CHAPTER 77

TOMMY SLEPT SOUNDLY until the afternoon. He would have slept even more if the phone didn't ring again. He refused to answer it, waited for it to stop, but the person kept repeating.

Finally, after so much noise, he had no choice. Mumbling nonsense, he picked up his cell phone and was surprised by the time; the clock read 2:45 PM and he had been asleep since early. He strained his blurred vision over the screen of the device and realized that the number was Benedetti's.

— And... Do you need me? — he said with a choked voice as he answered.

— Get ready, things will be busy today too — the old man replied in a serious tone.

— What happened?

— We're going to have some meetings.

— Relationship discussions? — the young man asked in a joking tone.

— Some groups are suspecting that we were the ones who ended that little party at the old warehouse...

— And who are we going to see today? — Ah, Kalashnikov something, I don't know... An unknown who took the place of that Russian we killed. For some reason they distrust us...

— And now we're going to meet up and kill some more... — Tommy grumbled irritably.

— Things aren't that simple, kid. — Carl Benedetti replied.

— Simple... — Tommy sighed hopelessly. — They've never been simple and I don't expect them to be, but since I joined the family, death has been all I've seen.

— There won't be any deaths, I guarantee it, we just need to work around the situation. Talk, convince, make things a little more diplomatic.

— Like Tony did with Kid? — the young man asked, speaking harshly.

— What do you want, Leo? — Benedetti seemed deeply irritated by the situation. — Do you want me to create a law that prohibits disputes and betrayals and that is followed by criminals? I'll give you a suggestion, let's invite them all for coffee and tell them we're all friends. What do you think?

Benedetti was almost shouting.

— There will be no more fights, no deaths, no defeats or arrests, we will all be good companions, working together in organized crime. Huh?! Tell me!

— That's not what I meant...

— You need to understand something, boy, even criminals have their laws. We all have rules, Leo, whether we are ordinary citizens or vile criminals. The difference is the limits we follow them, and for many of us, the limit is much further than slapping a traitorous bum, even further than death! But that doesn't mean there are no limits.

— I didn't get into this to become a murderer... —Tom tried to vent.

— Don't be childish! — Benedetti scolded him, upset. — You knew this from the beginning, you knew it would be like this, you knew what situations you would be exposed to! If you didn't know, you should have. I showed you everything! And do you know what the reality is?! You accepted, Leo. You had your chances to back out, but you didn't hesitate. And do you know why?! Because you are a killer! You accepted my invitation to learn, you accepted my teachings, you agreed to kill those men so that you would be accepted by the group. You didn't become a killer when you shot someone for the first time, but when the chance to be one of us proved attractive to you. Face reality, boy! Stop whining and be a man!

Leo stared at the ceiling of his room, listening to those harsh words.

Were they as true as they seemed to be?

Was what Tony was saying just a reflection of a moment of rage, or was it what he really thought about both of them?

Benedetti paused for a moment, while he seemed to gather his thoughts. He spoke again, a little calmer:

— I said the same thing to my commander when I returned from my first mission in Vietnam. He asked me how many lives I had taken that night.

Leo opened his eyes wide as he listened to that, lying attentively on his bed.

— I said, three — He then asked me what I thought it was. I told him that I didn't feel like a soldier, but a murderer, those people were nothing more than civilians with guns in their hands. He replied: Desert now and just be a murderer, face this war and maybe one day you'll become a soldier.

A silence hung for a brief period, until Tom asked:

— Did you manage to make me a soldier?

Benedetti let out a long sigh, audible over the phone.

— I think you know the end of the story, boy. I went all the way to the end of that damned war, and at the end, when I came back, I was recognized as a murderer.

— Why are you telling me this?

— Because in the end, I saw who I really was. And you need to see it too. You need to see what I recognized in you the moment I saw you, boy.

Tommy found himself thinking about what he had heard. Carl Benedetti wasn't helping with this conversation. He mused about himself, until Benedetti's voice woke him up again:

— Things will be safer this time, you can be sure, Leo. Tony convinced them to meet in a public place, somewhere very busy. Luckily, today we have that event, the tribute to those killed in the attack, at the Library...

Leo didn't like what he heard, he would have to meet with criminals in broad daylight in a public place and at an event that would take place at Katy's workplace. He was very worried about it, the situation was reaching all the limits to go wrong...

— Escape from the spiders by going among the snakes... — Tommy commented in monotone.

— Believe me, it's the safest thing to do at the moment. — Benedetti stated, convinced of his strategy. — You should meet him at the corner of Fifth and East 43, in front of the bank, at four in the afternoon.

Tommy let out a sigh of discouragement, using an old military jargon he knew:

— There are no easy days...

— The only easy day was yesterday, kid...

— I can imagine...

— Get used to it, this is just the beginning, son, just the beginning! On the other hand, there comes a time when things change...