The Hound, the Fox and the Mink
The Forum Shops Caesars Palace Sin City
Lenny is a NY Jewish man of the world, born in Queens but now enjoys the high life on Manhattans upper East Side, a professional bookie and poker player, and as the English say, a punter, loved to take chances, when to his seemingly advantage of course, and quite the ladies man as welt in spite of his less than matinee idol looks.
He took no chances and never wagered on a romance he had not fixed beforehand.
My first memory of Lenny and his take no chances attitude was at his apartment in Manhattan. We had met two ladies at a restaurant and he had united them to his apartment for some after dinner champagne, Don Perignon only of course, knowing Lenny for only a short while I did not find that DP offer strange, but as it turns out it was more than strange.
The four of us are sitting in his lair when he excuses himself to open the champagne, a minute later I alone see him opening the cork on the bottle of DP with his hand, then putting his thumb inside his mouth and making a loud champagne cork popping sound, shaking the bottle to make it seem that it was just opened and frothy, then pouring the DP out for the ladies, who were very impressed and spent much time complimenting the taste of the DP and of their affable host.
As I found out later, Lenny in no way ever bought a bottle of DP, he would take a NY State Champagne , pour it in an empty DP bottle he somehow acquired, put the cork back in and keep it refrigerated, then do his nous and dance routine making believe he was pouring out DP as if it was water. He had many ruses I am to find out.
My personal preference for one of his best? was the fact that when he offered to pay for dinner, you knew his motive, it was because carried in a small plastic case in his pocket was a still alive and breathing cockroach, which would miraculously appear at check paying time at a fancy restaurant of his choice, all would be on the house after Lenny would do his bow wow and pony screaming show enraged and frightened act in front of all clients and staff, academy award stuffI may add. Lenny , my man!
Back to the Forum at Caesars, we are there being catered to by the staff of the casino at Caesars Palace, that because our mutual friends, John and Chester are serious players whose $ Caesars wants, hence they let Lenny and I hop on the party train.
The very first day in town , Lenny meets a beautiful employed opportunist lady of the Nite at the bar and starts a hopeful romance , he has many but his best act is to take her into the Forums furrier shop and have her fitted for a full length mink coat! Wow I am thinking! Lenny must be in amour, however I should have known better. It turns out the furrier was an associate of Lenny's whom Lenny would pay a few hundred bucks to for the Mink Coat Charade so to speak, fitting a coat to be picked up in a week or so by Lenny and his now totally enraptured new main babe. But a few days later Lenny would of course be called back to NY on business, then hand the deposit slip receipt to his new squeeze and tell her she could pick up the coat when ready, it was paid for.
Your correct dear readers, Yep, the lady would appear at the furrier receipt in hand , only to be told that Lenny had cancelled the order and asked for his deposit back! Seemed to me that Lenny and his bride to be or not to be both received they're just due.