THERE was a long silence after Rocket read his father's letter to the Union. She couldn't describe her feelings as she herself still couldn't believe everything that her father confessed through his letters. There was a photograph of her mother and East where her sister Kayla was only a kid and there was also a birth certificate attached to the folders that her father gave.
Nilingon niya si Regan na hindi maipinta ang mukha. She could see the confusion and anger in his expression at the same time. Hindi alam ni Rocket kung papaniwalaan ba niya ang mga inamin ng ama pero kahit ilang beses niya pang ulit-ulitin ang mga ebidensya ay lahat ng ito ay nagtutugma.
"Oh God," si Giorgio ang unang bumasag sa katahimikan. Isa-isang pinagpasahan ng mga lalaki ang mga kasulatan na hawak niya. "Oh my God. I-I couldn't even think of a good word."
"It's clear that the reason East wants Rocket dead is because of this evidence," Ramones said. "Even I couldn't believe it when Raoul told me everything that day. He already knew that he was going to die. The day that he kept East's wife with him, he already signed his death certificate."
"But I couldn't remember him." Rocket answered.
"You're too young to remember East, Rocket." Giovanni answered. "You were just a baby when your mother left La Cosa Nostra. She hid you by pretending to be Raoul's wife and because he was the agency's director at that time, Raoul did a great job of covering your mother's tracks. We were lost for a moment before Louis Camilton came to us to tell East about your mother's whereabouts. That's when East went to your home and—" he paused and looked away.
"These evidence..." Sergei interrupted. "Killing Vaughn Marchesi, East's father, killing all the previous La Cosa Nostra's mafioso and subordinates and the transactions he has with the Russian Mafia, is...is this all fucking true? Because if it is, East is a dead man. Man, I'd kill him myself."
"Yes, it is all true." Ramones said and gave another envelope. "This is an untouched tape from Kassandra Marchesi. All of it contains evidence and conversations from East and his acquaintances plotting the whole Vaughn Marchesi's murder."
"Killing one of the five family bosses is like killing god." Claudio whispered and popped his lollipop from his mouth. "An unforgivable sin. A death sentences."
"I would kill myself right now if I'm East." Felipe murmured. "Did you know any of these, Regan?" Tanong nito sa lalaking nananahimik sa isang tabi. Lahat ng attensyon ng mga taong nasa silid na 'yun ay napunta kay Regan. "You were with East since you're a teenager."
"No." Diretsong sagot ng lalaki.
"Did you know anything about the history of La Cosa Nostra?"
"No."
"Did you know anything—"
"I don't fucking know anything." Regan answered in gritted teeth. "If I did know, I wouldn't even be here."
"He's a victim," Giovanni answered. "Regan doesn't know anything. He was dragged into hell without knowing anything. He was young when he was taken by East and made him this kind of devil."
Ngumisi naman si Regan sa narinig. "I'll be damned."
"It means he has nothing to do with the mafia, Giorgio." Felipe said. Napalingon naman ang mga lalaki dito. "According to the law, non-Italians aren't allowed in the organization unless he was sponsored or initiated from the inside."
"I was initiated." Regan interrupted.
"It wasn't official," Felipe insisted. "The previous bosses of the Five Family weren't present when East made you. When he became a boss, the Union was disrupted; it was chaos. There are no leaders in the Five Family. There are traitors, war, and death. We didn't know anything about it before, not until now that we have these evidence."
