American Entertainment 1978: New York Night Fever

Chapter 102 A Nighttime Summons

"Why are you here? What happened?" Zik opened the door and asked in a low voice, his eyes scanning the street behind the dentist warily.

The dentist grinned, bumping Zeke's shoulder hard, the smell of tobacco wafting over him: "You're a real TV star now, aren't you? It's the 'Murphy Griffin Show'!"

Zeke felt somewhat helpless, which was one of the main reasons he was eager to have his family move away. As his reputation grew, even with the protection of the powerful Poly Group, Brownsville, this chaotic place, was becoming less safe.

No one can guarantee that a gambler who has lost everything, a drunken thug, or a desperate drug addict might one day suddenly decide to pick up a gun and try to pull off a big heist on their own family. After all, even Frank Sinatra's son was kidnapped.

"I'm still a long way from being a big star, 'Dentist.' What's up with coming to see me tonight?"

"The Poly Group tycoon wants to see you. Come with me."

There is never any room for refusal when receiving such an "invitation" from Poly.

He turned back to his family and hurriedly said, "There's an emergency at the company, I have to go out for a bit," before getting into the dentist's somewhat old Chevrolet sedan.

"Did the boss say what he wanted to see me about?" Zike fastened his seatbelt, trying to keep his voice steady.

"No," the dentist shook his head, starting the car, "but you need to bring your agent, Tino Barzi."

.

"No problem, I'll take you to pick him up. He lives on Long Island." This made Zeke breathe a sigh of relief.

The fact that they invited Tino, an outsider, suggests that it's probably not about any shady dealings within the gang.

"That's perfect, I'm going that way anyway. Tino's really riding high these days, just a few months ago he was playing low-stakes poker like me."

The car drove away from Brownsville and sped towards Long Island, about a half-hour drive from Tino's house.

While driving, the "dentist" kept rambling on about how if Zeke ever had a chance to make money, he should never forget his old friend.

In addition, their gang leader, Jimmy Burke, will be released from Alanwood Prison in two months and will be assigned to a community management center under the Bureau of Prisons. The center used to be a run-down hotel on West 54th Street near Times Square, which was later converted into a community management center.

Jimmy will be staying at this center, but he can move around the city during the day and night. They plan to throw a welcome party for Jimmy.

"By the way, Zeke, you should be on summer vacation by then, going back to New York, right?"

The meaning behind those words couldn't be clearer.

Zeke sighed inwardly. What was this all about? Was he being asked to go and welcome Jimmy Burke as well?

He didn't want to have any direct relationship with them anymore, but he couldn't refuse, since he had once been a member of this small group, and his agent, Tino, was a dentist who had introduced him to them.

"Well, my record company boss doesn't like me getting involved with gangs. You know, they're legitimate businessmen."

"I have to avoid suspicion," Zeke explained, making an excuse that it was inconvenient for him to appear in person, "but I can pay for the party."

The dentist didn't seem to care, but sighed, his eyes looking somewhat forlorn: "You're moving out soon too, aren't you, Zeke?"

Zik nodded, making no attempt to hide anything. The dentist had indeed been helping his family lately: "Yes, I want Tony and Mary to go to a better private school. Dentist, if you want to walk the straight and narrow, I might be able to arrange a job for you in Los Angeles, like Marco. But you can't do anything illegal. I don't have the connections of someone like Paul, who can easily get people out of the police station and courts."

The dentist shook his head and gave a wry smile. "I'll miss you, Zeke. You know, I tried to take the straight path before. I wanted to find a good girl to settle down with, but I didn't even finish high school. I'm just a Guido from Brownsville. As long as they see my zip code and name, no decent company will pay attention to me—I can only find the lowest-paying jobs."

"I'm doing pretty well now. The job at the parking lot isn't tiring, and I do a few deals with Henry and the others from time to time," which is enough to cover my expenses.

Qi Ke didn't try to persuade him further. Staying in this kind of environment for too long can truly assimilate a person without them even realizing it. That's why he wanted to take his two nephews away from here.

After picking up Tino, the dentist drove straight to Island Park on Long Island. This is a charming little village on the south coast of Nassau County, nestled on a narrow, barrier island between the mainland and Long Beach, and bordered by Reynolds's...

ChanneI is surrounded by bays and water.

Even at night, Zeke could imagine that the scenery here must be very beautiful during the day, with many waterfront houses having private boat berths right in front of their doors, making it a truly wealthy area.

The three of them got out of the car in front of a magnificent mansion. Zik and Tino exchanged a glance, both seeing the unease in each other's eyes. They wondered what Poly's boss was up to; this place seemed like Poly's private residence.

The dentist led the two directly into the living room. Paulie Valio was sitting on an armchair with his back to them, talking quietly to a man in a well-tailored suit.

Seeing that Zik had arrived, Paul waved his hand, his voice low and authoritative: "That's enough for now, I have other things to take care of."

The man bowed and scraped as he left, and the "dentist" also tactfully withdrew from the living room.

"Sit down, Zeke, and you, Tino."

"Thank you, Uncle Paul." Zik sat down on the sofa opposite him. The big boss's voice was unreadable, and he continued to greet him sweetly.

But this time, Paulie wasn't as enthusiastic as he had been a few months earlier at the King's Lounge. He turned around and stared at them coldly, his eyes sharp as an eagle's in the dim light.

"Did you borrow someone from the Gambino family to help you resolve your troubles in Hollywood?"

Zick's heart skipped a beat; he never expected Pauline to contact him about this. But Gambino was an important ally of the Lucchese family, and asking the old man for help wasn't breaking any rules—

"Mr. Wario, I can explain." Tino quickly stood up and spoke, his voice a little hoarse. "Joe Paluta is a friend I grew up with. That job was just to scare a naive young agent. It wasn't a business matter, and no one was hurt."

Tino's explanation had no effect. Pauli's expression grew even colder, and he slowly stood up.

Paulie was about 6 feet tall and weighed over 250 pounds, but he appeared even stronger than he actually was, with thick arms and a broad chest, looking like a walking sumo wrestler.

He strode closer with an air of authority, his leather shoes making almost no sound on the carpet, but each step seemed to pound on Zeke's heartbeat.

Qi Ke felt his throat go dry. Oh no, had this matter offended the big boss of Poly?

"I heard you were showing houses to Zeke at Bensonhurst today?" Paulie said, looking at Tino.

"Yes—" Tino's voice trembled slightly.

"Uncle Paul, it was my idea," Zik quickly stood up and tried to explain, attempting to divert Paul's anger. "You know, my sister Maria got into university, and my two nephews and nieces are of elementary school age. I want to move to a better neighborhood—"

"So you chose Bensonhurst?" Paulie's gaze returned to Tino, his eyes sharp as a knife. "Don't tell me you don't know it's a stronghold of the Gambino and Colombo families..."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me, Zeke." Paulie turned his head, his voice rising abruptly, filled with thunderous fury, "Are you planning to betray me and join the Gambino family instead?"