Enough with the Mustache Pete's

The Clutching Hand sat behind the desk and shuffled the cash on his desk. The stacks were placed by denominations. Five on fives. Tens on tens. Singles on singles. The collections were never for big bills. It came in dribs and drabs from the storefronts that bought protection.

The big money was in the drink. That flowed downtown with the newer men like Luciano and Castiglia. Costello he calls himself now. They handled the money which flowed in like a river. Joe the Boss kept him out of it. He trusted the Old Fox enough to make him the consigliore. But he didn't trust with too much money. Money had a way of sticking to the Clutching Hand. If he couldn't steal it he could print it. Better not to suffer temptation. The smaller payments were enough for him to handle in his semi-retirement.

The door opened and Joey Perianno came in carrying two paper sacks. He opened one and put two pears on the desk. He opened the other and put more crumpled dirty bills on the blotter.

“Buon giorno Don Giuseppe. I made the collections. And a found some beautiful fruit to break our fast. Can I brew some espresso?”

“That’s not necessary Joseph. My stomach. I will have the pears though. Grazi.”

“Prego. Have you heard from downtown? When do they want us to bring down the week? Or are they sending someone again?”

“They said they would send someone. So we wait.”

They continued to mix and match the money on the desk. Munching on a pear spilling the juice on his old fashioned waist coat Don Giuseppe looked at his underboss. “What is happening downtown Joseph. Is that fop Luciano still pushing his way into everything?” “Si patron he dips his beak in every pot it seems. He controls most of the liquor. And the white powder. Not so much with the gambling. He likes the girls as well. He uses a different whore every night and visits all of the houses to see the operations. He is a greasy pimp in that regard.”

Morello shook his head. “I told Joe he will regret getting in bed with him. He is a snake. I know. I have seen it before.”

The door opened. Nobody would dare to rob them. It was Umberto Anastasia and Francesco Saclise. Two of Joe the Boss's henchmen. Cronies of Luciano.

This was not good.