Tony slowly makes his way out of the Mystery Machine Headquarters and onto the streets. It had been some time since they had moved to Summerlin from the Bronx. There were many differences between the two places although they had made it feel like home in a short time. Tony had opened a New York style Delicatessen even to make sure the food also felt like home. 

Now today he felt that he wanted to spark up a conversation with those who also lived this life of crime that he did. A specific topic came to mind that he thought may be able to get people conversing...

So, I come to you all today to ask you about the subject of "Us versus Them". By this I mean to broach the subject of friendship and acquaintances in this thing of ours. Do you yourself tend to stay within the confines of your city? Even your District? Possibly you even constrict your circle to those within your own Headquarters. Do you push yourself to expand your friendships outside of your city? Do you reach out to those around your rank, above it, below it?

Now I also ask you, why? Why do you choose to limit or expand your friends and acquaintances? Is it for business reasons, the enjoyment of friendship, or something else? 

Now I myself do believe that this tends to be something that changes over time and on a person to person basis I suppose. As I could obviously expect, somebody who is brand new to these shores and unaccustomed to this thing of ours would have a more difficult time adjusting and getting to know those outside their family or district.

As for somebody who has many ancestors associated with this thing of ours it becomes easier and easier over time. But there are those who fit into all categories I've discussed even if they have many ancestors. I usually tend to try to get to know everyone in my own family, then I extend to people who share my district or city as well, and finally I try to reach out and slowly make relationships with those I have interactions with outside of my city. To me it is a process where your circle slowly grows from a few to many. 

For those who hold positions of power it can get even more necessary rather than easy over time. I myself think that trying to reach out to those who are of any rank is a good thing even if you are in a position of power. Although I know with power comes more responsibilities which can make that a difficult thing to do at times. 

I suppose this is a topic I could go on and on about. So I'll keep my thoughts at that and hope that others may add or even expand upon what I have said. 

I appreciate the time and effort of those who wish to discuss this topic and share their thoughts. 

Tony lights a smoke and waits to see what others think about the subject... 

Just as Victoria thought she had finally successfully picked the lock on the door she was crouched in front of, the bobby pin snapped and almost took her eye out. 

Dammit.

She cursed under her breath. A few hours ago she had been tipped off by a fellow associate that a rival gang had kept their cash in the want to be boss's apartment. With just that knowledge, Victoria knew the gang wouldn't be around for long. If you didn't know how to launder your money properly it was either going to be stolen from you by the feds or another criminal organization.

Victoria reached down and into the pocket she kept her bobby pins and realized she was out. Another curse from her parted lips. Her shoulders dropped as she felt defeated, but then realized their were several pins in her hair. Victoria felt around in the bun she had her hair in that day and pulled out a pin hoping it wouldn't unravel the whole thing. 

Wooo

She exhaled relived. Before she stuck the pin into the lock she kissed it for good luck. A little to the right, a little to the left. She tried the door gently. It wasn't in the right place yet, but she could feel it was close. A little more to the right and another very gentle try on the door and she could feel the door open incredibly smoothly. Victoria looked at the ground and rolled her eyes. The lock picking skill was something she'd need to work on. It shouldn't take anyone 7 bobby pins to open a simple door. 

Victoria walked out of the apartment building with a bit more cash in her pockets than when she had entered the place. She made sure to clean up her mess by scattering the pins down the hallway with her foot. This way the rival want to be gang would know exactly how a thief would have gotten into their place. Maybe they'd wise up and put some extra security on their profits. Like a safe. She didn't even have to pick a safe once inside. 

Back on the streets Victoria decided not to hail a cab. Sure, with the money she just picked up a taxi would have been easy to pay for, but she was still a new member of The Mystery Machine. Spending the extra money on a bigger tribute towards to her boss Shaggs would probably look better than if she just paid the minimum. Just as she finished cutting through the pack, Victoria noticed a crowd gathering around a man who was speaking to them. As she got closer she realized the man was none other than TonyCastelli, her bosses right hand man. She wasn't in any rush to get back to headquarters and stopped to hear what he was saying. 

My life of crime has just started in the big leagues with all of you lovely folks. So far, my social network extends to those in The Mystery Machine gang. The crew is very welcome and social active. I guess if I was in a different crew and it wasn't as active things may be different and if I was looking for more socializing I may have to look outside of the crew headquarters. I've very thankfully that isn't the case for me. It's good to enter the life of crime with associates willing to work together. It has certainly saved me a few times when I've found myself sitting in jail. 

I'm sure as my experiences here continue and I have more time and a few more ranks under my belt I'll be socializing with those outside of my crew. First spreading into others in the same city and then into other cities. Particularly when it comes to the art of picking pockets. Though, asking for permission to pick pocketing may seem a bit backwards, the retaliation of being mugged is a real thing. I don't want such harsh consequences coming down on me. If I give a person a heads up that I may have my hands in their pockets I don't see it as taking the surprise out of it, but only showing my respect to my fellow mobster. 

Frankie listened as her fellow mobsters talked.  Castelli was a real bang up fella and she'd had the occasion to run in some crimes with him so she was particularly inclined to listen to his words and consider them.  How strange that his commentary was something along the lines of what she'd considered before stopping to hear what he had to say!

"I guess we're all guilty of it.  Staying where we're comfortable.  I imagine for crew leadership its also a VERY easy trap to fall into... you have to focus so much on making your HQ a warm and welcoming place and there are only so many hours in the day ... what with your own crimes and doing leadership stuff... it isn't much of a shock that making new friends sometimes comes second."

Frankie shakes her head, "But there's the rub, right?  If there's one thing that seemed to kill off more crews of the past than any other - at least according to my mentor LuckyLucy's letters - it's isolation and paranoia.  As people start to question why someone does the things they do, or who they're friends with, or who their ancestors might have been friends with... or why they said what they said in a letter... or why they are suddenly spending more time with someone they never have before - GOODNESS!  The list goes on and on.  The paranoia settles in and before you know it, BOOM!  War."

"The biggest deterrent for war is probably the simplest thing though - contact.  Talking with people, engaging them, and making friends outside of your trusted alliances.  It's easy to come to think of those who were against your ancestors as your 'enemy' ... but at the end of the day we're all part of a larger community of Mafioso just trying to eek out a space in this thing of ours.  We're really not all that different and the more I get to know people, the fewer 'monsters' and 'dictators' I see... and the more real PEOPLE I find."

"As for what I do?  I try to reach out to the community.  LuckyLucy's letters are sharing with me a lot of her plans that never came to pass before her untimely demise and I hope to work on some of those projects... but the reality is that there's only so many hours in the day and we're only human.  You're NOT going to be best friends with every person on these shores and you can't expect anyone to be around often enough to be an active mafioso and socialite.  Doing both is very, VERY hard.  Someone is EVENTUALLY going to feel slighted by you.  You can only keep so many balls in the air at a time... what I'd like to figure out is how to strike a balance without it costing someone their life; but I don't think there's an easy answer to that."

Frankie shrugs.  "End of the day, be kind to people who reach out to you, and don't be scared to make new acquaintances.  That's my policy, for whatever that's worth to you."

"You gotta network", Randle fired out with a smirk.

He lit a cigarette, rolled the pack back into his sleeve, and let it dangle from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"No harm in reaching out and expandin' your horizons, catch my drift? Lots to do and see in this world, why limit yourself to one little corner of it. Before you know it, you'll be 80 fuckin' years old, still jerkin' off in the basement of the house you grew up in. Still fuckin' around with the same 3 guys you went to school with."

He shrugged, and gave a huff.

"Live a little!"