Pine Barrens
New Jersey shore
4:02 AM
New Jersey shore
4:02 AM
The four men drove along in silence. The smell of burnt coffee lingered in the sleek black towncar and on the breath of the driver. The man in the passenger seat chewed his gum loudly, blowing bubble after bubble until one of the backseat passengers reached forward slapped him suddenly on the back, causing the gum-chewer to choke and swallow it.
"What the hell, man?"
"What the hell yourself? Chew your gum quieter or don't chew it at all."
"Hey, you know my girl wants me to quit smoking. It's this or a cigarette."
"Well...okay then. Just shut up about it."
"Both of you shut up," barks the driver, "We're here."
The car parked on the side of the road, and the four men piled out. They smoothed the wrinkles in their cheap, rumpled suits, and the driver popped the trunk. A fifth man, a skinny, balding man, lay in the trunk, bound hand and foot and gagged. The suited man, with scarred hands the size of hams, reached out and lifted the unfortunate passenger by the belt with one hand. The passenger screamed around his gag when the gum-chewer produced a large knife, but he just cut the cords around the prisoner's ankles. "Walk, Vinny." The prisoner shook his head furiously, his jowls flapping back and forth. How does a skinny man have jowls, anyway? The man looked like a half-starved bulldog. "Hey, hey! Vinny! You know how this goes. You skim off the top a little, the boss looks the other way. You skim too much, and we take a walk. We had some good times in our day, but if you make a scene, we do this the hard way. The slow way." The gum-chewer hefted his knife in emphasis.
Vinny stops struggling, going pale. He mumbles around the gag, and nods. The four mobsters circle around their charge and walk into the woods, the ham-handed man grabbing a pair of shovels. They chat as they walk, talking about inconsequential things. How the Knicks were doing, their wives, mistresses, and girlfriends, the upcoming wedding of the driver's sister to the gum-chewer's cousin. "This is the spot, I think. Yeah. We did Tony over by that tree what looks like my Uncle Joe. Hey Vinny, got anything to say?" The ham-handed man worked the gag out of Vinny's mouth. "I - I - tell my wife..."
BLAM
"What the shit, Creature!" yelled the driver. You got some of Vinny on my shoes! Creature popped another piece of gum in his mouth and just shrugged impassively. "Sorry, chennisden. Alright, Fuscosco, RadiantCowbells, we buried the last one. Vinny's all yours, we'll wait in the car. Jeez, It's freezing out here."
