scobie looked out the window.
it was a nice day. the sun was shining over the tall buildngs of the city. a few happy looking white clouds drifted by.
“it’s a nice day,” scobie said to boss bosco, who was sitting with his back to the window, with a scowl on his face.
“so?” boss bosco answered, without looking at scobie, or out the window.
“just saying.” scobie knew enough not to suggest anything to the boss.
if he suggested they go for a walk, the boss would think scobie had set him up in some way to be waylaid. if scobie suggested that the boss go for a walk by himself, he would be certain of it.
and if scobie suggested that he, scobie, go for a walk by himself, the boss would think he was deserting his post as a bodyguard so that some enemy could invade his, the boss’s, territory .
so scobie just said “it’s a nice day.”
and boss bosco said “so?”
and scobie just said, “just saying”.
boss bosco was a worried man.
he should have been on top of the world.
he had beaten his long time rival, al adamson, for control of the west side.
captain o’malley, of the special squad, was satisfied with the tokens of appreciation the boss sent him regularly, or at least expressed himself as being so. and if he wanted a little more, he could just say so, couldn’t he?
so what was the problem? scobie could tell something was worryng the boss.
finally scobie couldn’t take it any longer. “is something bothering you?’ he asked the boss, as casually as he could. “you look a little out of sorts this morning.”
somewhat to scobie’s surprise, the boss responded by banging his fist on the desk. “yeah, something’s bothering me,” he almost shouted.
“and what might that be?” scobie asked with an innocent air.
“callahan!”
“callahan? that mope? we framed him and sent him up the river, but good.”
“yeah, but i just heard that he is out! one of my enemies - of my enemies, who are everywhere - got to the parole board and put the fix in and now he is out on the street! and you just know he is coming for me!”
scobie shrugged. “but, boss, you have been building up an organization for thirty years for the express purpose of keeping out guys like callahan - “
“callahan isn’t just a guy!”
“- as i was about to say, why not just relax and let the organization do the job it was built up to do? it is what it is there for.”
“that’s easy for you to say. you are not the one callahan is out to get. now, here is what i want you to do. i want you to go to judge wilkins, i want you to go to congressman curtis, and to captain o’malley, and i want them to set up a special commission to do what has to be done to stop callahan. do you think you can do that?”
“sure, if you don’t mind being left alone for a while. i could get one of the other boys - “
“what, you think i’m afraid to be left alone? go ahead, do what i told you. see judge wilkins first, he is probably still having breakfast over at dunphy’s.”
“whatever you say.” scobie took his hat off the rack and left.
left to himself, the boss began drumming his fingers on his desk. he started to get up to go look out the window when he heard a soft knocking, almost a scratching, at the door.
“yeah! who is it?” he shouted.
“cleaning lady,” came a squeaky little voice.
“cleaning lady, huh? what, do you think i just fell off a banana boat full of tarantulas from peru? you ain’t no cleaning lady!”
“all right then,” the voice piped. “i will go away, and tell the world that big bad boss bosco is afraid of a little old cleaning lady with blisters on her knees. the boys in the back room down at the pool hall will have a good laugh over that one, you bet.”
enraged, the boss got up and rushed over to the door and flung it open to confront his adversary -
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