In the Mob

Son of a bitch. I have no idea what the hell goes on in my head half of the time. I must seriously be crazy to get myself in this position. Once you're in, you stay in until you retire. There's no going against that. Unfortunately, I just can't stay any longer. That's why I intended on turning state's witness. But, of course, those fucking feds had to go and fuck everything up. Apparently, they had a guy on the inside already, and if I leave now, it'd ruin everything. Too bad, it's not my problem. They didn't tell me who the guy was either. So, I'm totally screwed. If anyone finds out about this, I'm dead.

I met with the feds two days ago. A guy and a girl. She wasn't too bad looking. I've always been crazy about the red-heads. But really, not my type. Too uptight. Besides, you could just tell there was something going on between them. Partners, I'm sure. They told me they'd get me out, just as soon as this next job was finished. Of course, this next job just happens to involve a shit ton of money. And I am one of the key players.

I was to meet them under the bridge. I drove one of those non-descript white vans. Yes, they really do use them, just like the movies. I decided it'd be better to get there on the earlier side, just in case something went wrong. The morning sun was still bright, and the heat was beginning to pick up, despite the cool autumn air. A few minutes after I arrived, another van showed up. I got out of my van, as they approached. I leaned against the drivers door, as the approaching van pulled up, crunching dirt underneath its tires. Two men came out of the van, and that's when the first of many surprises occurred. One of them was the FBI agent I met the other day. The guy.

The surprise on my face must have been clear, as the man he was with asked me what was wrong. I lied and told him it was nothing. No use in blowing his cover when I still needed him to get me out of this. I was handed a gun and told, 'just in case'. I really hate guns. We moved the cash (and it was a lot of cash) from my van into the other to be delivered to the boss. When the job was done, I started walking back to the van to leave. "Wait a minute." It was man with the FBI agent. I turned around to find a gun pointed at me.

"I've been hearing some strange rumors, you know. That you might be turning state," said the man.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied. I think I began to sweat a little.

"Sure you don't. See, I've been thinking. With this rumor going on about you, it wouldn't be too big a leap to say you just took all the money and ran. I tried to stop you, but I just couldn't."

"What?"

"Hey, what are you talking about?" questioned the agent.

"Think about it. All this cash could just going missing. It could be ours, and we have the perfect scapegoat. He might not even be found, especially at the bottom of the river."

I couldn't believe this. This wasn't happening. I slowly pulled out the gun I was handed. Just in case, right? I was fast. He didn't even have time to do anything. I had my gun on him in seconds. The man just smiled at me.

"Oh, you think you're going to shoot me? It's gonna be kinda hard without any bullets in that gun." He laughed.

I pulled the trigger to hear only a click. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Fuck. The agent was trying to say something to the man, but I couldn't hear it. I dove toward the truck just as a bullet flew past me. I stumbled and struggled to put the van between myself and the man. Can't shoot me through a van, right? More shots were fired. I was a dead man. I was quickly cornered. As I sat on the ground, staring into the barrel of the gun, I started to hear the agents words a little clearer.

"Don't do it. He's more useful alive."

"How's that?"

"If you leave him alive, think of all the time that will be spent on trying to hunt him down to get the money, rather than the circumstances on how the money went missing. On that, no one would believe him, since we can say how he was talking to the Feds the whole time. It'll give us enough time to work the money through the system so that it can't be traced." This agent was a lot smarter than he looked.

"Hm. That's a good plan, actually. Alright, let's see how long he lasts."

I just sat there. I wanted to start thanking the agent, but I decided silence would have been a lot more beneficial. I sat there and waited until they drove away with the money. I had to get to the boss as quickly as I could. Before they got there. I drove as fast as I could, knowing exactly where to go.

The place used to be a summer camp. I remember it vividly as a child, every building and every playground. I didn't have much time for nostalgia at the moment, though. I decided to take a short cut through one of the buildings. As I neared the door to go out the other side, I saw men standing outside the window. I listened carefully. They had taken my friend, Bugra, and were questioning him. They wanted to know where I was and to whom I had been talking. I was too late, and they had Bugra. I stood on a small wooden stool to see better. They had him by the woods. Two men with guns pointed at him and the boss stood to the side.

"Don't kill him yet. I want to get the other one before that. Shoot them together, wouldn't that be nice?" the boss asked rhetorically. That's when the stool beneath me snapped and I fell with a loud thud. "What was that?"

The two men came started for the door as I ran through the other side. They spotted me, and started chasing after me. Fortunately, I knew the place better than any of them did. The two henchmen split up and tried to corner me several times, but each time I was able to slip away from them. I started to make toward my van to get out of there, when I noticed another white van. Could it really be? Finally, something started going my way. I ran toward the van to find the man who tried to kill me standing there. He must not have even noticed my fist as I rammed it into his face as hard as I could. He probably only remembers me standing over his ugly, profusely bleeding face. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground while I screamed into his face, "Where's the money!? I'll kill you! Where's the fucking money?"

He sputtered blood as he muttered "van". I let him fall to the ground with a thud, and he just lay there. I opened the back of the van to find the bags of money. I didn't have the time to count them all, but I grabbed one as proof. Running as fast as I could, I found the boss standing with Bugra. Showing him the money, "Here. I didn't take the money, I swear. It's all here. Don't kill me or Bugra, please!"

The mob boss looked at the money, and smiled. "Kill you? Who said anything about killing you? I just wanted to talk to you. I'd never kill one of my trusted employees. And, here you are with the money, just like promised."

I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, but at that point, I didn't really have much of a choice. The two henchmen came up behind me, and grabbed my arms. I didn't even bother to struggle.

"Ah, boys, let 'em go. I want to talk to little Joey here for a bit. Privately." I was instantly released. And nudged in the direction of the boss. As I neared him, I put an arm around my shoulder. "You and I are going to have a bit of a talk." He led me inside one of the buildings. One side of the building was fixed with a tarp to keep the rain out. He muttered something about construction and then offered me a drink. I gladly accepted a scotch on the rocks, and we sat down in front of a television. I was freaking out a bit too much to notice what was on.

"Joey, being in charge is a tough job. There's so much pressure. On top of that, the wife has been acting a bit funny, lately. There's..." I started to zone out. This was just overwhelmingly surreal. Here was the head of one of the largest crime syndicates spilling his guts to me. He asked me if there was anything that'd been troubling me lately. I told him about this call I had gotten from an old flame of mine, and how it was just troubling to hear that voice again. He offered to take care of it for me. I wasn't sure whether he was joking or now, but I decided to decline, just in case. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about life and future plans together, just as if we had been old friends.