The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (6 page)

As De Niro and his brother-in-law exited the vehicle a young Mexican man named Concho jumped into the driver’s seat. Concho was the head mechanic on the estancia. De Niro hired him after he caught him trying to steal one of his most expensive sports cars. While waiting for the police, De Niro engaged Concho in conversation, in Spanish. He was greatly impressed by the young man’s knowledge of automobiles in general and of his fleet of vehicles in particular. They both shared a love of finely made machines. By the time the police arrived, De Niro had dropped the charges and offered Concho a job as mechanic. Within a year he was put in charge of De Niro’s entire fleet of vehicles. Concho had a small team assigned to him, all of them family members of his. Together they maintained all of De Niro’s sports cars, SUV’s, one stretch limo, off-road vehicles, farm tractors and equipment, trail bikes, motorcycles, boats - De Niro owned three, a luxury yacht he kept docked in Newport Beach, CA and a speed boat and fishing boat he transported back and forth to Lake Mead, jet skis, as well as De Niro’s Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible, his Bentley Azure Convertible Mulliner and his favorite, a midnight blue (with white racing stripes) Shelby GT500 Mustang that Carroll Shelby’s Special Performance Plant in Las Vegas rebuilt into a 725 hp “Super Snake.”

De Niro liked the passion he saw in the young man.

“
¿Hola hombre, que pasa?”

“
¿No mucho, cómo es usted jefe? Replied a grinning Concho as he sped away, kicking up a little dust to William’s dismay.

De Niro put his hand on William’s back as they walked into the hacienda.

“
Is everything under control with the barbeque?”

“
Yes sir, people started arriving about five minutes ago. I’m having them escorted around the side of the hacienda.”

“
Very good, did the Tompkins family arrive yet?”

“
No, sir, their plane should have just touched down. I sent Edgar with the limousine to meet them.”

“
Excellent, it’s always great to see my godson.”

About a month after 9/11, Fireman Keith Tompkins, the man who saved De Niro’s life on 9/11, received a call from De Niro thanking him for his heroism. Tompkins told him it was all part of the job but De Niro would have none of that. As he was on the phone, Tompkins’ doorbell rang. De Niro told him to answer the door while he remained on the phone with him. The man at the door identified himself as “Michael Anthony,” (De Niro told Tompkins later he got the idea from the old TV show, “The Millionaire”) and handed Tompkins a letter containing a note of thanks from De Niro. Inside the note was a certified check for one million dollars, tax-free. It took De Niro more time and effort than he thought it would to convince Tompkins that it wasn’t a prank. The two men were close friends ever since, mostly keeping in touch by email, text messages and the occasional phone call. De Niro also made it a point to meet up with Tompkins every year, on September 11. They both attended memorial services down at “Ground Zero,” as it was now known, with other survivors as well as family and friends of victims.

Tompkins had honored De Niro by naming his second child after him and asking him to be his godfather. De Niro looked forward to seeing young Cris every year and taking him to a Yankees game with his dad. This was the first time that Tompkins and his family were visiting Las Vegas. Tompkins surprised De Niro with the visit and was intending to stay at a Strip hotel, but De Niro insisted that he and his family all stay at Estancia De Niro. De Niro’s brother-in-law Mugsy was staying in the large guest house but he immediately offered it to the Tompkins family and moved into one of the smaller casitas for the duration of their stay.

De Niro walked into his large kitchen and grabbed two Stella Artois tall neck beers from one of his refrigerators. He popped the caps on both and handed one to his brother-in-law. Both men walked out onto the large patio in the back of the house and sat down at one of the tables. William had assigned Aurelio and his brother Arturo, two of the best cooks on De Niro’s whole staff, to man the two large grills. They were already turning out steaks, chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs. Aurelio’s wife Rosita prepared a variety of Mexican dishes – tacos, burritos, tamales, enchiladas – and she had a fajita station set up along with a table filled with salads, chips, pretzels and dips. To drink, there was beer, wine, sangria, soda, lemonade and water and for dessert there would be ice cream and toasting marshmallows over the grills. Music was playing throughout the whole yard area and Richard and Louis were inviting their friends to change into their bathing suits and join them in their large pool. Some of the other dad’s and the coaches came by and clanked their bottles of beer against De Niro’s thanking him for his hospitality. De Niro was gracious to everyone but he excused himself when William told him that the Tompkins family had arrived.

“
Mugsy, let’s welcome Keith and Yvonne.”

“
This is the first time I’ll get to meet them away from the 9/11 services,” Ricci said, as he got up from his chair.

Both men made it the front door just as Tompkins, his wife Yvonne, his daughter Kendra and his son Cris were walking from the car. The kids ran right past De Niro after giving him a hug, heading for the back.

“
They heard about the party from Edgar.” Tompkins said as he shook De Niro’s hand. The two men hugged and patted each other on their backs and then Tompkins and Ricci did the same.

“
The kids are getting bigger every time I see them. I’m gonna be looking up at my godson pretty soon, I think!”

After kissing and hugging Yvonne, De Niro moved aside to allow Ricci to do the same.

“
The boys were so excited that you all were coming to visit.”

“
I hope we’re not an inconvenience, Cris. You know we could stay on the Strip and just visit you here,” Yvonne said slipping her arm around De Niro’s as he led them to the yard through the house.

“
Not a chance. Besides, it’s not like we’re cramped here.” De Niro winked as he said it. “I put you up in the main guest house. There’s an SUV parked in the driveway with the keys in it. You can use it to get around town, or if you prefer, Edgar is available to take you anywhere you want to go in the limo.”

De Niro motioned William over.

“
Keith and Yvonne Tompkins, I’d like to introduce you to my Personal Assistant, William Brett.”

William bowed slightly and then offered his hand to both.

“
It’s a pleasure to meet you sir … madam.”

“
If you need anything, just ask for William. He runs things here on the ranch.”

“
The only thing I need is a nice cool glass of sangria and to see your two cuties!” Yvonne replied as she headed out to the patio.

After the three men fetched an assortment of food onto their plates, De Niro led them back to the table where he and his brother-in-law had been sitting. William brought them three ice-cold tall necks.

“
So, I have to say, Keith, I was surprised when you told me you were coming to visit.”

“
It was long overdue, Cris. Yvonne and the kids have been after me forever to bring them out here. Cris Junior talks to your boys through their X-Box games and all I hear is, ‘Daddy, we HAVE to go out there, Richard and Louis say it’s SO nice out there!' Besides, I … wanted to talk to you about something.”

“…
Everything okay with your family?”

“
Everything’s fine with us. You saw to that, Cris. The house is paid off, so are the cars and we have college savings accounts set up for Kendra and Junior. I finally broke down and let Yvonne go on a shopping spree for herself. Even with all that money in the bank, I still got indigestion when I saw the credit card bill.”

De Niro winked at Ricci as both men laughed. De Niro cut a piece of steak on his plate and savored it in his mouth then he washed it down with a swig of beer.

“
I told you years ago to do that. The money’s yours Keith. I’m not gonna ask for it back, you know.”

“
I know. It was the greatest gift … I just needed time to adjust to it. Yvonne, on the other hand, didn’t need any time.”

The men laughed again. De Niro took another swig of his beer.

“
So, how’s life at the firehouse, now that you’re a lieutenant and congratulations, again, on your promotion.”

“
It’s got its ups and downs. I don’t think I want to make captain. I have another two years before I make twenty, then I think I’ll call it quits.”

“
Well, I’m glad to hear that. I know from personal experience that being one of New York’s bravest is one of the most dangerous jobs. They definitely don’t pay firemen enough.”

De Niro could see that something was on his friend’s mind.

“
So Keith, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Keith flashed a quick look at Ricci who was busy eating his sizzling steak fajita.

“
Could we take a walk, Cris? Do you mind Mugsy?”

Ricci barely looked up from his food.

“
Not at all brother, go to it!”

Both men stood up and De Niro nodded to Keith to follow him. De Niro grabbed two more Stellas as he passed through the kitchen on the way to his study. The study in Casa De Niro was the size of a small library, large and airy and lined on all sides with large mahogany book shelves – something else De Niro and Lisa had in common, they loved to read.

De Niro took a seat on one of two sofas that lined a tremendous fireplace. Handing him one of the tall-necks, he motioned to Tompkins to sit on the other, facing him.

“
So, what’s up?”

Tompkins took a long pull from his bottle of beer, then paused a moment to collect his thoughts.

“
Cris, you heard about the mosque business kicking up again near Ground Zero?”

De Niro tried not to show his emotions, only blinking gave away his anger.

“
I read about it online.”

Tompkins put his beer down on an end table.

“
What’s your take on it?”

“…
My take? … In what way?”

Tompkins leaned forward.

“
Come on, what do you think about it?”

De Niro took a long pull from his bottle.

“
I think it would be a desecration … but I don’t think they’ll be able to build it there. Understand, they have the legal right to build it, but I agree with Bill O’Reilly, there won’t be a construction crew in New York that will lift a finger to build it.”

Tompkins sat back and looked away.

“
That’s not what I’m hearing around the city.”

“
Really, and just what are you hearing?”

“
I’m hearing the media start that whole thing again about how anyone against building the mosque there is a bigot, including survivors of 9/11 and families and friends of victims. I’m hearing the mayor restate that they have the right to build there and I even heard some say that the President will support their right to build it!”

De Niro finished his beer and put the empty bottle on the end table nearest him.

“
Keith, there’s no question they have the legal right to build a mosque there. We don’t need the President of the United States to tell us that. The question is, is it morally right, morally appropriate to build it there.”

“
Cris, can you believe they’re saying that there are families of 9/11 victims that are for the building of the mosque? It gets me sick!”

De Niro leaned in.

“
Keith, they have a right to feel any way they want to feel, but that’s not the point here either. If the building of the mosque that close to Ground Zero upset even one family or friend of a victim, it shouldn’t be built. It would incite discord between Muslims and many non-Muslims and the hurtful nature of it will be seen as a profound dishonor by anyone attached to it. I thought that even the Muslim backers had backed off of the idea.”

Keith leaned back in.

“
Cris, they did, until someone came forward to finance it. I hear that they’re gonna use Iranian money to build it. Some are saying that it will end up being a recruiting center for terrorists … and can you imagine the parades they’re gonna have in all those Muslim countries when that mosque goes up! I mean, it’s like building a friggin’ shrine to Emperor Hirohito at Pearl Harbor!”