Yellow Mama E zine

The Promise

by

Stephen Tillman

 

  

        Benson was relieved as the gate to the prison clanged shut behind him. It’d been a long three years, but at last he was a free man. He was looking forward to seeing his wife and kids. He’d also proven he was a standup guy. Carino should appreciate that.

        There was no car to pick him up. Irritated, he took a local bus into town, and from there a Trailways to the city.

        “Welcome home, Matt,” Lisa said, giving him a hug as he entered his apartment. “I thought you’d be home before now. Did you have to take any crap while you were in stir? You look even more buff than you did before.”

        “It took a while to get here because Carino didn’t send anyone to pick me up. I thought he would, but I guess he has a lot on his plate. A couple of the cons tried me out, but you can guess how that worked out.” Benson gave a feral grin. “Let me greet the kids.”

        Mike, ten, Amy, eight, and Bobbi, five, were standing behind their mother. Benson went down to one knee so his 6’4” 230-pound frame wouldn’t frighten them. Amy greeted him enthusiastically with a hug and a kiss. Mike held out his hand to shake. Benson grinned and gathered his son in with a warm embrace. Bobbi hung back, hiding behind her mother.

        She doesn’t remember me, Benson thought. She was only two when I went away. I won’t push it for now.

        “C’mon Daddy,” Amy said, grasping his hand and tugging him toward the rear of the apartment. “I want to show you the new baby. She’s really cute. Mommy lets me feed her and change her sometimes.”

        “Baby?” Benson stared at his wife. Fear showed in her eyes as she backed away from him, wringing her hands.

        “Please, Matt, believe me,” Lisa said as tears streamed down her face. “I couldn’t help it. I had three small kids and no money.”

        “Carino promised me he’d take care of you.”

        “Oh, he took care of me all right,” Lisa said, bitterly, rolling her eyes. “He told me that he’d support us ‘out the goodness of his heart’ if I was… ‘nice to him.’ I got a part-time job, but the sitter took the bulk of the funds. After a couple of months the money ran out. The landlord was hounding me for back rent. Carino renewed his offer. I wanted to refuse, but I was in a bind. I didn’t want the kids to go into the system, so I agreed. Then I got the Covid. I couldn’t hold anything down, including the pill.”

        Benson clenched his fists and clamped his jaw before he could say anything he’d later regret. He took a step toward Lisa. She retreated until she bumped into a wall. Her hands covered her face as if she expected him to punch her. In her circles it wasn’t unusual for men to beat their women for the slightest perceived offense. Benson had never hit her, but what she’d done couldn’t be considered trivial, and she couldn’t know what three years in prison would’ve done to him.

        Suddenly there was a pounding on the apartment door. A voice yelled, “Open up, Benson. We know you’re in there.”

       Scowling, Benson opened the door. Detectives Higgins and Carter, the cops who’d arrested him, strode in. He considered Higgins an asshole of the first order, but Carter had always treated him as a human being rather than a piece of dirt.

       “What do you guys want?” Benson asked. “I only got out earlier today. Even if I wanted to do something, I wouldn’t have had time.”

       “We’re checking up on Lisa, douche bag,” Higgins said. “We heard about the extra kid. If anything happens to either your wife or the baby, your ass goes right back in the slammer. And this time they’ll throw away the key. Shit, maybe the other kids aren’t yours either.”

       “No!” Lisa exclaimed before Matt could erupt. “The older kids are all Matt’s. I never had sex with anyone else until he went to prison.”

       “This is just a welfare check,” Carter said calmly, evidently trying to defuse a potentially explosive situation. “You’ve done your time. We’ll be keeping an eye on you. Get yourself a regular job and get out of the rackets. In the long run you, Lisa, and the kids will be better off.”

       “Yeah,” Higgins said. He put his arm around Amy and pulled her against him. “This one will be a real beauty. If you get sent up again, she might have to start working the streets.”

       Amy ducked away from Higgins and ran out of the room. It took all of Benson’s restraint to keep from attacking the cop, but he knew if he did, it would be his ticket back to the big house. Higgins chuckled. Carter touched his arm, and made a motion toward the door. The cops left.

       “What are you going to do, Matt?” Lisa asked.

       “That jerk-off is right. I have to get a job and it has to pay enough to support five. I suppose it’s now six. But he’s given me an idea. I’ll have to see Carino.”

***

       “Have a seat, Matt,” Verducci said, indicating a chair in front of his desk. Verducci was Carino’s right-hand man. After Benson sat, Verducci continued, saying, “The boss knows you must be upset about the kid. He wants me to clear the air. It’s not exactly what it appears to be.”

       “So explain.”

       “Lisa is a very attractive woman. Women can get just as horny as men. Especially if they’re used to regular sex. The boss was her meal ticket. Eventually she came on to him. I guess she wanted to ensure that the money kept coming. Add that to the fact that she wasn’t getting any. You know how the boss is. Can’t turn down a good-looking piece of tail.”

       Describing Lisa a “piece of tail” did not sit well with Benson, but he knew his best course of action was to “go with the flow.” At least for the short run. He said, “I explained to her that Carino promised to take care of her when I went away.”

       “I’m sure you did, and at first that was probably good enough. You know how women are. Always nervous about something. Probably figured getting it on with the boss would be a good insurance policy. You weren’t around and I suppose she figured you’d never know. But then she got knocked up. Those things happen.”

       Verducci paused, evidently to see how Benson would react to his “explanation.” Benson sat, not moving a muscle. Verducci continued saying, “I’m guessing she told you the boss forced himself on her. That doesn’t make sense. We both know he can get all the pussy he wants just by snapping his fingers. Why would he go after a woman who wasn’t willing?”

       Carino regards anything in a skirt as a challenge, Benson thought. The more she held out, the more he’d want her. But I have to make believe I’m buying Verducci’s bullshit.

       “What happened can’t be changed,” Benson said. “How do we move forward?”

       Verducci visibly relaxed. He reached into his desk, took out a large, thick, manila envelope, and handed it to Benson. “The boss wants you to know he appreciates the fact that you served three years and never said a word about his business. He knows the DA and the cops must’ve put pressure on you. Probably offering to reduce your sentence. That envelope contains ten large. It should tide you over for a while.”

       “$10,000 won’t last long in this city,” Benson pointed out. “What about giving me my old job back?”

       “Well that’s the thing,” Verducci said, rubbing his right hand over his bald head. “Convicted felons are not allowed to work in his night club.”

       Benson bristled and replied, “I was only convicted because I had to get rough to stop a guy from beating on a stripper who wouldn’t ‘service’ him. That’s what a bouncer is supposed to do.”

       “Yeah, but the guy died.”

       “It was an accident. He was drunk. I pushed him. He fell and hit his head on the corner of a table. You guys needed a scapegoat and I was it. Two to five for involuntary manslaughter.”

       “The guy’s father had all kinds of juice. Somebody had to take the rap. You were the obvious choice. But I realize we owe you. I can offer you a position working for Bertorelli.”

       “The Shylock?”

       “Yeah.”

       “So you want me to beat up on working stiffs who were stupid enough to borrow from him and can’t pay up,” Benson said, shaking his head in disgust.

       “Most of the time you wouldn’t have to do anything,” Verducci countered. “Just seeing you would scare the crap out of most guys. All you’d have to do is growl and look mean.”

       “Let me think about it.”

       “You do that,” Verducci said, getting to his feet and offering his hand. “That’s what the ten grand is for. Buys you a little time. Give me a call if you want the job. Good seeing you, Matt. I wish you the best.”

***

       “Thanks for meeting with me, Detective,” Benson said to Carter. They were sitting in a diner that was off the beaten track for both of them.

       “Not a big deal,” Carter replied. “What’s this all about?”

       A waitress came over. Each ordered coffee and a Danish. The men sat saying nothing until their food had been served. Even though their booth was well away from everyone else in the place, Benson leaned forward and spoke softly.

       “I worked for Carino for a long time before I was… sent away,” Benson said. “Not just as a bouncer either. He would bring me along to various meetings because I was… an intimidating presence. I know where a lot of the ‘bodies are buried’ so to speak. In some cases literally.”

       “We figured that. That’s why you were offered a deal. But now you’re already out. What can you gain at this point? Besides, why come to me? I don’t have the authority to offer you anything.”

       “I’m aware of that. You were one of few guys who didn’t act like a dick toward me. I want to go into witness protection. I know that’s federal. I figured you could arrange a meeting with the US Attorney on the down-low. Believe me I have stuff they’ll love. I’m even willing to testify. Provided I can get into WITSEC.”

       “I’ll see what I can do,” Carter said as he rose. He threw some money on the table and walked out.

***

       Benson opened the door to his apartment and Higgins barged in. “You moronic, shit-for-brains idiot!” the cop bellowed. “How can you be so stupid as to tell Carter you want to turn on Carino?”

       “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benson replied, trying, not particularly successfully, to remain calm. I can’t believe this schmuck knows about that, he thought.

       “You were working for Carino for God knows how long, and you don’t know Carter is on his payroll?” Higgins said, throwing up his arms.

       “I know he has cops, judges, whatever, that he pays off, but I thought Carter was an honest guy. If anyone, I thought it would be you.”

       “Why? Because I’m tough on criminals? And Carter acts like he wants to be your buddy? He drives a Benz for Christ’s sake. His wife has a beamer. Do you think they could afford cars like that on a cop’s salary? Besides, if I were working for Carino it wouldn’t be me here. It would be his goons.”

       “How did you find out Matt wants to make a deal?” Lisa asked.

       “Internal affairs has been watching Carter,” Higgins replied. He took Lisa by the arm and pushed her gently toward the back of the apartment. “They clued me in on what Matt did. That’s beside the point now. Lisa, get the kids and let’s get you the hell out of here before Carino gets here.”

       The door to the apartment burst open. Carino, Verducci, and two other thugs stormed in. Higgins went for his gun, but before he could do more than get it out of his holster, he was hit by several shots from Carino’s hoods. Verducci shot Benson in the foot. He went down with a scream.

       “Think I wouldn’t find out you were planning to squeal on me, numb-nuts?” Carino asked with a sneer. “We shot you in the foot so you’ll be disabled but not dead. I want you to watch as me and the boys have fun with Lisa. Then we’re gonna off you both. Real slow. We’ll take your kids and sell them. Good market for young virgins, boys and girls.”

       “The youngest is your kid,” Lisa said.

       “Yeah, well I got plenty of kids,” Carino said with a snort. “Her, we’ll sell to a black-market adoption agency. Get a great price for a white baby.”

       Ignoring the pain in his foot, Benson lunged forward, grabbed Carino’s legs, and pulled. The mob boss went down, cracking his head on the floor.

       “You guys get him!” Verducci shouted to his men. “Don’t kill him! We want him alive. For a while, anyway.”

       In spite of the fact that Benson was injured, the two goons were having a tough time dealing with him. Verducci went to help. Then a thunderous sound came. With the men all distracted, Lisa had picked up Higgins’s gun and emptied the entire fifteen-round magazine into Verducci and his two men.

***

       “Thanks, Johnson, I appreciate this.”

       “No problem, Janie,” Benson replied. She’d been nervous about a guy she thought might be stalking her.

       Before heading back to the restaurant, he scanned the parking area, but saw nobody. Part of his job as a bartender/bouncer was to protect the servers. He also was constantly on the lookout for associates of the people he’d helped put away. He didn’t really think they’d look 2000 miles away, but one couldn’t take anything for granted. He knew from being on the inside that organized crime wasn’t nearly as monolithic as popular fiction made it out to be. The toughest part about witness protection was getting the two older kids to remember their name was Johnson, not Benson. Hopefully, the names were close enough together so if one of them slipped up, anyone listening would just think they’d misheard.

​

        Stephen Tillman is a professor of Mathematics at Wilkes University. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Brown University. An avid reader of mysteries and science fiction, he has published several stories in both genres. His novels, Leopard’s Daughter and Leopard's Revenge have been published by Azure Spider Publications. 

​

         KJ Hannah Greenberg is eclectic. She’s played oboe, participated in martial arts, learned basket weaving, and studied Middle Eastern dancing. What’s more, she’s a certified herbalist, and an AP College Board-authorized teacher of calculus. 

Her creative efforts have been nominated once for The Best of the Net in poetry, once for The Best of the Net in art, three times for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for poetry, once for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for fiction, once for the Million Writers Award for fiction, and once for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. To boot, Hannah’s had more than forty-five books published and has served as an editor for several literary journals.

Check out her latest short fiction collection, An Orbit of Chairs:

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Chairs-KJ-Hannah-Greenberg/dp/B0CWMMM73T

 Within its pages are two tales originally published at Yellow Mama: "Alive Another Day" and "Light Notes."

Channie's new art book, Life's Colors, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGCTHJ6Z, just launched (hit "read sample" button). It contains images originally published by Yellow Mama.