"Why tell me?"

"Everybody knows that Black stands behind Stark."

"I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about," Kenny told Cruz, but he knew exactly what he was talking about.

As a favor to his long-time friend, Angelo Collette, Black agreed to take what Angelo referred to as, "A little more than just an introduction from you, Mikey."

"Like what?" Black asked Angelo that night.

"I was thinkin’ that maybe you would take more of an active role. You could be kind of a stabilizing influence. You know, keep problems down. Naturally you can charge a fee for your service," Angelo suggested, and then he added, "I would consider it a personal favor."

Angelo considering his involvement a personal favor caused Black to reluctantly go against his convictions. "Angee, I can’t get involved for my own reasons, but what I will do as a personal favor to you, is offer advice and counsel to Stark. And should the need ever arise; I’ll act as an intermediary to resolve any disputes. You got a problem with him, you come to me. But understand, this is not a service. This I do for you out of friendship. I will not accept a fee. But for reasons that I know you understand, I can’t go any further than that."

After that, the word got around that Black was the power behind Stark. Words that even though they weren’t exactly true, Stark did nothing to dispute.

The bartender returned with drinks for Kenny and Cruz. When he left, Cruz continued, "Even if you say you don’t know what I’m talkin’ ’bout, everybody knows that Black is Stark’s muscle, and that means you."

"What do you want, Cruz?" Kenny said, becoming more and more annoyed by the conversation.

Cruz turned away and took a sip of his rum. "I hear a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Like maybe you ain’t too happy with the way things are going and might be willin’ to listen to another offer."