"Cocksucker!" Arturo roared as he threw his cigar at the wall. 

One of his men went over to stomp it out. The floors of the building they were in weren't carpeted, but at this moment, Jimmy didn't think Artie cared much about that or anything other than the current topic of conversation. 

"That motherfucker's got some balls, sayin' that shit. How the fuck did he find out in the first place?" Arturo question heatedly. 

Jimmy calmly shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he continued stirring his small cup of coffee. It was one of the rare times he himself wasn't smoking a cigar. It being a mid morning meeting, he settled on coffee instead. It was a few days after the events at the Manhattan docks took place. Jimmy had had stayed away a bit to let the heat die down, to wait for the D'Agostinos to come see him, and to try to figure out on his own just how Arnold and his family could've gotten word about the maneuver. Sure it wasn't Jimmy's first time using the docks in Manhattan, or outside of Brooklyn to bring in his stock, but it was the first time he'd gotten caught. He was always careful, and alaways had extra insurance to make sure he didn't get caught, and that he was prepared if he did. 

"I don't know. I went over everything again and again. I can't fuckin' figure it out. Only we knew about it. The workers only knew the day of the job, but Arnold was talkin' like they knew well in advance." Jimmy explained. 

Arturo had heard the story the day after it happened from his own men, but hearing it in full from Jimmy seemed to enrage him even more. 

"Arnold fuckin' Palmeri. Fuckin' gopher boy for Gaetano. Spittin' on my name like that? I oughta slit his fuckin' throat!" Arturo threatened as he continued to pace the floor. 

Currently they were in the Happy Friends Social Club, in the Bronx. It was the current hangout for Artie and his men, belonging to his boss before him. Artie and his two trusted guards were with him in the club along with Jim, and a few other hang arounds. All of them were in the front, along with the worker behind the bar, while Jimmy and Arturo sat at a table in the back by themselves. 

"You can't do that you know Artie? It'd be you they'd find in the river after all that." Jimmy reprimanded

Artie pinched the bridge of his nose, biting back a curse. He was enraged, but trying not to cause any more damage inside the building. It was Jimmy who had to talk sense into Artie and keep him from just acting on impulse and going after Arnold. Arnold couldn't be touched without a commission okay, which Jimmy knew Artie would never get, seeing as they were in the wrong. If anything, if the commission got involved then it would end up bringing on more consequences for them then just this. James wasn't happy about giving away a couple of exotic cars, but it was better than a big tax going forward, or worse, death. 

"I know I can't touch the little rat bastard, but I gotta do somethin'. It's MY fuckin' name he spit on in the streets! If I don't do nothin' then that gets around, and I'll look weak. Pavanno won't mean shit out there, and all these people kickin' up to me start kickin' up to somebody else. That ain't fuckin' happening". Arturo explained.

He continued to pace the floor as he spoke and began to think. Jimmy knew Artie was hot tempered, he needed to do something while he was angry. It helped him remain somewhat reasonable until he fully calmed down. Sometimes he was even worse once he was calm, but he was less of a direct threat, to both himself and to others. 

"So I can't wack him. I can't hit his businesses. That'd be dangerous. If we start wackin' each other's earners, they'd come after you first. Boss and them would also start complaining about money being put at risk, so that's out too." Arturo thought aloud. 

Jimmy wasn't as experienced at these matters as Artie was. He'd like to come up with something smart or clever to help his friend out, but if it wasn't a matter of business, or a way to earn more money, it wasn't in his area of expertise. Combat and back and forth, especially when politics were involved was more Arturo's specialty, so it was wise to just let him come to a good conclusion on his own. Arturo pulled out the seat at the table that was opposite of Jimmy, and finally sat down for the first time since Jimmy finished telling him what happened. 

"I'm gonna have to ask for a sit down." Artie finally concluded. 

Jimmy was confused. 

"You wanna sit down with Arnold?" He asked. 

Arturo shot him an angry look that was more based off his mood, than the question that Jimmy asked. At least that's what Jimmy believed. 

"No. Fuck Arnold. I'm talkin' about with my people. You did use our name after all, and they still tried to poach you." Arturo explained. 

Jimmy nodded in acceptance. He wondered if there would be any way for him to get any kind of reparation for the cars he lost, but he figured voicing that aloud would be pushing his luck.   

"So you're gonna sit down with your boss to talk about this situation?" Jimmy inquired. 

Arturo let out a soft snort, and this time gave Jimmy a more sarcastic look. 

"Yeah right. The big guy wouldn't get off his ass for somethin' like this. Not enough money involved. It also don't affect his bottom line enough for him to give a shit. Nahh I gotta bring it to Frank. He'll at least tell me somethin' one way or another." Arturo said. 

Jimmy took a sip of coffee before saying anything. 

"So what's Frank like the underboss?" Jimmy asked. 

"Nah." Arturo replied with a shake of the head. "Frank's the consigliere.  He handles disputes inside and outside the family. He's the guy to see before you see the big guy about shit. He's a bit stiff, but he's solid. Respected. He should see the problem with this shit. He's got more of a head on his shoulders than the boss anyway. Off the record of course." 

"Alright, so I guess we just sit tight until you get this meeting then right?" Jimmy questioned. 

"Yeah. Just go back to business as normal. It's gonna take a few days for me to reach out and set things up for it, but when I do I want you there. It'll do better comin' directly outta your mouth. I'll give ya a call when it's go time." Arturo responded. 

He sat back in his seat and let out a sigh, showing how tiring this whole situation was when he calmed down and wasn't running on emotion or adrenaline. Jimmy could attest to wanting things to go back to being somewhat peaceful and normal, but apparently this had to be dealt with. Seeing the conversation was over, and Jimmy had a business to get back to, he got up after finishing his coffee and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder as he passed him on his way out. Arturo was probably back in his thoughts about the situation, as he didn't say anything to Jimmy on his way out. Jimmy gave Artie's two guards nods of acknowledgement on his way out, which they returned. He would see them again when they continued on with this business, as he didn't imagine Arturo going out too much while dealing with this current situation.

Francesco Capuano, or Frank as he was more commonly known as, sat at the table with a look that was a mixture of indifference, curiosity, and bothered all rolled into one. Frank was an older mobster, who came over to America straight from Sicily. He made his rise in organized crime during the days of prohibition, like most had, and had been given the trusted position of Consigliere in one of the five families once they became organized. A consigliere served as an adviser to the boss of the family, and handle disputes both inside and outside of the family, before the boss had to get involved himself. Frank was afforded certain luxuries that weren't common to most consiglieres though.

Frank had his own personal crew of underlings that reported directly to him, where as normally a consigliere would just call on people working for the family to take care of things he needed done. Frank also kept and operated out of his own social club, instead of operating out of the place the boss of the family did. Frank kept his setup the way it was from before things were organized under the commission, something the boss of the Castelli family allowed him to do. 

It had taken a few days to set up, but Artie had reached out to Jimmy once a sit down could be arranged between the two of them, and the family consigliere. Frank arranged it to be at his social club in the Bronx just before noon, so here they were. Arturo told Jimmy to meet him over at his own social club, and they'd drive over together. Upon entering the building the two of them were subjected to pat downs, though it seemed like more a formality than a necessity. Arturo or Jimmy would have to be fools to try anything in this building of Frank's, or to touch Frank period. 

Once they were done being searched, they were shown to the back of the club, where Frank sat at a table with a glass of coffee in front of him, and two guards standing behind him. Arturo walked through first, followed close by Jimmy. Arturo calmly approached with a smile on his face, and shook the hand of the older gentleman while leaning over to kiss his cheeks in greeting. He then gave nods of greeting to the two zips who were standing behind Frank. They didn't respond or return the nod, they just continued to stare at both Artie and Jimmy. 

The feeling in the room was slightly tense. Though their lives weren't in danger, Frank seemed to want to send a message over how serious he was taking this meeting. Once Artie was done with his greeting, Frank turned his attention to Jimmy. Jimmy could feel the man evaluating him, sizing him up with but a gaze. Arturo caught on and stood between the two. 

"Frank, this is Jimmy. James Corrolla, a friend of mine, he owns the car shop over in Brooklyn. Jimmy this is Frank." Arturo introduced. 

Jimmy stepped forward to shake the older man's hand. Frank himself barely moved but returned the shake with a firm grip. 

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Frank." Jimmy said. 

Frank continued to stare right at him. 

"Ernesto's kid right. You took over the car shop in Brooklyn from your father. We used to do business with him during the drought. He was a good man, he could've stuck his nose up at his own people but he didn't. You have my condolences, and my congratulations on continuing the business." Frank said in a gravely but even tone. 

Jimmy nodded his thanks, and bit back his desire to respond and tell him, it was his idea to do business with those from the underworld. He knew that "the drought" is what older wise guys referred to prohibition as, and his father did make money on helping out the mob during that time. Once he had made a good fortune though, he planned to end his dealings with people from that life. The decision to continue on profiting from those needing illegal modifications to their cars was Jimmy's, who worked hard to convince his father. Frank looked behind him and jerked his head to the front of the social club. The two men behind him instantly got the message and moved to the front leaving just the three of them in the back section alone. 

Those in the front of the club who were looking in the back, suddenly became interested in other things, such as the radio, their newspapers, or card games. It was clear they were not to listen in on the conversation that was being held in the back. Jimmy marveled at the older mobsters power. One movement of his head and a message was sent to all those in this building. He'd never seen it firsthand, and he had to admit it was impressive. Frank's attention was once again on Arturo once the section was clear. 

"What's the problem Arturo, why are we here?" Frank asked simply. 

Arturo walked to the table and took one of the seats to the side of Frank. Jimmy sat down in a chair opposite of Frank. 

"I brought Jimmy here to explain what happened between him and the D'Agostino's the other night." Artie answered. 

"You mean when he tried to bring in a shipment through the docks in Manhattan without paying the tax?" Frank inquired. 

Arturo was caught slightly off guard at Frank already having knowledge of the event, but he recovered quickly. He was probably use to a man being so high up knowing about the things their subordinates did. Jimmy however, was concerned. With the way Frank had phrased that, it didn't seem like things would be going their way. Arturo for all his charisma seemed to have one of two effects on most people. Either people bought what it was he was saying, and were all in with him. Or they tuned him out completely and were turned off by him and his bravado. Frank seemed to be the one of those in the latter end of the spectrum. 

"Yeah, something like that." Arturo said trying not to stumble on his words. "Thing is we worked it out so it wouldn't even hamper nothin' about the D'Agostino's or nothin'. Somehow Arnold fuckin' Palmeri finds out though, he goes down to the docks and starts demandin' a piece, even though Jimmy said the shipment was protected by us." He explained. 

"Is he though? Protected by us? You kickin' that up to the boss?" Frank asked.

"Of course." Arturo replied immediately, having the brains to looks somewhat offended. 

"So lemme see if I got this straight. Your friend here, brings his shipment in, on D'Agostino controlled docks. He gets caught, and throws out your name. Arnold then demands he pay tax to Richie who's in control of the docks." Frank accurately recapped. "So what is it that you seem to be so upset about exactly?" 

The way Frank said it, made it seem like they were idiots for pressing the matter. Jimmy had to give Arturo credit, because he himself felt like getting up and walking out, regretting ever have coming here in the first place. Arturo however pressed on. 

"It's the fact that Jimmy used our name. Once Jimmy dropped our name, Arnold and his fuckin' boss should've brought the matter to us. Instead the cocksucker tried to poach Jimmy. It's our name Frank, our fuckin' name! They spit on it." Arturo exclaimed heatedly toward the end.

"So you feel insulted when they tried to poach your friend here?" Frank asked. 

Arturo responded simply with a nod. He got a shrug from Frank in return. 

"So what do you want me to do about it? What do you wanna do about?" Frank asked. 

"I wanna send a message. I can't touch Arnold, or Richie. Lemme hit one of their businesses. Shake down a few of their guys or somethin'." Arturo suggested. 

"No." Frank replied firmly and immediately. 

"But Frank-" 

"Absolutely not." Frank interrupted. "I'm not letting you or your pal here get us in a war with the D'Agostino's over your hurt feelings. The two of youse tried to be clever, but you got caught. Richie's right to demand a tax. It shows bad leadership on your part for allowing this to happen in the first place." 

Frank then turned to face Jimmy. 

"Your friend didn't do you any favors bringin' you here for this. He also didn't do you no favors by tellin' you it was okay to do what you did on the docks in Manhattan in the first place. The next time you wanna bring something in, bring it in in Brooklyn. If you wanna bring it in on the Manhattan docks, then pay the tax. If you was under me pulling this shit, I'd have you wacked. Obviously, that's not gonna happen, cuz I knew your old man. You've been warned. Next time you pull this crap, Richie will have his way with you." Frank said. 

"So we just do nothin'? We're gonna lose respect out there in the streets. They're gonna think Pavanno protection don't mean shit!" Arturo argued. 

Frank shot him a glare that calmed and quieted him instantly. 

"People are gonna think what they wanna think. You put yourself in this position in the first place. You wanna sure things up on your name then you shake down your own people. Double their money, crack some heads, do whatever the fuck, but you stay away from D'Agostino, you understand me? I find out you even went over to Manhattan I won't be tellin' you nothing." Frank ominously declared. 

It was even scarier than when Arturo got angry. Frank didn't get angry, he didn't even slightly raise his voice. He just said things and commanded them in an even tone. It was easy to understand why his words carried such weight. Arturo obviously had no choice but to accept the ruling, and he didn't dare to continue arguing. Frank gave a look to someone in the front of the club, and the two zips had returned to the area in the back. Frank was calmly once again drinking his coffee after stirring it a bit. Arturo understanding that the meeting was over, got up out his chair and walked to the front. Jimmy gave a nod to Frank, who seemingly paid him no mind, and followed Arturo out the door. 

The drive back to Arturo's social club, was a silent one. An embarrassing defeat to be sure, but one Jimmy was glad Arturo seemed to be taking in stride. 

"Fuckin' old timers." Was the only thing Arturo said the whole ride. 

Not eager to press his friends anger, he didn't respond. He'd have to be more careful the next time. He just hoped Artie didn't do anything stupid in the meantime, and that the whole matter could be put to bed.