NBA Dramatique, Prelude 16

It was a large house; a mansion, really. The black cars had arrived in procession hours earlier, dropping off passengers near the front while drivers took the vehicles around the back and the side to congregate amongst each other over cigarettes and small talk. The passengers had gathered indoors, resplendent in expensive gowns and tuxedos with cigars and wine and scotch. It was a gathering that had a social façade but the main purpose was business. As was the custom every year, after drinking and mingling and laughing at jokes, the important men gathered upstairs, behind the closed doors of a well-furnished study. Here is where the serious discussion could occur. This was the time and place to discuss business.

“Baby Don” Frank took his place in the large upholstered chair behind the desk. “Gentlemen, I want to thank you for coming to my home tonight to celebrate another year of business together. It makes me very happy to have you all here. Sit, sit. Let’s talk.”

The men found seats in various plush chairs throughout the room. The cigar smoke filled the air quickly, and most of the men held their tumblers of scotch and ice in the hand not holding a cigar.

“First of all, let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. We are financially sound. Most of you know that the intent of our operations at this point is to use our monetary muscle for a two-pronged attack. First, we return to New York, and stop running our operations out of this backwater outskirt.” This part of the plan was met with excited chatter among the men in the room. “Second, we leverage our considerable wealth to achieve legitimacy. We become the ultimate power, and we become unassailable. To do this, we buy the King.” This was met by even greater excitement and the soft clapping of hands. The men laughed with each other with cigars clenched between teeth. The Don continued. “I’m projecting that both of those goals can be met in about two years. For now, we have to address more…immediate matters.”

“Contract” Van Horn leaned down from behind the desk, placing a hand on the Don’s shoulder to whisper something to him. Frank nodded at the consigliere’s words and dismissed him with a flick of the wrist. “Well, that brings us to one piece of business” he said to the room. “Since his departure, we’ve been trying to keep an eye on the Kidd. Some of our long-distance contacts have reported seeing him out west. Seems he’s done exactly what we were afraid he would do. He’s got some new friends, and those friends wear badges.”

Vince “the Vinsanity” became unsettled. He was visibly angry. “Don Frank, we can take him out. I can take Junior and Yi and we’ll put him someplace that they’ll never find him.” “Junior” Harris and “Chairman” Yi nodded and seemed eager for the chance to take out the Family’s former ace.

“No. No. Settle down, Vince” said Frank. “It’s not that much of a problem. He’s far away and he’s likely to face enough trouble over there soon enough. It’s enough that we know what he’s doing, and we watch our backs. Let’s talk about now. We want the Prize. Everybody does. I’ve got people spread out, and it seems all of the fighting is about to break out again. I’d like to keep the Family out, I would, but we know things don’t work that way. I’m gonna shoot straight here, you guys don’t have the muscle right now. You don't have the muscle to take the Prize. We’ve gotta get stronger. We’re going to have to fight and show that we can hold our own because the rest of those jerks are gonna try to push us around. We might not be able to take over the town yet, but we aren't going to let them run wild through our neighborhoods."

Most of the men in the room looked questioningly at one another, or simply down at their own shoes. They had hoped for better news. But for the most part they were realists. More importantly, they were Family.

"In the meantime," continued the Don, "let's send them all a message. Capice?"