[1920s mafia AU]
Gerard Way is a young, ambitious journalist in NYC, partly controlled by the mafia. His yearning for the truth starts getting him into trouble, but he is willing to go as far as it takes for his investigations. Maybe a little too fa...
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"Frank, it's me... I... So much has happened today..." I said in a small, shaky voice on the phone, the name slipping out of my mouth mechanically.
"Gerard, calm down! What happened?"
"Patrick...is dead. It's... me... Solazzo... I betrayed him. Oh God, that can't be true, what have I done..." I plaster my hand on my mouth, forcing myself to stay calm and breathe deeply.
"...I am sorry, Gerard. Don't worry about that though, it's just fate. He got unlucky."
"Sorry, I... For Christ's sake, I thought I was prepared, but... it all became so serious..."
"You did your best. At least you got out of this all safe and sound."
I nod. Mr. Iero... Solazzo, he knows. He knows that Frank is spying on him and conspiring. I suddenly feel the urge to make sure that Frank will be alright. If I couldn't save Patrick, at least I can make sure that Frank will not meet the same fate.
"I... I really want to see you..." I request.
"Alright. But after what happened to Patrick, we must be even more cautious."
Frank thinks for a moment before giving me his solution. "Take some extra clothes when you go out tomorrow. If somebody asks, you are going out for lunch and you have to drop those extra clothes to a laundry on the way. Go to the Salumi, on Kinney street. Order something, then call me from the public phone near the counter. Will you remember all this, Gerard?"
Frank's meticulous planification soothes me. "I will remember it."
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, we will get them. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." I manage to smile at the perspective.
I leave the phone booth and walk back to the Sparrow Hall. I can't really register anything as I walk in the nightly streets. Everything feels like collapsing around me, and the light fades away to leave room to obscurity. Just like my life, everything is dull and sad.
______
The next day.
While I am preparing the clothes for the laundry, I am thinking about the way I am going to tell Mr. Iero about what happened yesterday. Patrick's death...my mistake...the truth...it's too much.
I have to stay calm. I must not raise suspicions. I encounter no problem to leave the Sparrow Hall. No one asks me where I am going. No suspicious individual follows me. Thank God, trouble is the very last thing I want today...
I get a cab that drives me to the Salumi, a reasonably fancy Italian restaurant. It's a quite convivial, family place. I order something and sip my coffee absentmindedly. Since my life became an absolute chaos, I have no appetite, even for the most marvelous feasts. I just hope for a bit of help, or to have the opportunity to confide in someone. With a bit of luck, I will be able to in a matter of hours.
