the crystal chandelier. Man, it’s like I’m looking through a kaleidoscope. Angelo, I could kiss you for the job you did on this room. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks.”
Angelo smiled and hung his head down. He knew he did a good job on the ballroom, but he was embarrassed by the praise Red lavished on him for just doing what he always did. “Thank you, Padrone. I come-ah when you have-ah your party.” Angelo backed away, almost bowing as he did. Then he began to place his tools in an ancient leather carryall that he slung over his shoulder. He didn’t drive any longer, so if it was within walking distance he walked wherever he needed to go. If he couldn’t walk, his son would drive him or he’d take a train or a bus.
The two workers were about to leave, but Red called out to them before they left. “Guys! Before you leave. Can I open this place for business? Is the room all set for me to throw my re-grand opening gala that everyone is looking forward to?”
“You’re all set, Red,” Artie said as he handed Red an invoice and then turned to leave.
Red looked at the invoice and told Artie, “This is worth every cent I’m paying you. Come in my office with me. I’ll write you a check.”
“Red, I was just getting ready to leave. You don’t have to do it right now; the check can wait.”
“Yeah, but I can’t … I want this check to signify the end of the construction and the rebirth of the Starlight Club. So come on in and have a seat. Relax a bit while I write the check.”
Red was about to go into the ballroom. He couldn’t get enough of it and just wanted to admire it. He was a little disappointed by the interruption when Sammy walked in with Rabbi Liebowitz. But, this was business and he promised Sammy he’d help the rabbi. Sammy gave Red his most charming smile as he introduced his rabbi to him. “Red, this is Rabbi Liebowitz. I brought him her to tell you his problem.”
The rabbi smiled ingratiatingly at Red. “It’s very nice to finally meet you, Red. Sammy speaks well of you. I hope you can help me with my problem.”
“Tell me about it, Rabbi. Take your time. I want to hear it all so start from the beginning.”
CHAPTER 26
“So?” Bernstein asked his reluctant star. “Are you satisfied with your new contract?”
Swifty finished his fourth picture for Columbia Pictures and, more specifically, for Larry Bernstein, who had picked another winner in Swifty Card. “Your new contract calls for a raise from your current salary of $850.00 a week to $1500.00 a week for your next four pictures. Swifty, I know that you would rather be the middleweight champion of the world than what you’ve become: a movie star. My guess is you will be the next champ. But don’t you see that being the champ is just a momentary blip in your life. When your boxing career is over and you’re finished fighting, you’ll still be a movie star for many years to come. You’ve had four hit movies in a row. You are probably the most recognized face on Earth, but I don’t see you enjoying your fame. Is there anything I can do for you that would make you happy?” Of all the stars and prima donnas Bernstein had to put up with, Swifty was the one constant. He never put on any airs, he never questioned the contractual arrangements put before him, he was alway
s on time, and he came prepared for a scene. Most of all, he caused no trouble. He was always ready to help Bernstein in any way he could and Bernstein in turn looked at Swifty as a father would a son. “So what is it you want that I can give to you?” Bernstein asked.
“Well … there is one thing you can do for me.”
“Anything. What is it you want?”
“I’d like to have a few months off. You know, Mr. Bernstein, between making movies for Columbia pictures and looking at scripts for Starlight Productions and training for my fights, I haven’t had any time off for myself. I’d like to go away for a month or two. Maybe go to Europe. I’ve never been out of the country except when I was in the service and that was to the Far East. I’d like to visit the town in Sicily where my parents were born. If you could arrange for me to get away for a while, I’d really appreciate it.”
Bernstein was preparing to release Swifty’s fourth picture and he was finishing his fifth picture under his new contract. The kid never even questioned him about contracts. After completing his fourth picture, he was entitled to a raise under his new contract. That would have never been James Roman. He’d have come in to Bernstein’s office cocky as hell, demanding more than they had agreed to. Bernstein wasn’t cheap by Hollywood standards, but he was frugal and he demanded value for his buck and he was a stickler for propriety. When he made a deal with you, he stuck to it, and he expected the same from you. Roman wasn’t like that. He was a street kid who always took what he wanted, but Swifty was different. He never had anything and no one to give it to him, well, except for Big Red Fortunato. Red loved the kid and because of the friendship he and Red had, the kid found his way to Hollywood and fame. Now he was a famous movie star, only he acted as if it wasn’t real, as if he didn’t deserve it. Maybe that’s why Bernstein loved the kid. He never really believed he was a movie star. He still thought he was just a pug from Queens who was doing Red a favor by making movies. Well, it didn’t matter to Larry Bernstein. The kid was making the studio a fortune. Somehow, his laid-back style of acting was appealing to the movie audiences and the more they saw of him, the more they wanted to see of him.
