I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but when you’ve lived in a small New York apartment most of your life, you get desperate to have something better. My wife is a very beautiful, but somewhat aggressive woman, always asking for more things, always spending to the limit of my paychecks, so that I had to work two jobs to keep up. So, when a chance to make an investment that would bring me a lot of extra money came along, well, I took a chance. The banks aren’t going to lend you money for the stock market though, and hell, I had an inside edge: a person inside the company who knew about an upcoming merge and the fact that it would make their stock skyrocket.
So I went to Gino. Gino handled the numbers racket in our neighborhood; friendly little Gino, a nice guy, always a smile on his face, always paid up when you hit the weekly ticket. I figured $10,000 would be enough. Gino was more than friendly. He even asked me if it was enough, and offered to lend me more. I didn’t much pay attention to the interest he was going to charge, because I was going to pay it back within a week or two, and put the profits back into more stock. I could quadruple my investment in a few weeks, maybe less. Except, it didn’t turn out to be such a sure thing. The merge didn’t happen, the company went downhill like an Olympic downhill skier, and the investment turned colder than an ice cube. After a week, the merge was history, after two weeks the company was talking bankruptcy and I expected a visit from my friend Gino.
At first I didn’t tell Laura. It was supposed to be a wonderful surprise, all that extra money. But when I couldn’t pay it back on time, I had to open up to her because I didn’t know what would happen, and I wanted her to be on her toes in case Gino approached her. Of course she was angry and called me stupid for doing such a thing. She wanted to know what I was going to do now, and I didn’t have a good reply, except that Gino was always friendly, and that I was sure he would let me pay it back in installments. I couldn’t have been wronger!
It was a Tuesday night shortly after dinner. There was a loud knock on our apartment door. It was Gino and he had a friend with him, a big friend, a big ugly, muscular friend. A goon. Gino invited himself in. My wife was in the kitchen just putting the supper dishes away.
“Hi Gino.” Gino and his friend brushed right by me without a word and took a seat at the dining room table.
“Hello, Sam, I think we have some business to discuss. Is your wife home?” He didn’t seem so friendly.
“Laura? Yes, she’s in the kitchen.”
“Tell her to come in and sit down with us, Sam, I think this is a family problem. Does she know about the money you owe me?”
“Gino, I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Can you pay me now? Tonight?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then we have a problem, Sam. Call her in here.”
I went to fetch Laura and brought her into the living room. She sat down at the end of the table, next to Gino.
“Hello, Mrs. Landers, You know about Sam’s financial problem?”
“Yes, Gino, he told me he borrowed some money thinking he could double or triple it real quick. But he’s had a problem.”
“That’s exactly right, Mrs. Landers, may I call you by your first name? You look like a pretty friendly woman.”
“Yes, Gino, of course, I’m Laura.”
“Well, Sam and Laura, do you have a solution to our problem? The interest on this loan is going to build fast and you’ll be indebted to me and my friends for life if you can’t pay.”
“Gino, I can make payments on it weekly.”
“How much, Sam?”
“How about $100 a week?” Actually, I couldn’t even afford that.
“That won’t do it, Sam. Have you got anything of value that you can sell right away?”
I looked around the apartment. There was nothing of any value. Even the TV was 5 years old. And living in the city, I didn’t own a car.
“Sam and Laura, I want to impress on you that this is a very serious matter. My friends expect to be paid back immediately and with interest. They get very angry when they don’t get paid, and they can be very nasty.”
I looked at Sam’s friend. I’d never seen him before, but I’m sure he was some kind of bodyguard or enforcer. He never once changed expression, but continually stared at me. After a very pregnant silence, Gino looked at me. “Sam and Laura, you have to pay this loan back and you have to pay it back quickly!” His voice was loud and demanding. The expression on his face showed intense anger. He wasn’t the friendly little Gino I had bought numbers tickets from.
My wife was terrified into silence. Her face was taut and rigid.
After a very tense silence, Gino spoke again. “I have a solution, if you’re willing to listen. It would involve both of you.”
“I’d appreciate anything we could do to pay this loan, Gino.”
“I have a friend that makes movies.”
Silence. Laura and I knew what he was talking about. I was devastated.
“Sam, you have a very voluptuous wife. I’m sure that my friends would love to give her a part in some of their movies. And I’m sure we could find something for you too. You’re both pretty young and in great condition.”
My wife was 5’ 2”, had a small waist and large breasts. She had short blonde hair that she combed into a Pixie type cut. It was a bit more sexy than I liked. I always got jealous when we walked down the street and other guys would ogle her. I was almost 6’ tall and kept in condition by eating right and working two manual jobs.
Neither one of us spoke.
“Well,” Gino said, “if you’re not willing, there are other solutions. My friends need an example to show others what happens when people don’t pay their debts.” He and the goon started to get up to leave.