Jimmy James was his name.., and from a very early age he was tasked with taking care of his younger brother, Lorenzo -- who by todays standards would have been considered autistic, but back in the 1970's nobody really knew too much about it… All the neighborhood kids constantly picked-on little Lorenzo and at school they made fun of him, mercilessly.
Jimmy -- Jimmy James, on the other hand, was a giant -- his mother, his alcoholic mother.., whenever she had too much to drink would always remind Jimmy how hard a pregnancy she went through, giving birth to such a large baby… She was a miserable woman, married to a man who was barely around and when he was, he never had to nickels to rub together -- he was, that guy, always behind the eight-ball. Jimmy was Lorenzo's idol -- nobody dared to make fun of the little boy when Jimmy was around.., or they would pay the price -- and getting hit by this guy, was like getting hit with a ton of bricks.
They lived in a tough neighborhood -- really tough.., run by the local mob… On Jimmy's 17th birthday, Lorenzo couldn't wait to see him and give him the birthday present he made for him -- a giant tree branch he hand carved into a sort-of cane -- a magic walking stick, that would help to heal his big brothers bad knees… But, on the way home from school, one of the local tough guys roughed-up the little boy and took Jimmy's present.
Lorenzo was so upset (not by the beating he got, he was used to that), but that he had nothing to give his big brother for his birthday, that he got confused and couldn't find his way home -- he got lost and wound up on the other side of town. Jimmy was getting worried as it started to get dark and no sign of little Lorenzo -- so he told his drunk mother to eat the cake herself, he had to go find Lorenzo. But no sooner did he step out the door, a local cabbie pulled up with Lorenzo in the backseat -- "Hey Jimmy, I found him all the way over on Bleeker St, looks like he got beat-up.., and he keeps talking about a magic cane."
Jimmy took his little brother inside.., only to see that he had a fat lip and some dried blood under his nose… He cleaned him up and cut him a piece of birthday cake.., and told him not to worry about the "magic cane" -- he was going to go get it back. Jimmy knew the only guys stupid enough to hurt his little brother like that, were the punks over on Mott St -- the sons of all the mobsters that ran the neighborhood.., and guys you were not supposed to mess with… But none of that, meant shit to Jimmy -- nobody put their hands on his brother.
When Jimmy got the corner of Mott and Hester, he saw Tony Buselli walking around with a tree branch that, I guess, you could say looked like a magic walking stick… He walked right up to him and without saying a word -- cracked him one, right in the face. Then he took that branch and started beating the hell out of him with it -- it looked like he was going to kill him. A bunch of wiseguys came running out of the social club to finally stop this horrific beatdown. They dragged Jimmy into the alley.., and just as they were about to give him a beating of his own, the back door to the social club opened.., it was the boss of the neighborhood -- Louie Buselli, the father of the guy Jimmy just beat the shit out of…
It was like a scene right out of the Godfather…
They pulled Jimmy inside the Social Club and left him alone with the boss -- he was sure he was about to be whacked.., but instead some old man put an espresso and a cannoli in front of him… "Go head, eat - drink.., Im not gonna hurt ya" said Louie. "You know, that was my son you tossed a beatin' out there.., and if I don't do something about it his mother is gonna kill me."
Jimmy just sat there, ready to accept whatever he had coming… But then Louie said -- "Why do all the neighborhood kids call you Juju..?" Jimmy spoke for the first time -- "the first guy I ever hit, for making fun of my brother, I hit so hard he had to have his jaw wired shut.., and whenever he tried to say my name Jimmy James, he couldn't, and it sounded like -- Juju. After that, it just stuck.., and all the neighborhood kids would say, if you fuck with my little brother -- you got some bad juju coming."
Louie just starts laughing -- "bad juju coming, that is freakin hilarious. Look, you can stop sweating, nobody is going to hurt you… You got a job.., you are gonna come work for me -- and nobody will ever fuck with your little brother again. The pay is good, you can get your family out of that tenement.., and people will respect you -- probably fear you, too." Jimmy just nodded, YES.., not even knowing what this new job was… Before he left that Social Club, the place that had just sealed his fate.., he turned to the Boss and asked -- "is Louie short for something.?" The Boss replied -- "Yeah, my real name is Lorenzo." Jimmy looked him directly in the eyes for the time -- "that's my little brothers name." "Yeah, I know said Louie, he's a cute kid… And I'll be honey with you, you did the right thing protecting him, sometimes people need protection.., especially your family -- you got character Jimmy James, that's the only reason you are walking out here tonight."
Over the next 10 years Jimmy "Juju" James became the most feared mob enforcer in the 5 boroughs of NYC... Nobody knows how many people he beat, even killed with his bear hands and his magic walking stick.., but the saying -- "You got some bad juju coming" took on a whole new meaning amongst a certain underbelly of the city.., and it didn't have anything to do with karma or luck.
He got his Mom a nice house.., and even she was so scared shit of him -- it sobered her up enough so that she was able to take care of Lorenzo. Jimmy even sought out doctors specializing in this sort of thing, which there were few.., and donated huge amounts of money towards their research, when autism was still extremely under-estimated and money was extremely hard to come by… But Jimmy never hesitated when one these doctors asked for some cash, he would do anything for his little brother, that never changed. You could say this feared Mob enforcer was one of the first people funding crucial research into autism, out of sheer love for brother. He showed up for dinner as much as he could.., and whenever the Yankees were in town, he took his little brother to as many games as possible.
Years later when they finally pulled Jimmy "Juju" James bullet ridden body.., out of the East river, one morning just before dawn, it was Lorenzo that came down to the morgue to ID him -- he would never go to a another Yankee game, again.., he just couldn't without his older brother. What made it so sad --* I mean, normally.., when a mob enforcer gets killed not too many people are upset about it, but Juju -- Jimmy James wanted to be the center fielder for the NY Yankees.., and he had a sweet swing, but with those bad knees… He never wanted to be a feared mob enforcer, he just never had a choice… They never found out who killed him -- I guess, you could just say -- he had some bad juju coming…
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You are a great writer, for such stories you need inspiration, creative power of mind and patience.
You are very versatile, so you have become a successful blogger.
Thanks for the kind words @dobartim!
Super cool that was to read thanks for sharing
It was fun to write, too!
:D
Brilliant writing. "Bad juju," eh? I like it!
Gotta watch out for that "Bad JuJu"... Thanks @niobe