The Fixer by Ira Judelson

Author:Ira Judelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone Books

7

Dilemmas

My line of work, the cell phone is like a third arm. Can’t imagine how I’d do what I do without it. I’m afraid to miss a piece of business—probably not a healthy approach but it’s the only way I know. Satchel Paige had that famous line: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” That’s my attitude about work. If I don’t pick up the phone, they’ll call someone else. Some lawyer will be in a jam, he’ll need to spring his client on a moment’s notice, he’ll call another bondsman, and then he’ll have that other bondsman in his Rolodex. No way I’m about to give my competition an edge.

The other bondsmen in town, they’ll catch their share of calls, but I won’t give them mine.

I’ve got a crappy little flip phone, battery lasts just about forever. No smartphone. No keypad. My friends give me shit about it. My clients, too. And my kids? To them it looks like something from the Stone Age. It’s basic, bare-bones, the kind they give you for free, but it’s where my work gets done.

All the time, people call. And I’m there to answer. Even when I’m out to dinner, away on vacation, spending time with my family—I know I should shut off my phone, but I can’t. I won’t. I’ve been on the phone in a hot tub in the Bahamas doing bails. I’ve been at a wedding, a bar mitzvah, doing bails. I’ve even been to a World Series game at Yankee Stadium, one hand with my phone to my ear, the other wrapped around a hot dog.

Some calls I probably shouldn’t take. Like the one that came in not too long ago from a guy I’d bailed out a few years back, another guy who allegedly worked in the “family” business. We’d never discussed his supposed mob ties, except to talk around them. Between the lines, it was understood—one of those better-left-unsaid deals, even though what’s left unsaid comes through loud and clear. Since we’d gotten together on a bail, this guy had helped me out, sent a lot of work my way, been a good set of eyes and ears for me, so when I saw his number on my phone, I dropped what I was doing to take his call.

Actually, it wasn’t a call. It was a text. That’s about the height of my tech-savvy—me and my phone, we’re low- to mid-tech, and this guy, he was worse than me. He was old-school, man, so for him to be sending me a text, I figured something was up. He wrote that he needed to speak to me ASAP. The time stamp on the message was 7:14 in the morning, so I took one last sip of my coffee and hit the redial button.

Before I even heard a ring he answered. “Can you meet me this morning, the usual place?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Better we should meet.”

The usual place

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.