AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We need to meet. You and me, at the docks.”
“Why?” he asked, with his usually positive tone.
“Because this has to stop Vasquez. Ten o’clock, be there. Let’s get this over with.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then the next time you see me, it will be at your door, and there will be no way out. This is the last chance we have to stop this madness before it’s too late, so you better be there.”
“You know I might have to check my schedule, but I think I can carve out some time for using between burning down a barbershop and a mall... on this PlayStation. Have you tried Grand Theft Auto on this thing? The graphics are insane!”
I ended the call.
I spent the rest of the evening moving across the city, checking in on all the businesses that had been selling their assets off as we headed towards the docks. It was an area of the city that neither side had control over. That spot belonged to no one, and both groups were allowed to conduct business there.
The docks were foggy, and with only a few streetlights lighting up the spot where we were to meet, it looked like a still out of a horror movie. I arrived with my men first. I positioned a man on the rooftop of a building on our side, looking over at us with a sniper rifle. It was hard to see through the fog, but I did what I could, calling out whatever information I could from my vantage point. Then Vasquez and his men arrived. Three vehicles, each of them packed to maximum capacity. They all stepped out and walked up to me, waiting for their boss to step out of the vehicle.
Vasquez came out last, his white suit glaring against the fog, with a fedora on his head and a cane in his hand; he looked like a mafia boss from a children’s story. I folded my fists in rage as I felt my hands threaten to pull the gun from the holster at my hip and shoot him in the face. But in these kinds of situations, all it took was one shot for it to deluge into madness and death. I kept my cool until he was close enough to hear me.
“Angelo! Crazy for you to think that you can simply threaten me and have me come out here, in the middle of the night on a whim, eh? Who the hell do you think you are,boy?” Vasquez began, spinning the gold-tipped cane in his hand. “You think you rule this city, and you can do what you please without consequ-”
“Enough!” I yelled, tired of his games. “My people are dead because of the games you’re playing, Vasquez. The cops are at a breaking point, and if you keep doing as you’ve done, sending your men to do these things, there won’t be anything left of the mafia for you to take over.”
“Sorry, boy. Whatever do you mean? Sending my men to do what, exactly?” Vasquez asked, playing the fool.
“Come on, you know what I am talking about, and for the sake of both of our families, let’s end it here. This war will take us both out before anyone can be declared a winner. It goes against everything that we believe in as a family.” I said, the words coming from a place of passion and concern in equal measure. “If you don’t stop, then all we’ll have left will be death on both sides, and you don’t want that. You know you don’t, not really.”
“Let me get this straight. Are you accusing me of all these unfortunate crimes I hear have been plaguing your turf? Do you dare insinuate that my men-”
“Get out with it, Vasquez! The time for games is done. People aredead. The cops are on your heels; if we are going to end this, we do it now. Let's talk, find a way to bury the hatchet and move on. What is it going to take for this to end?” I asked, running a hand through my hair, already frustrated by his behavior.
Vasquez smiled and looked back at his men, “Angelo, since the first time we met as leaders of our families, I told you what that I wanted: I want your turf,allof it. You’re not fit to lead. You are a kid, given an empire that you have no idea how to run. A boy, playing at being a man. And I want to take it away from you before you crash and burn.”
I shook my head. “I’m not the man you think I am, Vasquez. My father raised me for this. He trusted me enough to run this family, to protect it. I will never throw that away.”
“Well, therein lies our problem. See, I have big plans for this city, and you’re standing in my way. I could be making three times what I do now if I had your control of your territory. I could make this city a nirvana for everyone who worked under me. And here you are, a thorn in my side, just suckling away at all of my wealth. I fucking hate it.”
“How about you tell me what you have planned, and maybe we can work together. Come to a compromise, like the good old days, where thingsworked,” I replied.
“And then what? Split the profits with you? Sorry kid, that’s not how I work. I get rid of the competition, and right now, that competition is you.”
I turned away from him, holding back the rage that was brimming inside me. “Vasquez, you aren’t giving me a lot of options here.”
“You don’t need options, kid. Give your part of the city to me, and all of this goes away. Hell, I’ll make you an honorary member of my family because I just care that much about you. What do you say? Let’s make it end.”
I turned away from him and began walking towards the car, then I stopped and looked over my shoulder, “The next time we see you, Vasquez, I’ll be coming to kill you.”
“Why wait until then?” Vasquez asked with a smile. I noticed the man directly behind him raise his gun to fire, and I ducked low, getting out of the way as he fired the first shot.
Then the madness fell upon us. Both sides began shooting, and I looked back to see that Vasquez had disappeared into a thick veil of smoke and fog. I pulled out my gun and jumped over the side of the dock into the small wooden raft which I had noticed there earlier. I pushed it off the wall and glided across the water silently, crossing the gunfire until I had looped around the water and arrived behind Vasquez’s men.
I jumped out and spotted Vasquez in the back of a vehicle as he began to drive away. I raised my gun and fired twice, shooting the windshield and shattering it into pieces. The vehicle swerved to the side, trying to avoid my shots.
I turned around as the car got away, still hearing gunfire rain down behind me. The vehicles were all pulling away, and my men pushed back against them. Vasquez’s men were retreating, and we were on the attack. I waved down my men, stopping them from continuing the chase in our own vehicles. There was no point in starting a street shootout with them when they had already declared war. We would have to take care of them in a more secure environment, where everything could be cleaned up afterward.
I heard a shot go off and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back. Looking down at my stomach, I realized that bullet had struck me through the stomach too, and I was bleeding profusely. I turned around to see that Vasquez had gotten out of his car, doubled back, and had shot me. I raised my gun, looking to fire, but I was too weak. The gun fell out of my hands and the world in front of my eyes swayed suddenly. I looked down at my hands, seeing the red of my blood pool across my body. It was the same color as Maria’s hair.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
