The Corrupt - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A Rocky Start

Darkness.

All I could see was absolute darkness, all I could hear was a high pitched screech, and all I could smell was beer, gasoline, and for some unfathomable reason, aftershave. Not to mention my head was killing me.

"Hey Talerico," I heard a familiar voice call out over the obnoxious high pitched squeal. "Hey hello, Talerico, c'mon wake up sunshine."

In an instant, the darkness became bright, and the high pitched noise faded. I was in the back of a Chevy Convertible. My two friends Nino and Mikey were in front. Mikey was driving, keeping full concentration on the road. Nino was turned around in the passenger seat staring at me with a disappointed look. We were about to drive into the midtown tunnels, and traffic was moderately heavy.

Mikey was a wide man, but he was swift and had the strength of at least three men. He, like me and Nino, was a contract killer for my Uncle Paulie. He actually had a kind heart, and felt that murder was "Strictly business". Nino, however was a bulldozer of destruction and womanizing. He would kill any man for a Klondike bar. It may sounds weird to you, but i can't decide who I like better.

Anyway, tonight was my first night on the job, and judging from the feel of my head, I didn't do too well.

I heard Nino's heavy Brooklyn accent ring out over the car horns. "C'mon what's the matter you pussy," he asked. "You take one little tap from a nightclub bouncer and you're gonna sleep on me over here?"

Nightclub bouncer? What the hell was he talking about? Did I get hit? What was I doing? God, my head is killing me. I can't remember a damn thing.

"Hey I already told you, he doesn't look so good," Mikey chimed in. Nino just shook his head, and turned around. Mikey then began honking the car horn at the immense traffic ahead of us before saying, "Man that guy was a damn gorilla... ugly too."

I expected Nino to laugh, but instead he just shook his head like he was worried about something. "Man, Paulie's gonna rip our nuts off, when he finds out we didn't collect his money," he said fiddling with the red tie on his suit.

"Hey, Paulie don't know nothing," Mikey said with a stern tone. "We'll just tell him the money was stolen before we got there. Maybe he'll be nice to us because it's Nick's birthday." He pointed at me for a second, but then put his hand back on the steering wheel to honk the horn some more.

Nino gave a surprised expression in Mikey's direction. "Nice," he asked. "Mikey, the man's a Piranah! He wouldn't know nice if it hit him in the head with a fifty pound sledgehammer!" Nino then turned around to yell at me. "Man we screwed the pooch on this one, Nick," he shouted with his arms flailing. "You know what Paulie's like, 'if you don't collect, its best not to even come home.'"

Before I could respond, Mikey's patience broke. He swerved past the car ahead of us, almost causing a huge collision. He then noticed the cop directing traffic, and flipped him the bird as we sped past.

Silence followed... somewhat. I tried to remember what had happened. Let's see... we were obviously sent out by Uncle Paulie to collect money some nightclub owner owed him. I guess in the process, the man got away and I ended up getting whacked over the head by a nightclub bouncer. Typical.

But my blood ran cold instantly. "We didn't collect Paulie's money." That line kept repeating itself in my head like a scratched record. Oh shit, Paulie is going to FREAKIN' KILL US!

I was about to speak up and join Nino's side in saying we're screwed, but Mikey's voice broke the silence before mine.

"Okay, here's a practical question," he said with a sense of hope in his voice. "Paulie has a contract on the foreman at the construction site, don't he? What if we head down there and take care of him, huh? Maybe Paulie won't be too hard on us."

Nino's eyes lit up and a slight smile began to replace the frown on his face. "Yeah," he said. "I mean, Paulie was adamant right? Maybe if we whack that guy nice and clean, Paulie won't turn us into sausages. You really think so Mikey?"

Mikey shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "But we gotta get there first."

As Mikey began to speed up, I could hear police sirens arise from behind us. They were getting close... closer... Mikey and Nino instantly looked back simultaneously. "Hey, we got company," Mikey shouted grabbing the pistol under his seat. Nino fetched the gun that had been lying on the dashboard and screamed "Drive damn it!" Mikey floor boarded it and shouted "Hang on to your lunch!"

Wait, what was Mikey doing? You can't attempt to evade the police, that's illegal. Why wouldn't he stop? The police are behind you Mikey, stop...STOP! I'd never been in a police pursuit before. I'd imagine it be fun, but why was I so scared? Why couldn't I find excitement in this kind of situation? I'm supposed to, but I just can't... why?

Mikey's reckless driving had me bobbling in the back seat. My head slammed against the back door and worsened the headache I had already sustained supposedly from a nightclub bouncer. In my pain, I felt Nino grab the back of my shirt collar and pull me up. "Nick look at me," I heard him shout. I managed to meet his gaze, even though my brain was on fire. "Listen kid, we have to get to the Grave's End Construction Site to take care of Paulie's contract on the foreman." Nino then reached onto the passenger floorboard and grabbed a shotgun. He threw it on my lap, and tossed some shells along with it.

All I could do was stare. Today was my seventeenth birthday, and I'd never actually held a firearm before. The shiny chrome texture, the heavy weight it forced on my knees, and the metal feel of it, God I felt so powerful, like I could perform any task, no matter how difficult.

Nino broke me out of my trance with a shove. My gaze met his once again. "Nick, don't just sit there staring like a retard, we gotta shake these pigs," he screamed shooting at the police cruisers that I could tell were just meters away from our back bumper.

I turned the shotgun over, and loaded the first shell in. The click sound it made gave me goosebumps. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I kept saying in my head, "Hell yeah, baby, a shotgun."

I began loading the second shell but Mikey jolted the car hard to left, however this time it was to avoid a car that was driving in our direction. I looked up at Nino, who was in utter hysteria. "Mikey," he yelled. "Are you driving into oncoming traffic?" "Hell yeah," Mikey replied with a chuckle. Nino started laughing so hard he almost fell out of the side of the car. "Jesus Christ, Mikey," he yelled. "Your gonna kill us."

I loaded the second shell, then the third, and as I was loading the fourth I heard a voice boom over an intercom behind us. "This is the New York City Police Department! Stop the car, and step out with your hands in the air!" Apparently that demand had no effect on my two good friends, because they just began firing their weapons sporadically at the police.

"Hey," I heard Nino shout as I loaded the fifth shell. "These are Eddie Shrote's boys!" Mikey replied confused, "Why the hell they shooting at us? They're supposed to be on Paulie's payroll?" Nino just shook his head. "Screw 'em," he finally yelled. "Paulie's gonna go ape-shit on us anyway, so just keep shooting!"

I loaded the sixth shell, and then I heard a loud crash behind us, followed by an explosion. "Whoops, sorry about that officer," Nino yelled sarcastically with a twisted smile. "Hey Nino," Mikey shouted laughing. "Tell 'em they'll never take us alive. They hate that!"

I loaded the seventh shell, then eighth, then ninth.

"Would you drive straight, I can't get a hit," I heard Nino yell at Mikey. "I am driving straight, you shoot straight," Mikey screamed back.
"Mikey, you crazy bastard!"
"Hey, you wanna drive jackass!?"

I finally loaded the tenth and final shell into the gun. Nino looked down at me, smiled, and said "Well it's about ti-" but before he could finish, a bullet whizzed past the top of my head and hit Nino right between the eyes. I watched in absolute horror as he slumped back on the dashboard, before falling out of the car onto the pavement. I had never seen a man die before, and that was simply too much for me.

"Nino!" Mikey shouted. It almost looked like he was about to cry, but if he was, he held it in. "Nick," he said. "You gotta get up here and take Nino's place. I can't lose this last cop." I nodded, and slowly crawled into the passenger seat. Mikey might have been able to hold back his crying, but I just wasn't strong enough. Tears began pouring down my cheeks like a thunderstorm. Oh god, Nino! Why, Nino! It didn't have to be Nino! I know a man's not supposed to cry but.... damn... Nino was one of my best friends.

"Kid I know it's a tragic moment," Mikey said. "But in case you've forgotten we have to..." His voice trailed off. He looked back and said, "What the hell. Where did that last pig go?" I wiped the tears from my face and looked back as well. "I don't know," I sniffled. "Maybe you evaded him."

I turned back around, and my face went white at the sight ahead of me. A large road barricade was blocking off a dead end. "MIKEY STO-" I began to shout, but we must've been traveling faster than I thought because the next thing I knew we rammed through the barricade and everything faded to darkness... again.