Secrets of the Don Chap 8
#8 of Secrets of the Don
Another week passed. My employees behaved themselves, and work came in at the normal pace. That Wednesday, I finished my state and federal tax forms and sent them in to the agency. I wasn't taking any chances with the IRS, those bastards will rob you for everything that you own if they don't get their due.
I met with Marcia once more on the next Sunday, she seemed to enjoy the welcome she got from her new team. She mentioned that her new boss was a bit of an ass, but hopefully it would smooth over soon. I told a few more stories of my own from the shop.
I was still keen to avoid talking to her about Angelo, or my involvement in organized crime. There were still concerns about my own safety, of course, but I rationalized that if I stayed away from Capodano turf, they would leave me alone, dating Marcia or not. Hopefully.
Even then, I wasn't sure how or when I could bring my history up. You can't just say, "Oh hey, by the way, I'm an ex-con that used to work for your dad." Would she even want to associate with me after I told her? And if I've left that life behind me, does it even matter? I decided it was best to leave it be, at least for the near future.
On Monday, I rolled up to the garage to observe that Pete had shown up early. When I got close enough, I rolled down my window and called to him.
"Yo, Pete!"
He jumped and swung his head in my direction, gray fur standing on end. "Jesus, you scared the crap out of me, boss."
"You never show up early to work, what's up?"
"Heh, you're right. Say," he stepped towards my car. "I know this is a huge favor, but could you spot me like 5 grand by tonight?"
Pete looked like a wreck, with bloodshot eyes and messy fur. Most rats were twitchy, but this was a new level, even for Pete. It seemed that when he wasn't talking, he was either sniffing at the air or looking around for stray shadows. Did he come here high?
"We'll talk about this after work." I parked my car and opened up shop, with the rat-man following close behind me.
Jerry wasn't in today, and I could trust Eric to handle his actual work, if not to deal with customers. Because of this, I took care to watch Pete much more closely than I usually did.
As I expected, the rat-man's work was of much lower quality than the standard I held, and he started to fall behind on his jobs. He would misplace tools and forget to tighten bolts on every single task I threw his way, to the point where I had to double-check everything I asked him to do. I didn't want a customer to lose a tire while cruising down the freeway.
By lunch hour, I had had enough and pulled Pete inside my office. He looked like he could fall over unconscious at any second.
"I've had to check over and finish every single job you've done today. You almost created a short circuit in a customer's ignition, and you forgot to tighten the bolts when reattaching a tire. How do you fuck up fixing a flat tire? What's gotten into you, Pete?"
"Sorry, Boss. I'm just ahh... just not..." He started to nod off, so I shook him awake.
"Are you fucking tweaking right now? Where did you get the balls to think you can service cars in my shop while you're fucking high?"
The rat's eyes shot open. "No! You know I wouldn't do that, boss! I don't light up before work. It's just been really hard to focus on anything; I haven't gotten any sleep in the past few days."
"Well then, what made you think it was a good idea to come to work when you can barely stand on your fucking feet?" I glared at the rat as I struggled to keep my cool. "I'm sending you home. If you don't think you can stay awake behind the wheel, take a nap for an hour or grab a coffee. Don't come into my shop like this ever again."
"All due respect, sir, my shift isn't over, and I need-"
"You stopped paying me your due respect when you clocked in like this. You can barely keep your fucking eyes open. Go home before I make this little vacation permanent."
"Don't send me home, please! I need the money!" Pete shouted.
"That's another thing. What in God's name do you need with 5 grand?"
"I can't say! If I do, it will only make things worse for everyone. Please, just front me the money, Mr. Manzarelli. You can take it out of my paycheck and everything, I'm good for it!"
I held my glare at the rat. "This is about that fucking car of yours, isn't it? Let me guess, you borrowed from a loan shark and now you're stuck in the deep end, drowning in debt." The rat-man motioned for me to quiet down. "Why can't you just ask your parents to help you?"
"My parents aren't well off as is, they live paycheck to paycheck. I got the Mazerati to prove to my mom that I could do well for myself out in the world. I wanted them to be proud of me."
"You think they're going to be proud of you when you come home in a body bag? Grow the fuck up, Peter. The only person who cares about status symbols around here is you. Go home. If your creditors come to collect, tell them you'll have it by Thursday evening, alright? Don't mention me."
Pete's nose began to twitch more frequently, and his body trembled. "Thursday? Can't you loan it to me any earlier?"
"I'm sorry, do like I look like an ATM to you? I'm going to have to spend my day off making sure that your fuck up doesn't threaten my business. So yeah, I'll loan you the money on Thursday."
"They'll kick the shit out of me if I don't get them the cash! Please!"
"Maybe you should have thought about that before you bought toys you couldn't pay for. Now beat it." I pointed towards the door. The rat-man left the room with his tail in between his legs, insecure about his future.
I called out to my remaining employee from the cluttered office, "Eric! We're closing up late tonight!"
"Fuck!"
The next morning, Pete didn't show up to work. A phone call from Jerry revealed that his creditors paid him a visit, and that he was currently at the hospital with a broken foot.
"I guess you called it," said Jerry, hanging up the phone. "Dumbass used mob money to pay for the car."
"I didn't want to be right, Jerry. One of my mechanics is out of commission for a couple of days. It's damaging to my bottom line. I'm the one paying for his fuck up."
"Why didn't you just give him the money when he asked to save yourself the trouble? Poor kid could have died out there. It was irresponsible."
I gave him a look. "Spending beyond your means is irresponsible. And this was the worst-case scenario. If they killed Pete, who was going to pay them what they're owed? Much better to rough him up, it'll scare him into paying his debt on time."
Jerry threw a disapproving look my way while opening up the garage door. I covered for Pete during the day. With all the customers we were getting, we could have used his help. He had to learn his lesson somehow, though.
Tuesday and Wednesday passed, and I reminded Jerry to open on Thursday. I knew there was only one person who could definitively put all of this to bed. I made sure to get my business clothes ready.
St. Germaine's was just as unwelcoming on my second visit as it was on my first. Not even a familiar face behind reception made the process any more comfortable. At least this time they had a guard ready to guide me to the cell.
Angelo was quick to greet me. "Manza, wasn't expecting you today! You watch the last Dragons game?"
I gave him a tight hug. "Yeah, Gemello can't catch for shit. I have a favor to ask."
"Everyone with the fuckin' favors! What can I help you with?"
I explained the predicament with Pete to him. He scratched his chin and listened closely, writing down every important detail.
"Do you know who these guys work for?" I asked.
"Loan sharks? Probably Ramone's guys, but everyone dips their fingers in everything nowadays. I can't tell you for sure unless I have names. What kinda favor did you want, Manza? You want me to erase this kid's debt?"
"No, he borrowed money and he's going to pay back what he owes. He asked me for 5 large, so I'm asking you to cap any debt to 5 and to leave him alone after this whole thing is finished. Let's talk prices. Do you need anything from me?"
"I need you to go to my house and give my wife a kiss on the cheeks for me, tell her it's from her guardian angel." He smirked. "Pete's debt will be capped, and I'll trust you to handle the payments. I'll sort everything out with the other party, no price. Consider it done." We shook hands.
"Good to get that squared away. I gotta ask you something, Ange. You got a daughter?" I needed to gauge his reaction somehow without giving away too much. I couldn't afford to compromise this mission.
"Yeah, I do, did you meet Marcia?" His eyes widened. "Did something happen to her?"
"I don't think so. A Capodano came to my shop asking for a tire change, and I thought it was a funny coincidence that you two shared a name, so I asked if she knew you. Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?"
Angelo clasped his hands together. "I had her with my goomar, and I promised to never expose my little girl to this thing of ours. The older guys all knew, as well as anyone related to us by blood. I tried to keep it a secret from the younger generation because I didn't want them trying anything with her. Who wants their daughter to get hitched to a criminal?"
I nodded.
Angelo got lost in thought for a few seconds. "Actually, that's a good price for this favor. If you see her again, tell her to pay her old man a visit. We haven't spoken since the indictment."
"Of course." We kissed each other on the cheeks and said our goodbyes.
Next stop was my apartment. After doing a quick sweep for bugs, I grabbed 5,000 dollars from my safe and shoved it in my coat pocket. I checked twice to make sure the safe was locked after closing it. I made a call to Pete.
"Boss?"
"You out of the hospital yet?"
He sounded exhausted over the phone. "Yeah, they released me yesterday night. I've been trying to catch up on sleep so I recover sooner."
"I'm coming to pick you up. If you can't take care of this yourself, I need you to tell me who you owe."
"Alright, you know where I live." I could sense unease in his voice.
I picked him up from his apartment and drove him to the docks, where he said he first met his creditors. After about half an hour of searching, he pointed them out to me. Two human associates were smoking next to a shipping crate. I put the money in an envelope and reached into the glove compartment to grab my revolver.
"If anything goes south, grab the monkey wrench from the back seat. It's no gun, but it's better than nothing."
I left the car with the gun concealed and approached the two associates. "Evening. I'm here to pay off a debt for Peter Sparazza."
The shorter of the two put down his cigarette. "You've come to the right people. Casey and Louie Soldetto. Pete came to us so we could help him pay for-"
I cut him off with a hand wave. "Save the pleasantries. Here's the money." The associate frowned, while his brother accepted the envelope. I took a step back.
"Seems to be a misunderstanding here, bud," said the taller mobster. "You're short about 1 and a half large."
"Get your eyes checked. There's 5 there."
The shorter one chuckled. "That's funny. Louie, didn't we tell Sparazza that we were going to charge 500 extra for each day his payment was late? Seems like he's trying to skimp out on us again. I'd hate to shoot the messenger, but..." They both started to approach me.
I reached into my coat and grabbed my revolver by the handle, keeping it concealed from view. "Try your luck. Take another step forward, and in 5 seconds you'll both be meeting a different Peter."
Both men backed off. "You think this is some kind of game, punk?" spat Casey. "Who do you think we work for?"
"These are Ramone's docks, right? Angelo's got a message for him and you two. Pete Sparazza is off-limits. You're lucky you got that much back."
Louie glared at me, but Casey pulled him back, trying to reason with him. "If he's right, and something happens to him, we're fucked. We broke even on Sparazza, let's just leave it alone." The two slinked away behind the shipping crate.
Pete greeted me upon my return to the Toyota. "That looked like it was about to get ugly. Glad it's over."
"It's not over for you. I'm docking 250 out of each of your paychecks until this 5,000 is paid off in full." The rat-man deflated. "I had to pull strings for you, Pete. You're lucky I have connections. You didn't see me do anything tonight, is that clear?"
"Crystal, Boss."
"Good. One more thing. If you need money, get a loan from a bank or use a credit card." Pete nodded. "These mob guys, they don't quit until someone bigger tells them to. They'll do crazy shit to you to get you to pay. And if they know you aren't good for it, they'll axe you. I don't want to see you dealing with any of them after today, okay?"
"Alright, Mr. Manzarelli. I won't take any more shady loans, and I'll try to be more careful with my spending. I'm sorry for putting you through this mess."
"I'm just glad you made it out in one piece and learned something from it. You gotta use that head of yours." I rubbed the back of his head. "We've both had a long day. You want to go grab dinner?"