The Lagotti Family Series

by Leopold Borstinski

  The women surrounding them screamed and scattered to leave Frank alone to assault Julio further. Blood gushed from his head and the bartender leaned forward.

  “Mr. Lagotti...”

  Frank pushed Julio’s skull into the bar more and looked up.

  “I think the gentleman has received your message loud and clear. Why not let him go now?”

  “Are we through?”

  Saliva, blood and a tooth left the mook’s mouth and a brief nod showed consent. Frank released him from his grip and pushed his body further down the bar away from his perch.

  “How do I look?”

  “I’d say you should pop to the bathroom. Looks like you might have a spot or two of dirt on your shirt. By the time you come back, I’ll have set up another bottle - on the house. None of the last one was lost, but it might leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth, anyway.”

  Frank did as he was told and returned with a smile on his face and a white ring around his nostrils. He swigged a glass of champagne and then took stock of the room. A quick check that Julio had left and Frank collected chicks again. Trouble was, his heart was no longer in it and by the time the bottle was empty, Frank decided to leave.

  “What entertainment can you offer me this evening?”

  “Chilled or high octane?”

  “Do I look chilled?”

  The concierge smiled and picked up the phone to reserve a table in the VIP area of an 80s Old Skool club night.

  6

  THE PHONE CALL came through direct to Mary Lou. Although not inevitable, she couldn‘t remember a time when Frank hadn‘t asked for help to get himself out of a hole.

  “Hi Mama.”

  “Hi Frank.”

  “I‘m in a spot of trouble.”

  “Where are you and what‘s the problem?”

  “They got me on intent to sell.”

  “Where Frank?”

  “Ninth Precinct.”

  “Manhattan?”

  “Yeah. How long since you were arrested?”

  “Just got here. They processed me and then I demanded my constitutional phone call.”

  “Say nothing but be polite. I‘ll send someone over to sort this out.”

  “Thanks Mama.”

  Mary Lou hung up the phone and sighed. That boy never learns. What did I do to deserve him? Then she thought back on her life for a moment, shivered and realized the answer. Dragging herself to the present, she called a New York attorney and briefed Harvey Knight on the situation.

  “It‘s a pain but can you get him out of there today? I don‘t want Frank spending a night in a police cell.”

  “Will do. You know the best thing for him might be to find out how the other half live.”

  “He‘s my baby.”

  “Who is old enough to sell narcotics to an undercover cop.“

  “Just free him and spare me your lectures on child rearing.”

  “Not a lecture, but the best legal advice I‘ve ever offered you - the small fortune you've paid to cover the amount of my time I‘ve spent extricating him from law enforcement holding facilities.”

  The silence on the line meant Harvey‘s words hit home.

  “Get him out, Harvey.”

  FRANK STARED AT Harvey across a precinct table. As ever with the boy, there was a story and an excuse.

  “I was at a party on Avenue A.”

  “How‘d you hear about it?”

  “A pickup in my hotel bar... We were all relaxing and laughing and having a good time.”

  Harvey nodded. He understood what a good time meant to Frank.

  “And I was sharing the coke. Everyone was doing a line. Nobody seemed bothered. Then one black bitch asks if I can get some for her. Now I‘m always willing to oblige a young lady in distress but I don‘t know her from jack shit. So I play it cool and tell her I'll help her if she helps me and we go to find somewhere more congenial to conduct business if you get my drift.”

  “Was there anywhere to your liking in the apartment?”

  “Truth was the only place to be alone was the bathroom. So we go to it and afterwards I ask her how much she wants to buy. With her scrawny ass still sat on my dick she asks for four 8-balls. I tell her I can get that weight to her tomorrow. She pushes to have it there and then, and encourages me by getting on her knees and sucking me off.”

  “And you relented?”

  “Couldn‘t think of a good reason not to help the skank out. She showed me the green and we hopped over to my hotel. Up in my room, I took out the snow, she had a taste and just before I thought we were done, she pulls a gun and a badge from fuck-knows where and makes me assume the position. I swear thirty seconds later we were joined by the rest of the squad. Was a set up, man.”

  Harvey‘s legal pad had filled up with notes.

  “Did she instigate the sexual intercourse or did you?”

  “Me, but she didn‘t object.”

  “And the oral?”

  “All her own work. My plan was to ball her back in the hotel.”

  “And you made no attempt to ask for money until she mentioned it?”

  “Yessir.”

  “I assume she never spoke of her chosen career.”

  “It was a party. Who talks about how they earn a living?”

  “Interesting they haven‘t charged you with any sex crimes. Protocol should have stopped her from fucking you. The drugs charges: we can make them go away. A quiet word with the man upstairs if due process can‘t extinguish their flame. I‘m more worried about why you were part of a sting... How long you been in town?”

  “Couple of days. No more.”

  “No disrespect but have you got into any other trouble since you arrived here?”

  He stared and tried to remember. The amount of cocaine coursing through his veins meant his memory was not operating at full speed. Harvey waited. Frank tried to wind back time and listed his activities after landing at the airport: girls, drugs, booze - and not much else. His blank expression spoke volumes.

  “Any altercations?”

  “Huh?”

  “Fights?”

  Frank shut his eyes for ten seconds and tried to think some more. Then his eyes flashed open wide and he smiled.

  “Not a fight exactly. I mean, I can handle myself.”

  He described the hassle with Julio while Harvey continued to take notes. Anyone stood over Harvey‘s shoulder would have seen he had drawn a perfect cube underneath his legal assessments of Frank‘s situation. He put his pen down and closed over the pad.

  “Frank, sounds like you made a mistake, dear boy. From what you say, I think you had a tussle with a well connected New York family. They have extensive narcotics operations across the Five Boroughs and enough reach to get the cops to set you up. Chances are the woman was theirs and not a real cop. You sure she was black and not Hispanic?”

  “Now you ask, dunno. What‘s the name of the family she‘s with?”

  “Don‘t worry about that. If I were you, as soon as you‘re out of here, check out the Courtney and leave town. You do not need the mob breathing down your neck.”

  “Fuck-a-doodle-do.”

  DESPITE HIMSELF, FRANK left his hotel and headed off to JFK. He had no idea where to go but he was certain he‘d had enough of America. What was the world coming to when you found yourself in jail for banging a girl who wanted some snow? Besides, the Latino had no right to take over his women - and it didn‘t matter what tribe he came from.

  So a trip abroad made sense. At least for a short while. And wouldn‘t Mama be pleased if he returned with a new business partner? He and Alice figured out all about the narcotics trafficking and Frank reckoned that was something he could turn his hand to as he understood the product intimately - cocaine anyway - and handled himself well when cutting deals. Frank‘d got a skank to suck him off for the price of a few 8-balls only last night.

  With his limited knowledge of world geography, Frank chose Spain as his destination. It was close to Africa but E
urope sounded a lot more civilized. Once he‘d wrapped his head around the idea that his dollars were no good to him, Frank discovered the joys of being an American abroad.

  He could be as obnoxious as he wanted, provided he kept a smile on his face because the local muchachos had no idea what he was saying. Frank used as little of his own pesos as possible and slapped all he could on his credit card. Only the small bars and drug dealers demanded cash. After a few weeks, he hopped from Madrid to Barcelona and then onto Seville. Then he bumped into a bunch of kids who were heading to Marbella and he hitched a ride with them.

  The days of hardcore Baleairic beats had faded, but that didn‘t mean there was no life left in the clubs. With a different music scene, to the ones he was used to, came a different drug of choice: ecstasy. You would be forgiven for thinking the west coast student communities would have embraced the tablet that made you want to hug anyone who moved. But no. There was more money to be generated from powder than tabs so organized crime wasn‘t too interested - including the Lagottis.

  Frank was in his element though: dancing beyond dawn, off his head on drugs, surrounded by semi-naked women. When he wasn‘t dancing with them, he was fucking them and if he wasn‘t doing either of those two things then he was asleep. A twenty-four-hour party person.

  Three months since he hit the southern coast and all he had to show for the experience was a sore dick and intimate knowledge of every ass in the neighborhood. He woke up one Thursday to find his face by someone‘s bush. Frank looked around and saw he was in a bedroom but he had no idea where he was or who owned the pubes near his lips.

  He gave them a quick lick but was swatted away like his mouth was some kind of fly. His feet were on a pillow and somehow he‘d turned round in his sleep. Or they‘d both crashed out half way through playing. A dirty grin spread across his face.

  Frank was thirsty, so he hauled his carcass off the bed in search of liquid. The studio apartment offered him a sink in the bathroom and another in the kitchenette. There were foul dishes piled high in the kitchen and spent needles lying next to the toilet. He took his chances with the sink faucet and glugged back several handfuls of water.

  Then he turned around to check out the devastation from the night before. The girl wore only a blue bra with yellow polka dots and snored loudly. Frank walked over and moved her head so it was resting on the mattress and the noises abated. That helped him think more clearly. Almost before starting, his attention wandered off as he noticed the roundness of her tits peeping out from the sides of the skimpy underwear.

  What was he doing? He had told himself he was going to forge a new connection for Mama but all he‘d achieved was a heavy dose of sex, drugs and rock ‘n‘ roll. He needed to get his head in the game. Frank opened the fridge as an auto-response to his stomach rumbling. The girl mumbled something foreign and rolled over face down.

  There was nothing to eat except raw vegetables and butter so he gave up on the idea of breakfast and turned his attention to the bush on the bed. She was stretched out like a starfish and he scratched his balls for no good reason. He felt his hard-on and decided not to waste it. Frank considered taking her from behind but experience taught him he‘d need to wake her up to get an orgasm out of the coupling. Nah, too much effort. Instead he jerked himself off and made sure his spunk landed all over her back. A gift of love for when she surfaced.

  That night he took the ferry across the Mediterranean Sea and docked in Tangiers. If he couldn‘t make some solid contacts here, what was the point?

  7

  IN SEPTEMBER, ALICE and Bobby headed off to Vegas so she could learn about the family business. Running a casino was a huge undertaking and competition was fierce. A decade before, the mob had left the strip, ceding control to the entertainment corporations. Off the main drag was a different story. Footfall might have been lower but gambling margins were sufficiently high to make it a profitable venture. The opportunity to launder cash from their other operations kept motivation up during the occasional month when takings were down.

  By Thanksgiving, Bobby allowed Alice to spend two days a week alone at the helm. The initial response from senior staff was disdain thinly disguised as utmost respect. They saw the daughter of the boss dropped on them and what had she done to earn the role - apart from the advantage of nepotism and privilege.

  The third week at the Lady Fortune Casino, trouble came knocking at ten at night. Alice was sat in her office to check the day‘s takings before the evening shift was over. The phone rang and five seconds later, she picked up.

  “We have a code blue.”

  A simple phrase to describe one problem: someone was cheating and the person on the other end of the line was stood on the casino floor.

  “Where?”

  “The poker tables.”

  “Down in a minute.”

  Alice headed straight to the surveillance room where closed-circuit TV monitors were laid out, row upon row. There wasn‘t an inch of the gaming spaces that didn‘t have a lens aimed at it. Sat in front of every monitor was a guy staring, watching, waiting for some behavior that was out of the ordinary.

  “Talk to me.”

  “See the john in the blue baseball cap?”

  A quick scan of the screen and focussed attention where the finger pointed.

  “He has two different signals. A usual tap on the baize and he gets the top of the deck.”

  “Like everyone else.”

  “Watch. Once or twice, fingers from his other hand rest on the table and out come cards from the bottom.”

  Within five minutes, Alice saw for herself.

  “How much is he up?”

  “Hundred thousand so far.”

  “Let‘s keep this civilized. Go down onto the floor and invite him to our VIP room. Offer to he elp to bring his winnings along. Then meet me in the auto shop. I‘ll be down in a short while.”

  Alice walked over to the internal phone fixed to the wall next to the door. She dialed reception.

  “Page Naldo Friscelli and tell him there‘s a car needs fixing.”

  Bobby had introduced Alice to Friscelli their second day in Vegas. They spent only fifteen minutes together but Bobby assured her she could trust Naldo with her life. He was the quietest, most grounded human she had ever met. Every pore oozed strength. Ten years younger than Bobby but she could tell there was a special bond between the two mobsters. This meant Naldo would be true to his word when he offered her undying allegiance.

  As Alice entered the auto shop in the basement of Lady Fortune, she was hit by the stench of motor oil. A wide variety of tools hung on the walls and in the middle was sufficient space for three vehicles to be worked on at the same time. Right now there was a solitary chair and one man wearing a blue baseball cap, sweating profusely.

  Alice walked toward him and everyone heard the clink of her heels on the tiled floor. She stopped four feet away from the john, forcing him to look up at her.

  “How much has he won so far?”

  “Hundred and fifty grand by the time we got to him.”

  “The dealer?”

  “On her rest break.”

  “You‘ve been a lucky man today, haven‘t you?”

  Alice hadn‘t moved her head from staring at the guy during this conversation, but her change of tone indicated who she was now talking to. He nodded in reply and swallowed hard.

  “Get this lucky man a glass of water. He can hardly speak with all his good fortune.”

  Beat.

  “We like winners at the Lady Fortune. It shows our customers that anyone can succeed. Young or old, rich or poor. It‘s the American dream.”

  Alice circled round the chair, returning to her initial position. Even more sweat as she kicked the leg of his seat.

  “But casinos only succeed if they are fair to everybody and everyone plays fair... Did you play fair?”

  His eyes, filled with fear, widened further than either of them thought possible. Naldo stood by the entrance, a posit
ion he’d held since Alice entered the room.

  “What did you say? I can‘t hear you. Did you play fair?”

  Another hard swallow but no sound came out of his mouth. He glanced at Naldo and back to Alice.

  “See, we‘ve been watching you and know you haven‘t been playing by the rules. So we know what you‘ve done. The question is whether you are man enough to admit it. That will determine what happens next.”

  Beat.

  “How long you know the dealer?”

  “Four years.”

  “How long you been coming here?”

  “A week.”

  “How much you made in total?”

  “Nearly a million.”

  “Congratulations. The smart thing was not to take too much on any particular day. The dumb thing was to continue coming back.”

  “I figured little and often would keep us under the wire.”

  Alice nodded and patted the john on the knee. Then she idled over to Naldo.

  “I don‘t want to see his face in Vegas again. Same for the dealer. And give a five thousand bonus to the guy who spotted them. Then I‘ll fire his ass because he took too long to do it.”

  Naldo nodded and Alice left the room without looking back. That afternoon, he drove to the desert with a spade. His trunk was empty when he returned.

  VEGAS WAS AN unreal town at the best of times and Christmas time doubled the insanity of the place. Like a bad smell on the sole of her sneakers, Frank appeared at the Lady Fortune in early December.

  “Mama told me to come and help you over the vacation season. So here I am!”

  “She never mentioned it. What makes you think I need you?”

  “Hey, don‘t give me that sisterly look. I‘m here because Mama asked me. If you‘ve got nothing for me to do then I‘ll hang for a while and head off in January. No big deal.”