My neighbor Sal

By Chanuga Rollins

 

I never thought much about my neighbors until I met Sal, we met in the lobby of our condo getting our mail.

Right from the start I found Sal to be a very charismatic, interesting guy, he had a big city way about him but handled it with style. After meeting at the mailbox Sal and I began to hang out, even my wife immediately liked Sal, he didn’t use profanity, or make off-color remarks like most guys do, he was always respectful and always a gentleman.

One night while sitting on my terrace having drinks Sal told me that he never married and that he never cared much for kids, I found this sort of odd considering how he played with my grandkids whom my wife watched three days a week. When I mentioned that, he smiled and simply said it’s different when they’re not yours.

As I got to know him better I could see why he preferred to stay single, several times a week I noticed young pretty women coming and going from Sal’s apartment. Also, Sal ate most of his meals out and he was always accompanied by these same young women more than half his age. Sal was a year younger than me, and I was 63, the girls he palled around with were in their late 20s, and early 30s, lucky bastard.

I was also surprised to find out that Sal made his living by “Day Trading” I found this odd since he never got up before 3 p.m., and that he rarely went to bed before dawn.

One day my wife remarked about how Sal always dressed nice, he always wore a sports jacket, nice slacks, shirt, and tie, and if he didn’t wear a tie he always had on a designer t-shirt. Unlike me, I usually wore shorts and a T-shirt, my wife says that I dress like a little boy but I say fuck it, I’m retired, my life is completely humdrum and boring, but that’s how I liked it, so I thought.

When your older time is an enemy, the seasons and years go by in a blink. My sixty-fourth birthday was fast approaching, and I was feeling down this year. I of course love my wife and cherish the life that we have built together, but it’s been a few decades since I’ve had that rush that you get from doing something dangerous and stupid.

Eight days before my birthday Sal and I were having a beer and shooting the shit like most guys do when I told him my tale of woe. Sal was an excellent listener, he let me get it all out, and when I was done unloading I actually felt better.

Three days before my birthday I ran into Sal in the lobby, he was heading out to dinner with one of his younger women when he asked if I could get away the following night? Sure, what’s up I asked? It’s a surprise you’ll see tomorrow he said, just tell your wife that you’ll be home late, and be ready at 8pm sharp. And wear your shorts, but no flip-flops, wear sneakers.

I was excited, it’s been almost a year since I met Sal and he’s been a better friend to me than most people I’ve known for most of my life.

My big night out, I couldn’t wait to see what Sal had planned, just like he said he picked me up at eight sharp. Sal and I went down to the lobby where a cab was already waiting for us. You’re not wearing your sports jacket I said to Sal. Not tonight he said. In all honesty, I thought that maybe he had some great seats to a ball game or something like that, but I was wrong.

I want you to savor every moment of tonight, you’re going to do something that most people can only dream about Sal said. I was getting really excited. The cab brought us to a small airstrip about fifty minutes from our condominium.

At the airstrip Sal introduced me to a friend of his, this is the birthday boy I was telling you about, Sal never mentioned his friend's name nor mine as we shook hands. As we were ready to board Sal leaned in close this is his plane so please don’t vomit on the rug, if you get airsick hold it until you're in the bathroom he said with a smile. The small plane is a Cessna 172 single-engine piston aircraft known for its ease of operation and dependability.

I was really intrigued, Sal, was as expected, cool as a cucumber. A thousand feet in the air Sal poured me some iced tea. Don’t we have something a little stronger than this? I asked. No alcohol, not right now Sal said, there will be time for that later. That’s where we’re going to land, Sal pointed to another small airstrip out in the middle of nowhere.

When we landed four men were waiting near what seemed to be a new minivan, the kind with three rows of seats.

Sal once again introduced me as the birthday boy, and once again I met the four gentlemen without any names being used, later I couldn’t believe just how naïve I really was to the world around me.

One of the guys opened up the van side door, let’s go do this gentlemen he said. Sorry, my man, but I have to put this blindfold on you, one of the guys said, don’t worry we’re going to blow your mind he said. Ok, guys, I’ll meet you back here, be safe, I'm guessing that had to be the pilot. To be honest at this point my head was swimming with all kinds of thoughts, I must admit although I had questions about what was going on, I was excited.

In the van these guys sounded like a Joe Pesci stand-up routine, everyone was laughing and carrying on. If I had to guess I'd say that we drove around about 20 to 30 minutes when we came to a stop.

When they removed my blindfold we were sitting in an alley.

OK, my friend, are you ready for your birthday present? Sal asked. Sure, I said a little reluctantly… All the guys in the van were smiling at me. This is what’s going down buddy, see that warehouse across the street, Sal asked. Yeah, I said. Well, we are going to rob it Sal said with a straight face… Wait, what? What’s this “we shit” I said in shock!

Of course, Sal and his guys were laughing, like robbing a warehouse at ten o’clock at night was perfectly normal. This is really serious shit, I said frantically, isn’t it like twenty years if we’re caught.

Sal did his best to calm me down, nobody’s going to jail dude, listen to me, you needed this, so man up, and let’s make some money. Listen to everything we tell you to do, and you’ll be fine. I was scared to death and excited all at the same time.

With that, there were several bags in the van, each containing a black jumpsuit, we put them on right over our street clothes and painted our faces black, we also put on latex gloves, and duct-taped our wrists and ankles. Only the driver of the van didn’t get into a jumpsuit, his job was to stay with the van and monitor the police scanner and walkie-talkies.

We all exited the van and headed right for an abandoned house right next door to the warehouse. Sal explained to me that breaking into the warehouse from the house next door saved time, it avoided disabling an alarm and picking the locks and it gave us cover.

One of the guys reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a concrete saw and some other tools that we may need, surprisingly the abandoned home still had electricity. I asked Sal how they knew the power was still on in the house, recon my boy he said smiling, all of our jobs are thoroughly planned out.

Within minutes there was a huge gaping hole going right into the warehouse, and we walked right in. Going right for the office the guys all stopped within feet of it, this is all you my man, Sal handed me a sledgehammer.

I want you to make a nice-sized hole right here in that sheetrock wall. But why can’t we just break down the office door? I asked. Because the door has a silent alarm on it, one of Sal’s guys said. The people who own this warehouse are cheap, they only alarmed this door and the main entrance.

With a few swings, I made another huge hole, I was loving this. One of the guys was a safecracker, once I made the hole he immediately went to work on the safe.

The rest of us just hung back and lingered. So, this is how you make a living? I asked Sal. Among other things Sal said, I really do day trade, and I have interests in a few businesses. I was shocked to find out that Sal and his gang have been doing this for years all over the country and that they are tipped off to these robberies by otherwise legitimate sources, all for a piece of the pie.

Less than fifteen minutes went by, and the safecracker was all done.  We gathered up whatever tools we had and made our way back out the same way we came in, right through the hole in the abandoned house.

When we got the signal that the coast was clear we all headed for the van. Inside, we got out of the jumpsuits and put them into garbage bags, along with the latex gloves and duct tape, they would be incinerated later Sal said.

Twenty minutes later we were all seated in a very nice restaurant overlooking a beautiful lake.

As Sal excused himself to make a phone call, the guys treated me just like one of them, I’ve never felt so comfortable with a group of guys that I didn’t even know. What really impressed me was that there was no bragging, in fact not one mention of what we had just done less than an hour ago, these guys were very professional.

The waitress was already at our table when Sal returned, how about you give us the best steaks you have on the menu, Sal said. He then leaned over to me and said now you can have that drink my friend.

With the taste of steak still in our mouths, we headed for the parking lot, I started walking towards the van. Yo, Sal called out we’re not leaving in that, that’s when I saw the cab pull up.

We all said our goodbyes and the guys again wished me a Happy Birthday and left in the van. Sal and I took the cab back to the small airstrip and boarded the small plane.

Once aboard, Sal poured some drinks and tossed me a plastic bag. What’s this, I asked? Your end of the job Sal said.

Inside the plastic bag was a little over $75.000 my cut from the burglary. Come on Sal, I can’t accept this, I said, but he insisted that I take it. You took a risk tonight just like the rest of us, you deserve that money Sal said.

We touched down right where we started, at a small airstrip, a car service was already waiting for us. The pilot wished me a Happy Birthday again before hugging Sal and taking off in his plane.

On the way home Sal sat back and I could tell that he wanted some quiet time and I let him have it, no one has ever shown me a time like tonight. It also showed me just how naïve I really was to the world at large. Was Sal a bad man, I wouldn’t go that far, he was an outlaw who lived by his own set of rules, and I can respect that.

When we got home Sal gave me a huge hug and wished me a Happy Birthday. Don’t tell your wife he said as he winked at me before going into his condo.

When I walked in my wife was waiting for me, she asked if I had a good time? The best ever, I said, do you mind if I go to bed I’m beat.

Sal and I never spoke of the burglary, and we remained close friends.

Then one day some men were cleaning out Sal’s apartment. I asked the superintendent what was going on. From the information that the super got, Sal was supposed to be catching a plane to go on vacation to the islands. I knew that Sal went away often, sometimes for weeks or months at a time. But the super said that this time Sal never showed up for the flight, the young lady who was supposed to meet him at the airport reported him missing.

Because Sal’s been missing for a few months and he was only renting and that wasn’t being paid, they had to assume that he wasn’t coming back, but not to worry, we’ll put his belongings in storage for one year just in case he does show up. Sal never did show up!

The end  

Copyright 2021