Chapter 30:

Harlem, Manhattan

New York

Driving to a bar in Harlem was not where Henry wanted to go but hearing Riddle was there, he jumped at the chance, when Henry heard there was a crowd of Diablo's men there.

The cry for revenge screamed loudly than anything else ever had.

Parking across the street from the bar itself, Henry looked inside and saw Riddle with a group of men carrying automatic rifles. Henry's eyes blazed a trail of fire, he cocked his Grandfather's pistol and got out of the car, in his hand there was a baseball bat, swivelling it around, he walked to the door as he whistled the tune of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'.

Wanting to make an entrance, he kicked the door down, strolling in, the anger on his face sent shivers down everyone's spines, but it was his voice that spoke unparallel fear, "It would be most wise if you surrendered or you will die here."

"Get your attention, did we?" Riddle smirked. Henry then said, "Where's Kathleen, tell me now and I will kill you quickly."

Riddle just smirked, "It was foretold that you would return, our long-awaited meeting has come at last."

"It was foretold that you would die today, I'm glad we gave ourselves something to look forward to." Henry snarled. Riddle looked for a hint of weakness in Henry's commanding presence, deciding to negotiate, "We don't have to be adversaries, you're not going to survive, nor will that pretty sister of yours. Nor are your friends going to survive."

"You made one very bad mistake when coming for me. You should have learned not to fuck with an O'Malley at your own peril." Henry said, he grabbed the pistol from his holster, he killed two of the cartel soldiers on his left and right.

He swung the bat knocking teeth out of the closest soldier. He fired several bullets at some of the cartel men before taking on the cartel men with his knife and the bat in his hands.

Pulling out a grenade, Henry attached it to a cartel man pushing him into a crowd of cartel men, but the man affected pushed everyone away, taking himself with the grenade.

The blood splattered across Henry's face leaving only a blood-stained appearance of the devil.

What happened next was a one-man army of death and destruction. It wasn't just a battle it was a massacre of cartel soldiers. Henry had slit throats, he snapped bones, he amassed every fibre of his emotions.

The darkness that surrounded him in the days of his parents' deaths, his Grandparents, his own older brother. The suffering of his sister that was happening this current moment.

Violence was the only thing that raged through his mind.

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When he got to Riddle, the former police commissioner stared at Henry and could only see Henry O'Malley Sr in the flesh, the man who would kill the lowest forms of scum without thinking of the consequences: cop killers, rapists, serial killers were introduced to his wrath.

But seeing the younger Henry O'Malley only brought the worst fears of all to light. There was violence in his eyes, an unstable mind only capable of making people suffer.

Nothing would ever be the same, not for anyone.

Henry prepared his pistol as he fired 2 bullets at Riddle puncturing his lungs, he walked over and clamped his foot on Riddle's throat as he angrily asked, "Where. Is. She?"

"Central Park, Rodriguez Diablo… has her… he wants you dead…" Riddle gasped trying to speak, the foot however remained clamped to his throat.

Henry patted down Riddle finding a phone on his person, he dialled Diablo's number as it picked up, Riddle then said, "I'm sorry, Rodriguez, I failed you."

"Is he there?" Rodriguez asked. Riddle nodded, "Yes, he's coming, he's coming for you."

Henry went ahead and snapped Riddle's neck with his foot. He then lifted the phone to his ear and said, "You're next."

Dropping the phone, Henry exited the bar, his next destination, the only destination that matters was Central Park, the only objective in his mind was the complete destruction of the last remaining faction of the Diablo and Pulpo Cartels.

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Arriving at Central Park, he was perched up in a building, he could see his brothers and his parent figures locked in a stand-off with the last remnant of the Nicaraguan Cartels, getting the high ground. He aimed down the sights on 8 of the Cartel soldiers and fired in quick succession.

Looking through a sniper scope, he could see the bodies drop to the floor dead. Looking on with the evilest of smiles, Henry then said, "Time to end this."

On the ground, Thomas and Steve were in a stand off alongside their family members, they soon saw 8 of the men drop to the ground as they aimed their rifles at the Cartel, Thomas then said, "Hold your fire."

Soon enough, everyone of The Family felt a strong flurry of emotions. Kathleen most of all, looked ahead she felt the fear, the anger and the hate moving closer, through the fog, past her family seeing only Henry walking towards them, on the inside, she was smiling.

Rodriguez looked ahead and saw Henry walking towards them, the look of anger on his face was unimaginable, Rodriguez knew what a mistake he had made, Kathleen shook with laughter as she said, "I told you, we told you. You have no idea of the hell that you've brought down upon this city."

Henry approached as his jacket fell to the floor, his sleeves were rolled up, seeing him walk towards them, The Family moved to the sides, Steve then asked, "Oh that isn't good."

"There's a time to talk and a time to shut up, now's the time to stay quiet." Thomas had said.

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Henry walked past everyone as he stood adjacent of Rodriguez Diablo, every Cartel soldier stood with their weapons raised as Rodriguez said, "Let's end this charade, shall we?"

"There's only one way it will end, this fight is my fight, Thomas. get everyone home."

"We're staying, brother." Thomas had said. Henry snarled, "They are all mine."

Turning to the remaining cartel soldiers, Henry straightened the gun holster on his shoulders as he swung the baseball bat towards a cartel soldier busting his jaw.

Henry swung the bat into the ribcage of the cartel man, before bashing his brain in with the bat. He dodged several hits before catching a slash across his arm, but Henry punched the man a few times before snapping his neck.

He killed a few other men before turning to Rodriguez, he shouted, "Come and finish this if you've got the balls!"

Rodriguez sent the rest of the cartel towards Henry who laughed, "You are so weak!"

Henry instantly went on the offensive and went about killing off the cartels. He made them feel the worst pain they ever felt. By the time he got through all of them, Rodriguez looked on with a dropped jaw.

He stared into Henry's eyes, they were filled with red and amber, blazing flames as Henry snarled, "I told you what would happen, I told you that you would feel nothing but my rage, you will fear my anger, but you will fear the intense hate that runs through my blood because of you. Because of the lives you have destroyed, this is their revenge, this is our revenge."

Henry advanced and began battering Rodriguez, it was very one-sided with Rodriguez struggling to get a hit in, but Henry was eager to make him suffer by beating him to a pulp.

Then Henry made the choice to break every bone in Rodriguez's body, he then pulled out his gun and cocked it back before grabbing hold of Rodriguez and he had said, "You ordered the murder of New York Police Officers, you put a bomb in my car. You kidnapped my sister, you also killed my godfathers as well?"

"it was just business, O'Malley. Business matters." Rodriguez replied. Henry growled, "You'll never see the light of day again."

Henry pulled the hammer back on his pistol and fired an entire clip into Rodriguez Diablo's body before he said, "Payback's a bitch."

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Putting the gun away, Henry went to free his sister, pulling her into a hug as she said, "It's my fault, I should have done more."

Feeling Kathleen's tears on his shirt, no tears were in his own eyes before he said, "No, it's not your fault, it's mine."

"I shoulda made sure that sonofabitch was really dead by my hand." Henry said in a level voice.

Thomas and Steve walked over as they said, "It ain't your fault, kid. You couldn't have known what happened."

"Michael would still be alive. Uncle Mike should be here, if I had levelled that whole floor, I'd have kept Uncle Mike alive." Henry had said. Thomas bro-hugged his little brother as he said, "Let it out, let it out, brother."

The rest of the family crowded round to hug Henry, but to their unknown knowledge, Henry's eyes turned from the fiery amber and red to the natural shining blue that they were before he went to rescue his sister.

Henry didn't feel okay, but he knew that the lives that were lost, he knew they wouldn't be coming back, he was only adding more losses to his ever-growing tally, one that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

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Saturday 30th April 2005

St Paul's Cathedral

Manhattan, New York

1230 Hours Local Time

At St. Paul's Cathedral, a massive funeral crowd had amassed, police officers from the 5 boroughs of New York City had joined together, the FDNY firefighters as well joined the services to render a final farewell to the fallen police officers.

It was revealed that Louise Hogan, Anthony Vinetti and Michael Galzetti would be buried today.

Henry and Kathleen stood together, accompanied by the other families in The Family were there, people like the Capelli men, Galzetti men and women, the Sokolov's, the Donarelli and Lynn families were present including the Lafayette family were present for the funeral of three fallen cops.

The entire procession was handled by Commissioner Matheson who had delivered the moving speeches regarding each officer, he regarded Michael as a true police officer who gave everything for the cause.

Every man and woman who was overseas in The Family was home on leave for the funeral of Anthony Vinetti, Michael Galzetti and Louise Hogan. Henry would soon join them over in the Middle East.

He remembered a conversation between him and Thomas regarding this.

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"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Henry nodded, "I want to do it, I want to enlist, I wanna be over there and fighting the good fight like you guys." "I'm not worried, I'm just concerned about you. You've been through a lot, kid." Thomas had said.

"Tommy, I want to do this, guys like me are tough, you and I are cut from the same cloth. This is my blood, this is what I was made for, every moment that led to this, this is what I wanted, what I ever wanted." Henry had said.

"You can always wait to fight, kid. I don't want you getting yourself killed." Thomas had said.

Henry nodded, "I know, but I am making this choice, my choice. I'm going to enlist, Tommy. I want to do this."

Thomas looked at his little brother, part of him worried that Henry would get himself killed, another part of him worried that Henry would come back worse for wear, a third part of him worried that Henry would be so damaged that there wouldn't be anything left.

In all the action that Thomas himself had seen, he was just hanging on by the skin of his teeth, but was there any sign of breaking from within?

Thomas relented as he said, "Kid, it's not that I was trying to stop you, I'm trying to protect you, you're the strongest man I know. But sometimes we all have a limit we don't want to get to."

"We're all with you on this. You're a strong kid, probably stronger than any of us. If you do this, promise you'll remember what you're fighting for, when you're over there." Thomas asked.

Henry patted his brother's arm before saying, "I promise, hand on my heart that I won't forget what I am fighting for."

Thomas laughed as he bro-hugged his little brother as he said, "Someone's gotta worry 'bout you kid, we've all gotta worry 'bout you." "Some of us gotta worry 'bout you too, old man." Henry teased.

"Yeah, yeah, that's funny smartass." Thomas said.

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Coming back to the present, Henry felt no tears down his cheeks, when it came to present arms, Henry held a hand over his heart, even though his brothers looked on with a smile encouraging him to salute, he decided to do so.

Thomas stood by Henry and placed a hand on his neck and said, "It'll be okay, we'll see 'em soon."

"I just hope we do." Henry said quietly.

Throughout the services, The Family walked the caskets of the dead to Cypress Hills, the idea of this was so they could be given a traditional burial through the military tradition.

During the services rendered for the fallen Michael Galzetti, they all stated a solemn phrase which was said during their time growing up and during their war service, "Brother, I will be with you, always."

Every family member bent a knee before placing a hand on one another's shoulder before saying the words. Henry however said them without any emotion.

But the fire within, it didn't die down at all. It only grew in anticipation, it grew frighteningly, he knew what was expected of him, but sometimes, he had to be sure that as an Army Ranger, he was making the right choices in the line of duty.

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1 Week Later

Sunday May 8th 2005

Downtown Brooklyn, New York

After leaving High School with a graduation, Henry celebrated quietly with Elizabeth who graduated at the same time as well.

Elizabeth enlisted 2 hours after leaving High School, Henry treated her to pizza in Manhattan, he waited for her to enlist before they went for pizza, Millicent was present for the celebration, along with Rachel, but Millicent had broken up with Henry quietly, it was considerably mutual between them.

Henry knew what he was getting into when he wanted to enlist, he had obtained the permission of his father figure in Matthew Donarelli and mother figure in Laura Donarelli who he saw as his 2nd set of parents to enlist.

They were proud of him for taking on the initiative, they didn't talk him out of it, knowing it was futile to dissuade the youngest O'Malley.

Walking into the enlistment center, Henry opened the door, part of him wanted to leave and wait till the time was right, but as he continued onwards, he continued to say that little rhyme of his that stayed with him throughout childhood.

The recruiter looked up and said, "Can I help you?"

"Hi, I hope to enlist in the US Army." Henry said.

The recruiter smiled as he said, "You've come to the right place." "Yes sir. I'm eager to be of any service, sir."

"Where is it you hope to be in the Army, son?" The recruiter spoke. Henry replied, "I hope to serve in the Army Rangers, I've quite a few brothers in extended family that are serving in the Rangers, there's a few family members who were also Rangers too."

The recruiter smiled and asked, "Just the Army Rangers." "The Rangers are the best of the best, sir, they have the toughest training that can break you in ways that would make a billy goat go puke. I've grown up waiting for the day to enlist, I've been training for this, my whole life. The Rangers are where I want to be."

The recruiter nodded and said, "Just fill out the forms and prep yourself for a physical examination, then we'll hand you a date for the ASVB test."

Henry filled out the required forms and especially left out any mental problems or disabilities that would have made him unable to enlist. Henry was who he needed to be; he was a soldier. He would fight for his country, he would die if asked to, he would fight for the cause because it was in his blood.

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Leaving the building, he went for a walk, he thought to himself, "I did it, I officially enlisted into the US Army, I'm going to be serving my country like my family did before me. This is the greatest day in my entire life."

Walking to the Brooklyn Bridge, Henry stood in the middle of the bridge, looking out towards the sunset, he pulls out the bullet that was fired into him when he was in Charlotte, it was around an old shoelace, tightening his fist into a ball he then said, "The past is the past, I did what I had to do. Now, now comes the moment I waited for, to hunt down the bastards that started this, that started a war with no end in sight."

Turning around, he then threw it out to sea as far as possible, breathing heavily, he felt tears down his cheeks, he began thinking about the Cartel men that he had brutally killed.

The untold amount of anger he had shown, he almost wondered if he was going to be the same person after all, but a part of him, a very big part of him felt it wasn't to be, he wouldn't be the same, not as long as he kept on killing.

He then looked to the sky as he softly said, "I love you, my family."

"Make us proud, bud." Henry heard the voice of his father, his grandfather and his older brother. He sniffled as he said, "I will."

Walking away from the bridge, he walked down the streets of Brooklyn once more, preparing for the eventual day he would leave Brooklyn for the last time.

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I hope that you enjoyed this story. It's regrettable that it had to end with a dark and saddening ending. Sometimes there are no happy endings.

I hope that this chapter was enjoyable for you all. I hope you're all staying safe out there. God bless you all and I love you all.