Payoffs

“What’s happening with derivatives at Cayman-Moore?”

“The same thing that’s happening everywhere, there’s a plethora of unanticipated trades. We’re all wondering if legislation is going to grind things to a halt.”

“It won’t happen.”

“No?”

“No… Do you know why?”

“Because we all give too much through the lobbies for someone to cut us down”

The sharp looking kid –as most of his fellow co-workers would refer to him- grimaced.

“Oh yeah?” He said with gumption, “I don’t think it means anything really. The leaders are encompassed in greed just like us, and at the end of the day they will aide the highest bidder.”

The fatter, older gentleman sitting across from him chuckled. “Exactly why they wouldn’t go against us.”

“But,” the young man interjected, “how many traders fleece their own clients?”

He was clearly trying to make a point, a point that came up dull on Jonas; the more experienced of the two.

“That’s not the point.” Jonas declared in typical Jonas fashion.

“Than what is?”

“What it is is this: You never give your master a noose.”

“There is too much grumbling, something is going to happen. The public isn’t happy with the deal that got pushed through. It’s too lenient, in their eyes. It’s perfect for us and they are catching on.”

“There will always be grumbling because that is what the average person wants to do and that’s what they want to hear from each other. They want to hear that people are mad so they can go home and feel like they aren’t the only one. I’m telling you Charlie people are very simple. It takes little to make them happy.”

“They can get money from other avenues you know.” The kid said smartly.

“But we can make those ‘other avenues’ lose money if we had too.”

The young lad quieted. He stared across at his lunch partner, Jonas Siegal, a junior partner at Wyatt and Hawthorn; a moderate size trading firm in the city. He respected the man but the feeling was anything far reaching. Perhaps because after thirty-two years in the business Jonas hadn’t excelled any further than junior partner. And it had taken him near twenty years to earn that spot. When Jonas says we he isn’t talking about himself. He’s powerless.

Instead, at the age of twenty nine Charlie Craft decided that he had it all figured out.  Though the old man cross from him found success, his own would be grander, more prominent. He decided this conviction long ago and hasn’t looked back. One day people would refer to him as ‘the big CC’ or maybe just ‘big C’ for short. People would talk about him during lunch breaks wondering what his next move might be. His girlfriend and future wife would be gossip fodder but only after everyone finished discussing the latest scoop about his summer homes down south. He would be number 1, attention center, the apex of success, the adored, adulated and mimicked. He would be to the finance world what a teenaged boy pop-singer is to thirteen year olds across the nation.

            A slim waitress brought over the bill and dropped it table center. Her eyes focused firmly on Jonas and he in turn reached out his sweaty palms to retrieve it; before the younger Charlie even thought to. As the nearly obese man reached for cash inside his wallet a rustling could be heard near the bar area. It escalated into a mild shriek and then a loud growl. Twenty feet from where the two were sitting a short pudgy man with a mild Greek accent was having his arm twisted by another, taller, thicker man with a heavy Russian accent.

            The Russian was well known at the establishment. Nico Alcovich. He was the reason behind all the pretty ladies frequenting the trendy lunch spot. He was no pimp per-say but he had a lot of young east European friends who joined him regularly; a compensation arrangement was made between him and the owner.

Charlie, the young and vibrant, often took Nico’s girls home with him when his fiancé left town. Or if Jonas was unavailable for lunch he might ask them to join them. They always did, that is their role. Whether they enjoyed the company as much as he did is a question you would have to ask them yourself.

Today, Nico’s predecessor had dropped in unhappy about his departure from the establishment. He had been ‘vacationing’ up north for just over a year while Russian took over his racket. Nico let go of Dino’s arm and the stocky brawler that was Dino launched himself into a tirade. “So that’s how it’s gonna be?” he shouted, “let me talk to Romeo.” He looked over at the waitress behind the bar who was clearly terrified, “Go get your boss and bring him down here.” He demanded.

The girl behind counter just stood in awe of something she never expected to see at work. Sure there were loud mouth traders and a few drunken lawyers from time to time. But an outright episode was something unseen.

“I think it better you go now.” The Russian said in a calm-cool-gritty tone, thick with his native accent.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go.” The Greek replied, sounding surprisingly kosher.

Charlie’s attention came back to the table. “A twenty-five percent tip? I don’t know why you waste your money on these people.” He said.

Jonas chuckled.

“Sometimes these people are all you have.” He replied unemotionally.

•  

A week passed before the next lunch meeting between Charlie and Jonas. The kid had been too busy settling old defunct accounts to eat lunch and Jonas took an interest in playing online Bridge with his wife. Something she appreciated as her ankle twisted in a weekend tennis match; she had been laid up in the house for days.

Charlie was the first to arrive. A girl named Yelena was at the bar and he mingled with her waiting for Jonas. She couldn`t stand him but work was work when you need to pay your bills, or the debts that have been forced on you.

She was wearing a long black slip that tied in nicely with the décor; If she had walked over to the Steinway and sons sitting in the corner you would think she was a 1950`s sex symbol. Big coke bottle curls and all.

Jonas came in with a sweat under his arms and in usually fashion waved to Charlie as he sat down. The kid however, too cool to reply in the same manner, gave a slight nod of the head. He winked at Yelena, touched her side then walked over to where Jonas sat.

“It’s been a bastard of a week.” Jonas declared.

“I heard Darlene hurt her ankle on the weekend.”

            “She twisted pretty badly.”

            “That’s a good excuse to go out alone.”

            “No. I stayed in and tended to her.”

            Charlie let out a breath of frustration. “It was a perfect opportunity you missed. Think of how many times you’ve wanted to go out but then your wife says, ‘how about I join you’. You don’t get many opportunities like that.”

            Jonas thought about it for a second. He hadn’t had many moments like that. He often wondered if Charlie believed the entire world was like him. Earth: a giant dump of Charlie Crafts.

            “My firm is restructuring some securities and I’m going to sling the product when it’s done.” The kid boasted.

            “Congratulations.”

            “It’s a step in the right direction. This past week I was in crisis mode and I wasn’t even making money off the work. Talk about a waste of time.”

            Jonas sighed and put his hand up to signal the waitress.

            “I’m will be the next Mike Milken.” Charlie said prophetically.

            “You are?”

            “Minus, the jail sentence of course.” He added.

And you are nothing better than a Levine or Siegal, the other Siegal, Charlie thought.

            “I’m telling you we have some things coming up soon that I can really work with. We are going to be working on a whole new platform.” Charlie was clearly excited now but Jonas paid more attention to the menu.

            “I’ll have the roasted lamb with a side of frites.” He said to the waitress, who had been standing at the table for a few seconds. 

A large man came through the front door with force that sent it crashing into the stopper at the wall. He sported a trendy leather jacket that looked as if it had shrunk in the wash and a pair of glistening jeans straight out of Hollywood. He was carrying a large wooden bat.

            Now, normally a man in such attire at this restaurant would garnish enough attention in itself, but the fact that a bat dragged along the floor beside him made absolutely everyone look his way.

            Dino, the bat wielding Greek, who had no regard for anyone in the place, ran over to the bar area where Nico was sitting. Nico had been chatting with Yelena but turned his head by the disturbance. Unfortunately for Nico, he reacted far too late to avoid the swinging pound-of-Montana-Oak that was crashing down on him. When it hit, there was a pop sound. It was almost a thunk but not quite a clunk. The skin between Nico’s eye split from brow to scalp. And the blood, which poured out heavily, did so in a delayed reaction.

            Dino stood overtop the Russian and waited for him to regain consciousness. Across from the bar a man in his early forties with a dark Valentino suit on, tried to walk out the front door but Dino reacted; he yelled, ordering man back to his seat. The man did so promptly.

            “Where is Romeo?” Dino shouted.

            No one answered.

            “You see…” Dino ranted, “This is the kind of guy Romeo is. This kind of thing right here,” He shook the bad at Nico’s face, “This kind of thing could have been avoided but Romeo is a piece of shit; a backstabber. He isn’t even here to protect you all, his customers. That’s the kind of guy Romeo is.”

The kid was in complete shock. He was familiar with violence but artificial, the kind you see in movies. The actual popping sound the bat made ricocheting of Nico’s head was brand new to him. The stream of blood poured so fast. Not like in the movies. In real life there is a one second pause for it to come, then BAM! It just flows out like a faucet. As soon as Charlie saw it he was sliding down his chair getting more and more of himself protected by the table. On the opposite side, Jonas was sucking on a lamb bone with greasy fingers. He looked like someone watching a movie on Friday night.

            Dino grabbed a bowl of cashews sitting on the bar area and brought it down to Nico’s bloody face. He poured the nuts in the man’s mouth and slapped him on the cheek. He then stood up and circled the room with the red-stained bat in hand. He stopped in the middle of the room and banged the bat on a table to grab attention. Then he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear,

            “I really got nothing against you people here but I got a problem with Romeo; the owner of this joint. So I’m gonna make it clear. You people are gonna put your cash on the table to pay for Romeo’s problem. Then the next time you wanna eat here you’ll know better.”

            The reaction from the crowd was instant. Of the twenty-odd people in the restaurant they all hurried to put cash on their tables. Jonas was the only one nonchalant about it. He looked across from him while the kid sat up in his chair again. He noticed only a twenty on the table besides his own money. The kid was holding out.

Dino sent Yelena to go around and collect the money. When she came to his side with a handful of bills he asked her to count it. The total tally was somewhere around two-thousand dollars. Yelena just wobbled back and forth waiting for the next move; hoping to get out of the situation unscathed.

            Dino smashed the bat on the table. “Two grand? That’s it? You guys are a bunch of lawyers and bankers. You got more than two grand!” His voice erupted with visceral tone.

            He looked at Yelena, pointed at her with one finger then asked her to show him who had money. “Who’s got the big bucks around here?” She just shook her head, telling him, don’t bring me into this. “Who has the coin?” He reposed the question.

            Then something happened within Yelena. An opportunity, she thought. She looked around the room and the first person to catch her eye was the kid, whose head just barely cleared the top of the table.

            “Him.” She said with a rough H, Slavic accent, pointing to Charlie.

Dino walked over to the table where Charlie and Jonas sat. Jonas was still eating, nibbling on frites with his fingers. Charlie seemed to slide further and further under the table.

            “Gimme your wallet.” Dino demanded.

            Charlie’s arm raised in the air like a man’s surrendering war. Clutched in his palm was a black Gucci wallet. Inside, Dino found a thousand dollars in cash. He looked at Charlie, raised the bat then told him what he should do to him. Charlie closed his eyes the way a child does in a scary movie and by the time he opened them again, Dino had left.

•  

Later that night Jonas was at home tending to the tired shoulders of his wife who spent the day laid up in bed; uncomfortably. He already gave her an ice pack for her ankle, followed by a hot water bag. Darlene felt like a princess: a damaged princess.

            During the massage the phone rang and Jonas left the room to answer the call. He already knew who it was, before looking at the display.

            “Hello.”

            “Hi, Mr. Siegal.”

            “It was a spectacular show you put on.”

            “I just did what had to be done. You know Mr. Siegal, I wasn’t expecting you to be there. I gave you the heads up on the play so you didn’t have to go through the whole experience.”

            “And I asked you to add Charlie to your fiasco because I wanted him to learn his lesson. I had to be there to see it.”

            “Fair enough, Mr. Siegal. You are real classy guy you know that. I never met anyone in that joint that I liked, besides you.”

            “I like you too Dino.”

            “You know, someday if I see you around I’m gonna buy you a banquet burger. Not like that super fancy crap you get at that joint, but a real banquet burger. It’s like the high class of the low class, you know?”

            “I’d enjoy that Dino.”

            “Hey Mr. Siegal, I gotta give it to you. You’re real smart when it comes to this stuff. When you told me to ask the girl, who had the coin in that joint? How’d ya know she was gonna say it was your friend?”

            “Just a hunch.”

            “It was nice working with you on this, I think Romeo learned his lesson, and your friend too.”

            “I think it will turn out well. I have to tend to my wife now so I’ll be going Dino.”

            “Yeah. Of course. One last thing, you know Mr. Siegal, I like to think of myself as a nice guy. And I think the same about you. I just wanted to let know that.”

            “Thank you Dino, I appreciate that.”