Brown Sugar
A delivery boy in lurid livery of a yellow polo shirt and baseball cap, the latter pulled well over his face, parked up his push bike onto the pavement outside a glass fronted office skyscraper and set it on its stand. He carefully adjusted the box of long stem white lilies on his front pannier as a black shiny Cadillac drew up in front of the office entrance. A burly guard in heavy black coat and peaked cap jumped out, carefully surveyed the surrounding area and opened the passenger door deferentially. A burley man in an equally heavy black coat and a black homburg hat pulled well down so that it met his upturned collar at the back, alighted rather heavily from the back door. A sudden burst of automatic gun fire erupted, thrusting the man against the partially open car door which caught the guard unawares and the thrust of the door flung the guard out onto the hard pavement. The man with the homburg caught his cheek on the sharp edge of the open door as he was flung forward which spun him around and ripped open an ugly wound in his cheek which bled profusely over the grey paving stones. The homburg went flying as the man toppled over and his head crashed heavily onto the pavement, splitting his scalp open and adding more blood to the scene. The delivery boy or youth flung his machine pistol onto the pavement amongst the scattered lilies and dashed off to a waiting car which sped off smartly. The whole episode lasted seconds. Even the burley guard or the equally burley driver were unable to intercede and looked onto the scene in amazement and despair.
Braun Segar lay safely in a hospital bed in a private ward with two large guards sitting out in the corridor and a third monitoring the corridor entrance. His eyes were closed and what could be seen of his bandaged head, his face, displayed a grey pallor of a very sick man. A young man in an expensive smart dark suit sat at the bedside holding Braun’s hand in an affectionate manner.
“Father how are you feeling?” he asked leaning in towards the patient.
“Don’t call me ‘father’ son. I lost you and your mother years ago.”
“I came as soon as I heard.”
“Officially I am in mortal danger but the wounds are superficial. The heavy bullet-proof coat saved me but I’m badly bruised,” he whispered, hardly moving his lips so that his son had to lean further in to hear his utterances clearly. “Probably got a few cracked ribs but I have flesh wounds to my cheek, a bullet through a fleshy bit of my lower leg and a split scalp where I hit the deck. All in all, I will survive so don’t worry. I’m being well looked after and protected.”
“Who did this?”
“Don’t concern yourself with all that, boy. You don’t want to get mixed up in all this. Your mum was wise enough to ditch me and my life when I was sent off to prison for five years. She did right to cut the cord.”
“But it wasn’t like that father. You sent her a generous allowance and you paid all my expenses and more at Harvard.”
“That’s the least I could do. I loved your mother and you as a boy and I still missed you both. I’m so pleased that you came to see me, but please don’t call me ‘father.’ It embarrasses me. Call me Braun or even Brown Sugar as I’m locally known.”
“Mother still won’t tell me why we left you even though you funded us well. All she would say is that you got mixed up with a bad crowd and went to prison for it.”
“That’s true Hank. As a young struggling accountant, I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was with the local mob. I did creative accounting for them; hid their ill-gotten moneys. Money laundering you would call it these days. Things got hot and I took the hit. Five years in the penitentiary.”
“That must have been pretty awful?”
“Being part of the mob helped. They left me alone and since I didn’t squeal, I came out with full credentials.”
“But where did all the money come from that you flooded us with?”
“I learned a lot behind bars. It was a PhD in Crime Management. I graduated in the skills of the mobsters and being an accountant knew how to hide my trail. My first task was to get rid of my masters. That was a grisly task full of blood and guts to show I meant business and not to be fooled with. I built up an empire on the blocks and street leading from the 19th Dock and controlled every square inch of my territory. Even the local police are on my payroll. I dealt with the usual scams, drugs, protection, prostitution, landlord rackets and the dock workers. I control everything and everybody on my precinct. The NYPD kept control for me and kept other racketeers out of my territory.”
“Being an accountant myself, I can see you must have made a packet to keep all those people under your control.”
“I paid well and expected full allegiance. Anybody got in the way was eliminated ruthlessly. Not a nice story to tell one’s son I’m afraid but I built up an empire on being more ruthless than the rest when it was needed.”
“You must have pissed off a lot of people and made lots of enemies?”
“I did but everybody in my precinct was owing to me in some way. I bought up all the blocks and tenements and they all paid me rent.”
“But that must have cost millions?”
“It would have but I organised rent strikes in the blocks that I wanted and the incumbent landlords were only too willing to sell at fire sale prices. My long-term plan was to redevelop the area. So far, I have only pulled down three old tenement blocks and replaced them with two office blocks, a hotel and apartments above. The rents as you can imagine are bountiful.”
“How did you re-house the people? Must have been difficult?”
“I gave them a rent-free month in some other tenement and they were happy to move. Most of the people here are itinerants anyway. Move every few months and steal on the rent. I sorted that out. I ensure that all my tenants are in work that I find for them so that they can afford to pay me. They work on the docks or on the streets for me selling drugs.”
“Isn’t that highly dangerous?”
“Not if you have the local NYPD on your payroll. They ensure that no one else gets a look in on my territory. Users come from far and wide knowing that they won’t be hassled.”
“How do you get the drugs?”
“Through the 19th Dock I control. It’s only a small dock but I have a deal with the ship owners that they won’t suffer any pilfering. They pay me a fat commission for that and they pay the Customs to turn a blind eye to the illicit goods that pass through.”
“But I thought the dock workers accepted theft as part and parcel of their remuneration?”
“Ah, but on my dock, they got a regular bonus from the trucks that got high- jacked way away from the dock. They couldn’t pin that on me. Since I had eliminated wholesale theft from my dock, we got the more expensive goods through there, tobacco, computers, electrical goods rather than coal and grain.”
“Now son, listen carefully, since you are here, I need you to do something important for me. It’s a blessing you came. I didn’t know who I could trust with this matter. Don’t worry. I’m not getting you involved in anything illicit. It’s just passing on messages. I need you to get me out of here in a special way, in a coffin of sorts. Now don’t look so shocked. Let me explain.”
Hank left the hospital and directed the cab driver to drop him off at the Segar Building, the office block of the afore-mentioned incident and ordered him to wait. He took the lift up to the Management Offices and demanded to see the Director.
“I am Hank Segar and here are my credentials. I have just come from Braun’s hospital bedside and he has asked me to pass on this message. The message, which you will understand is, ‘Provide me with seven keys to the strong box.’ I hope that makes sense to you.”
“Yes, it does Mr. Hank Segar. I have been prepared for this eventuality. How is Brown Sugar?”
“He’s in a bad way. The head wound is a problem. He regained conscience for a while and demanded I see you. He’s up and down. The doctors can’t seem to stabilise him for any lengthy period.”
“Oh dear, that is going to cause a problem here.”
“I don’t see why it should. Braun said emphatically that his boss would soon find a replacement and that until then all dues and payments should go on as normal.”
“Is that what he told you to tell me?”
“Well yes, it was more of an order than just information. He also said that his boss would deal with the people who ordered his assassination.”
“Did he say who his boss was?”
“No, I assumed you would know. He just told me he was employed by some important person in the underworld. Now can I have the keys, I have a cab waiting downstairs.”
“I would appreciate if you kept me abreast of your father’s condition and his demands. Now here is the key to the box at Leighton’s Bank. The ‘Seven’ was a code between me and Brown to make sure it was bon fide.” Hank took the key and rushed off to the waiting cab ordering the driver to call at the nearest Kinko’s Stationers. There he purchased four FedEx large envelopes and ordered the cab driver to drive him to Leighton’s Bank. The manager checked his credentials and took him down to the strong room where they both used their individual keys to open a safe deposit box. Hank was left in a secluded office to open the box inside and take out four bundles of dollars, each bearing fifty thousand which he stuffed into the four FedEx envelopes. He replaced the box, still stuffed with money, locked it and was escorted out by the Director to the awaiting taxi that took him to the precinct Police office. There he demanded to see the Captain on duty.
“I’m Hank Segar and I’ve just been to the Hospital where my father is in a critical condition. He told me to come to you with a message and these four envelopes which proves that I’m genuine I believe.”
“Yes, a fishy business that with your father, left us in a bit of a state.”
“I have just come from his office and I have to tell you that all regular payments will continue as before and that Braun’s boss will appoint a successor.”
“And who is Braun’s boss? He kept talking about someone pulling his strings but no one knew who.”
“Well don’t ask me, I’m just a messenger. I am here to give you one of these envelopes that contain fifty grand as part payment for a task that Braun wants you to do for him.”
“And what does he want us to do now?”
“The message is that you arrange for the following people plus their legal aides to be retained for questioning. You are to do it so that your officers are not implicated in this. For each key person retained you will receive a hundred grand on top of this down payment.”
“Has he listed the names?”
“Yes. They don’t mean anything to me but you will know. Lazaro, Amalfi, Dexter and Leonardo plus their legal associates and they are to be bound, gagged, blindfolded and deposited in unit 14 by the dock. You will receive the moneys on the eve of completion, to be collected in the usual place which Braun expects you to know. That’s all I know of the message so don’t ask me any questions. I don’t know any answers. I’m on my way back to the hospital now.”
“Well, it all makes sense to me and tell Brown Sugar that the local FBI will carry out the task in their off-duty hours and try and find out who his boss is for me? This secret has been around for far too long.”
Hank paid off the cab driver handsomely and was allowed to enter into the guarded corridor of the hospital to be besides his father.
“I did all you asked me father and here are the three remaining envelopes.”
“Stop calling me ‘father’ and I have one more task for you so listen carefully. I want you to call in the Consultant Physician who’s looking after my case in here, on the pretence you want to discuss my condition. When he is here you need to convince him of my plan. Give him one of the envelopes and make sure he sees the money. That will ensure his cooperation. I am going to have a major seizure and he needs to take me down to the operating theatre where I’m going to conveniently die. Since I have donated all my organs, they are going to operate on me immediately for spare parts. As far as my guards are concerned I am a goner and they are no longer needed here. The doctor is then going to arrange for me, on my wheel chair and you, to be taken by ambulance, secretly to my hotel where I have an apartment only known to myself. Tell this physician that he will get another envelope stuffed with cash when the task is completed satisfactorily. Do you understand? I want you boy to do the negotiations and only refer to me at the last resort.”
The ambulance took them into the underground garage of the hotel block and Hank pointed out the internal doors of a private enclosed garage for the drivers to back up to. The patient on his wheelchair was unloaded with his head bandaged completely and a blanket covering him totally. As the ambulance drove off Hank tapped in a code and the internal garage doors slid open. He wheeled his father into the garage space and watched the massive doors close behind him and the lighting rose so that he could see the entrance doors to the private lift. They entered the apartment with a coded keypad and Hank switched on the lights and surveyed his plush surroundings.
“There’s enough in the freezer to keep me for a month,” garbled his father through the bandages. “Unwind these silly things and get me to my bed. This has taken a lot out of me.”
“Look Dad, the physician was totally against moving you. You were not ready to be discharged.”
“If I didn’t get out, then they would have got to me again for sure. It’s a risk I have to take. Now I have a last task for you so listen up and don’t call me ‘dad’ for heaven’s sake.”
“Look I’m not leaving you in this state. You can’t look after yourself.”
“Please yourself but I don’t want anybody finding out that I’m here. I can’t allow you to come and go freely. You will be watched and lead them to me. I need to recover and sort out my situation. Once these head men are out of the way there will be chaos for a while and I will be able to slip away for good. Now get me onto the bed and listen carefully.”
Hank picked up a spare cell phone out of a drawer as directed and slipped out of the flat via a fire escape staircase to a public floor. On the street he called the chief of Brown Sugar’s security and arranged a car to pick him up at the office block entrance next door.
“Now I didn’t expect young Brown Sugar to suddenly turn up and give orders!”
“Look, I’m not here by my own will. I’m only a messenger. As I told you, I was accosted by two strangers in a lift as I was leaving the hospital. They told me that Braun’s boss had arranged a number of operations and for some reason they wanted me to contact you.”
“Why didn’t they contact us direct?”
“That’s what I asked but they said that Braun arranged his own security and you would only believe me and nobody else. Look, I have a FedEx envelope for you stuffed with money. This surely demonstrates I’m Kosher? Where would I get that kind of money from and why in a FedEx envelope?”
“OK, OK, tell us the message.”
“The boss has arranged to eliminate the opposition. Four of the head men plus their legal associates are going to be picked up by the FBI for questioning in the next few days. They will be thrust up like chickens. They are going to be deposited in Unit 14 at the docks. You are to place them in one of the inner units and keep them there for a few days.”
“Do you know what you are asking us to do?”
“I don’t and I don’t want to be involved in this.”
“Do you know what Unit 14 is? No, well I’ll tell you just to let you know what you have got yourself involved in Mr. Hank Segar Junior. It’s a freezer unit. In a few days these boys will be as stiff as a board and in the meantime there will be open warfare in these streets.”
“All I know is that these people are responsible for my Dad’s death and the FBI will be paid well to deliver them to you.”
“I don’t know if we should believe you or not? What’s in you other envelope?”
“They gave me fifty grand to pass on this message and disappear, leave New York and start a business elsewhere. My task here is over once you guys drop me off at a cab rank.”
“You didn’t tell me that you were going to put these guys in a freezer?”
“They shouldn’t have told you that but nevertheless It’s better than they deserve and it gives me time to put my house in order.”
“But I’m now complicit in murder!”
“Don’t shout Hank. All you are is a messenger boy, paid by me.”
“You can have this envelope back. I don’t need it.”
“No but your Mum will. Her allowance will stop with my death and until I get my things sorted, she will be running short. I know of her expensive taste.”
“You keep talking about sorting out your future but what are you going to do and how?”
“I’ve been planning this exit strategy for some time. One of my Lieutenants will take over the running of my patch on the orders of my fictitious boss. He’ll do a good job now that the opposition will be in disarray. I have huge assets with all the development blocks I own here. I have found an investor, an equity fund that will pay me millions. I will disappear off the face of the earth, new identity, new life, in a new part of the World. That’s all I can tell you. You and your mother will be provided for by allocated shares in this development company. You will be able to continue to live comfortably in the future. Now I’m tired Hank. Give me that fortified drink and my medicine and leave me. Please don’t ever come back here or try to contact me. As far as you’re concerned, I continue to live as body parts in other people. The last task you have to perform is to attend the cremation of my fictitious redundant parts at some stage. You can shed a false tear at the time. Now leave me to rest and think. I shall be out of here in three days. Don’t even think of getting in touch.”
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