Rum Running II

“It isn’t like I never get out,” Arthur protested. He was starting to wonder if everything that David did was definite, he always spoke in a tone of total authority.

“From what I hear that’s business, not fun. You have to have fun sometimes,” David said. Arthur stared at him.

“What do you mean from what you’ve heard?” Arthur asked suspiciously. Was this a set up by another family, was David about to pull out a gun. Arthur was starting to wonder if he had been wise to turn down the bodyguard after all.

“The whole college knows who your father is, not matter how hard you try to hide it,” David said shrugging. “Why do you think everyone keeps away from you? I hear you have a part in the family business these days, though you’ve never been caught. That’s what they’re saying anyway. I won’t ask you if it’s true, that’s your business.”

“So why are you being so friendly with me if everyone is scared of me?” Arthur asked. If everyone knew who his father was he would expect them to be scared, which made David’s friendly behavior even more confusing. He had heard of people getting close to gangsters and stuff because they wanted favors and he was starting to wonder if David was one of this sort.

“You don’t seem to have a Tommy gun stuck under your coat,” David said, grinning. “And if you have a revolver it isn’t pointed at me at the moment.” Arthur still looked at David in amazement; he was treating the whole thing like it was a joke, his whole lifestyle.

“I’ve had people gun for me before, I have a scar on my side when I got grazed by a knife, for all you know just sitting here you could get caught in the crossfire,” Arthur said. David’s attitude about Arthur’s life made Arthur want to convince him that what he was doing was truly dangerous.

“I don’t mind,” was all David said, and he smiled so charmingly that Arthur didn’t argue anymore, even though he still felt he should. They didn’t talk about what Arthur was for the rest of the evening; instead they spent hours in the café talking about nothing in particular. Arthur became very found of David in the course of that one evening, he treated every subject with the casualness that he had treated Arthur’s work. Finally it got late enough that Arthur realized that everyone at the hotel was probably looking for him and he stood up.

“They probably have decided I’ve been kidnapped or knocked off or something by now, I better go,” Arthur said. A few hours he would have never made a joke about being knocked off to someone from school, but he was starting to forget that David wasn’t really part of his world.

“I’m telling you Arthur, living alone is so much nicer. No one ever has a fit if you stay out until dawn,” David told him, standing and shaking hands with him. “Stop by my place sometime, we’ll have a great time.”

“I’d invite you over to my place but I don’t know if you’d like it,” Arthur said sheepishly. “It’s not so great.”

“That big hotel you’re father’s set up in? I wouldn’t think it’d be so bad. At least you don’t have to make your own bed.”

“I was talking more about the company, but I really should go.” Arthur hurried out the door before he could say anything else. He hadn’t let his guard down for years and he was starting to feel very vulnerable.

No one commented that Arthur had been out far past his usual time. He was careful to not say anything about what he had been up to; he had a reputation to maintain. Arthur saw to it that he was the center of attention at one of the clubs his father owned, chased off a guy who was making eyes at his half sister, and saw to it that the booze wouldn’t run out. All in all it was a normal night, and well past one in the morning when he finally turned in.

In spite of telling himself all that night that he wasn’t going to get involved with David anymore, Arthur found he couldn’t help himself. His double life became more and more obvious as he kept it up, it got to the point where Arthur didn’t start wondering if he was really living in only one world. Morning and night he would do whatever dirty work his father needed, look after the clubs, shoot up a joint, anything his father didn’t trust the grunts to do right. In the afternoons though Arthur kept going to classes and started stopping at David’s apartment or going out to coffee with him. They could talk about anything Arthur discovered, David never made a moral censure about anything that Arthur told him. After their first meeting Arthur had been afraid that David was a connection from some other mob, or the cops, but as he slowly opened up not one of their jobs had been messed with so he figured David kept his mouth shut.

Several months after the start of his friendship with David Arthur was stretched out on his bed when he heard a commotion coming from the floor below. He grabbed a revolver from next to his bed and headed down to investigate. To his total and utter amazement he found David struggling with a couple of the boys from his father’s gang.

“Hey, cut it, I know this guy,” Arthur said, shoving his gun into his jacket pocket. “He’s my guest, and I don’t like to see my guests roughed up by you boys unless I tell you to, got it?” The men instantly let David go and looked as sheepish as their sort ever did. Messing up wasn’t popular, or likely to lead to a long life where the gang was concerned and Arthur held a lot of power. Their leader did point out that Arthur hadn’t told them he was expecting company but he looked properly ashamed for the comment when Arthur glared at him so he let it go.

“What do you think you’re wandering into?” Arthur demanded of David once they were safe in his room. “They could’ve shot you and not thought about it.”

“They didn’t though,” David said shrugging. “I was bored so I figured I’d drop by. It isn’t like the whole town doesn’t know where you and your group can be found.”

“Which is why most sane people keep away,” Arthur said, now up to ranting speed. With the sight of David he was starting to go back into the face he showed at school, the face where he had to dislike gangsters and mobs. “Do you like the idea of a bullet in your head? You march in here without an invitation and you expect them to welcome you with open arms. If I hadn’t come down they’d have probably decided you were a hit man from another gang and you just shrug at me.”

“Well I didn’t die and that’s what matters. So what are you doing tonight?”

“I have a job to do,” Arthur said, giving David a sideways look.

“I see, so you’re going to be out and about while I sit in my apartment, looking at the wallpaper for entertainment. I’d rather you took me with you.”

“Now I know you’re crazy,” Arthur said, for once as firmly as David usually was. “This isn’t a kiddy game; it’s not like in the radio stories.”

“I’d hope not, in the radio stories the gangsters always end up either dead or in jail,” David said grinning. It was nothing to grin about for Arthur; it was a little too close to the truth to be a laughing matter.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to be doing tonight, or how many of the guys are going to be with me. If it’s a bunch of my dad’s toughs do you really think they’ll like one of my college friends riding around as a potential witness? This isn’t a business where tourists are welcome.”

“The only reason I don’t know is because you haven’t told me. So long as I’m not the one holding the gun I don’t care what we’re doing.”

“This isn’t a we business, this is a me business. You have no part of it. Even if you’re not holding the gun, you’d still be an accomplice. For me it’s fine, hung for a sheep or a lamb, it’ll happen either way one of these days.”

“So does the job involve shooting tonight?” David asked calmly.

“I hope not, though you never know, thing happen.”

“And will a bunch of your father’s toughs be with you?” David persisted. Arthur knew that he should lie but looking at David he started to get the feeling David would know if he did.

“No, it’s just me alone,” Arthur admitted. “They’ve been having some trouble with transporting some stuff, so father is sending me.”

“Then you can take me with you and so long as we don’t get caught, no harm done. If it makes you feel better if we do get caught I can tell them that you kidnapped me,” as usual David was treating the whole like a joke. It was like he had no problem at all knowing that his friend was a known gun man who had been taken in for questioning several times by the police, even if they had never pinned anything on him.

“So you’d have them stick me in the big house for a longer time then they would just for running hooch?” Arthur demanded, though now he was smiling for the first time since they started talking.

“Is that what the job is?” David asked. “I wouldn’t mind a car ride, let’s go.”

“I still don’t think that father’s boys will like it if I take on a passenger, I don’t think father will like it for that matter,” Arthur said, still doubtful.

“So don’t let them see you pick me up. I’ll wait around the corner for you,” David suggested.

“Not this corner, too many of father’s boys around here,” Arthur said, getting swept into his friend’s wild ideas.

“Alright, the corner of Elm and Maple then,” David suggested. That’s close enough that I could walk there but far enough away that nobody that matters will see.” Arthur was forced to admit that Elm and Maple would work. They killed a little time, until Arthur announced loudly that he really had to be going, and David made a show of parting.

“Who’s that?” demanded his father’s second in command when Arthur walked out after David had left.

“A guy from school, don’t worry I told him not to come around anymore. He’s not talkative if that’s what you’re worried about, and didn’t see nothing if he was. He’s not smart enough to hurt us any.”

“If you say so,” the man said doubtfully. “Seems dangerous to have someone like that inviting himself but I guess you know your business.”

“Yeah, and you’d better keep out of it,” Arthur snapped. The man might have been his father’s second in command but as his father’s son Arthur was still higher up on the ladder. It never hurt to remind people of his power every once in a while.

When he worked in the parts of his father’s clubs that had gambling Arthur saw a lot of sons of rich and influential families go in and out. They were usually considered embarrassments to their families, some of them were even disowned, but most of them looked like they were enjoying every moment of it. They were rebelling against their families and society, and it gave the young men who went through their gambling rooms a sort of fraternity. It was a fraternity that Arthur had never been a part of, what could the son of a gangster do to rebel? He could have joined the police force or hired as a detective but he had no interest in either profession so in the end he had done exactly what his father wanted him to do. Therefore it was a feeling of unfamiliar disobedience that Arthur stopped to pick up David on Elm and Maple.

“So where are we off too?” David asked, once they were outside of the city limits.

“Up north, there are still some breweries running, underground operations. They make the best whiskey available since the prohibition.”

“I didn’t know there were still breweries working,” David commented and Arthur smiled at his friend’s innocence.

“A lot of bribes and crooked politicians see they stay in operation and don’t get raided, not too often anyway. We don’t have to worry so much about the cops as we do about the competition. They’ve been gunning at our boys recently when they’ve gone to make the runs so dad sent me, try to get a look at who’s messing with us at least. They’ve stolen a couple of our shipments and you don’t do that if you want to stay healthy.”

“Like I said, so long as I’m not the one holding the gun I don’t care.”

“You could still get shot,” Arthur pointed out, starting to second guess bringing his friend again. It was too late now to turn around and put him back in city limits though. Arthur had a strict schedule to keep and turning around would through it off. It was a long trip and he wanted them both to be back in time to go to classes Monday morning.

At noon, after a night of driving, they pulled off of the road and found a shop that sold sandwiches and coffee. David had slept in the seat next to Arthur while he drove so he was in a much more cheerful mood then Arthur was. It turned out that David had never been on a long car trip before and he was treating the whole thing like it was a holiday. Arthur finally suggested that David get out and explore the town so that he could stretch out on the truck’s seat and sleep for a few hours. Since they had no cargo secrecy was no matter but later they wouldn’t have the chance to pull over to the side like this. Arthur would need all of the sleep he could get.

With a bundle of sandwiches for later meals Arthur and David got started on the road again. Now that they were both rested even Arthur started to forget that this was a business trip, it was the most fun he had had for a long time. David handed him a bottle of ice cold cola that he had bought while around town, a prohibition drink if Arthur had ever seen one, but he wasn’t in the mood to complain. He was all the more comfortable with David because he wasn’t a part of the illegal world he belonged to, and the last thing he wanted to do was encourage David to head toward illegal tastes. It was a relief to see David drink such a harmless beverage even when he knew that Arthur could provide something less legal.

To be continued...