Rude Boy USA (22 page)

As he drove through the main avenues and the narrow neighborhood streets, the driver pointed out prominent places in the area that she should visit. Many of the houses resembled shacks, but the residents took pride in their homes. The driver recommended that she try a beef patty as well as some jerk chicken and insisted that she would enjoy these better than the fried chicken, Chinese food, and burgers she was used to having back at home. He also suggested the curry goat. Celia promptly told him no, as she could not stomach the thought of eating one of the goats they passed along the way. Goat was not one of the meats that she was
used to eating. They did not eat goats in Manhattan. Karlus laughed.

On their way, they passed law enforcement keeping the peace in their navy and light-blue uniforms, which resembled the air force uniforms worn in the United States. Groups of schoolchildren walked to and from school. The girls wore navy uniform dresses and white shirts. The boys had khaki tops and bottoms. Some of them were eating icy cones, and others were riding their bikes in the street. Young people in scooters intertwined with the traffic. All of the children seemed happy. Celia thought they were neat, and the mood was a departure from the doldrums and despair of Harlem.

Once Celia and her driver arrived in Kingston, which took about two hours, she sought to stop by the St. Joseph Teacher’s College Education Programme. She wanted to see what they offered and review their teaching platform. If she liked it and decided to stay, the program would help her. Despite the unrest and harsh economic climate, Celia wanted to make Jamaica a real option for her education. She took a tour of the college and met some of the administrators. She loved it and promised to let them know of her decision to return.

Celia and Karlus headed back after a meal of jerk chicken, plantains, and vegetables. She took a few patties with her to bring back to the hotel. The driver told her that they were also building more schools in the area with the help of the Cubans. He thought that maybe she could consider helping with those once they opened. This made her excited. Celia
would love to run a music program one day. They headed back along the scenic route filled with mountains, lush greenery, and exotic flowers. Throughout the ride, the cab driver flirted with her and complimented her on her beauty. She thought he was very sweet and somewhat handsome. He had a beautiful and even skin tone, which highlighted his bright smile. Karlus differed from the men she normally found attractive, but she thought that he would make a great friend and a connection for her to the mainland. He offered to help her the next time she needed something, and they exchanged contact information.

Celia asked him what else he did for a living. Karlus told her that driving a taxi was his day job, and he was a minister at night. He headed a small church locally. The taxi job helped pay for daily expenses for his family. Karlus invited Celia to his church and gave her the address. She told him that she would visit soon. Karlus asked her why she was still single. Celia was embarrassed to answer at first, but she told him that she had bad luck. Karlus responded, “There is no such thing as bad luck. God has a plan, and everything that is happening now is part of his plan.” He told her to be patient. Celia thanked him and tipped him handsomely. She returned to her room.

Celia sat down on her bed and turned on the radio. Her mind wandered back to the situation at home. Not only did the disagreement with John bother her, but thoughts about Bernie’s death haunted her. All she could think was that right before he died; they had talked about money and that
Ben may have mismanaged it. She thought that Bernie had just been too calm about it as if he’d had to fix Ben’s errors before. Since Bernie knew that she and Ben were friendly, he may have been trying to protect her feelings. Celia’s gut had told her that things did not add up with Ben, and when she’d realized this, she had decided to dial back her physical contact with him outside of work. The little trust she did have in him had diminished as doubts about his character arose in her mind. Celia was lying there mentally beating herself up with guilt over her self-inflicted stupidity regarding Ben and John. She had ignored all the signs of who they were. She realized that she had indeed worked for the mob. She questioned her motivations for staying there once she understood the setup. A good paycheck had taken precedence over common sense. Celia sat up and decided to order room service, but first she removed her velvet shawl and clothes, took a bath, and changed into her nightclothes.

While in her bubble bath, Celia could not help but think back to the cab ride over to Bernie’s home before she found him. She’d had a conversation with the driver. He’d told her about how much he loved his job and how, on occasion, he got the opportunity to drive pretty girls like her. He also met all sorts of people, like politicians and entertainers. He said that the delinquents caused trouble with his job. He had been robbed three times that year already, but he stayed because that was where the money was. Sometimes you had to do things that you questioned because the money was good.
As long as you had to make a living, you had to stay at your job unless something better came along.

John, Jerome, and Mariana had been holed up at the Yonkers safe house for some time. Mariana was getting restless. Her belly was expanding and becoming uncomfortable. She wanted to venture out to see her family and friends and she complained to Jerome about being stuck in the house all day. She did not like Yonkers very much. They began to have heated arguments, but they were never loud enough to blow their cover. Both of them were still mindful of their impending birth, and they did not want to elevate Mariana’s blood pressure. Mariana warned Jerome that she would walk out if things did not change soon. She could not have a baby under these circumstances. Jerome understood her stance and promised her that things would be better for them. He just needed her patience.

John, who had a separate room in the house, would hear the two of them talk and argue. It reminded him at times of the conversations that he and Bunny had had when they were on good terms. John missed that companionship and tried not to stress himself in worry thinking about it. He would just sleep through his troubles. He had begun losing his hair at the crown, and his hairline was slowly inching back. He did not know whether it was from genetics, years of wearing pie hats, or stress. It did not take away from his looks, as his
face remained handsome. He decided to shave his hair down to camouflage the loss. Doing this made John look more mature. He had gained ten pounds from drinking and eating Mariana’s cooking, and the extra weight was noticeable around his waistline. He made a decision to straighten up, as he never knew who might turn up, and he did not want to be out there not looking like himself. John still took great pride in his appearance and reputation.

One morning, Jerome woke John up to show him the front page of the
New York Post
. “Socialite in a Box,” the headline said. The subtitle added insult to injury. “Parts of socialite gift wrapped to family,” it read. John had the newspapers open and television on, staring at the headlines in shock. Flashing across channel four, the screen said, “Manhattan socialite found dismembered in the Drake Hotel.” Followed by that headline were Edina LeBlanc’s name and a photo of her and him together, smiling.

Things had taken a turn for the worse, and for the first time, John came to the realization that he may be in trouble. He knew he had to call his law-enforcement connections, which meant he had to get out of hiding and tell them that he and Edina were not together at the time of her murder. He was not ready to publicize this, but he had no other choice. Seeing the headlines upset him. He and Edina did not get along, but he never wanted to see her physically hurt. He was not mourning, but he did feel responsible for not having the situation under control. He knew her parents had to be devastated and felt that he had to call them and put on a
show. Bernie would never have let things get this bad or proceeded without a strategy. John had managed to flub both of these matters, and he felt that he failed the entire operation and everyone involved.

The sadness turned to worry, as neither he nor anyone else they knew on a personal level had heard from Celia or Ben. John wondered whether Celia had met a similar fate. The very thought of that happening broke his heart. He would go off the deep end if something ever happened to her. John was not terribly concerned about Ben, as he was a man and could take care of himself. John put on his clothing, told Jerome and Mariana that he had to go, and went to the precinct where he knew the officials. He made sure to tell the two of them that he would return as he knew his presence in the city right now was not in his best interest. He wanted to make sure he was not implicated in Edina’s murder and to put out an official missing person’s APB on Celia.

Law enforcement informed John that Edina had filed a police report a few days before she was found. She told them that she had been robbed and alerted them that members of the Ambrosino family were harassing her over money. John told them that the Ambrosino family had been giving them issues and had been at it for some time. The detective told John that the Ambrosino family was already under investigation because of the recently enacted laws against organized crime, as were a few others who may have been involved in mob activity. The Ambrosino family, especially Enzo and the late Dante, were high on their list of people to prosecute,
but they needed evidence to build a case. This made John a little uncomfortable, but he knew that since Bernie was no longer there and Chimera had left no trail of their activities, neither he nor Jerome had anything to worry about unless Ben snitched.

The detective told John that they had discovered fingerprints on the box Edina was found in and shoe prints in the carpet. They were currently trying to match those. They had already interviewed workers at the hotel she was staying in and the complex where their marital home was located. He also informed John that Edina had specifically named Ben in her robbery and said he had stolen almost a million dollars from her. They were still trying to locate him.

“That son of a bitch. Fuck that motherfucker,” John cursed. The detective asked John if he thought that Celia would be with Ben. “I hope not. She doesn’t have anything to do with any of this. She’s a smart girl, a good woman,” John answered. The detective suggested that if they found one, perhaps that might lead them to the other. He hoped that the outcome would be different this time.

“Why would he steal money from Edina? He wasn’t around,” John said.

“Maybe he was in on whatever transpired,” the detective answered.

“He disappeared. They could have him, too. We could not find him,” John said. He was careful not to say too much to the detective, although he had his own reservations about Ben. Despite the tension between Ben
and him, John always stayed true to the code of Omertà, which they all swore to uphold when they joined. The code said that an associate should never go to government authorities to seek justice for a crime and never cooperate with authorities to investigate wrongdoing against an associate. If the government questioned you, you were clueless about the details.

John became heated at the thought of a possible betrayal by Ben, but he did not have enough information to connect the dots. Why would Ben kill Edina for money and take Bunny? John figured killing Edina would be Ben’s way of getting back at him. He was not sure because that would not make sense either. Ben knew that Edina and John were not close. Their continued relationship would have left him open to pursue Bunny. John realized that Ben was a degenerate and a druggie, but he had known Ben long enough to know that he would not kill without a reason. To him, Ben was a crook, perhaps, but not a killer. It did not make sense to him.

John voluntarily left his fingerprints and any other information that the authorities felt they needed from him and proceeded to go to Edina’s parents’ home in Westchester. The police had already informed them of the progress in the investigation. For the first time since John and Edina were married, the family embraced him in the midst of their mourning. He and her parents put their differences aside and jointly planned her service at the synagogue and burial in Jewish tradition. Both occurred within twenty-four hours, and John attended
and participated. He was not sure whether the truce was genuine, but he accepted it and decided to close this chapter of his life once everything was over.