The Little Black Money Book

There it was, just sitting on the edge of her desk. Every contact and relation she had, all tidy in one little black book. It would fit into my breast pocket and nobody would even notice. She would be gone the rest of the weekend and I could have it back by Sunday night before she came back on Monday.

Meryl’s midtown penthouse had a prominent view of lower Manhattan and Central Park. This time of night the park was a black void with twinkling bits in curvy lines with the rest of the city looking like a tetras game in play. Rows and columns of lights stacked on top of each other and each building at a different stage of the game.

“Everette, where are you darling? We’re ready to go” Meryl’s voice echoed through the hallway in every direction, it was hard for me to tell where she was yelling from.

“I’m right here Meryl” I had already slipped out of her study and was mid hallway when she peeked around the corner.

“Oh, there you are dear. Sidney and I have decided that you can drive me to Connecticut and then spend the night. You can go home in the morning.”

Oh, I had not thought of this. Hadn’t even been a consideration.

“But I don’t have an American driver's license or even a permit. If we get pulled over we’re dead” or at least I was, my Irish droll would surely give me up even before I could be questioned about my intentions.

“Don’t be silly. I’ll be in the car and if need be, I will vouch for you. Besides, I’ve driven back and forth thousands of times and no-one has ever even noticed.”

“But what about Sid?” I almost squeaked but was able to say it coolly.

“I’ll be fine. We’ll catch up next weekend. You’re going to spend the week at your uncles in Dutchess County, my mom lives just over the border from him. Almost perfect coincidence. This works out for everybody.” She wasn’t even looking at me as she said this and addressed her phone.

“But how will I get to my uncles?” I was beginning to shake, ever so slightly but enough to shove my hand into my pocket so it couldn’t be seen twitching.

“As I said, darling, you’ll spend the night at my Connecticut home, then Herschel will drive you to your uncles in the morning. Perfect.”

I was going to drive to Connecticut. Any more protesting and, well, they would know something was up.

“Ok, when would you like to leave?”

“I’m ready now. Sidney, dear, do you need anything? I think Everette and I are on our way. I will call you tomorrow, ok?” She was peering at Sidney, who still hadn’t looked up from her phone. “SIDNEY!”

“Yes, yes, yes, I know your leaving! Here let me give you a hug” She shuffled down the marble hall in her high heels and short skirt taking inch steps all the way. “Luv you and don’t call too early tomorrow, it’s Saturday and I won’t be in till late tonight.” The elevator door opened, and Meryl looked across the hall at a luggage bag and then at me before she stepped onto the elevator.

“Would you like me to grab your bag before I get on the lift mam” I had already taken the single step toward the bag it would take for me to reach it. With a pivot of my right foot, I turned and stepped onto the elevator with my left.

“Thank you, dear, I already pushed the button for the garage” She slumped to the back behind me with the impression I would lead off when the doors opened into the garage.

The ride down only took a moment. When you live in the penthouse you get to bypass the other tenants on your way to the garage in your own elevator.

I stepped out onto the cold cement floor of the garage, bag in hand.

“The Jag is to the left Everette. The keys should be under the visor. Can you warm it up and come get me please.” She had begun to drawl out her New England accent.

“Yes, of course, Meryl” The Jag was facing out, so I had to set the bag down to get in to start the car. I pulled out into the drive and let it run while I opened the trunk and dropped her bag in and with an echoed thud the trunk was shut.

The Jag sedan would comfortably fit four, two in front and two in the back. When Meryl came out of the elevator, she looked in at me and then slowly starred at and walked toward the rear passenger door.

“Here, let me get that for you” I jumped out of the driver’s seat and swung around the front of the car to grab the door lever just as she stepped into the rear seat without missing her stride.

“Thank you darling” she sat back and slumped into the cushion as if to take a nap or curl up with a cocktail and something to read.

The drive out of Manhattan wasn’t unlike driving in Galway. People, cars, and trucks vying for the same narrow space I was driving into. With a succession of lefts and rights, I had managed to navigate to FDR drive and then north towards the Taconic highway.

“Good job so far darling, navigating downtown traffic out of the city on a Friday is a skill any driver should aspire towards. Now we just need to go north.” She drifted off after that and I was alone with the other cars all heading north on this narrow winding corridor out of the city.

I began to drift back to the night we met in the hotel. Sid was just another colleen, bird, pretty girl hangin out with her prep school mates. None of them were of "age" but they had no problem getting served from the bar. I had only been in the states for a couple of weeks and had been working for my uncle. Running errands, and getting drunk at nights with my American cousins. We had all been on the dance floor twisting to the disc jockey playlist and when the Karaoke began, we were all just drunk enough to get up behind the mic.

By the end of the beer and karaoke night, Sid had given me her number but the phone call the next day was more of “how did you get my number?”

“It’s me, Everette, from the bar last night. We sang Karaoke” the other side was silent other than labored breathing.

“Oh, right. Wow, we must have gotten really drunk. Lost that bet again. Sorry about Karaoke. Every time we go there, I swear I’m not going to do it and they get me drunk enough so I can still function but have lost all inhibitions.” You could hear the sheets ruffling as she sat up. “What’s your name again”

“Everette”

“Oh, right, sorry, still trying to wake up. Ughhh” I could still hear her breathing even though she went silent again. “hey, I’m going to the city this weekend, would you like to come? My mom’s home from her movie shoot for the weekend and wanted to get together?”

“Uh, sure, yeah I can do that.” Little did I know what I had just agreed to. I was now her diversion and the long drive had made me realize that I wasn’t there for her, but to get between her and her mom.

But Sid, she was different, at least to my uncle. Her mother was a famous movie star and she spent most of her days at a prep school while her mom was off making movies. “This is it boyo. You get into her mom and her friends and we can move some cash.” My uncle’s eyes sparkled with the magic he thought I had brought him.

“Boyo this is fantastic” his face was lit up like a neon sign with dollar signs. “You get into her stuff and find her friends, at least the rich ones.” He skid off to his den and came back with a fat envelope “here, this is twenty thousand. We need to move this. You’re going to offer loans to her friends for their movie projects and then you just call and explain it was a mistake that you weren’t authorized to loan them any money. Ask them to write you a check and apologize for the misunderstanding.” This was the other side of my dilemma. In one pocket I had a bulging envelope of hundreds and the other a stolen black book of famous and wealthy friends of an actress whose daughter had played me into being an excuse to go out.

“Everette, I’m bored.” Meryl’s mellifluous voice came lilting out of the back seat. “Tell me something about yourself.”

I guess this was it. If I were going to become a money launderer I could start with Meryl.

“Well, I’m from Galway and my family has lived there forever. My uncle has lived here since the mid-seventies and my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to meet my cousins and live in the states for a while.”

“Yes yes. But what about you, what do you want to do. I knew what I wanted to do at your age. My daughter, I don’t think has a clue.” She was looking off into the oncoming traffic on the other side of the medium.

“Well, I have been interested in movie production. That’s how I got to know Sidney. We met at a café and the topic of acting and movies came up. She seemed very intent on becoming an actress herself. In fact, that’s all she could talk about was how wonderful of an actress you were and that she had no shot of ever being as good. How did she put it “Mom’s so great I wish I could only be half as good, I would still be considered great.””

“Really, I would say I doubt you, but frankly, lately, she hasn’t been interested in having more of a conversation other than about when I will be and won’t be home.” She was now looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

“How do you plan on getting into the business. You have any job prospects or school. I could give you some recommendations.” I could feel my line begin to tighten.

“My parents did give me a small endowment to use towards my education, but they never implied on what that education should look like.” I think I just saw the hook set.

“You know we're always looking for new investors. How much of an endowment did they give you?

“Well, it’s not much probably not even worth your considering. Really, how far could twenty thousand go when making a movie?”

“Oh, you may be surprised. It can go a long way with the right person. I’m going to call Sid and have her look up a number for me. I never bring my little black book to Connecticut, I believe it’s good to get away from work and leave it behind sometimes, but Harrison has been talking about a project. Ever since he worked with Francis, it is all he talks about and he is always looking for money” She began to dial and waited. “Darn it, out of range. We’ll have to wait till we get to Connecticut.”

I deftly reached into my breast pocket, keeping my hand close to my chest “Hey Meryl, is this the book your mean, Sid slipped into my pocket as we were getting ready to go. She said you always leave it behind.” We got swallowed up by the Taconic at night as we sped north.