Prentiss had always been able to talk some sense into me. Our Labor Day reasoning helped me refocus on the bigger picture. PanStar was still in effect, according to my partner, at least- and I needed to give myself permission to let it run its course without feeling beholden to the machine.
To that end, I worked with Cabrón to make sure we maintained a subsistence level of inventory at all times and I cracked down on Mundo and his road crew- making it very clear to them that no sloppiness would be tolerated. But by that point, Mundo’s fate had already been decided. I was just waiting for Téo to pass that information on to his son.
Rafael made it a point to reach out to me in mid-September to let me know Mundo had been informed of his imminent departure.
“If he comes to you to ask why, please just tell him I need his help out here,” Bolo requested. “He doesn’t need to know we decided this together.”
That made me laugh to myself- I’d have been stuck with Olmando forever, had I not involved Téo and forced Bolo’s hand. But ah no nevermind. All that mattered was the end result.
And while I played the waiting game, Téo didn’t reach out to me, Mundo started making himself scarce, and as far as I could tell, Pierre didn’t know what was about to happen. It seemed like the Henriques family had circled their wagons. Blessed radio silence. But I was sure that would not hold for much longer.
I used the down-time to follow up with Prentiss on our proposed joint venture. We agreed we’d sell off our parking lots and split the profits down the middle, with the understanding we’d each put that money towards investment into speculative real estate. Prentiss would be the silent partner and I’d be public facing. Surprisingly, it didn’t take nearly as long as expected for us to unload the lots. I never did find out why Prentiss had such a strong dislike for them, but I could tell he was not kidding around about wanting to wash his hands of it all.
Our initial discussion had centered around Red Hook and Gowanus- but once I hit the streets for a little intelligence gathering, it quickly became apparent that those areas came with a high barrier to entry. They weren’t going to let us in. So, I moved on to Canarsie, Flatlands- that part of town. This kept me busy for weeks. I started to feel hopeful again.
And then Téo gave me a call right after we rolled into October.
“Lali and I let him know the plans,” my friend confirmed. “He took it poorly.”
“I’m sure he’ll have fun once he’s down there,” I replied.
“Well, just keep an eye out and let me know if he comes to you directly about it,” Téo said.
I said I would.
“And you might want to check in with Pierre,” he advised. “I’m sure Pierre’s the one who knows what’s really going on.”
