Tragic by Robert K. Tanenbaum Read Free Book Online

loved both of you, and I think it would break his heart to have you guys at each other’s throats.”
    Vince looked at Jackie. He wanted to tell him about the conversations he’d had with the old man in the weeks before his death, when he was talking about stepping down and anointing Vince ashis replacement. Leo Corcione had warned him to watch out for Charlie.
    •  •  •
    “I had high hopes for him.” The old man shook his head slowly. “I knew he was wild and resorted to force too quickly. But he also loved the union and did a lot of good things. I thought maybe with my influence, and to be honest, yours, we could temper his worst instincts and bring out the good ones.” The old man paused and then sighed. “But Charlie is ambitious and likes power; it overrides and corrupts everything else about him. He wants this job, but not for the right reasons. He doesn’t want to look out for the little guy; he wants to look out for Charlie Vitteli.”
    Leo warned him that “when I’m gone,” Vitteli would try to seize the reins of union leadership. “And he’ll do it by whatever means necessary.” The old man also told him to watch out for Barros. “He’s dangerous, though without Charlie he’s just a rabid dog without direction.”
    Surprisingly, Leo also told him not to trust his own son, Jackie. “I love the boy,” he said with tears in his eyes. “And yes, I know he’s queer, even though he thinks it’s a big secret. Doesn’t bother me. But what does bother me is he’s weak and has already let Charlie manipulate him into being another one of his dogs. If I didn’t love him so much, I’d fire him. So I’m hoping that when you’re president, you can bring him back into the fold. Make a good man out of him; I seemed to have failed.”
    These conversations had obviously been private, and then the old man died before he could name Vince as his successor. Instead, the presidency had gone up for a general vote allowing Charlie Vitteli plenty of time to manipulate and buy his way into power. There was no sense bringing up the old man’s wishes now. So Vince nodded and took a seat.
    “Okay, Charlie, spit it out. What’s this compromise?” he asked.
    Vitteli looked at him and moved closer so that he could speaklower. “I ain’t saying you’re right about the election results,” he began. “I ain’t saying you’re wrong. But that’s behind us. I think we both know that getting the Labor Department involved won’t be good for anybody—not the union, not me, not you.”
    “So what are you proposing?” Vince asked. He was tired and the black mood he’d been experiencing hovered near the edges of his thoughts.
    “Just this,” Charlie said. “I’m going to announce that, for the good of the union, and so everything is on the up-and-up, there will be another election.”
    “When?”
    “April.”
    “You going to cheat and buy that one, too?” Vince scoffed. “You just trying to buy time here?”
    “Nah, nothing like that,” Charlie replied. “In fact, I’m going to throw the election. I’ll start having some ‘medical issues,’ make some noises in some circles that maybe I’m not the right guy for the job after all.”
    Vince thought about it for a moment. “So what do you want in return?”
    Charlie smiled. “You drop the Labor Department complaint, and we hear no more about that shit. It’s in the past. Also, you name me vice president and my boys here work for me, except Jackie, who you will, of course, keep as chief financial officer.”
    Vince shook his head. “Sorry, can’t do it. Everything else is good, but you and your lapdogs have to go. I need to be able to trust my right-hand man, and I don’t trust you farther than I can throw you. Jackie, you stay, but you’ll be reporting to Mahlon Gorman, who will be the new union attorney, not that crook Syd Kowalski. We’ll work out some sort of golden parachute for the rest of you so money won’t be an issue. But I