Greasy Tony

Cultivating adversarial relationships, young Jeff Kline made a habit of. Taunt, antagonize and embarrass his peers he would for minimal laughs and praise. Jeff was, more fortunate than most kids, born into a prestigious family of great means. So he felt it his duty to make them all aware of how great he was and they weren’t. Fat kids, nerds, minorities and poor kids were on the receiving end the most. There was one kid in particular that he loved to try and humiliate, mostly because it seemed to have little effect on him. This kid did little to fight back or exchange insults with Jeff, he simply went on about his way when unkind words were hurled at him.

Tony Russo was a studious and especially industrious young man who was often the recipient of Jeff’s invective yet never seemed to pay it much mind. While others made weak attempts at comebacks, tried telling a teacher or simply running away and crying in private, Tony held his head high and went on about his way. Tony was the eldest of three boys abandoned by their drug addicted father. Tony Sr. spent his adult years going from the New York Correctional system to rehab then to the streets and back to prison again. He was known in the streets of Brooklyn as Table Spoon Tony for his propensity to cook and inject large doses of heroine. Some addicts used tea spoons but that was never quite enough for old Table Spoon; he needed more to get him where he needed to be.

Table Spoon’s old lady Janice had been with him since high school, childhood sweethearts whose puppy love grew full grown. As a kid Tony Sr. drank a little and smoked a few joints with his buddies but he never did hard drugs. In his early twenties he was introduced to cocaine by one of his many mistresses. The rush excited him and it became his little escape whenever the two of them got together. For months he neglected his young family, late nights and long weekends. Soon he was spending a little more than he should on the good time he was having. Janice was tolerant; she had known her Tony to have a wondering eye but never imagined him doing drugs. She focused her energy on being a good wife and mother to her sons.

One night Table Spoon’s little friend offered him a powdery substance of a different color. It was brown and ground fine; he had seen it before. She assisted him as he inhaled easily allowing his nostrils to fill. Euphoria came over him instantly as he leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. There he sat slumped over experiencing feelings he never knew existed. He was floating while sitting still; it was love at first taste. Eventually weekends away from his family turned into weeks as he graduated from sniffing to main lining his new drug of choice and life long companion.

After years of dealing with Tony’s mistreatment, drug abuse and infidelity Janice thought it time to make a new start for herself and her boys. Her parents moved to Florida a year earlier and seemed to love life there, sunshine and palm trees. So at the turn of the decade she said goodbye to good old Bensonhurst and hello pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. It was 1980 and the single mother of three was determined to make a good life for her boys away from the drugs and crime. Two, sometimes three jobs she held to provide for her children. She instilled the same work ethic in them, teaching them to be self reliant and independent. Her oldest was the most of which and he set a great example for his younger siblings.

When Tony first arrived in Florida at the age of twelve he showed how handy he could be by fixing an old lawn mower his grandfather was going to toss away. Grandpa had just bought a new riding mower so he had no use for the old barely operable push mower. This old man’s trash became a young man’s treasure. Young Tony viewed it as not only property but a way to make money as well. The only thing his father ever taught him was how to turn a wrench. His father was a mechanic and a darn good one before the drugs. Fortunately he passed some of that knowledge down to his boy. Tony’s curiosity and thirst for knowledge caused him to research and learn more about motors and how they ran. He read each of his grandfather’s old car manuals cover to cover. Grandpa loved that the boy was so handy so he bought him books on engines and passed down a large set of tools to him.

Tony started his own lawn service at thirteen and employed his little brothers so that they could earn as well as learn some responsibility. Soon he was servicing twenty homes in and around his grandparents’ neighborhood. After living with her parents for a year, slaving and saving, Janice moved her boys into a three bedroom home not far from her parents. Tony saved his money as well and purchased more equipment for his business. His younger brothers spent most of their money on toys and candy but Tony always withheld twenty percent of their earnings so that he could by them school clothes and necessities. He was always focused on lightening the load on his mother.

Young Tony had a hobby that was also his side business. He built and repaired bicycles as well. By the time he was sixteen, kids all over Orange County were riding bikes either built or repaired by Tony. Tony had another passion, he liked to race. Not far from his home was a huge park where they had a BMX Race Track. Races were held there weekly. Tony entered into as many as he possibly could. His little brothers were his cheering section and pit crew. Tony wasn’t the most talented rider but his bikes were always in tip top shape, so they ran faster and gave him a little edge. He almost always finished in the top three in his heat.

There was one kid who was his friendly rival, Jacob Johnson. He was a very talented rider but had a difficult time keeping his bike in riding condition. Jacob lived three blocks over from Tony in similar conditions. He too had two siblings and was being raised by a single mother who worked her fingers to the bone to provide for him. Jeff Kline made fun of Jacob’s poverty just like he would Tony.

The boys had a natural bond and a common interest. Tony agreed to help Jacob with his bike and they would race in separate races. They figured that they would form a team; they just needed to come up with a name. The mean spirited Jeff Klein liked to tease Tony by calling him Greasy Tony. Tony would often wake three hours before school so that he could work on projects before his bus arrived. He repaired many a vehicle or lawn equipment before the first bell. Sometimes Tony struggled to get the dirt and grime out of his nails before school. Thus Jeff took notice and brought attention to it. Instead of becoming angry or saddened by Jeff’s nasty remarks, Tony embraced the name. He was Greasy Tony. He was proud to be greasy because that meant he was up getting things done while most of his classmates were still in bed.

It wasn’t much of a stretch for Tony to come up with the name for his team. He named them “The Grease Monkeys”. Jacob was very artistic so he came up with their logo of a monkey turning wrenches, repairing a motorcycle. Both boys really loved motorcycles and dirt bikes. They were riding BMX now but aspired to do so much more. Race after race they won. The more they won, the more other riders flocked to them. Tony built better, more streamlined bikes and learned more about his craft.

While Tony pursued his love of all things mechanical or motorized, Jeff Klein and his preppy friends found light trouble. Underage drinking, vandalism and operating motor vehicles without driver’s licenses; that’s where it started for the entitled little brats. Their privilege got them off the hook time after time. There was no consequence or punishment for their ill behavior so Jeff and his cohorts escalated their criminal acts and substance abuse. As senior year approached Jeff was doing more partying than preparing for his future. Drugs entered the picture and Jeff became more popular. Having money put him in the “in crowd” despite him never playing a sport, being part of a club or organization or holding any student office. Jeff threw the parties and he drove the cool cars. His parents traveled often leaving him and his older sister home alone frequently.

He and his sister were cut from the same cloth and they ran a muck. Jane Klein had already gotten pregnant twice at nineteen years old but felt little guilt for terminating each of the pregnancies. By the second semester of Jeff’s senior year, he was getting high more than he was attending school. His parents tightened the purse strings. To support his habits he sold narcotics to classmates and friends. By the time Jeff graduated he had picked up a couple of possession charges and other minor scrapes with the law. Some of these misdemeanors were actually felonies that mommy and daddy paid to go away. Jeff was never caught just holding drugs, he was caught selling them but things got worked out. He learned from his parents how to work the system wielding a certain amount of power, prestige and privilege.

On graduation day he stood with his peers in cap and gown, high and happy. He paid for the right to stand on that stage, so there he stood. Jeff paid for papers, bartered drugs for homework and test answers and even went so far as to bribe a teacher he sold marijuana to. The teacher trusted the boy because he had seen him commit an act that Jeff most certainly didn’t want known. While purchasing marijuana from his former dealer he saw Jeff and Jeff saw him. Jeff smiled at him as he walked into the back room to conduct his business. Seconds later gun shots rang out then the door burst open.

Jeff ran right pass him with a pistol in his hand and so, he turned and ran out behind him. Each of them jumped into their vehicle and sped off. The nameless teacher looked into his rear view mirror to see if they were being followed. They weren’t. He continued to follow Jeff as he drove out of town. Randomly Jeff pulled over on the side of the road about thirty minutes later. Teach pulled up behind him and got out with his hands out in front of him showing that he had no weapon. Jeff jumped out in a panic; eyes wide as saucers.

“Dude, what were you doing there?!?”

“Jeffrey, I think we both know what I was doing there. What went on in that room?”

“I think they were trying to rob me!”

“You think? Did they pull a gun on your or anything?”

“Well no, but they was acting funny.”

“Did they say they were going to rob you?”

“No.”

“Well then why did you shoot?!”

Jeff stood there looking dazed and confused then the teacher saw it, the look in his eyes. He could tell that the boy was high on something and it wasn’t marijuana. Jeff had done an eight ball with his sister and some of her friends earlier in the day. He was paranoid and out of control. His teacher convinced him to come with him for a bite to eat so that he could calm down and come down. Over burgers and milkshakes they confided and swore one another to secrecy. In a whisper Jeff was questioned about the predicament they found themselves in.

“So did you kill anybody back there?”

“I don’t know dude; I just fired once and ran out of there.”

“Who did you shoot at?”

“TJ. Darren was there too.”

The teacher was baffled by how stupid the kid was. He was considering making a change in his life; maybe pot did kill brain cells.

“So in other words you just got a feeling that someone was going to do you harm so you shot your gun then ran off. Me hearing the shot and the commotion got spooked and ran after you. I hope they don’t think that I am involved with this. Oh my God what have I gotten myself into?”

Suddenly Jeff had a sobering, lucid thought.

“Hey dude, they won’t be mad at you. Why don’t you go back and tell them that it was all a big misunderstanding. No, no tell them that it was an accident. Tell them I wanted to show them my gun and it just went off.”

The teacher was very skeptical.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to get in any deeper than I already am.”

“C’mon you know TJ and Darren. They’re not real hard gangster types; they’ll hear you out before they try to hurt you. Please man, if not they’re going to come looking for me. We’re in this together. You’ve got something on me and they think you might be helping me. Talking to them is probably your only play.”

Frustrated, he realized that for once in his life Jeff was actually right about something.

“Okay, okay I’ll go talk to them to try to resolve this. In the meantime go somewhere, lay low and stay sober.”

“I’ve got to smoke a joint or something man. This is crazy.”

“Alright one joint and meet me back here at eight o’clock sharp.”

“Okay Dude.”

As he watched Jeff leave the establishment, the teacher realized that even though he was Jeff’s teacher, Jeff might not know his name. He quietly spoke truths to himself.

“I’ve got to change my life.”

Before walking blindly into a bad situation, he figured he would call his dealers to feel them out about the incident. He tried to explain calmly that Jeff was just a high, paranoid kid in over his head. The teacher was excited to find out that no one had even been hit. In actuality TJ and Darren found it more humorous than dangerous. They laughed at how stupid and scary Jeff was. Despite them not being angry, a price had to be paid. Jeff fired a gun in their place which could have brought the police or harmed one of them. They decided that they wouldn’t harm Jeff but a settlement would be paid and then Jeff would continue business with them as usual. Before the conversation was done the teacher was warned that if Jeff ever did something like that again, high or not, he was a dead man.

At their eight o’clock meeting Jeff was overjoyed to hear that they weren’t going to do him any harm. He was happy to pay them off after his transgression and he was grateful that they would still do business with him. The teacher hinted that Jeff compensate him for negotiating the truce. Jeff didn’t mind paying him off in the form of a large amount of weed and in return the teacher agreed to buy directly from Jeff in the future. Eventually, later in the school year Jeff bribed the teacher for a passing grade for the last two semesters so that he could graduate. At the conclusion of the school year, the unnamed teacher resigned and moved away from the area. He needed a fresh start where he wasn’t reminded every day of his sins.

Unlike Jeff, Tony was building a bright future for himself. During his junior year he met a girl on the BMX track. She was one of only two female BMW riders and a bit of a tom boy. She had the brightest, bluest eyes, thick long red hair and freckles on every inch of her pale body. Sally was everything Tony ever wanted in a girl.

His mother knew before he did; Mama always knows. She saw the way the two of them worked together.

“Mama.”

“Yes Baby.”

“I think there is a girl I might like.”

“Really? Could it possibly be that little red head I’ve seen racing at the track?”

A puzzled look covered his face.

“How did you know Mama?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at her and I know y’all been spending time around here working on those bikes and lawn mowers.”

They sat and talked for a moment and Mama told son how beautiful it was that he and the girl he liked shared a passion. She told him how proud she was of the man he was growing into and how she knew that he would be a huge success in life. Tony thanked his Mama for the encouragement and praise then asked for advice on how to express his feelings to Sally. Mama gave him the best advice she could.

“Son from what I see she already likes you so why don’t you just keep on being you. The only thing is, now you need to be man enough to tell her how you feel. I don’t want to ruin the suspense for you boy but she likes you to.”

“How you know Mama.”

“Because ain’t no girl gonna be hanging around getting all greasy and dirty with a guy unless she likes him.”

Mama was right; Tony made Sally his girlfriend the very next day. Now the Grease Monkeys had a complete team. The five of them had plans of doing far more than just racing at the local BMX track. A brand was being born and Greasy Tony was the head of it. They were building their small company through hard work and cultivating positive relationships. After graduation Tony took classes at the local vocational school. He took business classes, accounting and composition. The young man wasn’t in search of the paper, he just wanted the knowledge. A degree wouldn’t help him much since he knew that he would always be working for himself.

Eventually he started ordering bike parts and assembling them in his garage where he created a workshop. They sold the bikes at the Central Florida Fairgrounds Flea Market. The Flea Market was conveniently located next to the park and BMX track. They bought banners, tee shirts, business cards and letter head with their logo on it. Tony obtained a business license and copyright for their name and logo. As their business grew they started sponsoring young riders who would wear their company name and logo during the races. Tony and Sally stood arm in arm watching the races reminiscing back to time when they and Jacob would finish first, second and third in a heat.

Jacob was the head of marketing and development. When Tony took a course, he brought the knowledge back home. His younger brothers were his warehouse supervisors over inventory and logistics. Sally was the accountant slash executive secretary and Tony was the CEO. His business card read “Greasy Tony”. As they exited their late teens and entered their early twenties Jeff and Tony’s lives were going in opposite directions. Mr. and Mrs. Klein could only bail Jeff out of so many jams. Eventually he had to do time. Prison was good for Jeff; it helped him to dry out. Unfortunately as soon as he got out he would be right back to his old antics, getting high and running scams.

Back to prison he would go and the cycle continued. Through his twenties into his thirties Jeff continued druggin’ and dealin’. Unfortunately his elderly parents never were able to witness him grow into adulthood because drugs and pampering stunted his growth. He was an adult boy, still playing games, loosing. The Kleins died heartbroken at what their children had become, so much potential wasted. Their fortune they donated to charity rather than allow their children to kill themselves with it.

Married with three kids, Tony was reunited with his father at age thirty-three. Tony Sr. made his way to Florida with his hat in his hand and claims of being a new man. Tony’s younger brothers were very skeptical but he remained optimistic. He wanted to see the good in his father; he wanted to believe that anyone could change. He was wrong. Three months after arriving in Florida Tony Sr. was already strung out, stealing to get his fix. Greasy Tony took it the hardest but with his younger brothers’ encouragement he made the tough decision to send his father away forever.

Sally comforted him when he dealt with the pain and sadness of the realization of what his father truly was and would always be. He now understood that not everyone could or would change. Some people just were who they were and would always be. As Tony came to grips with his feelings he understood that his father didn’t represent everyone. Some people want to turn their lives around and Tony decided that he would be there for them. He vowed to eventually start a program where he would offer employment to ex-convicts to help them get back on their feet.

Years later Grease Monkey had grown to become the fourth largest distributor in America of bikes, motor bikes and off road vehicles. Tony built warehouses and stores across the southeast. At the age of forty- four, the employer of over four-hundred people he was now in the position to help people. Tony assigned trusted employees in each of his warehouses the responsibility of mentoring each parolee he hired. They met weekly to go over each employee’s progress. Eventually he turned over the management of the program to one of his subordinates. He received weekly updates but was only present at the quarterly meetings.

Years later one of the men from the program was promoted to management. Senior management met to discuss the promotion and any all concerns. They offered a presentation to Tony on the employee’s history and work record with the company. Then they showed a photo of him on the screen. The man looked oddly familiar. He sat there the entire meeting wondering where he might know this guy from.

Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. As soon as the meeting was over he made his way to the facility where this gentleman was working. When Tony got to the warehouse floor he spotted him right away.

“Jeff?!”

The man turned slowly then a huge smile covered his face.

“Hello Mr. Russo.”

“I can’t believe it!”

The two men extended their hands, shook, then brought it in for a bro hug.

“You have been working for us for five years and I didn’t even know it.”

“You’re a busy man.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I figured if I did a good enough job you would find out eventually. It took a while but I figured right.”

Tony was still baffled.

“You joined the company through our parolee program?”

“Yes sir. See, while you were building this company, I was building a rap sheet for myself. I put my family through hell as I got high and committed crimes landing me in jail or prison time and time again. After my parents passed away and my sister overdosed, I started to think it was time to make a change. I went to a few Christian meetings and church services in the joint and they tried to offer us all job placement. I must tell you sir. Your program is the best, the best training and wages. You want a guy to straighten up, give him a since of purpose and a decent wage. You do both here. You and this company pretty much saved my life. I thank you for all that you have done for so many people.”

Tony didn’t know exactly how to respond to Jeff’s testimony. He figured that he would start with condolences.

“I really am sorry to hear about your parents and your sister Jeff. Are you still hurting?”

Jeff smiled.

“No, I’m Blessed. I have a wonderful church home, the people of this company treat me like family and I met a beautiful woman who loves me despite all of my flaws and short comings. We’re expecting our first child in three months.”

“That’s wonderful Jeff. It seems things have really turned around for you. I am so happy for you and your budding family.”

Tony was proud of his new friend for facing such self destructive adversity and turning his life around.

“Well thank you. I am happy for you and all of your success. Isn’t it ironic that a kid like me born with a silver spoon in his mouth did nothing but make a mess of his life and then there is you raised by a struggling single mother, now you’re a tycoon. When I was going around picking on you and other kids, I knew how rough you had but I just didn’t care. I had no empathy for other people because I couldn’t see myself in their shoes. You not having a father in your home was because you were trashy people with a junkie dad. In there the irony lies. Everything and everyone I looked down upon and judged, I did worse than. I became a bigger junkie and failure, if you consider where I fell from. Your example inspired me. Those dirty fingernails of yours I thought were gross now I admire them. What kid gets up at the crack of dawn to work before school? Instead of harassing you I should have been trying to draw from your influence and example. The thing I love most is that you took my insults and turned them into an empire, an empire that now puts food on my table too. That is the greatest irony. Now, I am overjoyed, grateful and Blessed to be a Grease Monkey too. Thank you sir.”

Tony realized that Jeff hadn’t called him by his name yet.

“Jeff, I am flattered but please call me Tony… no, call me Greasy Tony.”

The two men shared a laugh and Tony invited Jeff to lunch. Over lunch they discussed Jeff’s promotion and also how to use his story to motivate and inspire other people. Jeff invited Tony and his family to join him in church the following week and Tony agreed. Within three months most of the upper management at Grease Monkey joined the congregation at Jeff’s church. Side by side would Jeff and Tony stand at Sunday Service now fast friends and brothers in Christ. Tony looked down at his young children and over at his loving wife. Around him people stood and he suddenly realized that his passion had brought all of these people together in that Holy House at that time. Greasy Tony, it would seem that a little bit of grease can go a long way.