Rude Boy USA by Victoria Bolton

obligations and went to social gatherings if they both were invited, weddings, and family funerals. Edina wanted him to convert to Judaism, but he refused. That led to a compromise. She would observe Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays, and he could celebrate Christmas, much to her disdain. The only black Jew John knew was Sammy Davis Jr., and he felt it should remain that way.

    Ben was feeling left out of the fray as he finally figured out that the primary New York City operations at the offices had been handed to John, without a formal announcement, while Bernie worked in the Atlantic City area. The writing was on the wall. Ben felt that Bernie had let him down. Although they worked side by side as brothers, Ben did not understand why John was a better candidate than he was. He never envisioned a minority running the primary operations. Ben felt that he would look better as the underboss. He thought he did an overall good job and brought decent money into the company. He started to wonder if John and Jerome were teaming up on him. The addition of Celia made the suspicions worse, as he was now outnumbered in representation. He indulged more in drugs as a result. New YorkCity at the time was a hotspot for illegal drugs because of the changing social and economic times. Ben’s drug problem became worse but remained manageable. He was still careful to make sure it did not interfere with his daily duties. He would go from work back to his apartment at night to shoot heroin and snort cocaine to relax his nerves. He never did this at the same time. The women he would invite over also used, so he always had someone there who knew what was happening and partook in the activities with him, just in case he passed out. The expense of his habit was high, as he insisted on only using reputable dealers who had high-quality drugs. This cost him thousands, and often he fell short with money to support his habit and pay his dealers. After a while, he had some of the dealers on loans. He figured since he was the accountant, he could use funds from the company and maybe pay them back later. He did this without the knowledge of Bernie or the others. Ben dipped into the public’s money. He was in charge of those books. The mob money was safe, as only Bernie held that information. Since John was unofficially leading, he now had knowledge of that information as well.
    Ben felt that if he was to stay afloat in the company, he needed allies. John and Jerome were out of the question, which left Celia. He knew that he had not gotten off to a good start with her and decided to make amends. Ben bought her a bottle of wine as a gift to break the ice. He had apologized for being a dick to her over and over again. He was unaware that she was not a daily drinker, and it was likely that thebottle would go unused. Celia only drank when the situation was appropriate. Alcohol triggered her headaches, and she could not tolerate more than one glass of wine. At the club, the wine glasses were large, and she used those as a measure of her alcohol tolerance. Bunny accepted the gift, as she was relieved that he had decided not to be so rough on her anymore. She did not want any enemies on the job. Ben took the opportunity to get to know her and see what she was about as a person. Ben observed the interactions she had with John and noted how close they were. He wanted to mimic those conversations to get her to trust him. He also wanted some attention. Over the course of the next few months, Ben and Celia became friendly.
    After getting to know Celia more by speaking with her, Ben found himself falling for her. He had never been attracted to a black woman before, and he wasn’t sure how to process those feelings. He knew that John was still carrying a torch for her and would probably not like the notion that Ben would be encroaching on his territory. Ben felt that he needed a relationship with Celia so he could get ahead and have someone on his side. He was beginning