Chapter 5: The rebirth: from gangster to love
Chapter 5: The rebirth: from gangster to love
"Ash…Ash…are you alright?"
Asher opened his eyes and at first the brightness was blinding but soon he adjusted.
Was this heaven or afterlife?
He looked around. At first, at the voice that spoke to him.
"Ash, are you alright?"
He knew who he was. Pedro Ballamino, the last son of the Manhattan crime boss Ares Ballamino and his oldest friend since he was fifteen years old.
Wait! Did Pedro die too?
"Ash! Point that stupid gun elsewhere, fool!" Pedro's voice made Asher steady his focus on him. He stared at Pedro blankly.
"Dude, seriously…stop pointing the damn gun at me"
Asher looked at his hand and he realized he had a loaded gun pointed at Pedro.
"Sorry" he muttered and secured the safety pin. "Where are we?"
Pedro looked irritated. "Are you high or something?"
"No, I don't think so but I think I died or…something" Asher admitted before he realized something.
He was reliving this particular moment. Pedro murdered the Dallas family a few days ago.
It wasn't hell or heaven or afterlife, this was five days earlier.
"Today is the 11th right?" He asked Pedro.
"Yes"
"And I am not dead?"
"You are about to be if you don't shut up and do your goddamn job. The reason Ares wanted you for this job is because he is beginning to question your loyalty, Ash. My father believe you are so good at pretending to be just a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company that you've forgotten your origin and your oath to the Ballamino syndicate. This is an olive branch, Ash. Don't screw it up " Pedro told him.
Asher nodded and placed his gun back into his jacket.
"Let them go, Pedro"
Pedro blinked. He didn't hear him right because there was no way that he just said to let the Dallas family go against Boss Ares' orders.
"I am sorry, what?! Ares might be daddy to me but he won't hesitate to put a bullet in my skull and yours, Ash. So, pull your head out of your ass and do your goddamn job!"
Asher looked at the shivering family in front of him who was suddenly looking at him like their new savior. He didn't feel any flicker of sympathy for them.
"I think I am going to quit the Mafia, Pedro. I am going after the woman that I love. I am going to be someone's boyfriend for once"
Pedro took the gasoline by the corner and started pouring it on the family and all over their living room.
The teenage children of the man and his wife screamed on top of their voices and their parents begged for mercy.
"Is this because of your stupid principle about killing kids?" Pedro asked him.
"Ares knows my rules. I don't kill kids or women.....but also It's love, buddy. And I don't know what is happening exactly but I have five days to stop the woman I love from jumping off the mainland bridge and I don't think she will like the fact that I am a hitman. So, I am going to quit the Mafia. It was good while it lasted. Adieu!"
Pedro moved closer and grabbed his shoulder. Asher was taller but he found a way around it.
"Honey, this is the Mafia. You don't just quit, okay? it's not an Uber or a fucking weak ass cult. This is the Mafia. The only way out is a bullet to your head, Ash. You know this. You know the rules"
Pedro told him.
"I know…I guess I will be the first one to do it. Now, get out of my face, Pedro. You should be happy I am quitting you know"
"Why should I be happy, Ash?" Pedro asked him.
Ash moved closer to him. "I have seen the future, actually. I know that two days from now I will put a bullet into your father's head for making me be here to watch while you killed those kids and which will lead to me taking over the Ballamino syndicate just like I know that their middle child is currently hiding in that cubicle over there and she will definitely put you in a wheelchair in four days, she won't survive the car crash, obviously" Asher grabbed Pedro's shoulder.
"I have been given a second chance, I am done, Pedro. Tell Ares Ballamino that I am closed for business. Let's go our separate ways"
Pedro tried to shoot him but Asher was faster as he shoved him and knocked him unconscious on the wall.
"Sorry, Pedro"
Asher adjusted his clothes. He turned his attention to the quivering family in front of him. And he smiled.
"You" he pointed at the oldest child "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Y-yes s-sir" the boy nodded.
"Cool. Tell me how to win the girl of my dream and you can walk out of here with your life"
The cubicle behind them opened and a young girl of about sixteen crawled out.
"What you need is a meet-cute? And girls like mysterious cute guys and you seem to have the cute part locked down already. Let my family and I out here alive and I will help you plan the perfect meet-cute"
Asher thought about it for a minute before he shrugged.
"That sounds fair. Now, talk"
"First, you have to listen…. There are rules to follow...."