6:23 am

Another restless night, damn I have to be up in about  half an hour anyway. I finally place the revolver I have been holding onto all night down. My hands were sweaty. Why am I so nervous? What's going on? The apartment seemed to be getting smaller, maybe I should take those pills I had been prescribed.

As I walk to the tap I could feel it, the shaking of the floor,  the 4 train was approaching. Now to wait for it.

The train approached, closer and closer to its stop, the loud screeching of the train brakes broke the silence coating the gunshots fired while it came to a halt.

I look out the window towards the underpass across the street, just in time to see a black vehicle flee the area. Another day. Another body. This was life in the South Bronx.

7:45 am

What time is it? Shit! Im late, hes going to be disappointed….. again.  I grab my keys , look in the mirror above my bathroom sink and fix my tie before heading out .  Heading downstairs i see Ramon , a personal driver of the family. We shake hands briefly, I knew who had sent him .

8:15 am

Tick tick tick tick tick

My stopwatch had begin to sync with what felt like my heartbeat as we made no progress in the on-going traffic to get across town.

“Ramon , hand me a light”

Lightning my cigar , my thoughts begin to trail elsewhere…. Last night.

11:47 pm  The night before

“You're right Will , this whisky taste displeasing.  Wonder if Bjorn has any in stock? Well it's about time for me to go , gotta be up at 7 , important stuff.”

I laugh and pay the the tab we raised up tonight , while proceedings to grab my coat , I noticed a woman drinking alone, how odd.

“Excuse me love , would you mind telling me why it is a beautiful women like yourself is sitting here alone?”

She smiles not saying a word, only smiles.

It was at that point I should have knew, something is wrong.

Instead I ask the women if she needed a ride home since she seemed alone. The Bronx was no place for an out of townee at night.

Smiles , again nothing but smiles. She begin the  process to get her coat and exit the bar. Outside we waited,  damn taxis took forever…

Back to reality 8:35 am

The car had come to a halt in front of our headquarters,  Will had been pacing back and forth awaiting my arrival. I step out the car shaking hands with my fellow brother and begin to pull out joint as my cigar had lost its need.

“Late again, lucky Bjorn has not arrived yet, no more late night drinking with you."   Will had always knew i was a lightweight.  Just as I begin to  reply the HQ doors open up with our Don standing in the doorway.

“Stone, William follow me as we have some things to discuss …. and stone lose the joint the maids just freshened up." I toss the joint stepping into the HQ heading straight to the bosses office. When we arrived I sat, will stood behind the boss how unusual I thought this meeting was about that tip we received about the durdens in town.

On his desk Bjorn had laid out a stack of folders and a map of the Bronx.  He wanted Stone to see the current reach of the families operation 

As you can see my trusted friend we have been able to carve quite a large proportion of the Bronx that is under our influence. Using the initial ties of my Irish friends but later also the other immigrant communities. Yet in the Southern part of the Bronx, where gunshots ring throughout the day, there is still an area prone to anarchy. Rather even we have lost some of our associates venturing there but never returning unscathed or return at all!

Bjorn looked up from the map and threw a penetrative glance at his RHM

“ Stone…. Since your arrival here in New York you have shown a tremendous amount of dedication in serving our beloved city, more importantly you have a flame ignited in you, something not seen often. Godfather RobOakheart , WilliamMunny and myself have been keeping a keen eye on you. With that being said it is time to watch that flame grow and have it sweep away all the petty crime operations in Southern Bronx”  

At this point William had moved up and pointed at an open spot next to the main avenue of Southern Bronx. As he started to speak, Stone was a little confused for he knew that spot was completely empty

Listen Stone, I have spoken to some of the guys working on new real estate constructions in the city and the rumor is that there are big plans for this slot of land. If you go there within the next 2 hours you should be able to meet the lead builder. With some 'persuasion' you might be able to have some arrangements made for your HQ there I know my guy has a solid information source so I'm sure it'll be worth your while. Here have some funds to grease those palms

Stone got up quickly looking both Don Bjorn and his Consigliere, seeing the look on there face was enough for him to know things were real.

It's time for me to step up, I appreciate everything that both the Bronx and and all of New York has done for me, Thank you Don Bjorn and Godfather RobOakheart, for this opportunity to rise and show what I can bring forth for the betterment of the community. I can assure you I will not let this city down and organize that part of the district in the same fashion as you Don Bjorn have done with the rest of the Bronx. 

I now have a chance to help rebuild that community, my chance to to bring hope to those people in the destroyed remains of Southern Bronx. After thanking Don Bjorn, Stone quickly begins to gather his things to begin work. Is time to head across town and find the guy that William spoke about. But he knew that somehow the vision he held in his inner eye would become reality, it was the start of the Third Ward.

Olympia heard the news from her friend Stone himself. He had set up his crew finally in Bronx! She was so excited for him. She knew he had wanted this, and she was so happy for him to be finally getting his chance to shine. Before leaving Chicago, where she was doing some business, she purchased a really good bottle of Rum from one of her suppliers, then boarded the first plane she could get on to make it to New York.

When she arrived there several hours later, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, as she had slept the whole way. She grabbed her bag from the overhead compartment then exited the plane, going through the process of collecting her luggage once inside the airport building, then leaving and quickly getting into the waiting vehicle that would then take her to Stone's new headquarters.

When the car pulled up in front of the building, she saw him outside with some men, and they were moving furniture into the building. There were people cleaning, people painting, people sweeping up rocks, and Stone right in the middle giving out orders. She smiled at the sight before getting out of the car and walking up the crumbled sidewalk.

She made her way up to Stone, tapping him on the shoulder. He jolted a bit then turned around and smiled when he saw her. She gave him a quick hug and said, "You know.. You've been waiting for this day.. And I know that. I'm so happy that you're finally getting the chance. You deserve it! And.. This is for you.."

She then handed him the bottle of Rum and said, "Just drink this whole bottle if you feel like it. Good luck with your crew, best wishes to you and.. Keep in touch now that you're a big shot too, okay?"

They made small talk a bit longer before she said goodbye, turning to walk towards the waiting vehicle. She turned and took one last look at the torn up building before getting into the car, knowing that in just a short amount of time it would be turned into something magnificent.