“Where the hell do you think I am? I’m at work Danny, you know it! Is it you downstairs with your thugs?”
Danny ignored the question. “We need to talk, Enzo. Come here, now!”
Enzo became red. He hated to receive orders, especially from someone working for his dad.
“Danny, this is my first day here. I can’t leave just like that. What the hell do you want? If you need to talk, just talk now!”
“Enzo, stop being childish. I told you we need to talk, face to face! This is important.” Danny insisted.
“We can’t be seen together! You can’t show up like that in my building, I have a career and a reputation, for Christ’s sake! What do you have to tell me, we don’t do business toge…”
“ENZO, LISTEN TO ME!” Danny yelled at him.
For a few seconds, Enzo could hear his own heartbeat and Danny breathing heavily on the phone. He was furious to be yelled at but wasn’t willing to argue with him.
He calmed down and took his time to reply.
“You better have a fucking good reason to talk to me like that, Danny… I might not kick your ass myself but I’ll make sure my dad is…”
Danny interrupted him right away.
“Your father’s dead, Enzo…”
When Enzo arrived at the reception, Danny and his men were gone. He calmly approached the receptionist.
“
Hi, I’m Enzo Fancelli. You said there was a group of men who wanted to see me?”
The woman seemed confused. “Hello, sir. I don’t know what happened. They were fighting with the security and they suddenly stopped. They left the building maybe two minutes ago.”
Enzo pretended to be surprised and tried to act cool. “Oh really? Well, I guess I’m lucky then…”
“Are you in danger, sir? Do you need us to call the police?” She was obviously in shock and seemed genuinely worried.
Enzo reassured her. “I don’t think it’s going to be necessary, but thank you for your concern. It was probably a mistake. My name is pretty common in our community and I’m sure these men have nothing to do with me. By the way, I’m going out to grab some coffee. Do you want anything?”
Putting on a show and being friendly at that moment was one the most difficult thing Enzo had ever done in his life. He wanted to scream and to run. He wanted to get in his car and race in the streets, while listening to loud music. He wanted to get drunk and hopefully wake up the next morning and realize this was only a bad dream.
But it wasn’t - it was the ugly reality.
He had to look as relaxed and confident as possible, to avoid drawing too much attention on him. He wasn’t sure that lady would buy into it but he had to try anyway.
And it worked.
Enzo and Danny had agreed to meet outside of the building. There was no way Enzo could be seen with him anywhere near the office, but due to the urgency of the situation, there was no other choice.
Danny was waiting near a pickup truck, surrounded by a dozen of men when Enzo arrived. The scene looked unreal – there he was, impeccably dressed in his expensive navy blue suit, meeting with a group of gangsters in a dark and almost empty parking.
When he saw him, Danny opened his arms to hug him. Enzo wasn’t a big fan of hugging other men but that was a tradition in his Italian family and he reluctantly welcomed Danny in his arms.
Enzo kept silent. His gaze was empty, hands in his pockets. He couldn’t believe it was actually happening. He used to complain and criticize his father, but now that the old man was gone, it was a completely different story.
Everything that frustrated him about his dad and all the mistakes he’d made seemed irrelevant to Enzo. All he wanted was to have a second chance to talk with his father again. Life was so fragile… even for the Don of the Famiglia!
Enzo didn’t know what to say or what to do. He was completely lost. It didn’t make sense, but he wished his dad was back in his life to tell him what to do next.
“What happened?” He finally managed to say.
“Giovani was murdered last night… We found his dead body in a dumpster this morning.” Danny replied.
“What about the bodyguards? I know we spend a fortune on security, what is it for?” Enzo was outraged.
“They are missing. We don’t know where they are, or even if they’re still alive.”
“Fuck man! You guys really suck! What about you, Danny? What were you doing? How come you weren’t there protecting my father?”
“I’m not your father’s bodyguard, Enzo. I’m the
Consigliere
.” Danny seemed calm but Enzo felt that he’d slightly hurt his ego. Danny was the second most important man in the Famiglia after Giovani, and Enzo wasn’t supposed to compare him with a mere security man.
“Whatever, Danny. How did you let that happen?”
“Don’t start blaming me, kid. Nobody’s happy about that situation! Do you really want to be a pain in the ass? You think it’s the right time to do that?” This time, Danny had raised his voice and Enzo could feel the tension building up.
However, Danny was right - there was no point in fighting and looking for someone to blame. At least, not for now. Enzo knew that Danny was a wise man, and he calmed down.
“Okay, so what do you have? Any lead or anything to start investigating?” Enzo asked.
Danny shook his head and sighed. “Nothing for now. We’ve deployed 50% of our men in the streets to look for information. 25% are dealing drugs as usual to ensure we don’t lose money and 25% are at home protecting your mama. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, we never know…”
Enzo nodded. He was completely lost. He was trying to look calm and tough, but deep inside he was struggling between sadness, anger and fear. The last thing he wanted to do was to get involved in a war with other families.
“What about the police? Should we call the police?” He asked without thinking.
Danny raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Are you friggin’ kidding me? Cops are the last people on earth you want to call in this kind of situation. Your father was a wanted man. We can’t ask for help outside, we need to find a solution by ourselves.”
Fuck, that’s right. Damn, this is so fucked up!
Enzo realized he had no idea what he was saying. He’d just made a mistake by speaking his mind without being careful. He tried one more time.
“Okay, then offer money. Offer something like a reward. People will talk! Promise them money in exchange for information!”
Danny shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, son. It won’t work. You can’t buy everything, okay? Maybe that’s how it works in Wall Street but in Real Streets people actually care about their lives.
Omerta
, you remember? I know you like to pay to get what you want, but it doesn’t work like that in OUR world. No amount of money can make them talk if they know they’re not supposed to talk. Get it? So now, stop trying to come up with a solution.”
Enzo couldn’t believe his ears. “What? Wait a minute. I’m trying to help, okay? You called me for help and now, you’re telling me to stop trying to find a solution?”
Danny wasn’t intimidated. “I never said I needed your help.”
Enzo threw his hands in the air. “What the fuck? Are you serious? What do you want then, smart ass?”
Danny remained perfectly calm. “I told you we need to talk. That’s it.”
Enzo looked at him, his hands on his hips. “Okay. Okay, go ahead then, talk! Let’s talk if that’s what you want to do. My dad was murdered, and you just want to talk! I think you should get your ass out there and get busy looking for what happened instead of wasting my time!”
Danny suddenly grabbed him by the shirt and brought him close to him. Enzo felt his blood boiling in his veins and he immediately tightened his body.
Danny was a tall and strong man, also called “The Trouble.” Typically, he was the kind of man nobody wanted to meet in a dark alley at night.
He was known to knock out his opponents within seconds in street fights and Enzo’s mind started to race in many directions – was he going to flatten his nose with a head-butt? Or break his jaw with a hook? Or kick him in the groin? That man was extremely vicious and effective in the streets.
Enzo knew how to fight, but there was no doubts in his mind that Danny would break his neck without even trying. No matter how big his ego was, Enzo had to shut up if he wanted to avoid ending up in a hospital bed.
Danny was losing patience. “Listen. I’m here to help you. I’ve known and worked for your father for 30 years and I’m determined to find out the asshole who killed him. But first, you need to stop with the attitude and get your shit together!”
Enzo couldn’t stand being talked that way.
“Get off me, Danny. I’m not like you guys…” He said, clenching his fists out of frustration.
Danny finally let him go. “I know you’re not and that’s the problem. Listen, we have better things to do than arguing. I came here to ask you one simple question. Take your time before you say anything stupid.”
Enzo readjusted his shirt and his jacket without looking at him. “What is it?”
“Do you want to take over the Famiglia?”
The dreaded question…
Enzo wasn’t surprised, though. He knew the topic would come up sooner or later but he had refused to think about it. All his life, he had avoided the subject and lived like things would continue to be the same forever.
“What did my dad say about that? I mean, he probably told you what to do in case he died, right? I can’t believe he never thought about it. Tell me he had a plan for such a scenario…”
Danny shook his head. “I wish but believe it or not, we never talked about it. Your dad was a great man but he wasn’t perfect – he didn’t prepare for that. There’s no easy solution. The only time he mentioned about his death, he said we had to give you and your sister the freedom to choose your own path.”
The whole situation was totally confusing and scary. Enzo had no idea what he was supposed to do. He was still processing what Danny had just said and struggling to realize that the old man was gone forever.
He was gone without giving any instructions or directions – nothing. Things were going way too fast and Enzo couldn’t accept reality. Less than an hour ago, he was on top of the world. He had a brand new job at the most prestigious bank on Wall Street, he was making loads of money and nothing could stop him.
And now, his world was completely turned upside down. Why did he have to deal with all that? Why him? Why now?
Enzo was slowly entering a stage of denial mixed with anger. “Well, if I’m supposed to choose my own path, then leave me alone. I’m doing fine. I don’t need to take over the family business, what’s the point?”
Danny seemed clearly upset. “So you don’t think your responsibility is to carry on your dad’s legacy? All his hard work and what he has accomplished doesn’t mean anything to you? You just want to turn your back and walk away? That’s pretty selfish in my opinion. Your dad deserves better than an ungrateful son…”
Enzo’s face turned red immediately - Danny had just touched a hot button.
“I’m self-made Danny, do you understand? I’m where I am because of my own effort. I’m not selfish and I don’t have to be grateful. I just don’t understand why I should worry about this business. I have nothing to do with it!”
Danny took Enzo by the arm. “Let’s talk more privately.”
They both walked a bit further and left the rest of the group behind them. Danny turned around to make sure others couldn’t hear them and continued.
“I don’t want to humiliate you in front of other people because I respected your father but you need to change your perspectives, son. Your mindset is completely messed up. You’re delusional. You really think you’re self-made? Look at me. This is really what you believe?”
Enzo didn’t expect such a direct question and seemed confused. “What the hell man! Yes, this is what I believe. Why?”
Danny took his face between his huge hands and forced Enzo to look at him.
“Let me tell you something. I have nothing against you Enzo, but honestly I think you’re a friggin spoiled kid. Yes, you’re very smart but you act like a friggin brat! I know you’re financially independent but think about it. Did you honestly get there just by your own effort? When you were in college, did you pay for the tuition? Did you pay for your car and your rent? Did you put the money down for your fancy condo?”
Enzo kept silent. These were uncomfortable questions to answer and he preferred to avoid them. He didn’t want his version of his life story to be questioned.
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that people like me or these guys that you see over there - and thousands of people like us - have hustled in the streets for years for your father. All the money he’d made to finance your education and support your expensive lifestyle came from people like us. We risk our lives every day to make money. And part of that money eventually helped you to be where you are today.” Danny said with a bossy voice. He was talking with lots of passion.