But Big Louie was a lot larger than a normal man.
His massive girth strained against the constraints of his dress shirt at though it fought to cascade over the table in waves of sweaty fat. His pockmarked cheeks were so swollen that it looked like they held enough leftover grub to feed the homeless in New Haven for a week. Beady eyes were barely visible under the sweat-beaded brow and swells of his eyelids. His puckered lips smacked disgustingly as he talked.
“So you’re Mick Trubble. Heard about you. My boys said they had a little run in with you over the Luzzatti business. Not good, that bit. But you know how this town works. No breaks. You give one mug a break, you got the next fifteen thinking they’ll hold out on you too. Before you know it, you got a rep for being a pushover. The next mook makes a move in your territory and it’s war. And nobody wants a war, you know?” He shoved a wine glass in his face and downed it as though all the talk had worn him down.
I took a sip from my own glass. I don’t take much stock in the grape stuff, but booze is booze. Always tastes better when it’s not on your tab. Big Louie was somewhat of a connoisseur, though. Bottles were stockpiled in the bar area, along with barrels of what looked like homemade hooch. I made a mental note to avoid lighting up a gasper so that I wouldn’t blow us all to kingdom come.
I nodded. “I understand. And I’m not here to rock any boats. I’m here to make things right. You want what’s owed to you. I’m the man to get it for you. I got some berries stacked to the side, and I’m setting up buyers for some high profile commodities. That should be enough of a down to call of the dogs. After that I can offer you something that you might consider worth more than just the cabbage.”
Big Louie laughed. It was a sight to see. If you’re into multiple chins jiggling along with ripples of saggy flesh, that is. He wiped his swollen fingers on the tablecloth-sized hankie tucked around his neck.
“You got guts, I’ll give you that. Don’t he got guts, Joey?”
Joey was the shadow behind me. Behind and above me, I should say, since he topped me by about a good foot of bulk that was as muscular as Louie was fat.
“He got guts all right, boss.” By his tone, Joey seemed to want to see mine all over the floor. I hated him already.
Big Louie continued to chuckle. “‘Something worth more than the cabbage’. Money is all that matters, Mick. The line that separates who lives and who dies. What could be more valuable than that? Tell me, I’m dying to know.”
I looked him dead in the eyes. “My services. I work exclusively for you until Luzzatti’s debt is paid off. You know what I can do for an organization like yours, if you catch my drift.”
The last thing I wanted to do was work for a scumbag like Big Louie. But with Luzzatti and his family’s lives on the line, that was the only favor I had to barter with. Luzzatti may have made some stupid mistakes, but he didn’t deserve to end up feeding the fish in some dirty river for that. And his family had nothing to do with any of it. Me? I was a nobody going nowhere. I could pay the price that they couldn’t afford.
Big Louie knew it, too. I could tell by the way he gave me a look like someone appraising a vintage wheeler. Then he sighed. A sigh from a cheese hog like him could blow out all the candles out on an old codger’s birthday cake. And then knock over the cake too.
“You know, I’d actually consider that offer if this was an inside deal. But I’m just the handler in this contract. Luzzatti came to me for the dough. But it was for more than I felt comfortable dealing out. So I introduced him to a third party who had the berries to deal in. The agreement was for a casino off the Bay. Prime location, a sure fire bet. Everything was set to fall in place, and major dough was to made hand over foot.”
“So what happened?”
Big Louie shoveled a heavy load of spaghetti down his throat. “Seems the seller backed out on the deal at the last minute. When the broker settled all parties, something came up short. Namely the dough that Luzzatti put up for the deal. Well, the party that I represented wasn’t too happy about that. Looked like Luzzatti set the whole thing up to grift us over and make off with the cash.”
I frowned. “Doesn’t make sense. Even if Luzzatti was that type of slickster, he’d have gotten ghost as soon as the deal went through.”
Big Louie flicked sauce across the table as he gestured with his fork. “Leaving New Haven ain’t nothing easy. If you ever tried then you’d know that. Getting outta any of the Havens is a long process, and this one’s the worst. Luzzatti’s been trying, all right. But my third party nixed those plans with his connections inside of Transit.”
I shook my head. “I don’t buy it. Luzzatti ain’t the type to cross a mug over. There’s gotta be another explanation for all this.”
Big Louie chuckled around his glass of wine. “You seem like a loyal mug, Mick. That’s hard to come by in this town. But lemme give you a bit of advice free of charge. Your boy Luzzatti’s going down. It ain’t gonna be nothing pretty either. Best to cool your heels the next few days unless you like lead buttons in your overcoat. The only reason the old man is still living is because he’s related to Danny the Daisy.”
I blinked. “Danny the Daisy is related to Luzzatti?”
Danny was one of the more colorful Nimrods in New Haven. By colorful I mean that his wardrobe could blind you from the vibrant shades of pastels. His rags were so loud that they screamed. And let’s just say that he wasn’t exactly the most masculine of mugs. None of which changed the fact that he was one of the most deadly triggermen in the city.
Big Louie shrugged his massive doughboy shoulders. “In-law, actually. Danny the Daisy is Mrs. Luzzatti’s brother. She don’t exactly advertise that, you know? But he’s crazy about that girl they have. Anyhow, it’s already set up. Danny’s leaving town soon. He’s gonna get word of a tag too profitable to ignore. Something that’ll take him outta town to bag. That’s when my operator will go to work. It’s a done deal, Mick. After it’s over, you can work for me if you need a gig.”
“Call it off, Louie. Give me a little time to settle up.”
Big Louie paused and stabbed the air with his heavily loaded fork. “This is business, Mick. You know as well as I do that there ain’t no mercy in business. Now take a hike, and stay outta the way. You’ve been warned.” He went back to attacking his plate.
I stood up and placed my Bogart back on my head. “I’m sorry that we can’t get a deal done. But I’m telling you right now that the Luzzatti’s are off limits. Better call off the dogs or I’ll be forced to housebreak ‘em.”
Big Louie pointedly ignored my threat and stared past me. “Joey, our guest has overstayed his welcome. Why don’t you show Mr. Trubble the door?”
Joey cracked his knuckles. “Ok, boss.”
Joey showed me the door. By shoving my face through it. The rest of me followed soon after. By the time I picked myself off the pavement, Joey was just getting warmed up. He went to work like a boxer trying out for a shot at the title. The memory is a bit hazy.
Getting your ass kicked usually ain’t something you wanna remember anyhow.
“Mick Trubble! What happened to your face?” As luck goes, it wasn’t very kind to have Natasha cross paths with me on my way back to the pad. She immediately zeroed in on my downtrodden condition, which was pretty hard to miss, actually. You know, given all the blood and bruises.
“Hey darlin’. Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes.” My eyes really were sore, too. Getting punched in the face will usually result in that. I continued to limp toward my apartment. “How’re your folks doing? Any unexpected visitors that I should know about?”