The Mafia Ring

Final wish

Cuco’s pov

It was almost time…

And everything had been set. The curtains drawn. The lights bright and beaming. And the evening lively with chatter. As men in three piece suits and women in flattering dresses strutted around the ballroom with class and distinct poise. Unspoken etiquette and refined social skills. Alongside enough wealth to build castles in the air…

While I was here waiting the tables?…

As I walked around with a tray in hand serving drinks. Receiving bright smiles and pats on the back. And on lucky occasions a little spare change in my pocket. I walked with my head down so they would see me as the humble lowlife waiter…

And I was…

As in the midst of everything I felt lost and unbelonging. I walked around feeling like a sloth in a horse race. As I wore my little suit and coat jacket with a bow tie, while keeping my head down. Looking my most subservient, and being the best corporate slave anyone had ever seen…

But I slithered around just glad to be in the presence of so much affluence... The men all around me aged higher than 50. All of them drug dealers, leaders of cartels, and underground fight scene runners. But the man of all, and the one who hosted this grand ball. The leader of the Los Toros Mafia…

Maldini Peretti…

The man who had quite literally built this city from the ground up... Made his own organisation, expanded it exponentially, and earned friendship from even his enemies…

But not all of them—

As he was Maldini Peretti…

The strong man who saw himself as god…

And now I was taking another tray of drinks to go serve. When I suddenly saw the lights go off… I immediately turned as blind as a bat. As all the lights in the room suddenly switched off?... And drums started playing?... I stood still with a tray full of martinis. Not being able to see the bubbles floating above the glass, or even my own two feet. But I knew what was happening, so I stood still. I half expected it, so now I just waited…

And before I could blink, the lights came back on just as fast. But this time it was a spotlight… And it pointed directly at a door at the far end of the room, directly behind everybody. And making us all have to turn...

I was one of the first people to cartwheel on my toes as the door suddenly swung open. And two hefty men hurriedly walked in. But behind a smaller less physically robust man…

His hair receding yet close to his forehead almost in a false hope. His suit sharply pressed and fitting, revealing his veteran muscles slouching underneath the flannels. And his face void of straightforward emotion. With saggy eyes and wrinkled lips— And he walked in now as my gaze alongside the gaze of everyone else now went up in awe. And hands all around, except my occupied ones started clapping.

Mr Maldini walked right through our middle as our eyes followed his steps. He walked with his head up and facing the center of the ball room as he now walked there… The guards behind him stern and their expressions belligerent. I could see their eyes scanning even through their tinted glasses. Their hands beside them at all times and ready to swing. And I wondered if they secretly held guns in their sides too?...

But I knew they were always on alert. As they knew as much as their boss, that he was always a target. A walking dartboard. And a man almost everyone wanted dead…

I stood there unmoving with martinis in hand standing in formation on a tray. Watching them move, with dramatic flair. And I watched closely. Calibrating my own next move…

Fernando had been on the comms. And I could hear his voice now come through my ears.

“Is he in sight?..”

And I frowned as I slowly dropped the tray of martinis. “Yes, but I can't get close enough. The old man's got two guards and a full crowd. Even a needle couldn't get through this haystack…”

“Well, find a way Cuco… ‘cause we need him off the grid. Maldini’s been cracking down on our operations and threatening our boys since the Oil boom. The old man needs a little time in the grave…”

And I frowned deeper as I understood the mission. I picked up one of the martinis from the tray and chugged it down to untangle my nerves. Before I began winding my way through the crowd like a spider across its web. Leaning in and out of tight spaces, trying not to brush shoulders with anyone. Holding a smile on my face and walking gently. As everyone else was standing still… and I knew if I walked like I was running. Someone would notice…

And someone like the bodyguards…

“He's about to make a speech, so I'd have to wait. I can't blow my cover so I need to hang tight for awhile…”

“Do what you need to do Cuco… but don't come out of there without finishing the job…”

“I don't get paid enough for jobs like this…”

“Well, you won't get paid at all if Maldini shuts down our stocks and runs… Me and you both know we can't attack his people directly, and we need to cut down the head to cut down the rest of them… so keep your own head in the game…”

I sighed and cut the radio. As I paused in the middle of the crowd but now on the left side of the room. Now seeing Maldini from another angle. His two henchmen beside him and a mic now in his hand. As I stood still, mimicking the crowd. The whole room falling graveyard quiet except for the piano playing in the background.

And I stood still now, as much as everyone else…

The rest of them waiting to hear his moving words, while I stood— with my hands behind my back—

Waiting to hear his final wish…