I found myself lying on top of my bed pondering the last couple of days.

Yet another pretty boring day passed.

OK, I made myself some decent cash, but it feels like it's all useless to me these days.

I had some small conversations with some old friends, but it looks like the streets are deserted these days. Everyone seems to be busy inside the numerous coffee shops.

Then suddenly the room was filled with the smell of sulfur and I saw the image of a man slowly appearing at the end of my bed.

God! It scared the shit out of me! I reached for my gun and jumped off from my bed still keeping an eye on that image which became more and more clear.

I lost track on time totally, but it must have been several minutes before this 'person' (I cant find another description for it) totally appeared and started to speak with a deep voice.

"Relax, Floyd! You don't need to be scared of me! I am your great, great, great grandfather and I am here for a very good reason."

"God! You scared the shit out of me!"

"I know and of course I did. It's not usual that someone from hell pays you a visit, is it?"

He laughed and his laughter shivered down my spine.

"From hell!!?"

"Yes, Floyd. From hell.

And don't feel sad for me for being sent there after I passed. Cause contrary to what people are being told here about that place - it's simply freaking awesome!

Ok, it may get a little hot in there from time to time, but we have all we could wish for there.

Besides that - Satan (or better Lucifer as we call him) is definitely a very nice guy. He may look a bit scary with these little horns on top of his head and his tail, but believe me - you cant find a nicer guy than him!

He welcomed me with his arms wide open after St. Peter refused to let me go to heaven (which is a totally over rated place according to what I have heard btw). He really appreciates our actions in the way of life our bloodline has been in for so long.

And he even gave me some privileges because of that. I am allowed to go up into the world as you know it from time to time with the purpose to cause some shit of course. And I think that we (I am not the only one with that privilege of course!) are doing quite a good job. This world of yours is getting more and more disturbed already and it will only get worse!"

He starts laughing again and he causes a shiver down my spine with that again.

I take a good look at him and I see some obvious family traits in his face. He looks pretty young and is of the same height as I am.

"I am sorry....Sir, and excuse me for asking, but who are you exactly? Your looks tell me that you are from my bloodline, but..."

Another laugh and a grin after that.

"You know our bloodline, right? Of course you read our family diaries and therefor you know that the name Nickje was given to a lot of new born sons in our bloodline. Well, I am the first Nickje who joined this way of life a very long time ago."

"OMG! Really!? Man, you are a true legend within our bloodline! You laid out the foundations were this bloodline is based on!! And the lessons about this way of life you taught your son are still being taught to every generation! I am truly honored with your visit, Sir!"

He grins again.

"You make me smile, kid! But please stop calling me 'Sir'. Nickje will do!

Those lessons though are in fact the reasons why I am here today!

I still remember those days that I entered this way of life - like it was only yesterday.

I was walking the streets of New Orleans. I didnt have anything to do. I was without a job (times were hard back then) and then this guy approached me.

He invited me for a cup of coffee and as he looked decent I accepted his offer.

He started talking about the recession we were in at that moment and asked me if I was suffering from it.

Well, that was kinda obvious I guess.

I more or less looked like a street bum. I wore my old clothes for several days now, wasnt shaved and my hair was a mess.

He then offered me a job and promised me that my suffering would soon be over and that he wanted to give me the chance of making a huge fortune!

He didnt ask me anything in return for it, but my complete loyalty to my new boss and her 'family'. He wanted me to obey every order I would be given - no matter what. And that was the very first lesson I got in order to survive our life of crimes i guess.

Of course I didnt have a clue of what orders i would get or what he meant with the word 'family'. He didnt want to tell me the true meaning of this 'family' yet, but he assured me that I definitely would love to be in her 'family'.

I watched him closely while drinking my coffee and a hundred thoughts ran through my mind.

I think the curiosity about it all (plus the opportunity of making some real (big) money again) won over my concerns.

So, to be short - I accepted his offer with a handshake and became an associate of The Chosen family ran by Mrs. Scotland."

He paused for a short while. He looked at me and a grin came back on his face. I must have looked ridiculous with my mouth open and my eyes totally focused on him. I was really dying to hear some more of this!

He scrapped his throat and started to talk again.

"The meaning of the word 'family' became totally clear to me soon after that.

He made me sit in the back of a T-Ford after I accepted his offer and ordered the driver to take us to the 'head quarters'.

I raised an eyebrow and wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but he put a finger on his lips and told me that it all would become totally clear to me very soon.

It took a small while before the driver parked his car in front of a huge building. And I was totally surprised by it. I mean - I was born and raised in New Orleans, but I never ever saw this building before!

And I only became more surprised after entering that building!

It looked huge on the outside already, but it looked even huger on the inside!

It totally amazed me. I can tell you that.

It was absolutely crowded in there. I couldnt even make an estimation on how many people there were. And they all seemed very busy."

Again a short pause and a short laughter.

"No, son. I still didnt have a clue on what this all meant!

He led me through a few corridors and we finally approached a huge, mahogany wooden door.

After a knock on it and a 'Come in' from behind it, he opened the door and we stepped into this huge office.

And I was totally amazed by it! It looked totally glamorous and luxurious!

A woman was sitting behind a huge desk and she smiled at us after he closed the door behind us.

This turned out to be the lady that run that 'family' he told me about.

I was too shy to even speak to here (yes - I was totally impressed by her) but he explained her who I was and that I wanted to become a family member.

She smiled at me and asked if I already knew what this would mean.

He told her that he would teach me all of it in the upcoming days and after that she welcomed me into her 'family'.

And yes - he indeed taught me how to do the things we do in this way of life.

And he started with some family standards.

After explaining what the word 'family' means (not just an organized group of people but a group of people that are willing to go to hell and back for each other), he told me that we have certain standards we are supposed to follow.

First of all there is 'loyalty' he said. When you become a member (or an associate) of a family, your total loyalty to your family and it's leader are simply demanded. And with loyalty he meant every single aspect of that word.

Then he mentioned 'omerta'. It is absolutely not done to mention any family businesses to outsiders of the family. Absolutely nothing was supposed to be known outside the HQ walls.

And finally he mentioned 'respect'. Respect towards every family member (no matter what rank he/she has) and respect towards other families in the streets and while visiting funerals.

Breaking of any of these rules would mean (severe) punishment. From a demotion to a swift death."

He looked at me again and sighed.

"You know? Our bloodline always lived by these rules. And now I see things...

Deserted HQs, hardly any speeches in the streets anymore (let alone some nice debates), but what worries me the most these days is the total lack of respect.

The rank of Don was back then a rank that was only given to a few. And when someone finally reached that rank it was even celebrated in the streets. And I dont think I need to mention the rank of Godfather now, do I?

Those ranks were unreachable for most of our criminals and therefor the people who reached those ranks obtained the up most respect.

And now?

It will only take a little while and this world is confronted with more Dons than gangsters! That rank is (easily) obtainable for everyone around here now and therefor lost its glamor completely!

And even the rank of Godfather (the ultimate achievement) has lost most of that as well.

Did we have only one position for a GF in every city back then - with the lately introduced districts, the rank of GF has become a 'normal' rank. Nothing more and nothing less!

And when I see an outrage from a Made Man (!) towards a Godfather (!) after a speech in the streets...

That really  brought tears to my eyes, son!

Did the standards of this world drop so far that we even allow this to take place? The last time I checked he was still alive while that outrage is from a few days ago.

I can tell you one thing, son.

This never would have happened back then without a huge punishment!

That Made Man would have been dead instantly! And yes - it could have meant war! But families (and whole cities) stood up for their GF back then. No matter what the consequences would be! And they would fight and even die with pride because they knew they did exactly what they had to do!

It seems to me that this is all in the past now, son.

And I truly hate to see a great world go down to such a poor level.

Well, I think I told you what I wanted to tell you, son.

Spread my words and maybe, just maybe it will get people to think about it all and maybe it will help to bring this world back to its former glorious level!

I wish you all the luck for the future, son - you may need it.

Ciao!"

And he left the room in a split second, leaving only the smell of sulfur and leaving me totally flabbergasted..

ChapterB throws whats left of her smoke on the ground and butts it out with her right shoe. She takes a deep breath before turning to Floyd and smiles.

What an interesting visit you have had, and I enjoyed hearing what your ancestor had to say. There is one particular thing he said that hit home with me.

"..... the word 'family' means (not just an organized group of people but a group of people that are willing to go to hell and back for each other)..."

Family members don't seem to know eachother anymore, and perhaps if they did, there would be a better sense of belonging and camaderie.

If ever you should get another visit from hell, I'd love to hear it!

~Forbidden looks at Floyd after hearing what he had to say about his experience  from the past nigh and nods his head to state that he agrees with his ancestor~ Floyd I completely agree with what was said to you last night back in my great great grandfathers days promotions were a big deal,Ranks were not just given to anyone just having the experience you need to light up that promote button wasn't enough you had to put in time and work to get their unlike now were once it lit you get a mass mail congratulating every rank above made man, My ancestry dates back to the marietta regime and back in those days to achieve made man was a big deal because you knew you were no longer an associate of that family but you were a made guy you have achieved what many people strived to do sometimes it took months even if you knew the crew leader personally capo + was really a big deal especially because it meant your a hard worker you put in blood and sweat to get their and when you got to that one rank were you know your close to getting auth to start your own family it was a huge deal you wold see threads in the streets expelling and congratulating the man who achieved one of the greatest achievements besides Godfather,But even getting your own family wasn't just a one persons choice their was a sit down with all the families in that city and if the godfather didn't approve sorry you didn't prove yourself to him/her yet. Then the role of godfather was one rank that people put their actual life into achieving back in the old days their was one godfather for each city.When their was an open city their would be sit downs to see who and what families and what person is going to establish the first family their and these places would sit without a godfather until someone was given permission to attempt to become the new godfather this would take people who had been playing for a year or more just to be given a responsibility that can eventually turn out fatal. I enjoyed the old stories my family told me and i think we should go back to how it use to be but I can't speak for everyone maybe people like the new way maybe you don't its not our choice its our leaders and we have to respect what the chose. ~forbidden Lights a cigar and offers one to Flyod as he takes a pull and exhales the smoke into the air~ This is what i have to say it was my little input on this i think their should be more posts in the streets when people are promoted it would be nice and help us get back to the old ways. ~Forbidden stands up and shakes Flyods hand "Have a nice day ill talk to you later i got to get back to work thanks for telling me what happened and if you see your ancestor again ask him if my grandfather Hollow is their and my brother John_Dillanger" I then tip my hat and walk away disappearing into the shadows……. 

Having seen her good friend Floyd_Street out on the streets sharing a story, Maria walks over and leans up against a wall to listen. As he describes his visitor, first ancestor of his families name, and the smell of sulfur that had accompanied his visit, Maria felt a shiver chase up and down her spine. She couldn't imagine the terror she'd feel if she saw the first of her own line standing before her, with the smell of hell filling the room, and she didn't particularly wish to find out the level of terror either. 

As she listened to Floyd's tale, and listened to the details of the conversation between him and this shadowy ghost of an ancestor, Maria felt much of what was said making sense to her. The two seemed to have discussed what she considered to be some of the bigger issues regarding the world they lived in. 

Floyd, I can only imagine the terror when your ancestor came to visit! But I do find the conversation between the two of you very interesting. I think your ancestor might be on to something, truly. Obviously my bloodline doesn't go as far back as many of the bloodlines here, and I do recognize that we today read the journals of our ancestors and hear the histories of our world with the benefit of hindsight and the curse of nostalgia. I do think it can be easy to fall into the trap of looking back at the past with rose tinted spectacles, but in this case, I don't think that is something that is happening. 

You know as well as I do that respect is the blood of our world. It keeps our world turning. Sure, guns and money might power it, but without respect, what would we be? Quite honestly, little more than savages. Our world needs respect to function well. It needs it's hierarchies. It needs the leaders to set the example every bit as much as it needs the rest of us to follow that example, and something that my bloodline has felt for a while and been vocal about in the past is that those examples seem to become more and more diluted as the number of people we see dancing around in bold suits increases.

I do love to quote back parts of speeches that I want to particularly make a response to, however usually it's because I find something in that part specifically disagreeable. This part, however, I'd like to highlight because these are points that I do agree with.

Deserted HQs, hardly any speeches in the streets anymore (let alone some nice debates), but what worries me the most these days is the total lack of respect.

The rank of Don was back then a rank that was only given to a few. And when someone finally reached that rank it was even celebrated in the streets. And I dont think I need to mention the rank of Godfather now, do I?

Those ranks were unreachable for most of our criminals and therefor the people who reached those ranks obtained the up most respect.

And now?

It will only take a little while and this world is confronted with more Dons than gangsters! That rank is (easily) obtainable for everyone around here now and therefor lost its glamor completely!

And even the rank of Godfather (the ultimate achievement) has lost most of that as well.

Did we have only one position for a GF in every city back then - with the lately introduced districts, the rank of GF has become a 'normal' rank. Nothing more and nothing less!

Now, I can speak and speak til I'm blue in the face on the way that so many seem to shy away from the streets in the way that a mouse shies away from a cattery, and I doubt it'll make a blind bit of difference. There's a lot been said about fixing the issues on our streets and I'm not going to add to that at this time. 

I do believe that the reduction of respect that the rank of Godfather commands these days and the issue of deserted and inactive head quarters is one that has been triggered by our worlds re-division into districts. I and my line have said time and time again that we believe that districts have, on the whole, had a very negative impact on the way our world functions, and should the Gods announce tomorrow that we would head into the future without districts, with only cities once more, we'd be partying in the streets, along with, I suspect, many others. 

To put the issue around the rank of Godfather totally bluntly, the reason that it's truly lost much of the glamour and prestige around it is because the increase in the amount of Godfathers out there has lead to our world seeing some truly idiotic, un-respectable and generally face-palm inducing people occupy the rank since districts became a thing. I'm not talking about the current crop of Godfathers in particular, but I would say that I sincerely doubt that anyone could not have muttered "what the fuck" in response to some of the people who've become Godfather and had long runs as Godfathers since we got districts. There have been times where the criteria for being a Godfather has been reduced to simply, "live long enough and have 60 units, we'll get to you sooner or later". The huge increase in the amount of Godfather spots available was always risking causing a situation like this one, however some of this blame must be put on the mere mortals of our world too. When we have sat back and allowed some of the people we have allowed to sit in the rank of Godfather, we would probably all do very well to remember that the phrase, "Some people are only alive because it's illegal to kill them", doesn't apply to our world. The police turn a blind eye to us, so that we may answer to each other. Except sometimes it has seemed as though nobody has been asking the questions. 

As for the deserted headquarters... I'd posit that the position of Crew Leader itself has devalued in much the same way as the rank of Godfather has, and over the same time frame as well. All new Godfathers want to populate their district with leaders. We're at a point now where quite often we have more people with bold or slanted suits walking around than we do not. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians is a phrase that has been bandied about a number of times. Indeed at times, it's seemed as though the criteria for auth has simply been that those being authed must have pulse. Our community is spread insanely thinly. We span five cities, but only three have each district populated. Many leaders seem to have headquarters filled with simply sleeping bodies. It'd be nice to see people killing off those sleeping bodies before sending new leaders out into the world. 

To be honest, Floyd, the more I've listened to your tale and thought about what you've said, the more I do wish we could go back in time. Maybe the true golden era was back in your ancestors day, but personally, I'd be happy to just go back to a world where districts didn't exist. It's true though, that my memories of the days before districts existed were from a very stable time. The days my first ancestor spent working for Phil_Steak were not particularly marred with war or violence. Life was stable and steady. 

It's certainly gotten me thinking more deeply, though. It might be that I take to the streets again over the coming days to ponder all of this more. Thank you for a good story, old friend!