Chapter 24
Leon
I drove over the bridge to a remote part of Jersey. My friend Tony heard about my so-called troubles and offered to hang Noah up in the back. Just so happens that Tony owns a butcher shop, and Noah’s resting in a freezer. I’m sure he’s very comfortable.
I’ve walked half a block and haven’t seen Lo’s Butcher Shop, thinking I’ve gone the wrong way until I see a sign hanging from a thread. It’s faded, with red worn down font from the elements. Well, I guess this is the place.
I go up to the door, place my hand on the metal handle, and pull it to enter the shop. A black and white tile floor covers the space with red and white walls. A menu is painted on some sort of board, and display cases show the various cuts of meat they have for sale.
“Can I help you, mister?” A young kid who can be no older than sixteen asks me in a thick Italian accent. I look closely and see his nametag says Johnnie.
“Yeah, Johnnie. I’m here to see Junior. He around?”
Johnnie snickers, showing me he’s obviously aware of Noah in the back. “Yeah. What’s it to you? You look like you’re a wise guy or some shit. What you got with Junior?”
This kid’s got a pair of steel balls, that’s for sure. “Yeah. I’m a wise guy. Now take me back to your boss. He’s been expecting me, and I’m betting he won’t like that you’ve given me trouble. Will he, Johnnie?”
Johnnie looks at me for a moment, sizing me up, trying to figure out if he’s gonna do what I’ve asked him to. It reminds me of those old mafia movies where two guys are debating whether they’re going to pull a knife on the other. If Johnnie knows what’s good for him, he’ll lead me straight back to Junior.
“Alright. Come back with me, hot shot.” Shit. Kid’s trying to get in trouble. I hate to say it, but I like the balls on this one. Gonna have to tell Junior he’s got a keeper. Kids like this usually end up being loyal as fuck.
“Can you lock the door, and flip the sign around to say closed?” he asks, and I go ahead and do it. As I turn, Johnnie pulls up a wooden board like they have in the bars and motions me to come through. I go through and follow him down a narrow hallway and turn right.
“Boss, you got this wise guy in here who looks important.” He yells to the doorway we come up to.
“He looks like a real knock off?” Junior yells through the other side of the door in his thick long island accent.
Johnnie sizes me up, “Sure does.”
“Let Gabor through, we got shit to discuss.”
Johnnie opens the door and I see Junior, a middle-aged Italian man who eats far too many cannoli’s. A gold chain adorns his neck and he’s got diamonds in his ears bigger than most people can afford.
“I’d say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying. All you do is bring me messes and trouble.” Junior cackles, smacking me on the back as I walk toward him to shake his hand.
“I call in a favor every now and then. To be honest, I get tired of warehouses. Butcher shops are much more fun,” I joke, but I’m not joking. It gets boring torturing men in shipping containers, old office buildings, and storage units. I needed something to spice shit up, and this is it.
“Ah! I missed your jokes. Now, tell me about this Noah boy. Something about him makes me want to hog tie him and cut off his balls.”
Now this is why I like Junior. “You know a bit. In short terms, he’s an emotionally abusing fuck. My girlfriend has been trying to divorce him for ages and this dude is fucking with her. He sent her gifts for ages, trying to intimidate her. It was freaking her out so fucking bad. I found out he got on a flight to Miami. Had my guys deal with him and bring him up here for an extended stay at chateau la freezer.”
Johnnie chuckles, “Boss, I kinda like this guy.”
“He’s one of the rare ones, Johnnie. When you’re my age, you better remember to get men like this one on your side. Others will stab you in the back for their own personal gain, but not this guy.” Shit, this is the first time Junior has ever complimented me.
“Enough chit chat, take me back to where he is,” I say, looking toward the door.
Junior nods, walks through the door Johnnie just brought me through, and we go further down the hallway to a series of giant metal doors. “C’mon, your buddy is in here.” Junior grabs the handle to the door in the center and we walk through into freezing cold.
Noah looks up from the corner of the freezer, teeth chattering with arms wrapped around his body. I notice a dog bowl next to him with some sort of mushy food. “What’ve you been feeding him?” I ask Junior.
“You called him a dog, so I bought him some wet grain free shit.”
God damn. I didn’t realize Junior was this twisted. I would’ve just let the man starve. Not like he’s deserved to eat anything for the shit he’s pulled.
“Who a-are y-you?” Noah asks, trying to put together this puzzle. This shit shouldn’t play dumb.
“Oh, but don’t you know? You’ve done a really good job at stalking my girlfriend. You know, the one you kept sending gifts to.” I stare him down, seeing the evil in his eyes.