The Name of the Game

Chapter 12

TW: Blood/Gore; Disturbing Content

Mikey walked down the steps. He found his uncles in the living room, along with his parents. They were all smoking cigars except for Donna, who had sprung for one of her organic cigarettes instead.

"Where's your brother?" Donald asked.

"Upstairs, I guess," Mikey said.

"Go get him. We need to leave soon. Carl is moving out in a minute. He has two kids under his wing tonight and no time to wait. It's almost two thirty in the morning, we need to get moving."

Mikey nodded and walked back upstairs. He was still mad at Gerard for the night before, but he knew he would need the support of his brother. After all, it was his first ever time out as a member of the mafia.

Mikey leaned against the wall and rapped the knuckle of his index finger against Gerard's door. The door opened more quickly than Mikey had expected. "What is it?" Gerard asked.

"I was told to get you to come downstairs," Mikey said. He rolled his back along the wall and returned downstairs. Gerard followed a few seconds later.

"Oh, great," Donald said. "I'll get on calling Carl. Let's get going."

Donna stubbed out her cigarette in a delicate crystal ashtray on the end table. She kissed her husband and whispered something to him. Mikey thought he saw him reply, but he couldn't be sure. She moved over to Gerard and he leaned down. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered something. He whispered something back to his mother, and she squeezed his arms. Finally, she came to Mikey.

Donna stood in front of him and gestured for him to lean down. He did, and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so proud of you, honey," she whispered. "I love you so much. Be safe tonight, okay?"

Mikey nodded. "I will, ma," he said quietly. "I love you, too."

Donna kissed his forehead and let him go. "Now, go make those fucks pay," she said.

They left the house, heading down the lawn to two black cars. To Mikey's surprise, Joe split off from Jim and Donald. "I-I thought we were going with Uncle Jim," Mikey said. He looked to Gerard.

Gerard merely shrugged. "Must have mixed up the names."

Joe glared over at Mikey. "Please, Jim and Donald do everything together," he said. "Besides, if you were going with Jim, he'd have these." Joe opened the car's passenger side door and picked something up from the seat. He thrust forward three eye masks. Mikey's breath caught. He didn't think he would see his mask for a long time. They were assigned at initiation by a small committee who observed initiates and their personalities. Each mask was specially designed for its owner, with Sir's distinct and intricate script on the inside to indicate who the mask belonged to.

Gerard reached out and took his own mask. It had been the talk of the council several times, considering that Gerard's distinct feature was his lip, not his eyes. In the end, they had decided he would keep his eye mask, and that giving him a special mask over his nose and mouth would make him stand out even more.

Gerard's mask was black, with red accents over his cheeks and around his eyes. Compared to others, it could be considered subdued. The committee just thought that that fit his personality.

Joe separated the remaining two masks. He lowered one and thrust the other at Mikey. Mikey's was a soft, powder blue, and there were three tiny, yellow dots on the top left of the mask. White accented the edges of the mask, and black ringed the eye-holes.

Mikey hesitantly took the mask and flipped it over. Sure enough, his name was carefully written across the back. The ink was sealed in with a clear lacquer.