Cogan's Trade

“You’re not setting him up,” Amato said. “He set himself up. Mark Trattman runs this game. This’s the second game Markie’s had. The other game got knocked off. Markie did it.”

“Ah,” Frankie said.

“He did it,” Amato said, “and there was all kinds of shit. One of the guys that got robbed was a doctor, and he had a brother was a state cop, and he was mad as hell, he was go

“So everybody pisses blood for a while,” Amato said, “the way they always do when the shit hits the fan, and there’s about a month or so goes by and everybody, nobody’s ru

“So one night,” Amato said, “the guys’re hanging around and they’re talking and all, having a few drinks, and finally one of them says how it’s fu

“He’s lucky they didn’t put him to sleep,” Frankie said.

“Well,” Amato said, “he is. But you got to understand Mark. All the guys like Markie. He’s a genuine hot shit. And look when they find out: when everybody’s open again. They’d’ve found out it was him when the games’re all closed and everybody’s hearing footsteps and nobody’s making any money, then, I think, they would’ve done it to him. But they didn’t. And then, when they did, well, what the fuck, huh? It wasn’t none of their money and just as long as it doesn’t happen again, because all the customers, you’re not go

“I bet it probably wouldn’t happen again that way,” Frankie said.

“And that’s the angle,” Amato said.

“What’s it good for?” Frankie said.

“I figure,” Amato said, “I was there twice. I been there twice since I got out. I run into Markie one night, I was in town seeing what’s going on and looking around and I run into him and we had a couple drinks and he says, he tells me he’s got this thing and I should come up. So, twice, both times o

“Not bad,” Frankie said.

“Now there’s guys,” Amato said, “I was there, I heard talk, see, Markie just got divorced again and apparently he had a little party, had a couple hookers come in and eat each other and everybody had a great time and some of these guys’re pissed off, he didn’t invite them. ‘Friends only, no customers,’ he says. So they get on him, and some of the Friday night guys were there and that’s how these guys find out about it. ‘They’re good customers,’ Markie said, ‘good customers’re the same as good friends, my book.’ So I got an idea, there’s more dough there o

“How’re we cutting this?” Frankie said.

“A third,” Amato said. “I get a third.”

“That’s high, John,” Frankie said.

“Not for this,” Amato said. “I know where it is and I know what it is. A third’s right. You, I don’t care what you do. You can get that wild man or somebody, do it for five, get him. Fine with me.”

“The guy who goes in with me gets the same’s I do,” Frankie said.

“Up to you,” Amato said.

“You’re not going in,” Frankie said.

“Uh uh,” Amato said. “They’d burn me the minute I came i

“All right,” Frankie said, “I’m in. Now, what about Russell?”

“What about him?” Amato said.

“I’m still thinking, he’s go

“I don’t give a rat’s ass,” Amato said. “You can go in with Tarzan in his fuckin’ spotted jockstrap if you can get him to do it, don’t matter to me. I just want, get somebody who’s go

“Well, Jesus,” Frankie said, “China Tanzi knows me, for Christ sake.”

“China don’t count,” Amato said. “China’s in Lewisburg and he’s go

“Well,” Frankie said, “I’m go

“What’d he go in for?” Amato said.

“It was kind of a wild thing, I guess,” Frankie said. “You know how it is, a guy wants to tell you, he tells you. He didn’t tell me. But the way I get it, him and another guy, they decided to go after this drugstore, you know? All-night drugstore. Well, it was one of them guys that the boogeys’re always after and he hadda gun in there and there was a whole mess of shit. Started shooting and everything, after they got the stuff, and the guy that was with Russell, well, I du