I didn’t feel any type of way about leading Bolo to believe I was simply downscaling my ambitions. There was no reason for him to know my true plans. It was confirmed to me that I’d moved beyond PanStar’s infrastructure when I felt no need to inform Bolo about Biz and Lucci’s ATM scheme.
There was no going back.
Shortly before I was scheduled to depart for New York, I met with Mano over at his mother’s house. I’d brought a glass figurine for Miss Leonora. It was a miniature replica of the Brooklyn Bridge. When I presented it to her, Miss Leonora kissed me on the cheek and placed the object in her curio cabinet.
Mano and I grabbed a couple of beers from the refrigerator then walked out to the front verandah.
“I’m ready,” I said, not bothering with small talk or niceties.
“How ready?” Mano asked.
“I’m set up with Ria, Bolo knows I’m done moving product and I’ve offered him my services as his personal money mover,” I explained.
“So, what’s the next step?” Mano asked.
“I need connections,” I told him.
“I’ll set that up for you,” he said. “When can you come back next? Give yourself a full week.”
“I’m going off grid for all of August. How about mid-September?” I suggested.
“That works,” Mano agreed. “It’ll give me enough time to get it all organized properly.”
“And I’m serious about wanting to have money out on the streets here by January,” I reminded him.
“You’ll get it done,” Mano said.
“And while we’re talking about the set-up, how would you feel about going in on this with me?” I asked.
I suspected Mano was still a hard no, but wanted to do one last check to see if he’d come around to working with me.
“Well, now that you bring it up,” Mano said, slowly, “I can’t really imagine how I could be a full-time partner. I can’t be out there like that. I have a real job.”
“But?” I asked.
“But I’d like to put some money in. Like an investor.”
“A silent partner?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mano agreed. “Exactly. Let me know what the dollar amount would be and what kind of pay-off I can expect. Let’s see if we could make it work.”
“There’s nothing I love more than a silent partner,” I replied. “Especially one who has better sense than I do.”
“I need to get ahead, too,” Mano admitted. “But I just don’t have your balls.”
