Fate

I

Miami, Florida
1984

"Get my fuckin' bags." Tony glanced to the frightened maid, puffing his cigar as he scanned his cameras once more. "Yes, Mr. Montana." she assured, placing them by the door before running off. God knows why she was still working for this man after all the blood and cocaine she'd cleaned from these floors and walls.

He studied his surroundings, putting out his cigar as he noticed his car pulling up with his security checking both interior and exterior of the car. "Carlito! Get my fuckin' bags, let's go." Tony sighed. He couldn't wait to leave this house. Everywhere he looked, he saw Gina's blood,or smelled Elvira's perfumes. It was suffocating him. He wondered sometimes why his maid didn't leave him to bleed out in his pool. Maybe death would've been better than the way he had been feeling since that night.

With barely any cocaine in his system, it gave his mind a chance to catch up to everything that occurred. Really, everything. He remembered things from his childhood too; sometimes his father. It was like his brain reset, and he had a hard time adjusting. His maids and goons were the victims of those consequences.

"Julie." he called to the maid who he owed everything to. Julie excused herself from directing the other maid and approached Tony with a smile on her face- happy to see him up and about. "You call me if you need anything,okay?" he reaffirmed, slowly sitting in his chair. He had set her up nicely; her son's schooling paid for, a nice home close to the beach..but she insisted to remain and work.

Julie nodded, "Take care of yourself, Tony." she stated. Truthfully, Julie didn't understand why she saved him that night. As he fell to what she was sure was his demise and the attackers retreated, she felt the urge to ensure if he was dead.

He wasn't.

So, with no first aid experience under her belt, she raided what little she could find and kept him alive until she could sneak him into a hospital- courtesy a favor of a friend. Julie liked Tony; he wasn't a good gangster, but he could learn to be.

So, try as she did, she gave him a second chance. Now she could only hope it wasn't a mistake- but given Tony's change in attitude since the past few weeks, she couldn't find any regret for what she did.

Tony slowly got up from his chair, his eyes avoiding the place where he last held Gina. With his arm in a sling and multiple recovering bullet holes, it slowed his pace a lot. And his age didn't make it any easier, which he hated to be reminded of, Julie noted.

"You're an old man, Mr. Montana." she would tease when he would insist he could walk on his own. "What old man would have balls as big as mine woman?"  he'd grumble back as she gagged and ran off. Julie was only 21, close in age to Gina. Including the fact that she saved his life, Tony guessed he felt protective over her because her naivety reminded him of Gina's; but she was dead. He didn't want the same fate to befall Julie.

Sosa had called him a cockroach right before Tony emptied his clip in his head. After almost a year of working his way back to Sosa- he finally got his revenge..and now he could rule Miami in peace, surrounded by the proper resources and people this time. He didn't walk unscathed; taking many hits from Sosa's men but fortunately having ingested cocaine beforehand, which gave him the adrenaline to push through and finish what he started.

Now what was once Sosa's- is Tony's. And he promised himself, when he got better..the first thing he would do is secure himself elsewhere. With Manny gone, he wasn't too keen on trusting another consigliere-handling all his business on his own with Carlito by his side now and then.

"Tony!" he heard as he slowly approached the staircase. He looked down, seeing Elvira with glistened eyes upon looking at him. She raced up the steps to look him in the eye, to touch him and make sure he wasn't a ghost- but she could only freeze, analyzing his battered condition.