BrotherHec walked out of the funeral home and did not feel as if his words were adequate. The feeling of loss just had not yet left. He was still wrestling with this type of emotional frustration that began to haunt him. Looking at his bodyguard he said a couple of sentences. 

There arent many things in this world that bring a certain sobriety to the party of crime like that of a rogue. The rogues remind us how evil and terrifying this world really is. Within a blink of an eye...You can lose everything. A rogue, a most uncontrollable entity, can befriend you and make you believe they are with you for your betterment until their knife meets your back. A rogue, the kind of person who is out for motives that often times we never really know. They are the stealer of friends and the killer of order. I myself have long thought a rogue would get me. 

BrotherHec holds up a picture of himself with a former friend. The tears were slow. The memories were too, at first. Then they started pouring out together just as rapidly. The conversations, to the battles, to even the history between the bloodlines. Seeing a picture and no longer recognizing that as reality creates a saddened tone to the way life is. He stares at the picture and begins speaking. 

When you died i awoke to a phone call. Deces had reached out to me informing me of the saddest news. It was brief and it was, in all senses of the word, paralyzing. When you see that one of your closest friends had worked so hard to achieve something so great and to make it better for everyone else, and then to see him stripped of it all...that is a certain kind of low i hope many never experience. 

It is with a heavy heart i would say i was absolutely demoralized when Curiosity had been taken from us so long ago. You had attempted to keeping me staying active and in the world of organized crime. You, Deces, and two others had pleaded with me not to throw in the towel. I cant say i am an asset as much as i would like to believe i am. Im still trying to attain the requirements of a Godfather that so many made men seem to have reached before me, but i can say that those four, especially you, kurgan, tried to make your friends feel so very important. That we are meaningful. That we are needed. That is why its so difficult to say goodbye. 

There was a time when our bloodlines had first met. Our grand parents lived in the same city. Deces grand mother had died and my grand parent was left homeless. She had just joined the shores and still did not know anyone. Your bloodline Kurgan had always been the same as it is now. I read that your grandfather said, "If anybody would have touched you we would have destroyed their city." His loyalty to his friends and those who were loyal to him were perhaps the greatest quality about him. The same is absolutely true about you brother. 

My friend, you have achieved many things in this life. I, the biggest slacker in the world of mafia, am honored to have been able to call you a friend and a brother. There were times in my life that i felt low and without a friend in the world. That is when i learned how often feelings could be deceiving as it was you who were there. You who poked and prodded to see if i was okay and doing alright. You that called me on and reminded me of who i am.

I know you are probably wondering why i said all this in the streets. I guess the reason why is that those funeral homes, they wash away. The words that are left there are forgotten. The words spoken in the streets carry this immortality to them as if future generations could look back and read what had occurred. That is what i want. The sons and daughters of your lineage to know how much of an impact you made in one of your brothers lives. 

A Godfather...A Godfather like you deserves more than a funeral note. When one is authorized to set up shop he gets a speech. When one carries out a war, they explain their reasonings. Not so often do we see the legacies that leave us remembered in the streets. 

So...Im in full confidence that Chicago is in great hands now. Senza runs the city. You have a couple of great people you authed. More than anything I would like to think you were killed because of some great tie to loyalty you held dear to your heart. 

BrotherHec put the picture in his bible. He got in the car turned the key and began to drive. Replays of past chicago memories fluttered around in his mind. Looking in the review mirror he saw many Chicago mobsters exiting the funeral home. He pulled his car to the side and watched as they left slowly one by one. From Godfathers to Goombas they all came to pay their respect to the legend. 

The world wont be the same without you brother. Rest in Peace. 

Having spent a great deal of time around BrotherHec, Lacey could tell that this was a particularly hard time for him. They both said their goodbyes during the funeral, and even shared a few chuckles during the celebration, but also the sending off, of a particularly great man. Something, though, hit Hec differently than the waves of funeral services that we all so unfortunately see in this life.

Lacey sat in the car, this time she drove the two of them instead of invoking a ride from one of The Regime's drivers. This was a personal affair and it seemed right for each step of the grieving process- from start to finish- to be manual and not automated. From each word spoken, to each breath taken: laborious and deliberate in the most respectful of ways.

Lacey snuffed out her cigarette in the ash-tray on the dashboard of the car. She didn't smoke anymore- but after today's events she couldn't help herself.

"Lacey, is that what I think it is?" Hec said, disappointingly as he opened the passenger door to the vehicle. BrotherHec was the one that encouraged her to quit, and as such Lacey perceived a thick air of guilt rising through the vehicles interior.

Lacey let out an audible sigh.