by M. P. Lodi
The pills were supplied by Charlotte's pharmacist connection just a block away on Fulton Street. Everyone needed to have at least one pharmacist on the payroll. Charlotte had a few, and Noah had some near all locations where he and Jackson carefully collected hideouts and safe houses. He had personally bankrolled pharmacists in four different cities to aid his own extensive goals in the coming months.
“Angelo, my good man, I want you to understand that by all rights, you should die. Not just you, but all members of your illegal and corrupt family, for what you've done. I understand you have a son in the business who is also a killer. He's next unless you cooperate starting now.”
“You leave my son out of this.”
Angelo struggled to free himself from the straps holding him to the frame. However, with straps at his ankles and wrists, as well as arms, upper body and knees, he was pinned to that heavy frame. He had no chance of getting away.
“Don't even think that an old man like you can get out of this mess with your strength. You see my muscles; I couldn't break free if I were strapped to this thing.” Noah looked at Charlotte for confirmation of that fact.
She nodded. “I've had bigger men than you attached to it, and they couldn't get free.”
Noah walked back closer to Angelo. “You see, Angelo Abruzzo, you're not going anywhere. So it's in your best interest, and in the interest of your son, to answer some questions. Wouldn't you agree?”
Angelo made a sound as if collecting phlegm and then spit at Noah, hitting him on his neck.
Noah wiped if off, and with a most disgusted face said, “Now that's going to cost you.”
“Fuck you!” Angelo yelled.
Noah struck him with his right fist, immediately knocking Angelo unconscious. Saliva fell to the ground as his head hung there. Noah walked over to check his pulse, afraid that he may have hit him too hard. He was fine. Knocked the fuck out, but alive.
“You kill him, Sarge?” Charlotte walked over to Angelo and checked his pulse as Noah turned and looked at the table.
He shook his head no, but she didn't see him. He glanced back to Charlotte. “I said no, he's fine. He's just out cold.”
“His lip is bleeding and I think you broke one or two of his teeth.”
“Damned shame. In our next session I'm going to go medieval on his ass. You know like Ramsay did to that asswhipe Theon in Game of Thrones?”
Charlotte's surprise spread over her face. “You're going to castrate him here?”
Noah nodded yes. “That's just for starters. He's going to tell me everything that I want to know. If not, his death will be painful in the extreme. The remainder of his pitiful life will end with him choking to death on his own testicles.”
“Remind me never to fuck with you,” she said.
“This prick tried to have me killed twice now. He tried to kill Emily and my best friend and his wife. He had my best friend's father killed. He deserves nothing except an excruciatingly painful journey to hell.”
“Tell me how you really feel, Sarge.”
He looked at her, and her comment made him smile. It was a little strange to smile in a room where he planned such acts of torture on this mafia captain.
She said, “I know we're all big on revenge, and don't think I have any doubts, but this Westbranch business, I'm a lot iffy on the consequences. It’s coming up fast, and I think we need to re-think this.”
“We'll talk later. Upstairs. You never know if this prick is playing like he's out cold. Not that he will be walking out of here anytime soon.” He leaned closer to the mob boss. “Especially if he doesn't cooperate.”
Noah knew people tended to become uncooperative if they figured they’d be dead soon anyway. He had to keep up appearances if he as to get the information he needed to aid his war with the mob.
Charlotte walked over to Angelo and grabbed him by his hair, pulling his head up as she opened one of his eyes. “He's unconscious. Maybe we should get Jacob down here to take a look at him too.”
Noah smiled again. “Maybe we should get him some health care insurance too while we're at it. Maybe a massage? How about a croissant with some cream cheese?” Charlotte almost laughed.
Noah sat down on one of the metal folding chairs and looked over the contents of the table. Charlotte came over and sat down on the opposite side of the small table.
“He really does need more of his pills. He didn't have them today. If you want to kill him, just don't give him these.” Charlotte shook the container with the man's Lisinopril pills.
“I'll give it to him right before he loses his family jewels if he's still not cooperating.”
Charlotte nodded her head in the direction of the door. Noah nodded back and pushed his seat back, scraping along the concrete floor. He and Charlotte both walked up the stairs leading back into the basement. Charlotte led the way, and Noah couldn't help but look at her ass. She was definitely hooked up. A little nuts when it came to sex and relationships, but as far as looks went, she could win beauty prizes.
The poor girl was self-conscious about the huge scar on her arm, as if men would even care to look at it instead of her ample breasts and shapely ass and legs. Usually she kept the scar covered with a leather cuff or long sleeves which could be a problem in the summer. She had told Noah and Joshua that she preferred to not be around people much in warm weather. All because of a scar that not 1 in 100 men would even care about. Now what was between her two ears, that could concern the average man.
They both walked into the hall separating the main area, where most of Noah's men would congregate around the TV, and the bedroom section of the basement apartment.
Emily had been waiting for Noah in the living room along with Joshua, Mike and Caesar. Rather than go in to chat, Charlotte waved him to follow her into the first bedroom. It also happened to be the only bedroom that actually had a bathroom in it. That was the main thing wrong with the apartment. Everyone had to walk through the first bedroom to get to the other two.
Charlotte closed the door behind them and sat on her bed. “I want to talk about the event we have planned.”
Noah stood there, four feet from the bed. With pursed lips he looked her over. In addition to her killer body, Noah knew Charlotte was intelligent and had a lot in common with him. A shared history went far in a relationship. But her craziness with men would always stop him from pursuing her. Visions of poor Joshua's car all scratched up, or his clothes burning in a pile, was a bit much.
Noah thought of how Charlotte became an outlaw long ago. Way before she joined the Army. She could have spent her entire life locked away if she were only a year older when she brutally killed a neighbor boy who cornered her and tried having his way with her. She was only 13 back then and already had a killer instinct. That might have been the event that made her a little nuts.
Others in his unit said she was crazy long before that, beating up on other children, especially boys, even at five and six years old. When Noah saw that she had an eagle eye, could take out a target further out with more accuracy than anyone else that he knew, and she was already willing to kill someone who hurt her, he knew he had another recruit.
“I'm not much for talking about the plans unless you have some tactical ideas,” he said.
“I'm worried about what comes next. We have to be sure no cops are hurt. There'll be at least twenty at the funeral trying to separate the protesters from those grieving. I've been thinking a lot on it, Sarge, and we need to seriously talk. The country isn't ready for this. I have to tell you. If you order it, I'll still go ahead. It's just that we could do so much more with how this is playing out in the media and the public.” Noah looked at her but didn't say anything. He glanced at her rifle next to the bed.
She glanced at it too, then back to Noah. “That's my baby, my little ol' M24. This is my older one; I have a new one on order.”
She smiled and patted the place next to her on the bed, as if he would go sit next to her with Emily just a few rooms awa
y.
He shook his head. “Is that what this is about? You know I'm loyal to Em so let’s end this here. What happened between us long ago was fun for both of us, but that's it. I told you that's where it ends.” He smiled as she reached next to her bed for her M24.
“I have to admit, Sarge, sometimes I like to push all of your buttons. Starting with mute.” He smiled at her wit.
She said, “Now that we'll have a military ambush of the funeral and I'm the lead sniper, what do we do if the cops manage to get a fix on us? Do you really want us killing cops too? Come on, Sarge, we need to all talk about this whole thing.”
He said,“We'll be a few blocks away, and that should give us time to exit and get away. If not, then we'll be having one large shoot out right then and there. The cops will be woefully outgunned though. Mike and Joshua assured me we can keep them at bay. You know we can as well. Civilian police aren't equipped to handle any trained troops, let alone several men and women who can and have out-shot snipers. Mike is going to throw at least one of his grenades nearby where no one can get hurt. That will scare the hell out of 'em.”
She said “We only have to worry about a hero. You remember Sergeant Weathers? Formerly of our company in Afghanistan?”
Noah nodded. “What of him?”
“He became a police officer a few months ago with the NYPD. He's stationed in Manhattan though, far from the funeral.”
“I take it you have a point?”
Noah stared into Charlotte's eyes. She had told him that he was the one person who could look right at her, who could make her look away. No one else could do that. She looked down at the ground, then back at him.
She said, “It's just that many cops are our brothers and sisters. Someone said that almost 25% of cops are former military.”
Noah tilted his head and exhaled loudly. “Get to the point already.”
“None of us are comfortable hurting cops in any way. Even if we had to. The one exception is if gun confiscation were ever tried. But we're not there. The country isn't there either. There's a big chance that to get away easily we might have to defend ourselves against the police.”
Noah dropped his arms. “As they say 'if you want to make an omelet, you have to crack a few eggs’.”
“Don't talk like that, Sarge.”
“We'll do everything possible to avoid hurting any cops. That's all we can do. If it comes to giving you up to them during the operation... say being surrounded, well I'm not going to let that happen. They will not be taking you or any of us, in any way. No one gets arrested. Do I make myself clear?”
She managed to look him in his eyes. “Yes, Sarge. But we can still stop this before it happens. No one has to die or get arrested, and we can keep doing what we're doing. The people love our actions. They love our whole Robin Hood movement. Even the media is latching on for the time being. That won't be true if we kill any of the Westbranch scum. Let's talk about it with the unit. Please?”
Noah nodded and understood. “Emily was telling me the same thing. We'll all discuss this today using that garage right here upstairs. I will take it all under advisement.”
She said “One last thing, Sarge.” He waved his hand for her to go on.
“We really, truly have a good thing going on right now. We're loved, you're loved. We're bringing attention to the issues via YouTube videos and social media. People are understanding and that's more of a threat to the criminals in DC than we could ever be if we were to do that op.”
He thought about that for a few seconds.
“I completely understand. Tonight we'll talk.” He turned and walked towards the living room.
She said, “Thank you,” to his back.
Emily
Noah walked into the living room and found it filled with laughter. It was good that everyone was letting off some much needed steam. Even Emily was laughing. Mike, Caesar and Joshua were sitting on the longer sofa, while Emily and Jacob shared the love seat at the door. They were all fixated on the television, watching Eddie Murphy perform a stand up routine.
Noah crossed his muscled arms over his chest and stopped at the door. “Is this Eddie Murphy's Delirious?”
“Sure is, you can tell from his red leather outfit,” Emily replied while staring at her man's arms and broad chest.
She often told him how she loved it when he stood like that, and she knew he purposely took the pose more because of her saying it to him. He liked to impress her. He exchanged a glance with her, and she could feel herself getting horny. She took a few sideways glances at his ass, arms and chest. She also had a talk with Noah about that Funeral Operation, and she knew in her heart that he wasn't going to go through with it.
Even though they were all outlaws now, they were beloved outlaws. They were doing well for the community and helping people. Their victims – mobsters and drug dealers – were the most hated scum in the country. The Noah Hood name seemed to have stuck and struck a chord with millions of people all over America. The faces of Noah's men and women showed their pride in what they were doing, and it was even more obvious every time a news program was put on the TV. They were the biggest news in the country now, after all. There was no way that any of them could ever go out without a hat and sunglasses on. Disguises were a complete necessity at all times.
“It's Jacob's favorite,” Caesar said in an effeminate way as he pointed to the screen. That made Noah close his eyes for a few seconds then looked toward Caesar. Joshua and Mike both held in a laugh.
Emily watched them all; what hadn’t been said seemed to be more important at that moment than what had been said. She didn't like how Jacob shifted in his seat with a disappointed face after he glanced at Caesar and Mike. Both of whom could burst out laughing any second from the way they looked. Emily suspected they weren't just because she was there.
She didn't know why, but she felt a little protective of Jacob. She looked at Caesar, and admonished, “You big strong men love to make fun of Jacob, but when you were bleeding in Afghanistan, who have you all turned to? Your medic!. Which is who?” Emily pointed the remote at the TV and paused the show. Now all eyes were on her.
“Let's get something straight, 'My Lord'.” Emily looked at Noah for support which made him smile. Her man gave her a nod that was a license to let her say whatever was on her mind. She looked back at Caesar. “How about from here on we stop making fun of anyone who's gay? How about we all be a little mature and not like some wing-nuts or children? Everyone here is in their 20s at least, right? So let's all act it. Let's act like we all have a college education.”
Caesar cleared his throat, which made Emily and the others focus on him. “Emily... all of us here are fine with homosexuals. But like Eddie Murphy says later in this video: you can hang out with gay people, you can play tennis with them too, but it’s just that...”
Joshua held his hand over his eyes and started laughing. Mike quickly followed. That is, until he looked over to the love seat at Emily, who was staring right at him. He quickly changed his facial expression. It was obviously an inside joke that Emily wasn't privy to.
Caesar, who was cut off in mid-sentence, looked straight at Emily. “It’s just that... after you play tennis, when you say you're going to go have a beer, your gay friend might say ‘I'm going to go suck someone's dick’.”
Joshua couldn't stop laughing now. He didn't make eye contact with Emily though, instead laughing into his hand as he faced his lap.
Mike's laugh was almost contagious. Even Jacob, who was sitting next to Emily, started laughing. He was joined by Charlotte as she came into the room and stood next to Noah.
“What's so funny?” Charlotte asked.
Caesar was holding his own laughter in, but his face gave it away. He was almost on the verge of tears.
Emily looked up at Charlotte and explained, “It's just a bunch of guys quoting an Eddie Murphy joke, making Jacob feel uncomfortable.” Emily was the one person in the room now other than Noah who was not smiling or l
aughing in some way. Noah himself looked like he was fighting a smile.
“Sounds normal to me.” Charlotte said before walking to the refrigerator. She opened the door. “Caesar, leave the man alone already. Who wants a Coke?”
“I find it interesting that the people who make fun of homosexuals the most, often tend to be latent homosexuals themselves, repressed in their own minds.” Emily said as she looked at Caesar, who wiped his eyes with a napkin. Mike and Joshua started to compose themselves.
“Caesar, have you ever seen American Beauty? The movie?” Emily asked.
All went quiet in the room. Caesar replied, “I haven't. Is there a lot of fudge-packin' in it?”
Mike laughed hard and got up off of the sofa. “I'll be right back. I need to visit the men's room.” He walked out past them all. A slight scent of weed followed him. Joshua looked at Em and couldn't stop himself from laughing.
Maybe it was the tension. Maybe it was the fact that here in this safe house they could all be themselves. Or maybe it was just because Joshua smoked up with Mike and Caesar. Emily was no stranger to marijuana and knew how stupid and silly you could get. Outside, they had to be disguised, move around mostly at night, and keep to themselves. So in private, they needed a little tension relief, and laughing at each other’s expense seemed to help them all.
Emily was starting to understand this. There is an old saying that goes ‘If your friends don't make fun of you, they're really not your friends’. Em knew there was some truth in that, although she still didn't agree with how they made fun of Jacob.
“You really should watch it. There is a Marine father who constantly attacked anyone that wasn't like him. Homosexuals as well. The funny thing about the movie is that the most well-adjusted people in it are the gay couple next door,” Emily said.
Mike walked back in and sat back down.
Caesar stood up, wiped his eyes some more and said “I have to go outside for a smoke. You guys come with me.” Joshua and Mike got up as well, and the three started to walk toward the door. Caesar turned and said, “Honestly Emily, that American Beauty movie doesn't sound very appealing to me. I'm going to go get some beer at that corner store with Josh and Mike after my smoke. Anyone here want anything?”