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| Off The Boat: Part 2 - Meeting The Leaders | Started by: Zig-Zag on Jan 04, '08 23:16 |
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Zig-Zag tosses his cigarette onto the street, stomps it out, and looks at you again. Motioning to the car, he says: Get in, I want to bring you to meet some people you'll hear a lot about. You get into his car in silence. Not knowing whom you're about to meet, you prepare for the worst. As the car drives down road you try to remember every twist and turn you go down, until it's finally too many and you're completely lost. Finally Zig-Zag pulls to a stop outside a bar. The outside is just as the others in the area, nothing extravagant about it. Nothing to make it stand out, except for the man guarding the door that is. Zig-Zag nods to the man as the two of you enter. Inside the bar you see nobody. The bartender's conspicuously absent, and no one is sitting in any of the booths. Finally you round the bend and notice one long table full of people. As you walk to your seats, Zig-Zag introduces the members. Kid, I'd like you to meet Oliver McTavish, Sal Giaquinto, Moretay, Alfieri, Gaara, and Ms. Cathy Parks. Zig-Zag smiles as he says the final name, giving a small wave to the wonderous Ms. Parks These, kid, these people right here. These are the people that control your life, and everything you do with it. They will tell you if you live or die, they will tell you how you will live. For the most part, they'll let you do your thing, just don't go breaking their rules, or else you'll find yourself waking up with a cold shower off the side of a bridge one morning. Now, I won't go into details about what their individual families do, I'll let them do that, for right now I'll just say this, if you get a turn to speak, do so respectfully, you're in the presence of great power, kid. Great power. Now, I'll let the family heads speak on their own behalfs. Zig-Zag sits down, grabbing his Jack Daniel's on the rocks, and waits for the family heads to speak. |
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| Could be waiting a long time for some of those heads eh... | |
| Reply by: PrinceofCheese at Jan 04, '08 23:30 | |
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Zig-Zag sees the guard from outside poke his head in and speak, Well, friend, it's their world, right? I don't see me going and start putting my gun to anyone's head to speak, do you? Zig-Zag laughs to himself, and sips a bit off his Jack Daniel's |
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| Reply by: Zig-Zag at Jan 04, '08 23:36 | |
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Just as Alfieri had stepped off the train that had brought him back from the business he had spent the last week attending to, he had been whisked away by an urgent messenger boy and a car waiting for him at the station, inside of which a neatly stacked bundle of clothes, a hand mirror, and a note waited for him. It was from Goosington and it read briefly, 'Dinner, important, get changed'. He sighed, still tired from the trip, and tossed the note behind him. With the privacy of the tinted window between himself and the driver, he quickly and uncomfortably got changed. The car had brought him to a small, inconspicuous bar, inside of which were the various heads of the large crime families across the country. "Important", Alfieri thought, thinking of the note again. He greeted them one by one, respectfully, briefly explaining his absence to each of them upon enquiry, before the group sat around a long table. A familiar face, Zig-Zag, walked in accompanied by someone unknown to Alfieri. After listening to the short introduction, Alfieri, without further ado, pushed his chair back slightly to allow his legs the space to stretch and crossed his arms across his chest. "New guy.." , he thought to himself. Alfieri didn't look very intimidating, or at least not sitting here with a mouth full of spaghetti carbonara and a sloppily creased suit. He swallowed and washed the spaghetti down with the last drops of his red wine. He was slender, black hair, blue eyes, hair combed neatly to the side, and an impeccably trimmed mustache. His eyes had an almost Rasputin-esque magnetism, like the feeling you get when you encounter something you don't want to look at but you can't look away. It was those eyes that seemed to grab the youngster as Alfieri began to speak, never taking his eyes off of the kid. "I suppose there are many things I could tell you. I could give you a lecture about respect. I could inform you that honor is a value that is important around here. I could tell you whatever I think would be appropriate for you to hear. The thing is, I'm not going to. You need to learn these things through experience. As much as I can sit here and tell you about every detail of this life..." Alfieri paused leaving the youngster fidgeting awkwardly as the Las Vegas family head re-filled his glass of red wine as well as that of Ms. Cathy Parks, who sat to the right of him. If there was one thing that Alfieri's father had taught him, it was that you never leave a beautiful women's glass empty. Alfieri focused back upon the youngster. "Where was I?.." He paused for a second. "Ah, right, ahem. As much as I can sit here and tell you everything about this business, it's not gonna help. You need to learn through the actions you take and the decisions you make. You know about respect. You know about honour. You know about all that jazz. Make your boss some money, stay on his good side, and make some friends, and you'll be up there in no time." Alfieri took a generous gulp of wine. |
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| Reply by: Alfieri at Jan 05, '08 07:24 | |
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Gaara stumbles upto Ziggy and places his hand on his shoulder. Gaara proceeds to nod his head in a drunk manner. As Gaara opens his mouth, Ziggy politely takes a step back and lets Gaara commence with his ramblings. "Well son! Itss all aboot the drink!! You git more drink, then you git more power! With the power you buy more drink! Then you git all the babes!" Gaara points to the old, slightly odd smelling women in the corner. Gaara turns arounds and proceeds back to his seat only to let out a single fart and passes out on the floor. The FamilyHeads look around rather nervously at each other as a suave, sophisticated young man by the name of Sledge arrives. Looking rather bashful, Sledge helps Gaara to his seat and nods his head at the other FamilyHeads. With the approval of them, Sledge pours a drink and walks over to Ziggy. "Well Mr Zig, I'm pleased to say welcome to this land, and I am happy that such a bright spark is here amongst. Well what can I say about how things work around here? Perhaps a lot of the things you need to find out for yourself. I think the way that I learnt the most was by taking things at face value and deal with them in my more cautious methods." "With regards to Alcoholics Anonymous, well we like to party as you may see for yourself sometimes. But we are also about business. Although we have a very experienced Gangster and party freak at the head, we also believe in giving people like yourself, a chance to prove themselves. Don't get me worng, this does not mean we lack discipline, probably the opposite, but we think it's beneficial to you and our society that we teach the old methods of Omerta to the younger generation. After all, one day it will be the likes of me and Gaara in the shadows, and the likes of you at the head of the table." "The best advice that I could give is to not rush into anything. Always think before you act. To every action you execute, there will be a consequence. Alas that is all I feel I should tell you. The rest? Well I think you should find your own footing and find that out for yourself." Sledge smiles and playfully gives Ziggy a soft tap on the cheek. Sledge sighs contently and walks towards the CrewLeaders. After a brief chat, Sledge proceeds to try and sober Gaara up before his next big meeting. |
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| Reply by: Gaara at Jan 05, '08 22:16 | |
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Stupified, Zig-Zag sets his drink down and looks at the drunken Gaara, and Sledge. Sirs, not to be disrespectful in anyway, but, you're alcohol has given you double vision I'm assuming. I'm just the chaperon, the kid here is whom you were asked here for. Zig-Zag puts his hand on your shoulder, as you sit as confused as ever. |
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| Reply by: Zig-Zag at Jan 05, '08 22:39 | |
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Sledge starts to look more confused by the second "I thought this was your next of kin Zig-Zag! I was told you were teaching your kid the ropes!" Sledge curses his bad info and stares a whole into some poor schlums eyes in the back |
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| Reply by: Gaara at Jan 05, '08 22:42 | |
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Zig-Zag starts laughing, and pours Gaara and Sledge a drink. No, Sir, I just call him Kid because I haven't the energy in my body to ask his name, or the desire to know it--as I told him when we met, names aren't important at this time. But, good show though, have a drink! |
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| Reply by: Zig-Zag at Jan 05, '08 22:45 | |
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Moretay gets up from his chair in the corner walking over and speaks to the new kid Hello there kid I am someone who gets straight to the point so here goes. If you have the right work ethic, ambition and you keep your head down. You will do well for yourself. people are alwys looking out for new faces who put in the effort and make a name for themselves. One thing I would say though is listen to what people have to say. You can never stop learning even way down the line you will still learn new things. One other peice of advice is if you have a question or your unsure of something then ask, seriously nobody minds a person wanting to know more, but I've seen too many people just go off and do their own thing without thinking. Like my fellow man said, every action has a consequence and if you make a wrong decision it could be your last. I'm not sure whether your here to make some cash or run a successful business but you look like you have potential make sure you speak to the right people and remember if you treat them with respect your going to get it back in return. good luck goes over to the bar sits down and orders a drink. Waiting, to let the others speak |
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| Reply by: Moretay at Jan 06, '08 02:33 | |
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Concealed by a blanket of smoke and shadow, you turn a hear a cough. Quickly cigarettes are extinguished, the smoke clears and Mr. Giaquinto emerges. He taps the bartop and a shot of bourbon is immediately delivered to his trembling hand. He quickly downs the dark amber fluid and returns the shotglass to the bartop, with a nod he thanks the barkeep. "I'm all about opportunity. You see, you can lead a horse to water... but it is up to him to drink. I provide the water, I provide the opportunity... it's up to you to ultimately seize it." Sal sits down next to Moretay. |
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| Reply by: Sal_Giaquinto at Jan 06, '08 16:01 | |
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Cathy Parks sits in a smoke-filled speakeasy downtown, her finger tracing absent-mindedly over a glass of cloudy red wine. Poised between her lips, a white cigarette blazes an intermittant hazy orange which she slips from her mouth, tapping the filter so a spray of ash falls into a small dish before her. She pushes it away petulantly and shifts in her seat, slight discomfort beneath a well practiced veneer. The truth was she found these sorts of meetings tiresome, they made her restless and short-tempered. She lifts her glass and drains the contents, Alfieri filling it up once again and Cathy thanking him quietly. She wasn't about to get soused, but the wine helped to relax her nerves and keep her thoughts from other pressing matters. Usually in these meetings she wanted to breeze, to dust out, to blow the burg and get back to Philly. Except her reasons for being here this time were different from the usual fare. They weren't discussing the future of Los Angeles. There wasn't going to be any clash of ego or pride. They were here for one thing and one thing only: the kid. She had watched him hesitantly approach Alfieri who was sitting next to her and couldn't help but recall the moment when she'd decided to deviate from the straight and narrow and take another, more dangerous path. Remembering this, she caught the gaze of Oliver McTavish and her eyes narrow for a beat, but when the kid had finished talking to Moretay and Sal, the moment had passed, fleeting and transient. She beckons him over to where she is sitting and regards him carefully, her mouth pulling into a warm smile. "You look nervous kid, take a seat" says Cathy, leaning back in her chair. "There's no need to be. I'm pretty sure that the only one of us that bites is that boozehound over there - and as you can see he's out cold." Cathy hooks a thumb at the limp form of Gaara who Sledge is still trying to sober up. She then gives Alfieri a wink and places two wine glasses from the centre of the table together, pouring from a bottle of merlot and filling them both up at the same time. "A long time ago my Papa used to ask me to pour wine for him, I got real good at it too. He used to say, I could'a been a professional." Cathy smiles as she reminisces, she missed her Papa very much. "And then after Papa died, I poured drink for my fiance. Now he was one screwed up sonovabitch, but he loved the way I poured drinks."Cathy takes a hankerchief from her pocket and wipes the neck of the bottle carefully. "Now, other people pour drinks for me." Cathy looks into the eyes of the kid and then places the bottle down, no wine has been spilled. "We all have to start somewhere, the majority of us with nothing. No help, niente." She puts the bottle to one side and lights another cigarette. "But every single person has the opportunity to make it all the way to the top. You should always keep that at the forefront of your mind kid, that anything can happen. Moretay also said a lot of good things I don't need to repeat again, other things you need you can pick up by listening to people talking on the Streets. But if there is only one thing and one thing alone I can teach you whilst you're here, it's this: "Ambition can make or break you. But complaceny will kill you." Cathy lifts her glass and touches hers with the kid's "Salute baby." |
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| Reply by: Cathy_Parks at Jan 07, '08 11:43 | |
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Across from Alfieri and Miss Parks at that long, bar table a lanky man with a mop of brown hair sat; he was not sitting up proud and tall like some of his other associates, but rather was slouching in a relaxed state. One of his hands rested upon the table top, palm pressed down flat as his fingertips drummed a silent beat. The other remained clutched around the bottom of his wine glass, still as full as when it had been initially poured. This was no time for a drink. The bar was dimly lit, thankfully, as it managed to cover the wide-eyed look upon the tall man's face. Oliver had been sitting with his head down, listening to the words of the other crime syndicate heads as they spoke to the poor young thug Zig-Zag had dragged down here. It was amazing to him that he found himself nodding along and agreeing, something he was not used to when it usually came to the other 'big names' in the industry. While it was indeed a remarkable thing that the advice the other city heads were relating to the kid was good advice, a stone began to form in Mr. McTavish's stomach. 'The more they say, the less you have to' was the thought that bounced around his mind. Comforting? No. Worrying? Entirely. What could he possibly say now that would set him apart from the other leaders? And as they continued, one by one to relate their tid-bits and teasers for their own success, the only answer the man could come up with was simple... Nothing. He had nothing he could possibly say that had not already been marked as someone else's words before him. His eyes flickered around the table, eyeing all of the other people in their dazzling bold suits as they sat somewhat quietly, enjoying their meals and drinks. Each of them were remarkable in their own specialized traits of the 'business', each of them had their own history. Each and every one of them had taken a different route to get where they were today. Back and forth he gazed at them all- his eyes finally landing on the intoxicated Gaara. The stories they could tell... and how would Ollie be any different? A startling silence broke him out of his personal crisis, and with a clearing of his throat he looked across the table towards where Cathy and Lazloo sat, the former obviously done with her toast and speech. The kid sat close to Miss Parks, staring up at him with expectant, hopeful eyes. How hard it would be to disappoint someone new to the crime world; how meaningless his own existence would seem if he could not whip up some words of wisdom after how long he had been in the business. "Ah. My turn?" he asked with an attempt at a grin. "What could I possibly say that hasn't been said already? Wisdom comes with experience, think before you act, seize opportunities... ambition takes you far..." The blank stare written across the kid's face told Ollie that he wasn't going to be getting out of this one so easily. McTavish shrugged his shoulders a bit, finding it harder than Zig-Zag had said it would be to address the newcomer. With a soft sigh to himself, he thought back to the very first day he had formed his family, Badass Inc.- the purchasing of his Headquarters, the first time he wore that bold suit and the driving reason behind all he had done that night... "Family." The word escaped before he could stop himself. His small grin twisted into a full blown smile as he met the gaze of the young thug once more. "This life we lead... we know where we'll all be in the end. We will all crime day in and day out and it won't prevent the fact that eventually our time will run out, and that we will one day be at the wrong end of a gun. Six feet under. Family, though... family is what makes it worth something." "Kid, find yourself a family and put your all into it. Sure, work hard to get recognized and be the best you can, but it's the people that will do the recognizing... it's them you have to really put above all else. You are nothing and will get nowhere if you do not have the support of your own crew, so it's simple as this: use the golden rule. Treat them as you want to be treated. Respect them, they'll give you respect, stand behind them and they will stand behind you. Whatever you do reflects upon them, so give nothing but your best for them. This 'thing of ours'... it's all about family." Picking up his wine glass he took a large gulp before inhaling deeply and looking the kid square in the eyes. "It was love of my family that brought me here. It's the love for my family that keeps me here today. You find those 'special someones', mate, and you don't ever let go." "Best of luck to you, kid." |
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| Reply by: Oliver_McTavish at Jan 07, '08 17:27 | |
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