I had one very practical reason never to work in the daytime, aside from my inclinations. With my
high visibility, I'd have been sunk in the daytime. I could just hear people: "A reddish-brown Negro
over six feet tall." One glance would be enough.
Setting up what I wanted to be the perfect operation, I thought about pulling the white girls into it
for two reasons. One was that I realized we'd be too limited relying only upon places where Rudy
worked as a waiter. He didn't get to work in too many places; it wouldn't be very long before we
ran out of sources. And when other places had to be found and cased in the rich, white residential
areas, Negroes hanging around would stick out like sore thumbs, but these white girls could get
invited into the right places.
I disliked the idea of having too many people involved, all at the same time. But with Shorty and
Sophia's sister so close now, and Sophia and me as though we had been together for fifty years,
and Rudy as eager and cool as he was, nobody would be apt to spill, everybody would be under
the same risk; we would be like a family unit.
I never doubted that Sophia would go along. Sophia would do anything I said. And her sister
would do anything that Sophia said. They both went for it. Sophia's husband was away on one of
his trips to the coast when I told her and her sister.
Most burglars, I knew, were caught not on the job, but trying to dispose of the loot. Finding the
fence we used was a rare piece of luck. We agreed upon theplan for operations. The fence didn't
work with us directly. He had a representative, an ex-con, who dealt with me, and no one else in
my gang. Aside from his regular business, he owned around Boston several garages and small
warehouses. The arrangement was that before a job, I would alert the representative, and give
him a general idea of what we expected to get, and he'd tell me at which garage or warehouse we
should make the drop. After we had made our drop, the representative would examine the stolen
articles. He would remove all identifying marks from everything. Then he would call the fence,
who would come and make a personal appraisal. The next day the representative would meet me
at a prearranged place and would make the payment for what we had stolen-in cash.
One thing I remember. This fence always sent your money in crisp, brand-new bills. He was
smart. Somehow that had a very definite psychological effect upon all of us, after we had pulled a
job, walking around with that crisp green money in our pockets. He may have had other reasons.
We needed a base of operations-not in Roxbury. The girls rented an apartment in Harvard
Square. Unlike Negroes, these white girls could go shopping for the locale and physical situation
we wanted. It was on the ground floor, where, moving late at night, all of us could come and go
without attracting notice.
In any organization, someone must be the boss. If it's even just one person, you've got to be the
boss of yourself.
At our gang's first meeting in the apartment, we discussed how we were going to work. The girls
would get into houses to case them by ringing bells and saying they were saleswomen, polltakers,
college girls making a survey, or anything else suitable. Once in the houses, they would
get around as much as theycould without attracting attention. Then, back, they would report what
special valuables they had seen, and where. They would draw the layout for Shorty, Rudy, and
me. We agreed that the girls would actually burglarize only in special cases where there would be
some advantage. But generally the three men would go, two of us to do the job while the third
kept watch in the getaway car, with the motor running.
Talking to them, laying down the plans, I had deliberately sat on a bed away from them. All of a
sudden, I pulled out my gun, shook out all five bullets, and then let them see me put back only
one bullet. I twirled the cylinder, and put the muzzle to my head. "Now, I'm going to see how much
guts all of you have," I said.
I grinned at them. All of their mouths had flapped open. I pulled the trigger-we all heard it click.
"I'm going to do it again, now."
They begged me to stop. I could see in Shorty's and Rudy's eyes some idea of rushing me.
We all heard the hammer click on another empty cylinder. The women were in hysterics. Rudy