02 Apr The Mafia: Chapter Thirty (Season Finale)

*This rough draft is entirely a work of fictional writing*

D agrees to meet Selena at a small French cuisine restaurant named C’est Fini – there is only one entrance into the joint.

The trenchmen are sitting at a table in the back while Selena waits for D at a separate table. After about thirty minutes, D walks into the restaurant wearing a body armor (Teflon) vest – he takes a seat next to Selena.

Selena rolls her eyes, “Come on… don’t you think that’s a little unnecessary?”

D is not as upbeat as he usually is, “I’m not taking any chances – from now on… I’m taking every precaution like a hazard sign. I was about to follow a detour and not even show up.”

Selena appears to be slightly offended, “You don’t trust me?”

D is un-animated, “I don’t trust anyone right now – not a single person. Sly definitely had help trying to set me up. He was not smart enough to execute a plan like that on his own, as simple as the plan was, it took timing and high level orchestration – someone was in on it. I’m not going to feel at peace until I find the rat.”

Selena is offended, “Wow. You think that I helped set you up?”

D leans over and whispers in Selena’s ear, “I never said that, but with that being said, your father offered a million dollars to anyone that brought me to him… dead or alive. What do you expect me to think?”

Selena sighs, “You actually thought that my father would execute you? In front of me?”

D responds with attitude, “I don’t have any reason not to believe that. All the routes right now currently point to the Morena family having some input on my hostile abduction.”

Selena gets teary eyed, “So… should I leave?”

D shrugs his shoulders, “Do what you want Shorty – do you. I’m not here to tell you to stay or leave.”

Selena speaks softly, “I want to stay. Listen, I can’t speak on my father’s behalf, but I promise you that I didn’t have anything to do with it – why would I? Think about it…”

D ponders for a second, “Namaste then, Namaste.”

Selena laughs, “You’re such a jerk! Who shows up to a date wearing body armor?”

D smiles, “Okay, so why you got excited when you saw how handsome I look wearing it then?”

Selena sighs, “You’re not that handsome – don’t try to be too cute with me.”

D responds, “Tell me why you keep chasing me – shouldn’t you be with your husband?”

Selena looks down at the table, “Can you stop? Besides, I haven’t heard from him in a few days – who knows where he is.”

D grins, “I couldn’t tell ya.”

—

Avi and Romano are in the middle of the desert with their guns drawn at each other.

Avi speaks loudly, “Only one of us is getting out of here alive.”

Romano responds, “It’s a shame that it’s gotten to this point.”

Avi replies, “I’ve only seen this play out in movies… do we count down from ten or what?”

Romano puts his gun on safety and returns it to his holster, “As nomadic as this desert is right now – I don’t feel like we need to revert to primitive, barbaric antics.”

Avi puts his gun on safety and returns it to his holster, “You put a million dollar bounty on my brother – after I flew to visit you? I left that meeting with the sense that our two families would form a business alliance – think about all of the money we could have made.”

Romano sincerely responds, “Right, but at that meeting I also told you what would happen to someone who tried to woo my daughter Selena – your family blatantly ignored that warning.”

Avi responds, “Had I known that D and Selena had elevated their interest in one another – I would have told you. I would have confronted you like a man about it, not dismissively cowardly. But for you to offer that kind of money to have my brother killed – I just can’t let this one slide. Only cowards throw stones while hiding their hands.”

Romano removes his gun from his holster and aims it at Avi, “Watch your mouth little boy – who are you calling a coward?”

Avi draws his gun in retaliation, “I call it like I see it.”

Romano appears to be aggravated; “There must be something wrong with the way that you see, because I know you see my pistol aiming at you and it doesn’t speak any other language than pain.”

Avi speaks assertively, “An average human’s reaction time is about .3-.4 seconds – trust me, you don’t want to hear my weapon talk, for it likes to speak in cursive.”

Romano responds, “That’s the problem with your family – you all like to talk too much.”

Avi lowers the octave of his voice, “Shit. We only speak when spoken to.”

Romano smiles, “I can only imagine how stupid we look right now…”

Avi laughs, walks over and shakes Romano’s hand, “We’d make damn good actors. Tell me how you plan to make up this negligent mistake to me and my family.”

Romano responds, “Look – when I promised you an alliance, I meant it. My word is bond and that’s dictionary heavy. I’d be willing to severe ties with Garnald’s family and help your family commandeer distribution networks – that’s the best that I can do. All I ask for is twenty-five percent of the profits.”

—

Rose, Lilly, Isabella, Jay and Rudisin are holding a high stakes meeting inside of the family’s estate.

Rudisin puts his glasses on, “Our family is prepared to make your family a formal offer.”

Isabella speaks up, “Prepared to, or you have an offer to present? There’s a major difference.”

Jay smirks, “Isabella is absolutely correct. Are we at the negotiation table right now or tip-toeing through hypotheticals?”

Rudisin is agitated, “Your entire gang needs to calm the fuck down – I’m sitting here right now, aren’t I?”

Rose takes a sip of espresso, “We’re as calm as the sound of rain. Let’s cut the crap – none of us have time for this back and forth bullshit.”

Lilly adds in, “I’m hoping that your offer addresses retroactive reparations and not just a path forward.”

Rudisin details, “Unfortunately for you, it does not contain any sort of reparation package – it’s far simpler than that. We open distribution for your product, but we want fifty percent of profits. There is no wiggle room on that number – we stand firmly.”

Isabella blurts out, “Fuck that.”

Jay smirks again, “Please excuse Isabella’s language, sometimes she lets her emotions get the best of her. I think what she is trying to say is that our family brings more to the table then yours does – certainly not to merit a 50/50 split.”

Rudisin stays rooted, “We built the distribution – we need fifty percent.”

Rose responds, “In case you were unaware… some of the people in your closest circle have already agreed to settle with our family. Your bargaining chips are slowly crumbling; both politically and through the mob hierarchy.”

Rudisin remains nonchalant, “I beg to differ… I find some of those facts to be rather false.”

Lilly responds, “If that was your true sentiment – you wouldn’t be here right now. You and I both know that.”

Rudisin continues, “Even if that were to be true… six out of the ten families are still in alliance with us.”

Jay responds, “Right, but us and the other three families make up seventy percent of the business.”

Isabella takes a loud sip of espresso, “Twenty-five percent – that’s the best that we can do… there isn’t a whole lot of wiggle room around that number.”

—

*To Be Continued At Some Point*