DIRTY MONEY

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Moe Wanna What?...

Leaning against the doorframe, Alvaro flicked the ashes from his cigarette onto the ground. He barely ever smoked these, but he was feeling stressed and got one from a friend. He was standing outside one of the places he and his friends tend to hang out a lot. The guys usually play some card games down in the basement to get away from the reality of life, almost always enjoying the time out.

Giorgi's was one of the many places the Gambarro's owned, and the owner was a bit uptight about that in the beginning as his regular pub was turned into a mob hangout. It scared some customers, but it also gained plenty. So, there was something to like about a bunch of criminals coming in.

Hearing the sound of something clicking against the pavement, Alvaro lifted his head. He shifted his gaze in the direction the noise came from, spotting a man taking his time while traveling down the block on a pair of crutches.

The man seemed to have noticed Alvaro at the same time, a smirk forming on Alvaro's face as he nearly witnessed the man falling, becoming startled that the gangster was just a few feet from him.

"Alvaro, h-hey, wassup?" The man who goes by the name of Gino asked as he balanced himself on the crutches.

Alvaro motioned his hand that held the cigarette towards Gino and said, "I see ya' outta the hospital," eyes glancing at the neck brace, "don't look as bad as I expected you to."

Gino stared back at the man who put him in that hospital bed, letting out a faint, "yeah."

"Learned to stop using that 'bitch' word yet?" Alvaro asked with a grin as he brought the cigarette to his face.

One night they were playing at a poker table, and Gino didn't like the fact that he was losing. He didn't know much about Alvaro, so he got reckless with his words.

Alvaro usually doesn't care if someone talks shit during a game of poker, since that was normal. But once Gino called Alvaro's mother a bitch, even though he didn't know the woman, Alvaro had to introduce the dangerous side of him to get Gino to watch his mouth the next time he sat at the same table as him.

"Y-yes," Gino stuttered and murmured as he found the sidewalk to be less intimidating than staring at Alvaro.

"Good," Alvaro said as he flicked the lit cigarette at Gino's chest.

Gino flenched and lifted his gaze, anxiety rushing through him and a pulsating heart like he had run a marathon.

Gino knew about him now, fully aware that Alvaro didn't take disrespect about his mother too lightly. He was just lucky that he was still able to say he has a tongue, because if the disrespect happens again, he won't be able to say a thing.

Gino kept his gaze on the cigarette, but he could feel that burning gaze of Alvaro's. It was like he was frozen, waiting for Alvaro to give him permission to leave.

And as Alvaro turned to start heading back inside the pub, Gino gripped his crutches and moved as quickly as he could in case Alvaro came back out to give him another reminder.

Had Alvaro waited just a few more seconds, he would've been able to see that pretty face that belonged to Bianca. She was with Abby, and their evening wasn't necessarily a girls outing.

Bianca tried her hardest not to contact Abby about another side job, but she needed her car back, and the money she had wasn't going to be enough. She lived nowhere near the train station, so riding that form of transportation meant she had to get up way earlier than needed. Her aunt was only able to take her to work once this week, but that was it because Dorinda was busy.