Page 91 of Effortless

Tom turned fast at the new voice, and found Lou leaning in the warehouse’s office. “Marty is still being a fucking cocksucker, that’s all.”

“About the whole truck thing last week?” Lou asked.

“Yeah, that nonsense. He was under the impression that his guys would get the goods to sell, and we would get a cut of the profits. I figured since my guys nabbed the truck, even if it was on his territory, he would get the cut, and we would get the right of sale for the goods.”

“I mean, that’s how shit usually goes with other Capos and crews,” Lou said.

“Little late, anyway. The goods are all gone.”

It wasn’t like they could keep a whole truck’s worth of stolen luxury goods on hand. Anything with a designer label had to have the serial number filed off—if they could—and it needed to be turned around on the street, and fast. Otherwise, they were risking the cops getting a lead on the stolen goods, and finding them in one of their warehouses. That spelled bad news all the way around the damn board.

“The guys got the last of it sold today, right?” Lou asked.

Tom nodded. “First time in forever they actually decided to get off their asses and do something correctly.”

“Come on, Tommaso. They’re a good crew.”

“Yeah, when they want to be, and we both know they don’t want to be good for me very fucking often.”

Lou sighed, and leaned against the doorjamb. “They have gotten better.”

“They don’t respect me, Lou. They fear me, and that’s why they behave now. Because I killed a couple of them, and beat the shit out of a couple of others.”

“It did settle them down, though.”

“Sure,” Tom agreed, “but for how long? Fear and respect are not the same things, and it won’t get me anywhere with them in the end. If even one of them thought they had a chance to get rid of me, or whatever, I don’t doubt for a second that they would pull the trigger on it. As long as they could get away with it.”

“Give them a bit of trust. Turning on you likely means somebody’s coming after them. Or hey, turning you over to the cops likely means some of their friends on this crew might get caught up in that mess, too. I don’t think that’s something you have to worry a whole lot about right now, man.”

Tom chuckled. “Like I said, as long as they thought they could get away with it. Right now, they can’t. I’m safe at the moment.”

Again, for how long?

Sadly, Tom wasn’t even exaggerating. It was just a sad fact of the business. Capos either had really good relationships with their crews, or they had a shitty one. Tom was the latter, and he knew exactly why that was.

“I’m from a whole different world than them,” he said. “I grew up in a mansion, and they were brought up in crowded, rundown apartments. I attended a private school, and some of them didn’t even graduate public high school. I drive around on their streets in my Benz, and they’re … yeah. Trust me, I get it, Lou. I don’t ask why. I know why.”

Lou cleared his throat. “I’m from their world, too, man. I still respect you.”

Tom smirked, and came close enough to his friend to clap him on the shoulder. “Yeah, well, you saw something through the pretty rich boy exterior, I guess.”

“Nope.”

“No?”

Lou shrugged. “A lot of these guys on the crew forget, Tom, that regardless of where you came from or how much money you have, you’re still made. You still earned your spot just like every other made man in the business. That’s how it works, and that deserves some kind of respect.”

Tom laughed, and smacked Lou on the shoulder again. “You know that’s the kind of shit that gets you the button, right? That’s the kind of attitude that gets you made, Lou.”

Lou let out a bitter laugh. “Doubtful, Tom. How many made men do you know come from the streets; guys who come from nothing?”

Tom knew a lot. They weren’t from his generation, but from his father’s. He didn’t tell that to his friend.

What mattered most, was that Lou would eventually be rewarded and recognized. It would happen someday. Tom would make goddamn sure of it.

“You know what, fuck this whole place,” Tom said.

Lou cocked a brow. “That’s not very … Capo-like.”