Surviving the Mob (20 page)

“Under the circumstances, I figured I’d better pass on the Sunday bank job. I got hold of Tommy and Benny. I told ’em I wanted to go on the score, but I didn’t want to ruin it if I was hot. The decision was for me to give them the rental car and they’d do the job without me. I’d report to my parole officer on Monday and find out what was up.

“On Monday I went to the parole office. My mother was
now divorced and her boyfriend went with me. We were in the waiting area for about five minutes when my crewmate Mario came in. I told him about having just seen the parole officer the previous Wednesday, but on Friday, he told me I had to come back in.

“Mario said he’d seen some guys that looked like detectives downstairs when he entered the building. They were looking at a file and he thought he heard them mention my name. He said, ‘Listen, they can violate us on nothing and hold us on Riker’s Island for forty-five days just to bust our balls. If they [the detectives] come up, I think they’re gonna violate you. You might wanna get hold of Jo Jo. Have him call in and see what’s goin’ on.’

“When Mario got called into the office, I told my mother’s boyfriend to go out and start the car. He turned white as a sheet, but he went. The door worked by a buzzer, but because he wasn’t a parolee, he was able to get right out.

“A few minutes later the two suits came up. They flashed their badges and were buzzed in. As they headed for my parole officer’s office, they happened to look over at me. Then they turned and looked at each other like they knew who I was. As they went in the office, the lady at the desk opened the door for another person to come in. Before the door could close, I was gone. I went down the stairs five steps at a time and ran to the car. We drove to my mother’s boyfriend’s house and I called Jo Jo. I told him what happened and he said to sit tight, he’d get right back to me.

“Jo Jo called back a short time later. He said he’d spoken to the parole officer. He asked him what was going on and said that he wanted to resolve whatever problem there was. The parole officer said he didn’t know what Jo Jo was talking about. He’d only say that I was supposed to see him, that I’d been in the office and then ran out. I had until the end of the day to report or I’d be violated. Jo Jo told him that he’d
called in good faith to discuss surrender. Since the parole officer was lying to him, there could be no deal. He said they’d have to find me on their own.

“I still didn’t know what it was all about. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to report in until I did. So from that point, I was officially on the run.”