by Harper W.
“I don’t need no schooling.” Dave said confidently. “Alright,” Ron had a pop quiz on his mind, “What is the capital of the United States?” — “Man I dont know politics!” Dave’s reply was spot on, “Its a grown up shit.” his teeth were covered with mustard. “Yeah.” Dave was laughing non stop, “You clearly don’t need school.”
“Yo Ron!” Dwayne called from across the street, “Luca told me to told you that his Uncle wanted to see you.” Dwayne walked out quickly without waiting for Ron to even say, ‘Okay.’
“Come!” Ron said getting up, “Gotta meet the big man.” Dave got up still finishing his hot dog. “Leave it Dave. You don’t want to stand in front of him with mustard all over you. I will buy you a new one.” Ron said taking Dave’s hotdog from him.
“Ronny, I think you have some real potential my boy.” Emilio said sitting in his chair. “Thank you Mr Fersko.” Ron showed his gratitude standing before him.
“And so I have a job for you. If you would be interested.” Emilio said calling somebody with his finger, “You know Luca, right?” Luca stepped out from the corner. Ron saw his face was bruised all over. A sense of joy and excitement overwhelmed Ron, but he kept himself under controlled. Luca could see this but did not say anything.
“There is a boy in Luca’s school who …” Emilio looked at Luca, “.. had some disagreement with him.” Ron knew how badly he wanted to scream in Luca’s face, “You got bitchslapped by somebody in your school!” but again, he was standing before Emilio Fersko. “Since this boy is a child, I cannot permit my or Luca’s men to do anything. Besides, its a quarrel between two boys. But this boy humiliated my nephew in front of the whole school. And you see, reputation of our family matters a lot. Personally I admire courage, and skills relevant to it, but I am afraid, this boy needs to be taught a lesson.” Emilio looked into Ron’s eyes, “You understand what I am trying to say, Ron?” Ron knew what he was being asked to do. He slowly shook his head upside down.
“Wonderful!” Emilio was content with a smile, “You will pay this young man a visit outside Luca’s school tomorrow. He will point to him when he will come out.”
Ron again nodded.
“And remember, Ronny! Just a lesson, nothing less or more brutal. You understand my boy?”
Ron nodded.
Chapter 2 : Change of Command
“Listen Asshole! Call that asshole, to come to the phone. I am not going to waste my time, talking to a lowlife piece of trash like you.” Luca’s condescending tone was too much for Dave, but he kept the phone by his ears. Ron could see Dave’s ear and face turning red with anger and so he decided to put him out of his misery. He took the phone from Dave, “I am here Luca. What is it?” Ron came straight to the point.
“What is it?” Luca went hysterical, “You assholes killed a cop and then got our safe house busted, by just ONE fucking cop? Who was he — The Terminator?”
“Luca,” Ron said very calmly, “That cop got killed because of you. I know what you and your dogs did to him and his partner. That was pretty stupid if you ask me.” he was very unapologetic, “And the raid on our safe house was a direct consequence of your stupid move that you pulled that day.”
“Remember Ronny!” Luca said with fake emotions, “You are talking to you boss.. asshole!”
“You are not my boss, Luca. Its your father,” Ron said, “and now I am going to talk directly to him.”
“Listen asshole..” Luca yelled, but he could hear only the disconnected line from the other end. “FUCK!” he smashed the phone into the wall.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dave asked Ron as they waited outside the door. “More than anything.” Ron said, looking at the door with a confidence of knowing what he was doing was right.
The door opened and Alfeo Fersko was sitting behind hid desk, “Ronny, my boy!” he said with open arms and a fake smile, “Come in. Its so good to see you.”
Ron saw Alfeo looking at him at the chair in front of his desk, but even then he was not asked to sit down. “What is it Ron?” Alfeo asked with his fake smile.
“Mr Fersko! You gave the territory of springfield to me, and I thought I would have the total control.” Ron started explaining. “It IS your territory, Ron. You are the head of operations there.” Alfeo said.
“But sir, I am not free to take my decisions. In fact, Luca went against my ord…” Ron corrected himself as he found Alfeo staring him in the eyes, “.. advice!” was the new word that Ron used. “Luca went against my advice and instigated the police. And now we have a so much blood at our hands.”
“Hmm.” Alfeo leaned back in his chair, “I have heard about this, and to be honest, I wanted to talk to you about this Ron. I, am not happy with you.” Ron could sense that Alfeo’s care was genuine as a Chameleon’s colour. “Luca was trying to come up with innovative ideas, but your crew members,” he looked at Dave, “were not capable to understand the new methods and requirements of our business. And for that,” Alfeo finished himself, “I hold you responsible.”
Ron realized no matter what he would say, he had already been marked as the scapegoat.
“So, I am glad you came here as I wanted to discuss it with you in person.” Alfeo was not pretending to care anymore, “Luca, will now be overlooking your operation, and you will report to him and only him.”
Ron knew there was nothing to say or do here, anymore. And so he agreed to everything said by Alfeo with a nod.
“Very well then, was there anything else, my boy?” Alfeo asked.
“No Mr Fersko.” Ron said and turned around. The first thing he saw was Luca standing in the corner beside the door, staring right into Ron’s eyes, with a wide grin on his face that Ron so wanted to wipe away with his fists. But he knew better and so walked straight out of the room.
“I told you, this was foolish.” Dave was eager to say this, but was waiting for them to come at a safe distance from Alfeo or Luca’s ears. “Now we gotta see that asshole every day.”
“This is going to get ugly.” Ron said without looking at Dave as they both reached their car. “Why would say that?” Dave was worried.
Ron looked into Dave’s eyes, “I have a very bad feeling about this.” He got into the car, leaving Dave wondering what he meant by saying such a thing.
They didn’t say a word to each other after that for some time and their car drove away to Springfield.
Chapter 3 : Open Season
“Good morning Assholes!” Luca greeted the whole crew at the new safe house. “Hey, don’t look so glum.” he jokingly hit Dave in the guts trying to be funny “And don’t get this safe house busted too.” he was the only one laughing at his joke. Not even his ‘boys’ chuckled or grinned. Luca was here and he was here to stay. Ron knew something crazy was about to happen. What or when? He had no idea.
“We are laying low for sometime.” Ron said, “The police here is on our tail.”
“Well then,” Luca was trying to break the ice with the crew, “Lets put that tail on fire. That will teach them a lesson.” he laughed again, but noticed that nobody else did. Suddenly, he switched from laughter to dead serious, “Alright, but we can’t stay down with our tails between our legs. Who was this lone gunman who busted our whole gang and safe house?”
Dave looked at Ron for an answer. “Just a rookie cop. Nothing to worry about.” Ron tried to divert Luca away. “That rookie cop fucked you pretty bad, didn’t he?” Luca said it a little louder to make everyone in the room hear. Ron wanted to say a lot, but only a few words came out from his mouth, “We cannot risk going after him or any cop right now. They are counting on us to make that mistake.”
“I am not asking to kill him, ass.. you idiot.” Luca tried to bring that creepy smile on his face back again. “All I am saying is that we need to show that whoever will come after us will face the consequences.” He looked around for approval in the room, but all he saw were poker faces. “Alright tell me,” Luca thought of something new, “Who killed that o
ld cop?” Nobody answered as Luca looked around, “Come on people. I know God didn’t smite that old timer. He died from our bullets. Now tell me, who wasted him?”
Ron looked at Dave and signalled him, “I did.” Dave said raising his hand. Luca looked at him from head to toe and smiled, “Dave! Finally, you are a man. Good job!”
Luca’s response took him by surprise, “Really?” he asked just to confirm. “Hell yeah, asshole!” said Luca lovingly, “That is what I am talking about. We need to be very clear with our methods. Somebody comes after us,” Luca turn to everyone in the room, “We put him down, like a dog.”
Somehow, the crew was quite excited hearing this. “yeah” a feeble voice echoed the silent room. “Don’t be shy, boys!” be proud of what you do.” Luca encouraged his men, “Remember, we are here to own this town. Just like we owned Riversville. Am I right?” The room had some genuine cheers from random men, “Hell Yeah!” one of them yelled. “Thats right assholes!” Luca was ecstatic. He looked at Ron with a smile. “And so, this rookie cop.. is going to know that we are not to be touched, or even followed. You got it?” — “Yes Boss!” men cried enthusiastically.
Ron and Dave were overlooking the men moving some stock into another empty house. Dave was looking around to make sure that nobody is watching them. The neighbourhood was quite and no soul was seen as long as the eyes could see. “We were supposed to lay low.” Ron said to Dave, “Instead, we are expanding. Like idiots.”
“What?” Dave was busy checking his surroundings. He looked at Ron who seemed worried, “Tell me, was it just me, or did Luca put Sam in an open season?”
Dave really did not want to talk about Sam, but he respected his friend’s feelings, “Its simple! You go and talk to your friend, and ask him to get out of the town for sometime. I am pretty sure Luca would forget about him after a few weeks.” Though Dave’s idea was very clever, Ron knew he could never convince Sam to follow it. “Sammy will never do it. I know him.” Ron said.
“Then brother, I am sorry, but he is in the crosshairs now. Everyone in the crew is looking for an excuse to shoot at your friend.” Dave explained.
“I can’t let that happen Dave, and you know it.” Dave saw Ron trying to come up with a legitimate excuse to save his friend but his brain was failing him. “Sammy is all I have got in the name of my family.”
Dave felt a pinch of anxiety in his chest, “Really?” he asked himself without saying it out loud, “Then what am I to you?”
“Sammy is my brother Dave, my friend, my family. He is my everything. I cannot let him die.” Ron kept on mumbling without caring or even looking at Dave.
Dave wanted to leave the car, but something stopped him. Maybe a sense of loyalty, that presided over his ego or self respect, whatever you want to call it. He stayed right there and listened to Ron mumbling about how Sam is everything to him, the most important thing perhaps. “Would I ever be something like that to him?” Dave asked himself, “What did he ever do for Ron? He never fought for him, or bleed beside him when the rival gangs outnumbered them. What did this kid do to make a stone cold hitter like Ron go all puppy eyed after him? Black magic, maybe.” Dave had so many questions in his mind. He was seeing Ron’s lips moving, but was not able to hear anything. As Ron punched the dashboard of the car, Dave came out of his trance. He saw Ron was not puppy eyed anymore, but raging with anger and determination. “That’s it.” he had made up his mind, “Make sure everyone in the crew knows that Sam .. is untouchable.” Ron ordered Dave in a whispering voice.
Dave swallowed the lump in his throat, and brought out his normal voice, “You know we cant do that, Ron.” he said. Ron looked at Dave right in the eyes, he was not lost anymore —
“I don’t give a fuck! Anybody touches Sam, I am going to kill that motherfucker!”
Chapter 4 : The Job
“Ronny, my man!” Ron could not understand why Luca was so excited. “I..” he said jumping with a childlike joy, “have a job for you. And I am sure you would love it.”
“What is it?” Ron enquired. “Oh, this is something you really like to do. Just like old times.” Luca said with a psychotic smile, “you are going to love.. me.. for.. this.” he poked with each finishing word of his sentence. Luca handed Ron an envelope, “Open it,” he said.
Ron opened the envelope and there was a picture of a middle aged man. “Who is this?” he asked Luca.
“What, is this, you should ask, Ron. This man, is your latest job.” Luca said sitting down in front of Ron who was trying to understand. Luca decided to solve the mystery, “Remember when my Uncle asked you to teach that school kid a lesson? This is a lot like that. But this time, its in the town of Ralston, where this man is creating trouble for our business. And so Dad wants you to go and give him a good lesson, like you do.”
“But why me,” Ron asked looking at Luca’s boys, “there are plenty of other men who could do the job.” Luca replied with an admiring smile, “Oh no they can’t. You are just being humble, Ron. These men can’t do what you do. You do it with.. how my Uncle used to put it…” Luca tried to remember the word, “yeah .. with panache.” he finally remembered. Ron was looking at Luca’s ever-changing face. This man had started to scare him off late. “So you leave today. The address is behind his photograph. And we expect you to be back here within 2 days.” Luca got up and left the room, “Have fun in Ralston!” he said.
Ron was all set to leave but he thought it would be better to talk to Luca about the job one more time. He didn’t want to call Emilio after he indirectly declared his son to be his boss. He walked to the door of Luca’s room and knocked, “Luca. I need to talk to you.”
There was no answer, and so Ron decided to walk in slowly. The room was empty and Ron’s eyes ran all over when he noticed something. It was a yellow envelop filled with cash, and Ron could tell by the style it was packed. “He is calling a hit.” Ron said to himself, going through the envelop, as he found a chit inside. On the chit, there was a phone number, from out of the state. As Ron remembered who this number was for, he ran out of the room.
“LUCA!” Ron’s cry made Luca stop from getting in his car. He saw Ron coming to him with long steps. “You are calling the cleaning company?” he asked as he reached Luca. “What are you talking about?” Luca tried to hide the answer with a fake smile, “Don’t you have a job to go to?”
“Luca, I saw the envelope. That was a hit money. I know you are calling the cleaning brothers.” Ron said all that in one breath. For a moment, Luca was stunned, but then he recovered with a sheepish grin, “Alright. You got me.” Luca played with his hair, “Dad thought you would be enough for this job, but I think other wise. And so I was about to send the cleaning brothers behind you to Ralston to take care of it if you failed.”
“You mean they are for this guy?” Ron held up the picture Luca gave to him earlier. “Who else, asshole?” Luca asked, irritated.
Suddenly, Ron’s nervousness went away, and his grip on Luca relaxed. “Now get going, or the brothers will beat you to it.” Luca said sitting in his car. “Oh thank god!” Ron thought, thinking of Sam, and the Cleaning Brothers at the same time.
Ron checked the address behind the photograph once again. He matched it with where he was sitting in his car. After getting confirmed, he got out of his car and walked to the door. He placed the picture inside his pocket and buzzed the door. Seconds later a face appeared in the window, “Who is it?” the man from the picture asked Ron.
“Hello Sir,” Ron replied, “I am from the Daily Mail, here to ask you some questions.” Ron said looking at the title of the newspaper he was holding, “If you don’t mind.” he ended with politeness.
“You don’t look like a reporter.” the man said suspiciously. “Excuse me sir?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow, and the man quickly realized his mistake. “I didn’t mean it that way. It that just..” he fumbled. Ron could see he was quite nervous.
“Oh hell! Wait ..” The man disappeared from the window an
d the door opened. “You don’t mind showing me your ID, young man.” he asked trying to be polite.
“Yeah sure.” Ron replied with a smile and reached for something inside his jacket. But right then, he elbowed the door, hitting the man with it in the face, “OWWWW!” the old man cried, falling in the floor. Ron entered the home and locked it from inside. He grabbed the man and lifted him, “Who else is home?” Ron asked menacingly.
“My wife, she is sick.. she is sleeping upstairs.” the old man said trying to use it as a chip to get out of this ordeal. “Alright then.” Ron saw another room where he dragged the old man with him, “Who sent you? What do you want?” he questioned Ron with pitiful voice.
Ron delivered a strong punch in the man’s gut, “You heard about the Fersko Family, old man?” reminding him of the matter.
“Who?” the old man asked as soon as he could breath after the punch, “What family?”
Surprised, Ron kicked the man as he was already on the floor, “Fersko Family, asshole! You have been messing with wrong people.”
“I dont know what you are talking about.” the old man stretched his hand out for mercy, “I swear on my sick wife. I dont know who these people are.” Ron looked into his eyes, dumbfounded. “You can take anything you want, but please don’t hurt us.”
Ron’s brain was running really really fast inside his head when he felt the vibration of his phone in his pocket. “Hello” he answered the phone without taking his eyes off the old man. “Ron,” Dave’s frantic voice came from the other end, “he did it man! That asshole did it.”
“What are you talking about?” Ron asked as he saw the old man sitting against the wall.
“The Cleaning Brothers, they came here. Luca sent them after Sam.” Dave yelled.
“Did they..” Ron could not finish his sentence, and so Dave did the job, “They collected the money and are now leaving.” there was a silence. “I am sorry man. I am really sorry!”