It was just like old times. Very little changed, except that now I had the big office and I called the shots.
Tyler was very excited about my new promotion. I think he felt that this meant that I would suggest he get made. It was still the Don's decision, and unfortunately for Tyler, Don Harcourt hated him. Although Tyler was my friend, I had to agree with Four Finger. Tyler was a loose cannon and not suitable to get a button.
Janice and Daniel came to New Daria for Don De Luca's funeral. I was surprised when I was invited to the lawyer's office afterwards. I didn't know Terrence De Luca very well, but I had been mentioned in the will. Janice was red-eyed from crying, but Daniel was well composed. My surprise must have registered on my face when I was given three thousand dollars worth of art, investments, and personal items. I was just one of many people who inherited gifts, but my gifts were nicer than many of the others. I had helped the old Don and he was rewarding me from beyond the grave. I couldn't help but notice how angry Daniel got each time my name was mentioned.
My new life as capo of the De Le Russo Family was dominated with one resounding need: money. I needed to make sure my crew was earning enough scratch for me to send up to Don Harcourt. It made me look at the men and women who worked for me in a new light. Although friendships were nice, it was their earning ability which really mattered. On a regular basis a representative from the Don would arrive, looking for his money. It didn't matter where it came from, he wanted his taste.
I consistently made my payments, in the early days, dipping into my own money where needed.
I was suddenly very nosy and interested in what everyone else was doing. I had to be, I was responsible for their earning.
I met Jimmy at Wilma's cafe.
It was strange to be back at Wilma's once more. The last time I was there was when I was just an associate getting my orders from Jimmy. Now I was the captain and giving Jimmy the orders. He seemed good with the arrangement, despite the fact that he had been working with the family longer than I had. He was a great earner and there was very little I needed to do to keep him on track.
"Keep on what you're doin'!" I said in a rather easy conversation.
He was one of my top earners. As the saying went, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." We had a nice breakfast and chatted about old times.
I spoke to Freddie at Lucky Lanes.
The sounds of bowling balls was background noise to our discussion. The money from being a mobster was great and so was the respect on the street. But for Freddie, he loved the mobster life for the celebrity status and connections he made. He bankrolled a lot of young performers, such as Jill Decker, Kelly Wolfe, and Toby Carter. Despite narrowing his activities to the performing arts, his earnings were still usually very good.
His biggest client at the time was a rock group named the Depraved. When I asked how much money he was earning from them, he was honest and told me that it wasn't very much. He said that he was still helping them to build their career and that it was a long-term investment. That was all well and good, but his numbers were low right now and that was a problem.
I demanded that he make sure the Depraved pay their full share.
Freddie tried to explain his situation again, but he didn't have anything new to add. He was doing favors for this band and the band wasn't paying him for it, yet. There was nothing else to add. He needed to make them pay. We weren't running a charity, after all.
I met Lisa at her home.
Although Lisa had been an associate longer than I had been, she had only recently been made. That meant that she wasn't earning as much money as the others on the crew. We spoke about business at her small house, trying to figure out how to increase her money flow. I could tell that she was nervous about earning enough money for the family.
I gave her one of my businesses under protection.
It was a kind thing to do. The business had been with me a long time and the owner knew how it worked. Lisa was happy to get a good start. She had some other businesses, but this made things easier when it came time to send money up to me.
And finally I spoke to Don Harcourt about the vacant position.
Since I was raised to capo and Dana was dead, we had two new positions to fill. Lisa filled one and I assumed that Digger Doug would fill the other. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised by Four Finger's words. Daniel De Luca had been the black sheep of the family and there had been a huge fight between him and the old Don. It had resulted in Don De Luca saying that Daniel would never be allowed to return to the family while he was alive.
What I didn't know was that De Luca felt terrible about making that oath. He had made his capos promise to open the books for Daniel and bring him back into the family after his death, allowing him to protect his wayward son without having to break his word. This was why Daniel De Luca was raised to a made man a few months after his father's death. Unfortunately for me, Daniel was put on my crew.
Daniel's first order of business was to bring all of his Peruvian drug contacts to New Daria. I could imagine how the old Don would be rolling over in his grave over this. Daniel was a sledgehammer with no subtlety to his actions.
I told him not to sell drugs in New Daria.
I was a hypocrite, but I didn't trust Daniel's judgement. He was a ticking time bomb. He hated the fact that I was telling him what to do, but I was his capo and he would have to listen to me. I wasn't too surprised when he went over my head and complained to Four Finger, although it did no good. Four Finger told him to do as I said.
Another new issue that I had to deal with was family disputes. Usually, it was easy to handle. Most of the time, it was just a matter of respecting the traditional territories of New Daria. As a made man, I was safe from most danger. Killing me would cause a war among the families that would leave hundreds dead and no profit for anyone. Even with that in mind, I still felt trepidation when a Rossi Family limousine pulled up outside of the bowling alley and the driver asked me to get in.
I told the man that I would follow in my own car. A few tense minutes of silence followed, while he stared straight at me. I also took Freddie and Jimmy with me.
Eventually the driver shrugged and waited for us to get into my pickup. We followed the limo across town and eventually we pulled up outside of a small Italian restaurant. I parked my pickup and went inside. I soon found myself seated across from Enzo Rossi himself. I was surprised to be speaking to the head of the Rossi Family, but I kept my cool. Freddie and Jimmy stood against the wall behind me.
"Let me cut straight to the chase," Enzo said with an angry expression on his face.
He pulled a cloth napkin off the table and revealed a large ungainly assault rifle underneath! Freddie and Jimmy instantly put their hands on their guns. The men at the door tensed, putting their hands on their guns as well. This was going to be a bloodbath. I calculated my chances of survival if Enzo pulled the trigger. It didn't look good.
Without waiting, I pulled out my Glock and began firing.
The men at the door drew their weapons at the same time. Enzo grabbed the assault rifle and began to lift its deadly muzzle toward my face.
I was faster and shot Enzo first in the chest.
Although Enzo was thrown to the floor and away from the big assault rifle on the table, his men at the door were quick to react. It was a good thing my friends were there. Their guns roared in the small restaurant, knocking the men to the ground.
Seeing is limp body, I shot Enzo in the head to make sure he was dead.
It only took a moment to make sure that Enzo would never recover from his wounds. I fired the shot that made sure he was dead. I heard the guards about to pour in from all directions.
I stayed and fought.
My Glock .45 wasn't made for such a situation. I shot back, but they were everywhere! I wasn't sure which ones got me.
Everything went black.
