Tommy’s handling of other things of value

Tommy — as a dealer in rare powders — needed creativity to a degree not known to conventional merchants. As a f’rinstance, inventory just was not going to go on display in a glass case under the counter. Any number of people with guns — many with badges, but many, too, without — stood ready to remove all material close at hand.

Tommy’s North Bergen cliffside location provided the solution; the wooded hills equalled infinity in terms of hiding places. This though was not perfect. As might be expected — particularly when working in the dark with judgement often compromised from being one’s own best customer — the next day, each tree winds up looking like every other. At least once, Tommy needed to spend an entire day — and well into the night with a flash light — scouring the hills like someone looking for a leprechaun’s treasure. On another occasion, the packaging was faulty, so rain turned the powder to mush. Tommy’s plan was to dry the stuff out, but I don’t know if that was successful.

(Visited 187 times, 1 visits today)

About Anthony Olszewski

Anthony Olszewski has written on a wide variety of topics: cage birds, tropical fish, popular culture, the poetry of Amiri Baraka and a chapter on genetics for a veterinary text book, as a small sample. He worked as an editor at a magazine produced by TFH, the world's largest publisher of pet books. Anthony Olszewski is the author of a booklet on Hudson County history, Hudson County Facts, and a book of short stories, Second Thief, Best Thief, that are sold on Amazon. Anthony Olszewski established PETCRAFT.com in 1996. A pioneer on the Web, the Site continues to provide unique information on a range of companion animals, focusing on birds and fish. As a community service, he operates Jersey City Free Books. Anthony Olszewski was born in Jersey City, NJ (Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, 1956) and is a member of Mensa.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Tommy’s handling of other things of value

  1. Tommy had a square of plexiglass that was around 18″ on each side on the floor that served as a chair of sorts. The plastic seemed to be filled with pennies. How the coins were obtained, I don’t know. Once when the place was burglarized, the thieves attempted to haul away the copper coins. They got it as far as the door, but left it there, apparently deciding that the weight just was too much to handle.

    In a sad and sorry incident, Peter the Bulgarian broke into a nearby apartment that Tommy was using for storage. The unpleasant export of Eastern Europe set fire to a collection of old comic books. Somehow, the fire didn’t spread, but the rare comics were destroyed.

    In a curious incident, some bandits secreted themselves about midway up the very long flight of steps leading to Tommy’s place. As potential customers arrived, the gunmen robbed those seeking better living through chemistry and then kept them there.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *