Housekeeping

The cold winter wind over lake Michigan whips through the Chicago streets. A well dressed, middle aged man, exits his silver Audi sedan and keys the alarm. As he makes his way from the rear parking lot to the resturant ahead, his hands are buried deep into the pockets of a black,three quarter length cashmere coat with wrap-around belt. The black Kangol cap is pulled low as his head and body lean into the rush of the oncoming gusts. His pantlegs flap in the breeze. He yanks on the door of the Adelphi Resturant and enters the outer foyer, where he undoes the belt and buttons on his coat. After adjusting to the warmth of the building, he enters the dining room where he is met by a young woman wearing a white blouse and black apron over black slacks, holding menus and a checkpad. She asks if he would like to be seated. He scans the dining room and spots a man in a black leather coat stirring his coffee at a booth. He nods his head in that direction and heads over.The waitress moves back behind the cash register.
As he approaches, the man in the booth looks up, "hey Marty," Marty takes off his coat and hat and places them on a nearby coathook.
"Deano, your'e looking pretty good, what'er'you working out"?
"Naw, man, just layin' off the sauce a little. It seems to work wonders, I sure feel better". Marty slides in across from him, moves the place setting aside and turns over the inverted coffee cup and places it back in the saucer.
Marty asks,"How's Denise?,"
"That's another thing," Dean exclaims, "even she's become kinda human these last few days, we been laughin' and jokin', I don't remember that for years, hell, I even got some the other night."

A waitress comes over and fills Marty's coffee cup, he say's, "gimme, two eggs, sausage, no potatoes, and a couple of pancakes hon."
"How do you want the eggs?" she says.
He furrows his brow and says, "."scrambled hard, and a little orange juice"
She repeats, as she writes, "two eggs, scrambled hard, sausage, no hash browns, two pancakes, orange juice."
"That'll do it hon, thanks."
Dean says, "I'll have the Ham and egg special, eggs over meduim, wheat toast and a cinammon roll."
She reapeats his order and say's to them both, "let me know if you need more coffee," she then heads off in another direction.
Marty smiles and says, "I guess she's starting to see the old Dean she married, clear eyed, sober and virile."
Dean shoves the day's national racing sheet across the table and say's, "If these Florida nags don't show today, she'll be back with the old familar asshole that drinks too much and can't catch a break. How's Lilly doin'?"
Marty grabs the form and scans it, "she wants to go live in North Carolina, near her sister. All I need is to be living near that meddling bitch. She's been singing that song for about a month now. I try to ignore her but she turns up the volume. Anyway, I remember you left and went down to Florida a couple of years back. Jilly was acting like it was some hush hush deal I wasn't supposed to know about. All Art or Rich would say was that you were down there chasing deadbeats and runners".
"Well," Dean said, "there was a little of that, no more than usual. Jilly didn't have nothin' to do with it. Iv'e always had to run down there three or four times a year anyway. This was a little different though. This happened around the time all the New York Bosses were getting hit with a thousand years and going to the shithouse. With all the connected guys down there in Florida running for cover, the local shy's felt secure enough to start freelancing, guys working for the phone company were putting their paycheck on the street. The big gamblers, used to dealin' with the same people, didn't trust all these new operators.With all those racetracks down there and Bally's throwin' up casino's in every backwater town, Richie and Artie figured the high rollers would be lookin' for a big bank that was stable and secure, someplace they could borrow money where they didn't fuck with the rate and and they could get to it day or night.They sent me down with a package, I found some good people, put em in good spots, made sure they knew how to check a guy out, make sure they had assets we could get to even if the guy didn't want to pay. We put about eight people around all over the state. They could all get a hold a me in Tampa for big money, and get it within four hours."

The waitress brings the food and pours more coffee.
Marty starts preparing his pancakes first, "How'd that all work out?"
Dean butters his cinammon roll, "It's a totally different setup, everything's spread out down there. Guy's don't know each other like they do here. Its easier to check a guy out up here, he's got a business, he goes to the same places to gamble alla time, a lotta guys know him from gambling with him. Down there a guy might travel two, three hundred miles to gamble, nobody knows him. Most of those guys're retired, they don't have operating business's. They either made or stole their money before they came there. Have it hidden in shell corporations and dummy partnerships. The only people stealing down there are lawyers."
Marty, between syrup dripping forkfulls of pancakes asked, "Anybody give you any trouble?"
Dean said, " We had to grab a couple a boats off guys, one guy, a chiropractor, we dug up his illegitimate daughter, paid that Gloria Allred broad $5,000 to send him a letter of intent to represent the girl in the matter of. That guy owed 180. Two days after getting the letter he paid 250. The nut, the five for Gloria, and sixty five to settle with the girl. One guy went to the feds, told them we threatened him, they wired him up. When he came around to get us on tape, we laid out his gambling history we got from the Sands, The Frontier, and the Trump Towers for the past three years. Ritchie's brother Paul had connections there. Once we explained we were going to turn the records over to the IRS, he pulled out the recorder and destroyed the tape, right there in the room. I guess he hadn't declared all that dough he lost."
"No more kneecaps then," Marty said wryly.
Dean laughed, "They'd love nothing better than for you to hurt them. Then, they get a case against you, and still don't have to pay. Guys that gamble hundreds of thousands of dollars and lose are also doing other things they don't want a good private investigator to uncover. Wev'e checked out a lot of that shit already, while they're losing at the tables, before we loan them the money. If your'e a big shot businessman, and you somehow get this great opportunity to spend three glorious days and two nights, comped, at one of Vegas's luxury casino hotels, down in the basement the information data base is spitting out your life story along with all the people youv'e screwed along the way. There's no need to get violent with the high rollers."
Dean dips an end of his cinnamon roll into his egg yolk and says, 'So I get back about a month ago, stopped by Jilly's there on the north side. Figure I'll check in with Rich and Artie after, and he tells me theyr'e not in the office there on Belmont no more. Say's they got an office way up in Lincolnwood in a building full of dentists and eye doctors. He say's theyr'e working everything through this chick they found somewhere. I know both of em' are too old and Artie's way too cheap to let some cooze work her way into their business."
Marty says, "yeah, this started right after you left. Jilly's screamin' and moanin' to everybody who'd listen that they took you from him."
"Since when do I work for him?" Dean asks.
"I know, I know," Marty says, but he's cryin' that he's supposed to keep a lid on you, you know, keep you from goin' too far, like that's what Artie and Rich wanted."

Dean said, "I worked for Rich and Artie long before they brought that queer on."

Marty smiled, "everybody knows that, but you know how Jilly is, always tryin' to make himself sound like a big shot. like he's Artie and Rich's partner or something."
Dean said, "yeah, I know he's a blowhard, but he's got nothin' to do with what I do, except when he comes cryin' about somebody he loaned money to won't pay. He ain't got the first clue about how I get them to pay."
Marty holds both hands up in a calming gesture, " believe me Deano, it's just talk, its his way, he does it to everybody, everybody knows. But he's playin' this music all over, how with you gone he's got more exposure, you know, your end of things."

Dean says, "Before I went, you know, Florida, that was the thing, Rich and Artie wanted to make sure I could take care of things by phone, emergencies and stuff. If they needed me, I could be back onna' Redeye shuttle, three hours, shit I wasn't in California or nothin', wasn't someplace I couldn't get back in a day. And that other shit, exposure, He ain't exposed to nothin' I do, and If I ain't around, people I know, don't know him, or Rich and Artie for that matter, from J. Edgar Hoover. Geez the balls on that guy. He better be glad he ain't as important as he thinks he is. If he was, a lot of people I know would start thinkin', guy that important might know too much, might get jammed up one day, try to deal his way out, maybe folks'd sleep easier he wasn't around."
"I know" Marty says, "but like you say, its all bullshit, he don't know nothin. But he's still playin' this music to Artie, how he needs some help with you gone. Somebody to handle any new business comes in."
"What's my leavin' gotta do with new business?" says Dean, startled, "I handle old business gone bad."
Marty's laughing now, "This is where he dug his own grave, listen, He's makin' all this noise. And you gotta hand it to Artie, he's one sharp Jew, they don't come any smoother. He say's, 'you may have something there Jill, let me talk it over with Rich, see if we can come up with somethin' , After that, Jilly's feeling pretty full of himself, thinks he's got the old man wrapped around his finger, get him to do anything he wants."
"Your'e right," said Dean, when that old bastard starts agreeing with you, it means you missed somethin', usually somethin' important, and he's gonna take advantage of it before you get a chance to figure it out."

"Wait" Marty said, "you'll love this, about a week later, Paul, Rich's brother, I think he's some kinda union officer for the Food and Beverage Workers in the hotels out in Vegas, and he's a rotating casino manager at the Trop. He comes to town and Rich tells me to pick him up at O'Hare and bring him over to the office on Belmont. I find out later, talking to Artie, Paul's gonna look around out there, talk to some people, try to find an operation about the same size as this one, and very subtle like, see if there's any talent available. The slick old bastard said not to say anything to Jilly, cause he's so sensitive, may take it the wrong way. He said they just wanted to see if there was anybody around that could bring in new business, had a line on somebody beside's gamblers need to borrow money."
"Why'd he tell you?" Dean asked.
"Right," Marty say's, "I'm thinking the same thing. What'er you tellin' me for?, I been workin' for these guys a long time, I can count on one hand the times I seen em' together, except at the office. And even there they got seperate offices and act like they never seen each other before. But I know one don't do nothing without the other knowing about it. So i'm sure Artie's not talkin' to me unless Rich knows about it. Then Art tells me that Paul's just gonna scout around, find somebody, set it up, then I go in and make the deal. That's why I'm inna loop."
"That makes sense," Dean says, "Your'e inna good position to keep it quiet."
"Yeah," Marty says, "that's what I figure. I can go there, see what the guy wants, tell Rich and Artie, and they can decide what they want to do. They don't want Jilly, because he's got a big mouth and will try to get involved. If he don't like the guy or something, he might not tell Rich and Artie everything, hold something back."
"Yeah," said Dean, "he's like that."
"Right," said Marty, "anyway I start getting these weekly updates from Artie about Paul. He spends about two weeks in Vegas, say's there's a lot of good people out there, but they don't want to leave the casinos because they treat em' so well, plus they don't want to leave Vegas, they don't want the casinos to hold it against them that they left. He spent about a week in L.A., talking to people, big shots, high rollers, even some connected guys. he said there's nothing there but flakes and dopers. He left there and went to Dallas, stayed about a week. he said things were locked down pretty tight there but while he was there he heard about a nice mid-sized operation in Houston, run by three brothers. They had this very sharp chick there, that had been with them from the beginning. They said she might be interested because she had reached her ceiling with them. Everybody above her was related by blood. So Paul went to Houston and started talking to people he knew there. Paul know's a guy know's one of the brothers, so he sits down with him, finds out about this chick and If they have a problem with him talkin' to her. The guy say's he'll get back to him in a couple'a days. He comes back and say's it's allright, and If Paul wants, he'll bring it up to her. A couple'a more days go by and the guy calls Paul and say's she's interested and will sit down and talk to him. Paul and this chick, Dee, dance around a few days and I guess he's talking to Rich and Artie every day. I get the call from Artie to go down there and lay out to her what we do and how we do it. He said they've already agreed they like each other and for me to find out what its gonna take to get her onna plane.
Pauls gone by the time I get down there. She has me picked up at the airport, hotel suite and everything. I get a call in the room that she's downstairs by the pool, and to come join her for lunch. I go down there and this chick looks like a movie star. I mean, she's not some young cupie doll or nothin', but everything about her is just perfect, hair, face, tits, ass, the whole package. The clothes she's wearing, clinging in all the right places. She looks like the wife of some billionaire oil guy. She's more than just pretty, she has these graceful moves like she is perfectly comfortable wherever she is. I'm thinking, I don't know what to say to a chick like this. She got me talkin' by telling me she had only been to Chicago one time overnight, and what kinda clothes should she buy for the winters there. She started asking me stuff I would know, like where to buy good fresh fish, whats the real estate market like, and do I know where she can get a good deal onna car? After a couple a drinks I calmed down and we were laughin' and shootin' the shit like old army buddies. She told me to get some rest for a coupla hours and she would come get me about five, we were gonna drive down to Gavelston and go out onna boat with some friends of hers. She asked me if I would have a problem because some of her friends were women and they might get a little drunk and want to play around. I told her, if everybody's playin' then I'm playin' too. We went out on that boat, no yacht, Dean, I swear, I don't remember much but the little I do remember, I don't believe. About three or four guys and at least eight, maybe ten chicks, no youngsters, they were all in their late thirties or forties, maybe even early fifties, but they all had killer bodies, and once that boat got about a mile away from the pier, my shorts went off and I don't remember ever seeing em again. I was screwin' so much I hope I didn't accidently nail one a them guys. I was with her in the beginning, then things started happening, we smoked hash, I got wasted, I was screwin' this one, then that one, gettin' blowjobs from another. I don't know if I nailed her or not, she kept popping up and dissappearing, but everybody was naked, all over the ship. They took me back to the hotel and put me inna bed.
The next thing I know, I get a call from her at two the next afternoon to come downstairs for lunch. I clear my head and come downstairs thinking things are gonna be awkward because of last night onna boat, but when I get down there she kissed me onna mouth and hugged me, pulled her chair next to me like I was her childhood sweetheart. She said she was ready to decide but she would need a few things from us first. She gave me a computer printout with a picture of one of the buildings on the Goldcoast on Michigan Avenue. She said she picked out her condo on the computer. the printout had pictures of the unit and a price tag of a million two. She had some other computer printouts of cars. She wanted a Mercedes SL550, which listed for $186,000, she wanted it in kelly green. And, the second one was a Lexus SUV, LX470,silver, listing for $67,000. She had another list of things she wanted season tickets to, it covered everything, Bulls, Bears, CSO, Ravinia, and just about every other venue that sold tickets. She asked me how long it would take to find out if these things could be part of her package. I said i'd go up to the room and make a call. She kissed me on the mouth and said she would wait right here for me to come back. I took the printouts upstairs. I been working for Artie for close to twelve years, I know how cheap that guy is. Rich ain't like him, but I never known him not to get much more back than he gave out. I made the call figuring, this dame don't know who she is dealing with. I laid it all out for Artie on the phone, waiting for him to have a seizure. He tells me to stay by the phone, he'll call me back in a few minutes. I mixed a drink thinking, this deals sunk. that chick tried to grab for too much. About 15 minues later, the phone rings, it's Richie, I figure Art had a heart attack. He say's to tell her they are going to go to work on the list and should have it all ready by next week. I was stunned. I raced back downstairs and told her what Rich said. She smiled and told me to listen carefully. She said she was glad they decided to show their good faith by giving her those things as a sort of bonus, because now she wanted to show her good faith by bringing something to the table. She told me that because the Houston brothers knew she couldn't move up any further, they let her run her own little outside gig. She says she has a four man operation that she banksrolls herself. About six years ago, she went to Malibu Beach out in California, and found this beach bum with a hard body and movie star looks. She cleaned him up, had people come in to teach him how to act and dress, then set him up in a posh Hollywood mini mansion up in the hills. She showed me this kids picture, he wears a ponytail, and she say's that's his name, Pony, like Sting, or Prince, just Pony. This guy's a chick magnet and she bought him a Lamborghini, and a mid sized yacht and gave him his moving orders, to party with the stars. She got him tickets to all the functions and nightspots where the movie stars hung out. She say's in a little less than a year, this kid was as well known around L.A. as the movie stars. He started being featured in the tabloids for his swinging lifestyle and pretty soon, all the stars wanted to be seen with him, for the publicity".
"Damn," mused Dean, "What"s the angle there?"
"Shit man, it's beautiful," beamed Marty, "Now this guy's jetting around to Cannes, Monaco, skiing in the Alps. To show you how this chick had this nailed down, she paid for skiing lessons in the beginning. He's attracting not only stars, but people that want to hang around stars. Trust fund babies and young computer chip millionaires. They want to just take off with this guy to his next party in Paris or Morrocco or wherever. They can't worry about the planning or scheduling because this guy just takes off when some big shot or movie star calls him. This Pony guy, hooks them up with one of two guys he calls his uncles. They're really just shy's that work for Dee."
"Jesus" mutters Dean, "Its coming together now."
"I know, I know," says Marty excitedly, They usually have em' transfer funds into an account they set up for em, to cover all their expenses, but when they get to gambling, and this guy Pony does a lot of gambling, they have them sign these ironclad promissory notes, payable in 30 days. The clauses in them notes are locked down so tight that they are automatically charged against the signers assets. Those notes are like writing a check for crissake. If you write a bad one its against the law. But these kids don't squawk because they don't want to miss one'a them orgies or coke parties. She's got another guy named Lewis, he's supposedly this black guy that brings a taste of reality to the kids that make trouble. He's kinda the troubleshooter like you, but like you said, he's very creative and doesn't need to get heavy very often." "The smart guys don't," said Dean. Marty went on, "anyway, she said she borrowed four million from the brothers when she started and paid it all off.
Last year was her first year of profit and she cleared 1.8 free and clear after payin' off the help. She says to tell Rich and Artie that they can bank her operation for 1/3 of all the profits. She say's she's already got a couple more Pony's lined up."

"God Damn," Dean gushed, "thats a fuckin' gold mine, what'd they say?" Marty said, "I layed it out for Artie when I got back to my hotel room. He said to call her and give her his private number and for me to get back here. That was three months ago. She came up about a week later and was holed up with em for about two weeks, after that is when all the changes started. They moved the offices, Jilly started freaking out. He's been working on me non-stop to tell him what went down down there. Fuck him, if this thing is half as good as she said it is, Rich and Artie are gonna expand big time. I'm gonna keep my mouth shut and maybe grab a nice spot in this new operation. This is big stuff, Jilly just doesn't fit in this kind of set-up."

"I agree" said Dean, nodding his head, "This kinda thing, guy like him, with all the music and everything, he'll fuck somethin' up for sure. Marty finishes the last of his coffee and signals the waitress for the check. Dean finishes his cigarette and starts to dig in his pockets for money.
Marty, getting out of the booth waives him off, "I got this Deano".
"Thanks," said Dean.

The waitress brings the check over and Marty puts on his hat and coat and picks it up from the table. Dean slide out of the booth, reaches in his pocket, takes out a roll of bills, peels off four ones and leaves them on the table. Both men walk over to the cashier, Marty pays the check. As both men exit the resturant they button up their coats and turn up their collars against the wind.
"Listen," says Dean "lets get together next week and catch a Bulls game, I haven't done nothin' but run around since I got back"
"Great," says Marty, we can grab a bite at McDougal's before the game".
Dean, hopping from one foot to the other with his back to the wind says, "Yeah, I haven't had a decent steak since before I left."

As the wind whips around the two men Marty say's, "Iv'e got to run out to Elmhust, get the paper from Mike, then run all the way across town to meet Artie in Linclonwood at 4:00".
Dean points across the street, "I got lucky and found a spot right out front. Tell Mike to give me a call on my cell. He's gotta make an introduction to a guy for me. Guy's supposed to have a line on a piece of a betting wire for sale".
"Allright," Marty shrugs, hands dug deep into his pockets.

Dean turns and starts to cross the street to his silver Jeep Grand Cherokee. Marty waves and rounds the corner at the side of the resturant and heads back toward the parking lot. The wind is at his back and pushes him toward his car. he keys the alarm/lock, jumps into the drivers seat and closes the door.
Dean jumps into his car,starts the engine and lights a cigarette. He is on his third long drag when the explosion behind the resturant shatters windows and sets off alarms of the cars in the parking lot. A huge black plume engulfs the building as patrons spill out onto the sidewalk. They gather around the edge of the building, afraid to venture further back into the parking lot area. As he pulls away from the curb Dean fingers the numbers on his cell phone. He waits until a gruff voice answers, "Windy City Promotions".
He speaks into the handset, "Jilly, this is Dean."
The voice answers, "Hey Deano, what's up?"
Dean makes a right turn and say's, "Marty's wife just called Artie, she said the Feds just came and took him away. "
"Shit, what the fuck for,?" the voice exclaimed.
"I don't know, Dean said, Artie didn't go into it, didn't want to talk at all, told me he's not talking to anybody unitl all the books are buried and he gets a chance to find out what happened."
The voice asked, "Was it some shit that went down down south there?"
"I don't know Jill, I don't know what went on down there and I'm probably glad I don't. Artie says for you to get everything of his and yours out of that office. Put it in boxes and get it outta the city right away."
"Yeah man," the voice says, "there ain't that much, I got a coupla' boxes, it'll all fit."
"Ok," Dean said, "tell me where to meet you, someplace in the suburbs, outside of the city, you can hand the stuff off to me and I can go bury it."
"Ok, it'll take me about an hour, make sure I get everything, how about Oak Park, that resturant, Gagliano's, off Harlem there?"
"Right," Dean said, I know where it is, when can you get there?"
Jilly say's, "It's 11:00 now, I can be there with everything by 3:00."
"Good," said Dean, make sure your'e there on time, if somethin' happens, you call me back on my cell. If I'm not there when you get there, you stay put and wait for me in the parking lot. We'll stash the shit in my trunk, Artie's told me where to take it.
"OK," Jilly say's, "I'll be there by 3:00, in the parking lot, that should give me plenty of time."
"Good," say's Dean, "and remember, Arties say's nobody calls anybody but me until we get this shit someplace safe."
"I get it, Jilly say's, only call you."
"Ok," Dean say's, "I'll see you in the parking lot at 3:00."
"Ok, 3;00, in the parking lot."

Dean flipped his flip open cell phone shut, then flipped it open again. He got a new dial tone and with one hand, punched in a new number. He waited for an answer and said,
"Hey Lewis, tell your people it was a nice job, sounded like a shaped charge, just some windows blown out of the back of the resturant and a few cars. I doesn't look like anyone else was hurt. Number two is gonna be at a resturant called Gagliano's in Oak Park. Its right off Harlem on Lake street, right across the street from that little mall. He's gonna be there at three, waiting for me in the parking lot. He's gonna have the stuff in the back seat or the trunk so when you take him, make sure you get the boxes. Call me when its done so I can head back to Tampa. I told Richie I'd head back down right after. You and Dee have my number, you can get ahold a me there." Click