Kill or be Killed (Mafia Kingpin Book 1)

by A. G. Khaliq

  “I – I don't know what you're talking about,” Bash denied, coughing up blood and spitting it out onto the grass. By now, his face was already bruised and blue, as he struggled to breathe. “Steve has done a lot for me, I wouldn't cross him!”

  “You're a liar!” I bellowed, as Ijaz flipped Bash around, beating his face even more, until he’d knocked two of his teeth straight out. “We saw the surveillance footage at our fucking safehouse.”

  Bash cried out, begging for his life, because he knew that he’d been caught red-handed. He sobbed, rocking backwards and forwards as Ijaz continued to torture him, setting a lighter against his wounded, bruised flesh.

  “Louis, put a bullet through this prick's brain,” Ijaz said bitterly, as Bash’s flesh slowly started rotting away with the flame. Ijaz shoved the lighter back into his pocket, getting up, and walking back towards me, with a cold expression on his face.

  “With pleasure,” I spat angrily, drawing my gun and cocking it, as I aimed it right at Bash’s chest.

  “Please, don't do this!” Bash sobbed, his body shaking into a frenzy. “I had to feed my brother, we were running low on money for the week…” he tried. “I was going to repay my debts, I promise! I was going to give back all the money I made from selling the stolen crack… P – please s – spare me…”

  Ijaz rolled his eyes, getting tired of hearing Bash’s sorry ass complaining. Bash’s chest heaved upwards and downwards, as he struggled to breathe and compose his sentences properly. The sweat and tears on his face mingled with his open cuts and blood, pit-pattering onto the floor that he was lying down on.

  “Cut the bullshit, Bash, you knew exactly what the fuck you were doing!” I roared.

  Bash screamed out and cried, trembling as he held onto the cross of Christ around his neck. He kissed it, marking the trinity against his chest. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

  “F – forgive me, Lord…” Bash mumbled. “P – please make sure my family have a g – good life when I’m g – gone…”

  I couldn’t be arsed to hear his bullshit. Nothing was going to save him from this situation, no matter how much he prayed. He needed to be taught a lesson. The Mafia code of conduct was made clear when I first let him in on my organization. He brought this on his damn self.

  “It's funny how you thought we wouldn't find out,” I hissed, crossing my arms, and Ijaz burst into laughter. “This is what happens to motherfuckers who cross us.”

  “Forgive me, Lord…” Bash murmured, holding tight onto the cross. I shot him three times in the chest. He fell backwards onto the grass, bleeding out, the colour draining away from his face. Dying in his own pool of blood.

  I rolled my eyes, dusting myself off and shoving my gun back into my pocket.

  “Now it's time to clear up this shit like it never happened,” Ijaz sighed, as he got ready to dispose of the body.

  I made my way back to my car, and then drove it next to the field that Bash was bleeding out on. Ijaz put Bash into a body bag, and began to carry him to my car boot. We were going to drive to the river, and toss him in there.

  I just hoped that Bash’s little brother wouldn’t come back here any time soon… because seeing his brother left for dead is the last thing that anybody wants to see.

  Now that me and Ijaz had dealt with the bastard that had been stealing from our shipments, it was time to collect a debt from a ginger-haired man named Ron, who hadn’t paid us back yet.

  I sent Ijaz off to distribute some of the drugs we’d just smuggled into Birmingham, and decided to go to Ron’s house with Abid, instead.

  Abid was one of Steve’s sidekicks. He was close with Steve before he was close with me. I could never forget the day that I’d found out who my stepfather really was… When I saw all the weed in his house, the drugs, the injections, the prostitutes. And Abid had a gun pointed to my head when he caught me snooping. We’d come a long way from Abid almost killing me. Ever since I’d joined the Mafia, Abid was like a brother to me now. He looked out for me. He rode for me till the end, and he was there for me through thick and thin.

  We arrived at Ron’s house. Instead of knocking, we kicked the door down so hard that it fell down inside his house. We made our way inside, to see Ron standing inside of his living room, clutching his chest, and trembling in fear.

  “Where's my money, bastard?!” I roared, as he jolted back, terrified. “You've had over a week to pay up now, and we've been lenient with you.”

  It was true. Whenever somebody owed me money, and didn’t pay it back on the day that we’d agreed on, I always gave them an extra week to get the money together. The fact of the matter that Ron still couldn’t get the money together, even after a week of extra time, just showed that he wasn’t planning on paying it back in the first place. If he cared about his own life, he would’ve done whatever it takes to get the money back to me… Yet he failed. He didn’t even try. If he couldn’t afford to pay it back, he shouldn’t have borrowed money in the fucking first place.

  “You owe us one thousand pounds,” Abid said bitterly, folding his arms.

  One thousand pounds was like small change to me. It meant nothing. It wasn’t even a fraction of the money that I made everyday. But that didn’t mean that I was going to start dishing out charity, or giving out hand-outs to people who needed money. I’d put blood, sweat and tears to get to where I was today. To be as rich as I was today. And the last thing I needed, was motherfuckers taking advantage of the amount of money that I had.

  “I need a little more time,” Ron said shakily, heaving his chest upwards and downwards. The same fucking thing that Bash did when we confronted him. The same thing that all of these motherfuckers do.

  My blood was boiling now. I was tired of hearing the pathetic excuses that these bastards gave. They either had my money, or they didn’t. It was as simple as that.

  “Me and my missus have been having a really hard time lately,” Ron went on, breaking into sobs in an attempt to make me feel sorry for him. “We just need another week to get the money together for you!”

  “WRONG ANSWER!” I roared, boiling with rage.

  “P – please, just one more week!” Ron begged, breaking down with tears. “I promise, I’ve been working hard, I’ve found a way to-”

  “You had your chance!” I bellowed, cutting him off his sentence. Abid flipped him over, and I punched Ron repeatedly in his face. His face went blue as I beat him. It wasn’t enough to satisfy me, though. I continued to punch him, until I could hear his bones snap and the wind knock out of his lungs as he struggled for air. Blood gushed out of his mouth, three of his teeth knocking clean out. He couldn’t even get any words out anymore.

  I kicked him hard in his crotch, as he clutched his chest in pain, struggling to breathe. I kicked him repeatedly in his crotch, knowing that this was the place that all men hurt the fucking most. As I kicked him, I glimpsed over his shoulder… to see a family portrait lying on top of the table next to the sofa. Him, his wife and two children were in the picture… and I felt a weird sense of nostalgia as I remembered that I was once in his position. Me, Steve and Mum were once a happy family…

  But this just pissed me off even more. Knowing that I didn’t have that happiness or security anymore. Knowing that this was what my life had become. Knowing that having a happy family was no longer possible for me. I smashed Ron’s head against the wall, as his skull began bleeding and leaving marks on the wallpaper.

  Ron was now fading in and out of unconsciousness. I drew my gun out of my pocket, reloading it with bullets, because my cartridge had ran out after I’d dealt with Bash. I cocked the gun, pulling the trigger before I could change my mind. No weakness… I had to keep remembering that in times of difficulty. To remind myself not to have a change of heart, in fucked up situations like these. That was the responsibility that came with becoming a Mafia Kingpin.

  Kill or be killed…

  The bullets flew out of my gun, landing straight onto Ron’
s chest… As he collapsed onto the floor and began bleeding out to his death.

  “Let's raid this dump and grab any money and valuables we can find,” Abid spat bitterly. “They always have the money, they just don't wanna pay up.”

  “Yeah, you're right,” I agreed.

  Whenever I shot someone, I always knew how to deal with the body in order to not link me to the murder. This was why I had never been caught. Never been arrested… Never been suspected, and never been to prison. I would wipe off any traces of DNA that I might have left in the area. Making sure that I didn’t leave the body there, and disposed of it in a river or something. Cleaning the blood so that the place was spotless, and it looked like nothing had ever happened.

  I joined Abid, as we began to raid and rummage through the house. We threw in any jewelry, valuables and designer items that we could find. Just because Ron was dead… didn’t mean that we would forget about the debt. We’d just take things that made up for the money that I’d lost.

  Either way, it was a win-win situation.

  Me and Abid made our way back to the warehouse, after a long day. We’d disposed of the body at a canal on the other side of the city, so that by the time the feds found out what happened to Ron, his meat would’ve become food for the vultures.

  We joined Trex, Steve’s other side-kick that I’d grown fond of and become close to, just like I had with Abid. Trex smiled at us, giving us both a cigarette.

  “Fuck me, I needed this spliff,” I sighed, as I drew deep inhalations in and out. Smoking was a great stress reliever for me, especially after the hectic fucking day that I’d just had.

  Trex chuckled. “You sorted all the shipments out for this week?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it was a nightmare man,” I said exhaustedly. “But on the bright side, I've been collecting bastard's debts and took their goods from them. I cashed them in and they were worth a good couple of grand.”

  “Not bad, not bad at all g,” Trex commented thoughtfully, as Abid continued to take drags of his spliff.

  We all turned around as we watched Steve approach us, wearing an army-green coloured, fitted muscle tank top and tracksuit bottoms.

  “You got my cut of the money this week, g?” Steve asked, nodding in my direction.

  “Yeah,” I shrugged. “I dropped off a bag of cash on your desk at the safehouse.”

  “Say no more, thanks son,” Steve grinned, with his hands on his hips. “I’ll see you later, I have some business to take care of.”

  I nodded in response, and Steve walked away. I took another inhalation of my cigarette, making the most of the smoke before it burnt out.

  After all of the business had been taken care of for today, I began making my way home. I walked through town, spotting that Nando’s was still open, even though it was 11 P.M. I rubbed my chin in thought, suddenly fucking starving and wanting to buy myself some food.

  “Fuck me,” I murmured. “I could murder a whole peri-peri chicken and some peri-salted fries right now.”

  I started to trod towards Nando’s, until my phone started ringing in my pocket. This phone was a burner phone, that I only used when dealing with shit to do with the Mafia, to avoid getting caught by feds. It meant that only certain people had my number.

  But as I stared at my phone screen… I realised that it was an unknown number that was ringing me. Nobody unknown should have had my fucking number. Nobody. This could only mean one thing… that feds had found out about this burner cell, that somebody had ratted out my number and shared it with somebody else… or that it was some random robotic spam caller from China, asking me for my bank details in order to scam me.

  I rolled my eyes. If it was some coke bastard trying to piss me off, they were catching a body tonight. I put my phone to my ear angrily.

  “Who the fuck is this and how did you get hold of my number?” I said down the line bitterly.

  As I heard the voice that came from the other end… my blood almost ran cold. I couldn’t believe my ears. I couldn’t believe that he was ringing me, after all these years…

  I could feel my eyes get watery and brim with tears. I was in a state of shock. His voice just brought back all the memories… all of the flashbacks came flooding back to me…

  “Louis, it's been a long time…” said Ellie’s dad, coughing up a sob. He sighed down the line, and I could hear him taking deep breaths in and out.

  I wondered why he was ringing me now, of all times. I wondered what he was about to tell me. If something bad had happened…

  I had a terrible feeling in my gut. Whenever I was reminded of Ellie, my mind would just screw up to the point of no return. I wouldn’t think rationally. I’d just become overwhelmed by emotion and guilt. One of the only times I ever really showed weakness…

  “I've found the bastard that raped Ellie,” he went on, and I could hear the sadness in his voice. The rage, the anger… the hurt. “You and your friend helped me all of those years ago by telling me how I could find her killer… And now I need your help again.”

  He sighed down the line again, and silent tears rolled down my cheeks. For such a long time, I’d been trying to seek vengeance for Ellie. To make sure that justice was served. I went to the depths of the Earth to try and find the bastard that raped her. And her father had done the job for me… He’d found the motherfucker. And now, my blood was boiling to the point that it almost dried up. This was what I’d been waiting for. It was what I’d been waiting for, after so many years. It had been a long time fucking coming. It had been four whole years since Ellie passed away…

  And now, all I could think about were the ways that I was going to torture this bastard. Make him beg for his life. Batter down his head with a fire extinguisher, until his skull cracked open and his eyeballs fell out of their sockets. Until all of his teeth knocked out one by one, and all of his dirty, filthy blood drained right out of his body. I would castrate him, burn his fucking crotch, because the filthy bastard didn’t know how to keep it in his fucking pants. Dirty rapist.

  “There's nobody I know that could be more capable of handling this job than you,” Ellie’s dad went on. “I know that you're ruling the streets right now, hustling, and everyone fears your name.” He took another deep breath in, as I clutched my chest in sadness. “You're in a position of power, and I know you cared about my daughter just as much as I do.” He paused, and I could feel myself trembling as I listened to his words.

  Ellie’s dad’s voice suddenly turned cold and bitter. He was fucking furious. “I need you to help me take out this bastard,” he whispered coldly. “He needs to die for what he did to my daughter.”

  I knew that Ellie’s dad wanted to torture this bastard just as much as I did. It was because of this sick, twisted motherfucker, that he lost a daughter. That he couldn’t make amends with his daughter before she passed away. That his daughter was so depressed, that she felt like she couldn’t even talk to her own father about it. He’d spent four whole years living without Ellie… and now, it was finally time for him to get his revenge.

  Ellie…

  The reason my heart broke.

  The reason that I’m the cold, ruthless killer that I am today.

  The reason that I threw myself into the Mafia life and became a part of it ever since I was sixteen, depriving myself of a proper childhood and upbringing.

  Everything that I was doing right now, was out of the hurt and pain that I experienced when she passed away…

  I drew a deep breath in, as I shakily held the phone against my ear. I had to bring justice to her death. The bastard who raped her was going to pay. I'd been trying so hard to track him down, along with Thomas… and now her dad has finally got a hold of him. It was time.

  “Of course I'll help you,” I murmured. My voice was so cold and emotionless, it was like I was showing the traits of a true serial killer.

  “Give me an address,” I demanded. “I'm on my fucking way. This hit is going down, tonight. We’re not delaying this any l
onger.”

  As Ellie’s father read out the address to me, I didn’t feel the need to write it down. I would remember it perfectly. I couldn’t forget something as important… as crucial, as this. I wouldn’t only be getting justice served for Ellie. I would be putting my own mind at rest… giving myself some form of closure. I would stop beating myself up about her death, and would be giving myself some peace of mind, knowing that I did all I could… Even if I was four years late.

  I made my way to the train station, ready to catch a train to the city that Ellie’s father commanded me to.

  I met Ellie’s father at an old, abandoned parking garage. There wasn’t a soul in sight. It was deserted…

  Ellie’s father was standing there, dithering in the cold. He had his arms folded, a timid expression on his face, and he was wearing a blue suit, paired with blue trousers.

  I walked towards him, trying to focus, and get my head back in the game. My surroundings started to feel like they were going blurry, because I was letting my emotions overwhelm me. This felt like a dream.

  I blinked a few times, pinching myself for good measure, and then took deep breaths in and out, composing myself. I felt better now. I stared at Ellie’s father, rubbing my chin in thought.

  “Are you sure that this is the place?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  “Yeah, the bastard lives a few blocks away from this car park,” Ellie’s father explained.

  I nodded. “Alright, let's go,” I said bitterly, blood rushing to my cheeks with the anticipation of torturing the rapist.

  DANTE

  I lay down in my hot tub, letting the water wash over me as I relaxed. The bubbles soaked over me, and I sighed as I enjoyed the relaxing and calming feeling. I had an open-plan apartment with large windows that had a view over the whole city.

  A hot tub apartment room with a view of the sunset… This is the life.

  As I buried my head into the water, I felt a massive rattle as my bath flipped over and the water fell to the floor. I coughed out, clutching my chest as I’d just swallowed so much soapy water.