Shane Stetson had lived his first 17 years on a large farm in the outskirts of Abilene, TX. He lived with his mother and helped run the ranch that housed various livestock including cows, horses and chickens. He had worked on the farm ever since he could at the age of 5, milking cow utters, cleaning the horse stables and setting the chicken coops. The ranch was a large operation and made a good profit. They had buyers from a grocery chain that would bring in trucks from the Dallas/Fort Worth area when mama gave a call that they had product ready.

The highlight of his day always was the smell of fresh hickory-smoked bacon and eggs to wake him up. Mama would have breakfast ready for Shane each morning before he started the day and he had the energy in the morning to begin his work for the day. He and mama would enjoy a meal together as the sun would rise.

Today, however, Shane was awoken by daylight. Something seemed off, he was usually awake before the sun rose, as was the tradition each day since it started around his eight year. He didn't smell an aroma of breakfast. He threw on a t-shirt and shorts and went to the kitchen. Mama was sitting there at the dining table, crying, the phone right next her.

"Mama?" he said to her, confused, but approaching to comfort her. He put his hand on her back. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him, sniffling and eyes full of tears.

"Follow me son," she said to him, getting up and motioning Shane to the living room.

She reached onto a nearby bookshelf where a keepsake box lie. She opened it up, took out the many papers and receipts and opened a false bottom. She sorted through the items, what appeared to be pictures and notes. She settled on a picture and handed it to Shane. In the picture was mama, albeit a younger age, and a man that had a big smile. She pulled out a second picture, this one with just the man in a nice suit and a cold, hard stare.

Mama pointed at the man in the picture.

"This man," she said to Shane, "was your father. He is known to many by the name of Dynamite. I received word from a close friend of his from LA that he was found dead this morning. They are still investigating but it appears that there was foul play."

Shane had a bunch of mixed feelings. He had always wondered why his father wasn't around but the fact that he was not able to meet him anymore was disheartening.

"Mama," Shane said to her, choking up in tears. "Why haven't I ever gotten to meet him?"

"Baby," Mama said to him, "Your pop wasn't in a line of work that was safe. He worked as a top-ranking officer for a crime family in LA because he knew it would help to support you and I. He maintained distance from us because he didn't want any of his enemies finding us. It was nothing you did."

She gave Shane a hug. She got up and headed back to the kitchen to make breakfast to start the day.

Weeks had past since mama broke the news to Shane about his father. He couldn’t shake the fact off that he had never gotten to meet him, yet his father had been indirectly involved in his life each day. It started to make sense; how could they have afforded this entire ranch to start? And why would they have a visit from a bodyguard that went by the nickname, “TNT”, each week? As Shane retrospectively started to look back on certain events, it made sense.

Today, he approached mama.

“I want to go and find what my old man did,” he said to her.

She looked at him, seemingly expecting his response.

“I was wondering when you’d ask,” she said to him. She opened a nearby drawer, pulled out a notebook and handed it to Shane. “You’ve got that same curiosity and passion that he had. TNT brought this notebook after his death, I’m sure you’ll find some information in there.”

He grabbed the notebook and hugged mama. Shane went straight to his room to read the notebook.

The book had many things written down from financials to names. He had a list that ready “Cops on Payroll” where there were many names, and a few crossed out. Then, he found a page that showed “Family”. There were a few names on there along with addresses and business names. At first, Shane understood “Family” as blood family, but then remembered his dad was in the mafia and knew that they used the word “family” as their own organization’s members. This would be a great start and luckily they all seemed to be located in Pasadena, Los Angeles.

Today was Tuesday, the day of the week where TNT would visit. Shane sat outside on the porch, notebook in hand. Looking into the distance, down the long driveway, Shane saw the routine TNT turn into the driveway, coming closer and eventually to a stop in front of the house. TNT got out, in his usual all-black suit and pistol at his side.

TNT approached Shane and tipped his hat.

“Hey, how ya doin’ buddy?” TNT said to Shane.

Shane looked at TNT with a serious look.

“Can you get me set up to go to Los Angeles?” he said to TNT.

TNT looked at Shane with confusion.

“Now why would you want to do that?” TNT said to Shane.

“My mama told me about my father,” he said to TNT, “I want to learn more about what he did.”

TNT thought for second, looked at Shane and said, “Let me talk to your mother.”

Shane sat back down on the porch chair.

After a half an hour which seemed a lot longer, TNT came back out.

“Get any belongings you need and meet me in the car, I am going to get a private flight scheduled for you to fly to Los Angeles,” he said to Shane.

Shane got up, giddy and went inside to pack. He grabbed a duffel bag, loaded it with a few casual clothes and went to the living room where his mother was sitting.

“Shane, be safe,” she said to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek and a warm hug.

“Yes mama, I’ll be back,” he said, before heading out. He got into TNT’s vehicle and they drove off.

End of This Narrative