I sat on my bed in the dark shadows, holding a bottle of scotch by the neck. I stood up and, in a moment of rage, I hurled the bottle at the wall, where it shattered. My mind was racing with anger, burning with fury. I walked up to a mirror that hung next to the door. I saw face, which looked like it had aged thirty years. My eyes went over and I looked at the scar over my eye. My anger finally overcame me, and I drew back my fist. My knuckles sunk into the glass.

"Dammit!" I yelled. I kicked a wall, and pain flooded into my foot. "Ouch! Goddammit!"

I heard a knock at the door. I automatically reached over to the table and grabbed my pistol as I went up to my apartment door. A woman's voice startled me.

"John? John, I need to talk to you." The voice sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it. I opened the door, and a familiar face looked back at me.

"Ellie? What is it?" I asked.

"I need to talk. It's about your father," said the woman, as she walked through the door and over to the table.

My eyes followed her, wary of her movements. I'd moved out here to Los Angeles to get away from Father's life, now a mobster was walking in my door. I hid the gun under the table as I sat across from her.

"John, I'm sorry. I can't know how much pain you are going through, but I know you are hurting. I am hurting, your father's friends are hurting. It was unfortunate that he had to be killed, but he was fighting for revenge. He would want me to give this to you," she said in a heavy voice. She put a book on the table and slid it my way.

I took the book in my hands. There were words written in Italian across the cover. I opened it up and found a piece of paper.

It read:

John,

If you are reading this, then the worst has happened, and I'm sorry. I was selfish, and I went for revenge against orders. That is my fault, and I am again sorry. Ellie will (most likely) present this to you when she finds you. Do not be angry with her, or there will be hell to pay. Be angry with me, your father. I am sorry, but I am reunited with Joseph. Remember God and your family, because they are what keeps you alive.

Yours sincerely and truly,

Fever

I looked up at Ellie, and a flash of anger went through my mind.

"John, let's go for a walk."

TO BE CONTINUED...