Blood And Loyalty

2: The Locker Song.

Paul’s POV.

“Get to school, lay low and don’t—I repeat, don’t, do anything…”Vincenzo’s finger move from Peter to me as were his eyes.

“Illegal.” Our mother, Sofia, says with a cold glare on us.

“It’s cool aight, but ain’t that what we basically do?” I ask sheepishly.

“Hey, you mess with me or your Father again, and I’ll cut that tongue out.” She says sharply. “Now you two get yourselves outta my crib.” She throws our lifeless bags at us like it were a dagger she was trying to stab us with.

I’ll tell you this, Sofia Mancini—my mother, is one of the most feared and respected figures in the Mafia world. As sweet as she may appear, she’s not one to be messed with. You just witnessed what happened. If I were someone else, she’d have ripped me into pieces.

The Lopez brothers are gonna have it coming. And I’d make sure my face is the last thing they see. Ain’t no one messing with my family.

“Yo, what the hell you doing, standing over there? You scared of school now?” I heard Peter’s voice and realized we’d reached school. I was completely lost in thought that I didn’t see even see Tyrone pull up in his ride.

“Chill man. Why you being a jerk now?” I give him a death glare as I approach Tyrone.

Tyrone is kind of a big underdog in the game but he’s got a lot to learn. Difference between he and I is that I don’t like taking orders.

“What’s good, Paulie boy?” He leans against his white sports Porshe.

“You know, same old s**t. You feel me?” I wasn’t even sure what I was sayin’ at this point.

“I gat you man. What’s up with that stuff though?” He jerks his head up.

I adjust the grip on my bag. I turn to see Peter still standing by the entrance carefully observing and analyzing the whole situation from a fair distance . I turn back to look at Tyrone.

“You got a nice ride here.” I say.

“Yo, you got my product?” He asks getting more aggressive.

“Look, man. I’ll give it to you, a’ight but I’ve got heat on me and my whole family. So we gotta lay low man.” My voice breaking at each word.

He pushes off from his car and towers over me. “Oh, and when did baby wolf start following orders? I give no s**t about you and your family!” He snickers, reaching for his pocket.

I didn’t know how but by the time Peter reached, Tyrone’s hand was in possession of a pocket knife. It reflects the sun’s brightness in my eyes and when I had recovered, Tyron was yelling in agony, hand completely broken from Peter’s attack.

“The hell you think you were gonna do? You try that s**t again and I’d make sure you don’t make it out of the hospital alive.” Peter threatens in a low menacing voice.

“Oh, and tell Rico that if really needs that product, he should consider doubling the money. Offer lasts up till midnight. Courtesy of Vincenzo.” He adds and then throws the knife which finds it’s way into Tyrone’s windscreen. Crap.

I forgot to add; sometimes, Peter isn’t someone you mess with. Especially when he’s been having a bad day.

I knew that was my way out. We both walk through the entrance and then into the hallway. School was just a cover for us to the few people that don’t really know what our last name really coveys.

To some, The Mancini brothers are just obsessively wealthy guys that do whatever the f**k they like. While others think of us as kids who have gone astray and are just wasting their time in school.

But the real ones know their boundaries. Except from Tyrone who sometimes forget his place and acts like he’s the boss.

Everyone craves real power but not everyone can attain absolute respect. Godfather would always tell us that whenever he tells us of his time when he was in his prime. He was the kingpin; one who had complete dominance and power.

“You love getting into trouble, don’t you?” Peter runs his hand through his hair, clearly pissed off.

“Now, before you say anything, remember that this isn’t just about us. We may be at the top of the food chain but ain’t nobody that can last forever if he keeps messing s**t up. You’ve got nothing to prove brother, don’t forget that.”

He walks away before I could say anything. I curse under my breath as I walk down the hallway to wherever it takes me.

I walk by several classes and lockers, looking for where to while away time and get my thoughts together. As soon as I talk a turn to my left, I was taken aback by the scene before me.

The Lopez brothers were in the swimming pool locker room talking to someone I couldn’t see clearly. It appeared to be a cop. I try to come closer to hear their conversation but just as I take a step, my phone rings. Crap!

“Who’s there?” One of them shouted.

I held my breath and held my phone to my chest after turning it on silent. I heard a gun c**k as footsteps began getting closer.

“Come out and we won’t hurt you. You can’t hide forever.” Another says with a bang on the locker.

Immediately, I texted Tyrone. ‘Got your product. Supplier’s loaded and offered to sell on a mad discount. Get to the swimming pool locker room.’ Wherever he was, I hoped he would get here fast. There was just one entrance most students knew.

I, on the other hand, knew the second one. Just a slim and narrow chance to scale through and by the time Tyrone gets here, I’ll be off and they’ll finally get rid of him.

“I’ve found this sneaky little kid.” He grabs what he had thought was me and was surprised that he was mistaken.

That was when Tyrone appeared and I made my way out. Hopefully the spy camera I had attached on the top of the locker is still in place when I get back.

I get a text back from Tyrone. ‘You played me. How the hell are the Lopez brothers here? You know they’ve been on my ass ever since I sold them fake cars.’ I grinned mischievously.

“You. So, you were spying on us innit? Rico’s b***h!” Carlos spat.

The plan is simple. Get Tyrone to the locker room, set him up with his warring gang clan, and then convince the cops that in trying to get revenge against us, Rico killed those cops in our factory and tried to set us up. And then I back it up with the video from my spy camera.

“No!” He retorted. “Look, I can show you, that Mancini kid just texted me that he had my product.”

“I don’t care, that’s your problem. It appears that my ride was heavily damaged last night and I’ll need a new one.” He begins walking slowly towards Tyrone. “You don’t happen to know who owns that Porshe outside now, do you?” He puts on a silencer in his pistol.

Tyrone’s face was all but terrified. “If you want a refund, I’ll give it to you tonight I-I promise.”

“I believe you but it seems you weren’t paying attention and I don’t like repeating myself. “ he looks at the gun as if it were some toy. “But in the name of Porshe, I’d gladly say it again. Give me the keys.” He demands.

Whatever happened next I didn’t stay to watch but I couldn’t forget the faint sound of that song. It was a song indeed; a song that would remind me of Tyrone’s death.