Chapter 14

“Morning, folks! You got company,” Ariel announced to the slumbering Howard party, while standing with Lavelle and Tozroman in tow.

Only the humans were asleep, of course, but since they indeed had company, they needed to rise up and greet it. Sure enough, there were some new folks there, starting with Allen Shapiro and his girlfriend, Connie Rabinowitz, but also including Clement and Mercedes, as well as Karen, Lou Antonelli, and Stephanie Barker. What the devil was going on, anyway, the tribe had to wonder. How the hell did the Attorney General’s daughter find them, anyway?

“Don’t worry, I kinda guided them here. Angel’s prerogative, you could say. You were kept safe last night for reasons, trust me. I’m an angel, okay? I know what I’m doing,” Ariel reassured them.

“You two are angels, this guy is clearly a devil, what the hell is happening?” another voice spoke up, that of none other than Rodney S. Barker, the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey.

“Well, Mr. Attorney General, it’s quite simple. Heaven has entrusted me with protecting and even helping expand this particular caravan going westward out of this state. I know, sounds crazy, but do you really think that Heaven is all that fond of mobsters and a state run by them? Yeah, you’re keeping the peace, which is good, but there’s a lot of graft, corruption, injustice, etc. It’s a mixed bag and you know it. A compromise with evil. Just sayin’,” Ariel told Barker rather bluntly.

“All well and good, but what does that have to do with me and my daughter? And are you not bothered by the brazen nudist lifestyle here?” Barker demanded of the angel who ran the inn.

“Nudism is the least of our problems right now, don’t ya think, under the circumstances,” Ariel noted sardonically.

“Your daughter, boyo, has a choice to make, as do the rest of these. And I’m not done yet. There’s still a few more folks to confront and handle. Heeerree’s Gianni!” Lavelle now interjected, introducing Gianni Falcone, Andrea Howard, Sylvia and Raymond Tancredo, and Steven DeLong.

“Rather crowded room here, ain’t it?” Gianni scoffed before he looked at the rather tall and muscular angels with flaming swords, plus one massive and obvious demon, and decided to shut up.

“That’s a hell of an understatement, bucko,” Tozroman laughed at his own joke there, giving his choice of words.

“Okay, a few things right off the bat. Sylvia, your son Raymond has been trying to kill David Howard here, and he really needs to knock it off, okay? The alternative is very ugly. He doesn’t want to find out. Just because he’s unhappy that Denise wants to share her uncle’s bed instead of his ... tough luck, sport! That’s what the payoff was supposed to be about, but your boy didn’t honor the deal. So, it’s fish or cut bait time now. Will you commit to keeping your son in line, making him keep his word and yours? Or do I have to look at alternative solutions?” Ariel warned Sylvia in very stark terms now.

“But ... but that’s incest!” Sylvia complained.

“Only technically. Not by blood. There’s no risk of deformity. He’s only her uncle by marriage, not by shared ancestry. Now, are you gonna behave and make sure that Ray here does, too, or am I going to have to get, shall we say, confrontational?” Tozroman now stepped in for his part, not impressed with Sylvia’s silly rebuttal.

“Um ... no ... I don’t want to cross two angels and a demon. That’s three powerful enemies I’d rather not make. I’ll keep him in line, I swear. Ray, dear, no more of it, alright? Just listen to Mama for once in your life,” Sylvia tried to correct her son’s wayward leanings.

“Shut the hell up, bitch! I’m done letting you run my life! I’m a biker now and a gangster. I can do as I please and I don’t have to listen to your crazy bullshit!” Raymond cussed his own mother out, causing Gianni to slap his face.

“Basta! Enough! Is this how low La Cosa Nostra has sunk in the years since our glory days? My father and grandfather would never have talked to their mothers like that, nor would I, and we’re all real gangsters, not posers like you! We’ve iced men by the dozens, but we’d never show our mothers disrespect like that! We cherish family and tradition! You want to be a ‘made man,’ a real gangster, you have to treat your mother better than that!

“We didn’t take over this state just to cast our old customs to the four winds, you stupid bastard! Tradition is part of the La Cosa Nostra way. We’re about more than just rackets and massacres. The Mafia is supposed to stand for something, you nimrod! Family is the biggest thing of all! One more insult to your own mother and it will be the last thing that you ever fucking say!” Gianni slapped him twice more to let that sink in with the wannabe gangster.

Raymond then really goofed up by lunging at David, his rage still far too powerful for his own good. He didn’t make it five seconds before Gianni Falcone shot him dead with a Beretta 9mm. Sylvia looked on in horror at the realization that the main capo for their area had just executed her son in defense of her honor. She didn’t seem very grateful, though, as she proved by rushing Gianni and stabbing him with a letter opener to his neck. The great mob underboss was now dying and it was clear that Sylvia wasn’t done yet. She now attacked David in a fury, forcing what followed to happen.

Ariel smote Sylvia dead on the spot, leaving only a small deposit of sulfur, salt, and ash where her body once stood. Gianni looked up at Tozroman for some reason and gestured for him to come close. Toz did so and Gianni whispered something in Italian, to which the demon replied in Enochian. Gianni seemed visibly comforted and then motioned for David to approach him.