Oil of Roses Ch. 28

On her way out, she passed the hospital cafeteria, where her attention was drawn to a table full of people by their echoing laughter.

A large, bear-like man, a tiny doll-like woman, a woman with a physique Susan thought of as "Russian Tractor Woman", a pretty pear-shaped woman and a blonde with a swimmer's body were talking and laughing loudly enough to attract a lot of attention. She smiled to herself as she passed, her pace never slowing.

She found Danny circling the block as he was supposed to, from 1 PM to 3PM, and within a few minutes she was on her way back to Nick's private suite.

She giggled to herself. With the possible exception of fucking Benjie, this had been the most fun she'd had on a job in quite awhile and knowing what was next on the agenda for Benjie had sweetened the experience somewhat. Overall, a good night's work.

* * * * *

"- so there's Short Stuff there, trying to convince her mom and dad that she was the one who'd drunk all of her dad's beer... lying her ass off, putting on the lamest and most haphazard 'drunk' routine her dad had ever seen. All the time, not twenty feet away, there's our boy Harry, passed out on the floor of the bathroom, in plain sight of his parents, lying in a pool of his own puke, smelling like a brewery," Karen said.

"So her daddy looks at her, trying hard not to crack up because he knows his wife is wanting something real Old Testament over this, and he asks her 'Well, if you're the one who drank all my beer, why's your brother passed out in bathroom in a puddle of vomit?' To which Short Stuff replies-"

"Bad tuna fish?" Nicki said, a little girl voice.

As her entire audience roared with laughter, Karen continued. "So sure as shit her dad's trying not to lose it now and even her mama might have cracked a tiny smile, so they take her upstairs and put her to bed. Her daddy told me they fed her chicken soup and Sprite soda, because her stomach was going to be upset from 'all the beer she'd drank', just pampered her like a princess for trying to cover for Harry."

"Of course, they told me soon afterwards that they didn't believe a word of it and that if I ever did it again, they were going to paddle my ass until it could be used as a lighthouse, which was, I hasten to add, a frequently heard and ofttimes implemented threat around our house," Nicki added.

"So what did they do about poor Harry?" Tamara asked, her voice full of concern.

"Oh, they could see he was in no danger of gagging or choking, he was lying on his side and appeared to have gotten everything out of him anyway, so they left him there," Karen replied. "His dad said that when Harry finally got up, they told him the first thing he had to do was clean up his mess, rinse off his clothes in the toilet, put them in a plastic bag they'd given him, and then take a shower.

"After all of that, his dad said, Harry got his paddling. He said it was the only time he'd ever seen a child being spanked on the bottom but holding his head in pain.

"Then, as was the rule in the house, they never spoke of it again, except in the way of telling the story for its humor value, which is how I heard it."

"Gotta say as aversion therapy it worked too," Eddy said. "Took Harry a long, long time to be able to look a beer in the face again."

Tattie had missed seeing them as she walked down the hall, but the sound of their laughter brought her back to the cafeteria. * * * * *

"-and so I imagine she's either made her escape already, will make it soon, or is making it as we speak.

Nick tried hard to avoid even the vaguest flicker of his eyes towards his watch. "Any questions?"

Margo looked at him with a mixture of gratitude and sadness. "No Nick... no questions. Thank you... more than I can say."

"On the subject of thanking me... I have a favor to ask."

"Anything..."

"From time to time, in our business, employees get hurt, and in circumstances where they can't go to the hospital without facing a lot of inconvenient questions, so they generally go to doctors who are, shall we say, a little shady. Only problem is, those doctors are pretty much known to all sides, us, the police, the Russians, the Chinese, the Mexicans, the Columbians... basically the law and anyone who walks on the wrong side of the law. That means that my people risk arrest or worse even going to those physicians.

"I was wondering if, on occasion, under extreme circumstances..."

"Of course Nick... although I think for the kind of injuries you're discussing, a clinic would be helpful and I can't see them where I work... even at night. Too much security..."

"Not to worry, if I need your services, there will be a place with equipment and supplies made available. I... I don't like asking this... but things are going to get very hot for me and mine very soon. These men... they may be criminals, they may be murderers... but they're mine to take care of. I've known most of them all my life.

"I have your cell number, if I need you, someone you won't recognize will call and ask to speak to Marjorie... if you answer, you act confused, in case someone's listening in, take down the number he'll give you and call it, they'll tell you where to go. If it goes to voice mail, he'll leave the number.

"Thank you... even if you only save one of my people's lives, you're doing far more for me than I did for you.

"I've got to get out of here... I've got a funeral to attend. Thank you again."

Carol and Kelly hugged him goodbye, and then Margo hugged him, whispering in his ear, "I don't care what you think of yourself, Niccolo Philouma, you're a good man."

He smiled and then he and men were gone.

* * * * *

It was sunny, a clear, bright, sunny afternoon with a few high clouds providing accent to the deep blue sky. Birds sang in the trees and the ever-present squirrels carried on their business all around the crowd of people.

It wasn't the kind of day you think about when you think of funerals.

All of the rites; the Vigil for the Deceased, the Funeral Liturgy and the Rite of Committal, had been officiated over by a priest who obviously had never even met Philip Philouma. His well-meant words complimenting the deceased were at best a bad joke, at worst an insult to the faith of the believers who knew Philip in life.

As Nick stood by the graveside with his father, Rosie, her husband and her two children, he thought to himself that it was the last time his brother would embarrass the Family or insult anyone.

As the massive casket was lowered into the ground, Nick knelt by his father's wheelchair, appearing to console him, in reality, whispering to him.

"Everyone is either in place, or will be after they leave the get-together at the house. I'll be ducking out as soon as I can."

"I don't want you goin' in nowhere 'til you know it's safe," his father croaked. "I ain't gonna lose you, 'specially not today."

"Don't worry Father, the only place I'm even thinking of going in is Pedachenko's place, and I won't unless the boys say it's clear."

"Good boy... smart boy."

An hour and a half later, it was official, Niccolo Philouma was head of the Philouma family, the ring had been kissed by every made man in the family, most of who quickly left for other duties. His father was serving as his consigliore for the time being and Carmine Vicenzio was in line for the position, once he had a little time to learn the ropes.

As Nick ducked out of the funereal gathering at the family home, which had been in reality his 'coronation', the 'soldiers' of the Philouma family were hitting the Russian Mob hard all over the city, going all out in an attempt to eliminate the threat from the 'Redfellas' and cause anyone else considering a grab for power to think twice. It was bloody, it was violent, it was, for the most part, successful.

Elsewhere there were quieter operations going on, some less violent, but no less effective and on the whole, far more profitable.

The hacked information on the Chinese money laundering and the account numbers where it all ended up eventually were sent to the Justice Department, and if the Chinese noticed that the accounts were shy a few million each, who were they going to complain to?

Men dressed as Immigration officials were performing raids across the city and both the Mexican Mafia and the Columbians were finding themselves suddenly very low on troops, especially as none of the 'deported' individuals were ever to be seen again.

In the meantime, gunfire, explosions and the crackle of flames continued to provide the accompaniment to the Philouma Family's dealings with the Russians.

* * * * *

She wasn't sure why she'd come... maybe just to have a quick gloat... maybe to see if fate would give her a shot at revenge. But she'd taken time off from her new job, time she really couldn't afford to take off since she hadn't had time to 'work' her way up in the company. She'd taken a cab since her car was in the shop and she couldn't afford a rental. She was riding the bus to and from work, barely making ends meet, and the reason for all this was sleeping in the hospital bed before her.

They'd sure as fuck done a number on him, she thought. Pity they hadn't finished the job... she looked around and realized there were far too many devices monitoring his condition. Anything she did would probably have the staff running in before she could make her escape and she didn't know enough about the hospital to create enough of a diversion to give her a clear shot at him. And knowing Eddy, that fucking gorilla, there were people watching him that she didn't know about, but who'd probably already seen her.

She realized she'd pushed her luck already and it was past time for her to leave. Turning toward the door she came face to face with a large male chest wearing a black Harley-Davidson t-shirt.

"Figured you'd show up, bitch," Eddy said.

* * * * *

"Mrs. Sapperstein, would you come with us downtown, please? We have some questions we'd like to ask you about some material we found on your husband's computer."

"That's Dr. Wohler-Sapperstein... certainly, let me grab my purse."

* * * * *

Karen and Patricia were pulling into the parking garage at the hospital when they passed Eddy in his truck leaving.

"Who's that in the truck with him?" Patricia asked.

"Holy-shit-on-a-cracker, that's Angie!"

"Angie? Harry's ex, skank-bitch-from-hell Angie?"

"Yeah, Angie!"

Karen wheeled their car around once she was inside the garage and after dealing with a very confused parking lot attendant rolled out into the street. Both the women craned their necks around, back and forth, searching in vain for some sign of Eddy's truck.

"Surely he won't hurt her, not after being seen with her in a public place like this," Patricia said, looking worried nonetheless.

"Right now I've got no damn idea what the fuck Eddy will do," Karen replied, "and that's a very scary thing to have to say."

Unnoticed by either of them, an unmarked police car drove past them with Margo in the back.

* * * * *

Nick coughed. "Can't believe that fuck Pedachenko booby-trapped his own club..."

Smoke swirled around the basement room that had until recently been Dmitri Pedachenko's office. Through the door, Nick could hear the screams and cries of the children Pedachenko had kept there, stock for his trade.

"Shoulda expected it, chess-playin' bastards," croaked Izzy. "Never trust no one who passes up poker for chess."

"I'll remember that in the future," Nicki groaned. "Any of your phones still work? Mine's a mess... we gotta get out of here... grab whatever of the children are still alive, leave the rest."

Izzy got up from where the shock of the blast had thrown him. He looked at his suit in disgust, "Fuck, I landed in Dmitri... I think I'm gonna hurl."

"Fuck hurling, what about the money?" Nick's other bodyguard, Albert, asked.

"Fuck the money. We've got to go," Nick replied, struggling to his feet.

"Boss, you're bleeding," Izzy said, his eyes widening.

"No shit? Huh..."

And Nick Philouma fell to the floor amid the dust and rubble.

With the end of Chapter 28, "Oil of Roses" goes on a brief, or maybe not so brief, given the speed of my writing lately, hiatus as I work on getting out some chapters of my other two series, which haven't been updated since October.

Don't worry, the story definitely hasn't ended.