The Tales of Saint Anthony, The First Day

Luke Ingelson, Muscle

Luke Ingelson pulled over on Lake Street in front of Franky's tavern. He had collections to make and he wanted to get them done before the weather broke for the worse. He knew the storm that was coming would be fierce because the air-pressure was bothering the broken drum in his cauliflowered ear, as it had been more days than not over the past few months.

He got out of the driver's seat and took note of the number of girls already walking the street. There was a steady flow of traffic on the strip, cars pulling up at the curb to place orders for dope: cocaine or heroin, both...and other pharmaceutical grade chemicals.

Luke was not a small fellow, he stood six feet two inches, and had been a ranked heavy-weight fighter when he was younger, but that wasn't why the tough guys on the street stepped out of his way when they saw him coming.

He and his brother James had been all up and down Lake Street, from Excelsior to the Marshall Avenue bridge, they had a reputation among the local merchants, which they had earned, a reputation that put him and his brother on good standing with all the pimps and the players on the street, but it was his bosses reputation that mattered more than anything else, and Luke knew it.

His boss was the fearsome-giant, Karl Thorrson, who, in a very short time had wrested control of the city from one of its founders who represented the old power.

Luke went into Franky's and stepped up to the bar.

There were a couple of hungry looking broads looking at him as if he might solve all their troubles for a day or two.

Luke said good morning to them, and as if on cue they got up-off their stools, came over to him, and started rubbing their perfumed bodies against him.

There wasn't much fabric between their skin and his, and Luke could feel every bit of them as they hung off his broad shoulders, while with their purring voices they expressed their marvel at how big his muscles were.

Just as one of them was reaching down the front of his trousers there was some commotion from the back room. Frankie came out with an envelope in his hand, apologizing to Luke for making him wait.

Luke took the envelope and said, "No trouble Frankie. I'll just take these two with me for the day, along with whatever they need to see them through, that's all the tax I'll charge you...this time."

Frankie looked at his girls and struggled with a response.

Luke had just been joking, so he cracked a smile and slapped Frankie on the shoulder, but it occurred to him that he could have gotten away with it. Luke thought that was good to know...he planned on taking advantage of his new status at another time.

"On second thought, ladies, I'll take a rain check. We'll make it a double-date with me and my brother."

"Sure thing," they said, slightly disappointed. "Whenever you come around we'll be waiting."

Luke took the envelope and continued his tour down Lake Street.