Memphis: Chapter 7

Leon just stared at Memphis. “Bene, I like your enthusiasm. Home place advantage.” He nodded. “I have used that against my enemies as well.” He looked over at Alfredo and Delaney. “You realize that if your brothers do come here looking for trouble, they will find it and they may get themselves hurt or even dead, don’t you?”

Delaney closed her eyes and then opened them to glare at him. “My brothers cut us off years ago. Because my grandfather wouldn’t partake in their crime spree, nor would he give them sanctuary when they came back from robbing some place or another. My brothers have been nothing but trouble since the day they were born. They all learned how to steal and lie from my father when he wasn’t in jail. We may share the same blood but they left me a long time ago and you know what? I’m just fine with that.”

“So you have no sense of family with your siblings?” Leon wanted to know.

Delaney looked over at Alfredo and then back to Leon. “After my mother wanted out of our lives and Dad went back to prison, I had my grandpa. He taught me to live a good life. I didn’t have to break the laws of God or man to make a good living. He would tell me stories of when he was growing up and how different life is today. That some things are better left in the past. The world was changing so fast and we had to move forward or be left behind. My brothers used to listen to the same stories I did and all they could think about was bringing the past back. They wanted the days of Capone’s glory back but that can never be, could it? They all missed the part of Capone dying in jail and his friends dying in the streets after they hurt so many people. Although the streets aren’t any safer today than they were a hundred years ago, the times have changed. My brothers are grown men now, they live their lifestyles, and I live mine. If they come here, they wouldn’t worry about killing anyone to get what they consider the treasure they feel entitled to. It won’t matter to them the treasure doesn’t belong to them, that it was never theirs to begin with and they won’t care that grandpa and I are here or that they could end up killing us too.”

Alfredo agreed. “They wouldn’t even worry about killing us.” Shaking his head, he told them, “If my grandsons do come here looking for trouble and they will when they find out the gold is real, you have to stop them. They were raised to think it’s a dog eat dog world and if you don’t take what you want then someone else will. My son didn’t do his boys any favors by raising them that way.”

“No, he really didn’t,” Leon admitted. “So be it then.”

“Sir,” Alfredo spoke again. “My son Barrett gets out of prison in three days. The boys will wait for that before they come here after the gold, but like Delaney said, they will have this place watched, and if they see anything coming or going from here, they will come at that time.”

Leon nodded and looked over at John. “We’re going to need armored trucks, drivers, and more men.” Shaking his head, he added, “We’re also going to need a mortician and an ambulance to take out those 2 bodies. I want them prepared to take them back to Boston. They deserve an honorable burial at the least.”

John got on the phone to make his calls for the various things they would need to dismantle the fireplace, get the trucks for the gold and the bodies.

Leon then turned and stared at the oversized fireplace. Then he growled, “And now, I suppose we have to find out exactly what we’re dealing with.” He looked over at his men and growled, “Take it apart.”

Zeus shook his head and looked over at his own men. “Best get some tools. Even as big as they are, they can’t rip it apart with their bare hands.”

Memphis, Diabolus and many of the brothers scrambled to get some tools lined up.

Scout left the clubhouse to get a wheelbarrow to carry the bricks out. He met up with the construction crew who had arrived to finish the fence line.

Kenneth looked around the dooryard and then at Scout.

”We’re gonna need the fence line finished as soon as possible,” Scout stated.

“Expecting trouble?” Kenneth asked.

“More than you know, brother.” He nodded.

“Well, the rest of the supplies finally came in, so we’ll get right to work.”

“Also, if you see anyone out there watching the place, give us a head’s up ok?” Scout asked. “I mean Click’s got cameras running but we might miss something.”

Kenneth snorted. “If Mark Tucker put in those cameras, you ain’t gonna miss anything moving out there. I’ve worked with him before and he’s that good.”

“Good to know,” Scout replied with a nod.

“We should be finished by tomorrow at the latest,” Kenneth told him.

“Hopefully that will be okay. If you guys run into any trouble let us know. I’m not expecting anything but you never know. Now all we need is a dumpster, a fucking big one.”

Kenneth smiled. “I can help you with that. I’ll get one delivered in a few hours.”

“Damn, that would be awesome. We’re gonna need it as soon as possible.”

“I’ll have one delivered right away.”

“Thanks, man. Much appreciated.” Scout went out to the shed, grabbed the wheelbarrow, and wheeled it into the club house. Then he told Zeus, “We got a dumpster coming and Kenneth said he’s gonna have the fence done by tomorrow.”

“Good,” Zeus replied. “If those dumbasses come, we’re gonna need all the advantages we can get.”

The day was long as the men removed the stones from the fireplace. They hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of broken stone out the front door and when they were done, everyone was shocked at how much gold was revealed.

Leon had food delivered, complete with servers to set it all up. So they all broke for lunch and it was a seriously full buffet.

Memphis shook his head at all the food neatly served by a full staff. “The man knows how to live.”

Calderone stood nearby as he chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it. The man abhors liars and cheaters, but he has a soft spot…Innocents, whether they are children or adults. Otherwise, people know better than to cross him. I’m curious to see how stupid these Raggettis really are if they take him on.”

Memphis agreed, “I hope they get what’s coming to them.”

Calderone grinned at him. “Bene, it will be entertaining for him. I think he lives for this shit.”

Memphis smiled as he shook his head. “Him and I have that in common, at least.”

The gold bricks had been stacked one on top of another and as they were heavy, there was no need for mortar between them to hold them up and together.

Leon, Calderone, and Zeus sat at the table after the meal, just looking at the gold standing in the corner. The entire fireplace from the hearth up to the ceiling had been gold bricks.

Alfredo stared at the gold too, while looking gobsmacked. Looking over at Leon he asked, “Just how much gold did the Famiglia trust my father with? This looks like fucking Fort Knox.”

Leon agreed. “This was all before my time, really. It’s gonna be a helluva job to track all the records down to find out what families will be getting their fortunes back.”

Zeus looked over at him. “Alfonzo did keep records. I saw some of them in the books.”

Leon looked from him to Alfredo.

The old man nodded. “He was good at two things: keeping books and playing games.”

Leon slowly shook his head. “Bene, I will appreciate the book keeping skill. Because this will be a mess, di sicuro.”

Memphis also stared at the bricks. “There can’t be all that much left in the storage room we found. Can there?”

Click finally looked up from his laptop and said, “Looks like we have company, boss.”

Zeus looked over at him. “What do you mean?”

“A group of four just showed up on the cameras,” Click informed him.

Delaney got up and joined him. “Can you see their faces?” she asked.

Click moved the cameras into focus and he showed her as close as he could get to what the four men looked like.

She studied them for a moment then looked up at her grandfather and Zeus. “It looks like Alijala’s VP, Thomas and a few others. I don’t think Alijala is here. He might have sent these bozos in to check on what’s going on before he moves in.”

Alfredo nodded. “With your dad getting out in a couple of days, he would want to know what’s going on but he knows he has to be at the gates when Barrett walks through to freedom.”

Delaney snorted. “Yeah, that’s true enough and he’s also gonna need a startup fund too.” She looked over at the fireplace. “And that would be enough to hold him over and get him started in a big way.”

Memphis scoffed. “Too damn bad ain’t it? He still doesn’t realize that money doesn’t belong to him.”

Leon shook his head. “That won’t mean a bit of difference to a man like Barrett Raggetti. Non ho mai incontrato un tale perdente.”

Delaney chuckled. “He’s my father but you are right, he was always a loser, Mr. Vincinti. Sono contento di aver ereditato il cervello di mio nonno.”

Leon paused to stare at her then he laughed. “Bene, you are a real pill aren’t you? Hai una bocca intelligente. Che posso vedere.”

Delaney squared her shoulders. “Si, I have a smart mouth but at least I can back it up. My dad? Not so much.”

Leon again laughed. “You sure you don’t wanna join the Famiglia? You got the Il coraggio e l’intelligenza.” Courage and intelligence.

She shook her head. “I like the life I have. Grazie mille.” Thank you very much.

Alfredo shook his head. “I’m glad she’s different than the rest. I don’t know how I failed to raise that boy without common sense.”

Delaney snorted. “You didn’t fail him grandpa, he failed you. He listened to great grandpa’s stories a little too closely and he decided that common sense wasn’t the way he wanted to go. He wanted the glory of the old days and the supposed easy way to riches.”

“The glory of the old days?” Leon scoffed. “The days where you could die and no one would stop your killer? No one would help you because they were being paid to look the other way? The days where a man could walk into a crowded room and just open fire, killing anyone and everyone in it? Those days?” He shook his head. “Your dad is fottutamente pazzo if he wants those days back.”

“Well, he is fucking nuts, Mr. Vincinti,” Delaney replied in disgust. That has been obvious to me since I was a little girl. My dad and brothers want the days of glory back where being a member of the Family had respect by fear. The power and the glory of being a wealthy man means more to them than how they got that wealth. Being feared by the people means something to them.”

“But with that power and money comes responsibility for taking care of the people around you too,” Calderone stated.

Delaney shook her head. “Not to them, it doesn’t. They won’t care about that. We all went without food while my dad was stealing and using the money to party. They have no sense of real family… I also learned that the hard way.”

Leon sighed. “Your father was thrown out of the Famiglia for a reason. No morals and no real goals. Even if he had applied to get back in, we would have never allowed him to come back.”

Delaney looked at the gold again and said, “He might think he can bribe his way in and then he could talk the others into appointing him into the head seat. Of course, it won’t work but he will try. My father is stupid like that.” She looked over at Alfredo and suggested, “Come on grandpa, we should be headed home. It’s getting late.”

Zeus and Memphis shook their heads.

”I’m afraid we can’t let you leave here,” Zeus stated. “Not at the moment anyway.”

“You can’t stop us.” Delaney glared at him. “We came here voluntarily and we’ll leave the same way.”

Now Leon had to shake his head. “I have to agree with them. You aren’t going anywhere.”

Delaney curled her lip at him. “You don’t give us orders either, remember? We don’t belong to your realm and we don’t have to take orders from you either. I don’t care how important you are. You do not own us, Mr. Vincinti.”

Alfredo turned his gray head to stare at his granddaughter. “You speak to him with respect, young lady. Rispetto, mi senti? He’s earned it even if we are not in the Famiglia. Non parlargli mai così. Your father thought he could play your great grandfather’s head games but Barrett isn’t as good at those kinds of games as my dad was.” He shrugged. “Leon didn’t wipe out all of the Raggettis when he could have, just for what Barrett tried a few years ago with the Famiglia. I taught you respect, so show it when it is earned, capisci?”

Delaney hung her head. “I’m sorry grandpa.” Looking over at Leon she said, “Mi dispiace… I’m sorry Mr. Vincinti, I spoke out of turn.”

Leon nodded as he regarded her with a bit of curiosity in his eyes. “Scuse acetate. But I still think it would be best if you and your grandfather stayed here instead of going to your casa. I would hate to think of your brothers getting to you. With what you’ve seen and heard today, they might hurt you to get information out of you.”

Delaney snorted. “Ain’t no maybe ‘bout that.”

Leon opened his mouth to say something else but he was interrupted by his cell when it pinged. He reached for it in his breast pocket and read the text. He looked pensive for a moment before looking over at Calderone, then Zeus and finally, Alfredo. “Bene, it seems time just ran out for them. I was just notified that Barrett Raggetti just walked out of prison a full two days early. Interessante. I wonder who we have to thank for that.”

“Were my brothers there to meet him?” Delaney asked.

Leon nodded. “Si, it appears that they were. Apparently, they knew he’d be getting out a few days early. Interesting, isn’t it?”

Delaney raised her head and stared at the man. “Kinda like they had an inside man, Tu pensi?”

Leon nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Delaney slowly shook her head. Her family was playing their last card and she knew it. Too bad for them that Leon Vincinti knew it too. This would not end well. Delaney looked over at her grandfather and she could see the same conclusion in his eyes. “Lord have mercy,” she muttered.

Leon gave her that cold stare he always wore when he was about to go to war. “That is for God to give, after I am through with them.”