The Legend of Johnny Hustle: Crown Me King (17 page)

When we finished, she wiped me down with a hot towel.  In all honesty, she said, “You got some good stuff honey, and I’m not in love with you, but I’m addicted to that stuff there.”

I was glad that I could please her.  As if I had perfect timing, my phone rang and I told them to send Webb and Jason up.

The two men walked into my suite well dressed in suits, so I figured that they didn’t do the robbery.

“What happened?”  I asked

Webb opened his full-length shearling and rolled out a plastic wrapping that held 50 rare coins.  “It’s time to get paid, duke.  That’s what happen, duke, that’s what happened.”

I walked into the bedroom, moved Roxy over, and opened the briefcase to find $75,000.  I removed $50,000 and headed back to the living room.

When I handed the money over, Jason started counting the money, but Webb stopped him. “Homey—homey?  That’s fam, homey,” Web said and they left.

Later that night, Sharieff came by the hotel.  I sent his coins down with Red.

I was bringing the New Year in the right way, and once PeeWee returned with my cash, I would reach a place where no one I knew ever reached.  I was going to be a millionaire.

15

The Union

              1989 was ending on shaky grounds.  On New Year’s Eve, I came to the conclusion that I had to get Joy and Roxy out of the suite.  They were fighting like cats and dogs.  Early that morning they argued over something simple.  I sat between them, and Joy explained things to me.  “Daddy, we been inside for too long.  I need to make money for you, daddy.  I need to work.”

If I were a pimp I would have known that.  I would have probably been a broke one too.

              I settled things with the girls.  I wanted to see for myself if things were cooled down on their strip, and then I had a thought. 
Where the fuck is PeeWee?
  He hadn’t called, and I hadn’t gone to the Hilton like he instructed, so that’s what I did.

              “I need to see PeeWee,” I said to the manager of the hotel.

              “Who?” the effeminate male asked, turning his nose up to me.

              “You know, PeeWee, the guy up on the eleventh floor.”  I leaned in closer and whispered.  “The man who gets everything for the top clients.” I wasn’t convincing him.  “Remember me?  I was with the band Culture Shock?  We had the whole tenth floor?”

              Recognition set into his face.  “Oh yes, you arrived with the band.  You and another Negro fellow?”

              I let the race comment slide.  I was there to pick up a million dollars.  “Sure, that’s who I’m looking for.  Up on the eleventh floor.  PeeWee, you know, the guy who knows the Hilton family and helped you guys get all the awards.”  I knew he was going to be reprimanded as soon as PeeWee found out.

              The manager waved security and then placed both of his hands behind his back.  “Sir, the man you described is wanted by this establish for not paying his bill.  Based on our error, he occupied a suite for a week without paying his, or the band’s bills.”  I turned ice cold.  “As I can see by the sudden change of your demeanor, you were probably scammed by him as well.  But I assure you that the fellow has no affiliation with the Hilton establishment.  Our interaction with him was a one time affair.”

             
I got hustled!  Cock-sucking PeeWee hustled me.

              I walked out of the hotel deducting how much I lost, and realized that PeeWee was setting me up the whole time. 
Don’t get mad, get even
, Yoda’s words entered my mind.

              “I’m not trying to hear that shit!” I yelled in the street, trying to drown out the voices in my head.  Based on my actions, the people passing on the street probably figured me as a typical native New Yorker.

$$$

I tried to get into a good mood, but thoughts of PeeWee had me steaming.  I was going to hurt him real bad when I caught him.

Later that, night the ladies and I were all dressed for the Marriott’s New Year’s Board of Directors party.  We were dressed in style.  I wore a new Calvin Klein tux.  The ladies wore gowns by Diamond Girl.

              At ten o’clock we headed down to the huge ballroom.  We walked through the large tinted glass doors.  The spacious place was packed.  The dim room with expansive chandeliers was filled with the aroma of cigars, champagne, and a multitude of fragrances. The thick red carpet under my feet made it feel like I was walking on air.  I was slowly changing the mood PeeWee gave me.  I looked around and felt proud of how I had risen.  I even wished my mother could have seen the accomplishments I made.  As a hustler herself, I’m sure she would have been proud.

              By eleven o’clock, Roxy and Joy started mingling.  Too many men tried to get their attention.  I was proud of them both.  Red started a debate with a businessmen about how sure she was that there would be a war in the Middle East someday.  She was my shining star and I loved the way she had the ability to handle herself in any environment.  I made short comments, but in the middle of her debate, I was introduced to someone else who changed my life.

              “Johnny, this is Arnold Bond, chairman of the board of Marriott Hotels,” the maitre‘d said, introducing me to a tall handsome White man who could have passed as a Robert Redford look-a-like.

I was on the verge of giving the man my birth name, but I decided to have some fun.  “Please to meet you; just call me Johnny Hustle,” I said, shaking his hand.

              “Oh well, you need no introduction, my good man.  I’ve heard volumes about you, and I’m glad that you provide a service that makes large hotels work.”

              With no expression on my face I asked, “And what service is that?”

              The man looked around and then leaned in like he had a secret. “Listen, let’s spare the formal bullshit.  There isn’t a successful hotel in the world that can stay in business unless they provide every need for the customer.  This is New York, the greatest city in the world, and the most visited.  If we have a guest who knows he can come alone during business trips, powder his nose, and spend his time with a fine lady without the risk of going to jail?  Why he, and everyone he knows, will be coming back to that hotel, and no one knows what happened except him and the middle man.”

              “Well, since you put it that way, I’m glad I could be of service to you,” I said, truly appreciative.

              While handing me a cigar, he continued.  “We can use a man like you on the board.  For say, around a hundred thou’ you’d have a pretty good plot of shares in this company.  As time goes on, you buy more shares.  One thing leads to another and you’re on the board.”

              I thought the man was another PeeWee, pulling my chain, so I sipped from my flute, looked him square in the eyes, and asked, “Why me?”

              He returned my glare. “You want the truth, or a good answer?”

              “The truth.  Straight up, not shaken or stirred.”

              He chuckled. “I’ll have to use that one.  But seriously, you understand that hard work
is
hard work, either in the streets or in big business.  Men like you, especially
Black
men like you—you guys know the trends.  You know what people want and how to give it to them.  What’s that term my daughter says?  Oh yes, you guys know
the
flava.
  With you on the board, these old bags will clear out and the fresh board can make the Marriott name the leading franchise in history.  Buy small, then accumulate more stocks, and you’ll be on the board.  I guarantee it.  Just imagine having your own suite all over the world to call your own?”

              “And how can you guarantee it?” I asked the man who seriously had my attention.

              He cracked a patient smile as if he was talking to a novice. “Because I’m the chairman.  You have a wonderful night.”  He shook my hand and walked away.

              I was really confused about what a chairman of the board did.  As I stood wondering if the man was trying to run a long con on me, Red walked up with a smile on her face.  She touched my ear and said, “He was just talking your ear off, huh?  What in heavens name do you and Arnold Bond have in common?”

              “You know him?” I asked in shock.

              “Know
of
him.  He’s only the head honcho of the Marriott Group.”  She must have seen the confused expression on my face, because she patiently said, “Sugar, he’s the boss of all these hotels all over the world.”

              I couldn’t respond.  My mind was stuck, and I was embarrassed.  People counting down the sixty seconds to the New Year interrupted my thoughts.

              Roxy and Joy ran over to me.  We all hugged and made a large circle.  “Happy New Year,” the crowd celebrated.  We all kissed.

              When the music of C&C Music Factory started pumping, those White people let it all hang out.  The ladies and I did the same.  By the third song, Red stopped dancing.  She pulled me to the side while Roxy and Joy danced with each other.  She put her mouth to my ear.  In an effort to yell over the music, she pointed across the room. “There’s your boy, Randolph Christopher, standing over there.”

              I turned my head, saw the kiddy freak, and was sure my hustling skills were refined.  My mind started sending impulses that I didn’t know I had.  I snapped my fingers at Roxy to get her attention.  I then pointed a finger at her and Joy, calling them over.  When I looked across the room, several businessmen were approaching Randolph and shaking his hand.  I had a plan.  When the girls walked over I unleashed it.

              I pulled all three of them to the corner, put my hand around Joy’s waist, and said, “Roxy?  You remember how you dug my pockets the first time we met?”  She nodded.  “Okay Red, you know how to get the inside pockets, and Roxy knows how to get the outside ones.  I need the two of you to pull Randolph Christopher away from his friends and dance with him.  Roxy do your thing girl, and Red.  I need
all
of his ID.”

              “And whattaya need me to do, Daddy?” came from Joy.

              “I need you to escort me to our room.”  I turned to Roxy and Red.  “I need you two to make sure this was the best sting you ever did.”

              Red kissed me on the lips, while Roxy neatly tore at the split of her silk dress.  Roxy then took off her panties and handed them to me.  I turned to leave, and they went to retrieve the information I needed.

$$$

              “Okay, here’s the plan,” I said to the three women in the suite later that night.  I held Randolph Christopher’s wallet in my hand.  I turned to Red and said, “Red.  Tell us who this man is.”

              With a total air of professionalism, Red stood as if she was giving a presentation at a business meeting.  “Randolph Patrick Christopher is a major developer of real estate in New York.  His father, Patrick Christopher, was a well-known slumlord in the nineteen seventies.  When he burned his buildings down in the Bronx, he came down here with the policy payments and bought up as much of Manhattan as his money allowed.  He recently developed a row of houses down by Fletcher Street.  Now that dad is dead, junior is at the realm and worth a few hundred million dollars, easy.  What I would like to know is, how we are going to steal it all?”

              “We’re not,” I stated while they questioned my sanity.  “We got a situation where, living in this suite is getting crowded no matter how much space we have, because you guys have to work.  I been thinking about this for awhile.  Since you guys want to work, we need a place of our own.  You will be off the streets, and can still do your thing.  This guy has the property, so I have to find a way to get him to give me what I want.”

              “So what exactly
do
you want?”  Red asked, looking at the ceiling confused.

              “This guy has property, and I want a piece of property.  He’s also a kiddy freak, and if I can get him to fall to his own temptation, then I can put him in the position where I can use it to my advantage.”  I then looked up at Red and Roxy, and said, “Think.”

              While sitting with her leg leaned over the arm of the chair, and the video camera in her hand, Joy said, “Ah shucks, that’s easy.  You get you a small kid, let ‘em flirt, and get Randolph to notice.  We use this here video camera and we keep the tape.”

              I was amazed that she could think that far.  Even though her idea made the plan I was going to use more concrete, there was still one part missing.

              “So where do I get the kid from?  The last time he wanted a little Black boy,” I asked.

              Everyone sat silent in the room while thinking of a way that I could pull the whole thing off.  After waiting for someone to speak, Joy said, “I know one.”

              The plan started coming together, so I asked, “Red, where can you find Randolph?”

              While holding Randolph’s wallet in her hand and looking through the cards and receipts, she said, “According to this, he lives in the East Village.  He also has a lot of information from the Washington Square Hotel.  He buys his furniture at
Ligne Roset
, and he also eats at the Four Seasons a lot.  My old stomping grounds.  But that’s odd.  Why would he eat in one place and live in another, when he can have all three in one place at the hotel?”

              “‘Cause the bastard do his dirt in one place, politic in one place, and lay his freak trifling ass someplace else,” came from Roxy, her head moving from side-to-side with each word.

              Again the light bulb went off, and I said, “Tomorrow everybody be up for work.”

$$$

              The following day I had all the women up and exercising.  I did the same.  Once we were all showered and dressed, I pulled Joy first.  “Joy, this photo place called Gruber’s just opened on 57
th
Street last year.  Go up there and see if you can steal a few pictures of a few Black boys eight and younger.  Watch out for the police, you know you’re hot.  Then come back here because we need you to answer the phone.  I want everybody to call here when they find where this guy is.”