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Feb-11-2009 11:40

November 5, 1934 - New York - The Tricky Mister - close to midnight

“You want me to rob a bank?!?” said Joey in surprise, suddenly realizing his voice was a little louder than he would’ve wanted to. He quickly scouted the room and was relieved to see no one seemed to have heard him. The Tricky Mister wasn’t really crowded on that late week night.

His interlocutor though didn’t seem to bother much about this situation. He was a middle age slim man in a dark pin striped suit, sitting relaxed across the table with both hands crossed in front of him. His tie was straight, his jacket fully buttoned up, his hair posed a clean arrangement on a side. A short and perfectly cut mustache was framing a slightly prankish smile, as his eyes were thoroughly scouting Bane’s reactions. Although his attitude was loose, he seemed to be the kind of man who always likes to keep himself sharp.

After a short moment of silence he slowly lowered his look, shaking his head in an almost imperceptible move, miming a disappointment gesture. “Mr. Bane” he continued in a low voice “that is…’come si dice’…” snaps his fingers “ILLEGAL!” He rose back up his eyes. “We are not asking you to do anything against the law, but only to acquire the possession of some documents that actually regard US. It just happens that these papers are currently stored in a safe deposit box inside the National Bank and since we have already attained this piece of information, we believed it would be helpful to pass it on to you, in order to make your work easier. However you will decide to retrieve these documents, it is entirely up to you.” He stopped, straightened up his back and took a sip out of the wine glass he had ordered. “Exquisite flavor, Mr. Bane, you should give it a try.”

“Ya, well…I’m more the whiskey type of man. Now…Mr…”

Feb-20-2009 07:42

Humping slowly towards the house, Bane’s ear caught what seemed to be a flowing water sound. He noticed a small bathroom window half open on the ground floor. He threw a careful eye inside. ‘Damn. I’m in luck!’ he thought. Barresi was indeed in there, apparently taking a shower. Thus, Bane decided against knocking, in favor of picking the door. He made his way in silence trough the house and ended up right in front of the bathroom. As he was reaching for the handle, the door suddenly opened rendering him face to face with a…naked Barresi!

“BANE?!?” said him startled facing Joey. And that was all he got to say before heavily dropping on the floor. Blood started dripping slowly from his broken nose as he just lay there inertly.

Whispers appeared in the hallway rushing, noticing Joey bending over Franco’s body. “What happened?” he inquired Bane. “What was that cracking sound? Is he dead?”

“Nah…just passed out. It appears my old left hook is still alive.” Bane smiled as he was shaking off his hand in pain. “Damn! I forgot how much it hurts to knock out someone without a glove!” He pointed his eyes to Whispers. “Why are you standing there? Search for Mona!”

Feb-20-2009 07:42

Upon searching the house it turned out that Franco was alone. “Well now…” Bane said…”I guess we’ll have to ask our friend here a couple of questions. So…tie him up, big guy…I’ll go search for some whiskey. My leg is killing me.”

Whispers posed an expression of disgust upon laying his eyes onto Barresi’s naked corpse. “Damn, mate…now that’s an ugly view!”

Bane took a stroll along the kitchen and came back gulping form a bottle of the finest booze. He almost burst in laughter seeing Barresi wrapped up in a drape and tied up to a chair with its chord. “You couldn’t find something better?”

Whispers lifted both shoulders, palms pointed ahead. “What the hell did you want, Joey? You said to tie him up, THERE! He’s tied up. You wanna dress him in ball suit, be my guest!”

Bane laughed. “The drape will do.” He sat down on a nearby armchair and took another sip.

“You want me to start softening up his bones a bit?” asked Whispers pulling up his sleeves.

Bane eyed him with an irritated look. “Sometimes you’re acting like a big ape with no brains, mate. Now don’t you think we should wake him up first and try at least asking one question before you start you…persuasion work on him?”

“Right! Sorry Bane…I’ll go check out the house for a bucket.” He left the room while Joey was adjusting his position to lower down the pain in his wounded leg.

Feb-20-2009 20:40

"Where's my whiskey?" JC stumbled onto his cot as he giggled. It was a miracle that he managed to find his way back to his place.

"I'm a man who's made to hold his LIQUOR!" JC yelled into his empty shack, then he burst out laughing. He still had his shoes on when he fell asleep. The sun was just coming out.

Feb-21-2009 08:26

Upon smashing and bashing on things around the kitchen, Whispers appeared in the doorway carrying a bucket full of water and…a meat hammer. In a firm move he dumped the water onto Franco’s head from behind, then went in front of him and lifted the hand with the hammer.

“HOLD!” shouted Joey. “What the hell are you planning to do there?”

Whispers turned over his face with a questioning look in his eyes. “What do you mean? You said to wake him…he’s awake.” Indeed Barresi’s eyes were open. “I just want to give him a prelude…if you get my drift.” He grinned again with a sadistic face.

“A prelude with a hammer, mate? I now know why you don’t have any children. No prelude. Let him focus for a minute and then we’ll see what will need to be done.”

Whispers lowered his arm and took a step aside. He was clearly disappointed.

It took Barresi several long minutes to recover. As he finally managed to bring his mind back into the present, he eyed Bane with an angry look. “You FOOL! You don’t know what you’re messing into. Did you completely forget who I am? You lost your mind, Bane? Untie me NOW!...and maybe I will only cut you a few fingers!”

“Ease up, Barresi. I’m the one giving the orders.” Bane leaned ahead in the armchair to get a more imposing posture. “I have a few questions to ask you. Now you be nice. You answer all of them or I’ll let my friend Whispers here deal with you. Ok?”

“You’re crazy, Bane! I’m not telling you s**t. You have one minute to untie me. You don’t…I’m making you a promise: you’ll die in pain…but before, you’ll have to watch Mona go first. And trust me: I’ll make sure it’s not going to be a pretty picture!”

“Smart move…using her name to touch me.” Bane took a gulp, adjusting again his position, stretching his leg. “Well now, since you brought up the subject, I guess it’s a good point to stat. I’ve seen you love birds on the docks, so stop feeding me any crap and tell me what’s the deal with her?”

Feb-21-2009 09:06

Franco fell back into the chair stopping his struggle to get free. It seemed as if he realized he lost his best card against Bane. “You’ll get nothing from me” he said. “My lips are sealed.” His voice was now low and somehow submitted.

“Well then…you leave me no choice, Franco. Whispers! Feel free to do your…thing.”

Bane didn’t have to say that twice. With a strong blow, Whispers stuttered Barresi’s knee. He screamed in pain. A cracking sound marked the next blow onto his other one.

“OKAY!!!” he screamed. “I’LL TELL YOU ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW! I’ll tell you everything! Just call this freaking ape off me!”

Bane had to jump up from the chair and grab the big guy by the arm as he was getting ready to strike yet another time. “We done already?” Whispers looked amazed. “Damn it, Joey. I was just starting to get warmed up over here.” He took a seat gesticulating disappointed again. “These guys nowadays are just pussies.”

“I have to say I took you for a tougher nut to crack, Barresi. I’m glad though I was wrong about this.” Bane sat back down in his armchair. “Ok now…” he said…“start squealing. Also pray that I’ll believe it!”

It didn’t take any more ‘persuasion’ to loosen up Barresi’s tongue. He spilled out everything he knew…or, let’s say…everything that Bane wanted to hear.

Feb-21-2009 10:39

“You’re late! You’re supposed to be here before noon.”

“Don’t state the obvious, Ronnie. I don’t have much time. Is everything ready for tonight?” JC asked while he lifted the hood of the Lincoln very carefully -- he couldn’t risk ruining his suit, he didn’t have time to change again. Damn that whiskey.

“Don’t worry, I polished this baby inside out. Petrol, motor oil, breaks… all in top tier condition. You know this Model L has strong acceleration and the engine is capable of reaching a top speed of 90 miles per hour?”

“I’m not expecting a chase tonight, but it’s comforting to know. Thanks.” JC closed the hood, “See you tonight at 10:30, Ronnie.” Off he sped towards the Restaurant.

Feb-21-2009 15:48

Upon finishing up questioning Barresi, Bane stepped out on the porch attempting to gather his mind. He wasn’t worried about being noticed as they were practically in the middle of nowhere. Franco had given him a lot of input, so he had a hard time digesting all of it in order to establish his next move. He took another gulp. ‘Let’s see now…’

It turned out that Mona had come back to the city about a year before. Indeed her carrier went sour, so she ended up giving ‘private performances’ to the city officials and…basically anyone who could afford her. She didn’t come cheap though and she had ‘protection’ from a guy who went by the nickname of ‘Smiley’. Giuseppe ‘Smiley’ Bellini, by his full name, was nothing but a former pimp, turned recently into a ‘businessman’. Apparently he hadn’t throw away all his old ‘habits’, but just improved his ‘view on business’. While pimping Mona for good cash he also made sure to take pictures of her customers. From time to time, while being in need of a ‘favor’ or just of a ‘humble donation’, he would present his art to the person in question and settle his desired ‘arrangement’.

At some point, a couple of month ago, Smiley got greedy. Now Mona had access into the houses of some of her ‘regulars’. One of them had attracted Smiley’s attention. He was a mob’s bookie and so our poor pimp believed that he might also be holding large amounts of cash, locked somewhere inside a safe. He had Mona rob him and it proved he was right. Indeed she came out with a big load of money, but also she picked up a couple of books from his safe. These books were containing ’transactions’…the kind that could get many people locked deeply behind black bars. Realizing what he was holding, Smiley came up with another idea: he tried to negotiate with the mob. That was the end of Giuseppe Bellini. He went to a meeting and never came back. “He’s probably feeding the fishes by now.”

Feb-21-2009 15:49

Now…even though he made foolish choices, Smiley had enough brains not to bring over the books when he went. He stashed then inside a safety deposit box at the bank, along with his usual pictures. The mob obviously learned about their location by torturing Smiley, but getting their hands on them was a totally different matter. Upon pulling some strings, they’ve managed to get to the mayor and thus they ‘convinced’ him to make them somehow fall onto their lap. He was indeed due to be back in the city in 2 days from now and open the vault, but not for the reason Barresi initially stated.

Mona was now in a hell of a jam. Smiley was gone and even though she did have his money, her deed would not go unpunished no matter what. Although she considered running away, she did realize it was not a solution. She knew very well how wide the mob stretched and that they would find her sooner or later. They never forget and never forgive. Her only chance of surviving was to get hold of the books and try using them as a life insurance. The problem was that she also didn’t have access to the safety deposit box. At this point she came to Franco.

Barresi was also one of her regular clients, but one that was foolish enough in order to fall for her. It was strange for a lawyer and even more for one that was serving the mob, but nevertheless he indeed was in love with her. Obviously he had agreed to help her. Upon learning about the contents of the safety deposit box, he started to think even further. He realized holding that information would put both the mob AND the city officials right into his pocket. He would practically be king in New York. So thus he hid Mona and hired J.C. for the job. Not being a stranger to J.C.’s habits of handling business his own way, he rolled in Bane exactly for the reason that he was suspecting: to get maybe an edge over J.C. in case it would prove necessary. He used the threat on Mona’s life just as a bluff to interest Joey in the job.

Feb-21-2009 15:50

“Yo, mate…you fell asleep out here?” Whispers voice roughly interrupted Bane’s chain of thoughts while coming out of the house. “We gonna stay here all day? I’m kinda hungry…and this guy doesn’t have anything around.”

“Nah…” replied Joey still a bit lost. “He did give us Mona’s location, so I say…let’s pay her a visit.”

“And what about eating, Bane? I’M HUNGRY!...and it’s already past noon!”

“I don’t know, Whispers…smoke some grass or something!” He stopped for a bit to think. “On second thought…I reckon that since Mona has been living there for a while, she must have something to eat in the house.”

“Good thinking!” Whispers smiled. “And what about Barresi? Can I shoot him?”

“NO! Again…what the hell is wrong with you?!? Just pack him up and throw him in the trunk. We’ll take him with us.”

“But…he’s moving. What if he shouts and someone hears him?”

“Well…knock him out again.” He took another thirsty gulp watching Whispers disappear inside. “And DO NOT use the hammer, you hear me? I need him still breathing in case he’s been lying to us!”…he shouted just to make sure.

Feb-21-2009 16:21

10 minutes later they were on the road. Bane looked outside on the window thinking. ‘If this bank job is nothing but Barresi’s one man show, it means not many people know about it. Certainly not the mob. I do have to make sure about this though. Mona might be of help in this direction. If they’re the only ones who know, it might be easier than I thought to keep my name out of this story. I just…have to come back in good terms with Barresi. I don’t know how though…well…we’ll see. This ain’t the main of my concerns right now. The one thing that I’m sure of though is that those books have to reach the mob one way or another. J.C. obviously doesn’t know what he’s stealing. I have to warn him…or stop him. I have to get in touch with him somehow…before or after the job. I guess I’ll take a nap at Mona’s to get my strength up and at midnight I’ll head over to the bank. Something tells me that tonight is the night.’

He looked ahead as they were pulling over in front of Mona’s current ‘place’. It was, as expected, a remote and secluded location just a few miles from the city.

“Wait here!” Joey said as he was stepping out of the car.

“Can I…?”

“NO! Do NOT shoot him! And do NOT ask me that question again!” He slammed the door and stepped onto the entrance alley.