SIXTY-FIVE

Couple hours after the meeting at the back of the pizza bar, Maruichi received a call from his son, Eddie. He was told that the leak was found and he should come on down to the address given. With driver and bodyguards in tow, Maruichi left his haunt immediately. They raced through the streets like a fire truck to a fire. They pulled to a stop on a lonely street lined with a row of private houses. Maruichi was greeted by Eddie. They spoke briefly then he and Eddie went up the stairs with two of the bodyguards.

At the foot of the stairs, they stopped and Maruichi knocked on the door. An older lady answered the door. She was the mother of the girls known as the Geisha twins. Looking torn, they finally came out and spoke to Mr. Maruichi. They all sat in a bleak living room. The dark hue of the leather sofa did nothing to brighten the dullness of the place.

“Hey, girls, how’re you doing? I understand we had some problems the other night, uh?” Maruichi said as he eyed both girls. “There was a breach of security, a lapse in judgment, but nothing that cannot be corrected. I’m afraid that in order for us to take the necessary steps to correct the problem, we’re going to have to get information from every single worker. You’re included in this family network,” Maruichi said smiling. “So I wanted to ask you girls in the presence of your mother, did you give anyone or provide anyone with anything because they threatened you with arrest or maybe wanted to pay you extra money for any type of pictures. That information would be necessary to bring a law-suit against this person as they’re trying to harass my employees. Also, this is not the first time it has occurred. We must end this by punishing these people to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Mr. Maruichi, we know the name of one such person. He said he’d arrest us if we told anyone but he gave us money.”

“Really, what’s his name?” Mr. Maruichi asked and his ears perked up the way animals do.

“His name is Michael Johnson. He gave us money and told us we were helping him to catch a criminal,” one of the ladies said. They were both a little nervous but had taken the reassurances that Maruichi offered as real. They spilled their guts and explained how Michael Thompson, on the pretense of catching a criminal, had paid them to take pictures of Eric or Busta, who had been a favorite client of theirs. Maruichi listened with no visible signs of rage but inside, he fumed to the point of revulsion.

Maruichi was a member of the old order. Family unity began with loyalty and silence was golden. He openly smiled when the dancers nervously told him of their transgressions and how it all started with a simple request by Michael Thompson. He had asked the girls to take pictures of all of Busta’s friends. The pictures would fetch the girls five hundred a piece. That it was enough incentive for his workers to betray him was, in itself, repulsive to Maruichi. He tapped his feet as he decided their fate then he said, “I can’t forgive you but I understand that you need to work, just not with me. We cannot tolerate employees doing things behind our backs that could sabotage the company or our clientele. That would be deadly to our future growth, you understand?” At that point, Maruichi signaled to Eddie. “Pay these ladies the usual severance and I’ll recommend you ladies to whoever is going to be your future employer,” he said as Eddie counted out three thousand dollars. “It’s fifteen hundred apiece,” he said and waved goodbye to the Geisha twins and their mother. They sobbed a little as their former boss and his entourage departed. At the foot of the stairs, the man some called Chi glanced up at the apartment before walking out.

“I want someone efficient to set this rat trap on fire. And I want you to check out this Michael Thompson. Find out his angle.”

“Yes father. Done, sir,” Eddie said and looked at his father again then asked, “Burn it all?” Eddie asked uneasily. His father gave him a cold stare before the answer came.

“Anyone who comes against you and causes you sorrow must be completely eliminated. That includes all of their family members,” Maruichi said and patted Eddie’s dome. “Burn it all. I want them dead by nightfall,” he said as he got into his car and drove away. Eddie turned to the three guys left standing with him and smiled.

“We got a job to do by nightfall, guys. Let’s get to it,” he said and the group departed in two cars.

Later that evening, fire trucks were called to the scene as flames caused by electrical damage ravaged the row of houses destroying everything and killing all the occupants. Included in the list of casualties were the Geisha Twins and their seventy-two year old mother. Maruichi wanted the lesson to be clear. Those who cooperate with the police will not only die but their family members will also meet the same fate. Frankie Maruichi had not earned a reputation on the street for being Mr. Nice Guy. From day one, he had set out to make sure everyone knew exactly who was in charge. Burning down a house with all its occupants was just another way Maruichi enforced his power.