chapter fifty three

word count: 591

"this whole thing has become a god damn cluster fuck..." uncle frank said out loud,, to no one... he had sequestered himself in his office... decisions had to be made..

"how in the fucking hell had this become so complicated?" it wasn't even his war... he had been drawn into it,, lured as it were, with the ever so long in coming death of that no account, crotch dropping, ruben,, the bane of his and his sainted brothers existence... may he rest in peace...

the body count was on the rise,, so far in franks favor, as just the pawns were going down.. ren, worthless piece of two faced shit that he was, check... bud kramers wife,, now that was out of his hands,, how the hell was he supposed to know the invalid woman was gonna croak on him??? and that fucking crooked doc guard,, what was his name?? white? black? gray? understandable,,, the world is a better place for his leaving....

it was time... frank concluded.. time to get the job done,, and he knew that if he wanted the job done,, and done right,, it was time to strap one on and hit the street..

frank hit the intercom to the boys that stood watch over his door... " tell manny to come in here." he barked into his speaker phone...

as if by magic,, there was an instantaneous knock at the door. "come on." frank called out,, and manny his driver, his body guard, his second,, whatever you wanted to call him, thundered into the room... he took a silent stance on the opposing side of franks desk. locked his arms behind his thickly muscled back and waited...

"i am going to tell you something. something that you will never repeat. i trust you. you know that. but i want to make it clear to you, the importance of the situation. do you understand?"

"yes." simple. silent. deadly. manny was a man among men.

"i am not a violent man. i never have been. i am however a man of action. i have been backed into a corner in this present situation... in this corner,, violence has become unavoidable.. the time has come for me to take action. i have decided that if this whole fucking mess is ever going to be put to bed, i will have to tuck it in personally. do you understand, then, why i have called you in here today?"

manny looked intently at uncle frank. he did not speak.

"it has become necessary for me to take a certain matter into my own hands.. that part i am sure you understand. in doing so,, i accept the distinct possibility that i will have to,, shall i say,, disappear.. for a lengthy amount of time.. very possibly forever.. no one, and i repeat, no one will know my status or my whereabouts... no one but you.. i am in essence entrusting my life to you, manny.. my fucking life... you understand now the importance of the agreement you and i are about to enter into?"

"i do." sticcado. emotionless.

frank pulled a ring of keys from his pocket.. he pulled off a rather non-descript looking key, and tossed it to manny.. "hold onto this. protect it with your life.. it opens the file cabinet you see by the window, should anything unmentionable go down,, use it. everything you need to know is in there."

he stared into mannys emotionless eyes. the sound of his own heart beating loudly in his ears over taking the dead silence in the room.

"get the car."