Page 96 - The Jazzsipper Novel

95

THE JAZZ SIPPER

the streets of Philly. Vance reasoned, and then Vance smiled inwardly and
said to himself that Dino was a foot solider for “The Cat” and guys like “The
Cat” in their gang. All of a sudden Vance was back into the conversation.
Vance! “The Cat” asked, have you heard of the Filipino Loan Bank, no Vance
answered. Well this is how it works “The Cat” said. Afterwards Vance did not
care what Dino was, he had just been put into a game that went from him and
Dino making $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 a month from their business ventures
to making $15,000 to $20,000 a month easily. With 6 months left into the
cruise Vance figured that their take would be around $90,000 to $120,000.00;
about $60,000 each.

Vance started to hang out more with another friend of his on the ship name
Larry and less with Dino. He kept their business connections and friendship
strong, but their social activities were limited. Vance understood that any man
who took marching orders from another man could be a liability, in his eyes
they could be weak, Vance liked “The Cat,” but he did not trust him. Larry on
the other hand was from D.C. and played in a jazz band onboard the ship.
Vance could tell that he had been through some things and had made out all
right just from his musical approach, his conversation and his mannerisms.
Larry and The Band as they were called would jam together every evening in
the hanger bay onboard ship for about two hours. Afterwards they would
argue and discuss music and life. And their conversations would always turn
to the Giants of Jazz. Vance became Larry and The Band’s self-appointed
manager. He would accompany them off the ship when they pulled into port
and attend all their gigs. They played at the USO Venues on military bases
throughout Europe. The USO provided moral, welfare and recreation type
services to uniformed military personnel abroad and stateside. There were