A Cobbler's Tale Page 22

  BACK IN THE LOWER EAST SIDE

  Pincus wrapped his arm around Clara as they stood side by side grasping the railing of the first-class promenade. No amount of driving snow blowing across New York Harbor could have dampened their spirits. The children stood next to them, transfixed by the giant metal statue rising out of the swirling waters.

  Pincus turned to his children and said, “She is called the Statue of Liberty, and she is saying, ‘Welcome to America.’”

  As a first-class passenger, Pincus had savored each remaining moment on this ship, knowing that once they disembarked, his elevated status would cease to exist. However, there was still a last indignity that his family’s first-class tickets would spare them: the demeaning health inspections and humiliating questions required to pass through customs and immigration at Ellis Island. The privileged class were simply given a cursory exam aboard the ship and quickly admitted into the country.

  The porter followed Pincus and his family onto the waiting ferry for lower Manhattan, where they handed off their luggage and ended their first-class life. But Pincus didn’t care. He had rescued his wife and children and brought them to a new and safer life in America. Still, there would be a few manageable challenges, such as finding a larger apartment, reopening the cobbler shop, and getting the children into school. But this was nothing like the life they had left in Krzywcza.

  To the children’s delight, as well as Clara and Shmuel’s, they took a taxi from the Battery Park docks to the Ludlow Street apartment.

  As they pulled up to the building, Pincus turned to Clara. “This is it,” he said, pointing to the sign swinging back and forth in the wind. “Our shop is here and up the stairs is the apartment. We will be cramped until we find a larger place. Tomorrow we will make some inquiries.”

  No one seemed to care. Moshe dashed up the stairs, followed by Hymie, who was trying to keep up.

  “Slow down, boys, you don’t know where you’re going,” shouted Pincus. He held Clara’s hand as he led her up to their floor.

  As Clara examined the decrepit conditions with a look of horror on her face, Pincus assured her, “It’s only temporary. I waited for you to come so we could choose a larger and nicer place together.”

  Despite the inconvenience of eight people living in a one-room apartment, they all slept well that night.

  Pincus woke at four o’clock and hurried to the shop. It was just as he had left it. A large pile of mail lay on the floor by the front door mail slot. He would have Jakob sort through it.

  A few hours later, Jakob came in and said, “I’ll go speak with Manny this morning. I’m sure he can find you a larger place. Shmuel can stay with me unless he wants to go and live with his father. He’s already gone out looking for him.”

  Later that morning, Clara and the children came down to the shop.

  “This is your shop, Papa?” Moshe asked.

  “This is it. What do you think?” he asked proudly.

  “It’s great, Papa,” Moshe said.

  “Pincus,” Clara interrupted, “we need to go to market. Can you take us?”

  “Yes, of course, Clara. Just wait until you see the pushcarts on Delancey. All the choices will make you dizzy. Let me lock up and we’ll go.”

  Pincus treated them to a tour of Delancey Street.

  “Look at all these fruits and vegetables! They have everything here—breads and meats, knishes, pickles—” Clara said. “I’ve never seen so many things. It’s almost too many choices.”

  As they finished their shopping for the day and began to walk toward their lodgings, Clara turned and smiled at Pincus, then looked behind her to make sure all her children were still following. Suddenly startled she asked, “Where’s Moshe?”

  Pincus turned and scanned the busy street. “He’s over there, sitting on that stoop.”

  They ran over and found Moshe’s head tilted forward resting in his palms.

  “Moshe, are you sick?” Clara asked in a panic.

  He lifted his head and she saw he was exhibiting the same symptoms as his previous episodes.

  Pincus picked him up, and Moshe wrapped his arms around his neck and legs around his hips. “Hold on to me tight and I’ll carry you.”

  With bags full of groceries and Moshe in the arms of his father, they rushed home. As they turned the corner onto Ludlow, they saw several police cars parked out front.

  “What is going on, Pincus?” Clara asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  They walked up to the storefront, and Hymie said, “Why is Jakob in that police car, Papa?”

  Pincus looked over and saw Jakob staring back through the window of one of the patrol cars parked askew.

  A policeman walked up to Pincus and asked, “Are you Pincus Potasznik?”

  “Yes.”

  “My name is Captain Becker. Please put the child down. You will need to come with me to the station. You are under arrest,” he said and directed one of the officers to handcuff him.

  “What is going on?” Pincus yelled. “Arrested for what?”

  “Money laundering among other crimes. But you will learn more at the arraignment,” said the captain.

  Pincus lowered Moshe to the sidewalk. The officer grabbed his wrists and snapped on the handcuffs. With his arms stretched behind him, they pushed him into the backseat next to Jakob.

  “Papa, where are they taking you?” asked Jennie.

  “It will be all right. Go upstairs, I’ll be home soon,” said Pincus.

  Clara stood there with grocery bags clutched in both hands, Moshe sitting ill on the frozen sidewalk, and Jennie staring at the police cars as they pulled away.

  As Pincus turned to watch them through the back window, he gave a feeble smile, trying to let them know that everything would be all right.

  CHAPTER 65

  LUDLOW JAIL

  Pincus and Jakob were locked in a small cell inside the Seventh Precinct station on Pitt Street.

  “Jakob, can you tell me what is going on?”

  “We’ve been arrested, Pincus,” Jakob said.

  Pincus rolled his eyes. “Enough with the sarcasm. Is there something else you need to tell me?”

  “Don’t act so surprised Pincus. You knew what was going on at the shop. You just chose to turn a blind eye to it.”

  “What are we being accused of? The cop said money laundering. What would that be?” asked Pincus.

  Jakob put a finger to his mouth and said in a near whisper, “It’s not just money laundering. I was collecting loan payments for Manny. We used the shop as a place for borrowers to drop off cash. I took a five percent cut and handed the rest to Manny.”

  “I did have an idea you were involved with some bad guys, but not to this extent. You put my entire family at risk, Jakob.”

  “You know that wasn’t my intention. Please forgive me.”

  “How did they find out about it?” Pincus asked, with a sigh of resignation.

  “I think Gorpatsch is behind this. Captain Becker is on his payroll and set us up. I’m sure he’s not happy we lost his guns to the prince.”

  “How would he know about this already?”

  “Gorpatsch has eyes and ears everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if the prince sent word. The two of them probably set us up from the very beginning,” Jakob said.

  “Maybe they didn’t think we would make it back?”

  “Probably not. But I met someone on the ship. If I can get word to him, I think he can help us.”

  Later that day, Jakob and Pincus were brought before a magistrate for their arraignment. They were charged with usury and money laundering, crimes that, if convicted, meant many years in prison. Bail was refused because they were considered a flight risk due to their recent trip to Germany.

  They were transferred to the prison on Ludlow Street, only a few blocks away from the apartment and the shop.

  “I didn’t even know there was a jail on our street,” said Jakob who stretched out on one of the two benches
lining the cell walls, while Pincus paced back and forth, rubbing his hands together.

  “I can’t believe you’re so relaxed right now, Jakob. We’re in prison! How will Clara know where to find us?” Pincus asked.

  “She can go to the police station and ask,” said Jakob.

  “Hopefully Shmuel located Mendel. He will know how to find us.”

  “That’s right, and then I can get word to Mr. Bergman. He’s our ticket out of here.”

  CHAPTER 66

  CLARA MEETS LEO

  Clara did her best preparing breakfast. Unlike her kitchen back home, she had little to work with. None of that mattered now. Pincus had done it again, abandoned her and the children. How could she have been so wrong about him? He had just demonstrated tremendous courage and fortitude in rescuing them from war-torn Galicia. How could it unravel so quickly?

  However, she knew she needed to be strong, as she had been in the past. I have done it before, she reminded herself: managing the cobbler shop back home, taking care of four children and my mother, and surviving a year of war. There is just one thing I will never do again, she vowed.

  A sharp rap at the door startled her. The children all looked at the door and then back at her.

  “Stay put, I’ll get the door,” said Clara.

  She opened the door an inch and peeked out.

  “Shmuel, thank heaven it’s you,” she said and opened the door to Shmuel and his father, Mendel.

  “Clara, my dear, it is good to see you,” exclaimed Mendel. “Look at your children, how they have grown.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Mendel. It’s been a while.”

  “Where’s Pincus?” he asked.

  Clara told Mendel and Shmuel the story of Jakob and Pincus’s arrest.

  “I have no idea where they took them,” Clara said. “Can you help me find them?”

  “Let’s go to the station on Pitt Street and find out. Shmuel, stay here with the children until we get back.”

  After pleading for several minutes, they finally learned where Pincus and Jakob were being held.

  “Let me see,” said the desk sergeant looking a clipboard, “Pincus Potasznik and Jakob Adler. Here they are. They have been interned at the Ludlow Street Jail.”

  They hurried out and back the ten blocks toward Ludlow. Breathlessly Mendel and Clara entered the prison and asked to see the men. A clerk told them to wait and disappeared behind a wooden door. A few minutes later he returned and told them that they would need to come back later during visitor hours between three and five in the afternoon. As it was still early morning and the prison only a few blocks from the apartment, they decided to wait at home.

  They returned a few minutes before three. After filling out a form, they were escorted into a small room with a table and four chairs, two on each side. On the wall facing them was another door, where they assumed Pincus and Jakob would soon appear.

  Clara stared at the door handle and as soon as she saw it move she grabbed Mendel’s hand. “Here they come,” she said.

  Instead of her husband and Jakob, a well-dressed man with a short-cropped red beard entered.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Potasznik,” he said, removing his hat and offering a handshake.

  Clara, not knowing this man but not wishing to offend, took his hand.

  “And you must be Mendel Beck,” the man added.

  “I am. Who are you and when will we get to see Pincus and Jakob?” Mendel asked as they shook hands.

  “My name in Leo Gorpatsch. I am a business acquaintance of Jakob Adler and, in a way, of Pincus Potasznik as well.”

  “When can I see my husband?” Clara interrupted.

  “That’s why I’m here. I’m afraid that you won’t see him for a while. Your husband, along with his buddy Jakob, seems to have lost some property of mine, and unless there is compensation for my loss, I can’t imagine Pincus or Jakob will ever be walking the Lower East Side streets again as free men.”

  Mr. Gorpatsch stood up, replaced the hat on his head, adjusted it, said, “Good day Mrs. Potasznik . . . Mr. Beck,” and left the room.

  Clara turned to gape at Mendel. She felt her mouth trying to move, but no words would come out.

  CHAPTER 67

  THE PLAN

  Back home, Clara paced the few steps it took to walk from wall to wall in the tiny tenement room. Mendel and Shmuel sat in the only two chairs, and the children huddled on the worn wooden floor.

  “Who is this Leo Gorpatsch?” asked Clara. “Mendel, do you know this man?”

  “I think I have an idea of who he is,” said Mendel. “Pincus told me that Jakob got himself mixed up with a couple of rival gangsters. A meeting was arranged between them at the shop one evening. Unbeknownst to Jakob, the police had the place staked out. Shots were fired, and one of the gangsters was killed along with the district attorney.”

  Clara gasped. “Right downstairs in Pincus’s shop?”

  “Right there—although I realize it’s hard to imagine,” Mendel agreed.

  “Afterward, no one heard about any charges or arrests made. Some people are saying that the surviving gangster was Leo Gorpatsch, the man we met. Rumor has it Police Captain Becker is on his payroll.”

  Clara shook her head in disbelief. “How can this be happening?” she asked in despair.

  Shmuel stood up and walked over to Clara. “We’ve been through tough times before, Clara. I’ll do whatever it takes to get Pincus and Jakob released.”

  She patted Shmuel affectionately on the cheek. “Thank you, but I can’t ask you to risk your life again for my family. You have gone through so much,” she said, gently touching his maimed hand.

  “I’ll go see this Captain Becker alone. I’ve had experience with men like him before,” she said with a glance over at Moshe. “I won’t leave without arranging a meeting with Gorpatsch.”

  “What will you say when you see Gorpatsch?” asked Mendel.

  “I don’t know, Mendel. I’ll think of something.”

  CHAPTER 68

  CLARA MAKES A DEAL

  Clara had to wait hours before Captain Becker would agree to see her. During this time, she couldn’t help recalling her early interactions with Captain Berbecki, and the collision course they had sent her on. This time, she would do everything in her power to handle this captain in a businesslike manner.

  “Mrs. Potasznik, the captain can see you now,” said the desk sergeant, who fortunately spoke Yiddish.

  Clara stood, smoothed out her dress, and thanked the sergeant with a nod. As she entered the captain’s office, she led with an outstretched arm poised for a firm handshake. But no one was there to return it. She looked around the room. There was no place to hide. She poked her head back in the waiting area. The sergeant was also gone. Confused, she turned back into the office and saw Leo Gorpatsch sitting in the chair behind the desk.

  “Mrs. Potasznik, please come in. I’m so sorry I startled you,” he said.

  “I thought I was seeing Captain Becker,” she fumbled. “The captain is unavailable, but you can speak with me. Please sit down and tell me how I can be of service.”

  “Fine. I wish for Pincus and Jakob to be released.”

  “That’s not likely, Mrs. Potasznik. I do apologize, but you must understand that I cannot allow my employees to cause me significant monetary losses without serious consequences.”

  “Please amuse me, Mr. Gorpatsch, and tell me what these losses are?” Clara said.

  “And if I tell you, what do you plan to do about it?” Gorpatsch was clearly amused.

  “I will attempt to make right whatever harm Jakob or my husband have caused you.”

  “Well, I am impressed, Mrs. Potasznik. You certainly carry yourself quite well. I appreciate such a quality in a woman.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she replied.

  “I offered Jakob two thousand dollars to deliver much-needed guns to Jewish fighters in Krakow,” he began.

  “A noble cause,” Clara added.<
br />
  “Indeed, Mrs. Potasznik.”

  “Please call me Clara,” she remarked.

  “Very well, Clara. Please call me Leo,” he volleyed back.

  Clara smiled.

  “So, as I was saying. I offered him two thousand dollars. I paid Jakob a thousand up front. He would have received another thousand if he’d delivered the guns successfully. Unfortunately, a young and sly prince of Prussia snookered your husband and Jakob. The loss of the guns, including the lost profit, comes to another thousand. If you want to settle the score, you would need to come up with two thousand dollars plus interest.”

  “Let me see what I can do, Leo.” Clara paused to allow the idea to sink in. “I would need to speak with my husband first. He will direct me how to accumulate the money you require.”

  “This is intriguing. I will allow it. Please let me know when I can expect the money, Clara.”

  “Give me a week, Leo,” Clara said.

  “Agreed,” he said, slamming his fist on the table. “I like you, Clara!”

  CHAPTER 69

  VISITORS’ DAY

  Living in a prison cell for two days had Pincus continuously scratching at phantom itches. He watched Jakob sleep the entire night as if he were still in his first-class bed on the Bergensfjord. Being locked away without any outside contact was unbearable. What would Clara be thinking? She must be disgusted with me again. This is the second time I abandoned her and the children. I wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to me again. Would she leave me and take the children away? I suppose I deserve it.

  Pincus heard footsteps approach from down the hallway. He shook Jakob who had nodded off, and said, “Wake up. Someone is coming.”

  “Adler, Potasznik let’s go. You have a visitor,” the guard announced.

  Pincus exchanged a quick glance with Jakob, who was already on his feet. The guard opened the door and gestured for them to walk on ahead to the door down the hall. They were led into a small, windowless room with a table and four chairs, and a door faced them on the opposite wall.