“Gigantor,” I shout down the stairs.
“Yeah, boss?” he says, snapping to attention.
“Get Lou over here,” I say. Gigantor thinks for a second too long. “Now,” I say sharper, and the giant man rushes out of the room below me. I go back into the bedroom and put on my robe. I kick Liz lightly on the butt. “Get up Liz, I’m serious this time,” I say. Liz groans but dutifully crawls out of bed and pulls on her lilac robe. She stumbles into the kitchen and starts some coffee. I get dressed and when I come back in she lifts the carafe up, silently offering me a cup. She always does this even though I never say yes. “You know I don’t drink that crap,” I say. She shrugs her shoulders as if she couldn’t care less and pours her own cup and then curls her legs under her in a chair next to me at the kitchen table, waiting patiently for whatever happens next. Lou shows up with a polite knock on the banister since we have no door.
“Hey, boss, what’s up?”
“Sit down,” I say, gesturing to the chair at the other end of the table.
“You want coffee?” Liz asks, ever the hostess.
“No thanks, Liz,” Lou says, lifting up a hand.
“Liz, this isn’t a freaking breakfast meeting here. Can you let up with the coffee already?” I snap. Liz rolls her eyes. I look back at Lou. “I’ve got a special assignment for you. Pick a team – three or four guys plus you, maybe Lenny, Rocco, Knuckles, eh, not Knuckles, it’s a finesse assignment, take some of the smarter guys – maybe Curly, Moe, and Larry – but guys with no record ’cause you’re going to be flying to New York,” I see Liz raise an eyebrow, but I ignore it. “Also, we have anyone that can draw?” I ask. Now Lou’s the one to raise an eyebrow.
“Uh, yeah boss, Elliot – I mean, Big Tony – he can draw pretty good, went to art school or sumthin’ on a football scholarship, but he dropped out when he lost his ride,” he says.
“Great. Get your team together and send Big T over here.”
“You uh, gonna tell me what this is about, boss?”
“Eventually.” I pause. “Get going.” I add, watching him hustle out of the room. Liz continues to sip her coffee and not say anything.
When Big Tony shows up I give him the article about my stone and have him create a detailed drawing of it. Then I describe Bonnie to him. It takes us three tries but on the third we nail it. Lou’s right, he’s good. Too bad he’s just a dumb thug now.
Lou comes back with Rocco, Curly, Gordo, and Bud not long after Big Tony leaves. It’s not exactly the dream team, but you work with what you’ve got. Liz comes out from her bedroom still in her robe – her hands stuffed in the little pockets – and goes directly to the kitchen for more coffee, which she, of course, offers up again. Rocco is the only one to take her up on it; I’m pretty sure he’s got a thing for her. I’ve noticed him checking her out and chatting her up. I snap my fingers at him. “Hey, this isn’t your own little personal coffeehouse, Rocco. Get over here.” Rocco joins the line. I hand Lou the two drawings. “Alright, boys, assignment number one: find this. It’s made of a rough heavy stone, it may have a thick silver chain with it. You should start looking in and around the Hudson River, a few hundred yards above and below the George Washington Bridge. Then start checking all the pawn shops and, you know, whatever underground action there might be,” I pause thoughtfully. “Assignment number two: you should look for this girl. Her name is Bonnie Braverman and she may have the stone. If she has it, it’s even more important that you get it.” I pause again, not sure how much to tell them about Bonnie. “She’s like me,” I say quietly. Lou leans forward a bit.
“What’s that, boss?”
“She’s like me,” I say, looking at them. “Strong and fast. So don’t mess around with her. Take her by surprise, get in and get out,” I add.
“Um, boss?” Lou starts tentatively, probably afraid his tongue’s going to be ripped out, since I did do that to a henchman once. “How on Earth we gonna find her? I mean, New York City, is like, huge.” The others nod lightly.
“Set her up. Start something somewhere in the city. She’ll show up. It worked for me once before and she’s nothing if not predictable,” I say. Everything’s really quiet and then Liz sips her coffee loudly and they all look at her. She doesn’t raise her eyes from the cup but pushes a thick envelope of cash across the table.
“Get going boys, there’s a flight you can catch out of LAX this morning,” Liz says. Lou grabs the envelope and starts down the stairs, the rest following him. Rocco is last and pauses at the landing. He looks back at me and takes something small and white out of his pocket and leaves it on the railing. I walk over to see what it is and some kind of horrible dread overtakes me. A part of me knows that this little piece of paper is going to change my life. That the tiny contentment I’ve gotten as head of this new makeshift family is going to evaporate like dust when I touch it. At the same time, I know it’s impossible to leave it alone.