Gangsters Revised-1 (2)Revised

8/14/2019 Gangsters Revised-1 (2)Revised

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THE APOCALYPSE OF GANGSTERS: THE BEGINNING.

CHAPTER ONE:

187th East Street, The Bronx in New York City stank of urine and had vermin

everywhere on the night of 23rd of July 2009. Its neighbourhood and everything with itseemed still- at least so did one particular man on that street assumed. The personspresence around such area of a slump was about to fulfill itself and nothing was going tostop him. The smell of the street didnt seem to bother him or the victim whom he had agun to his face. This victims face was disfigured and smeared with blood because histormentor had whacked his face with a baseball bat. The kid begged for mercy, his kneeson the ground as his tormentor began to slowly cork the safety of his gun. The 17-year

kid had been peddling with both cocaine and heroine, substances that he had beensecretly siphoning from his tormentors boss and selling freely on the streets of his homestate, Wisconsin, to gang bangers for the last 3 months. It was the reason why histormentor had a piece in his face.

Look! I swear to God!, the kid said out in great pain. I dont know where the rest ofmy gang members are! I am just a messenger that was sent here to deliver narcotic drugsto some Mr. Biggs! Thats all! I swear thats all! Please, dont kill me, please dont(BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!). His assassin had shot him without missing the victimscranium box. The kids body sprawled immediately to the concrete floor after the impact;his eyes glazed white, pupils shifted inside the back of head. He was now a wasted

organic matter, another dead corpse that was beginning to get soaked in his pool of blood.

His killer had not given him a chance and there was no point of him doing so. He hadbeen instructed by his boss to follow command- no questions asked. His superior hadgiven him no chance in hell of him raising any questions about his assignment regardingthe black kid.His objective was to make sure that the kid was terminated tonight. Therewas someone not to far off watching the whole incident and the post-horrific eventsshowed that the onlooker was now smiling, prettily satisfied with what had just occurred.This spy took a moments pause, smelt the strong, polluted wind air, dipped his left handinto the left side pocket of his black cashmere jacket and brought out a GOLD COIN.

Chirping sounds of pigeons on the rooftops and as well as in the top corners of theneighbourhood estate building was beginning to awake some residents and one particularresident was really beginning to lose his cool over the blade cutting noise of these grey-ash birds. This particular resident was occupying the third floor. He started swearing andkept on for e few moments, the onlooker observed. The onlooker had more interest in hisGOLD coin and was busy fiddling with it over the whole of his left fingers. Few secondslater, his Motorola phone in his inner pocket began to buzz. He quickly reached for it.Ithad to be the boss, he pondered. He stared at the blue-lit LCD screen of his phone for a


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moment and his guess was right.

Yes, Boss, he answered under a clear rough voice that echoed out of his big andpowerful built frame into the atmosphere."Is it done?"the voice at the other end of the phone enquired.

Clean as a whistle, Boss. Should I bury the body or report?" Report."Right away, Boss. And the phone line at the other end went dead.

"Okay, Boss", he unconsciously spilled out those words in a rather quiet tone and beganto walk away from the scene. Having taken a few steps away from the premises, hesuddenly came to a halt.He had suddenly realized that he was meant to do something. Heretracted his steps back to where he had been standing, the spot where he had beenwatching the killing of the lad and once he had gotten there, he carefully peeked to see ifthe killer was still there.He had gone. No-one was around the dead body , he observed.

The left side of the onlooker's face was against the edge of the brick wall of a laundry

store- a store that stood directly opposite to the estate block building, in which a residenthad earlier cursed out openly over the noise of the pigeons. Taking a look around hispremises, it was all clear and still to him. He began to walk towards the dead corpse. Hehad to leave the GOLD coin on the chest of the body before the cops arrive. He wasn'tworried about the neighbourhood because he knew the area too well to know that whatusually happens whenever the neighbours heard a gunshot go off. He very well knew thatresidents did either one of two things whenever they heard a gunshot go off and that wasthey could either continue to sleep or just continue whatever the hell they were initiallydoing.

As he came closer, he began to feel pleased within himself and once he had finally got tothe body, he looked around for a brief moment.Nothing. Good. Finally, he focused hiseyes over the dead kid. Hmmn! he exclaimed. You stupid kid! he said out quietly.Smuggling my boss's heroine for petty cash and look at you now, huh! He splat at theyoung man's face and immediately tossed the gold coin on the dead body. It landed rightat the centre of his chest. Good riddance, you fucking thief! he said and turned aroundto leave only to find out he wasnt alone. Someone has suddenly appeared and he washolding a Beretta. This gunman pulled the trigger just once and got the onlooker right inthe chest. Immediately, the onlooker fell to the ground and began to scream out in painand he looked very surprised from what the triggerman observed.

Another shot went off and it was very loud. The shooter had got the onlooker on thekneecap this time and his blood was beginning to soaked all over his clothes. He wasbleed profusely. He gave out another shrill sound and was whining and mumbling upcertain unclear sounds to the delight of his unknown marksman. He was really hurt andcould barely move. He tried to get his gun out from the left pocket of his blazer pants butbefore he could do so, his assailant shot him a third time. This time, the killer had got himon the right foot of his second leg. Shortly after he had shot him, the unknown marksmancame closer to stare at his victims foot-the spot where he had got him. The reason was


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because he could see something oozing out of his foot under the badly lit area. Bendingover to have a closer look, he realized it was just the steam of the fired hollow bullets ofhis Beretta gun. Seeing that was the case, the unknown hit man began to feel a bit ofsatisfaction as he wore up a devious grin over his face. This time, after he had been shotagain, he decided to remain still and bear the agonizing pain, which was beginning to

make his whole body feel numb. He had given up struggling and as he lay down flat onthe asphalt floor, he began to pray. His senses were slowly beginning to flaccid. Hecouldn't move both of his legs and the numbness of his second leg began to twitch.

He tried to make a mental picture of what his killer looked like in the badly lit street,which was famous for it's delis, Italian restaurants and bakeries and wasn't far off fromArthur Avenue. The unknown killer bent over, without going down on his knees, grippedtight of the hair of his victim's head and roughly tilted his head towards himself. Hewanted his victim to have a closer look at him. Irrespective of the pains he was feeling,Giovanni Rizzo managed to run his left hand over the unknown man's face and felt

something fluffy.He was wearing a hood.

The unknown man with the gun equally knew these parts of this neighbourhood like hisvictim. Enough to know that the sounds of gunshots around here resonances like crackersto the residents around here and since such conception bored intact in his mind, hedecided to spent some time toying with his victim. He pulled out a pack ofCosmocigarettes from the inner top, left hand breast pocket of his Armani suit and offeredGiovanni Rizzo a cigarette.Have a cigarette, Giovanni Rizzo because from the looks of it, you could do with a

smoke.Giovanni tried to utter something but was weak on the lips. Streaks of sweat were mistingup around his forehead and his face was beginning to look pale. He struggled to get theciggie from the unknown marksman and eventually succeeded in getting it. Afterwards,he looked straight into the eyes of his tormentor and asked bravely: " Do you have alighter?"

You want a light? the unknown man enquired."Yes", replied Giovanni, who was nearing his death." Pleease, could...Cou,Could you give me a light. I am feeling a bit numb."

Sure, I can! exclaimed the marksman. But first of all, I need you to answer thisquestion for me? The strong accent of the marksman sounded Italian-American as theway he stressed the "R"vowel in certain words sounded fairly melodic. He certainly hadthe accent that told Giovannis instincts that he was either born here or had been livinghere most parts of his life." Why dont you just kill me rather.... Rather than asking me any questions... Giovannicut short. " QUESTIONS, he continued painfully. .....BECAUSE.... I CAN'T BRINGSHAME UPON MYSELF BY SLIPPING OUT INFORMATION CONCERNINGMY...CONCERNING MY BOSS", Giovanni Rizzo suddenly increased the tone of hisspeech as he struggled hard to breathe. The marksman looked sternly at his victim andsuddenly, a rush of hot blood ran through him after listening to what this barely alive anddying man had to say. Okay. Have it your way, the killer said. However, am still


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going to ask you my question whether you like to hear it or not", said the marksman.Now, do you remember what happened in Palermo in 1985, when your subordinateskilled some Sister Albertina De Luca and an Englishman named Thomas Brown?

Giovanni was gradually losing his senses however, he was still breathing and he could

remember what went down in 1985. He and his gang had arranged with their boss to getrid of a thorn known as Sister Albertina De Luca and had, by accident, equally killedsome fellow known as Thomas Brown, who was close to the scene.We didn't expect anyone else to..... To....Be around! Giovanni exclaimed scarily.Well, thanks for your co-operation, replied the marksman and soon, he straighten

himself up.Once he was done, he pointed his Beretta at Giovanni's head and said: Vedali nell'

Inferno!"No!"

It was too late. The hit man had pulled the trigger twice and immediately, he blew out thehot stream of smoke that oozed out of his gun. In a split of a second afterwards, he

hurriedly dragged Giovanni Rizzo's body towards his maroon Cardillac car that wasparked around the corner of Hughes Avenue.

Dragging his body wasn't going to help, he thought. It was certainly going to weigh himdown and interrupt the timing of his next plan so he decided to carry the dead body overhis shoulders instead. Giovanni Rizzos body was quite heavy for him and was alreadydrenched all over in his blood even before he shot him. Panting softly in short, regularperiods, he hurriedly carried the body along the concrete path of the street kerb which ledto his destination. One thing for sure, justice had been done and he was glad that he hadbeen the only one to fulfill such obligation- not his cousin, James Alonzo or anyone else.He had waited a very long time for the moment to be right and tonight was the day of

reckoning. A day for the wicked to pay back what was and had been taken from him.

Twenty-four years ago, Joe Mancini, who was then a kid, had learnt of his foster father'sdeath and as well as Sister Albertina De Lucas. He had learnt how his foster fatherstormentors had shown no mercy on him. How they had killed him brutally on a street andhe had promised, someday, that he would avenge after his death. Since he passed over, hehad been traumatized over the hurts, pains and stigmas for that length of time. He hadbeen affected by it both emotionally and psychologically and for the last four years, hadbeen planning on how to get rid of the Rossi family who were sole responsible for thedeath of his foster father. He had been doing so ever since he had been welcomed intotheir household and had become part of them for the last four years.

Moving as fast as he could, all of a sudden, he could hear the sound of police cars behindhim gradually coming close to the spot where he had just left- the spot where he had justkilled Giovanni Rizzo a few moments ago. They must have been alerted by someone inor around the neigbhourhood, Joe Mancini concluded. He wondered if his past instinctsand experiences were playing tricks on him.He knew very well in the past that cops


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never turned up almost immediately after a shot had gone off or even if a murder had justtaken place around these parts of this neigbhourhood. Normally in the past, it took until

the morning before the police found out a murder around here because everyone living in

this neighbourhood usually and always ignored such murder incidents- as if it never

happened or it wasn't there.

The sirens were blaring at their maximum and it was beginning to get into JoeMancinis nerves, making him cranky and suddenly upset. Getting to his car, he had notime to place the body inside the trunk. Opening one of the back passenger doors of hiscar, he quickly dropped the body on the passenger seat and skidded off. As he drove at55miles per hour, swerving left and right, passing arrays of fuming cars, he started tothink of how to get rid of his car once he had drop off the body into the Harlem River.Normally, in the past, Joe Mancini maintained composure after whacking someone butthis one felt different, like an exemption was suddenly overwhelming his thoughts aboutit. Why all of a sudden was he panting and checking his rear mirror intermittently todetect if anyone was following him?

I can do this, he quietly said out to himself. I have gotten away with things like thisbefore and I can still do it again. C'mon! Get your shit together! he suddenlyexclaimed while simultaneously stroked the steering wheel of his car with his left hand.I am Joe Mancini, remember! The bulldog for life! Soon after talking to himself in astate of delirium, the phone on his passenger seat began to ring. He quickly reached for itas if he had been waiting all this while for it to ring. He pressed on the answer button andresponded."Where have been, honey?"It was his other half.Baby, I can't talk right this minute. I will call you when I get the chance, okay.

"You are always saying that! You are never at home whenever I return from work and Iam always the one that calls you to find out where you are! I am really getting fucking

tire...."

He immediately switched off the phone in annoyance and quickly flung it behind him.Shit, Woman! he cursed out. You certainly don't want me to lose my temper with youon the phone while driving at the same time! He heaved deeply and cursed out againusing the F word.

As he reflected over matters of his heart and mind regarding the events that had occurredbetween himself and his girlfriend over the last few days, his girl had been messing withhis head over her wanting to have a baby and at the moment, he wasn't ready to shouldersuch responsibility. After making a turn at the East 167th street into the next avenue, JoeMancini was almost getting close to the Harlem River. So far, he has been driving for thelast 10 minutes.THANK GOD! he suddenly exclaimed in a rather loud tone. As he turned left into

River Avenue, to his observation, the street was very pitch black and it seemed there wasno life around. Though there was a strip of houses on either sides of the street, it wascompletely dead silent. The air was begun to get cold as it chilled through Joe Mancini'sbody, making his skin crawl. He knew for a fact that it was because the Harlem River


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wasn't too far off from his present point and most importantly because he could hear thehumming sounds of the not-too-faraway ships.

The sound of crickets chirping noisily and mosquitoes buzzing off quietly distracted Joefor a minute or two before he finally came to a halt. He parked some place not too far off

from the river because he didn't want any suspicious character lurking around his wayand most importantly, he didn't want anyone to have or get a clear description of his car.He had to quickly throw away the body over the Malcombs Dam Bridge that overlookedthe river and he had to do itfast. Carrying Giovanni Rizzo's body was going to joggle hisnerves once more and make him pant a great deal. He began to dread such feeling anddidnt want to know how it will turn out. Anyway, he had to do it. As he quickly openedthe passenger door, he grabbed both hands of the corpse and quickly placed them closelyand tightly over his shoulders.Just a few inches away and my work would be done- atleast for now.

As he dragged the body, his mind suddenly raced off to the thoughts of his late foster

father. How he missed him so much. At the age of 37, nothing in this world meant muchto him than his late guardian and as he once again began reflecting over the past hurts andpains, he suddenly began to feel emotionally weak in the pit of his stomach. Even thoughit had been 24 years since his guardian passed away, he was still very angry. Angry insideas a result of all the lies that he had been told by his so-called boss- the one he knew asMR. BIGGS.

His guardian was 39 years old when he arrived into Sicily around the autumn of 1984,settling in Palermo. He had originally come from the United Kingdom and after hisparents passed away, he left everything behind: his job as an electrician, his divorce, ex-wife and his two unmarried sisters, Alice and Ellen. He came to Sicily to start life all overagain. He wanted to get away from all the pain that he had left behind- the pangs of painsof distrust from his wife who had cheated on him for another man who had a great deal ofwealth and prestige, the pain that had stirred up as a result of his late parents unfairproportion and transfer of their willed assets to him and finally, his life style back in theUnited Kingdom. Though his guardian never really spoke much to him about his family,he sometimes spoke to him about his wife and the reason why he oftentimes told himabout his wife was to regularly advice him about women. Joe Mancini could recall howon many occasions his guardian referred them as vipers with different shades ofdaily colourful moods.

After he had arrived and had been staying in Palermo for only three weeks, his guardianluckily started his first and most desired job: vine farming. A certain catholic nun knownas Christina Bella of the Children Foster Care Home in Via Principe di Belmonte hadintroduced him to Sister Albertina De Luca at the St. John The Hermit monastery. Hisguardian had told him that Sister Albertina De Luca had informed Sister Christina Bella afew weeks before his arrival into the country that she was in need of a vine-worker andfarmer. Once Sister Albertina De Luca had reviewed his skills by way of carrying out


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certain on-the-job observances on the vine fields, she gladly gave him the job. It wasthis same Christina Bella who had equally introduced him to my cousin, James Alonzoand me by the time he had finally settled down. The reason why he had visited the fostercare home was because he was seeking for two less fortunate kids, preferably sons, inorder to take care of them and thats how James and I got selected from the group of nine

kids, a total of three boys and six girls.

He was certainly a good man, Joe Mancini reflected. Justice had been served and onceagain, he was glad he was the one who finally succeeded in avenging after his late fosterfathers death. "Well, Mr. Rossi. I guess you now know what it feels to be dead, you sonof bitch", he said out quietly to himself. "And Mr. Giovanni Rizzo would be joining youtonight and he certainly would be sleeping with the fishes." As he walked closer to thebridge, he sensed that everything had turned out well as he had planned and he wasbeginning to feel proud of himself. "Yeah, I am the bulldog. Anyone who tries to getcocky with me faces the brutality of my Beretta." A total of 5minutes was all it took for

him to get to the deck of the bridge. It was 3.30am in the morning and the roadway of thebridge was virtually clear and looking below the substructure of the bridge, Joe Mancininoticed it was equally clear too, without a single ship or boat close by. For the only boatshe could see were about 30 yards out away from the bridge, westward from his point ofdirection.

He then began to lift the body and he felt the body had really gone cold stiff. The ledgeof the bridge was low so it wasn't going to be difficult now for him to just make one lastlift and it will all be over. It was done. The body whistled down very quickly into theriver and sunk below for a few minutes before it reappeared to the surface and wassteadily washed away in the torrent.

" Good riddance", Joe Mancini said as the body faded away in the flowing river and hequickly darted back to his car in a flash. Next task: TO GET RID OF THE CARDILLAC.

CHAPTER TWO:

Before dumping the body, Joe Mancini had taken Giovanni Rizzo's wallet and hadfound three credit cards: one belonging to CITIGROUP, the second, MBNA and finally,the third, BANK OF AMERICA. He also had retrieved a picture of some young lady andwondered who she might be. Could she be his daughter, friend, mistress or maybe his

sister? Regardless of his asking himself these questions, he knew very well that gettinginto such of an indulgence of identity solving was unduly uncalled for and just didnthave any significance in finding Giovanni Rizzos home address since, not so long ago,he had killed the owner of such picture that was now in his possession. He grimaced hisface as he held tightly to the photograph between the tips of his forefinger and thumb ofhis right hand because he was beginning to feel some guilt for what he had done toGiovanni Rizzo. His belly began to twitch as a result of his present countenance and forthe next few moments, he became partially submerged in all what he had gone through in


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order to get close to all the enemies of his late guardian. In his thoughts, it was badexperience to describe.

In a total of over six minutes, Joe Mancini finally snapped out of his current thoughtsand reverted back to focusing his drive on the wet road. The weather was so cold and

chilly and soon enough, it began to make him feel cranky. He tried to shake himself outof his misery by taking another look at the photograph of the young lady and finallysucceeded with ease only after a few seconds had flown by. Before his staring browneyes, she looked very lovely: with very long black hair pulled back and knotted close tothe back of her head and such full supple, cherry lips that looked like red strawberry andteeth that seemed to sparkle in the picture. Even in his car.

As he drove past the set of traffic lights on East 179th Street, he quickly shoved thephotograph of the young lady from his right hand to his left hand, which he had placedover the rim of the rubber steering wheel ever since he got into his car- precisely betweenhis forefinger and middle finger. He wanted to do another check over the remaining

contents of the wallet and wanted to do it very quickly. In a jet, he began to pull outeverything from the sheaths of the leather wallet: from little scraps of paper, plastic cardsto even a few paper clips, hoping to find something relating to Giovanni Rizzos address.

Tracking Giovanni Rizzos movements for the past nine months for the purpose ofwanting to kill him for the death of his guardian, Thomas Brown had been one hell of atask, the result of which had led to nothing useful. During that length of period, JoeMancini noticed that most of the time, Giovanni Rizzo was taking tremendous trips out ofNew York to Las Vegas. Being the chief lieutenant of his boss, Giovanni Rizzosresponsibilities were varied, one of which involved the duty of picking up the cash loadsof profit made twice every month from various sources such as his bosss three maincasinos, several bookies to various softies-man or woman-who, if he or she didnt pay upthe money suffered the fatal or brutal consequences of either getting whacked or killed.

Unconsciously, a sudden spark ignited in his present state of mind and within a shortwhile, he slowly began to digress from his ponders of Giovanni Rizzo to the state of themess behind his driver seat. Obviously, behind the back of his mind, he knew that therewas a pool of blood settled on the passenger seat however he was very much aware thathe just couldnt of all sudden make a stop to clean it up. His mind raced like a ping-pongball. Then all of a sudden it hit him. Damn! he cursed out in a rather loud tone. Whydidnt he think of this all this while, he continued to speak to himself in the same fashionof pitch. I could just blaze up my car in flames at a junkyard! That's it! No other betterplace in the Bronx to conceal the car than a junkyard. Fantastic! That's just perfect!Immediately afterwards, he stopped talking and retrospect back to his driving.

So far since he left the Malcombs Bridge, he had been on the road for less than5minutes and was just beginning to come to a traffic stoplight at 177 th East Street.THE LIGHTS ARE ON RED! he exclaimed out loudly to himself. QUICKLY, GET


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ANYTHING FROM GIOVANNI'S WALLET THAT SHOWS HIS ADDRESS! IREALLY NEED IT! He was beginning to get a hysterical fit. He knew GiovanniRizzos boss had called him earlier to find out what went down with the black kid and ifhe didnt hear from him in the next few minutes, he certainly would call back again tofind out about his whereabouts and he just didnt want that to happen.

He quickly rushed his fingers into the wallet to see if there was anything else he couldfind. Nothing. Then finally, out of instinct, he hurriedly turned the photograph over andlow and behold, the address of Giovanni Rizzo was boldly written in the following print:" TO MY DEAR DAUGTHER, BERTHA RIZZO. IF YOU EVER WANT TO WRITETO ME OR WOULD LIKE TO PAY A VISIT, THIS IS MY ADDRESS: 185TH EASTSTREET, CAMBRELENG AVENUE, 10447, 7TH FLOOR, APARTMENT 707.YOURLOVING FATHER, GIOVANNI RIZZO."

What do you know, he excitedly said out to himself as he began to smile, revealing abit of his white teeth. I guess the odds are on my side today. Just thought of...

(Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!) Immediately, his reaction was instant and was one where hiseyes quickly darted to his rearview mirror and from his observation and assumption, thedriver behind the steering wheel looked like a modern hippie and appeared to be drunk.He had a well-rounded face, with a noticeable dimple on the chin and his nose wassteeply chiseled. The colour of his hair was very pitch black, with its ends intertwined toform a ponytail. Having spent a good few seconds staring at the driver, he slowly shiftedback to the set of traffic lights in front of him without any change in his facial expression.He noticed a green light flashing intermittently. He contorted his face in annoyance. Hecould now see why the driver of the Range Rover car behind him was honking.

He didn't expect the light to have turned green so soon but it did. Anyway, it didntmatter, he quietly said out to himself. All that matter now is to get going beforewhoever you are thats behind me lean on your tooter for a fifth time, he continued. Ashe began to step on the accelerator, something happened before he could move his car:the driver of Black Range Rover vehicle had overtaken him using the left side lane of thestreet road, swerved in front of him to have the right side of his car directly opposite hisCardillac car and had switched off the engine. Looking at the drivers face steadily toldhim he was mad and looked like he was about to make trouble.

Joe Mancini slowly released his right foot from the accelerator and quickly reached forhis gun in his right trouser pocket. He wasnt going to take any chances with whoeverthis driver was. If he wanted trouble, he certainly was going to give it to him. At thatmoment, in his mind, he thought that if there werent any other choice other than to killthis person, he would do so in order to save his life. Once he had had his gun out of hispocket, at the same time the front right side window of the Rover began to roll downremotely.

" ARE YOU DRUNK OR SOMETHING? yelled out the driver OR YOU ARE ALLJAGGING IT OFF IN THE CAR FORGETTING YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE


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ROAD! FAGGOT! Looking satisfied over what he had voiced out, he immediately spedoff in a jet, leaving behind a fog of smoke that had streamed out from the rubber surfacesof his car tyres. Before Joe knew it, the driver had taken the next turn to the right and lefthim all alone. I don't blame him, he pondered. Clearly, he knew he was in the wrong. Helooked around and once he was done, he slowly put back the gun into his right trouser

pocket, twisted the car keys to ignition and revved his car off in a dash. As Joe Mancinidrove to his destination, he wondered again for another few moments who really was thisGiovanni Rizzo's daughter. She looked like an angel from heaven, he reflected as hebegan to sniff his nose off the cold night air. He also wondered if she could be marriedbut he very much doubt that because Giovanni Rizzo had addressed her in the maidenname.

It was going to take him another 35-40minutues to get to Cambreleng Avenue and hewanted to get this job done as soon as possible so that he could return to his home to bewith his other half. In his mind, he wanted to have sex so bad he could barely taste it.After driving for less than 17minutes, he was just getting into Bassford Avenue and the

time now read 4.15am. Surprisingly to him, he wasn't feeling sleepy and in all fairness tohim, coupled with curiousity, he wondered why.

As he drove into 184th East Street, he noticed a patrol car parked very close to the kerb,a few yards away after the entry into the street. He looked at the car for a brief momentwithout taking note of who was in it or was around it and soon afterwards, refocusedback on his driving. He had better not look any further, he pondered. After passing thecar, he reached for his gear and gradually-with caution- upped his speed and once he hadsome breathing space away from it, he couldn't help but to have another look using hisrear mirror. Immediately, his glance caught something, which soon enough made hiseyebrows rise. He could see a man lying flat on the ground behind the police vehicle withan officer standing over him having a gun in his hand, his body slightly tilted forwardclose to the laid man.

What going on there? he quietly spoke out. What must have happened?, hecontinued. Ha! he exclaimed. Probably drunk or caught for cross dressing in one ofthe dark corners. Seems it isnt his night for. he suddenly cut short. Soon after he wasdone staring over what was happening, he looked away from the rear mirror andrefocused on his driving and after a few seconds had passed, something hit him in hismind. A sudden sad look crawled over his face. He had suddenly realized that he had topass through East 187th street as an enroute to Giovanni Rizzos place in case the streetwas still free to drive by. He shook his head continuously and slowly began to contort hisface. He was beginning to feel upset, with a small tint of fear gradually building up in thepit of his stomach.

Immediately, his mind thought about the kid. They must have found him, that's for surebut he knew that wasnt his cup of tea. If the kid was found, that wasnt his problem


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rather his problem was that in case there was a squad of police cars all swamped aroundthe crime scene where the black kid was killed by Giovanni Rizzo, will there be anyonewho would immediately spot him if he or she saw him passing by? Would anyone whowas earlier afraid to come out of his or her house when he or she saw him killingGiovanni Rizzo alert the police about him if they saw him around there? These questions

propelled through his mind. He knew he had to take his chances one way or the other andafter a few moments had elapsed, he came up with the decision that he would shootanyone that spotted him or drew the polices attention to him. He finally nodded his headas if to have agreed on what he would do if either of those incidences were to actuallysurface.

It took him another four minutes to finally get to the corner before 187th East Street andbefore his eyes, in clear view there it was- a large crowd of people had turned out of theirshells, settling at the entry point into the street with both ends of it been barricaded byyellow DO NOT WALK PASS THE CRIME SCENE tapes. There were lots of

WHITE AND BLUE STRIPED police cars in the street and it had been blocked out ofaccess. Also, a great flood of superimposition of mixed colours of yellow, red and whitelights had overwhelmed the asphalt floor of the street and commotion was everywhere. Inhis thoughts of confusion, he unconsciously switched off the engine of his car. His mindrattled for a way out of this circumstance and somehow, something quickly came to himwhile at the same time he was beginning to feel a surge of anxiety and intrepidation.There was another way out. Another route to get to Giovanni Rizzos place and all thiswhile he didnt think of it. Suddenly, he became furious with himself. Immediately, hequickly started the engine and reversed his car around the spot where he was zoomed off.He was returning back to 188th East Street. A new bridge had been constructed and it hadbeen excavated to interlink East 188th with three other streets: the 183rd, 184th and finally,185th. You knucklehead! he yelled out loudly to himself as he sped off in a zoom.

After driving passed the rail network bridge of Burke Avenue station in CambrelengAvenue and finally entering into East 185th street, Joe observed his territory. There werevarious narrow alleyways in the neighbourhood, exposed electric wires and telephonelines running across opposite ends of estate apartment buildings and it seemed that trashwas everywhere. The place was filthy and full of waste at every point and for a shortwhile, he wondered if this area was actually Giovanni Rizzo's neighbourhood. Suddenly,he looked at the time on his dashboard: it read 5.27am. Almost break of dawn, hepondered. Though the street was still quiet, he began to think if he could really pull thisoff. If really he could destroy Giovanni Rizzos place using the grenades he had broughtalong with him.

As he took his time trying to locate the building, he began to feel thirsty. His throat wasbeginning to feel parched and he equally began to feel a bit uncomfortable in his bottom.Quickly, he wound down the drivers side window to allow some air into the car andsoon after, he was refreshed and felt more composed. Locating Giovanni Rizzos addresswasn't difficult at all but once he got there, he felt some problem was about to reveal


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itself. Outside the building where he believed Giovannis apartment was located, he hadnoticed something that gradually began to bulge his stomach. He noticed that there werethree funny characters in black suit hanging around outside the apartments building andhe wondered if they were waiting for Giovanni Rizzo.

He drove the car passed them without taking another peek. Afterwards, he looked aroundto find out where he could park and in less than 15 seconds, he came to halt in front of aparked red Mazda 626 coupe, which was five blocks away from where the unknown menwere loitering. Once he had turned off the engine, he got out, looked around for a briefmoment to make sure no one wasnt spying on him and once he was satisfied, he headedon towards the block where the unknown men were loitering. As he walked on thepedestrian pavement, he could feel the chilly cold bite through his skin and it wasnt longbefore he started to reflect on how he wished he had some coffee and a few shots ofVodka to drink right this instant. He managed to quickly shake himself off such thoughtand it wasnt long his mind began to think again about the men outside the apartmentbuilding block in which he suspected to be where Giovannis apartment was located. He

had to avoid them one way or another. Probably the back of the apartment building willbe ideal, he said to himself. Probably there was an access from the back and after he hadspent a very short while contemplating over it, he decided to find out. The place was adump and stinking awfully and after careful observation, Joe Mancini wondered howsuch a reputable hit man like Giovanni Rizzo had been able to cope living in such a filthyneighbourhood. Anyway, that didn't matter, he reflected. All that should concern him fornow was what he had to do next.

Earlier on, before he had strode passed the men that loitered around the residentialbuilding which he suspected to be the block where Giovanni Rizzo resided, he had madea note of how many they were and had counted a total of five in number. He had equallymade a note of what they were wearing and had noticed that they were adorned in blackovercoats, having hats on their heads and wearing shoes that looked like commonspectator shoes worn among Italian or Sicilian criminal killers. He had equally tried toget a clear picture of their faces but was unfortunate in doing that. Who really were thesepeople? He thought to himself. From at least three blocks away from the building towhere they stood, he could hear their voices and soon noted the type of dialect they wereusing to communicate among themselves. They were Sicilians and his heart told him thathe was certain that they had to be employees of his boss. What were they doing aroundthere? He wondered. Were they here to see Giovanni Rizzo? Were they waiting on him toreturn from his mission or were they looking for him? Looking for Joe Mancini? Couldthey have heard what had happened to Giovanni Rizzo? He asked himself all of thesequestions and once more, he told himself he needed to find out if he go round the back ofthe building, to see if there was a way in.

As he drew closer to them, his heart began to pound all of a sudden. Instinctively, hequickly shoved the fingers of his right hand into the right hand pocket of his Armanitrousers to reach for his gun. Once he had gripped tightly to the handle of the gun, hebegan to draw it out slowly and cautiously. His skin began to perspire very quickly then


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suddenly, something almost made him cork the safety hatch of his gun. The sound of abarking Roitweiler sticking its head out inside a nearby kennel to his right nearly madehim piss in his pants. The dog slowly got up to its feet and began to growl steadily at him.It was located on the ground floor of one of the residential buildings, just a few inchesaway from the right side of his present-and now still-position: exactly two blocks

away from where the unknown men were loitering and It looked very ferocious in itsyellow eyes.

The dog had nearly made him cursed out loud but somehow, he had restrained himselffrom doing so. Soon after seeing him, the Roitweiler throttled out of the kennel like aspeedboat and began to launch repetitively at the not to high metallic bar railings whichacted as an enclosure. It kept on barking at him relentlessly and darting at the railingswithout a moment pause- giving off a series of light, clanking vibrating sounds each timeit banged its weight hard against the metallic enclosure. Joe Mancini looked at it for afew moments and then quickly looked at the men ahead. It seemed that they hadnt been

distracted by the loud shrilling sounds of the dog and he was really astonished. Heaving asigh of relief and thanking the Heavens afterwards, Joe Mancini slowly began to releasehis grip from the gun tucked underneath the right hand pocket of his trousers. He lookedat the dog once more and shook his head, stared at the men again then all of a sudden, hequickly left the dogs territory.

Now, though the streets of the avenue looked trashy and dump was almost everywhere,each residential building had beautiful back gardens guarded by protective metal railings,car parking spaces and neighbourhood seats centred between four estate building blocks.With all these facilities in place, he couldnt help it but to be still amazed that residents

around here seemed not be bothered about their outside surroundings. Coming closer tothe back entrance door of the building in which he assumed Giovanni resided, he foundout that there was indeed a back entrance door and shortly after he had seen it, he couldhear the sound of a mechanical device humming quietly inside of it. He wondered whatthe sound was and as he cautiously opened the door, he came across an elevator. It wasrunning all right, he observed, making a clicking sound. Once he was done, his eyes-somehow as a result of a tint of luck- unconsciously shifted away from it tostumble upon a door to the right wing of an enclosed elevator. He stared at it for amoment and decided to go to it to see if it was locked and once he had finally comecloser to it, he began to slowly turn the knob clockwise. The door gave way, making out aslightly creaking noise and after he had opened it halfway, he realized it was a hallway.He looked around and found out there wasnt anyone in sight. It was dead silent like acold cemetery. Quickly shutting it behind him, he returned back to the elevator. He knewthe elevator wasn't an option to use and so without spending another moment thinking ofwhether to use, he headed for the stairs, which was on the left flank to the elevator.

Joe Mancini stopped treading up the stairs once he got to the seventh floor. He scannedthe hallway. Soon he began to walk its whole length and staring at every apartment doorssimultaneously. Looking at doors of apartment buildings had always been a habit of his


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whenever he had a whack job to do for his boss and honestly, he just didn't know thereason why he always did that. Finally reaching the door of 707, he made a couple moregazes around the hallways perimeter and then reached for something in his right handtrouser pocket- he fished out a thin white-coated staple.

Good. Everywhere was dead quiet and the time now read 5.45am on his Omega watch.Most of the residents must be still asleep, he assumed as he suddenly developed an abruptweird fix at the thick brown-coloured door in front of him. Once he successfully openedit, a brown cat on the spur of the moment came out of it. It gave him a bit of a fright andhe almost cursed out in Italian. He looked at the cat for a brief moment, as it curled its tailagainst the surface of the opposite door, all crouched up right at its bottom centre. Itlooked tired in its green eyes as it meowed quietly at him. Suddenly, he grimaced his faceand gestured at it as if to signal it to get back inside. It just stood there and kept meowingat him. Joe Mancini wasnt in the mood for any animal talk. Immediately, he ignored itand closed the door behind him.

There he was. In the home of the man he had just killed and thrown over the Malcombbridge. From his observations, the living room was very spacious and to the left wing ofit was an open plan kitchen, which had the largest extractor he had ever seen. The wholeflooring was bare wood with some fluffy woolen carpet centred at the living area. Itscolour was a bit of a weird one, having different shades all over: from purple, blue, black,white, ox-blood, orange and a few taints of grey-ash. He looked around for a moment,scanning everywhere: from the beautiful chandeliers that looked firmly mounted to thewhite ceiling, to the large living room windows overlooking both the nearby streetlightsand the whole scenic view of Manhattan and Time square from not too far beyond. It wasbeginning to rain, he noticed. He also realized something. The alarms hadnt gone off

when he broke into the apartment. Why? He wondered. Immediately, he began to retracehis steps back to the entrance door. He had never made such blunder before when on thejob. What had happened?

Slowly and cautiously, he opened the door, wary of the fact that there maybe somebodyin the hallway. He looked around. There was no one. Once he was through, he quicklyshut it back. Nothing. There was no noise at all and he found that very strange. Anyway,he knew there wasn't any time to think about that. Hurriedly, he went straight to thekitchen and began to open up the wooden cabin drawers that were located on the leftflank of the kitchen's cream-tiled walls. He was looking for a stainless steel pot in orderto place the parcel-sized bomb and detonator that he had bought along with him. Therewas none and soon, he began to fidget. Suddenly, he went straight to the large windowsin the living room area. The unknown men that flocked around Giovanni Rizzo'sapartment building were still waiting and hanging around. However, this time they hadmoved to the opposite end of the street. What were they still waiting for? Certainly, theyshould have gotten the hint by now that Giovanni's curfew was way past his bedtime.These guys are dumb fucks, he concluded. Anyway, this was a good sign for him, he saidto himself. He knew he had to make the best use of the time he had and do things veryquickly. He knew he had to find out if there was any pot around, somewhere, anywhere


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and in the moments of his thoughts over the issues, he returned back to the kitchen.

Looking through the things Giovanni Rizzo had behind the glass drawer slide of hisstorage closet once Joe Mancini had switched on its light, one could tell what sort of

man he was. He had a great deal of shoes and they were well arranged on two of the fivewooden shelves- shelves that protruded out of the storage walls on both the left and rightwings of the closets walls. These shoes were of a particular brand- Roberto Cavilli. Healso noticed that there were so many small, white boxes and after he had taken a closelook at all of them, he found every one contained hollow-pointed steel bullets. On the lastshelf close to the floor were two rectangular black plastic boxes and he wondered if therewas anything in them but didnt stop to check. Moments later, he relentlessly began tolook around the area while simultaneously keeping watch at the time and tried not totouch anything. Then, somehow, something caught his eye. Lurked behind an identicalpair of 8 X 10 cartoon boxes was a gleaming steel pot. Bringing it out, he removed thelid to find more packets of hollow-pointed bullets. This time, the bullets werent steel but

gold.

As quickly as possible, he left the packets of hollow-pointed bullets on the floor of thehallway. Then carrying the steel cooking pot, he immediately went straight to the kitchen.After bringing out a small, monochrome penknife from the right hand pocket of histrousers, he immediately began to slit open the contents of the parcel. Inside the brownparcel was an F1 grenade enclosed inside a small glass cylindrical container, the bottomof which had an attached wooden, squared-platform covered up to as far as the mid-section with some sort of Aluminium foil. He looked at it for a moment and then stared athis watch afterwards. It read 5.54am. He had to get out of there, he said to himself. Heknew he had just a minute or so to leave the place. He began to turn one of the gas knobsand soon after he had done so, he suddenly started staring at his watch again. His handsbegan to wet a bit and before he knew it, he unconsciously began to pace from thekitchen to the lounge. 15 seconds, 14 seconds, he said out to himself while fidgeting.Come on, Come on, suddenly toning down his voice. Come onnnnnnn!, heexclaimed.Damn it!Get on with it! he said out impatiently and frustratingly. He waswaiting for the gas to overwhelm the apartment and he felt it was taking to take too long.He felt he wasnt going to be able to leave the place quickly.

As he placed the enclosed hand grenade into the oven, he could tell the men that he sawoutside earlier where still within the perimeter of the estate building because he couldhear their voices and boy, were they loud. They just werent keeping it down, hereflected. They seemed to be in their own little world. Suckers! Joe suddenly said tohimself in disgust. Really Dumbfucks! Who the hell were these men? Making such noiselike they were on some sort of teabreak, he continued. Heavvvvvvhhhhh, he quietlyexhaled such airy sound. They were beginning to piss him off.

Joe Mancini found that the cat that had startled him earlier when he opened GiovanniRizzos apartment door was still where he had left it- still crouched against thedoor of apartment 705. Well, he wasn't interested to look at it for a second time and


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drifting his thoughts away from it very swiftly, he looked eastwards from his staticposition and his eyes soon caught up a small, white-illuminated rectangular steel boxabove a red door that read "EXIT". Immediately, he began to pace his steps very quicklytowards it. As he walked briskly, the cat equally followed, chasing up to him frombehind.

Joe Mancini had another look to see if there was anything behind him- just beforethe light, cream-coloured, exit door had slammed shut behind his faceand he had seen nothing except the cat. It had surprised him again. Hestared at the cat in complete speechlessness and soon began to curse himself. The catmeowed softly as it curled its tail round the lower stem of Joe Mancini's left leg as if itwas in need of something. Momentarily, Joe began to perceive the light, sticky smell ofhis sweat of his suddenly perspiring body. Without a moments pause, he quickly pickedup the cat and began to tread the stairs as he cursed it along the way. Soon after he hadfinished walking down the stairs, which had stenched so bad of urea and thick vomit, hebegan to wonder if he had really removed the fuse slightly from the hand grenade. As he

slowly began to open the rear door of the estate building, still having his mind reflectingwhat might had happened, he suddenly felt the ground shake. Immediately, he stoppedwalking and waited. In no time, Joe Mancini could hear a loud bang. Then came anotherand another, which was shortly followed by another. The sound of broken glasses andmetal splinters crash hard to the ground and he could clearly hear it. The noise was at thefront, he could tell. Immediately, he began to walk towards the rear of the opposite estateblock. Meanwhile, the noise of the blast had given the cat such a fright that it almostjumped out from under the tight grip of Joe Mancinis right arm.

The blast of the grenade had done tremendous damage, Joe Mancini observed. It had not just only damaged Giovanni Rizzo's apartment but equally two other preceding

apartments on the same floor as it. These blocks of apartment were on the right wing toGiovannis and they had been badly torn apart. For a moment, he wondered if there werepeople inside but soon after, strangely enough, he came to his real self. He didnt care ifthere were people inside. He didnt feel the slightest sense or seed of anxiety. He was ona job, he had said to himself. If it turns up that people actually died in those apartmentsthen there was nothing he could do. His conscience had told him. As he gradually beganto leave the scene, he equally noticed from afar that the blast was beginning to cause agreat pandemonium among the unknown men that had been flocking around theperimeter of Giovannis apartment block as they had their eyes fixed at the fire explosionas it fiercely roared out of Giovanni's apartment. Once he had gotten to his car, hehurriedly got out his car keys and a matchbox from his left trouser pocket. Immediatelyafter opening the trunk of his car, he lifted up the plastic nylon mat that was inside.Underneath was a can of gasoline and a car jack. He got out the gasoline can and quicklyslammed shut the trunk.

As Joe Mancini began to sprinkle fuel on the rooftop of his car, suddenly he noticed afew window lights of some apartment blocks come on. He resumed back to what he was


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began to make folds on the newspaper that was in her right hand. Now come in and stoploitering around that doorway. Have a sit at that chair, she continued. And dontforget to take off those sandals of yours. They look really dirty. Immediately she wasdone, Thomas began to stare at her. He remained where he was, motionless and kept onstaring at her. He suddenly got into a fix and It didnt take long for Sister Albertina De

Luca to see that he had suddenly become quiet. Shortly after observing his unresponsiveattitude, she dropped the newspaper lightly to the floor and began to stare at him too.Somehow, Thomas was quite conscious enough to see that she had suddenly worn asympathetic look over her face-he didnt like it.Please Thomas, she suddenly said. Come in and have a seat. Probably you couldregale me with what has been going on with you over the last few weeks in the outsideworld, huh!

Thomas Brown was a well polished, ultra-conservative, Englishman who never liked tobe showered favours. He was equally a man of mystery, Sister Albertina De Luca had

learnt of this after she had embarked on studying his behaviour for over 2years. Standingat 6 feet, 2inches tall, Thomas Brown was someone who loved the way he looked- andgosh, did he have the looks. His facial appearance was stunning: beautiful browneyes, of which its pupils radiated like the "crescent moon" under the rays of daysunlight, smooth skin that glowed like wet olives and finally red lips that looked likeplucked ripe tomatoes. With regards to the amount of flesh on his body, he didnt havemuch but didnt mean he was skinny. All in all, in terms of his built, his frame was just inthe right proportion and he knew it and made sure he used his gorgeous looks to hisadvantage by exploiting the women around his locality irrespective he had a beautifulwife known as Rebecca Brown back in the United Kingdom. Everyone who knew himwas aware of his indecent sexual discretions but he never gave a damn of what they

thought of him. Everyone in the locality- men, women and child including churchmembers of the Monastery- knew of his promiscuity except Sister Albertina De Luca.

The guestroom was a 6' 2" X 8' 4" enclosure with its walls made solely of German oakwood. It was exactly 15 feet high and at its centre was a single lamp that was suspendedby a plastic cord. The fireplace, which was made purely of granite stone dated back to the12th century, was coated all over with black paint. In the past, Sister Albertina De Lucahad told him that it was charity volunteers of her Monastery known as the HelplessKids that had done the paintjob. The fireplaces mantelpiece was made of grey-colouredmarble material, which had been imported from the United States and as for the floor, itwas plain, hard concrete. Sister Albertina De Luca had been the chief nun of themonastery for 10years and she had served the Lord much more-exactly 35years. At 60,she looked 40. Sitting in the opposite chair and staring relentlessly outside, Thomassmind was definitely clear to Sister Albertina De Luca. He just wanted to return back tohis work. Hey you! Will you look at me and stop staring outside! she suddenlysnapped the fingers of her right hand at him to gain back his attention. As a matter offact, let me shut the door, she said, suddenly toning down her voice as she quickly got


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up to her feet to reach for the door.

Sister, no need for all that, Thomas quickly replied. I am now here, in the room withyou and I promise I would not stare outside again. Sister Albertina De Luca stoppedwalking towards the entrance door and looked at his face. His eyes had suddenly bored an

expression of interest and soon, it began to amuse her. So first off, Thomas continued.Before I begin to eat, could I have some water to drink, he quickly requested. His mindwas now settling down to what was in front of him. He kept his glaze at her for a fewminutes, boring somewhat lazily through those brown eyes of hers while at the same timetrying to put up a grin. I thought so, she said and slowly began to retreat away from thedoor and head back to her seat. Now where was I? she said out without looking at him.Oh, yes! You wanted some water, didn't you? And before he could refocus his attentionback to what the boys were doing outside, she had sped off into the oratory.

During the few moments he was alone in the guest room, Thomas Brown thought ofleaving but wondered what Sister Albertina De Luca might say by the time she got back.

After a short while, he decided to remain still and wait to see what happens. By the timeshe was back, Sister Albertina De Luca had not just only brought along with her a glassof water but also a basket of fresh red apples and as she placed the basket that was in herleft hand on the right wing corner of the room, she noticed that Thomass eyes werestaring fix at the glass of water that was in her right hand. Coming up to him, she quicklysmiled at him and then handed him the glass of water. Then, all of sudden, the expressionon her face changed, Thomas luckily noticed. It had suddenly gone blank. Her headslowly began to shift towards the direction of the entrance door. Her mind had abruptlydrifted away and it wasnt long the atmosphere in the room became suddenly dead quiet.Shortly, Thomas began to feel all alone in the guest room. He tried to draw up anattention but somehow restrained himself.

Engulfed in her thoughts, Sister Albertina De Luca had suddenly realized that the maidhadn't returned. What was going on out there? She wondered. On reaching the door,Sister Albertina De Luca popped out her head and was conscious not to cross over itswooden frame. As she scanned the not-too-far, visible horizon of the vineyards, she couldsee that the maid was tending to the boys. She wondered why the maid was still hangingaround there. Then, all of a sudden, in a slightly husky tone, she called out the nunsname. Inside the guestroom, Thomas Brown could hear the masculine voice of the maid-nun.Yes, mother.Once you are done, Sister Esther, please could you return to the oratory? You know it's

almost time for the 3 o' clock prayers.Certainly, mother, the nun responded I am almost done. Just giving the lads some red

wine and I will be done in no time.Okay, Sister Albertina De Luca responded.

Sister Albertina De Luca remained where she was and Thomas noticed that she began toscan her immediate outside surroundings. It wasnt long she soon finally had her eyesfixed to what seemed to be the shrub tree, he thought- though he wasnt so sure


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since he was inside the guestroom.

My shrubs are really getting big, Sister Albertina De Luca suddenly spoke out as if shewas talking to someone outside or to herself, Thomas assumed. She had her back facinghim.

Yes, Thomas Brown quickly said and gradually began to grin to himself. It is reallygetting big, I noticed. Afterwards, he kept quiet and quickly began to reflect over whathe had assumed not so long ago. He didnt necessarily want to reflect over the matter buthe was more than happy to welcome such a thought. So he was right about her.She wasreally staring at her shrub tree.Yeah, she responded back to him in some sort of casual way after a short while. Thenfew moments later, she began to walk away from the door and head back to her chair.

Thomas, as it appeared to Sister Albertina, was still taking tiny sips of water from histumbler with some bit of clumsiness. Little drops of water had spilled on the floor and inall sincerity, she was really perplexed over his display of such behaviour. She didnt

spend too long thinking over it anyway. As a matter of fact, within a very short while, shehad begun to ask him if there were any other thing he needed and he simply told her hewas perfectly fine. Deep down in her heart, she was so glad to see him and greatlyecstatic to have him in the same room with her for it had been a while since they lastchatted or shared a meal together. She really wanted to catch up on what he had been upto. So tell me, how are you, Tom? Now ever since he had come into her life, she hadgotten used to calling him by that name. Also, over the course of time, particularly whenthey both had the opportunity to go to the Town Market to buy corn and wine, sheobserved that a number of people on various streets who knew him had equally calledhim by that name and each time she sincerely had been amazed by such occurrences.

Exhausted and thirsty as you can see, Thomas soon replied.I can clearly see that, said Sister Albertina De Luca. Thats because you never knowwhen to take a break when the occasion calls for it, why's that?"I don't know why, he calmly responded, suddenly putting on a grin over his face.You really are a tireless person by nature, arent you? Indeed I am, he replied.Let me guess. You took that from your father?No, Thomas quickly replied in some sort of casual way that it somehow got to Sister

Albertinas senses, soon making her feel slightly disgusted. Soon, in a very short while,she had began to stare at him awkwardly and he was quite sharp to notice that she hadsuddenly changed mood. Realizing what had suddenly happened, he began to twitch onto his lips and made sure not to say anything further. Inside of him, he could tell she hadunreasonably gotten upset as a result of the way he answered to her question.

Now there was something about him that had always been a mystery to Sister AlbertinaDe Luca. Though she had known Thomas Brown for 4years, he never did talk muchabout his family, even when people who knew him had sometimes asked him thequestion. Over the years, she had come to learn that he was not really the type of person


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who was interested in family traditions like the local Sicilians or Italians. Rather he wasthe sort of person who simply just loved the fact that no one troubled his mind. It reallydid beat her thoughts sometimes and made her wonder. But then again, she began to thinkover it further. If he really did love to be alone, why did he love Joe Mancini so much tothe extent that he went out of his way to take him in- even into his own home?

After a moment or two, she thought quite frankly that the whole issue was a doublemystery and was just too complicated to think about. Finally, she thought, why bother.Once again, Sister Albertinas eyes began to pore into another aspect of her guest. In a

few moments, she found herself staring at his clothes. She noticed that they were lookingvery dirty and were all drenched up in sweat. She began to wonder if Thomas ever madethe time to do some clothes shopping. For all of his clothes were lookingdisgracefully worn out. Shortly afterwards, she drifted her eyes down to his sandalsand she was quite surprised to see that they were looking brand new. In the end of it all,she didnt care. All she was interested in was the fact that she was happy to be aroundhim. Happy about the fact that another opportunity had arisen where they were able to

talk to each other. Or more rightly, she was once again able to chat with him. In a veryshort while, she came to realize that it really had been a while since they last spoke. Oreven saw each other.

A few moments of dead silence between both of them had passed by and so far, all whatthey had both done in the room was to act and be very quiet. After a short while, ThomasBrown finally broke out the silence. He began by smiling at her and beforehand, hadbegun to enquire about her state of health and how she was faring. The next thing she didsurprised him. Instead of responding, she lifted her left hand up and in a short while, hadbegun to smile back at him. She remained in that manner for the next few moments, not

saying a word to him and in that time, Thomas tried to make meaning of what her gesturewas all about. After a while, he finally felt he understood what she was trying to say. Hecame up with the conclusion that she most probably was trying to permeate some sort ofSTOP OR WARNING signal to him. Then moments later on, he noticed her outlookhad changed into another mood he couldnt figure out and it soon began to give him afew nudges to the right side of his ribcage. He didnt like what he saw.Before you ask me how I am feeling today, she then finally spoke out and dropped herleft hand on her left lap shortly afterwards. Please help yourself to some brown cookiesthats on the centre table. And when you are ready, let me know if you would like tohave some of yesterdays pasta, which I can quickly get for you from the refrigerator. Orwould you like to eat this dish of Beef and Lamb Spiedini?

Staring at the dish of Spiedini that lay on the wooden table beside the bowl of cookiesfor a brief moment, Thomas Browns tongue soon began to feel watery and itch a bit. In afew seconds, his sense of smell began to stimulate the chemo-receptors of his tongue andsomething told him that the dish in front of him was certainly one he should try. Then,looking at Sister Albertina De Luca for a while, he soon began to laugh out hystericallyand not before long, Sister Albertina equally began to smile back at him. Moments later,Thomas began to move the wooden table closer to him. At the timing of such event


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happening, the maid nun that had gone out to serve the boys abruptly walked in on them.Looking straight at Thomas, she smiled at him briefly, then asked if there was anythinghe needed and once he had told her that he was all right, she then greeted her chief nunusing her office title and quickly returned back to the oratory to begin the prayer sessionswith other waiting Sisters.

Sister Albertina De Luca returned back to her seat. Immediately after she had laid herbottom on the soft seat covering, she began to stare at the fireplace. Shortly afterwards,her eyes drifted to Thomas Brown and she began to stare at him only very briefly as heate. Then, clearing her throat with both of her hands over her mouth, all tightlyinterlocked together, she began to talk to him again.How is Rebecca?She's fine, I guess, replied Thomas Brown. We had a baby girl last week Friday. Did

I make mention of it?What! Really! exclaimed Sister Albertina De Luca. Oh, Congratulations! You never

told me, Thomas!

I am sorry. I thought I did mention it to you. Truly, Sister, I do apologize.

It's okay, she responded gladly. So why didn't you travel over to see her? I mean youjust had a baby. Aren't you excited over such great news?Of course, I am! Thomas quickly responded as he began to tear up the pieces of hisgrill lamb.So why are you still in Palermo, Tom? continued Sister Albertina De Luca. You

should be out there. I mean it's been five days since she gave birth. Or are you planningto leave town soon? By the time she was done, Thomas looked at her for a few momentsand kept quiet and didnt say a word. After listening to what Sister Albertina De Lucahad just enquired of him, Thomas Brown wasn't really keen on giving out his trueanswers to her however he wasnt willing to back down either. After a moments silenceto quickly think of what to say to her, he finally decided to stick to lying.

" Yeah. I intend leaving in about two weeks time", he lied. "And the reason why I am stillaround is because I have two jobs for Mr. Antonio Bernardino and Marco Antonio, thechemical engineer. But don't worry, I have already sorted things out with Rebecca."" That's good. Well, how is she coping? I mean, with all that screaming at night, havingto feed her and bathe her, you know all that stuff.... Oh! Who am I kidding! What do youknow, she said out jokingly."" Truly, I don't know anything about taking care of a child, let only what women gothrough delivering one", he concurred with her statement with a bit of a sarcastic tone."Well, you aren't a woman.""Good point", he replied as he began to munch on his piece of lamb delightfully.

" Wow, you are really hungry and you wanted to avoid eating my beef and lambspiedini", she questioned as she stared at his mouth which was beginning to get full,smearing up tiny butter oil droplets all over and leaving little bits of bread crumbs onboth ends of his lips. He was obviously enjoying the meal, she noticed." No", he quicklyswallowed the food inside his mouth while trying hard not to giggle after listening to


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what she had just said. Then, taking a moment's pause from continuing the conversation,he outstretched both of his arms in front of her, then reaching for his tumbler that lay onthe floor, beside his chair, he took a sip of water from it and placed it on the woodencentre table- precisely on the left side of the porcelain dish plate.

He wanted to catch his breath for he clearly raised his right hand at her, somehowgesturing a signal of"please, hold on!" Belching and requesting pardon over his badhabit, he looked calmly at her and then grinned. No, Sister Albertina. I wasn't in anymanner trying to avoid your meal. As you can see, I am beginning to get into it. What didyou do? This is delicious! he exclaimed. And the bread crumb is on these lamb chopsare amazing.You like it.Of course, Sister Albertina. Please could you give me the recipe before I leave? he

pleaded.Okay.So whats happening around the front of the monastery? he questioned. Close to the

entrance doors, on the bulletin board, I read on it that next week Sunday, you haveFranco Rossi's grandson....

Let's talk about that later, if its okay with you, she quickly changed the subject. Youknow, the boys must be finished with their meals by now. Probably I should go and gettheir plates and leftovers, she said.No, let them be, Sister Albertina, he quickly said out to her. Surely, they are okay and

besides, you have done so much, so far today. They are grown-ups, he continued. Theycan deal with it, he interjected while reaching for the glass of water on the table. As hefirmly held his glass of water over his lips, his eyes bore through the transparent bottomof his glass to evaluate Sister Albertina's general reaction after he had raised such aquestion. In his thoughts, he couldn't help but wonder why she had responded in thatfashion. He couldn't make out her countenance because the bottom of the glass was toothick and very blur.

Not far off, the chorus of a song enchanted by what sounded like female voices beganand it didn't take too long for the sound of their voices to quickly resonate into theguestroom. Momentarily, this was followed by the scent of perfumed candles and thesweet smell of what smelt like burning incense. Dropping the glass, Thomas got up andwalked a few steps towards the entrance door, arms at akimbo. Making a sharp 270degree clockwise turn, he could notice something was bothering Sister Albertina. He hadthe perfect instincts of sensing when things were wrong with her and she was well awareof it. There was a cloud of worried expression over her face. He wondered what could bewrong and he knew she had always regarded him as a reliable confidante.

Aren't you going to finish the food, Tom? she questioned.Sister Al. He had never abbreviated her first name before. This was the first time. She

looked at him in amazement and suddenly, she began smile at him, showing a little bit ofwhite teeth.I like the way you abbreviated my first name and....


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Sister Albertina! he interjected very quickly. Are you going to tell me what's goingon? I mean what's bothering your mind? he continued. So far, I have felt theressomething unusual going on, particularly with the way youve been talking to me overthe past few minutes. I mean in the past, on many occasions when you and I are bothhaving a nice conversation, you are never this lukewarm. So tell me what exactly is on

your mind because you are beginning to scare me? She looked at him for a moment, hereyes fixed without a blink. She looked very weird, he thought. Soon she began to presshard on one of the beads of her long plastic rosary that garnered firm over her waistlineof the cassock attire she was wearing. Before I knew it, a few beads of the rosary gaveout sounds that were similar to that heard when marbles dropped to any hard flooring.

She looked well agitated and restless as she heaved softly for a few moments withoutsaying a word, he soon noticed. Thomas looked at her and soon, he began to feel worried.He had no idea why she was beginning to make him feel uneasy. Somehow, he had toforce out what the hell was bugging her and the only way to do so was to ask her somemore questions. Sister Albertina, he began. We both know we've been so close over

the last few years, not just solely because I offer my voluntary services of taking care ofthe vines in your backyard and all the electrical works that needs repairing but becauseyou have been there for me most of the time when I really needed it. I mean what's thebig secret about it? I mean from the whole look of your body language, it seems youreally have something to say to me and you certainly know that I know there's somethingbothering you. I mean are you somewhat obligated under oath which is the reason whyyou are trying so hard to be tight-lipped about whats bugging you? I mean, is that it?

Please, Thomas, she said soon after he had finished talking. Come take a walk withme into the sacristy. Just for a few minutes, that's all. You can then returned back tothe vineyard and continue from where you left off even if James and Joe still haven'tfinished their jobs by the time we are both done talking. It would only take a fewmoments of your time. I can assure you and yes, you are right, there's something I need tolet you know. The sacristy is dead quiet, she said, as she tried to get herself togetherwhile at the same time she was beginning to get up from her seat. Thomas Brown lookedmore worried and normally, by nature, he wasn't the type of person to get anxious butafter careful observation of the way she was acting, whatever was bothering her had to beserious. He headed towards the entrance door without saying a word to Sister Albertinaand as he began to tread the slightly steep, concrete steps of the paved area, adjoined tothe exterior of the guestroom, James Alonzo soon approached him. James Alonzo lookedfull of energy and vigour as he smiled momentarily at his guardian. Thomas Brownstared at him, particularly his clothes, noticing that his blue shirt and brown khakitrousers were all covered up in foliage debris and fluff. Also, he was drenched in sweatand perspiring profusely.

James Alonzo was a fine lad with very short black hair and thin, red supple lips. Hisface, in a way looked like a girl face. At the age of 13, standing at a height of 4 feet and 5inches, he certainly looked like he was going to grow up to become a tall man. He hadbeautiful brown eyes and a neck that was well proportioned to his slim body frame. As hetried to put up a funny grin at Thomas Brown, there was slight display of a few front


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teeth missing. Suddenly, Thomass facial outlook changed to a fixed stare and fromJamess observation, he looked like a daytime scarecrow. He remained in that way for afew seconds before finally snapping out of it by suddenly jerking his head. Immediately,under a tone of authority in his voice, he asked after Joe Mancini.

He's still working at the vineyards, doing the ridges. James responded. Sir. Am tired,he said. Is it okay that I could rest underneath those shrubs for at least 15minutes? hepleaded.

You and Joe can rest for half an hour. Thomas answered. Like you said, you two canrest underneath the shrub tree. I am just going inside the church to sort out a few thingsso just wait for me. I shouldn't be long. Once I'm done, I will come and get the both ofyou, okay. Probably we will call it a day and continue from where we stoppedtomorrow, okay.Okay, James replied.Go get him now, I say!" Thomas suddenly change conservation as he ordered.

" Sure thing, Sir." And he sped off like a weasel.

The monastery know as St.John The Hermits was dated back to the 12th century duringthe Norman medieval era and looking at the interior windows, they were Romanesque-styled and sky blue underneath the reflecting rays of the afternoon sun. The columns ofthe sacred institution were high and the arches of the vaults were well rounded. Thomascould tell that if he were to go outside to have a perfect view of the rooftop, he was surehe would clearly see what would appear to be dome-like, semi-circular structures likethose seen in mosques. From inside, these domes were all similar in colour- all red. Thewhole floor was made of brown-coloured limestone rectangular blocks and most of thearches above each column holding the vaults were semicircular in shape with a few,rounded. Walking along with Sister Albertina De Luca through the aisle of the mainvessel, Thomas Brown wondered to himself the last time he entered into the monasteryhowever, it didn't take long for such thought to get off his mind. All he wanted to knowwas why Sister Albertina De Luca was acting so funny and mute. As they walked passedalong a row of pews using the aisle, they arrived at the west wing of the monastery andfinally came close to a pair of mahogany double doors which was embroidered with fourgolden crosses on each corner of the doors, with two massive, gold-plated crosses at theircentres. Still havent said a word to each other since they left the guestroom, SisterAlbertina De Luca looked at Thomas and nodded her head gently. Soon afterwards, hepondered over what was in front of him. This must be the sacristy as it looked like aseparate extension building adjoining to the monastery, he thought.

Now let me get out the keys, she said as she dipped her left hand into the left side ofher cassock pocket. Bringing out a set of bronze keys, she hurriedly placed the key intothe keyhole and unlocked the door. The door made a creaking sound like as if it hadn'tbeen opened in a mighty long time. Once they had entered, she quickly closed the doorbehind her and then hurriedly went towards a wooden cabinet drawer, which was directlyopposite them in the dimly lit room. Opening one of the wooden drawers, she noisilyrummaged her hand in it and finally got out something that looked like a matchbox. Asshe came closer to him, he could finally tell that it was indeed a matchbox in her hand.


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She stroke a matchstick and walked up to a clear view of a bronze candleholder that wascentrally affixed to the right side of the wall- close to the door in which we had a momentago-just gained entry then, looking into it's casing, she found out there was a small red

candle in it's place. Once she had litted the candle and blown out the flame of thematchstick, she turned around and could clearly see a foam-padded metal chair dockedbehind the wooden cabinet, with it's upper part, literally standing still against the face ofthe wall of the room. As she somehow dragged it over the floor without it making asound, she placed it at the centre of the room and suddenly heaved softly without lookingat Thomas. As soon as the candlelight had sufficiently brightened up the room, Thomasbegan to scan the room and once he had taken a good look around its surroundings, henoticed that there were many wooden shelves all over the place and seemed to store updifferent sacred items: from religious books, copper and gold candle sticks, pedestal pillarcandle holders, old brass Eucharistic cups, to wine cups and a few liturgical cassocks toname a few.

Do you want to have a seat? she suddenly spoke out to him.No, Albertina! I dont want to have a seat, Thomas snapped at her intentionally.

Could you tell me just what's going on! he spoke out impatiently.Okay, Thomas. Then I will since you are not willing to sit and begin telling you what

has been bugging me for the last few weeks, she replied.Good.You already know that Franco Rossi is coming to Palermo? And you equally know that

he's coming here to attend his third son's first holy communion? This time, the tone ofher voice had upped a little bit.Yes, I know. So what's seems to be the problem? he questioned.Well, I am completely against that! she said out sharply and before he could say Jack

Robinson, had suddenly worn an ugly, grimaced expression over her face.What! Is that it! I mean... Thomas cut short and suddenly closed his eyes. He was very

angry and was really furious with her but did well not to leech it out. Rather he lookedaway, took in some deep breath of damp air into his lungs and heaved out deeply. Shortlyafter, he turned around to face her and soon began to speak out again. First of all, why was it so difficult to say that in the guestroom? he enquired. He wasflabbergasted and lot for words.Have you forgotten what happened here outside these walls, precisely at the vineyard

where you normally work? she asked him. Have you forgotten what happened to PetroPablo?Oh! he quietly muttered out the word and suddenly became mute. A moment past by

and out of the blue, he began to feel a little sting in his stomach. He managed to gethimself together without her noticing.He had to sit down just in case the pain in hisstomach was about to develop into somethinghe wouldn't be able to tolerate, he quietlypondered.


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Looking around for a chair to sit on, he quickly found one, with its upper leather padagainst the face of the left side of one of the massive wooden shelves located westwardsaway from his present position. He paced off quickly to get it without excusing himself toSister Albertina and once he got to it, he equally started dragging it against the surface ofthe concrete floor. He brought the chair close to her. He wanted to sit directly opposite to

her. He looked at her without saying anything and somehow his eyes unconsciously tilteddown to her hands: they were tightly clenched together. His curiousity as well as theallayed fears that had mounted up earlier soon diminished. Deep down inside, he was stillupset with her but he tried not to show it. He drifted his gaze away from her and began tostare at some mosaic portrait of a church that was centrally placed against the wall,directly opposite him. Thomas, aren't you bothered about what I just said? she asked.He kept on staring at the portrait, completely ignoring her.

Tom, am talking to you! she suddenly busted out in a clear state of frustration. Aren'tyou the least bothered about his coming? she continued. He suddenly snapped at her andimmediately he could tell from her reaction that she was a bit shocked with the way he

had suddenly behaved. C'mon, Sister Albertina! What exactly do you want me to say,uh? he quizzed.I know that earlier I may have made a theatrics of it but you never know who may have

been around. I wasnt willing to take the risk of talking about what was bothering mymind in the open, she said. Thats the reason why I decided to bring you in here. Imean, two years ago, from what I heard and trust me, this is coming from a reliablesource, was that Franco Rossi sent two of his so-called bodyguards to get the money andinterest from Petro Pablo because he owned Franco Rossi, the nature of the debt I wasnttold and when he couldn't come up with the money, Franco Rossi asked for an alternativeasset to compensate for the money he owned him which were three plots of land that waswilled to him by his late mother, Rosario Pablo. You do remember her, don't you?

Of course I do, he replied as he suddenly began to feel a bit uncomfortable.They killed the poor man because he refused to hand over his land even after he

pleaded with Franco Rossi to give him another handful of months to come up with themoney. My source told me that Franco Rossi blatantly refused. Now, tell me, what kindof man is that that feels he can just get away with such a sinful deed and thinks myHeavenly Father from above is not watching. Waiting for the day he will come downfrom his throne and ask for his soul on the day of judgement, huh? What kind of man isthat? I know, Thomas, he's a friend of yours... "" He's not just my close friend, Sister Albertina but also my prime financier for both ofmy irrigation projects for my vineyards, one here in Sicily and the other in the UnitedKingdom and most of all, I am also the godfather to his first son."" Leonardo Rossi, you mean", she enquired." Yeah, you know that. I told you."" And you knew about the death of Petro Pablo and what actually happened, didn't you?"

"No", he interjected under very clear pretences." Okay, let me ask you this question, Tom. If it's really true that Franco Rossi wasactually responsible for the death of Petro Pablo, who we all know was a very sweet man,


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people adored him because he was very hardworking and kind, who had been taking careof his two boys when they were very little as far as we both can remember, after his so-called harlot of a wife ran away with another man, then you tell me, would you want sucha man like Franco Rossi to step into your own church as a priest or better still, your ownhome, associating with your children and wife?" "Would you?, she questioned forcibly.

Though Thomas Brown was a womanizer, he still was to some degree a principled manin certain other respects particularly when it came to civil justice and he haddemonstrated his cause for injustice in the past where he stood up against anywrongdoing that was done against his close friends as well as people who he had justcome across after a short while.

" God knows I have tried to talk some sense to Archbishop Jose Lozano but he and therest of the other bishops say that I am acting irrationally."" How certain are you that he was responsible for the murder of Petro Pablo.I believe atthe time when it occurred, you were in Hungary, attending a General Nuns Convention",he questioned severely.

" Petro's brother was a witness to it all! she said out impatiently. He witnessed hishusband get shot in the head! He saw it all, he told me! He said he recognized the twoassassins as the bodyguards of Franco Rossi! He said they killed him in cold-blood, noquestions asked!"

CHAPTER FOUR:

"I missed you so bad, baby", she ravishingly kissed Benedetto Dolci's lips once moreand got out of the single bed where they both had just finished having sex. Headingtowards the bathroom, she turned around and looked at him in a rather seductive mannerlike as if to say " you were so damn good that I just completely had series of multipleorgasms", then smiled at him and shut the door behind her. Benedetto Dolci was tired andclouded in his thoughts over another woman- and yes, over another woman other than theone he had just screwed, lasting only just for five minutes. He was a very handsome manwho was well known among the women in the city of Palermo for his tall and firm built,sparkling white teeth and cute smile and whenever he wore his regular light see-throughshirt, usually when taking his terrier for a walk just to the local delicatessen for an applepie, ladies passing by usually took notice of him and made comments about his gorgeous-looking six pack. He loved go

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Gangsters Revised-1 (2)Revised