Free Sicilian Defense by John Nicholas Iannuzzi Page A

we’ve had together. I mean real times. We used to meet at the clubs downtown. That man sure knows how to live. So Gianni sent you here?”
    â€œYes, to see if we can find anything—you’d have a better nose for this sort of thing than we would downtown, if you see what I mean.”
    Big Diamond nodded, puffing his cigar. “What do you know about it, Lloyd? You hear anything around?”
    Lloyd shook his head.
    â€œDon’t just shake your head, Lloyd,” said Big Diamond. “These are our friends and if we can help them, we’re going to help them. We’re all in the same game. If some white guys snatched me, you bet your ass you’d go down and ask them to help us. And they’d help us. We’ve been working together hand in hand for years. We get our money down there. If some punks come along and try cutting into them, they’re cutting into all of us.”
    Lloyd looked skeptical.
    â€œCome on, Lloyd,” said Big Diamond. “They’ll snatch the white bosses first, sure. Then you know who’s next on the list?” He watched Lloyd, puffing his cigar. His pinky ring glistened momentarily.
    â€œYou got it baby. Me. Or Elmo. Or Stan. Now—you know anything about it, Lloyd?”
    â€œI haven’t heard a thing. I doubt it’s our people, though.” He looked at Tony. “The cats with us, I mean.”
    â€œMaybe not. But you can get better information on colored guys than we can,” said Tony.
    â€œThat’s for sure,” said Big Diamond. “What do you think, Lloyd?”
    â€œMaybe some of the militants—the Panthers,” said Lloyd.
    â€œMuslims?” Tony suggested.
    Big Diamond shook his head. “No, they’re not into that, it’s not their way. They’re more religious; they don’t want to snatch one guy. And if it’s the militants, they’ve got to be tough guys too,” said Big Diamond. “I mean, you’re not going to find any civil rights guys with the balls to get involved in this. They’ve got to be closer to us than just across the street.”
    â€œThat’s what Gianni thought,” said Tony.
    â€œGianni’s right. I’m right too,” Big Diamond laughed. He offered the bottle around. The other two shook their heads. “Now, the question is: who? Start thinking close to us, Lloyd, close to the other mobs. If we don’t come up with anything, then we’ll spread the circle.”
    â€œIt just can’t be any of our people,” said Lloyd. “Things are going too smooth, everyone’s making plenty. I’d know, anyway.”
    â€œIt’s not the close men you’ve got to worry about,” said Tony, “but the guys who hang around with them—their runners or pushers or whatever the hell they are.”
    â€œThat’s where it is,” agreed Big Diamond. “The little guys that see the action but don’t get as much of it as they want—they’re always hungry.”
    â€œI’ll talk around,” said Lloyd.
    â€œThere isn’t much time,” Tony reminded.
    â€œRight,” said Big Diamond. “People who can do this can kill. They already have. Lloyd, get out there and do some talking right away. It shouldn’t be long before you come up with a lead, if it’s from up here. You’ve got to think of Brooklyn and the Bronx too, Tony.”
    â€œWe know. There’s a lot of ground and not too much time.”
    â€œI’ll go see Elmo and Stan,” said Lloyd.
    â€œThat’s it, Lloyd. But take only Junior with you. If it gets around that we’re looking, they’ll go underground. Right now they must think they’re safe because the white mobs can’t get to them up here.”
    â€œGood thinking,” said Tony.
    â€œYeah, once in a while we lift our heads out of the watermelon long enough to think a little,” said Lloyd.
    Tony stared