Blinking, you see the morning sun filtering in through the open door of your room. The door that you'd shut and locked the previous night. Shutting your eyes again, your hand slowly creeps towards the gun hidden under your pillow, but you find nothing there. Resigning yourself to your fate, you sit up in your bed to find a finely dressed man seated in front of you, flanked by two gigantic bodyguards. The seated man seems calm, though he dangles your gun in front of you with a practiced grip. 

"Sorry, son. Didn't mean to borrow your piece without asking, but I didn't want you to get jumpy and give me an unwelcome surprise. Relax. If I wanted you dead, you'd already be swimming with the fishes. This is a business talk. I hear that you've been quite active around town today, hoping to become a part of this thing of ours. Is this true?"

Intimidated, but curious, you narrow your eyes and nod slowly.

"Well you'll need some help then. Take a look at this note. It's a list of all the families that are currently operating. You find yourself one of those fast, or you're going to find yourself wearing cement shoes." 

You extend your hand to take the Note from the man and open it up. 

"You're going to have to impress them, you know. Any idiot these days who wants to make some quick cash can find a place to work. But they'll die just as quickly and probably without anyone noticing. You could be better than that. Tell them who you are and what you can do for them. They're not in this for fun, you know. Show them you have what it takes to make it here. Unless you can't make it. Then I wouldn't waste their time.

You open your mouth to protest, with a dozen questions hanging on your lips. Before any of them can escape, the man continues to talk. 

"Don't talk. You can talk once you've done something with yourself. Until then, listen. Once you have gotten into one of these families you will need to start earning for them, to show them you're not just some bum. You can accomplish this by committing crimes and dealing drugs.
And that's all we're going to say about that."

The man stops talking for a moment, as the sound of police sirens echo through the room. With a sigh, the man gets to his feet and motions to his bodyguards. 

"It must be that damn Lieutenant looking for me again. I've got to run, son. If you need any more help, I'm sure the answer's in here. "

The man passes you a large and very old book:. 

"Take a long look at that book. Not in any library in the world, but it'll be one of the most valuable books you ever pick up. It explains a lot about our world, and you'd be a fool to ignore it. Anyways, I've got an appointment. Take care, kid."

You watch the man leave just as silently as he had entered, the two massive henchmen following him closely. You look down at the note on the table and the book in your hands, confident that you have the knowledge you need to succeed. 

You walk along, minding your own business. Today has been a good day; you've made contacts, you've committed a few crimes…perhaps you'll head over to the local speakeasy and see if they have a little "juice" from the back you could purchase with your new money. Without warning a hand shoots out from a doorway and grabs you by the collar, dragging you into the darkened alcove.

"Hey kid, what are you doing working my alleys? THIS IS MY TURF!"

The voice is unfamiliar, the breath scented heavily with onion and salami. Your stomach reels and you start rethinking that drink on your way home. You brace yourself for punch in the face when the shadow is snatched away from you. The godfather stands now across from you where your assailant once stood.

"Sorry about that, kid…Johnny Knuckles is his name, and he's a grumpy ass when someone shows him up. You were able to get money from that store he's been trying to knock over for months. No matter; consider this your corner of the world now. You may want to make yourself the protector for this neighborhood; you'll pay me a percentage of course but I like seeing a kid with pluck. You realize, of course, that with folks like Johnny looking after you that hitching up with a family is really in your best interest now. Johnny's got friends and while I wouldn't take kindly to them attacking, I can't really support a single felon in the midst when everyone else has their associations, connections, and family ties now could I? Go get yourself a family before someone like Johnny puts a slug in your ass. I'd hate to see you swimming with the fishes."

He nods, lighting a cigar.

Go ON! There's a few family heads hanging around at the pizzeria down the road from here. Go make yourself known.    

The boss who's shadowed you from your first step onto the streets approaches you again, this time dressed more casually than he has been in the past.

"Hey kid, looks like you're still alive. That's always good. How do you like life in the big city? Ain't nothing like home, now is it? How's life in your family?"

He listens, then nods in his slow way.

Well, if you have issues with your family, you really should take it up with the boss…after all, one day you may be doing their job. Remember, those men and women are at times overworked, but they care. If you have any issues with your family, make sure you're respectful about it; mafiosos are known to be very particular about manners and civility…respect will get you everywhere; disrespect will get you swimming.

I'm off then; if you have any questions there are boundless resources at your disposal; take heed to use them wisely. You will see me again.

He walks off into the afternoon, dodging the pedestrian traffic as he disappears in the distance. You tilt your head to the side, thinking on the man's words, then walk your own way. 

You're walking down the street toward the coffee shop where your local Family Leader is present in a meeting when a hand snatches you off the sidewalk and drags you down a dark alley. You snatch a glance at your kidnapper's face, only to recognise it as Johnny, who'd been shadowing you since you became a part of the Mafia scene.

He grunts in your ear as you struggle against him.

"Hey kid, you wanna get into the Boss' good graces?"

You nod quickly and mutter a "yes" in his direction. He releases you and you stand up straight and look at him. He meets your eyes, and you can see he's had a few drinks of alcohol already tonight.

"Listen, if you want that, you need to be showing him respect, and talking to his guards first. Never go straight to the Boss and ask him if he wants you. You need to ask his guards if he might be interested in you, and highlight your positives so they can pass the message onto the Boss. If he wants you, and he says it's ok, then you can approach him. If you stride straight up to the Boss, and skip his guards, then you're showing blatant disrespect and you may find yourself swimming with the fishes. The dead ones."

As you take in this information, you nod and say your thanks quietly, and begin to walk out of the alley. As you reach the end of the alley, you glance back and can see no sign of Johnny. Turning away from the alley, you head on your way down toward the coffee shop, mulling over what you're going to say to the Boss' guards. You open the door casually and sidle over toward where one of the Boss' guards is stood leaning against the wall.

"I was wondering if I could be of use to the Family Head of these parts sir. I'm useful in many ways, and I'm sure I could be of use to the Boss as well. As you can see, I'm also respectful, and was hoping for an invite?"

The guard looks you up and down, and as your self-conciousness increases, the guard strides over to the Boss, leaning toward him and whispering something in his ear. The Boss smiles and nods, and the guard gestures for you to approach the Boss.

"So! My bodyguard here is under the impression you came here asking to join my family, claiming to be useful in many ways and respectful! Is that so?"

Struggling to find somewhere to look, you settle for staring intently at the table, only meeting the Boss' eyes once as you manage to stutter an answer.

"Y.. Yes sir! Tha- That's right."

The Boss surveys you for a moment before nodding once more and waving his hand at another of his bodyguards. The bodyguard appears at the Boss' side, holding a brown envelope. The Family Head checks the envelope, and hands it over to you, which you take with a steady hand, in your attempt to hide your nerves. You look in the envelope and see a wad of cash. Confused, you look up again and meet the Boss' eyes once again and hold his stare.

"Welcome to the family kid. I do believe you could be of use to me, and to the family. Prove me right."

You thank him, and kiss his fingers before leaving the coffee shop with a spring in your step. You open the envelope and begin to mentally plan your drug runs around America to make as much money as possible from this investment in you from your Boss, to show him that he was right to trust you.

Not long after this show of faith in you, another man appears next to you on the streets. This man is the one you recognise to be the Right Hand of the family you are now a part of. He whispers in your ear, before glancing over at a pair of police officers on the opposite side of the street watching them with interest.

"Hey kid, you're getting a hang of this business really fast. I will let the big man know how much of a good influence you've already been. Leave now, kid. Go make some more cash for the family and don't get yourself in any trouble now."

The Right Hand disappears just as fast as he appeared, and you stride off around the next corner to lose any attention from the cops.