The Cold Six Thousand (71 page)

(Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Mexico City, 11/4/67–12/3/67)

D
ominoes: the Dl/the Sands/the Castaways. On tap: The Frontier.

Ten pins: Non-Mormon skim men snitched to the Feds. Old skim hands in custody.

Littell planned. Littell sowed. The Boys reaped. Bribes/PR/extortion. Blackmail/philanthropy.

It took four years. Drac owns Las Vegas now. It’s Drac’s kingdom complete.

Three units down. More up. Eight pending. Drac buys Vegas. Drac owns Vegas—cosmetically.

The Boys exult. The Boys praise Littell. The Boys co-opt Wayne Senior. Wayne Senior deploys. Wayne Senior recruits:

Mormons for the DI. Mormons for the Castaways. Mormons for the Sands. Mormon floor men/Hughes-vetted/legit. Mormon
skim
men/non-vetted/non-legit.

More hotels on tap. More Mormon hires pending. Drac gets the inked deeds. Drac gets the glory. The Boys get the money.

Littell braced the Boys. The Boys agreed: Let’s suspend the skim. Let Drac move in. Let the ink dry. Let the shouts subside.

Skim then. Rig the vacuums. Put the hose to Drac.

Littell said we’re ready. I’ve pegged sixty-one businesses. They’re pension-fund-indebted. They’re subornable. They’re cake. We revive the skim. We suborn said businesses. We divert profits and plant foreign casinos.

It looked good on paper. It
was
good for him. It upped his retirement stakes.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. I’m
scared
. Drac scared him. Drac talked PR. Drac talked financial disclosure.

I’ll buff my image. I’ll audit my books. I’ll publish clean stats.
Don’t
do it.
I’ve
pilfered. Don’t disclose
my
tithe stats.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. My love life’s a mess. I dream about Jane. I make love to Janice.

Janice found work. Janice bought a golf shop. She sold golfwear at the Sands Hotel. She built a rep.

She did trick shots at her indoor range. She built a rep. She ragged herself like Barb did. She built a rep. She performed. She drew customers. She made money.

She still limped. She still cramped. She still spasmed up. She drank less now. She clowned less. She tattled less. She laid off the Tedrows. She’d outgrown their spell.

He slept with Janice. Jane shared the bed. Jane bludgeoned/Jane shot-gunned/Jane bled.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. It hurts to sleep. My hate life’s a mess.

He worked with Wayne Senior. They haggled business points. Wayne Senior talked Image.

Shitfire—looks
count
. Screw hate tracts—
I
know Dick Nixon.

Wayne Senior talked Image. Wayne Senior talked change. Wayne Senior did not talk BLACK RABBIT. Wayne Senior performed. Wayne Senior delivered.

He saw Nixon. He passed the word. He said Dick
will
run. He said Dick wants that sitdown. He said Dick wants your cash.

Littell called Drac. Drac agreed. Drac said he’d pay that percentage. Littell called the Boys. The Boys whooped and crowed.

Dick likes money. Dick will grant “favors.” Wayne Senior says so. He’ll run. He’ll gain ground. He’ll win primaries. He’ll get the nomination. He’ll meet with Littell.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. I hate Wayne Senior. I hate Tricky Dick. I love Bobby. I love Bobby’s kid.

He passed through D.C. He met Paul Horvitz. He culled Jane’s file. He retyped her notes. He snitched second-line mobsters to Bobby.

He met Paul four times. He delivered four parcels. Paul was wowed. Paul cited Bobby. Bobby was very impressed. They held the data. They verified facts. They withheld disclosure.

Paul said our deal holds. We’ll hold your dirt—until late ’68. Paul said Bobby might run. LBJ might retire. Let’s await ’68.

He met Paul. He played southern poof. He deployed a fake beard and drawl. They talked politics. He weaved lies. He described his life in Mississippi.

School in De Kalb. Liberal values. Southern gentility. The Klan drove him out. He moved north. Displaced aristocracy.

Paul heard his tales. Paul endured dinner dates. He’s lonely. He’s old. He loves Bobby.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. I indulge fantasies.

He traveled. He worked. He tithed the SCLC. He ran tail checks. He caught tails. He diversionaried.

He calculated. He tail-scanned. He nailed the rotation: Spot tails/one day on/nine days off. He confirmed the nine to one ratio. He tail-checked accordingly.

Paranoia: valid and justified. Nine days free. One day restricted. Act accordingly.

Mr. Hoover never called. Ditto BLUE RABBIT. He did the bug jobs. Agents directed him. BLUE RABBIT disappeared. He got no pouches. He got no attaboys. He got no thank-yous. He got no welcome back. He got no tix to BLACK RABBIT.

It scared him. It said they’ve upscaled BLACK RABBIT. It said they’re doing bad things.

He met Bayard Rustin once a month. They had lunch in D.C. Bayard said he almost got blackmailed—child, what a scene!

Bayard ran it down. Bayard described mirrors and mike plants. Bayard described a fruit squeeze. It felt like Freddy Otash. It could be Pete B.

Pete was bereft then. Barb had left him. Pete sulked accordingly. Littell tracked the date Bayard gave him. Littell tracked probability.

He was bugging Mob spots then. He braced Freddy T. Freddy declined work. Freddy
had
work. Freddy said Fred O. gigs me.

Don’t ask Pete. He might say yes. He might say I pulled that queer squeeze.

Retire me. I’m stretched thin. My friends frighten me.

He met Bayard. Bayard talked. Bayard said Martin scares me. He’s making plans. They’re his boldest yet. He’ll make more enemies.

Rent strikes/boycotts/poor people’s unions/poor people’s marches/poor people’s heresies.

Littell heard it. Littell remembered—it’s Lyle Holly’s prophecy.

Bayard was scared. Martin was crazed. Martin breathed enmity. His plans would shock. His plans would divide. His plans would stir enmity. His plans would trash his triumphs. His plans would spark backlash. His plans would build heresy.

Littell
saw
it:

It’s Martin Luther/1532. It’s Europe aflame. There’s the Pope. He’s Mr. Hoover. His old world’s aflame.

Retire me. I want to watch. I want to watch passively.

Jimmy Hoffa’s in jail. I’ll file his appeals. Retire me. I travel to excess. I country-hop. Please retire me.

He flew south. He hit Mexico City. He made four trips and met with Sam G. They talked colonization. Sam talked travel spree.

Sam toured Central America. Sam toured the Caribbean. Sam brought interpreters and money. Sam talked to dictators. Sam talked to puppet thugs. Sam talked to rebel fiends.

Sam did gruntwork. Sam did groundwork. Sam laid seeds. Sam said I love your cause. I support it and pledge fraternity. Here’s some money. There’ll be more. You’ll hear from me.

Sam spread seed money. Sam seeded all ideologies. Plant seeds—sow revolt and repression—casino ideology.

Retire me. I get airsick. Casino smoke sickens me. Retire Pete. He’s tired too. His work sickens me. I disapprove—I’ve got no right—it’s hypocrisy.

Pete sold dope. Pete ran his cab stand. Pete ran his hotel-casino. Pete had Cuba. Pete had Vietnam. Pete had two-front lunacy. Pete missed Vietnam. Pete missed Barb more. Barb made him stay home. Pete curtailed his lunacy.

Pete stayed home. Pete travel-spreed. Pete went to Barb’s turf. Pete went to smalltown Wisconsin.

Pete called him. Barb called him. He got two versions. Vegas to Sparta—Pete leaves expectant—Pete returns whipped.

Pete worked his scams. Pete praised the war. Pete indulged habits. Barb slung hash. Barb reviled the war. Barb eschewed habits.

Love as stasis. Two takes. His-and-hers.

Retire Pete. Upgrade Wayne—
le fils de
Pete.

Pete had nightmares. Pete described them. Betty Mac/the crossbars/the noose. Pete had real pictures.
He
didn’t. That made it worse.

There’s Jane Fentress—Arden Breen/Bruvick/Smith/Coates. She’s dead by knife/dead by cudgel/dead by steel sap.

The pictures varied. One soundtrack held in. Mr. Hoover’s letter—addressed to Dr. King.

“What a grim farce.” “One way out.” “A liability.”

Retire me. I’ll try to live idle. I might not succeed.

(Vietnam, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Bay St. Louis, Cuban Waters. 11/4/67–12/3/67)

M
ore:

Troop infusions. Troop movements. Troops dead.

More:

Bomb raids. Ground raids. Resistance.

Resistance in-country. Resistance at home. Resistance worldwide. The war was MORE. The biz was LESS. Wayne knew it.

Less:

Territory. Profit growth. Potential.

The kadre shared lab space. The Can Lao co-opted. Why do it? The Can Lao shipped to Europe. The kadre shipped to Vegas. Note the dichotomy.

The kadre did good biz. The Can Lao did great biz. Note the discrepancy. The war defined MORE. The biz defined LESS. Note the inconsistency.

Their turf was restricted. West Vegas was sapped. They had no growth room. Pete pouched Stanton. Pete pouched once a month. Pete said let us GROW.

Out of Vegas. Into L.A. Into Frisco.

We’ve got Tiger Kamp. We’ve got poppy slaves. We’ve got dope fields boocoo. We can GROW. We can earn MORE. The Cause will GROW.

Stanton said no. Stanton insisted. Wayne read his tone. Said tone was hinky. Said tone was quasi-weird. Pete wants MORE. Stanton wants LESS. Note the entropy.

Wayne wanted MORE. Wayne rotated east. Wayne saw more incessant. More troops smoking weed. More troops popping pills. More troops scared incessant.

Big “H” killed fear. They’d find it. Wayne knew.

The war thrilled him. The war rocked. The war grew. The “Cause” bored him. The “Cause” vexed. The “Cause” entropied.

Log it: Cuban runs/forty-plus/no at-sea resistance. It was boring now. It was impotent. It was quasi-weird.

The Cause was flypaper. Pete was a fly. Pete was stuck on 1960. Laurent was a fly. Flash was a fly. They buzzed Cuba persistent.

They talked stale shit. They talked coups and Reds. They talked domino jive. Bob talked stale shit. Bob talked race and Reds. Bob talked domino jive.

Bob vibed hinky. Bob vibed it weeks running. Bob vibed quasi-weird. Bob vibed anxious. Bob vibed scared. Bob vibed jazzed.

Bob vibed stuck. Cuba is flypaper. Cuba is quicksand. Cuba is glue.

Vegas is quicksand. Barb knows it. Barb extricates. Pete knows it. Pete stays.

Pete hit Wayne. Wayne took it. Pete apologized. Pete was frayed. Barb was in exile. The biz was exiled.