Prohibition had been hitting us all hard. I was there when it had kicked in, at a New Year's Eve party in the local club. We'd been drinking our fill the entire day, considering that we wouldn't be allow to distribute booze anymore. Funny thing was, this wouldn't stop us. Nothing could stop us. From New York, to Los Angeles we would still be making and sell booze across the country.

A few years down the line and we were still doing it. I had this set up in the basement of a motel in the middle of nowhere. I had guys making whiskey, bottling it and slapping a label on it with the initials 'JD'. Everyone wanted in on the action though, and the name James Darmody was getting to places I'd never even been to before. Alcohol was a powerful thing, but money spoke a different language. That was the one thing that people wanted more, and it was the one thing that I couldn't seem to stop making.

Ever since I'd come to Los Angeles it had been one business deal after another. I'd managed to make contacts in Jersey, Chicago, Philly, New York, Las Vegas and Detroit. I had a few other places in mind to associate this business with, but they were playing hard ball. Like I said, everybody wanted a piece of the action and that meant trying to take a cut of the profits. Fuck that.

"Tommy, are we all set?" I find myself saying to the guy who was supervising the operation. "Vito wants his delivery made on time this time. No fucks up, alright?"

Don't get me wrong, we didn't usual make late deliveries. But the roads were being watched harder than ever by agent Blake Thompson. He had the heat on me a lot more now, and I was feeling it. He had cars sitting outside my house, undercover cops following me to get a pack of smokes from the corner store, and I'm pretty sure the girl I fucked the other night was one of his. Guess the guy had a real hard on for me.

"Listen, take the back road tonight. Don't worry, I'll send a couple of guys with you. They'll be in the back. If that cocksucker Freddy Daniels tries hitting us again then wack him" 

It wasn't just the cops that were leaning heavy on us. Other crews and street thugs wanted what we had. They had heard about what I was doing, and a few of my deliveries had been jacked out on the back roads. But what the fuck was I supposed to do? Cops were watching the main roads so I didn't have a choice. I'd rather kill than get pinched. Too much money was riding on this operation and I wasn't going to let it go tits up.

"Alright call me when it's done. Mr Corrigan said I can use his phone later at his place. Call me on his number you hear?"

Tommy nods his head then jumps into the drivers seat of the truck. The guys were in the back that was going with him. Pistols and hammers had been stashed in the truck a few hours before, so they would have all the protection they'd need. Tommy drove off, and I pull a pack of smokes from my pocket. I lit one up and took a few puffs, one hand in my trouser pocket.

"Stay safe, Tommy"