Big Al 2

I was living at the Regent this year, a brown stone flat on Miller Street not far from where I
had an office on the fourth floor of the Jergins building on the corner of Mason and Blodget
Streets in this Chicago. Not much of an office, just a couple of rooms for showcase. On the upper
glass part of the outer door was written Alfred Berger - Importer Of Antiques. That was for the
nosey I had offices like this in several other cities too. Business was good and I hadn’t yet been
loser between rival gangs. A dangerous game, but the money was terrific and the feds hadn’t
caught on.
I let myself into my flat with a key and went to the kitchen where I kept a bottle of Scotch.
Mixing a drink, I took it and sat down in my favorite brown leather chair away from the
windows with shades pulled down. Next to the chair was a lamp table with a single drawer where
I kept a 38 special. A Luger was always in its holster under my left arm. A candlestick phone
rested on the table. I was reading from Melville when the phone rang.
“Casino wants to see you. We’ll pick up you up in front of your place in twenty minutes.”
“ Sounds right.”
The phone went dead. I continued reading, finishing my drink. When I left my coat was on. It
was raining.
I waited under the Regent’s awning out of the rain for Casino’s car. It was one o’clock in the
morning. There was no traffic on the wet street, streetlights reflected glow on cement and
asphalt. Water ran in the gutter. Wind was blowing. I turned my collar up and fished a cigarette
out of its pack and lit it.
A car came around the corner with headlights full on. It was a large Packard, Casino’s car. It
stopped at the curb and I walked over opening the rear door getting in. Bob Lupota was driving,
Glen Madaly next to him.
Madaly spoke. “You’re a lucky man, Big Al. Casino wants to talk with you.”
“Where’s that?”
“At his home on the lake.”
We drove without anything else being said.
Casino’s place wasn’t any larger than Windsor Castle. It was enclosed by a high brick fence
with double iron gates. Madaly got out, unlocked the gates and we drove in following a circular
driveway. The mansion sat back from the main gate about a hundred yards behind an expansive
lawn. Alyssum edged the entire inner part of the driveway. A large water fountain was in the
center. A triple car garage adjoined the house extending its facade another sixty feet. The whole
place had a Gothic look.
We stopped in front of a garage and before we got out, Lupota asked for the Luger. A cement
walkway led to triple tier steps that brought us up to a double door of oak and iron knockers.
Madaly lifted a knocker and deep within a chime sounded. A black servant in a tuxedo answered
the chime. Both men pushed by him. I followed, passing through a massive entry hall of lion and
tiger mosaics in the tiled floor. Gold frame landscapes hung on the walls. Just because my mouth
fell open I wasn’t overly impressed.
To the left was a sunken music room with a grand piano. To the right a door held open by
Lupota. I walked into Casino’s private study of oak paneling. A large executive desk rested
before French doors that looked to lead into a garden area. Casino sat at the desk smoking a
cigar. He wore a red quilted smoking jacket with frog attachments. Lupota and Madaly stayed
behind me. A dark looking Sicilian was standing just to the left of Casino. The room was ankle
deep in expensive rug. There was a three cushioned leather couch against the right wall,
matching recliner with ottoman to my left near that wall. A Tiffany chandelier gave light.
Pictures were on the walls. A couple straight back chairs angled waiting in front of his desk.
Casino looked to be in his mid-thirties, a little over weight. He appeared tough and efficient.
He smiled pointing to one of the chairs. “ Have a seat, take a load off your feet. You got
something for me to think about?”
I walked over to the chair and sat down. I gave it sometime before I answered.“I’ve got a
proposition than can earn you a lot of money.”
“ Is that a fact. Tell me about it.”
“ I can deliver to Detroit two hundred cases of booze every month. They can be yours.”
Casino blew a cloud of smoke to the ceiling. He looked doubtful. “And how do you do that?
The Purple Gang won’t let you.”
I took out a cigarette and rolled it between my forefinger and thumb without lighting it. “ I
pay them off.”
Casino smiled. “Dido, give the man an ashtray. Go ahead and smoke. I’m listening.”
The Sicilian came over with the tray. I lit my cigarette and gave Casino his smile back.
“The Bernstein brothers and I are good friends. I’ve known them since they were kids
terrorizing shopkeepers on Hastings Street. Abe, Joe, Raymond, and Izzy run the Purple Gang
now and we’ve done business together before. They want a cut of everything I bring across the
Detroit River, but that’s Jake with me.. I give them what they want and they leave my system
alone. I pump the booze across the Detroit River, fifty gallons to a case, then have it delivered it
to Detroit. It’s less than sixty miles from the Ohio border to Detroit and the Purple Gang
navigates it down the Dixie Highway.”
“You want twenty thousand grand for two hundred cases. How many gallons in a case?”
“Fifty.”
Casino did some figuring on a note pad. “ That’s ten thousand gallons, or two dollars a gallon.
I can put the booze in twenty-five ounce bottles and fill 5 bottle. The cost of each bottle would be
forty cents. I take delivery in Detroit.”
“What you do after that is your own business.”
Casino took a decanter and a couple of shot glasses out of his desk drawer. He filled both,.
and gave one to me. He spoke. “ Maybe we can do business. I’ll get back to you later on that.
Until then, happy days.”
I sipped a little. It was good stuff, the best I’d tasted in a long time. The man knew how to
live. I let it play around in my mouth for a few seconds letting it slid slowly down my throat. The
rest of it went down much quicker. I exchanged the ashtray and empty shot glass for my hat from
the other chair and stood.
“ I hope we can. I’ll guarantee you two hundred cases a month, and you won’t have to deal
with the Purple Gang. I’ll do that.”
Casino spoke to the two men behind me. “Take Mr. Berger back to the Regent.” He gave me a
couple of words. “ I’ll get back to you. Don’t leave town.”
“ Not me.”
We went back to the Packard. Lupota gave me back the Luger and they dropped me off at the
Regent.

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