The Made Man


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Paulie stood outside the seedy hotel and looked up. Pulling the collar of his ratty black leather jacket up against the chill wind he glanced over his shoulder. The Carlton Hotel. It had seen better days. He entered, thinking a room on the second floor would do nicely. He paid and took the stairs up to the second floor room facing out onto the street.

Dragging a chair over to the window, he sat down, pushing the tattered, nicotine stained lace curtain aside and settling in...

Brett paced nervously, waiting for the call, annoying Bruno . "Hey, knock it off, will ya? You're makin' me crazy here"! Brett went and sat down at the bar and growled, "why haven't they called yet"?

Bruno rolled his eyes and took another sip of beer. "You wuss. Just wait for it, that's all".

"Look, this is the day, man, I just know it. I'm gonna be a made guy"!

Bruno shrugged and stared straight ahead. "Yeah, whatever".

"I sure hope that moron did exactly what I told him to do. He better have made the reservations and got a limo for me or i'm gonna give it to him good". Bruno looked over. "You ride him too hard, Brett, why don't you lighten up on him, he's your kid brother for christ's sake".

"Don't tell me how to deal with my family, Bruno"! Brett flexed his neck and glanced over at the phone. It rang as if on cue. He was off the seat in a flash. A minute later he was back at the bar with a spring in his step.

"See, I told you just to wait. Good news, huh"?

"You bet", Brett smiled. This was going to be the best day of his life. He decided he'd better call his brother and make sure that dimwit had everything on track for him.

"Hey chucklehead, how you doin"? Brett smiled. "You got me all lined up sweet"?

Paulie rubbed his jaw where it was still sore from the last meeting with his brother. "Yeah, Brett, it's all good. The restaurant is reserved for eight and the limo will be around the corner in that little alley, you know the one. Hey, I got it on the cheap for some reason, the guy..."

"Yeah, yeah, great. I'll take care of you later numbnuts. Thanks". Brett hung up and went back to the bar.

Bruno gave him a look. "What"?

"You should treat him better, that's all, I done told you."

"Look, he's a schmuck, i'm doin' him a favor lettin' him run errands for me. You know he's kinda slow and all. What would he do without me"?

Bruno had an answer but he was too smart to push it.

"Anyway, I gotta get ready for tonight. I'm gonna be a made man! Wish me luck".

Brett donned his sharpest suit and shined his shoes. He had been waiting for this meeting to be called for months. When he offered to take them to dinner and they said sure he knew this was it. They wouldn't have agreed to all that if he wasn't in. Don Genarro himself would be there. This was gonna be sweet!

He arrived at the restaurant and waited outside. When they arrived he led them in and they said down to the finest meal Brett could arrange. The Osso Bucco was the best anyone had ever had and the Don told some great stories about wise guy stuff. As they left Don Genarro's phone rang. He walked a few steps away and took the call.

When he came back he wasn't smiling and Brett had an uneasy feeling. But he was doing everything right, he told himself. Nothing was said and he led them down to the corner. That limo had better be right around it like Paulie said it would be.

Paulie sat forward and proped his chin on his interlocked fingers. He gazed out the window as a smile slowly spread over his face and he relaxed his shoulders. It hadn't been easy getting the Don's private number, but Paulie wasn't as dumb as everyone thought. No sir. He heard the faint pop of the silencer and looked again and thought to himself, man oh man, Brett's brains sure don't look pretty splattered all over that nice pink stretch limo. But then again, not much would.

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