Although Agnes and Roxy were the only ones that saw Tommy earlier in the day the whole table was abuzz with the news of Tommy’s appearance. The two front porch guys were having a ball talking about all the possibilities of how Tommy had been burned. Rudolph was glad to hear none of the explanations had any element of truth about what really happened. Rudolph was interested to hear most of the speculation centered on women and something Tommy was probably doing to impress one of them. Rudolph had very little appetite that night. Even the apple cobbler with ice cream could not get him started eating the way everyone had grown to expect. As the supper wound down and the other boarders began to drift out to wherever they were going, Rudolph asked Miss Maxine if he could talk to her. “Move on up here son while I finish my coffee. Maybe I’ll get the real story about our boy Tommy from you. These other old goats don’t know what happened to them three days ago much less how Tommy got messed up.”
Rudolph poured himself one more glass of the ice tea and carried it to the place next to Miss Maxine that Agnes just cleared. “Now what did you need to talk to me about my young friend?” Maxine asked. “Well Miss Maxine, I’ve got that money you loaned me last week and I wanted to pay you back before you got gone,” Rudolph felt so important. He pulled the $120 out of his pocket and slid it across the table to the waiting hand of his landlady. “Thank you honey,” Maxine said, smiling as she eyed the two bills Tommy just passed her. “This is too much Rudolph”, Maxine said as she picked up both bills and slipped them into her pocket, she had no intention of giving anything back but wanted Rudolph to know she knew the difference. “I know, but Tommy and I wanted you to know how much we appreciate your helping me out while Tommy was gone”, Rudolph decided he might as well get some of the credit for the premium Miss Maxine was receiving. “I don’t guess you know how Tommy got burned do you honey?” Maxine knew Rudolph would probably not tell but she knew the story the girls were telling was not true. Maxine already figured out whatever happened, happened on that first night Tommy had taken Rudolph out. “No mam, he just told me some lighter fluid had blown up on him and it singed all his hair, that’s all I know,” Rudolph had made up the story and he was sticking to it.
Rudolph was month shy of turning 16 years old and already had determined the path he intended to follow the rest of his life. He had a room far better than he had ever dreamed of having, three of the most fantastic hot meals a day he could imagine and $770.00 cash in his pocket and secreted away in his room. Tommy Douglas, Miss Maxine, Agnes and Roxanne were the only family he would ever need and according to Tommy opportunities were around every corner. Rudolph could have lived this way for the rest of his life and never looked back, if everything could have just stayed the same as it was that Fall in 1973 when he first arrived in Pittsburgh on a train riding in the bottom of an empty coal car.
Things stayed much the same for almost four years for Rudolph Crumpton, until his life was turned upside down once again. Rudolph and Tommy continued to perform those jobs others did not want to do for themselves. They actually became well known in certain circles of the greater Pittsburgh area for their work as arsonist and other odd jobs specialist for hire. As long as there were business owners needing their services to destroy their properties and the two had everything arranged before they preformed, everything continued to go well. Along the way Rudolph learned many of the jobs they did originated from none other than Miss Maxine. Years before Maxine had been one of the top call girl madam’s in Pittsburgh and she still had a certain following that relied on her to help them with those matters just outside the law they would from time to time have need to get done quietly. She and Tommy worked together on occasion before Rudolph ever came into the picture, but even she felt better about her role as she came to know and trust Rudolph after the job at Coverall Coatings that first spring when he arrived in Pittsburgh. Rudolph’s world was due to change at some point but in 1977, at 20 years of age that change came without warning.
Rudolph life that first four years was so wonderful for him that Tommy was able to take advantage of his young protege's willingness to work for a small portion of the money paid for the work they were doing. Tommy would typically get $10,000 to $20,000 for their work on most all the jobs the two did together. Rudolph’s cut usually ranged from between 15% to in some cases 20%, with Tommy keeping the balance. After the second job Rudolph had been on his own as far as his expenses to live at Miss Maxine’s or in the old apartment he moved to after a three years and when he had discovered the benefits and pleasures women could provide. Rudolph never objected and in fact continued to believe he was luckiest man in the world, comparing his life now to the first fifteen years of his life. The two expanded their product line into collecting overdue accounts for several bookies in the Pittsburgh area and some insurance thefts from used car lots that were faced with high inventories and blessed with good insurance. Rudolph continued as the second man to Tommy who found the jobs through whatever contacts he had. The big break between the two partners came not over the split of the money the two were continuing to make on regular basis but over a matter of trust.
While Rudolph had never been a religious man by any means he brought from the coalfields of West Virginia a strong sense of right and wrong and a word that was his bond. Whether he got this streak of honor from his father, his mother or just the iron willed people of the coalfield mountains, Rudolph believed a man did what he said he was going to do and he expected those he dealt to do the same thing. It would have served Tommy Douglas well to have learned about this trait in his young partner over the four years the two worked so closely together.
Just as Rudolph turned twenty in the Spring of 1977, Tommy changed both his and Rudolph’s world forever. Tommy always assured Rudolph they would never burn anything that was not owned by the person hiring them to do the job. By limiting the mayhem to situations set up by the owners the two agreed their chances of succeeding without any serious trouble from the law were greatly enhance. In a few instances Rudolph had questions about whether Tommy was abiding by their unwritten agreement. When Rudolph would questioned Tommy about his doubts he would always been assured the proposed victim was indeed the owner and their secret employer. On the last job the two worked together Tommy felt uneasy and questioned Tommy about their employer. Tommy had once again assured Rudolph the property was owned and operated by the man who hired them and would have laid all the groundwork for their safety. The property this particular night was to be a large freestanding retail furniture store adjoining a medium size strip center in suburban Pittsburgh. Everything was supposedly set up and ready for the two to walk right into the unprotected and unguarded store through an unlocked back door as was always the case.
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