AT WHAT COST?

II - YOU BARELY EXIST

Thinking of my late father brought me back to what it was that caused Guido to speak out of turn in the first place. The old man was assigned to balance me out, making sure that my approach wasn't too hedonistic which was almost always the case with men within my age range. Still wet behind the ears and "shittin' yella'" if you let my dear mother tell it. I knew better, and although I had nothing but respect for him, I couldn't help but grow irritated by his cross-examination of my actions.

"To be clear, I'm not pulling all of my loans back, I'm simply reminding those with the longest leaches that they are, in fact, still on a leach. I also have no interest in maintaining the landscape of a market I don't wish to be in."

I was simply tidying up my late fathers affairs. With his unexpected passing and my even more unexpected ascension to Capo Regime, I had inherited some long standing loans my dad had been collecting on for years. He was somewhat of a Robin Hood, and let a few select people get away with playing in his face. Marriage and kids had softened an already shaky resolve and commitment to the family and he wasn't hurting for the cash so why stress?

I wasn't hurting for it either, but I was much more of an asshole than my dad ever dreamt of being. I wasn't standing for it, and I certainly wasn't going to let people rejoice over my dad's passing by stopping the minuscule payments they were barely making.

Loan sharking wasn't really my thing. I was more ambitious than that. I had been primed to hit the ground running. My father's influence was the only thing that stopped me from being made sooner. He wouldn't prevented the decision to have me ride up in the ranks fiercely. Without his input, the decision was otherwise unilateral, in my favour. He stated that it was something I would understand when I had my own kids. I loved and respected my dad too much to force the issue so I had resigned myself to following in his footsteps as an associate. After his untimely passing, I paid my respects by observing the  correct period of mourning, before I initiated the process of getting inducted into the position I held currently.

Sitting in my office alongside my consigliere, was my younger brother Vincenzo, who silently observed the short exchange. He may have been making busy, typing away on his phone, but I was confident he was listening intently.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm expecting someone to arrive at any minute."

Guido stood up, taking a second to button his suit jacket. Age had softened his form, but you could tell his days as an enforcer were long and ruthless. What he lacked in height at 5'9" he made up for in brawn. My brother decided to play dumb and remained seated. A quick clearing of my throat gave him the impetus to also take his leave.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do Cap" he said, punctuating his verbal salute with a quick one finger one. He quickly left the room before I could threaten serious bodily harm.

Siblings. Genetic pain in the ass.

I heard their footsteps fall into rhythm, an additional ones joining. It must have been my security guard Raymond escorting them down. It was more of a formality as both men had just left my presence were more than capable of defending themselves, nonetheless, it was a sign of respect and that's what this whole thing is predicated on.

I could now finally focus on the file on my desk. It was very thin, and not from a lack of trying I was assured. The young woman I was meeting today barely existed in the eyes of big brother. This is a rarity, being able to be this off the grid in our day and age. A 22-year-old woman that for all intents and purposes died after graduating high school. According to the first few pages, Vanessa has no social media presence, and no education outside of her diploma. She didn't even attend her graduation. In the eyes of the government, she'd never worked a day in her life, however, the photographs and written testimonies in the middle of file painted a different picture entirely.