CS: Blood Lines (Cont VI)

Max rolled his eyes. He had never been put into the situation, but he knew that when he had worked for the government it had been simple, if you were found you didn’t disclose information. There were no such loyalties here and these thugs were no heroes. Did they think it redeemed them in the eyes of whoever watched over the world by not ratting out others? That was a bunch of shit. Do what you have to to stay alive or if you want to redeem yourself, give the lawbringers all the information they could use so that they could bring down more degenerates. Instead, these morons sat around and thought that dying would be better than cutting a deal. Loyalty only went so far, and if you couldn’t trust those who employed you, then they shouldn’t trust you.

He left as Bobby finished business upstairs. The passenger side window rolled down and Max handed Reno the gun. This was the first moment Reno noted that Max was wearing gloves. The young Cappolla’s eyes screwed up just beyond his sunglasses, “When did you put those….”

“Before I took the gun, but I bet you didn’t notice.” Max glanced up at the houses where the curtains were being pulled while other house’s doors were being opened and people were beginning to come out onto the streets.

Reno followed Max’s stare as Bobby got into the car, “Ignorant fucks. If we let them, they’d try to fight us. As if they even cared or knew those dirty bastards. Family and blood always comes before decency. You know what, that’s a bunch of shitty thinking when you consider it. Nobody should have to harbor a murderer just cuz they know em. Get in before they get some balls.”

Max slid into the car and the Benz sped away from the house. He glanced over to see Bobby passing Reno a small sample of the drugs. Reno cut it opened and tasted it carefully, “Not bad shit really. Of course nothing like Cuban gold. They’ve got some diamonds those Cuban mother fuckers. These niggers got shit.” Reno turned and removed his sunglasses to look at Max. “That was impressive what you did in there. I was watching and I could tell just by Bobby’s face as he stepped out. Not that I trust you. What kind of man is cut loose from the government and left with the secrets he possesses, huh? I am no conspiracy theorist, but it doesn’t add up. So just cuz you’re going to be dealing with me doesn’t mean that I’m going to like it, all right? We draw a line right there.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Max said without much heartbreak. “What’s next?

Reno sighed, “Just give us a few minutes. Jesus. You get done with one hit and you’re already waiting for the next?”

“I was not signed on to deal with minor problems. I came to shoot straight to the heart of matters.”

“You want me to just drop you off and the King’s big casino and you’ll finish him and his bodyguards off by yourself, huh? Well even if you could, I couldn’t do that. Cuz we flash that kind of power, we’ll have the other groups uniting and coming down on us like the hand of death. We have to be sly about this and we have to hit them when they’re down, so that it doesn’t look like we could just blow them away without any real work.”

“Then what is your plan?”

“I’ll get to it. But we need to talk privately.” Reno glanced at Bobby and the driver, “I don’t need every fuck in the Cappolla house knowing what we’re up to.”

Max nodded and sat back, waiting for the car to reach its next destination. It ended up at a small diner in the middle of the city. Reno motioned for Max to get out. The two entered the diner and sat down at one of the tables, the Benz driving off. Max slid his sunglasses down his nose to examine the restaurant with a bit more color. It was a quaint little place, the kind you saw along long country roads. Why there was one stuck in the center of a thousand skyscrapers, who knew. “A diner?”

Reno nodded and flagged down a waitress, “Two of my usuals.”

“You come here often?” Max smirked.

“Yeah, I do. You wanna know why? Cuz it’s symbolic. Here is this little shit of a business trying to make it surrounded by the giants who rake in more money than God can count, and it’s doin’ fine. You wanna know why? Cuz it stands out and it’s got balls. That’s what you need to make it in the world, balls and an ability to stand out.”

“So this place is symbolic of…..”

“Me. The Cappollas. The little guy. Not to mention there’s a really fuckin’ cute waitress, she’s not on duty right now, but hell, you win some you lose some. Besides, I’d like to think my life might one day become a movie…and every movie needs a diner scene.”

“Ah.” Max was not a patron of the theatre. He was usually busy doing the things that people lived through vicariously in movies. The waitress passed by, leaving them with water and Reno a coke.

He sipped it slowly, leaning back in the diner. “So why is it they got rid of you and didn’t….ya know.” Reno drew his finger across his neck.

Max glanced over at the nearly empty restaurant and turned back to Reno, “That information I can’t disclose.”

“Oh, really? And why the fuck not?”

Max leaned in, “Because telling you would be both dangerous for you and for me. I worked for a long time within the government doing nasty things that they trained me to do and it was just my time to move on. A few more jobs and I would have been a liability, and had I become that you wouldn’t be talking to me right now. And to be honest, I value my life a lot, despite how really shitty it’s been. There’s always hope for tomorrow, and that’s what I’m holding out for.”