Olivetti: Inception

by Tamilore Odimayo

  “Be safe! We will see each other soon, I promise,” He said as he shut the door, leaving her in the car, alone.

  “What? Get in!” Dean yelled.

  Tom tapped the car twice. Michael drove off without hesitating. She felt a lump in her throat. How could he? There was no way he’d be safe. She felt a strange disconnection within her. She hoped she’d see him again.

  “Make sure she’s safe,” Tom yelled.

  Dean gazed at Tom. Tom gazed at Pierro and Sylvester. Their eyes were alert and they were panting heavily.

  “I can’t leave till my entire family is out of this place,” Tom said.

  Dean was about to argue, but Tom added “They’re here for me not them.”

  The bullets were completely in their direction. Tom ran towards the opposite direction, trying to make sure that everyone got into the car. Sylvester, Dean and Pierro struggled to make sure bullets didn’t touch Tom.

  “I need a gun!” Tom yelled out. Sylvester handed Tom a gun without hesitating.

  “Can you use it?” Dean asked. Tom lifted his arms positioned the gun and shot one of Damon’s men straight in the head.

  “Does that answer your question?” Tom replied.

  In seconds, cars containing other family members sped off. Damon’s men poured out of vans like ants from an anthill.

  Tom watched as Stanley Olivetti’s wife and daughters safely entered the car, with their guards. She cried more. She was more confused than ever. Her husband was lying in a coffin, next to a dead priest and cemetery keeper, unburied.

  Don Olivetti cussed as he entered what seemed to be his personal car. His wife and kids had already left with their guards.

  “Bloody Sanchez! I’ll see to it that every one of them get killed for disrespecting my family,” He said as he tapped the driver to drive off.

  25

  Damon stood behind his van, watching the horrific scene from a distance, like a coward. He could see his men fall. His brain was fuzzy. The sound of guns made it worse. He could see Tom. He watched as the Olivettis scampered away, in their respective vehicles.

  His eyes were fixated on Tom. He followed Tom’s movement through his binoculars. Tom gunned down two of his men.

  Damon noticed something strange. Tom saved the life of the girl before going back for his family.

  “She must be precious to him,” he thought.

  Damon yelled at his men. “Get back! Get the girl!”

  John Baker smiled, “Good thinking.”

  The men began to retreat slowly as they ran into their vans. They drove towards the direction the first car—the car Nina was in.

  Michael drove slowly, at the required speed limit, trying not to draw attention to his vehicle. His black suit was ruined with dust and grass his clothes picked up from lying on the cemetery grounds. He had loosened his tie to breathe better. He placed his gun on the passenger seat, just in case he needed it. His eyes darted from the two side mirrors to the rear view mirrors—scanning for threats.

  So far, there were none. The roads were free with pedestrians oblivious to what was going on less than a mile away. He was surprised. There were no cops.

  “We need to go back for him!” Nina yelled, almost crying. Her imagination was running wild. She couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Tom’s dead body.

  “I have to follow Tom’s instructions! You are his priority,” Michael yelled back. “You have to protect him, he is the priority! Not me!” Nina replied with piercing words.

  Michael struggled. He wanted to save Tom, at the same time, he knew he had to obey orders.

  “I assure you, he’ll be okay. He has more than enough protection. My job is to make sure you’re safe and that’s what I’m doing,” Michael replied. There was a brief silence. There was no getting through to him. She wished she could knock him out and take possession of the vehicle, but she had failed her Driver’s Ed class, twice.

  “You can’t take me home because you’ll risk the safety of my family,” she said.

  “Of course not, I’m taking you to the safest place on earth,” he responded almost immediately. “Where?”

  “Don Olivetti’s home,” Michael replied as he turned up the radio to listen to the breaking news.

  Tom, Dean, Sylvester and Pierro stood outside, dumbfounded. Damon’s men were retreating. They were the only Olivetti guards in the cemetery. There was no sign of cops and no sign of ambulances. What were they running from? Tom seemed suspicious. Damon and his men drove off, towards the direction Michael drove.

  “They are in a hurry to leave. That’s not normal. It’s me they want,” Tom said to himself, panting furiously. Don Olivetti went south, the others went north, towards their home, and Michael, drove East, in a state of panic.

  “They’re heading east. They want Nina,” Tom said as he ran towards the car. His guards followed.

  “So we follow them?” Dean asked.

  “What do you expect? Let’s go!” Tom said as Sylvester sped off.

  “That’s definitely the car,” Damon yelled, pointing to a black Cadillac. He increased his speed from sixty miles per hour to eighty miles per hour.

  “Tell everyone to follow my lead. We are going to get the best insurance against Tom,” he said to John Baker.

  Michael looked through the rear view mirror. He noticed a van, following him. He remembered the vehicles at the cemetery. His eyes widened. The speed of the van increased—it was moving faster and getting closer.

  “Oh shit! We’re being followed,” he yelled.

  “By who?” Nina replied.

  “The bad guys,” Michael replied as he stamped his right foot on the accelerating pedal. His car was faster. The Cadillac’s horsepower was finally being put to good use. He drove as fast as one hundred miles per hour, swerving through the traffic like a maniac on cocaine.

  Don Olivetti was alone, in the backseat, being driven by his supposed bodyguard. Another car, containing his other body guards, tailgated his car.

  “Make sure everyone gets to my house. It’s the safest place they can be while we prepare for retaliation,” Don Olivetti said to the voice on the phone.

  “We don’t want the police involved in this,” Don Olivetti added to the voice on the phone. He paused for a moment. “Yes please do,” Don Olivetti added again then hung up.

  “They’ve got guts!” Don Olivetti spat out.

  “Messed with the wrong family,” he added.

  “Where are you taking me to?” Don Olivetti said as he noticed the driver making a wrong turn.

  “Somewhere,” the bodyguard said as he glanced back at Don Olivetti, smiling. Don Olivetti froze. It was Jack—Tom’s former bodyguard. His face was flushed with uncertainty. Thoughts flowed through his mind. He didn’t know which side Jack was on. He hoped the Sanchez family didn’t give Jack a better offer.

  Michael swerved then turned left towards a one way street, ignoring the traffic signs. He looked through the rear-view mirror. The vans following him were closer than he expected. There was something strange. Another Cadillac followed closely behind the van.

  “Good! The Olivetti Calvary has arrived,” Michael said as he swerved to a two-way street.

  “Keep your head down!” Michael yelled, worried that they’d start shooting. Nina ducked between the seats. She was afraid. A race horse was definitely slower than her heart beat. She remembered getting lost at a camping trip in the Appalachian trails. She remembered the feeling of fear and uncertainty. It was the closest thing to what she was currently experiencing. Luckily, her father found her minutes afterwards. The thought of Tom was the only thing keeping her from jumping out of the car. Her eyes widened. She abruptly jerked up to see what was going on in the streets.

  “That’s Tom’s car!” Nina yelled as she noticed Tom’s car, behind them.

  The sound of bullets began swifting through the air. “They are shooting at Tom’s car!” she yelled. Michael looked through the rear view mirrors.

  “Shit! Shit! I
gotta protect Tom! Protect Tom!” he said, hitting his hand on the steering wheel.

  “Put your head down!” Michael yelled. She docked beneath the seats once again as he pumped his brakes.

  They were being shot at by the vans in front. Tom was reluctant to shoot back. He didn’t want to add an arrest to his résumé. Suddenly, a bullet went through the car then through Pierro’s chest. His eyes widened. He could only feel a sting within his chest, but it hurt like hell. He panted heavily. Pierro struggled to catch his breath as he spat out blood. He was dead.

  “Shit!” Tom said.

  “That does it!” Sylvester said as he gazed at Tom for orders.

  “Shoot those fucking vans down!” Tom yelled.

  Dean and Tom aimed for the tires. Sylvester drove faster. He positioned the car in a safe distance—safe enough for Tom and Dean to shoot the tires without getting hurt. Sylvester swerved the car from left to right, to prevent bullets from hitting the car.

  “Stay still for one minute,” Tom yelled as he aimed for the tires. With rigorous precision Tom shot one of the back tires. The van swerved uncontrollably then crashed at a curb after flipping multiple times.

  “We’ve lost a van,” Damon yelled. He could see the entire scene from his rear view mirror. Innocent drivers swerved from one lane to the next, trying to avoid the chaos occurring on the interstate.

  “Now they’re shooting at us,” John Baker yelled.

  “They’ll soon run out of bullets!” John added.

  “Shut the fuck up! You brought me into this shit! You didn’t tell me Tom Olivetti had a Calvary of soldiers following his ass! This was supposed to be a simple scare!” Damon yelled back. Baker was quiet. Damon was a crazy maniac on crack and seemed a little too bizarre.

  “I just wanted to freak him out a little before the real attack,” Damon added, still trying to catch up with the vehicle Nina was in.

  “I think you should always be prepared for a surprise, no matter what. You never know what to expect,” John Baker replied sheepishly.

  “Oh yeah?” Damon said, terribly annoyed by the mere audacity of John Baker’s tone. He shot a bullet straight into John Baker’s head before he could react. Blood spattered everywhere as John dropped dead like a bag of beans.

  “I have no use for your smart mouth anymore,” Damon said as he wiped off the blood on his face.

  “We’re out of bullets!” Tom yelled, dropping his guns and docking behind the car seat to avoid being hit by a stray bullet. Dean panted. There was a backup plan. Until that moment, he’d seen it as a useless ad-on to the car.

  “Open the back seat!” Dean yelled.

  “What?” Tom replied.

  “I said open the back seat!”

  Tom opened the back seat of the car. His eyes widened. It was heavily armed. There were bullets, two double barrel shotguns and two machine guns.

  “Whoa! How long have these been here?” Tom asked, grabbing a shot gun and tossing the AK47 to Dean.

  “I never knew I’d have to hold one of these,” Tom added as he clicked the gun’s safety. He aimed straight at the tires of the second van in front of them then pulled the trigger. The van flipped twice then smashed into the curb. Sylvester swerved to the right to avoid hitting the van.

  “This is going to be easy!”

  Michael made an exit on the Highway trying to turn back to save Tom. There was a pile up behind him. Two out of the four vans had crashed on the highway. There were two Vans left in between Tom and himself. He made a dangerous U-turn, causing Nina to hit her head on the glass.

  “Ouch!” Nina yelled.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Michael said, driving towards the next turning. With abrupt precision, he swerved the car to make another abrupt U-turn, towards Tom.

  Damon noticed Michael making a U-turn. He was coming towards his direction on opposite lanes. He smiled then grabbed his gun, waiting for Michael’s car to pass by on the other side of the road. He timed it carefully as Michael got closer. He slowed down.

  “Goodbye!” he said as he pulled the trigger. Michael was dead. Damon watched as Michael’s car screeched to a halt, hitting a pole on the sidewalk.

  Tom, Dean and Sylvester noticed Michael’s car stopping at the other side of the road. It hit a pole. The van moved passed the car, stopped for a few seconds and then sped off. The entire area was loud with sirens. He could hear choppers above. The Vans sped off.

  Tom’s heart skipped a beat. The love of his life was in the car. He prayed and hoped she wasn’t dead.

  “Stop the car!” Tom commanded. “Boss we can’t. The police are everywhere…”

  “I said stop the car now!” Tom yelled again.

  Sylvester pulled over in front of Michael’s car as Tom jumped out to check the car. He quickly opened the door. The backseat was empty.

  “Shit! They have her!”

  26

  The entire Olivetti family arrived safely at Don Olivetti’s mansion. The gates were sealed shut. Guards with machine guns stood at each corner of the premises. The only absentees were Tom and Don Olivetti.

  Walter paced around the living area frantically. He was tense, anxious and worried.

  “Any word from Tom?” Beatrice Olivetti, Tom’s mother asked Walter. Her makeup was smeared with real tears and her brunette hair was rough and scruffy. She was safe, but her body was still afraid. Walter shook his head in a state of personal disappointment. How could he leave without his son?

  “Where’s Danny?” Sebastian Olivetti asked. His tie and suit was intact, but his face wasn’t. He looked like a mad man about to unleash his insanity. The brothers remained in the room, together, mumbling and making phone calls.

  Walter stood quietly by the window, looking at the gates, expecting to see Tom. “Who do you think did this, brother?” Sebastian Olivetti asked.

  “I don’t know. But whoever did this has some balls!” Walter replied.

  “I’ll see to it that the cocksuckers swallow every bullet that was shot at us,” Sebastian Olivetti replied.

  “Good thing no one from the family is hurt!” Sebastian Olivetti added.

  “You say this like Walter’s boy or Danny is here!” Georgie, the most realistic brother, said. Walter looked back at them, sharply, in anger.

  “Relax!” Sebastian said. “They should be here soon,” Sebastian added. Just then, Walter’s phone rang.

  “Hello! Tom?” Walter said. The room was quiet. The brothers gazed at Walter for a response.

  “Uhm…no. I am the lab doctor you hired to find out about the toxicology report of your mother,” the voice on the phone said.

  “Oh yes!” Walter said, disappointed that it wasn’t Tom, but happy the test results were out.

  “Okay. It seems that most of the food items in her fridge and her medications were poisoned. It was a deliberate act. Whoever did it intentionally poisoned the things she was most likely to consume,” the voice on the phone said.

  “Dammit!” Walter said beneath his teeth.

  “You should contact the police for further investigation!” the voice on the phone added. “Thank you,” Walter replied as he hung up. Walter turned towards his brothers. They had intense expectant gazes.

  “So….” Brandon Olivetti finally said to break the silence. He wasn’t one for suspense.

  “Mother was poisoned. Someone was deliberately trying to killer her,” Walter said. The atmosphere became solidified with anger.

  “It seems like they are trying to wipe out our family!” Sebastian said. “We must act!” Georgie Olivetti added.

  “We must act fast!” Sebastian added in agreement.

  “We have to wait for Danny!”

  “Let’s hope he’s still alive. He isn’t picking up his phone,” Georgie replied.

  “It’s time we involve all our sons. It’s time they joined the family business!” Sebastian said.

  The room became plagued with silence. “And have them killed? Is this the kind of life you want for them? Huh
?” Walter replied sternly.

  “It’s a family war, they shouldn’t be weak. The Cruccifixos and the Sanchez family are strong because everyone is involved, including their sons!” Sebastian added as everyone nodded in agreement.

  “We would wait for Danny. We’ll see if he agrees with your ridiculous idea,” Walter said as he walked out of the room.

  They arrived at Walter Olivetti’s home. Tom, Dean and Sylvester got out of the car. “You should call your father and tell him you’re safe,” Dean said.

  “I know,” Tom replied, running up the stairs, towards the room his grandmother was in. “I have to see my grandmother. Besides, my presence is a danger to everyone,” Tom said briskly as he ran up the second flight of stairs then to the hallway. Dean and Sylvester rushed to keep up with his quick pace.

  “Please tell me that seeing your Grandmother right now is a priority. You know she’s extremely safe here,” Dean said, as he stopped Tom from going into her room. Tom sighed. His shirt was drenched in sweat.

  “Gather as many weapons as possible and wait for me outside,” Tom commanded, ignoring Dean’s comment. He then entered his Grandmother’s room.

  Cecilia Olivetti was lying on the bed, struggling to breathe through the life support equipment. Her kidneys were failing and so was her liver. The sound of the medical equipment beeped ferociously. A nurse stood beside her, pressing a wet towel on her head to keep his grandmother’s temperature down.

  She looked physically weak and haggard. She was tired of living. At the same time, she was struggling to stay alive. Tom watched his Grandmother struggling for life. Each breath was painful. The windows were left open with fresh air blowing into the room like she always wanted.