“Lemme reiterate…” Fish said as he pointed to his shoulder.
“Re-wha?” Tony asked with a confused look on his round face. “You takin’ night classes, Fish, wit’ those fancy words?”
“It means repeat, you ignoramus! Like why do I gotta repeat the fact that I got a fuckin’ bullet in my shoulder and you nutjobs choose ME to go get your precious Susumelles and Panforte!”
“You shoulda listened, numb nuts!” Six spat as he slapped the Fish hard in the back of his head.
“I told you to leave Letty Alves alone,” Michael Capadonno said coolly, his hardened gaze drilling towards the Fish.
“Yeah…” Fish said, sounding reluctant. “Yeah, you sure did, Butch. I was tryin’ to protect the family.”
“Who died and made you boss?” Big Bang said, his voice bellowing through the house.
The Fish became rigidly still. He felt as if he was shrinking down, failing under the pressure of the stares from the men around him. The men who he considered to be his brothers. His family.
Big Bang adjusted his tie, as he glowered at Fish. “So who the fuck shot you?”
Big Bang was doing the talking but Fish couldn’t take his eyes off of Michael Capadonno’s steely gaze.
“Miles did. Bastard came out of nowhere like a bat out of hell. Told me he’d kill me if I went near Letty again!” Fish griped.
“Well, Fishie,” Michael began. “If you would have did what you was told, you wouldn’t be in this little predicament. Would ya?”
“Like I was sayin’, Butch, I was just tryin’ to do you a solid. She saw too much.”
Michael waved his hand, quickly interrupting the Fish as he spoke.
“See, Fish…” Michael began. He cracked his knuckles as he glowered up at Fish with a sickly smile growing across his face. “You put me in a compromising situation.”
Michael’s eyes lit up with dark amusement.
Fish attempted to defend himself. “How was I to know that Miles still held some spark for her?!” Fish asked. “Seriously! I always thought she was one of your comares!”
The room went silent as everyone’s eyes darted to Michael’s face. His reaction was lethal. All remorse had escaped from his eyes and now only the look of a cold and calculating killer stared back at Fish.
“Who I fuck is none of your business!” Michael spat.
Michael’s eyes flickered to the gun that sat on Big Bang’s lap. Before Big Bang even knew what was happening, Michael had grabbed the gun. Pointing the weapon at Fish, Michael continued to glare at his old friend.
“You made a huge mistake, Fish,” Michael said as he took the safety off of the gun.
“All this over a comare? A simple bitch?” Fish demanded to know, hoping that he could shock some reason into Michael. He knew that now was not the time to show fear.
A snarl rose from Michael’s lip.
“Letty Alves is so much more than that, and you made a mistake crossing me.”
Fish, preparing to defend himself once more, opened his mouth, but the words on his tongue would never be uttered. Lifting the gun, Michael Capadonno plugged a hole in between the Fish’s eyes.
Not a sound was uttered as Fish stared back blankly, not breaking his connection with the Butcher’s steely gaze. Finally, in what seemed like an eternity, the Fish fell to the marble floor face first. His limp body crashed upon the cold floor with a loud thud. No one spoke or moved for a few moments as they looked at their former comrade with a strange hint of sadness in their eyes. Big Bang shook his head as he looked up to Michael with a question on his face.
“Hey, Butchie…” Big Bang asked with a perplexed look on his round face. “Alves ain’t your comare… She’s as clean as they come.”
Michael chuckled to himself. “Letty Alves has dodged me for years. She’s never so much as let me touch her lips. He disobeyed my orders and he tainted a good girl’s name. Fish got what was comin’ to him.”
Big Bang shrugged. “That’s what he gets then…”
“Aye!” Tony yelled out. “Somebody clean that up!” Tony demanded as he pointed a stubby finger at the Fish’s dead body. As several men casually removed themselves from their seats, the front door swung open. Several pairs of footsteps echoed through the foyer.
“Oh, fuck. Look who it is. Mr. Big Shot.”
“Aye! Where’s your three-piece suit?” Big Bang yelled at Knox.
Knox stood in the doorway of the parlor with Dustin at his side. As Knox glared at the men, Dustin’s eyes darted to the floor where Fish’s body lay. Quickly, Dustin turned on his heel and ushered Landon out of the house.
“Go,” Dustin said in a hushed tone to Landon. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“And go where? What the fuck is going on?” Landon demanded to know.