Fahrenheit 1600 (Victor Kozol) (20 page)

Chapter 40

Duryea Revisited

It has been some time since the violence
culminating in the drama ending with Sam’s death at the crematory. The tally
is: Victor up one, and the syndicate lawyer Sam, Milt, and Vinnie all dead;
plus, another mob soldier and his boss indicted by the feds. However, there are
other closer to home consequences to all of this. To have a shootout between
the FBI and the mob in Duryea is not everyday news. And how many mob lawyers
get their heads crushed in a crematory retort? This is more like having
Martians landing in the town. People can’t stop talking, and the local papers
have run countless features on their front pages.

Finally, the local TV stations were interviewing
anyone willing to comment on the events, and running the clips on the local evening
news. The once bumbling Vic is now a huge celebrity. But, is he a good guy or a
villain? If John Flaherty and the FBI are willing to spin it that Vic was
helping in an undercover operation from the beginning that would be one thing.
However, if it comes out that Vic initiated all of these events because of his
underworld dealings public opinion might be much different. Will the Justice
Department allow a report that shows Victor in a good light?

Vic’s lawyer, Steve Lamont, is in a case more
complex and higher up the legal food chain, than any other local lawyer has
ever seen. The authorities and Steve work out a compromise in which Vic admits
to some initial wrongdoing. But, then they must concede the fact that he risked
his and Karen’s life to help apprehend the criminals. He is now a genuine local
hero.

Most people in Duryea want to believe the second
part of Vic’s role because in a small town, even an unpopular local trumps a
crime family from New York. Vic will get a pass on the initial illegal cremations
since he didn’t participate in or was he complicit in the actual murders of
those individuals. In exchange, he has to agree to testify as a government
witness as to his part in any trial of those mob family members now under
indictment.

Chapter 41

A Future

Vic and Karen both know they have to make
something positive happen with their lives. Karen has always been ambitious,
but Vic needed a whole new makeover after his life had been turned upside down.

“Vic you have to put the same effort into your
future as you used to put in college beer parties.”

She then gives him an ultimatum. “Vic, I am not
getting any younger. I am now twenty-eight, and you are what I have to show for
my social life up to this point.

We either make this work together, or I am out of
here. I can’t say being with you hasn’t been, to say the least, exciting. And,
no one can hold a candle to the experiences you and I have gone through. But,
this is not how two people who love each other should spend their lives
together. We seem to just be going from crisis to crisis.”

“I need time to sort all of this out Karen, maybe we
could just continue to see each other until all of this is behind us.”

“No Vic, that is not how this is going to go down.
If I walk out this door tonight, I am gone for good. I want no more
procrastinating, lethargic spells lasting for weeks, or indecision about your
future. I will not stay with a man who continues the behavior you have in the
past. So, what’s it going to be?”

“Karen, I love you, but I have to be sure that I can
provide a future for the two of us.”

“I love you too, but I will not hesitate to come
down on you worse than the mob if you ever revert to your former ways.”

“I understand Karen, I needed that.”

With that Vic gets down on one knee and says, “I am
tired of whining and thinking of what might have been, I promise to be a man
you will be proud of. Will you marry me?

“Yes, yes, we can rebuild our lives right here where
we have family and friends to support us.”

“I think I know how to rebuild the business I
trashed. It could make for a good living for us as it had for my family for
three generations. Then, we can tell our parents and start planning for a new
life together.”

Karen’s parents, Fred & Sue Schmidt, are more
urbane and liberal than Vic’s people. Since neither of them came from a small
town, they see things with a more cosmopolitan view. They now live in Scranton,
a city of seventy-five thousand, which is ten times the size of Duryea. Fred, a
transplant from Philadelphia, is a foreman at a local plastics plant and Sue is
a pharmacist’s assistant at a local drug store. They are actually thrilled that
their oldest of two daughters is going to marry Vic. They believe him to be
intelligent and personable, and hope that he will do what is necessary to make
the marriage successful. Their youngest daughter Jean is already married with a
baby.

Vic’s side of the family is a bit more complicated.
The provincial leanings of his parents show through when they come to Duryea to
meet the future Mrs. Kozol.

Albert says, “Vic she might be a nice girl, but her
name is Karen Schmidt, and with a mother’s name like Flaherty, we don’t see one
ounce of Polish heritage here.”

Vic’s mother chimes in, “A German father and an Irish
mother might be fine in Scranton, but what will people say here in Duryea?”

“Look Mom, she is after all, Catholic and educated,
with a profession. Her new last name will be Kozol not Schmidt. I think she
will do fine, even if she doesn’t speak Polish. By the way neither do I!

She will be a great partner to help me salvage this
business. Karen is a people person who makes friends and fits in. Look Dad, I
want you to reconsider about the business, if you sell it now, you will get
little more than the property value.”

“All the years I trusted you Vic and you always fell
short of your promises and my expectations. I am going to reserve final
judgement on the business until later. As for you and Karen, you have our
blessings to get married. That is, if she agrees to get married at Holy Rosary
Church with Father Sosnowski officiating.”

“Always thinking of the business dad, we’ll see.”

Karen and Vic were married in an old fashioned
Polish style ceremony that spring. First, there was the concelebrated Mass with
three Priests (one a cousin of the family from Cleveland) and of course two
vocalists one who sang “Ave Maria.” A parade of four white limousines carried
the bridal party around town that warm and sunny May day.

Next, was the reception at the church social hall
with three-hundred in attendance. There was kielbasa, pierogi, kuegele, ham,
and turkey. In addition a seven tier wedding cake with the ubiquitous miniature
bridal couple on the top graced the head table. There was also enough beer,
wine, liquor, and other beverages to last for two days, a five piece polka
band, Franky and the Coal Miners, to keep the tempo upbeat. There was a bridal
dance where everyone lines up to put money in a hat for a dance with the bride.
With three-hundred attendees each dance lasts about 10 seconds. This is
followed by the ‘kidnapping’ of the bride by the attendants. After a suitable
time, Vic rescues Karen by paying a ransom to the best man; Karen is then
returned to her groom.

The next day the couple flies to Bermuda for a non-Polish
honeymoon.

Chapter 42

Clouds on the Horizon

Upon returning from Bermuda, Karen and Vic settle
into the apartment above the funeral home in Duryea. They get busy scrubbing,
cleaning and polishing the funeral home. Vic is now getting at least a funeral
a week—which for him is the best it’s ever been. After a month has gone by,
they have not heard from Albert. So, Vic calls Florida.

“Dad, we should sit down and talk about my future.
You said after the wedding, we could sit down and talk about me buying out the
business.”

“Vic, what I said was that we would talk about it
afterward.”

“Well, this is the time.”

“Okay, then here is the problem. Mom and I went
through some horrendous months last year. There were the late payments from
you, the fire, the bad reports from the townspeople about your actions. I saw
the books. Half of the business is gone. What took two generations to build you
destroyed in a couple of years. We don’t think we can risk our retirement on
the premise that you can turn around an already damaged business.”

“Are you telling me that after all of the promises I
made to Karen, plus getting myself psyched up to finally do something here,
that it’s over?”

“Well you see Vic, my old friend John Postupack in
Wilkes-Barre, has a son Bob who got his Funeral license a couple of years ago.
He has been working at the Driscoll funeral home down there, and would like to
have his own place. So, John and I sort of have a handshake deal where he would
take Duryea off my hands. Look Vic, you always said you didn’t want the
business. It was I who was forcing you to do something you never wanted to do
in the first place. What you did in your first year was just short of criminal
negligence.”

“Okay, you have made up your mind, but don’t expect
me to hang around and show the new guy the ropes. We are out of here now.”

“Let’s not be too hasty here, I’ll pay you to help
make a smooth transition to the new owner.”

“Dad, I don’t want your money, I would rather sell
apples on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre than kowtow under this ultimatum. Karen
and I will move to her place next week, and you can get one of your old cronies
to cover the place until you do the deal with Postupack. I have never been so
hurt and humiliated! You can have your wedding present back too!”

With that Vic slams down the phone and is seething
and kicking things around the apartment.

Karen arrives later that night after her shift at
the hospital and surveys the mess. This time Vic is not drinking, he is just
sitting in his corner chair staring into space. Vic tells Karen the entire sad
episode with his father. She is devastated too, as she told her entire family
about her new life centered around the funeral home, now down the drain with
one phone call.

“Do you think your father would reconsider, Vic?”

“Hell no, he already has the joint sold. Once he
takes action, right or wrong, he carries it through.”

“Well, I guess I have to call my landlord in
Scranton and ask him to stay. I think he will say alright. But now we need a
new future. I can keep my job at the hospital, but you Vic will have to decide
what you will do for the future. I am just so sorry for you Vic.”

Vic contacts a couple of old friends, who agree to
help him move some of his furniture to Scranton. However, most of his things
won’t fit since Karen has an already furnished one bedroom apartment. His
friend Mike Elchock has a large garage and offered to let Vic keep some of his
furnishings there. After a couple of days, reality has set in deeper about the
loss of the funeral home.

Karen remarks, “What are you going to do about the
cremation retort? We still own that.”

“First, I only have a lease on it, secondly it sits
in my father’s garage.”

“Vic, what if we buy or rent the garage from your
father, and keep the cremation business as a separate entity? Could it work as
a separate business?”

“Well maybe, but I would need to do a couple hundred
cases a year for it to make financial sense. Plus, we have no money to buy the
garage from my father.”

“Let me talk to my father,” Karen interjects. If he
would loan us the down payment, we could buy the garage from Albert. We would
at least have an income.”

“Dad, it’s Vic. Look, I’m sorry I blew up at you
last week. The whole thing was too much for me to grasp at one time. However, I
have had time to cool down and think and would now like to cut a deal with
you.”

“Apology accepted, what can I do for you son?”

“As you know the crematory lease is in my name, but
you own the new garage I had rebuilt with the insurance proceeds. I would like
to lease the garage with an option to buy it from you. I could then continue to
run the cremation business independent of the funeral home.”

“Geeze Vic, the new buyer already asked to include
the garage in the sale of the funeral home. He is buying new cars and needs
room to store them.”

“Okay then, I will have to get the retort out of
there. Can you give me some time?”

“Yes Vic, but in exchange you can help me by staying
in Duryea until the new owner can close the sale.”

Vic is once again nowhere and now has to either give
the crematory retort back to the manufacturer or find a new home for it. He and
Karen are sitting together in the funeral home apartment and realize that all
is slipping away.

Karen says, “Vic your friend Mike who is letting you
store your excess furniture has that big old garage five blocks from here.
Maybe we could lease it and move the retort into it?’

Vic calls Mike who agrees to a three year lease on
the property subject to Vic getting all of the zoning and other approvals for a
crematory.

Vic now has a plan, but no money. Just moving the
retort will cost $5,000 not to mention hookups and remodeling. Karen comes
through again.

“Vic, I talked to my parents and they will loan us
$20,000 to move, remodel, and have working capital to start-up the crematory
business. They want no interest, but you can pay it back in the first three
years of operations.”

“Karen I can’t take charity, what if I fail again?”

“First, it’s a loan. Not charity. Second, Vic, you
won’t fail. Together we will make this work. Let’s take the offer.”