With a big sigh, Arapaho throws his newspaper on the desk. He leans forward and put his head down on top of the desk and rubs his face with his hands. Arapaho was clearly angered at what was being reported, and what's to say it wasn't going national?
When?


"Last night sir... He snatched the car near the warehouse, the broad screamed and the reporter was no more then a few feet away. He saw everything. There was nothin' we could do"

Arapaho let out another sigh and grumble before slamming his fists on the table; he agressively hits his head on the desk a few times, trying to think of how best to correct the situation... "What the fuck is Dawn_ gonna say... that we have fucking car jackings going on in her town..we really don't need this fucking attention"

No doubt Dawn_ would not be happy about this unwanted publicity. Arapaho once again glanced up at the newspaper headline that reads in huge bold letters "Car Jacker involved with organized crime?". Arapaho takes his hands away from the desk for a moment before sitting back up in the quilted leather chair, his foot begins to tap from the tension building up inside and outside his body..only thing that calms Arapaho down in these situations is a Cuban Cigar from his Smoking Signal shop...he put the cigar in his mouth before taking a few tugs. He looks down and takes out the crease from his dark charcoal suit trousers before standing up and walking towards the window to look outside at the traditional Windy City weather...winter was coming...it was getting cold...frosty... and perhaps very frosty indeed when Arapaho had to break the news about the car theft..

As Arapaho continuted to gaze out the window, he notices four males lurking around the headquarters, they stuck out like a sore thumb...sometimes when you try and look inconspicuous it makes you look a plain fool..in mob land you're either in it...or out of it. These 4 nosey neighbours definitely weren't...and needed to be out, and quickly. They must be fellow reporters, trying to pin all of this bad publicity on The Mobsters Mansion - Arapaho knew how busy Dawn_ was - so did he instead break the news to her Right Hand Lady Kaya ? At least they'd got to know each other more over a few glasses of wine after all...

Arapaho decided before anything, that he would take care of the trespassers himself. Arapaho continued to march up and down the front lobbey, his strides swaying back and forth and he walked....deep in thinking about what he would do...would he be subtle? Obvious? Vengeful? He takes another tug off his cigar before stubbing it out in the ash tray...

He walked outside of the headquarters with a spring in his step, he clipped his heels as he walked in his fine italian tailored suit.. he snuck up behind the first unsuspecting reporter, gently took off his flat cap before tapping him on the shoulder quite firmly... "Can I be of service good sir, I've noticed you've been standing on this road for over 40 minutes now with your three amigo's. You're either snooping, or your lost...what is it?"

The 'reporter almost bemused by Arapaho's statement & demands, decided for now to ignore him...and proceed with a few questions..

Good afternoon sir....talk to me about this car jacking that happened recently? So y'know the cops have caught the suspect red handed...and he's spilling like a gutted fish saying he works for a crime family in the area...more specifically for that building that you just came from. Whatsup' with that? Do you have anything to say?

Arapaho grins through contempt before looking down at the floor, and slowly up again to eye up this reporter who is lucky that his family do things properly, he was raised on the Plains to be respectful, and he had that respect for Dawn_ not to just shoot this mother fucker in cold blood right here ... right now...


"Of course sir, I'd be happy to talk to you about the situation that occurred.. however; if you're looking for another hot gutter press story to run...you are shit out of luck.  I hate to piss on your parade but there's nothing really to tell. A) We have no idea who the gentleman is... we are a small office of nothing more than businessman who support our local area, to suggest we would be involved with anything like a car jacking is obsurd. We are gentleman of the community and I take great offence that you would think anything but... and B) If we are...who you think we are... do you not think we'd be smart enough to not steal a car in our own neighbourhood...and then to not get caught straight after by the feds? I assure you good bunch of men we own a few shops around Chicago and that's all there is to it...there really is no story to run here.

The four reporters, still not taking Arapaho's word on events start to take down their notes.. Arapaho noticed it was shorthand, so he had no idea what was being taken...it almost looked in code. However he was sure nothing more would come of it, because whoever the thief was, didn't work for The Mobsters Mansion - all employee's reported for duty this morning and had their debrief from Dawn_ ...

The reporters paused for a few moments, before another stepped forward and wanted to initiate a new line of questioning with Arapaho... he started at this point to feel a little bit out of his comfort zone...all of a sudden he was going to be quoted, and he'd only recently joined the family...this could go south...and very fucking fast... but under pressure Arapaho kept his cool and took the questions..

Reporter:
"Well that's a great story sir, it really is...but why is this guy squealing and spitting out a story completely different to what you're describing? We've had it up to here with organised crime in our city... and I for one will stamp this shit out..!"

Arapaho takes a deep breath in...sighs and shakes his head in disgust at the continued interrogation. 

"I'm very sorry gentleman but I can't answer your question.. you haven't given me a description...a name... nothin' - all I can say is once again we are a small group of local businessman who care passionately about our local community. We all work out of that small office over there.. there's nothing more to it than that... Have you considered he might be one of those looney folks? Y'know - gets caught doing something he shouldn't and just fabricates an entire story to try and get himself off the crime? We are honest religious people who run nothing more than a few bars & restaurants along this road. Nothing untoward happens behind our walls that I can assure you. 

Arapaho takes his hand out his pocket and points towards the building that he came out from..."gentleman do you really think a crime empire can be run from a property so small?" What the reporters obviously didn't know was the business headquarters went a further three floors underground...so there was plenty of extra space for Dawn_ to run her empire..

Arapaho continued on, noticing still his quotes were being taken down..

"Ask around the place...we care about our city, and our community...we've put plenty of people back into work after losing their jobs and livelihoods, we want nothing but success for this city..nothing will get in the way of that. Why don't you take up my gesture of goodwill...let's have a meeting at my business The Smoking Signal...it's far more relaxed in there, I'll give you some complimentary red wine on the house..you'll see how generous we really are.."

The reporters were clearly a bit taken aback, but Arapaho could tell one of them liked a drink, he could see the empty gin flask sticking out his jacket pocket... "I don't see why we can't do that...how does 20:00 work for you?"

Arapaho smiled... "works for me, I look forward to welcoming you to my place later.."

Arapaho shook the hands of the four reporters before lighting up another cigar and disappearing into the Chicago fog..

Later on that evening, as the night sky and fog took ahold of the city, Arapaho went into The Smoking Signal - he walked through the front door and was greeted by his host employee who gestured over to the table; where the 4 reporters were already seated, clearly enjoying Arapaho's hospitality - there was already two empty bottles on the table, the 4 punks looking smug with Cuban Cigars sticking out their mouth. 

Arapaho took a deep breath, sighed to himself before walking over to the table... "good evening sirs, thank you for accepting this invitation, it's an honour to have you all here on this fine evening. I see you have a taste for the house red wine..is everything to your satisfaction?" Arapaho took off his black suit dinner jacket before handing it to the concierge and took a seat on the table..

The so-called lead reporter took ownership of the conversation again once more, he shook Arapaho's hand and gruffed "Thanks for turning up...I thought you might not of showed - we were hoping we may of had a free evening on your tab..!"

'Well it appears once again you seem to be very misguided into who I am, what I run and anything you think you might know about me...or my workforce...you are clearly mistaken..my word is my bond..I offered to have this meeting with you, so here I am..ya got anything else to say or shall we get straight down to this?"

Arapaho took a tug on his cigar before stabbing some ash down on the tray..the reporters could tell Arapaho was here for business, he wasn't messing about and you could feel the tension brewing in the smoke filled air.

"So, uhm..we found out a little bit more about this car jacking...the police released him from custody earlier... his name's Mitchel Gregory, does that name ring a bell to you son...?

Arapaho was taken aback and rather alarmed at this point... however he maintained a strong poker face... "No idea who you're talking about...I've not heard of a Mitchel Gregory before...why are you asking me this? I'm not sure how many more times I can tell you four, my business associates and I have no idea who was involved, or how it happened..you can check out our alibi's - they'll all check out. We're nothing more than caring community business owners"

Arapaho took a deep gulp of red wine..inside he was furious and shit scared at the same time.. he was truthful in what he told the reporters...well kinda? What he had also pieced together at the same time is Mitchel Gregory; was in fact Mitchel 'Shades' Di Gregorio - an ex mobster that worked for the family a while back, he made a few wrong decisions, but rather than execute him; instead Dawn_ & Kaya agreed to let him go, he was out the family, he was out of the life and he was never welcome back to the area again...Arapaho thought to himself "fuck this sounds so familiar" it was almost as if Arapaho was living his past all over again.

"If he is out, and he is still in the city...and still committing petty crime...AND ratting on the family...it had to be dealt with, and fast" Arapaho thought to himself.. it was vital this news got back to the boss & Right Hand before any further damage could be done, Arapaho wanted to take the ownership on this problem, with permission of course. It may be a way to get the family bond even tighter between himself and The Mobsters Mansion.. 

The reporters sat in silence in the few seconds that had passed since Arapaho denied all knowledge of the situation that was arising in the city he loved so much..."you see fella...we're just not buying this...the crime happened on your doorstep...a woman was injured, she lost her car, her possessions... everything. The schmuck's been caught and within 1 hour of questioning from the feds..he's spilling everything about this whole operation..how you're laundering dirty money and what kind of empire your 'business associate' Dawn_ runs here. If you've never heard of this guy, why has he heard of your 'associates' ?"

Arapaho was starting to get very angry now to the point where he stood up from the table, his tall presence casted a shadow over the whole table and his pupils dilated very small, laser focussed on this nosey prick who was insistant on digging into his business, and The Mobsters Mansion.. they were now a problem, but none more so than 'Shades' - he was more of a pressing issue and there was no time to waste..he needed to be dealt with and fast.. 

"I'm clearly not going to convince you otherwise sirs, it doesn't matter what I try and do..you're convinced in yourselves I am the devil playing in Hells' Kitchen... I'm not prepared to stay any longer and be insulted in my own business. I'll make sure to pick up this tab - because it's the right thing to do, but don't ever step foot in my business again, invited or not. You're not welcome, I find you incredibly rude, abrupt and damn right fucking annoying with your constant needle jabbing into my work life..I've nothing to hide...I've no idea who Mitchel Gregory is but I'll get to the bottom of it, and when I do i'll be sure to send my finding on a postcard straight to you...now if you'll excuse me I have other things to do, so I will bid you a good evening, your coats are waiting at the door on your way out.." 

Arapaho finished his wine before putting the glass on the bar, he used the payphone and got through to Kaya - "miss we have a problem..."

"What is it A, and why are you calling so late?"

"It's Shades, I've heard you and Dawn_ speak about him..turns out he's the punk who stole that fucking car and he's squealing like a pig"

There was a long pause at the other end of the phone before Arapaho just heard the words, "9AM, my office..we'll deal with it..."

Burying her head in her hands, Kaya let out a frustrated sigh as she sat in her office within the Mansion. In front of her were piles and piles of documents stacked up against one another -- one would think being in the mafia meant escaping the mundane tasks of pushing paperwork and meeting deadlines, but one would be wrong. In order to effectively function in organized crime, certain appearances must be kept up and ordinances complied with so the feds won't come knocking at your door every other day and so they can turn a blind eye to what happens beneath the surface. Only minimum compliance was needed more or less, but it was still a headache to go through all these papers and read the fine print to ensure that everything was well and good as their crew grew their empire of laundrymats and cheeky business fronts in South Side.

Hearing the phone ring, Kaya found it as a welcome distraction and walked on over to pick up the receiver. Before she could even say hello, she heard Arapaho's voice dripping with worry and almost immediately, she felt her stomach drop -- it can't be anything good. That sinking feeling grew even more as she heard the name "Shades", a name she's tried to forget but seemed to plague her wherever she went. She set a meeting with Arapaho bright and early the next morning and left the paperwork unfinished as this was proved to be a much more pressing issue and needed to be dealt with swiftly and silently.

She was taking a long sip of her morning coffee when Arapaho walked through the door, his eyebrows furrowed. Kaya gestured for him to take a seat, pouring him a cup of coffee in an attempt to delay the inevitable. "Well," she started, taking out one of the cigarettes she'd bought from his shop and lighting it up, blowing out a thick cloud into the room. "It's unfortunate you had to get entangled in the whole Shades mess. Come to think of it, mess is an understatement..."

"To satiate your curiosity on who this guy is, it's probably easiest to preface this with the fact that he and I used to be engaged. It was stupid, I was so enchanted with the idea of having a Bonnie and Clyde-esque love story that I didn't think about the repercussions of being involved with someone you worked with... especially if it didn't work out. Long story short was I realized I didn't have the time for him anymore when I took up a position in the family and called off the engagement. I thought he'd be mature enough to handle it well but I guess I gave him too much credit..."

Kaya swivelled in her seat and looked out the window as she nursed her cup of coffee. This was a story that she never told anyone -- almost no one knew except Dawn_, who was there to witness the dumbassery that ensued. Telling it now felt weird... but it was a painful necessity. "He started getting drunk on the job and worse, getting sloppy. There were countless of times we had to bail him out of jail... we knew we needed to stage an intervention or else, our whole operation was going to the shitter. We gave him an ultimatum -- to get his shit together or to leave. He decided to walk. We couldn't kill him because back then, he was just a heartbroken guy.... he was our friend."

A softness leaked into Kaya's expression for a second before she caught herself and shook her head. "But now I see he's completely lost it. This is why his vendetta seems so personal... it's because it is. And now we need to rectify our mistake from before and plant a bullet in his head that's long overdue. I know where he lives but I'm going to need you to come with me in case I..." in case I don't have the heart to do it, was what she wanted to say. "In case I need backup."

The drive over was silent as Kaya sat behind the steering wheel. She definitely had no more feelings for Shades but still shared so many memories with him that it will be hard to pull the trigger. As they pulled over to a deteriorating house in the outskirts of the city, she took a deep breath before getting out of the car with Arapaho. With her hand on the doorknob, she looked at her crewmate with pleading eyes, the first sign of real emotion she'd ever allowed an associate to see. "Can you wait here, please? I think this is something I need to do on my own. It shouldn't take too long... I'll call out if I need help."

Walking inside and hearing the floorboards creak from beneath her, she found Shades' familiar silhouette sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room, a smirk on his lips. "I guess my plan worked. I knew you couldn't stay away, doll." Keeping her expression unreadable, she approached him with her gun in one hand, pen and paper in the other, and her heart pounding. "Put that gun down, Kaya. Let's have a conversation, like old times."

Upon getting within 10 feet of him, she could already smell the alcohol on his breath. "I'm not here for a chat, Shades. You know damn well why I'm here and what I have to do."

"What? Are you going to kill me? You didn't have the guts to do it before and I doubt you do now, doll."

After a few minutes, a soft gunshot rang out -- only barely audible with the silencer but still distinguishable from right outside the door. Kaya exited moments after, pale as a ghost, and shoved a piece of paper onto Arapaho's chest. "Let's go." They got in the car wordlessly before driving away, with Kaya gripping the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles seemed like they were about to burst through her flesh. Avoiding eye contact, she spoke in a shaky voice as she looked straight ahead at the road in front of her. "That paper contains Shades' admission that he made it all up and that he's moving away in shame. Go to the press and let them know that he was just a disgruntled ex-employee who couldn't handle being fired. Show them that letter as proof. If they still don't believe you, shoot them for all I care. Bunch of low-lives..." She felt her emotions spiraling out of control and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. 

"Never mind. We've got enough dead bodies to take care of. I'll have the boys go over to his place later to dispose of Shades." They pulled up to the parking lot of the mansion and Kaya looked at Arapaho for the first time since they left that dilapidated house on 5th Street. Her eyes were wide and her hands were still shaking, but she met his gaze anyway. "You did good by bringing this to my attention and having my back. I really appreciate it. All I ask of you now is to forget that story about Shades and I, erase it from your memory... but never forget what we do to traitors and rats. No matter who they are."

Dawn was sitting with the chef at the Mansion making sure he added pies and Kool-Aid to the menu compliments of Juanita when she received a phone call from Big Moe.

He told her he was sending the cleaners that Kaya requested and they should be there shortly.   Dawn was confused she knew nothing about Kaya needing cleaners.  Moe told her he didn’t have the details.  Something Kaya and Arapaho were handling.  The cleaners were on the way over to a dilapidated house on 5th Street and it had something to do with a dude called Shades.  Moe asked Dawn if she needed him to go and she told him “no” just send who Kaya had asked for. 

Kaya had told Dawn about Shades.  She thought to herself "she killed the son of a bitch".  She told Moe she was going to wait to hear from Kaya.  She would be back in touch with him when she knew what was going on.