December 1, 1932 

Pete had a sit down that he had to attend, it was with Angelo Mazzetti and Joe Profaci there was confusion with a load of brown powder that was taken by one of Pete’s associates.  Mazzetti's men got rough and put Pete's guy in the hospital for what appears to be anywhere from three weeks up to two months.  Pete knew that his guy was just doing a pick up and would never try to sell the product.  Pete was instructed to resolve the issue and keep the peace.  Pete agreed to do as instructed.  Mazzetti said that he was willing to let the offense go but the load will stay with them.   Pete told them that was unacceptable.  He would give them ten percent of the load and  Pete would cover the cost of the hospital bill and eat the loss of the earnings his associate would have made him while his guy is bed ridden.  

Mazzetti replied half but Pete said he was willing to go fifthteen percent.  Mazzetti laughed and then replied that Pete wasn't here to deal squarely.  Profaci told Mazzetti to have a seat.  Profaci said it was going through the neighborhood not being sold there.  Twenty percent was fair which Pete agreed to and Pete had to eat the hospital bill and the lost earnings.  Again Pete agreed for the sake of peace.  However, Mazzetti needs to allow the trucks to travel unmolested going forward.  

When Pete returned to his boss, he explained the agreement that he made.  His Godfather shook his head and told Pete he gave up too much and that the nut from the full load is still expected.  Pete nodded knowing that now he was responsible for the lost twenty percent and the day wasn’t going to get any better.   Pete had to go cross town and talk with Charlie and Frank to explain the same damn thing.  Pete wasn’t going to make a penny and still had to support his associate bills, lost earnings and feed his family.  The Godfather gave Pete advice to start having the shipment come into the country at another port.  Pete smiled and nodded that he understood and promised that this will never happen again and all loads will have protection until he could change the routes.

Pete was worried about how Mazzetti got his hooks in his business.  Then he remembered that Mazzetti had a lot of people that worked the docks.  They watch what gets loaded onto what trucks.  To know what loads was what required the Dock Master or Coordinator who does the assigning of the off loading and checking which trucks are where picking up what loads.  His guy was out that day but hasn’t been seen since.   Pete didn't think anything about it at the time but needed to do some investigating into this mishap.  

His Godfather gave him the nod to go handle business.  Pete stood up and left his office, as he walked out he was stopped by one of the Don’s men that he had a phone call.  Pete went to the phone and as soon as he picked up the phone he was being told that there was another issue.  Pete inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly as he hung the receiver to the phone back onto the phone prungs.  He immediately pulled out his pack of smokes and placed a cigarette on his bottom lip and dropped the top lip down to hold it in place.  He lit it and shook his head as he walked away.    

Part two coming soon.  
 

Part Two

December 1, 1932  

Pete drove to one of the gambling dens in brooklyn he had Neri, Nails and Joey who was driving with him.   Pete, Neri and Nails walked into the house and saw the tables overturned and broken glass on the floor broken chairs and two of their normal card players sitting in chairs holding what was once a white cloth now blood red to their heads.  Tiny the door guard was bleeding from his leg. Tiny took one for the team.  Pete looked at Ginger and walked over to her slowly as he tried not to step in the broken glass on the floor.

Ginger told him that John was cracked in the nose and it's broken.  Henry got cracked over the head for refusing to give up his wedding ring.  Pete rolled his eyes and then looked around the room again.  Ginger continued to explain that they took the money from all five players and the bank.  They even took the money from the girls.  Pete's eyes widened; he never knew a robber to take money from the working girls too.  Ginger told him that one of the guys that hit them had a baby face with a southern accent when he spoke.  

Pete asked how much did the thieves take and Ginger handed him a slip of paper the amount was fifty two thousand.   Thirty thousand from the players and twenty from the bank and a few hundred from the girls and the rest was from the staff including Ginger.  Pete nodded knowing that he heard of a bank robber who was called Baby Face Nelson who normally worker the mid west and knewing that the clown and his gang were half way out of town by now.  He laughed, shaking his head mumbling to himself.  He spoke to everyone in the room and told the players that they will be made whole tomorrow morning to include the wedding ring.

He told Ginger to call Dale Kriger to bring his wedding bands over now so the man can match the ring stolen so his wife doesn't kill him.  To call Doc Rowe to help the two men and Tiny.  He told Tiny that going forward he was now working for him directly as an associate but he was going to have to tough it out until Doc Rowe gets here.  He waved Nails over and told him to beef up security and get metal doors to stop break ins for all their spots.  Pete told Ginger to tell the girls to take today off and return tomorrow night and he would give them each a C note for keeping their mouths shut and the money each one lost.  Ginger knew she would be reimbursed also.  

Pete waved Neri over and handed him the slip of paper and told him to get the cash plus another five grand to pay Doc Rowe and get this place repaired today.   Pete handed Ginger a few c notes to ensure that the players get home and picked up tomorrow to play and to allow them to have fun with the girls of their choice tomorrow as a thank you for playing with them.  Pete was so angry that he wanted to get out of there then Ginger told him he needed to call Samantha because she was trying to reach him about twenty minutes before he arrived.

Pete looked at Ginger expecting more information but she didn’t have any.   Then the phone rang and Ginger answered and said he’s here now and handed Pete the phone.  Pete took it and braced for the worse.  He nodded and when he was done he yelled what the fuck is this Hit Pete Day.  He walked out to the car where Joey was sitting behind the wheel.   He got in the car and headed to Samantha who was in Queens.

Part three coming soon.

December 1 1932

Pete made it to Samantha’s place and she was heated when he walked in.  Pete knew what the problem was.  She had to pay out sixty thousand dollars for the numbers that over four hundred people hit.  Pete wanted to know how and he was told it was fixed normally 25 five people may hit fifty tops but four hundred and twenty one people.  She told Pete that Dutch changed the winning numbers and so did the other betting houses.  Pete told her that the people paid, we took their money so pay them.  Word will spread and business will increase.  

Pete asked how is it that we didn’t see this?  Samantha said each runner came in with that number from seven to ten bets on those numbers from across the city.  Pete said no, this shit was rigged, someone put the f'n fix in.  We got set the fuck up and we needs to get to the bottom of this, we gotta correct this so it never happens again.  Pete knew that the winning numbers are based on the last three numbers of the amount of dollar that was waged for the six horse race at the tracks.  He reassured Samantha that he would get to the bottom of this and the losses the family will have to eat for the day.    

Pete wanted Samantha to start having the number runners pay attention to the number of bets they take in once they list the same numbers in the sam order four times one their routes they need to stop for the day and return to the house.  This way we can control the losses.  Pete went back to the car and spoke with Joey. Joey said the accountant that counts the dollars collected for the race hands the total to the manager and that number is posted on the radio and the last three numbers determine the winners of the numbers for the day it could be fixed at anytime.   

Pete told Joey to take Apples and Jewels and go over the numbers again with the accountant and verify they collected what was posted at the track.   They need to know if the accountant made a mistake or was it fixed.  If it's fixed they needed to bring the accountant to see the family either way they now needed to use two accountants per race and rotate those accountants every week.  Give them the names of accountants we know and trust.  Make it guys that know to call us if they are approached by any fucking body.  

As Pete was walking away he told Samantha to keep her head up this was on him.  He and Joey went back to the car and Pete told him to drive him to the bar on Mulberry street.  Pete wanted a place to think and figure things out.  Then Joey told him that they still needed to see Paul Grasso in the Bronx.  Pete leaned his head back looking up at the car ceiling and agreed to head their first then back to Manhattan.  

When they arrived on on the block where Grasso lived they saw the police everywhere.  Joey drove by slowly and they saw a body covered with a sheet so you couldn’t see the face of the body.    The body was being wheeled out of Grasso place.  Joey asks what they should do and Pete barked, the Mulberry Street Bar!  As they slowly drove off Pete told Joey to call the desk sergeant for the eight precinct and find out what was going on there at Grasso’s place and whose body the cops wheeled out.  Pete pulled out his small flask and took a hefty swig from it. 

When they got back to Manhattan Joey parked in front of the bar.  They both exited the car and walked into the bar and Joey went straight for the phone.  Pete walked behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of Irish whiskey.  He filled a shot glass and drunk it all in the first attempt.  

Part four

December 1, 1932   

Joey spent an hour waiting on a call back from their guy in the eighth precinct.  When the phone rang Joey was there getting the scoop.  After twenty minutes he approached Pete.  He told Pete that it was Grasso and word is his people were hot.  Grasso was shot four times and the police know he had a meeting set with you and the police are coming here to talk with you.  Pete had to laugh asking can this day get any worse.    

Pete was still in the Mulberry Street Bar.  They were closing down when Eugenio Cantti walked into the bar.   He sat at the table with Pete and told him that half the marks in his ledger just paid their loans off in full with the vig.   Pete, being half drunk, looked at him and told him to repeat that.  Cantti said forty two guys walked into his office and paid their entire loan off with their vig.  Pete knew then that someone paid off their loans and gave them a lower rate.  

Eugenio said Profaci controls most of the loan sharking in Brooklyn.  Maybe he bought their markers, cutting you out and increasing his business.  Pete wanted to know what percent was that loss and what was the amount paid versus potential gains?  Eugenio said these guys held the biggest purse fifty three percent of the total shi business is gone.    They paid back one hundred and seventy two thousand dollars that could have made us about eight hundred to eight hundred and fifty thousand a year just from the vig. 

Just then Pete heard the police sirens and then the tires screeching to a stop.  Pete took that last shoot from his glass and then stood up.  Police Captain Henry O'keefe, O’keefe a plain clothes detective and several other officers walked in yelling that they were looking for Peter Gangi.    Pete raised his hand and two officers stepped in front of the Captain and had Pete turn around and put the cuffs on him.  They walked him out and put him in the wagon.  Pete kept a smile as he realized that this was getting deep and it was not a dream.  

He knew what precinct he was going to and he was going to take a few lumps before he is released.  Joey was on the phone calling Pete’s attorney.  The police paddy wagon pulled off and within twenty five minutes Pete was pulled from the wagon and walking to an interrogation cell.  He was still handcuffed but now those cuffs were connected to a bar welded to the floor.  O’keefe took off his jacket and started rolling up his sleeves while smiling.  Another cop was rolling up a thin telephone book and taping it so it would not unroll.  O’keefe started asking questions and Pete said nothing.

O’keefe started telling Pete how much he hated dagos guinea wops.  Pete laughed and call him his Irish, Mick friend that wished he was a Guinea Wop.  Then the lights went out and then Pete found himself waking up as the other cop asked how did he like that?  Pete smiled and replied try removing these cuffs and try that again.  Then Pete saw the swing coming and again Pete was waking up.  Then the Captain started asking the same questions again.  Pete’s only reply was he needed a better lawyer, one that can drive faster.  Then the Captain punched Pete in the face and then in the ribs.  The other officer started hitting Pete in the ribs with the rolled up book. 

Part five coming soon

Dec 2, 1932

Pete's eyes slowly opened. It took him a few minutes before he could keep them open and then he realized he was on a gurney and he was being wheeled to an ambulance.   His lawyer was walking alongside him telling him that he got him released and that the cops overstepped and he would be taking them to court.  Pete smiled and fell asleep thinking he was dreaming.  Then when they lifted the gurney into the vehicle Pete felt the pain in his ribs and eyes.  He let out a painful grunt as his gurney was strapped into the back of the ambulance.

He was taken to the local hospital as he had a couple of cracked ribs.  The doctors wrapped him up as Pete grunted as the bandages went around his ribs and then the doctors put a little plaster on the bandages to help ensure Pete didn’t remove them and give him a little support when he moved around.   Pete wasn’t talking nor was his attorney.  Nails Apples and Popeye were in the room with him.  The doctor was done and told them that he would be back in a few minutes to make sure that cast was set properly.   Pete looked at the attorney and the attorney started gabbing that when he arrived at the police station Pete was out cold and he demanded that they release him and get an ambulance to take Pete to the hospital.  

Pete knew they worked him over because he could hardly move and he could only see out of one eye.  Pete asked Apples to hand him a mirror and when he looked in he saw a face that looked like it belonged in a horror movie.  Pete saw a swollen face that was blue and black.  His jaw was sore but not broken.  Pete told the Attorney to get the names of the younger cop that worked him over.  Pete didn’t want the cops touched but wanted his address and his connections.

Pete told the boys that they couldn’t touch cops doing their jobs was a taboo.  Things could turn on them and everyone in the life; if the public turns against them.  He told them he had a plan to set the young punk up and if it works he’ll lose his job and then he’ll repay him in full with interest.  Pete told the Attorney to get them in front of one of their judge’s and work to get them both suspended. To get Jimmy Walker the Mayor on this to draft up other abuse claims and violations that they have to help the Judge make the call easier.   Pete told Nails to put some betting slips from the past four days and some cash in the captain's house in the garage if he had one and hide the money in there too.  

Pete told Apples to get a few of the boys to pull security around his apartment and that everybody needs to report to him there.  Popeye was instructed to get Jewels and the both of them needed to stick with him going forward until all this crap has been handled and they have no more issues with any of their rackets.  Pete confessed that he doesn’t know why everything was under attack but they needed to be careful and keep their heads on a swivel.  The Doctor returned and checked over Petecast and took another look over his face and then gave Pete a few pain tablets and his release papers.

Stay tune to the next installment. Gangi's Collects