Rude Boy USA (31 page)

John knew this about her already. Once he realized that she would stay with him, he made sure after the meeting with Enzo Ambrosino to stop off in the diamond district in Manhattan to pick up a ring so he could propose to her. He did not intend to let Bunny walk away from his life for the third time. Before he knelt down, he wanted to get everything in order so there would be no delays at the beginning of their new life.

John contacted a wine distributor that he knew in New York City. He suggested a meeting with him and his wine-making team to help him create the right flavor, blend, aroma, and texture. The winemaker asked about John’s inspiration for the flavor. John explained only that the taste came from a particular woman. “Did she create the flavor?” The winemaker did not know what he meant.

“Not quite, but it tastes like her,” John answered.

“Tastes like her? You aren’t a cannibal or something?” the winemaker joked.

“No, but her juices are sweet,” John said.

The guy stared at him for a second before he got it. “Oh. OK, just a quick question: Do you want strangers to know what your lady’s—um, what should I say?—lady parts taste like?” he asked.

“I won’t tell them the specifics, no. I have not decided if I will tell her either. She may kill me. She’ll figure it out one day,” John said.

“Wow, well, this is a first.” The winemaker chuckled.

“It is. That’s the point. There is a goldmine between those thighs. Good stuff in there,” John said.

“Well, let’s get to work then,” the winemaker chimed back. They proceeded to make wine magic in the studio.

John knew exactly what he wanted, and after a couple of hours of mixing flavors, they came up with the perfect taste. He asked a designer to create a label for him and ordered to have some bottles made. John brought in a photo he had taken of Bunny while she was still working at the club. He hired an artist to draw her silhouette as the logo. BunnyWine was officially born. He wanted to introduce the new wine to friends and Bunny at a get- together before they left the city. After John had told him about his plans, the distributor put him in contact with a landowner in Jamaica who had a winery there. The process took months, as they needed time for the wine to ferment, clear, and age.

The night of the wine-tasting party finally arrived. He had not told anyone about the name or flavor of the wine, as he wanted to reveal everything to everyone all at once. Everyone was dressed to the nines. Bunny wore a red wrap dress that highlighted her curves perfectly. Red had always been Bunny’s best color, as it made her skin tone glow. John wore his best suit and loafers, remaining faithful to his Rude Boy roots. John’s and Bunny’s friends attended. Some of her old coworkers from the Playboy Club were also there. John invited all the new business associates he had brought in as partners for the New Chimera Group. These new allies consisted of Wall Street investment bankers, lawyers, risk arbitragers, and those who were involved in corporate raiding. John had officially exited the Mafia game for now.

He held the get-together at his old stomping grounds at P. J. Clarke’s. The bar was still as he remembered it. Had it not been for this place and his poor drunken unawareness, he would never have met Bunny. His corporate partners had powerful connections, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who would bring John Jr. and Caroline for lunch on Saturdays. She also attended the get-together. Attendants dressed all in white were serving the guests, and hired orchestra players entertained in the background.

Everyone eagerly awaited the reveal. When they pulled the curtain, two giant six-by-four-foot cardboard posters with the silhouette logo stood beside a beautiful display table full of dark wine bottles, elegant table napkins, and ornate large wine glasses. A backdrop that displayed the full logo,
“BunnyWine, An Intoxicating Concoction by Chimera,” stood behind it all. The bottles were black with a sparkly fourteen-karat-gold wrapping at the top. The label was also black, but Bunny’s silhouette was outlined in fourteen-karat gold, as was the writing on the label.

Everyone commented on how beautiful the entire setup was. Bunny was surprised and happy. She’d had no idea that John had been working on this for all of this time. John turned to her and said, “I wanted to get this right. You inspired all of it,” he said.

“Is that me?” Bunny asked as she looked over at the poster.

“Yes, it is,” he answered.

“I’m all flustered. Thank you.” Bunny smiled and kissed him.

The guests began drinking the wine, and it was an instant hit. They had never tasted anything like it before. It was fruity and spicy at the same time. John reveled in the positive feedback from the crowd. Many of them inquired about buying crates and barrels of this from him. Bunny took a sip and asked John how he came up with it. She thought it was great and familiar, but she could not put her finger on it. John began to blush a little. He did not want to tell her then. He told her that he would explain it when they returned home. She pressed on about it in a playful way. He finally told her, “Now I understand your obsession with consuming fruit, and I enjoy drinking you.”

It took her a few seconds to derive a conclusion. Bunny’s mouth fell open, and she turned red, almost the same color as her dress. She was tasting herself, and so was everyone in the room. She did a once-over glance around the room and saw everyone drinking glass after glass. She looked at her flute and thought,
I am drinking my own orgasm
. He leaned down and kissed her. He walked away and went about chatting with the other guests. She stood there, took a deep breath, and thought to herself,
Damn, I’m fantastic. I had no idea
. She shrugged and continued to drink up.

When Bunny and John made it home after the successful evening, John wanted to lie down and talk with her. They sat in the bedroom together and relaxed. He had some things to say to her. He told her that this was one of the best days of his life and that none of it would have happened without her being there and saving his life in the beginning. The only thing that would make him happier right now was if she would accept his ring. John pulled from his pocket a box that he had been carrying around with him for the entire time since he bought it. He had thought to propose to her many times before, but he wanted everything to be right and for both of them to be in a good mood when he did it. Bunny wanted to cry. This brought her back to when they first started dating, and she dreamed of his proposal. She said yes. Both of them called their parents.

Getting everything ready for the move and setting up the plans for the winery took almost a year. During that time, John and Bunny remained in Yonkers. Bunny was not familiar with Yonkers, but she had some knowledge about the public housing there. She knew they had all the black residents segregated in a small section of Runyon Heights. Their house stood at the edge of the Homefield neighborhood. Bernie had owned this home but rarely used it. He’d bought it as a safe house just in case he needed to leave the city or had business in Westchester. When he died, he left it to John. John never told the neighbors that he now owned the property; he just said he was housesitting for the time being. The Homefield Neighborhood Association did not care for black residents in their part of town. They maintained a four-foot strip of land as a barrier between the streets of the two sections. They used this to make clear to the minorities in the area that they should not cross into the neighborhood. Celia could not wait to get out of there.

John organized several meetings with his partners in the New Chimera Group in Midtown to discuss business development plans in Jamaica and Los Angeles, and those were successful. Once he completed those meetings, he decided to forego the cab or car service and walk around for lunch, since the day was beautiful. It had been a while since John was able to walk up and down the streets without fearing for his life. He revisited the café he and the guys used to frequent, which brought back memories. For a brief moment, he became nostalgic and thought about
how things would be now if Bernie had not passed away. Would everything be the same? John ordered lunch to bring back home for him and Bunny.

While he was waiting, a woman walked up to John. “Remember me?” she asked with a big smile. “I waited for you to call, but you didn’t.” She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. John looked at her in utter confusion. Was she a client? Was she a plant? How did she know him? He could not place her. “You look different with the shorter hair, but you are still handsome,” she told him. “I had a great time. Maybe we can go out again.” She grabbed John’s hand.

John was uneasy; he did not want to be seen holding another woman’s hand. In his mind, you never knew who was looking. Bunny had taught him this. He felt guilty about not remembering who she is. He had to get more information from this woman. His photographic memory was failing him for the first time. He started fishing for information. He did not want to seem like a jerk and outright tell her that he did not know her. He remained polite. “Refresh my memory. I am having an off day,” he said to her.

“The bar, your place, we had a good time,” she said while smiling. “I’m Jeanie.” John stood there and just nodded.

They’d had contact before. She and John met during one of his trips to the many bars in New York City. They had sex the same night they met. He showed her a good time and promised to keep in contact with her, but he never did. He had forgotten about the encounter by the next morning. “It’s good that I saw you here. I’ve been working down the street
at the department store for a while. I’m on lunch break,” she told him.

John finally decided to answer her. “That’s great. Your name is Jeanie.”

With more excitement, Jeanie told him, “I have the same number, but if you lost it, here it is. Call me tonight. I will be home.” She took a pen and a piece of paper from her pocketbook and wrote her number on it. She handed it to him and kissed him again on the cheek. “I have to go,” she said, and she walked off, leaving John standing there.

He looked at the paper. He balled it up and tossed it in the wastebasket near the street. He took off his blazer, rolled one of the sleeves inside out, and wiped his face with it to make sure she had not left any lipstick on his face. He looked at it afterward and tossed the blazer in the wastebasket too. He walked off. When it came to business, John was sharp. When it came to women, they were a blur. How many more blurs were out there? It was only a matter of time before this happened again. How would he explain a random woman’s approach to Bunny if they were out? Too much of his past was still there, lingering and trying to catch up with him.

In the meantime, he and Bunny made several trips to and from Jamaica to get their affairs in order. She introduced him to her extended family, and John fell in love with the area. She decided once she settled there she would continue her education in music, and she had donated money to one of the schools. She hoped to become a music teacher and start a family once she finished her studies. John planned
to open a winery there and become the business contact for the changing economy in Jamaica. The members of the New Chimera Group were spread in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Jamaica. He wanted to woo businesses back into Jamaica so that the country could build wealth again. John and Bunny celebrated their first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a real couple, as well as their birthdays and all events in between. Everything remained quiet, but by the end of August 1974, New York and the rest of the country were changing for the worse, and both of them felt it was time to leave.

John contracted the Jet Mafia to remain as security for him and Bunny until they officially left for Jamaica. John passed them all of his contacts from his dealings in Chimera’s old days. This enabled them to grow in areas such as the Bronx, Harlem, and Brooklyn. Many of the Jet Mafia were affiliated with the Black Panthers, and their growing influence in these areas helped them build wealth due to the booming drug trade. The Jet Mafia was able to succeed because law enforcement had a tough time finding people who would testify against them or report their illegal activities.