I Pull The Trigger

I look at the officer that is walking back to his car, I know I have to do something to stop him. I jump out of the truck and point the gun towards the officer, just before the shot goes off, Anthony screams at me;

"Don't fucking shoot"

The officer falls to his knees with his hands in the air. Anthony runs around and says;

"Put your fucking gun down"

"Why Anthony? This cocksucker is going to run the plates and we are going to sit with the entire police force here and we will be going to jail if I don't do this"

Anthony gets angry, he grabs my gun and says;

"This fucking cop is on Uncle Paul's payroll. He is paid to give Uncle Paul tips on who drives what out of the airport"

Anthony walks to the cop and says;

"Get the fuck out of here"

The cops run to his car and drive off quickly. Anthony walks back to me and says;

"Are you fucking stupid, we do not shoot cops...dead cops lure other cops. If you would have shot him, not only will the police be looking for us, but Uncle Paul would put the both of us in the river"

"Sorry Anthony, I just did not want to screw this up"

"I understand, you have the heart for this business...but you have much to learn. Let us get this truck back to Uncle Paul's so that we can celebrate in style"

We walk back to the truck and drive off. Anthony calls ahead to Uncle Paul that is waiting for us to arrive. We drive around the back and honk the horn a few times. Uncle Paul got everyone to come outside to see what is up. Uncle Paul walks closer and says;

"And what do we have here, show me"

I open the doors of the truck and Uncle Paul stands there and smiles. He says;

"Is this for me? Come here"

He kisses both cheeks and with his arm around my shoulder he says;

"How did you do this?"

"I got some info from a friend that the whiskey will be coming in, and I wanted to show you that I can also bring in some money for you"

"Ricky, do you know how expensive this whiskey is?"

I know that I need to play dumb, so that he is going to be the one telling me what great thing I have done for him. I look at him and say;

"No sir"

"One bottle of this, is a person's paycheck at the end of the month. That is how expensive it is"

Uncle Paul look at the guys standing around and says;

"Bring the crates inside. Anthony, walk with us"

Uncle Paul walks us over to his booth and says;

"Sit..sit"

He puts his cigar in his mouth. With the biggest smile on his face he asks;

"Did you have any problems?"

I know I have to tell him, if I am caught lying, it will be the end of me. I look at Anthony, and then at Uncle Paul. I gather the confidence and answer him;

"Uncle Paul, firstly I want to say, I get why you send Anthony with me. No one does stuff alone, we do it together and as a family. And to answer your question, Anthony did save me from making the biggest mistake of my life. I nearly killed a cop"

Uncle Paul just looks at me with no expression on his face and says;

"Go on"

"As we were driving out of the airport, I noticed a cop following us. His lights went on and I pulled over. He took my papers and I wanted to stop him from calling it in, so I jumped out and tried to kill him, but Anthony stopped me. I would've killed a cop that was on your payroll"

Uncle Paul sits back and says;

"You never kill a fucking cop, do you hear me? You rather go to jail before you kill a cop"

He blows the smoke of his cigar out of his mouth and says;

"You did good kid. I know that you tried to kill that cop. You know how I know? Let me tell you how I know, I told him to be there. He needed to be scared a little, so I used you to do that"

"What...Uncle Paul"

"And I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth of what happened, I need to know who I can trust. Anyway, the gun Anthony gave you...it had no ammunition in. It was empty, so you couldn't kill him even if you wanted to"

I stand up, take out the gun and say;

"Really?"

I cock the gun, point it in the kitchen, and I pull the trigger. One loud bang goes off, everyone goes quiet and some pull their guns out and run into the restaurant where Uncle Paul is.

Uncle Paul screams;

"I am okay, everything is fine"

I go on saying;

"I got ammunition at home, so I filled up the guns that Tony gave me before we went to the airport"

Uncle Paul look at the people that are standing with their guns drawn and says;

"Fucking wise-ass, do you believe this guy...goes and loads the empty guns we give him, can you believe this shit...you can't make this shit up. Kid, you keep the gun, you have proofed yourself to me. Don't fucking kill yourself with it...you hear. Bartender, get me one of those whiskey bottles and bring me a few glasses to celebrate"

Uncle Paul looks at me and says;

"Then, for what you did today, here is something for you"

Uncle Paul takes out the biggest roll of money I have ever seen and says;

"Go and buy yourself a suit for tomorrow night, you deserve it. It is an important event that I am throwing for the members of the family and you need to look your best. You have made me proud today. Now I can serve the members of the family the best imported whiskey that money can buy"

The bartender places the bottle in front of Uncle Paul, and hands him the glasses. He starts pouring drinks for everyone and says;

"Saluti"

Everyone drinks the whiskey. They all stand around and congratulates me on this score of today. I look at Uncle Paul and say;

"Thank you, Uncle Paul, but Anthony needs the credit here. If he didn't stop me, I would've-"

Uncle Paul interrupts me and says;

"Don't worry, I will make sure Anthony will also be rewarded for what he did today, you just make sure you have a good suit for tomorrow night you hear?"