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We had just gotten a call from Kevin’s Autos, a business that was managed by one of our people. Kevin and his sons had been wonderful family members for years, always keeping up with demands and doing well. He had shown up to the meeting, and now he was being attacked by unknown gunmen. We arrived just in time, seeing the attackers' vehicle still parked outside of the auto store. Kevin had called, telling us that he had barricaded himself and his sons inside as they had run out of ammunition. They could not fight back anymore.
“Leonardo, south side! Benny, you’re with me,” I began, speaking in low hushed tones and getting them to spread around the building. “Kevin is locked in the safe room at the back, and we need to get to him. If anyone else is in the building, we take them out.”
The men nodded and we rushed into the building. The lights above flickered as we noticed that the store was a mess. Vasquez's men did not just attack them, they trashed the building as much as they could, destroying everything they touched. I moved with my gun out in front of me, keeping my head on a swivel as I listened for the sound of others in the building.
Benny tapped my shoulder and pointed above, a sign that he had heard something upstairs above us. I nodded and we headed for the stairs, moving slowly as we approached it. At the top of the stairs was a door that I remembered from when I had come down to Kevin’s place to get one of our vehicles fixed. It was a roof access door; Kevin liked to go up there at night and grab a few drinks, while looking at the stars until he fell asleep.
If the men were on the roof, it meant that they were leaving. I kicked down the door and spun my gun around, clearing the perimeter first. There were no signs of anyone there. But then a man behind Benny pointed out the hook on the floor. I looked down at it and noticed that the men were lowering themselves down to the ground with a piece of rope which they had tied to a hook. We rushed to the ledge of the building and aimed down at the men who were now rushing back to their car.
“Fire!” I yelled, pulling the trigger at the men.
My first shot hit a man across the back of the arm, and he fell to the floor. The lights of their van blinded us temporarily. I ducked instantly, and so did Benny. The sound of their return shots reached us, hitting the wall that separated us from their line of sight. The engine revved and I peeked out to see them all rush back into the vehicle. I aimed at where I expected the driver to be and fired.
The yell over the engine's sound told me that I had hit something. I aimed again to fire but realized that one of the men had leaned out of the window. In his hand was a Molotov that had been ignited. I fired first, but it was too late. The bottle shattered a window on the side of the building and broke inside of the store. My shot hit the man right in the heart, and he was pulled back into the car. I was sure he was dead, but now there was a raging fire burning underneath us.
“We can’t leave back that way!” Benny yelled at me as he looked through the door to the stairs we had just come up through. He coughed as the smoke began rising out of it.
“Everyone, head down the rope. Now!” I ordered, and the three men with me reached for the rope that Vasquez’s men had used to escape.
Benny looked at me, worried. “Go first, we need you.”
“We haven’t found Kevin and his kids. I’ll go down there to confirm they're okay, you make sure the rest of the men come down safely.”
“We have men there checking for him!” Benny yelled as the sound of the flame began reaching us. The floor underneath our feet had begun to get warm.
“I don’t know if they made it out or if they are still in there, and this is the only way to make sure. Now go!” I yelled back.
I turned to the fire and took off my jacket, pulled in deep breaths and jumped right through the flames. I moved quickly, knowing I had less than a minute before I would succumb to the heat and smoke. I checked the rooms quickly, kicking down the doors, not touching anything, knowing that most things would be on fire.
I opened a door and found a boy on the floor, passed out. It was a utility closet and he had hidden there. I tapped him, and got no response, then I heaved him over my shoulders and began rushing for the exit. The weight of his body, and the desire to breathe caused me to feel extremely exhausted, but I pushed through, getting out of the front door and putting him down on the floor at a safe distance from the raging building.
“Angelo!” Benny yelled, helping me take the boy down.
I looked around at all the people who had come out, and counted only three men, including the boy that I had just brought out. “Kevin has three sons! Where is the third?” I asked, looking around at everyone, only to be met with questioning stares. No one had found him.
I turned and ran back out of the building, just as the gas in the back exploded. The flames roared and the windows shattered. I stopped, knowing that anyone still in the building after that was certainly dead. The sound of ambulances and the firetruck reached my ears, and behind me, Kevin coughed and sputtered, waking up.
* * *
I walked out of the loft, knowing that I had important business to attend to. The war had begun, and life was about to get a lot more difficult. I had known that living as a Mafia boss came with its own struggles, I had watched my father face them every day. But a turf war was something that he only experienced towards the end of his life, and I had no idea how to deal with any of that.
Denzel, the youngest of Kevin’s children, had died in the fire that had burned down his shop. He was not the only business that had been hit last night. A motel and two bars, which were under our protection, were robbed and destroyed; however, Kevin was hit the hardest, with nothing left of the building by the time the fire service were done putting out the fire. Vasquez no longer cared about consequence. He wanted results, and he knew that his way was the fastest way to get the results he wanted. If I continued to let him do this, he would have exactly what he planned.
I got in the car with Benny and looked up at the man in the rearview mirror. His eyes held resentment for me, and I knew he was still annoyed at how I was handling the whole thing. I would not deal with him, I had other matters which needed my attention. I pulled out my phone and called Antonio, trying to find out where he was. He declined the call and texted me, telling me that he was at a musical downtown, and they were at the final moments. I turned to Benny and gave him the directions.
“I think we should be considering bringing Leonardo back. Maybe going alone wasn’t the best idea on our part.” Benny began.
“You don’t think anything I have done since Maria got here is a good move, save it, Benny.”
“No really, Angelo.” Benny looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Leonardo can take care of himself, but do you really think he alone can end this?”
“Vasquez would kill me in an instant, but if Leonardo could convince him to come to a parley, then maybe we could have some sort of truce. No one else would have to die for this.”
“But someonedoeshave to die Angelo!” Benny yelled, swerving the car to the left, “Your father is dead, and you and I know very well who had a hand in it. Because of this, our brothers and family members are dead, and you keep trying to be the pacifist. You keep trying to react instead of act. More than anyone, you know that Vasquez is beyond the point of saving, there is nothing in that man that can be redeemed, and yet you keep trying to be the bigger man? To what fucking end Angelo? What?”
“You better watch your tone when you talk to me!” I yelled back at Benny, infuriated by the man.
“Look, I’m not like everyone else, and I know who you are. I know who you were before you became the boss, and before you even properly joined the mafia. I have known you all my life, and I know that this isn’t you. So do the fuck away with it and do what needs to be done!”
