Well, Willy's not the only one who has friends in low places, lol. I have a couple of stories I could share, but unfortunately I think it is better to not mention them, and they have little comedic value anyway. But let's just say my father had a couple of friends who were what you call 'professionals', and I do not mean hookers. I will tell about one story though.
One of my dad's 'professional' friends, who everyone called Snake, had a business in a very poor nieghborhood in St. Louis back in the day. I remember him telling my father one time about something that happened before he took one of his, ummm, 'vacations'.
He was getting ready to leave on his trip, and he and another of my father's friends (we'll call him Joe) were leaving his establishment. Snake didn't lock the front door of the place when they walked out. Joe told him, 'Snake, you better lock this place up, you won't have anything left when you get back'. Snake said he looked at Joe and said, 'Everyone here knows who I am. Nobody is going to bother this place.' Joe kept arguing with him. 'Well, someone who doesn't live in this neighborhood and doesn't know who you are might come by and empty the place out while your gone.' Snake said he told him 'No, everyone in this neighborhood knows who I am, and they ain't gonna let anyone mess with this place while I'm gone', because they wouldn't want to deal with Snake when he got back. Back and forth Snake and Joe went, and finally Snake took a dollar bill out of his pocket, walked over to the telephone pole in front of his business, and stuck it on the pole in plain site of everyone on the street. He looked at Joe and said 'Tell ya what, I'll give you $1,000 if that $1 isn't still right there when I get back. If it is, you owe me another $1.'
Needless to say, Snake's $1 was still right where he left it a couple of weeks later when he returned. And Joe was $1 poorer, lol, a debt he paid pretty quickly I imagine.
