Dirt: Ch. 14

Sargent Miller/ Porch Scene Three

Jo-Jo wasn't seeing things. Todd and Leo went into the Erie Hotel across the street from the Ohio Building. The were discussing their plan in the drawing room off to the side of the lobby.

"Explain it to me again," Todd said.

"For the last time," Leo replied, "This Friday at Dirt, during the nude wrestling, that's when it's going down." He leaned back in his large padded arm-chair and lit a cigarette.

Todd reached over and took the smoke. "And you mentioned both Charles and Tab are in on it?"

"Only Tab is in," Leo said. "I have my doubts about Charles."

Todd gave the cigarette back, "Exactly when?"

Leo leaned back. "During the wrestling? Late? The last match."

"Why so late?" Todd asked.

"The last match will have more money at the betting table," Leo explained. "Those idiots never keep the money safe. All that money and no security."

"That guy Simon buy the betting table," Todd countered. "He's a big fucking guy."

Leo smiled. "Yea, but he's only one guy."

"The cops are in on it?" Todd asked.

Leo answered, "Yeah, the dispatcher is the wife of a friend of Tab's. She will handle the cops."

"We need a few others," Todd replied.

"The more who know, the more we have to pay," Leo warned. "Also there is a better the chance that someone squeals."

Cat walked into the room and asked, "Did you fill Todd in on the plan, Leo?"

"He knows the setup," Leo said. "That guy Jo-Jo already went to Charles and Tab to get the girls for the wrestling. Is he friend or foe?"

Cat took sat in one of the spacious chairs. "He does not know about the heist, he's insignificant. Jo-Jo and his friends shouldn't get hurt."

Todd told a lie, "My girlfriend hangs out with them. I'm not close with those guys."

Cat shook her head. "I talk with them when I'm at Dirt, thats all."

Leo said, "Anyway, I talked to Earle, he in on it also. He will signal us all when he is doing his act. If the cops are in he will say the signal word in his act."

Todd asked, "What's the signal word?"

Leo answered, "Blitzkrieg."

Cat replied and nodded, "Got it, Blitzkrieg."

Leo said, "I will be around the betting table, Todd will be in the grandstand, and Earle guard the exit after his act. We need someone in the ring when this all goes down." He looked at Cat.

Cat figured him out. "Oh no you don't, you want me in the ring. That means you intend for me to wrestle. You know the girls will be nude. I'm not going nude in front of that crowd. Besides, I don't wrestle."

Leo nodded his head, "Relax, Cat, you can do it in your bathing suit. It will be the last match, no one will give a shit if you're nude or not. I will fix it so you will go against someone you can beat. You will win, and it will be easy."

Cat shook her head. "No, way I'm not doing it."

Leo leaned across and took Cat's hand. "Cat, my dear, it's the only way. You'll be safe, we need you to do this. Keep your suit on, protest if you want. I will tell the referee, if you can call him that, that you are wrestling with your bathing suit on."

Cat still shook her head. "You will tell the referee, if you can call him that? You will tell him?"

Leo nodded his head.

Todd asked another question, "Tab is in on it right?"

Leo looked serious. "Tab came to me with the entire scheme. He wants it all for himself." He leaned back in the big chair, "With the war in Germany coming, both those guys think there will not be Dirt next summer." He looked toward the ceiling, "This is the last night for Dirt, and they know it. Tab always screws his partners in the end. It is what he does."

The next day, Jo-Jo was swamped with work and decided to skip his usual lunch with Dale and eat in the City Building's basement lunchroom. Jo-Jo payed a quarter and a nickel for a ham-and-cheese on thick white bread wrapped in wax paper.

The guy behind the counter, the author of this book, handed Jo-Jo back two pennies as change.

Jo-Jo had barely unwrapped his sandwich when an army recruiter walked right over. He was in a full uniform with his hat under his arm and a briefcase in hand. "Mind if I join you, son?" the man asked. He sat opposite Jo-Jo without waiting for an answer.

"Suit yourself," Jo-Jo nodded, attempting to be cordial.

"Name's Sergeant Miller," he said, reaching over to shake Jo-Jo's hand. "Let me ask you something. You feel it in the air, don't you? The storm is coming."

Jo-Jo shook Sergeant Miller's hand, strong grip. Jo-Jo unwrapped his lunch, took a bite, and spoke with his mouth full. "I'm not sure how I feel."

"Son, now's not the time for uncertainty," Miller said, launching smoothly into his spiel. "Look around this room, Toledo's joining the country. It's not a matter of if, but when."

Jo-Jo knew always knew he would eventually run into a recruiter like this. He nodded and ate his sandwich.

Miller continued, "A smart fellow like you? If you wait around to be drafted, the Army tells you where to go and what to do, no questions asked. But if you enlist? You pick the place, and build a future." He slapped the table, making a sharp metal sound that turned a few heads. "Believe me, son, stepping up now is better than being pushed."

Jo-Jo attempted to smile. "I understand what you're saying, Sergeant. I'm hoping this country won't fight, fingers crossed this buildup is for nothing."

Miller shook his head. "Don't be a fool." He pulled out a recruiting card and handed it to Jo-Jo. "If you want to save your ass, sign up before it's too late." With military efficiency, Miller stood up, turned, and walked away.

Jo-Jo looked at the card, his appetite was gone. He threw away what was left of his lunch and went back to his cubicle in the City Inspectors' office.

That night, Maddy and Ethel were sitting on the porch swing talking with Callie and Fat Pam. The clan was complete when Jo-Jo, Dale, and Todd soon came over. Maddy greeted Todd and Dale, and deliberately left out Jo-Jo. The other girls felt the tension between Maddy and Jo-Jo.

Ethel went inside and placed Artie Shaw's Begin the Beguine on the 78 RPM RCA Victrola. The smooth music was no match for the tensions that had come to a head after the long hot summer, and the news about the war in Europe.

Todd lit a cigarette and blurted out, "The war is coming, let's stop kidding ourselves."

Callie took Todd's smoke, inhaled, shook her head, and handed it back.

Dale sat down on the wooden porch floor and said, "Not this again. FDR's smarter than that." He lit his own cigarette, exhaled slowly. "He's kept us out so far."

Fat Pam stole Callie's move and took Dale's burning stick. "All I know is, I'm not looking forward to a world without boys."

Todd added to the smoke before he replied, "The Krauts have been bombing England nightly. It's about time we go over there and push them and those pesky Japs around."

Jo-Jo said, "An army recruiter came up to me during lunch today."

Ethel asked, "What did he say?"

Jo-Jo shrugged. "The same old shit, volunteer before you're drafted."

Maddy spoke to Jo-Jo with a sharp tone. "If you get arrested while you're at Dirt, you won't have to worry about being drafted. You will be one of the first to go to war."

Todd was shocked by Maddy's angry tone, and said, "No one's getting arrested." He grabbed Dale's cigarette, finished it, and ground it out. "Besides, Friday is the last night of Dirt."

Pam was glad the subject was no longer about war. "Speaking of Dirt, are the rumors about girls wrestling completely nude, just like the midgets, true?"

Jo-Jo shook his head, "No girl is going nude."

Callie cut him off. "How do you know? All I hear at Kresge's is nude girls this nude girls that." She pulled her earlobe, "I have ears ya' know."

Fat Pam, who was sitting next to Ethel, whispered so only she could hear, "I would wrestle at Dirt."

Ethel whispered back, "I'll wrestle nude if they payed me enough." She snickered.

Callie asked, "Whats so funny Ethel?"

"Nothin'," Ethel stoped laughing.

Maddy continued her angry tone, "No one here should be anywhere near illegal nude girls at Dirt!"

"All right," Jo-Jo admitted, "Me and Earle drove around town last night signing up female wrestlers." He conveniently left out the nude part.

Maddy shot right back in a mocking tone, "We all know about how you and your old fat friend get girls for Dirt!"

After that outburst, the crowd quickly got up and left the communal porch.

Todd left with his arm around Callie, thinking all the time about his scheme to double-cross his friends.