The Bottom Shelf Review

As the man walks into the trash littered, dark alley. He takes out a cigarette to smoke. About halfway through a man approaches him.

“Leonardo?” says the man.

“Do you got the cash?” says Leonardo.

“Yeah. Will the cops catch me with this booze?”

“Only if you are stupid about it. Hey, you owe Enzo some money. You got that with you too?”

“You know this isn’t the first time you’ve been asked. He’s been wanting it for a while now.”

“I’ll get it to him soon. You gotta trust me.”

“It’s too sad. Enzo had faith in you.”

This was Francesco’s cue. A door that was behind Drulo’s Italian restaurant opened up, and Francesco, a slim man with a height of 6’2, came out of it, with a knife in hand.

Leonardo, smirking at the man said, “You have one more chance, and it’s now or never.”

“No, I can get the money to him by next Tuesday. Please, you gotta trust me.”

“That’s what you said last week.”

And at that Francesco would go onto slit the throat of the man, and with the help of Marco, Francesco would drag his body into the restaurant.

Francesco would get back to his apartment around midnight, after getting done with his job. He washed the blood off his hands, regretful for what he had done. His apartment was above the restaurant, so he really just had to walk up a few flights of stairs. It was a studio apartment, with a balcony to look at the city on. He had put paintings all around, trying to make it colorful and beautiful, compared to how dreary and dark his life was. Smoking was one of the few things that helped calm his nerves after hits. As he was about to go out on the balcony and smoke a cigarette, he heard a voice from behind him. He pulled his gun out to shoot the man, but something stopped him. Something was different about this man. He was dressed in a full black suit, smoking a cigarette.

“How did you get in here?” said Francesco.

“I know what you did tonight.”

Francesco stared at the man, wondering how he knew. Something was very intriguing about him. Francesco was wondering who he was or how he got into the apartment.

“I can see what you are thinking about,” said the man. “I forgot to introduce myself properly. You can call me L. And for how I got in here is for me to know and for you to not.”

“Ok then what are you here to tell me, L?”

“Weren’t you just about to head out? Let me light that for you.”

With that L touched Francesco’s cigarette, and it lit up. Francesco was amazed at what he had just seen, but before he could say anything L kept talking.

“I can make a deal with you, and you will become the new boss. No one to stop you from ruling this city.”

“Ok, what do you need me to do?”

“You gotta get Enzo?”

“Why? What do you need him for?”

“Look, I need him to come to me. I run a place where bad people go. If you do this for me, I’ll get you a pass from that place. How does that sound?”

“But why do you need Enzo so bad?”

“He broke a deal with me. You should know what that means, Francesco. Its part of your line of work.”

“Alright I’ll do it. Done by tomorrow night, right?”

“Yes. You better finish the job. Or you know what’ll happen.”

And with that L was there no more.

Francesco sat there for a bit, trying to process what had just happened to him. He didn’t know if he should do it or not, as he slowly smoked his cigarette. He had always wanted power, but he had never really wanted to hurt people like this. He had wanted to get power by working hard for it, earning it from other accomplishments. He had only gotten involved with the mob of New York at a young age, and couldn’t get out of it without his life being at stake. He wondered if he should tell Marco, who was his own brother. He didn’t have much time to decide though, because he had to sleep for his work tomorrow. He had another hit to do tomorrow of a former member, who was thought to be conspiring with the cops. Fancesco finished up his cigarette and went to bed.

Francesco worked his shift for Enzo’s restaurant, thinking about what would go on later that night. He and his brother were finishing their shifts and getting ready to go plan for their next hit, when Francesco brought it up. Francesco had been thinking of the current circumstances. Leonardo was taller than his brother and known for being way smarter than him. He was only a year younger than Francesco, being the ripe age of twenty-three. They had both been affected heavily by the alcohol ban, as their parents wouldn’t be able to help them go to college. That is when Enzo had stepped in. Leonardo would cut off this remembrance before it could keep going.

“So you have to do it?” said Leonardo.

“He told me he’d get me killed if I didn’t, but at least I get a reward out of it,” said Francesco.

“Have you fully decided what you are gonna do yet.”

“Not yet, I’ve been trying to keep it off my mind.”

“If it were me, I’d be thinking about it all night. I probably wouldn’t have slept. We get a chance to be the kings of New York.”

“Either way, where is Christian gonna be?”

“We have a deal with him to meet in his apartment for payment to be protected from our family. I’m gonna go in alone and then unhatch the window for you to come up the side and shoot him then. It should be unhatched at 9:30.”

“Alright, you ready?”

“Ready.”

It was already nine when they had gotten there. Leonardo told his older brother to wait in the alleyway as he went up to the apartment. It was on the third floor, so Francesco just had to wait to hear for the window to open. As he was waiting he felt a presence behind him.

“The time’s approaching,” said L.

“I’m gonna do it after this job,” said Francesco.

“I know you haven’t been thinking about it. If the job isn’t done, then you and your brother will burn.”

“What do you mean, my brother? That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“You have no control in this. I can change deals at a whim. I’ve got power over you that you can’t even think of. Don’t disobey me.”

And with that L disappeared.

Francesco checked his watch and saw that it was 9:35. He realized he was late and started climbing up the scaffolding. He would look through the window to see Christian and his brother fighting. He guessed that Christian had gotten weary and heard Leonardo open up the window. He got in and was immediately punched by Christian. This caused his gun to drop out and Christian went to grab his own. With that distraction Leonardo pulled out his gun and pointed it at Christian. Francesco watched as Leonardo and Christian both had the guns pointed at each other when he heard the gunshot. He looked and saw Christian fall over and bleed out as he had been shot in the heart. He was relieved for a second, till he looked over and saw that Leonardo was shot too. Francesco thought that they must have pulled the triggers at about the same time, making it sound like one gunshot. He grabbed his brother and held him.

“Leonardo. Leonardo. Respond to me.”

Leonardo opened his eyes and said, “Why were you late?”

Francesco responded “Leonardo. Stay with me now. I can’t have you die now. You are the only thing I have now in this world. Please.”

Leonardo, very lucidly, responded “Tell Ma and Pa I love them. Take care Francesco.”

And with that Francesco watched the life leave his brothers eyes.

Francesco went to the restaurant to report what had happened. Enzo was an older man, who had once been a strongman in a circus, but had now settled down. He still tried to relive his glory days, but they had mostly faded nowadays. When Francesco only walked in, Enzo asked what happened.

“What happened? This line of work got my brother killed. We were just your pawns to try and control this city.” said Francesco.

“You don’t talk to me that way.” said Enzo.

“Oh yeah?” and with that Francesco threw a punch.

They fought for a bit trading ounces as they each tried to reach for their weapons. That was until Enzo’s gun flew out of his pocket.

Each had been badly damaged and tried to crawl over to the gun while throwing strikes in between. Enzo had grabbed it, and in response to this Francesco bit his hand and grabbed the gun. He got up really quick and pointed the gun at Enzo.

“Please you don’t gotta do this. I’ll step down, let you have it, if that’s what you want. Please, spare me.”

As Francesco had the gun trained on him, he saw L standing behind Enzo. He could see the expression on his face was joy for what was about to happen. But Francesco thought. He was thinking about his newly lost brother. He thought about how he never really wanted to be a part of a mob, how he had made a stupid decision as a kid, and now this was how he was paying for it. He thought about what his parents would think about his brothers passing, and how he would have to explain it to them. He made his choice and touched the trigger.

“No. I’m not doing this.” said Francesco.

The look on L’s face changed from joy to almost pride.

“I’m gonna have fun torturing you.” said L.

Francesco dropped the gun and started walking towards L.

“You don’t control me, and you never will. I realize how completely wrong I’ve been my entire life. I screwed up constantly, and from now on, I’m making it right.”

And at that point Enzo shot Francesco in the back.

Enzo would kneel down to Francesco and stare down at him saying,” I payed for you and your brother to go through schooling and this is how you repay me!”

As Francesco bled out he saw Enzo go up to L.

“This is who you sent after me. Someone so weak minded. Someone I almost thought I could trust. Pathetic.”

L leaned down to Francesco and the last thing he heard before the light faded was the words “I’ll see you soon.”

Francesco woke up, surrounded by light. As he looked around expecting to see L standing there, he didn’t. It was just light surrounding him. A person walked towards him, who looked very familiar. It was Leonardo.

“What are we doing here brother?” said Francesco.

‘Waiting for him,” said Leonardo, as he pointed over to another figure.

Francesco didn’t know how he didn’t notice this figure, as he was way bigger than any other human. He seemed to be where all the light was coming from, and love just emanated from him.

“Francesco you saved both you and your brother,” said the figure. “While I don’t like most of what y’all did, I’ve decided to give you a chance. I, above all, believe in salvation. Welcome home, my sons.”