The act of moving into a new residence, and the new phone numbers this act usually brings, are common cause for confusing calls. So after I moved into my first apartment, it wasn’t a big deal when I kept receiving messages on my answering machine for “Pete”, asking him to call “Big Louie” back. However, after a few dozen of these messages, I thought I’d do the nice thing and call the guy back myself, letting him know that Pete was not the one actually receiving his messages. Remember: doing the nice thing is always very, very stupid.
I dialed the number Big Louie had been leaving and learned that it belonged to a local pizza place. That’s fine. I then asked if I could speak with Big Louie, and after a few seconds’ wait I was transferred to the man himself, conveniently at his location “by da ovens”.
It turned out Big Louie really didn’t care about Pete. It turned out Pete was just one of a few guys who was “recommended” to Big Louie for some kind of a crew he was putting together for a job - a series of jobs, actually - that were to be happening sometime soon.
Big Louie sounded as cranky on the phone as he did on his messages, but he was still friendly and attentive. I explained the situation, gently told him that I wasn’t calling because I was upset, but rather because I just wanted to let him know that Pete was no longer at the number he was calling and, since it seemed important (based on the voluminous messages he’d left), he should probably try tracking down the guy some other way.
It turned out Big Louie really didn’t care about Pete. It turned out Pete was just one of a few guys who was “recommended” to Big Louie for some kind of a crew he was putting together for a job - a series of jobs, actually - that were to be happening sometime soon. This sounded strange to me, especially in the sense that a pizza shop employee was doing his recruiting from what seemed to be his place of employment.
Big Louie now began making overtures to me, about how easy this job was going to be to pull off, how much money I could make over a couple nights, and other vaguely illegal-sounding aspects regarding the gig in question. I contemplated hanging up, but resisted because he knew my phone number. I try to be extra nice to those who have the ability to hunt me down for retribution.
I let Big Louie off the hook gently, telling him I “understood where he was coming from” (it sounded convincing in the moment) but that I was very busy with work and couldn’t be part of his crew.
Louie (if I can call him that) sounded disappointed when he hung up. He told me that I could call him back if I changed my mind. I haven’t done so as of yet, but if things get rough, or even if I’m just looking for some guys to spend time with, I’ll be sure to look him up.
