In my limited time as a mafioso, I had already come across all kinds of queer folk. Infact, when I think that the boss and the upper circle only get the biggest and best bussiness, they miss a lot of what's happening in the streets. So there was another reason to be a street runner for a while; you get a lot of experience on how to deal with people. Among the many missions I carried out, some were plain boring, others got my adrenaline pumped up, and in a few rare cases, won my pity. This is the recollection of one of those times, right after the day I became a part of my family.

"Wraith, meet me at the Hanging Cocktail at seven tonight," read the same spidery writing which, this time, found it's way to me through a young boy of ten. I tossed him a dollar coin and walked down the street. It was barely three in te afternoon. Plenty of time to loot a post office before getting to my appointment. I had been to a lot of preaches, if only to get a few stuffed purses. A lot of people spoke about the sin of hurting old, disabled people and women. Me, I couldn't get it. How many times had a deaf old man been able to land a hit which trained assassins couldn't, just for the mere reason that he wouldn't seem the least bit of a threat? And anyone in the underworld knew that some of the best in the business were women.

So I was able to loot the P.O with ease, and left for the Hanging Cocktail at six in the evening. The mission was always half an hour early, and I figured that I would get it over with as soon as possible. The man waiting for me was around fifty, and looked to be in good shape. His blue eyes darted about nervously, which was always a sign to be noted, and his fingers shook as he downed an entire bottle of beer. Overall, a very handsome man who had probably seen better times. This system of accepting missions was dangerous, as anyone could fake a message, but I took it as a chance to sharpen my instincts.

"You're awful young," muttered the man suspiciously, squinting through his drunken stupor.

"And you're awful drunk," I replied coldly,"Get on with it".

"Business...," he muttered and giggled hysterically. Somehow, those giggles were more repulsive than a lot of evil laughter I'd encountered.

"You're gonna escort me and me wife to the airport and get us on a damn plane. Any threats are better of stopped by your damn ass than mine," he smirked. I said nothing, just kept looking at him. Eventually, he put his bottle down, and ran a hand over his hair. His face, which altered between emotions of all kinds had a deep weariness and fear within them. Time to get things over with.

"Right, where's your wife?" I asked, standing up. I reached one hand into my pocket and trained the very small gun towards the man. To an outsider, nothing would be visible and it gave me an useful edge over people. And just because he was business didn't mean he could be trusted. "She's gonna meet us at the small side street near the airport. I'll show you when we get there."

Fine. Take him to the car, put him next to you. While keeping a potential threat next to you in a car was bad, keeping them at the back was downright suicide. We drove in silence until we reached the airport. Then the man pointed at a very small street a little ahead. "Stop at the entrance, I'll go in and get her. Don't come with me," order the man. I pulled up at the entrance wearily. Taking orders from bastards like him was a bit tiring, but I had my duty to the family.

A slim woman was huddled up next to a big garbage can. She started as she saw the man, and then looked at me. Even from a distance away, I could see fear in her eyes. The man walked over to her, and took her arm gently. She shook her head, saying a lot of thing I couldn't make out. The man grabbed her by both shoulders and kissed her. I could see that they were both crying. Man...talk about a bad day. Now I had to watch drama. I tapped the wheel impatiently. So I had to stop threats sitting in the car? The man was a sitting duck out there.

Almost as if proving my point, I heard a faint pop. Both man and woman feel down, still embracing each other. I flung open the door of my car and ran over to them. A single sniper bullet and been driven clean through both their foreheads. The roofs of the nearby building were both high and I couldn't see due to the dark. But the sniper appeared before me by himself. I readied my hand inside my pocket. Are you Wraith? asked the man quietly, and I recognized him. It was a hitman of my own Family!

"Yeah," I replied,"What the hell is going on here?" The killer kicked the body of my ex-protegee to inspect him. Then, he tured to me and said,"This guy was  a thug in our Family till a few days ago. He sold us out and got under another family. Now he wanted to escape to them, and took advantage of our message system. He knew you as one of the local men. The current message system is hereby abolished. You will be approached about the new one. Until then, stay safe," he said and vanished into the darkness of the alley.

I didn't know how to feel. This guy had potentially made me a traitor with him! But inspite of everything, inspite of the fact that he had betrayed by Family, I am sometimes haunted by his face when he kissed his wife. If he had gone straight to the airport, he might even had stood a chance of living. Love had been his downfall.

Very nice story, Wraith. You have skill in the art of writing. The only problems I seen were a few misspellings and grammatical errors. Although, it was very nicely written. Great job, brother.

Thanks, I was able to find the errors right after I posted it. Glad you liked it though.

very nice wraith, very nicely written.

waiting for your next posts.. great job!

Wraith leans on a wall, thinking back to that time yet again "I'm glad I could share"

Blucka_Blucka claps his hands.

Very well written storyline...I will most definitely be reading more of your stories.

"I'm already writing one of my other experiences, I'll publish it soon," said Wraith before disappearing into a nearby alley.