Veronica's Mother

My good friend Ruben and I had a building maintenance business. We developed a wonderful marketing act. We bought suits, we bought a police wheeled measuring device, we got a simple calculator, at that time very new and expensive, and we got metal clipboards.

Arriving at prospective accounts we would give the impression that we were a bigger concern than we really were. We would measure the floors with our wheelie thing, take out our calculator, and ask questions about what they wanted. We would go to the car, and in a short time give them a written proposal for the job, which we had figured out beforehand. More often than not, even though it wasn’t a low bid, they took it.

This theater continued because when we showed up to do the work, we’d be in our work clothes and use other names. Not one client ever figured out that the business men they met in suits were the same guys who were cleaning their floors.

Life is wonderful.

At this time Ruben was head over heels in lust with Veronica, an attractive girl who was a friend of friend.

Veronica a one of four children, and all if them, boys and girls, were beautiful. And their mother was beautiful, she resembled Ava Gardner.

Ruben would figure out excuses to visit their home on Witmer and 6th Street, an intersection that often shows up in my life. More about that in another story. They lived in a large house with many bedrooms. There were always people there. I had only been there a couple of times, and there were people walking in and out, it was a busy house. I imagined they were boarders or friends of the kids.

Ruben and I, in our suits, are talking to Veronica‘s mother, standing in the middle of the foyer of this large house. Suddenly, men in black come running into the house, waving large guns, no badges or ID, screaming FREEZE FREEZE FREEEZE.

We froze.

Then four guys in suits and sunglasses come in, two of them walk up to Veronica‘s mother, tell her she’s under arrest and put her in handcuffs. Another suited guy goes into the back rooms, yelling orders on a walkie-talkie, this was way before cell phones.

The fourth guy in a suit walks to us and says, “We’ve been watching this house. We know who you are. Leave. Now. You aren’t here.”

We did without argument.

Later we learned that this house, where this beautiful family lived, and an apartment house two blocks away, were shooting galleries, and a wholesale illegal drug distributor. People came here to buy and use drugs. And Veronica‘s mother was the host, a pusher. Most of the clients were very straight looking people.

As far as I know, nobody there ever did jail time.

About a year later I had my big car accident. The friend with me and I weren’t hurt enough to be taken to the hospital, even though I broke the steering wheel with my hip. We went with the wrecked car to the tow truck’s gas station. This gas station was right next-door to Veronica‘s mother’s house. My friend’s sister was Veronica‘s good friend, the lights were on, so we went next-door. It was like two in the morning, but there was still activity in the house. We explained our situation. Veronica‘s mother was so kind and comforting, and sat us down and brought us food. The adrenaline ran out in her living room. I got very cold and she brought me a big warm blanket.

We find comfort and sympathy where we can.