Part 18 (2/2)
In addition to the fights and loss of privileges and confineedy struck both sides of the colony On the inmate side, Jose, a jovial Puerto Rican who had been ies, died in his sleep A bank president from Florida died of a massive brain aneurys of his wife's affair, tried to co battery acid A helicopter froht
Things weren't much better on the leprosy side A friendly, often drunk, leprosy patient disappeared from the hallways When we asked a staff member about her whereabouts, he said, ”She passed” Oneon the way to the cafeteria, I noticed that another leprosy patient had recently lost a leg
About the only break from the tension was the Carville Book Club The prison librarian had helped two graduate students frole permission to lead the discussions The first book we read was J D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye Catcher in the Rye I arrived at the classroo at the front of the rooe breasts and wore a shi+rt two sizes too small The man, slender and effeminate, introduced himself as ”Tater” While the three of us waited for the other inmates to arrive, they asked me a few questions about my life before Carville, but they didn't mention books or literature I wondered whether they had come to talk books or to o so well Dan Duchaine was in a foul ” I felt bad for Tater and tried to steer the discussion in another direction, but Duchaine was relentless After about twenty-five roup More than half the men admitted they hadn't bothered to read the book
”You'd think we have plenty of tis over Nancy and Tater s to feel like the teachers' pet
We met for four weeks in a row We read a collection of short stories, a southern novel, and A Lesson Before Dying, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gaines, a Louisiana native The book revolved around the execution of an innocent but illiterate black man in Louisiana Capital punishroup Then, at the end of a robust discussion, Nancy and Tater said they wanted to try so new They asked us to answer, aloud, three questions: by Ernest Gaines, a Louisiana native The book revolved around the execution of an innocent but illiterate black man in Louisiana Capital punishroup Then, at the end of a robust discussion, Nancy and Tater said they wanted to try so new They asked us to answer, aloud, three questions: What was your crime? What is your favorite book? What is your sexual fantasy? What was your crime? What is your favorite book? What is your sexual fantasy?
I knew then Nancy and Tater weren't here for altruistic motives, and I was pretty sure it would be their last week leading our book club I noticed Mr Povene of the education depart to the discussion
When my turn calish uy's crime”
”What'd he do?” Nancy asked
”He's a creative check writer!”
CHAPTER 62
Back from teeks in parish jail, Link had found a new object of his affection, a young, quite beautiful leprosy patient from Brazil who had just arrived to seek treatment at Carville She was tall and blond and curvy Her clothes were tight When she walked down the corridor between the inot lots of attention
Link yelled, ”Will you marry me!?”
The woman smiled and waved at Link She rounded the corridors several times a day
”I'ht, Link walked over to the bench where Frank Ragano and I were reviewing a du book, Mob Lawyer Mob Lawyer
”That bitch fine,” Link said
”Good God, ot leprosy!”
”I'd fuck her,” Link said ”She only got half a foot, but I'd still fuck her!”
Link ran off to wait for her next pass
Frank handed me a letter he had received from his publisher, Scribner ”What do you make of this?” he asked Frank had written a book about representing notorious criminals, but the publisher wasn't completely happy with the azine publisher and, occasionally, he would ask my opinion
The letter explained that the editors had decided to alter the format of his book, to publish two parallel narratives One written by Frank; the other written by Selwyn Raab, a reporter of such distinction that his writings had inspired the television series Kojak Kojak Scribner intended to list Frank Ragano and and Selwyn Raab as authors Frank had confided to raph in the newspaper or on the evening news He didn't want to share credit for his book Selwyn Raab as authors Frank had confided to raph in the newspaper or on the evening news He didn't want to share credit for his book
”They think enough of your writing skills to keep the manuscript intact,” I said I explained that, albeit unusual, it was better than having a book written ith another writer What I didn't mention was that Raab's alternate voice was certainly the publisher's way of saying another writer What I didn't mention was that Raab's alternate voice was certainly the publisher's way of saying we question your credibility we question your credibility
Frank had also received a proof of the book's cover art The cover was black hite typography The title, Mob Lawyer Mob Lawyer, was in bold white script with red ink seeping into the letters, like blood ht soak into a white shi+rt The subtitle of the book read Including the Inside Account of Who Killed Ji the Inside Account of Who Killed Jiood color co for his wife and son, ere co to visit While he waited for them to arrive, I asked him about the JFK assassination
”It started with a ly delivered the e from Jimmy Hoffa to Carlos Marcello to kill Kennedy Later, his belief was confirmed by a deathbed confession of a Tampa Mafia boss
”I wish I had neveret enough And that led to terrible regret Regret that he had helped his clients continue to do horrific acts Regret that he had becoet of prosecutors and was spending one of his last years in a place like Carville
Frank and I sat quietly for a moment; then he told me another story
The CIA had partnered with one of his Mafia clients In an atten to an end, the CIA looked to Mafia bosses who stood to loseto Frank, the CIA gave Santo Trafficante hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with poison pills, to kill Castro Santo took the money and flushed the poison pills down the toilet He used the payoff for his business interests in Cuba and told the CIA the assassination attempt had failed
Then FrankSystem had just released a one-hour documentary about his life as lawyer to the Mafia
A week later, Frank and the prison librarian received permission from the warden to show the documentary to the inmates Filmed by PBS's Frontline, Frontline, the documentary was entitled ”JFK, Hoffa and the Mob” We uards to show the one-hour file classroom as a part of the current events class I made flyers to pro the event in the cafeteria the documentary was entitled ”JFK, Hoffa and the Mob” We uards to show the one-hour file classroom as a part of the current events class I made flyers to pro the event in the cafeteria
About thirty in Steve Read, Doc, Art Levin, Dan Duchaine, and Frank's best inmate friend, Danny Coates A couple of dozen counterfeiters, tax evaders, swindlers, and drug traffickers also attended, as did a new arrival at Carville-a coe twenty-four, had tapped into the Federal Reserve system and wired hiht there probably should have been a law against this industrious group's convening, but no guards were in sight
Art Levin, the man who had watched over Carlos Marcello and helped me beat Steve Read in Monopoly, sat in the back of the room as Frank introduced the video
The filano as the intimate friend and lawyer to Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa, as well as attorney to Santo Trafficante, one of the most feared Mafia bosses The docuo public hat he knew During the interviews, Ragano recounted ed that the Mafia had orchestrated the murder of Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of John Kennedy, and he ad” the death of JFK In the end, Frank told the interviewer he had unwittingly delivered the e from Hoffa via Trafficante to Marcello to have JFK killed
It was a sobering moment There was silence in the roohts Frank asked if there were any questions
Doc raised his hand ”How ed Ji” Doc looked suspicious, as if he couldn't iratis
Steve Read blurted out, ”I have a two-part question, Frank: one, was JFK the first president you knocked off? And, two, do you have your sights on Clinton?”
One of Frank's friends yelled back, ”What about you, Read!? What country onna kill next, Dolly Parton?”
The Q & A session broke into a series of sarcastic exchanges that led to a yelling uys were such a formidable bunch after all
Then I noticed Mr Levin In theand insults, he sat still Mr Levin was counsel to Carlos Marcello Marcello allegedly handled the details of the assassination Mr Levin helped Marcello navigate the Louisiana legal system and operate within the bounds of the law As one of Carlos Marcello's closest confidants, he was privy to the details of Marcello's business
As the other inht about all Mr Levin ht have been the first o public, but the one who probably knew the most sat quietly in the back of the room