by Patricia Bellomo | Jun 3, 2011 | Mob Blog
Baskets and Hockey, June 3, 2011
[dcs_p]End of the season, and it’s baskets and hockey. Nothing too good right now; there is no money left on the street. I have one book who lets his guys get too far. They double up on him on the weekend, and then he’s chasing them forever. And nobody has better sob stories than gamblers. I hear it all the time–I’m losing my home, my wife took my cash, and she’s leaving me. It’s not like the old days when you could bust a leg. In those days I never had trouble collecting, and I didn’t have wimp’s who couldn’t control their action giving me grief. Now you have to be nice. And no, I don’t take personal checks or VISA cards.[/dcs_p]
by Patricia Bellomo | May 16, 2011 | Mob Blog
Sahara: The End of an Era, May 16, 2011
[dcs_p]I turn on the television, and I see the the Sahara is done, and I start thinking about the old days in Vegas. I used to stay at the Sahara in the sixties and seventies–I think I first saw “The Checkmates” with Sonny Charles and my late buddy, Sweet Louie, in the lounge there, but I can’t remember exactly. It might have been Caesars or the Frontier or the Sands. Names synonymous with Sinatra and the rat-pack. There was a glamor to Vegas then that doesn’t exist today, and no matter what they do–how much money they spend on the hotels or the comps they give–it can’t be duplicated because the class is gone and it’s all a cheap imitation.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Back when the boys ruled Vegas you wore a jacket in the casino and a dinner jacket when you took your lady to a show. And your girl wore a sexy pantsuit or mini-skirt during the day and a slinky, sparkling gown at night. When you checked into the hotel, they knew who you were and where you from and what you did or didn’t do for a living. They sent booze to your room and arranged for a driver or a girl or whatever it is you were looking for, and you were glad to put your money on the table.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Today you check in and they don’t know who you are, and they don’t care. The games are the same and the casinos are bigger, but the people are all different. I guess I was part of an era and never knew it. But I sure miss it.[/dcs_p]
by Patricia Bellomo | May 6, 2011 | Mob Blog
Action at Bob Amante’s
Action at Bob Amante’s, May 6, 2011
Hanging at Bob Amante’s bar talking to my favorite bartender, Joey. I’ve got my phones with me, and I’m taking action because I’ve got the NBA playoffs and the NHL and this weekend’s the Derby, but I’ve only got a few horse bettors and they won’t be calling until Saturday morning. It’s a nice evening–they usually are in south Florida–and the warm air is coming in through the open door, and the place is bustling. They’ve got the black guy playing out on the street tonight. He used to be with KC and the Sunshine Band, and he’s good, gets the girls up and dancing. It’s the end of the season, and the crowds in Deerfield Beach are thinning, but Bob Amante’s little family place should stay busy all summer. I won’t be here, though. I’m heading north next week.When the season changes, I go north for my action.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]Action at Bob Amante’s is a little anecdote reflective of one of PAtricia Bellomo’s characters. Bellomo writes about mobsters and millionaires in South Florida. Books available at Amazon.com and on all e-readers.
by Patricia Bellomo | Apr 12, 2011 | Mob Blog
The New Mob, April 15, 2011
A few months back my buddy, Leo, is getting out of bed on a Monday morning, and the cops break down his door. They came in like storm troopers, a whole friggin swat team with drug sniffing dogs and automatic rifles. Supposedly, they’re looking for drugs–they got a tip from some loser snitch trying to get brownie points. But my buddy is a sixty-six year old book with a wife and two daughters, both of whom they hold at gunpoint while they haul him off to jail.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The cops are from a neighboring city, but they’re a special task force empowered by the Feds, and they can go anywhere in the state of Michigan. It sounds to me like the FBI is outsourcing their dirty work, and dirty work it is. The team spends twelve hours in Leo’s house. They order a series of pizzas and carry-outs, drink a case of Budweiser, and destroy his house. It’s unlivable when they’re done, and Leo has to bring in a contractor to repair the holes in the walls and ceilings. And what do the cops get for this? Two unregistered firearms and three joints.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]They’ll get him on the firearms, and he knows it. They busted him on a Monday during Football season–payday, if you’re in this business, and Leo had ninety-eight grand in the house. When his lawyer gets the roster on items seized during the raid, they’re showing ten thousand dollars in cash. How’s that for good police work? Sounds to me like there is a new mob in town.[/dcs_p]
by Patricia Bellomo | Mar 23, 2011 | Mob Blog
Amante’s Restaurant, Deerfield Beach, March 23, 2011
Amante’s Restaurant
Sitting at the bar talking to one of my favorite bartenders, Joey. He’s a great kid, not that he’s really a kid, but these days anyone under the age of forty is a kid. Joey always takes good care of me. Today he tells me to go for the osso bucco and I do, and it’s delicious. I see Bob Amante is eating the veal for his dinner, and that’s a good sign.
Amante’s is a family place and popular with locals as well as tourists. Tonight, the place is packed. Bob’s lovely wife comes over to the bar and greets me. A guy named Tony Ventura is stationed outside the door singing Italian love songs. He sings beautifully, and Bob’s customers are loving it. A couple of young ladies get up to dance. They’re good looking, and Joey and I crane our necks to watch.
Right now life is good. I got a guy taking my tournament action, and it’s going my way for a change. How’s that for luck? I think I’ll have another Chianti.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]This blog is written in the voice of Author, Patricia Bellomo’s main character, charismatic mobster, Louie Morelli. For more information of Bellomo’s books, please visit: www.patriciabellomo.com
