Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [96]
Although he was suspected by some of being involved in criminal activity, he hadn’t reverted to that part of his past life. However, the new Andrew had retained the temper of the old one. And he put that emotion on display one afternoon when his eatery was filled with customers.
“A lady called to order a pineapple pizza. I explained to her that we used only authentic Italian toppings and pineapple wasn’t one of them. I told her the options. She picked one and my driver delivered it. A while later, her husband walked in with the pizza box and slammed it on the counter. He looked like a real farmer trying to play tough guy. He told my counter man that the pizza wasn’t what his wife wanted to order. She’d been forced into taking something else and he wanted his money back.
“I walked over to him and said, ‘Listen to me and listen good. Don’t come into my place barkin’ orders and actin’ tough. If you say one more word, I’m gonna put your fuckin’ head in that oven. Here’s your ten bucks. Now get the hell out while you still can. And don’t come back.’ He backed out the door and I never saw him again.
“After he left, you could have heard a pin drop in the place. I glanced around and every eye was on me. I told them the show was over and to get back to their food. They immediately started looking at their plates.”
Such incidents were the exception. For the most part Andrew had a lot of fun running the restaurant. And he made some good money. He lived alone in a nice three-bedroom apartment and was able to buy a brand new Cadillac.
Even though he was enjoying himself and making money, Andrew just wasn’t a small-town guy. He found living in a Mayberry-like community to be a bit suffocating. It was only a matter of time before he moved on. The following year, citing a drop in business, he relocated to a more heavily populated area.
Although Andrew had failed to take root in his first attempt, he did accomplish a very important thing. He proved to himself that he could be successful in a legitimate business. And he also proved it to those who had predicted he would return to a life of crime before the ink on his parole papers had dried. The fears he’d experienced before being released from prison were gone, replaced by a growing confidence. He didn’t need to have a gun in his belt to survive. He was at peace with himself.
While Andrew was experiencing peace, some of his former associates were feeling something else: heat. For them, the chickens were coming home to roost. The next several months wouldn’t be good ones for Nicky Corozzo and his pals.
23
A Court Date Nears
After leaving the Midwest, Andrew took up residence in the Northwest. His new location was more densely populated and he enjoyed the hustle and bustle that reminded him of his days on the streets of New York City.
After settling in, Andrew continued his self-employment. He bought a delivery truck from the profits of his pizza restaurant and became an independent driver for a major bread distributor. He worked the graveyard shift and was home by seven o’clock most mornings. For the most part, he was his own boss and the money was good.
But it wasn’t long before the distributor began calling during the day to have accounts replenished or make sales calls on potential customers. Andrew worked on a percentage basis of sales and didn’t feel these extra hours did much to increase his checks. In his opinion, the distributor was the only one to really benefit.
“Here’s an example,” Andrew says. “I’d been home about two hours after working a ten-hour shift. I was just getting to sleep when the bakery called. They wanted me to come back in to deliver ten loaves of bread to a store downtown. Do the math. That was about a twelve-dollar order and I only got a percentage of it. In addition to the time involved, there was the cost of fuel to run the truck back and forth. So a run like that would have taken me a couple of hours and ten bucks or so in gas to make two dollars and forty cents.
“When I started getting calls like that on a regular basis,