"So he said he had to go?" I said to Pete as we got back into New York City .

"Yeah, that's what the boss said. Now leave it at that!"

I grew increasingly suspicious of Pete from that moment on. It was the way he said, "Just leave it at that." He seemed so angry and I saw fire in his eyes. He loves to kill and it's in his blood.

We were driving down Mulberry St. and it's a beautiful afternoon in September. The buildings are glowing in the sun. It looks warm out but I know there's a chill. Not just outside but inside the van we were in as well.

We stopped outside an apartment building with dull brownish bricks and two little shrubs dying in the cold in front of the building. We got out of the van and headed up the stairs to the apartment.

"What are we doing here again?" I asked.

"I gotta pick up package someone left for me."

"Ok. Hey later we should go meet up with Joe at the club."

"Yeah, let's do that. Sounds like fun. I just need to get this package and we'll go see Joe."

I was starting to feel like I was wrong about Pete. Why would he want to kill again? However, if the boss really said no....don't kill Tommy, bring him in, whatever, then Pete would have every reason to kill me. Because then he could tell the boss I went crazy and killed Tommy for no reason. That would be justified to why he killed me. But I disregarded the notion thinking it's too far fetched.

We got to the apartment, finally. Apartment 34b and Pete opened the door for me saying, "Lady's first."

The Apartment was empty. That's when I knew he was going to kill me. I knew a bullet was coming for me or about to. So I quickly turned around and pulled my pistol at the same time. Luckily, he only had his gun partly pulled out of his coat pocket. It seems it was stuck. I was standing real close to him so I shot him right between the eyes. He fell dead instantly. His body was halfway in the apartment and halfway in the hallway. There was blood all over the hallway wall and the floor. This was my first kill ever. I was shaking so bad I could barely hold onto the gun.

I decided to quickly check the other rooms for 1) other people and for 2) to see if there really was a package waiting for Pete. There was no body there and no package to be found. So I took the keys out of Pete's pocket and took the van to Big Vinnie's (the boss of the family) and explain to him what had happened. But before I do that I want to first ask him the important question of, did you call for Tommy to be clipped? However, if the boss did say that he wanted Tommy dead then I would be as good as dead. Even if he didn't I could still get clipped because I killed a made guy and if I run I'm as good as dead anyways. So I have nothing to loose.

I pulled up to the boss's apartment building and sat thinking of how I was going to word what I was going to say to Big Vinnie. I got permission to go up and see him from his bodyguards and right away I noticed how nice the inside of the building was compared to the outside. I went into his apartment and sat with Big Vinnie in his living room.

After greetings he asks, "Where the fuck is Pete and Tommy?" Right away I knew he didn't authorize the hit on Tommy. So my chances of survival are 50/50.

"There was a problem Mr. Ciccone."

"What do you mean problem? Where the fuck is Tommy?!"

I explained to him everything that happened just a few hours ago. When I finished he sat there for a moment staring at me. I could see he was sizing me up to see if I was lying with his finger on his chin leaning back on his couch. His face looked like he was very angry with what he just heard. He looks over at one of his bodyguards and says, "Watch him for a moment."

"Yes sir." The bodyguard said as he drew his gun on me to be sure I wouldn't try and flee.

Vinnie turns to me and says, "I have to talk to Paulie and we're going to decide your fate. This won't take long. I'll be right back."

Paulie is Vinnie's consigliore. He's a skinny guy but he's been around for a while and is known to be a vicious kill in his day.

By now I'm sweating so much it's dripping from the end of my nose. It takes about a half an hour of waiting and sweating it out before the boss squeezed his large body through the door.

"Well..." He said as if he was a lawyer about to give me the verdict.

"Today is your lucky day. We decided to give you a pass."

"Oh, thank god!"

"And we think you made a good judgment call. It was a life or death situation and you handled it well. So from today on you will know be known as 'Billy the Trigger Gallo'."

...To be continued...