Category : Stories

Sub Category : Historical Fiction

I started walking faster. I was wearing a white shirt which some of its bottoms were open and my long brown hair reached my shoulders. After that much walking, I could see that tall buildings. It looked like all of the town was just many tall buildings. I went closer. So close that I realized I was in the town now. I entered a restaurant. –"hi. Good afternoon sir. Don t you need a mambo singer?" and I started singing my favorite song. "listen buddy, here is a restaurant, where people eat. Listening to songs while eating is a stupid thing, especially such an awful voice as yours. Come on buddy. Go somewhere else to find your fame a fortune and stardom, mambo king!" I went to many other restaurants. No one accepted me. I entered a café. As usual, there were many blonde American tourists wearing cowboy hats and smoking cigars, speaking English and laughing loudly. –"hi, good afternoon sir. Don t you need a mambo singer?" he took a look at my top to bottom and said:" no, have you entered Havana recently?" "I arrived just today." "don t you have a house?" "huh?" "it s getting dark. You can t sleep out. Here has been a residence apartment. There are two rooms upstairs. One of them is full. If you cook well, I will let you stay at the room plus 5dollars a week." I looked at the sky. He was right. It was getting darker. I had no more choice. I accepted to start working from tomorrow. I went to the room upstairs. I sat on the bed. It had a very bad sound. I sat on a chair. It had a bad sound too. even the floor had a bad sound when I sat on it. I put my hand on the table. My had was full of dirt. I started blowing out on the table. The dirt went into my lungs. "oh god, is this life?"




As usual, I was walking in the streets alone. I talked, laghed and sometimes sang. Everyday at my free, I used to walk by myself in the streets around the café. I used to think of my future and my goals. I was imagining myself when as I had a lot of money and I was a mambo king. I imagined myself holding concerts and buying myself villas and cars with its money. I had learned the streets around the café well. I thought of visiting other parts of Santa Andressa. I believed strongly in my sense of direction, and I was sure that I won t get lost. The other part of Santa Andressa was not like the streets I always used to walk in. American tourists could be seen everywhere. They never brought women and children with themselves. I did n t know why. That side of Santa Andressa was place for the rich Americans to enjoy their life for a week without family. Maybe some of them were rich doctors, engineers, farmers and businessmen. I was watching them carefully when I felt someone at my back. I turned. There was a man with loose striped pants and green who had a white fedora hat and a golden cross necklace was hanging from his neck. I said hello. "hi, I am Tito. Who are you? Why are you so confused? It looks like it is the first time you're here." "I am not willing to tell my name. nice to meet you Tito. What do you have to do with me?" "nothing especial. I saw you lonely and confused. I thought maybe you need a friend."




At first I was really in doubt with him. But after weeks, he became my best friend. One day we sat on his pretty red car to go to the beach. He had promised to take me to a quiet beach, because I didn t like to watch American tourists doing silly things. Driving a car in Havana was really interesting. That was the first time I was visiting downtown. I could see very tall buildings from very close. Also pretty cars and wide clean streets with happy people smiling .  Havana s glamour could make everybody excited. Hotels, casinos, carnavals and different festivals. I was getting dizzy. I did n t know what side should I watch. Finally, we reached the quiet beach Tito had promised. After seeing so much glamour, going to a quiet beach was a little depressing. We got out of the car. There was a man wearing white suit and blue shirt with especial style of low collar and tight necklace around his neck whose hairstyle look like the one for most fashionable actors. He was sitting on the sands and playing with them with his hands. Tito said in English :" hello sir. I brought him." My face turned yellow. "what?" I said in English. The man took a look at me. "so you know English." He turned to Tito "who is this guy Tito?" "sir, he has the same specifications as you said. In Santa Andressa. " "ah Tito, tomorrow Fulfinante will arrive Havana by airplane, only to see my partner. That is very shameful for me to tell him that Avanti Aquila has ran away." "sorry mr. Buchanan " said Tito, and kissed Buchanan s hand. His hands were full of rings. He turned to me and said:" what do you do boy?" "I cook at a café." "are you good at acting?" "huh?" "you must act a role." " what role?" "Avanti Aquila , my partner who ran way and spends time in Santa Andressa now. " "why was he your partner?" "to build hotel Exarchopolos , a five star hotel casino." "oh, I must go home." "that is n t a suggestion. That is an order!" "what?" "where do you live?" Tito answered instead of me :" in a dirty and untidy small room above a café in Santa Andressa." "so you know where he lives. Ok Tito. Tomorrow you go to his house and take him to hotel nacional. Just don t arrive before 5 pm. I must escort Fulfinante at the airport. So remember: hotel nacional, room 213." I told myself:" oh, I shouldn t have let him know I know English. I shouldn t have spoken English to him."  




Tito knocked the door. "come in" said a charming voice. I opened the door. We both got in. beside Buchanan, there was a charming man with gray suit, red bow tie and attractive oiled brown hair. "oh mr. Fulfinante, let me introduce: Tito and Avanti Aquila. " said Buchanan to Fulfinante. "which one is Aquila?" "the long hair" "please sit down gentlemen." We sat down. Fulfinante turned to me and said:" So you are Buchanan s partner. What is your job?" "oh, mmmmeee....." "Mr. Fulfinante, I must say something: he is not my partner." Said Buchanan. "you mean Aquila is not your partner?" "Aquila is my partner, but he is not Aquila. Aquila has escaped. A place in Santa Andressa. I asked Tito to find him, but he brought the wrong person. I asked him to play as Aquila. He is not a good actor. You would realize this sooner or later." Fulfinante tried to change the mood without paying much attention to that. He completely forget that he had arrived by airplane just to see Aquila. He started socializing with me and he constantly praised my English speaking. Although he had a bit Italian accent himself. He was Italian. He had immigrated to US with family at age of 6. He knew America as his home. These were things that he said himself. At first, the talk was very general, but after a while, he started asking me about myself. I never told my name to anyone. So Fulfinante called me Avanti Aquila. I wasn t very comfortable with that name, but I accepted it. Fulfinante franternized with me, so I started telling him all my wishes and dreams. Like I wanted to become a mambo king and many other things. When my talks finished, he stared at me with his charming eyes and said:" you can become a famous mambo king and reach all of your dreams. But you must do something" "what? to cooperate with you?" "exactly." "sorry, what is your job?" "business, an unusual business based on honor, blood, brotherhood and protection." "is there good money in it?" "there isn t anything like good money or bad money in business. It s just money." In fact my question was something else, but his answer made me scared. I had no choice. I had to continue. I put my hand on the table and said:" how can I enter this business?


I entered the theatre. There was a very crowded place.There were colodful lights shining allover the salon. I was about to get a headache. I finally found a chair and sat on it. On the table, there was a tissue and a flower. Long narrow windows with pink satin curtains drew my attention. I was thinking of how it might feel to meet a popular superstar. It was much remained to start of the show, but I couldn t wait. I lighted a cigarette and put my long hair behind my ears. I stared at the piece of paper I had in my pocket. On it it was written:"Millard morgan, a friend of ours." The show host s voice, got me to myself again:"Ladies and gentlemen, let me present, Millard Morgan,the jazz king!" I closed my upper buttons and fixed my necklace around my neck. I stared at the scene. A man appeared on the scene in the dark. Suddenly, there was music and light. People applaused. While many musicians where playing on the scene, a tall man wearing white striped suit and white fedora hat started tap dancing with a stick. He started singing:"I wanna be a mad man. The man who dances with his umbrella and stick in the rain. The man who drives zig-zog in snowy road. I wanna be a mad man. I wanna be a mad man. Well you know it my darling that everybody is absent-minded here."

After the show was finished, I went to the star room. The manager pulled off his cigarette and told me:"Where, buddy?" I showed him the paper. "what does it mean?Millard Morgan, a friend of us?" Morgan arrived there and said:"It is himself. Let him in, Murphy." I entered the star room. "welcome, you must be…." "Avanti Aquila, sir." "Oh, yeah, dear Avanti. It s better to chat at the hotel." "great." I said. He put on his long leather coat with fur collar and said to me:" Let s go dear Avanti. There s much we must talk about."

I and Morgan were sitting at a large table and the only light source in the room was the small candle on the table.We stared at eachother for a while."It s so romantic. Huh?" said Morgan. "hahahha. Are we in love then?" "Romance is not just for lover dear buddy.well let s start. What do you wanna be? A mambo king, huh?" "I wanna be like you, Mr. Morgan." "You can call me Millard, so you wanna be a jazz singer?" "yes, and I wanna perform tap dance too. just like you Millard." "WHow is your connection with gambling?" "What?I must be a gambler?" "No, but you must be able to at least operate a casino. All of Fulfinante s connected men are somehow associated with Havana or Las Vegas casinos. Anyway, casino is a part of bussines. " "what bussines?" "Hasn t the swordfish told you?" "The swordfish?" "It s Fulfinante s nickname. Every man in bussines must have a nickname." "well,he told me that our bussines is an unusual bussines based on blood, honor, brotherhood and protection." "He has told you the best, hahhaha. Simple, brief, and useful." "But what does it mean?" he pulled off a gun and a knife out of his coat and said:" It means this." That was my first time to see those stuff from so close. I knew I was in trouble.i kissed my cross."Help me, Madonna."

I woke up with sound of the door knocking. The clock showed 9:54. Morgan was not in the room. I thoght that he is back after a bit walking around. I opened the door. It wasn t Morgan. It was a middle aged man with gray hair and granny glasses. He immidiately put out a pen and paper of his pocket and asked:"Full name?" "Avanti Aquila." "Your connection to Fulfinante?" "What? Who?" "Better to confess." "I have no connection with anyone. Well where is Morgan?" "so Morgan is connected to them too." "What are you doing in my room sir?" "I am senator Edgar M Macpherson. And I know that there is a famous newyork mobster in room 113 of hotel nacional, this room!" "Please let me take a look at the paper….. Oh, look… it is room 173!" "Oh yeah. Sorry. But what did Morgan have to do with you?" "Well Fulfinante promised me to become a mambo king but if I cooperate with him." "I m not in doubt anymore, our music is not clean." And he went out of the room. "Please let me come with you." "Ok."

I and Macpherson entered the elevator. He pushed the last floor button. When the door was opened, a man moustache stoped us and said:"Where?" "I must go to room 173." Said Macpherson. "The two upper floors of hotel nacional are currently closed for commons." "What?" "What you heard." "I am senator Edgar M Macpherson." "Whoever you are, the law is equal for all." "Room 173 is residence of a mobster!" "Go buddy. I have no time." And He closed the door. Macpherson pushed the ground floor button and said with anger:"Have you met Fulfinante in the same roon?" "Yes, then there was not closed yet.well, where now?" "I must chose a dangerous way." "What?"and I folowed him to his car.

Macpherson knocked the door. The door was so weak and it was about to fall. "Sorry. The door was opened itself hahaha." Said Macpherson. The room was so dirty and untidy. An scarab closet in corner of the room drew my attention. There wasn t any window there so I felt like it is hard to breath. The man at the table was wearing a partisan hat and he had untidy beard. "Who are you?" said the partisan."I m senator Edgar M Macpherson. An American senator." "I hate all of the American. Keep out!" "it might seem strange but I want you to cooperate with me." The partisan smoked his cigar and asked:"in what case?" "to destroy mutual enemy, Murder Inc!" "If you mean the casino owners, I must say that my father was a bussiesman and casino frontman, and I know his dirty bussines well. That is why I grew beard and I m here now." "The two upper floors of hotel nacional are closed. Do you know why?" The partisan put a paper out of his scarab table s drawer and read it:" Lansky to Luciano, Luciano to Lansky, Lansky to Satue, Satue to Fulfinante, Fulfinante to Lansky….." "Enough! What is it then?" "here is where the money of hotel nacional casino goes. I bet now that the two upper floors of hotel nacional are so-called close, these guys are there!" "It can be a good theory!" said Macpherson.

I went at the reciptionist s and said:" room 113 key please." "Your roomate is in the room now. He has the key." I knocked the door 113. Morgan opened the door and said:" Where the hell have you been?" "You promised me to be a famous mambo king. But why…" "I just wanted to tell this. Now you must go sing for many people. Very important people!" "Oh, I m not ready now…." "This is an order! Come on, go to the last floor. The heads are awaiting you." I remembered Macpherson s words. I was ffinally able to overcome my fear and curiousity. I kissed Morgan s cheeks excitedly. "come on. Go lobby of the last floor. Hey, take this note." In fact, the singing career was not important to me anymore, but I just wanted to help Macpherson and get out of that problem myself. I had never thought to get to that way because of my interest to singing. I entered the elevator. All of my body started shaking. My heart beated so fast. The elevator s door was opened:" Where, buddy?" I showed him the note. "get in." he said. I sytarted walking with shaking legs.

Luciano and Lansky were siiting at the top. Fulfinante and Satue were just after them. I didn t know the rest by name. "Well, we must consider that American society has accepted gambling as norm, but not drugs." Said Luciano with a lovely accent. "Nothing is more important that Siegel situation right now!" said a man. "He is right. He has promised us to build hotel flamingo of Las vegas in moths since 1942!" said another one. "And aklso his Fiancee saves our money in West Germany banks." Said Satue. "Mr. Satue. You are in Chicago. What do you have to do with las vegas?"Said Lansky. "Las Vegas is not just for NewYork families." Replied Satue. "Well, Let s vote." The most voted to kill Siegel. Lansky who was obviously opposite killing Siegel, pointed to me and said:"Well, sing a song for us dear Avanti."
I told everything to Macpherson and the partisan and added:" They will stay there for Christmas party. President Fulgencio Batista is invited to the party too." The partisan who was named Yandel said:" Mmmm. So they are backed by a government. This is awful!" and he started thinking. I and Macpherson did too.