The Jersey Wars

Chapter 10 - Burning Bridges

November 1988

The ringing telephone almost made Mark jump out of his skin. The past four and a half hours had gone by at a snail's pace and he was afraid that the Dominicans hadn't succeeded at the task that was given to them.

"Yo." Mark said as soon as the receiver was to his ear.

"Good news and bad," the Hispanic accented voice stated. "The good news is that we got one of them. The bad news is that we ONLY got one of them."

Feeling his heartbeat starting to quicken, Mark asked, "Which one did you get?"

The voice responded, "The big one. His partner blew my cousin's head off before the job could be completed."

Wiping cascading sweat from off of his face, Mark asked, "KC's dead?! Good, he was the tougher of the two anyway. Now Ghost will have to go at being security all alone which should make getting to JDC all the more easier."

The voice replied, "The workings of your plans do not interest me. I expect the other half of the payment to be delivered as we discussed, plus an extra fifty large for my cousin's family."

Grinning like a person holding a winning lottery ticket Mark said, "You got it mi hermano; gracias."

The call disconnected with nothing further being said. For the first time since he'd put this scheme into action, Mark felt like he was actually winning....that is until there was a loud and commanding knock on his door. Not expecting any visitors, Mark was extremely suspicious. He quickly began putting away all the schematics and documents that were lying around.

He then went to the door and while looking through the peephole asked, "Who is it?"

****

As I led the way to Mark's door, we all stopped and listened intently to him as he assumedly talked on the phone with someone.

"KC's dead?!" He asked with obvious joy in his voice. "Good, he was the tougher of the two anyway. Now Ghost will have to go at being security all alone which should make getting to JDC all the more easier."

Upon hearing this, Ghost choked up and removed his shaded to try and contain his emotions. In all of the years that I've known Ghost I can count on one hand the number of times that I've seen him with his shades off. KC's death had rocked us all to the core, but Ghost even more so because of their close relationship.

I put a hand on Ghost's shoulder, "Calm down old friend. The Devil will get his due I promise you."

Dunna then knocked on Mark's door with all of the anger and frustration that we were presently feeling. There was some shuffling around before Mark asked. "Who is it?"

I replied with my signature greeting of "YUUUUUUUM!"

There was more movement for a few seconds before Mark finally answered the door with the chain still engaged.

"Oh shit," he said clearly flustered. "What's up J? What are y'all doing here?"

Looking into Mark's eyes I didn't recognize my brother anymore. The man that I'd known for over twenty years was a stranger who only resembled my old friend.

"We have some family business to discuss Mark," I said as the anger within me tried to find a way out. "Open the door."

Seeing that he ultimately had no choice but to comply, Mark closed the door and disengaged the chain before opening it up wide. I entered into his immaculate apartment not fully sure of what to expect. Following right behind me were Rah, E, Tre, Dunna, and Ghost, who without his shades on was able to make Mark peer into his tortured soul.