The City — Part 2
Intuition in Roaring Twenties New York City
That night, at home, Victor thought about his talk with Lucky. It was a weird conversation. His goals and his intuition were fighting for a spot in his heart. Never before had he felt two opposites being equally strong and having just as much influence over him. He didn’t know what to choose and decided to calm himself down. He managed to keep his mind focussed and his heart at peace. Still, it was almost as if he was guided without knowing where to go. Again, there was that something. Calling him. He just couldn’t find out what it was.
“Ok something, I’m going to sleep now.” That’s how Victor communicated with that source of inspiration. If there was nothing he could do, then nothing was what he would do. A few deep breaths and he drifted away into a night that would become a new day.
In the morning, he heard a knock on the door of his small flat apartment. A muffled voice yelled: “Victor, we’re having lunch with Jean and her friend. You would join us remember?”
“Fuck”, thought Victor. “I promised I would join them.”
He hurried towards the door and opened it with his hair disheveled. “You must be kidding”, said Lawrence.
“I know, I know”, apologized Victor hoping Lawrence wouldn't get angry. “Get some coffee and I’ll quickly hop in the shower. Ten minutes.”
“Victor…”
“Nine”, said Victor as he jumped in the shower.
Lawrence sat on the couch, combed his hair back, and let out a deep sigh. He loved his friend but didn’t understand why he had to be so chaotic. Victor was smart and skillful. Everybody knew. But it seemed like exactly that was what made Victor a whirlwind at times. He waited for 15 minutes until a well-groomed Victor appeared.
“Nine minutes?” Asked Lawrence as they both left the typical New York apartment.
Arriving at the L’AIGLON, a French cuisine restaurant, they saw the ladies through the windows waiting for them. The women had found a place where they wouldn’t be recognized easily by family members who didn’t like the roaring part of the twenties. Jean’s friend Cameron was smoking her cigarette trying to look as cool as possible.
“Girls”, said Lawrence. “I’m sorry but my friend here had to take his time.”
“Hi, friend that took his time”, said Cameron in a cool voice extending her hand out to Victor.
“You must be Cameron”, said Victor gently shaking her hand.
“I must be”, replied Cameron.
“Are you girls enjoying this place?” Asked a smiling Victor, enjoying Cameron’s wit.
“The coffee is great”, replied Jean. “So, what were you talking about with mister Luciano?” Asked Jean. Lawrence already knew Jean was direct and straight to the point. She didn’t need many words like her friend Cameron did. Mystique was not her thing. Jean operated in a straight line.
“Jean…”, said Lawrence with his mouth hanging open. Not expecting her to be this direct, yet loving her straightforward style, he tried to signal her to be more subtle and first exchange pleasantries.
Victor just flashed a polite smile at Jean. He knew how to deal with probing questions. Sometimes it was better not to answer and just keep to himself with a smile. Jean knew how to use the same technique and flashed the same polite smile back at Victor, this time with a hint of irritation. Victor kept his kind composure towards her, knowing he would not disclose anything to someone he just met the night before.
“Will you girls be there tonight?” He asked.
“We’ll see”, replied Jean, while Cameron simultaneously answered: “Yes!”
An annoyed Jean exchanged a stern look with a suddenly uncomfortably smiling Cameron. “Yes, we’ll see”, said Cameron stammering, correcting herself as a waiter approached the table.
Just as he left, having taken their orders, Jean continued: “My uncle used to work with mister Luciano. You know what he does, right?”
“Lawrence and I have our own plan. We don’t plan to work with Lucky.”
“You don’t always get to choose to do your own thing. It’s a tough city and sometimes the city with its characters and dynamics decide what you become.”
“Are you not the one in charge? The one who decides?” Asked Victor.
“I’m just a cog in a system that is working well for years”, replied Jean. “I might rattle some cages, but not all of them. If I make too much noise I get silenced. Not because I did something wrong. But because it’s too much noise.”
“That’s a powerless way to look at yourself.”
“It’s realistic”, rebutted Jean exhaling smoke and looking straight at Victor.
Victor just kept his composure and stayed friendly. He understood Jean. He even understood her confidence in accepting a small role forced upon her in a huge machine. He had learned that the confidence with which people say limiting things about themselves is the only control they have in a situation that will not let them be who they are deep down. He’d rather choose the unrealistic and impractical over normalcy. He’d rather lose his illusory control just to gain a sense of being his own person in a city that isn’t built around dreams.
Cameron also exhaled trying to look cool but ended up coughing. In between coughs, she managed to ask: “Are you a dreamer Victor? Do you believe in fantasies?”
Victor took a long pause that was also noticed by his friend Lawrence. These were the moments Victor would go into a place where the things he ‘just knew’ came from. Victor couldn’t describe that source either. He just stayed silent and trusted the source of his childhood ideas to inspire him in the right direction.
There weren’t many questions that could push Victor into silence. He’s always been so sure of chasing the image he saw of himself. Never before did he need to find the words to express why he did what he did. Cameron was the first to trigger him into this journey to a part of Victor that he himself had never explored. She was the first person he spoke to that used the words dreamer and fantasies so close to each other. Almost making them the same word, but he knew the wishes he had weren’t fantasies. They weren’t mere talk or self-chatter like most people’s ambition in his beloved New York City. These dreams were clear enough for him. He wasn’t a passive dreamer without skill. Up until now, all the things that came up in him, he had done. He planned to do more of that. He just had to see the Victor that he knew he could be.
“I have vivid dreams. So vivid I can touch them. That’s why I chase them even if it seems impossible. Something makes me chase them.” Answered Victor.
“You seem very certain of it?”, asked Cameron, catching her breath.
“Oh no, I’m far from certain. I’m just dedicated to really doing the things I feel are the most beautiful things here on earth.”
“Ok, so you are a dreamer”, said Jean. Victor’s view on life made her almost roll her eyes while Cameron looked at Victor as if she finally found someone that dreamed too.
Understanding the fact that Jean had never followed the source of inspiration that most people have, he answered politely: “It’s the world to me.”
As they enjoyed their lunch, the waiter approached their table. Standing close to Lawrence, he whispered something in Lawrence's ear.
“Ok, thank you”, replied Lawrence. “Can we get the bill?”
The waiter just smiled and waved his hands in front of him awkwardly as a way of saying: “No. Please. I can’t accept your money.” Of course, he deeply wanted to accept their payment as he walked away.
“We’re expected in his club at 11 o’clock.”
“Did the waiter…?” Asked Victor, with a confused look. He now knew how far Lucky’s influence reached since even the waiter of the L’AIGLON was carrying messages for him.
They continued talking about more trivial subjects as they ended their lunch. Victor couldn’t wait to speak to Lucky tonight as the rest of his friends couldn’t wait to go to the club again. As they exited the restaurant, they kissed the ladies goodbye.
That evening they arrived at the club in a more fitting fashion for a speakeasy. The roaring years made a big fuss about expressing one's style. Lawrence and Victor almost looked like twins with their simple suits. Lawrence enjoyed dark grey suits, while his friend loved the deep black ones. They both hated bowties. Cleanly shaven, they entered the club at around 22:45 pm and went straight to the bar to get some drinks.
As they walked towards the bar, Victor felt his hand pulled back by someone wearing gloves. “Lucky’s people…”, Victor thought as he turned around. His expression grew from slightly annoyed to stunned as he saw Cameron glowing through her eyes. This was a different Cameron than the one he just had lunch with hours earlier.
“You look stunning”, said Victor as Cameron blushed.
“I know”, replied Cameron as she humorously acted cute and blinked her dark smokey eyes. They both laughed as Victor relaxed. “Come dance, I’ve waited for you.” Said Cameron.
As they walked to the dancefloor, Victor noticed he was completely sidetracked by Cameron. Up until that moment, he was focused solely on his conversation with mister Luciano. Cameron noticed Victor’s mind wandering and placed her hands around him, joining her wrists behind his neck and looking straight and intently into his eyes. She clearly had some drinks as she acted seductive and a little clumsy at the same time. Victor decided to focus on the seductive part and labeled her clumsy side cute.
“Why do you dream so much, Victor?” Asked an enchanted Cameron. This was the first time she met someone that followed his intuitions the way Victor did.
Victor looked at Cameron. He saw the daring red lipstick. Just a few years back, this amount of lipstick or any other obvious makeup was viewed as inappropriate. Now, expressive styles were more accepted and even admired in the nightlife. During the day, women still wore softer tones and tried not to attract too much attention. Victor liked the rouge on Cameron’s face. Paired with her clumsiness it made her look even cuter and a little dreamy.
Her friend Jean was the type of woman most young men admired. She was expressive and had an attitude. She exuded strength and independence. Cameron was the opposite. However, blending in with her friends, she acted confident but deep down Victor knew she was very close to herself. He could see straight through the confident act and see the confident woman Cameron actually was. Authenticity was sometimes hard to find in the roaring twenties. Which is strange at a time when everyone was out expressing who they were. Victor knew early on that showing who you are and knowing who you truly are were two different things. In the same way, he saw who Cameron really was and liked her for it. He knew people with a naive nature can only have that because they are stronger than usual. It meant they had a trusting feeling deep enough to allow them to be vulnerable.
“Do you think I dream so much?” Asked Victor. “I don’t know, Cameron.” He looked back into her eyes. “Why shouldn’t we dream so much?”
“What if life disappoints us and we don’t get what we dream of?” Asked Cameron, mainly trying to answer a question she had held for a long time. This was the first time she said out loud what had always lived inside her but never found the words for it.
“Then we have at least dreamt”, replied Victor, smiling at Cameron who looked back at him with even dreamier eyes. The drinks made her eyes seem even darker than the black eyeshadow she had perfectly applied. This was the first time Victor had admired someone this much in this city. If New York was hard, cemented, and industrious, he found the only place that was soft, compassionate, and peaceful. That place was, by now, hugging him as they danced slowly.
“Cam”, Said Victor. “I’ll have a chat with Lucky. It’s almost time.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked with her to Jean and Lawrence who were still chatting at the bar not far from them. The girls both lit a cigarette and went back to the dancefloor into the crowd.
Above the girls disappearing into the crowd, Victor saw Lucky coming out of a room that overlooked the dancefloor. He greeted some men and walked down the wide stairs slowly towards Victor and Lawrence while answering the questions of some people around him. Lucky seemed busy but also very attentive to the people around him. Victor had noticed that they seemed a little scared of him but also felt comfortable enough to approach him for whatever was on their minds. It was something Victor admired in people. The presence with which they interacted with the people around them. It meant they listened.
Lucky shook the hand of the last man around him and walked towards Victor and Lawrence.
“Eleven o'clock exactly”, greeted a kind-looking Lucky. He looked neat in his outfit and calm in his demeanor. He reached out his hand to greet the two young men and said: “Good evening and thank you for making time.”
“Good evening”, replied Lawrence, shaking his hand
“Any time, sir”, replied Victor.
The bartender quickly put some drinks on the counter as some guests moved out of their way. Lucky took two drinks and gave them to the boys. They thanked him as Lucky took the third drink and walked towards a more quiet corner. Seated in the back of the club, this place had a round couch with a table in the middle and a slightly dimmed chandelier just above them. It was clearly meant for the more wealthy visitors of this club. Around them, the lights of the club were still flashing and smoke filled the room.
“Have a seat guys”, said Lucky as he motioned his hand towards the spot on the seats opposite of himself.
“Thank you for the nice lunch and these drinks, mister Luciano”, Victor started off, trying to see where this invitation was going.
“You’re most welcome”, replied Lucky while lighting a cigarette. He exhaled, took a sip of his drink, and continued: “I said you guys would be here tonight and here you are. When I know things, I know them because I make sure they happen.”
Lawrence looked at Victor as if to say: “That’s a different way of knowing things than with your intuition.” Victor knew why Lawrence looked at him and nodded back subtly. Although they felt a slight intimidation, they were together and have been through more pressure than Lucky could ever imagine. Still, Lucky was a man with a pressing attitude that both friends felt. They reacted by not reacting, as they lately did in new situations. Not reacting gave them the chance to look at the situation without emotion and prevented them from doing or, more importantly, saying things they could regret.
As Victor took a sip of his drink, Lawrence took the initiative to dig for more clarity from the infamous man in front of them.
“Thank you for inviting us here. What do you think we can do for you?” Asked Lawrence. He looked intently at Lucky, who took another sip. Lawrence had learned early on that people of real power, unlike the power-hungry people, liked other people that showed power.
Lucky looked over at the party, took a hit of his cigarette, and looked back at the boys again. He tipped off some ashes in the ashtray and said: “I have a city to run.”
“I need good men,” he continued.
“What do you need good men for?” Asked Lawrence.
“To do things good men usually don’t do.”
“Why do you need good men to do those things?”
“Bad men have nothing to lose. They act like they have everything but what they have has become a burden to them. They never had the skill to gain what they have, so they received it from someone as a favour or as a means to stay out of their way. I can’t afford to work with people who have nothing to lose.”
“Sir, we just started out in this city. We have nothing. We have to build everything from the ground up," continued Lawrence.
Lucky pointed towards Lawrence with the fingers holding the cigarette. “Exactly that. That is why you have everything to lose.”
“When you are just starting out,” explained Lucky, “like you two are doing right now. That’s when you have everything to lose. You boys don’t even know it yet. It takes experience and achievement to figure these things out.”
Victor saw an opportunity. He knew he couldn’t shake Lucky off. Lucky was now part of his environment. A part that wouldn’t let go so easily. He saw a way to connect with Lucky and have him as a guide in a city that was his. At the same time, this opportunity could make Lucky step away from having them do things for him.
“We could definitely use some help in the form of guidance here", said Victor. “We’re not experienced enough to do something back for you in the businesses you operate in. However, I feel your experience and influence in this city could help us.”
He looked at Lawrence who agreed as they often shared aligned values and work ethic.
Lawrence added: “Still, sir, we really can’t help you in your businesses. We do sense your offer of a helping hand and for that we are grateful.”
Lucky heard the words of the boys and also noticed their concern. Their words reminded him of a much younger Lucky. They couldn’t possibly know why he was so intent on working with them. Lucky himself didn’t know. He felt. He felt a deep resonance with the mission to become someone. He missed the early years when he was just starting out. Guiding these young men, he could relive his golden times. By appearance, people always thought these recent years were Lucky’s golden time. The height of his success. The cars, apartments, models, and parties. They looked like success. But Lucky knew deep down that he was happiest at the beginning of his so-called career. Back when he had nothing. Nothing to lose but the world to gain.
“I have a soft spot for people coming up. The people that decide to do something against all odds. I will mentor and guide you.”
This was the first time he found someone to speak these words to. Now he found two people who he could teach and guide. His experience, unshared, became a feeding ground for boredom. A thing Lucky had a hard time tolerating. In a city this cold, experience isn’t always a strength. Experience can become a guiding force for more and faster achievement. Left unchecked, experience could also become a set of memories reminding you of the darkness it took to build you up. That darkness can be haunting. He somehow felt that sharing that experience would lift the demons living in that darkness in an almost occult way.
“That would be something we would really appreciate", smiled Victor.
Lucky was happy to meet their request. Connecting with them in this fashion helped connect him with his younger self. However, sentiment was not the only drive for Lucky to help them in their achievements. Even though he found people to take care of, there was one person he took care of most. Himself.
“I will be seeing you guys here in the coming days. Same time. There’s no need to look for work or anything. It’s taken care of. You will start building your business and I will help you. Meanwhile, enjoy the city and all the attractions in it.”
Looking over at the party, he took the last sip of his drink. Standing up, he prepared to leave: “I think your girlfriends are waiting for you.”
“Lucky", interrupted Lawrence. “I hope you don’t mind me asking why you are helping us.”
“I don’t mind", smiled Lucky in the smoke-filled club. “Why I do this? I guess you remind me of myself.”
“Is that all?” asked Victor.
Lucky liked both of them and smiled as he knew what Victor was really asking. His offer was sincere but who he was today had little to do with sincerity.
Lucky lit another cigarette and shook hands with both men as he looked them in the eye. “For now", he said as he slowly walked back towards two men near the stairs in his packed club.
