JOHNY AND LUCY
Warning: This story is harsher than most of my others. Be advised.
Johnathan Polansky grew up in a mixed neighborhood in New York City. He grew up in the street gangs that are present in poorer, ethnic neighborhoods of New York. His father worked for a kingpin of the Italian underworld. When Johnathan was fifteen, his father was killed in a gang-related shooting. No one ever knew who had killed him, but Johnathan always believed it was one of the Polish underworld gangs. He believed they were upset because his father worked for the Italians.
After his father died, the leader of the Italian "association" his father had worked for took Johnathan in. The first thing Big Joe did was change Johnathan' name. He was now Johny Napoli. Everyone in the underworld knew he was Polish, but you didn't say anything to Big Joe. Big Joe wasn't the largest or most powerful gangster in New York, but they all knew he was the coldest and meanest of them.
Johny ran numbers and errands for Big Joe until he was nearly twenty. He graduated to more violent activities. He had started working out to keep himself busy after his father died, and by the time he was twenty, he was not a small man. He was too large to box, but Big Joe had him trained to use his head and his muscles. Big Joe always told him, "I have enough knuckleheads with big arms, but they are shit for brains. Remember to study and observe people and details. It will service you better than pumping iron all the time."
Johny took it to heart and obtained a GED. He hadn't been in high school for years. Big Joe encouraged him to take night school classes and apply himself. Johny didn't know what Big Joe had in mind, but Johny did. He wanted to have his own club. He liked the clubs, both the nightclubs and the strip clubs. He wanted to own one someday.
By night he was in class, but by day he was breaking arms and busting up stores.
By twenty-three, he had a degree and had punished enough people to draw the attention of the authorities. Big Joe took him out of the enforcement business and put him in a small club. It was here he flourished. He had a knack with people and vowed not to hit people again unless absolutely necessary.
His was more nightclub than strip club, but he did have a small area in the back with strippers. He watched over his girls, but if they did things for extra money, he would just look the other way.
For the next few years, he advanced in Big Joe's world. He added another club. This was just a large strip club. He had several girls working for him. These were working girls. They knew why they were there. Johny was different than most of the other club owners. He never threatened or hit his girls. He paid them and told them they could leave if they wished, and he would help them. He knew there were more girls coming to New York than he could ever use. Besides, since he didn't hurt or threaten them, they stayed with him. He paid them because he wasn't greedy and didn't want to spend time training new, raw recruits. His studies had told him that a stable business was more successful, and less likely to fall apart.
Customers came because they knew the same girls would be there and wouldn't be out because of "health" issues. They liked that the girl's eyes weren't filled with fear when she was with them.
Lucy Arthur's mother was from the Italian neighborhood. But she had married a southern white boy who was a truckdriver. He had no connection to the neighborhoods in the city and had a difficult time in most of the ethnic neighborhoods. He took to drinking and began beating his wife. By the time Lucy was fifteen, he was assaulting her also every time he got drunk. When she got pregnant, her mother threw her out for fear of her husband. Lucy went to see one of her best friends in school. Even though Johnathan wasn't in high school long, they had been friends since early school. Johny took her in and asked her what she wanted to do with the baby. When she said she wanted it, he had her move in with one of the older girls who was considering leaving the business. Johny let her quit the business if she took care of Lucy and her baby. She agreed and Lucy moved in.
The little baby girl was born in the normal time. Lucy named her Amy and years passed.
Lucy started dating again a year later and got a job to take care of her daughter. It didn't go well. She always found a man taken to drink and violence. Each one would start out sweet until he got drunk and beat her. She would take it until she was in hospital, or he got bored and moved on to his next conquest. A couple of times, Lucy's roommate had called Johny because of the severity of the beatings. Each of those times ended with the offending party disappearing from the streets of New York. Then she would move on to the next.
By the time Amy was fifteen and Lucy was thirty-five, Lucy was totally disillusioned and tired of life. Her daughter was the only joy in her life.
The event that changed Lucy's life forever was Amy's misfortune. Her father had reappeared and demanded to see her. He was now employed by a Russian mob and was an even more violent and angry man. When she went with him, he never returned her. He finally told Lucy that she was staying with him.
Lucy had no idea what to do. The only man she knew that was connected to that life was Johny. She ran to Johny.
She explained what had happened to Johny. She then said, "Please, Johny, please help Amy. I don't care about myself, but she is just a young girl. I can't sleep nights knowing what he did to me. I know he will do the same to her. Please rescue her."
Johny knew he had a problem. All the gangs, even Big Joe co-operated with the Russians. They were ruthless and had no fear. Everyone avoided them if at all possible. Now, she wants him to attack them.
"You know what you're asking. War with the Russians would be a bloodbath. As much as I love Amy, I'm not sure I could pull it off."
Lucy was on the floor crying and begging. "Please, Johny, I will do whatever you ask if you rescue her. Please!"
Johny sighed, "Give me his name and I will check with my boys."
Lucy gave him her father's name and hugged him until he had to remove her from himself.
Johny went to see Big Joe. He explained to Big Joe the details."
Big Joe swore in Italian. Then he said, "Johny, do you know what that would do to my entire family? I can't risk everyone for you."
"I understand. I have his name. If you could find him for me, I will see what I can do to rescue her myself."
"You must love this girl."
"She is my goddaughter. I have been there since her birth. I will try to rescue her and keep you out of it." He gave Big Joe the name and left.
Two days later, Big Joe gave Johny the address where he could find the father. He wasn't sure about the daughter.
Big Joe also had other news. Turned out this man was a new recruit that the Russians weren't that thrilled with.
Johny thanked Big Joe and went to look at the neighborhood where this man was hiding. It was an old warehouse neighborhood. There was an old, rundown apartment building shoehorned between two warehouses. It didn't look like many people still lived there, but it was the address Big Joe had given him.
Johny went back to the club and called a couple of his boys to his office. He explained he was going to rescue his goddaughter and asked if they would go with him. He couldn't order anyone to attack a Russian safe house.
He ended up with four volunteers. They parked down the street and watched for an hour. Nothing was moving, but there was some light coming from one window.
He sent two boys to the back and went to the front door with the other two. The front door wasn't locked, so they quietly crept inside. The hall lights were not working. He didn't know if it was because of neglecting the lightbulbs, or a more sinister reason. The apartment was on the second floor. They crept up the stairs. All was quiet. Within a few minutes they were standing in front of the door of his apartment. One of his men picked the lock. He must not be expecting company. It was easy to open and saw no resistance.
The three of them moved quietly into the room. The living room was dark and empty. Johny headed for what looked like the master bedroom. He counted to three and they burst into the room.
There was Amy and her father in bed. He was assaulting her as they entered. The shock of the noise stunned him, and he rolled over to see what had happened. When he was away from Amy, Johny shot him between the eyes. Amy was screaming. Johny went to that side of the bed and wrapped a blanket around her and held her until she stopped screaming. "Amy, I'm Johny, your godfather. You are okay now. We are getting you out of here. Can you gather your stuff?"
She finally calmed down enough to pack her bag, and she followed them down the stairs. The other two men were standing in the lobby. They reported no one was in the back. They were gone in fifteen minutes. They had not seen any other people in the building.
He stopped at Lucy's apartment. Lucy broke down when she saw Amy. Johny let them have their reunion, then told Lucy to pack some clothes. She and Amy would be staying with Johny for a while.
For the next week, everything was fine. Then, one early Tuesday morning, Johny was checking the books at the nightclub at 3 in the morning when he heard noises from the club. Before he could get to the door, men rushed into his office with guns drawn. It was led by Andre Tarasenko, one of the heads of the Russians in New York. Everyone froze.
Andre pointed his gun at Johny. "Well, Mr. Napoli, did you think you could hit me without consequences?"
"No, I didn't. I talked to Big Joe, and he advised me to leave it alone. He told me this man was on his way out with you, anyway, and if I waited you would dump him in the river for me. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to wait."
"And what made a war with us so urgent?"
