-Pauly Sr. (Prologue)-

"What do you mean you heard their names?!" Pauly slams the man into the brick wall and pins his shoulders against it. "Pauly, listen, I'm just telling you what I was told. I'm not the one that ordered it! And it wasn't just them, your name too. Pauly, you pissed someone from out of town off, the boss can't help you here."

Pauly let the man go and bolted to his car. "Pauly! The boss wants to talk to you!" But Pauly was already headed for home, determined to prevent the inevitable. But if what he heard is true, it may be too late.

"No! NO! I swear to Christ if anything happened to them, if they aren't alive when I get there, I will raze that fucking city to the ground!" A little voice talks to him in the back of his head, "Why destroy the city for your stupidity? This is all your fault, you fucking idiot." He smashed the pedal against the floorboard, the engine screamed and the car barreled down the street.

Pauly slowed down as he approached his block. The neighborhood kids are in the street playing baseball. "Look at all these kids, you and your lifestyle are bringing death and destruction right to them." As he pulled up and the kids got out of the way, one of them ran up to the car.

Pauly's breathing calmed and he smiled as he rolled down his window. "Hey slugger! Why don't you finish up here and come home real quick?" Pauly Jr. sighed and dropped his arms to his sides, "Aww come on we're almost done with this game. Can't we finish it first?" Pauly's teeth clenched and he closed his eyes."Just tell him Pauly, just tell him that because of you there are now men on their way to kill him and his mother. Tell him how you failed," the voice laughs, "tell him how you are losing control!"

"GET IN THE FUCKING CAR!" Pauly opened his eyes and looked at his devastated son. "O-okay." Pauly Jr. got in the car and they drove towards their house. "Beautifully done, I can't wait to see what's next on our list of 'Things to Destroy that We Built'."

They pulled up to their house and parked. As soon as the car stopped Pauly Jr. got out and started to run inside. "They could have killed your wife and are waiting inside for him," the voice chimed, "and your son only wants his mother right now." Pauly jumped out of the car as Pauly Jr. opened the front door.

"Pauly wait, I need-" but Pauly Jr. was already in the house. "Shit!" Pauly ran after his son and pulled his revolver out of his waistband. He entered the house and heard talking coming from the kitchen. "Didn't hear any gunshots, but they could have brained him with a tire iron."

"Pauly? Giorgia?"

"We're in the kitchen, and Paul is saying you swore at him for no reason." Pauly breathed a sigh of relief and puts his gun away. "I don't know why you had to say that to him bu-" Pauly cuts her off and whispers, "We need to leave now. Get the money and anything else you need, we're going to the airport and you and Pauly are going to...I don't know where, just anywhere but here." Giorgia looks visibly shaken, "I knew this was going to happen, you said not to worry, you said you knew what you were doing...th-that the life would never find its way to our door, but it did! And now...and now..." Pauly slaps her and grabs her shoulders, "And now I'm doing what I have to to get you out, whatever I have to, I will get you and Pauly out of this!" She begins to cry and shake, "Just like you will never endanger our family, how you will always protect your family. Pauly, you are the only danger this family knows!" Pauly shakes her, "No! Right now I am not the only danger this family knows, there are men on the way to kill us, all of us, and the only way to stop that from happening is to leave, so get everything you need and let's go!"

As Giorgia collected the money and necessities, Pauly watched the street from the living room window. Kids were playing hopscotch on the sidewalk in front of his house and some were running around playing cowboys and indians. He could hear birds singing and the children laughing under the clamor of Giorgia. "How many times have we sat here? Late at night, looking at the street. Waiting for the wolf to come to the door, only for it to never happen? Well, until now."

Pauly noticed a black car slowly rolling down the street. It pulled up to his house and stopped, then slowly rolled forward a couple houses. The car stopped again and three men got out. "Giorgia!" Giorgia comes running into the living room, "They're here, I need you to take Pauly and go out the back, go through the back gate and get Ms. Blackwell's car. Go to the airport and fly to your parent's." She shakes her head, "But won't they find us there? Won't they follow us?" Pauly looks out the window, the car is gone and the men are standing on the sidewalk in front of the house next door, the kids playing hopscotch notice them and start to talk to themselves. "Just do as I say! I promise this will work out!" The voice snickers, "Your promises to her are worth nothing now!" Giorgia picks up the bags she has and turns to leave with Pauly Jr. "Wait, Pauly." Pauly walks over to his son and kneels down. "I need to impart some, uh, fatherly advice on you before...well before you leave." Pauly stands straight up and takes a deep breath, the lump in his throat felt like it was about to burst out. "Pauly a man not only keeps the wolves from the door, he also has to guard the door when they do come...even if it means laying down his own life. When you have your own family, you will be the muscle guarding the door." Pauly gives his son a hug and kisses his wife, and then they hurried out the back. "Stupidest shit I have ever heard."

Pauly walked back into the living room and looks out the window, the kids are gone and the men are standing in front of his house behind the fence. Pauly thinks to himself, "Three men, they only sent three men, I can handle three men. Three men," he laughs, "they only sent three men...this time." Pauly's eyes lowered, "He's right...or I'm right, this won't end until I'm dead."

"We're both right."

Pauly opened his front door, he put his hands out and walks up to the men. "I take it you're here to kill me?" The men look around, kids and parents are watching them. Pauly puts his hands down, "I'll go with you, peacefully, if you give me one last request." The men whisper amongst themselves and then one says, "What is it?" Pauly smiles, "I would like to talk to my boss one last time, he said he needed to see me, and I haven't disappointed him yet." The voice whispers in a sing-song voice, "Until now." The men trade whispers again then one speaks, "Do you have a telephone?"

Pauly dials the number into his phone, one of the men stands behind him with a revolver in his hand, the other two are checking the house. One of them shouts from somewhere in the house, "Where is your wife and son?" Pauly looked up from the phone, "Uh, gone, they left me a while ago, said something about how I'm always working and never home."

"Bad lie, all their stuff is still here."

"Then why is all their stuff still here?" Pauly thinks and then answers, "Abandonment issues, I went out and bought all that stuff so it feels like they're still living here, in my mind they're on vacation, they'll be back soon." The phone starts to ring and Pauly's boss answers.

"Hey Boss, can't talk too long gotta get my timecard punched, but before-" Pauly starts listening to what his boss is saying, "uh-huh, yeah, yeah. No, of course not, the...yeah, okay. Okay just make sure to give you know what to you know who when he's ready. Uh-huh, I'll tell them, yep, yeah see you on the other side." "Tell us what?" Pauly laughs, "Oh, nothing for you fuck face, you can kill me now. I have a message for someone upstairs, you stupid piece of sh-" The man wraps a garrote around Pauly's throat and pulls it taut. "Well shit, was it worth it?"