[StLee]

He was once insignificant, nameless, and just a small cog in the Tops wheel. He was the Bartender when Lee was taking over the Mojave. Little did Lee know was that behind the ruthless conniving that was the Chairmen, one “little” man within the organization saved his caps and finagled his way into the inner circle.

And, just days after Ebeneezer Swank saw his demise, the Bartender sat in a room of the top remaining members of the Chairmen and made his play into the baseball world.

Now, don’t misunderstand this story. The rightful next man in line became the owner of the Tops. That man was Tommy Torini. Lee liked Tommy, and Tommy liked Lee, or at least he seemed to, unlike Benny and Swank before him.

“As we all know, I’m the big boss man now,” Tommy told the motley crew of Chairmen in the room. “The reason we’re here and the reason I brought in Big Bad to the Knee Lee and…what’s your story, Glory?”

“Just call me the Historian,” I said.

“Everybody's got to have some claim to fame,” Tommy replied while scratching at his eye patch. “You can call me the Dancing and Singing Stud Bull then.” He laughed and so did the bedraggled Chairmen.

“On to the show,” Tommy continued. “You know, the biggest show the Mojave ever did see. I’m talking about Lee and baseball, you see. Now, I ain’t running this place into my own prideful ground like Swankie did. Not me. I’m looking to multiply our caps and make the Tops something it ain’t ever seen: being the tops!

“That’s why some things are going to change, you dig? First, we’re going to work hand in hand with Lee to make this baseball thing work. Second, we’re going to make decisions not based on who’s at the top of the pyramid, but who’s going to make us all more of those little metal caps that makes the world spin round faster than my tap shoes.

“I have a vision for this casino. We aren’t the everyman’s place like the 38. We aren’t the sex paradise that Gomorrah is. And we most certainly don’t have the class the Luxe has. What we do have is the best entertainers on the strip.

“But the real reason we’re here, right here, right now, is because I need to give some juice to our baseball side of business. Let me shake out how this boogie’s going to jive. To make the most of our time, we need two things: fans and success. Now I know what the deal with the fans is, but success comes from wins. Wins brings what Lee called the bandwagoners in, and the bandwagoners bring in the caps. We win, we’re in. That’s why I got us a baseball man who has been right under our eyes all this time. Well, right under my one good eye.

“Everybody, please give it up for the man with the plan, the guy who kept the Aces running smoother than a child bride’s behind, the one, the only Richard Wang.”

Wang stood up to address the room. He was short and thin with a small voice. But each word rang like a chime in the forest. The men sitting at the table listened and quietly agreed. “Thank you, Tommy. If it weren’t for the Aces, we would already be building the railroads or rebuilding those measly little cities that may not need us anymore in the future. But we still need more to maintain the lifestyle for the new Mojave.

“I saw something in the baseball league a lot of others didn’t, and it started at the Aces bar. You see, the players want to come in and unwind after a hard day’s work or play. They sit at the bar and talk or drink or try to pick up a jazzy guy or gal in the crowd. And you know for the most part who did what in their day. But not always, not for the right kind of players.

“I served these men drink after drink, and I noticed what made the difference between the players who were winners and the ones who were losers. There’s that guy Spread in the outfield. It doesn’t matter if he hit a game-winning homer or struck out four times. He held his head high and was ready to move on and win the next day. Then there’s that Wesley guy. Same position, same situation. But if he ****s up one play, he’s in the corner with his head hanging.

“The way I see it, we need more Spreads and less Wesleys. We need guys who don’t give a **** but still want to go out the next day, whip out their meat, and piss all over the other team. I know I don’t have a lot of time to build up for this year with Swank getting whacked the other day. But I’m going to start making some moves and move this team like a ballet dancer in a bullet fight. Ain’t nobody watching the Tops at the bottoms. We’re going to the tops and I’m getting us the players that we need.”

After the meeting, Lee welcomed the new owner and manager of the Tops Mutants. Lee was positive that the change was positive. He also used his Speech skill to convince the room he had nothing to do with Swank’s death and was just surprised as they were with his assassination.

Below: Tommy Torini, owner, and Richard Wang, general manager