“Get away from me! Whoever you are, get the hell away from me!” the screams of a young woman voiced in the night. No matter how loud or desperately she screamed, no one came to her rescue. Nobody heard her, or if they did, they just didn’t care. After all, this was the ghetto of Los Angeles, and the people were used to happenings such as these. Around here, where the Cosa Nostra Mafia was based, they were used to vacant screams in the night.
“Judith Beckham,” the man sneered at her vulnerability, gun pointed at her head. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Judith’s heart pounded and her nose filled with the rancid air of the sewer. The muck was up to her thighs and her orange mini dress was now in ruins, a disgusting shade of brown. “H-how do you know my name?”
The man laughed, “Oh, I know everything there is to know about you.” He advanced towards her menacingly. “You were born on January twenty- second, 1978, and you’re 34 years old. I know about your murdered child, your hopes and dreams to become an actress once more. I know you regret giving up your successful acting career to marry Sam, and I think you know why I’m here. You don’t know me, woman, but I know you more than you could’ve ever guessed.”
Judith’s face paled. Who was this strange man, and how did he know so much about her? Damn, she wished Max were here. If only she had let him drop her off at home… But if he came… Well, then they’d both be screwed. Then Sam would know. It was dangerous out there on your own, but it would be even more dangerous for her mobster husband to find out about their affair. It was just so hard to maintain their relationship in secret. While she truly hated her good- for- nothing husband, a divorce was expensive, and only Sam was making the money as Dragna’s favorite assassin. If she divorced him, she would be dead within days. Sam Matranga was dangerous, and much too experienced to evade.
Suddenly Judith was snapped back into reality by the foul stench of a toilet flushing above. Then a horrible thought popped into her head. Her heart clenched with dread. She knew why this man was here, and who sent him. “Did- did Sam send you?”
The man cruelly laughed, gun still trained on Judith with his steady hand. “How did you guess? Oh, I’m sorry, I never formally introduced myself. I’m Jack Dragna Jr., newest member of the Los Angeles Mafia.”
“Son of Jack Dragna Sr.?” She remembered him as a boy, from when she had first started dating Sam. Jack Dragna Jr., seven-year-old son of the Cosa Nostra Mafia boss. Even then, she had noticed that he took after his father, hatred and evil reverberating through his head and seen through the window of his eyes, an open book. But now, still a young man no more than seventeen, this man was not just a mere boy full of hatred, but a killer.
“Do you know why I’m about to kill you, Judith?” Jack sneered.
And the truth was, she did know why. Max. While Sam felt no love toward her, he was a member of an Italian mob group, and Italian mob groups strongly believe in manners. And that meant no adultery, at least not for the wives.
“I’m waiting,” Jack tapped his foot.
“I cheated on him,” Judith whispered. Her heart suddenly filled with regret, but not for her affair. She didn’t care what it implied, Max was meant for her. But what would her life be like if she had never met Sam? It probably would have been wonderful. By now, she would have been a wealthy screen star, happily married to Max, the love of her life. Oh, if only they hadn’t gone to the bar… When they noticed the creepy guy dressed in black, sitting alone at a run down bar at one in the morning… A warning bell should’ve rung in her head. She should have left with Max, let him walk her at least to the block of her house. But she didn’t, and the man followed her until she came to an open manhole cover she hadn’t seen in the dark, and fell in. And here she was now…
“You know it,” he responded to her answer. He walked toward her, a menacing expression on his face. Judith backed up, and before she realized it, she was face up in the sewer. The stench hit her like a baseball bat, and the slimy feel of the sewage was revolting. She was paralyzed with fear. No matter how much she wanted to get up, the only movement she could muster was to shake fearfully.
Jack’s face was hard and he was emotionless as his hand pushed down on the trigger.
