Chapter Five:     Salesmen Of The Fucking Year

     Nick and Natch waited outside the office of the Old Man.  Natch was pacing, he paced when he was nervous and he was very fuckin' nervous.  What the Hell does the Old Man want, ain't we done the right thing, kickin' up the do-re-me enough?  Maybe those selfish pricks want more?

     "Sit down, you're makin' me dizzy."

     "This is bullshit.  They call us to come up and then they make us fuckin' wait, what, we're two fuckin' school girls waitin' for our first date?"  He sat on a small, wooden chair and began to tap his hands on his leg.  Tap, tap, tap, keeping time to the nervous jitters racing through his system.  "This chair is as comfortable as a piece of fuckin' lumpy wood."

     The door opened, they both jumped to their feet, eyes locked on Joseph.

     "Come inside."  Joseph turned and re-entered his office, Nick and Natch following.

     The Old Man rose as they entered, walking around his desk and came face to face with Nick and Natch, Natch thinking, should I kiss his fuckin' ring, does he even have a fuckin' ring?

     The Old Man extended his hand, Natch thinking, hey, no fuckin' ring; Nick shook hands, then turned and shook with Joseph.  Natch, a few beads of perspiration on his brow, shook hands with the Old Man and Joseph.

     The Old Man walked to his desk, and sat, Joseph beside him, Nick and Natch on two rickety chairs in front of the desk.

     "We have heard a lot about you." 

     "Well, sir, if this is about that guy, the one downtown-"  Natch wiped some sweat form his neck, thinking to himself, they heard about the fuckin guy we hung his feet out the apartment window.

     "A guy downtown?"  The Old Man gazed at Joseph, who shrugged, thinking, I heard about tossing some clown through the rear window of a bus, but this is something else I never hear.  He leaned back, the chair creaking, thinking, please Pop, don't get that flea bag Rosemarie in here with some coffee, we ain't got all day.

     "Its nothing sirs, sir...nothing."  Nick kicked Natch in the shin.  Natch began tapping his hands on his pants leg.

     "What's that noise?  A tap?"  The Old Man looked around.

     "Natch, stop with the fuckin tappin will ya'?"  Joseph smiled at Natch, thinking the kid's a bit antsy, which of course he was, more than somewhat.

     "Look, you two guys got some good reps around here, people say you are straight shooters and solid citizens, serious people."  The Old Man leaned back, thinking, I could use a cupa' coffee.

     As good luck would have it, Rosemarie was currently sound asleep in the coffee room, her snoring a shrill reminder the Old Man was still in charge around here.

     "Thank you, sir...sirs."  Nick thinking, what's up, they gonna' do what?

      "We have an opportunity for two guys, guys like yourselves, for a special job.  My son will explain it to you."  The Old Man stood, patted Joseph on the back and left, thinking, hey, where the fuck is Rosemarie?

     Joseph waited until the Old Man cleared the room, the door closing.

     "We are having a serious problem.  On the West Side, up and down, two guys representing that big national outfit, those pricks with the big green trucks, they are trying to steal out work, and taking new work right from under our noses."

     "Mother fuckers."  Natch wanted in the worst way to wipe his sweaty hands on his pants, but was terrified of touching them with his hands.  He started bouncing his left food, up and down, a jerky motion.

     "How can we help, sir?"  Nick turned, his eyes glaring at Natch.  Natch stopped jerking his leg.

     "We are going to promote both of you to Sales Managers."  Big smile.

     "No shit?  I mean, wow, thanks."  Natch got himself a little red in the face.

     "We want you guys to canvas the area, cover it completely, make sure those dick heads from the pricks with the big green fuckin' trucks, they don't get any new business.  And be sure to let them know, they can't be stealing our customers.

     "When do we start.  I mean, we'd like to get on it right away."  Nick smiled, thinking, this is very big shit indeed.

     It was big shit, and the shit would get even bigger.