Blah blah I don't own Rockstar Games or Grand Theft Auto or Vice City. You
know the drill. Enjoy the story.
Shout out to Petey, who plays Vice City on my Playstation 2! Go Egypt!
WARNING: This story does contain violence and language! Don't say I didn't warn you!
THE BATTLE OF LIBERTY CITY
A GTA3 YARN
BY JayJay Bakes
Author's Note: The following takes place before the events in the earlier chapters. This is a prequel story set in Vice City.
CHAPTER 5:
ANCIENT HISTORY: MR. VERCETTI
The morning sunlight stung Sonny's eyes just as he awoke, raising his head, stretching his eyes open, yawning. He raised his arms, stretching out his back muscles. He rubbed his face and eyes and then looked about at where he was.
He was in a bedroom, lying in a long, white bed; the silk bed sheets strewn about. He was alone in the bed, yet Sonny could tell someone had been sleeping beside him.
Just as he heard the sound of a shower in the next room, the sound stopped. He wondered for a moment who it was taking the shower, but couldn't remember.
Across the room, to his left, his jacket was thrown on a chair. His pants were not far, strewn on the ground, along with his pants and socks. He noticed then a reddish dress and some high-heel shoes across the room, next to the bed lying on the ground.
The room was very stylish; weird paintings hung about, one even above the bed. The walls were painted white, with long streaks of pink flowing across them. It was a very rich room, Sonny could see, whomever it belonged to was very well off.
It was just then a voice came from the door to Sonny's left. "Meeesssttteeer Soooonnnneeee." A sultry, female voice echoed into the room. Sonny turned and saw a beautiful woman leaning against the doorway, smiling at him, one long, smooth leg up against the wall. She was Hispanic with short black hair that had two flowing strands of purple in the front. Sonny smiled at her.
"Good morning." He groaned, rising on his arms. He smiled as she came over to the bed, wrapped in a towel, crawled across the bed to him. "What time is it?"
"Ten o'clock." She replied, bringing a hand to his chest, massaging it.
"Jeez." He said, swing his legs out, sitting on the side of the bed. Her hands spread across his back. "I can't remember anything from last night." He laughed.
The woman came up behind him, bringing arms around his shoulders. "Mmmm. That's funny, I remember everything about last night."
Sonny laughed. "No, no. That's not what I meant." He let her rub his chest. "I mean, uh, where.where did we meet last night?"
"At the Malibu." The woman replied. "You were talking to that English fellow, Paul. I came over and asked you to dance and.here we are." She leaned over him and kissed him.
Sonny returned the kiss and smiled. "Oh." He said. He rose to walk to his jacket and she pulled him back down, kissing him.
Moments later, Sonny rose from the bed and picked up his jacket and shirt from across the room. As he put them on, the woman's voice came again from the bed. "Mmmm.you are very good at that, Mr. Sonny." She said, rolling in the sheets of the bed. Her towel was now across the room, tossed away in the earlier moments.
Sonny smiled as he buttoned up his shirt, then picked his pants from the ground, sliding them on. He grabbed his shoes and socks and sat on the edge of the bed, beginning to put them on.
"So, Mr. Sonny, what brings you to Vice City?"
"Business." Sonny replied. "I'm, uh, moving out here." He pulled on one sock, then the other.
"Mmmm, business, I see. You will need to meet people, yes?" The woman replied.
Sonny looked back at her. "Yeah. You know people?"
"Yes, yes. I know people. I can introduce you to the right people, show you the right people." She smiled at him.
"I'd appreciate that." He smiled back.
She reached to the side of the bed and grabbed a pad of paper, then a pen. "You just be sure to come give me a visit every once in a while, Mmm?" She began writing down numbers.
Sonny smiled. "You bet." He put on his shoes and rose, just as she handed him the piece of paper. He looked down at it. There was a number and a man's name above it. "Tommy Vercetti?"
"Yes. You'll want to talk to him." She replied, putting back the pad and pen.
Sonny nodded, slipping the piece of paper in his jacket pocket. "So he's uh, big in Vice City."
The woman laughed. "No, no. He's not big in Vice City." She replied. "Tommy is Vice City."
Sonny smiled and nodded, slowly, then walked around the bed to the door.
"Goodbye, Mr. Sonny." Her voice called after him as he reached the doorway.
He turned to her. "Goodbye, uh." He scratched the back of his neck, trying to remember.
"Mercedes." She smiled. He nodded and smiled back, then slipped out the front door.
Sonny had arrived in Vice City the day before, sometime in the early afternoon. He hadn't eaten on the plane so he caught a meal at a small restrauant near the airport. Sitting in the empty restrauant eating, he felt totally alone. In Liberty City, his hometown, he had friends almost everywhere, and he hardly went anywhere without someone. Luigi or Toni, even business partners and guys he was helping rise in the organization, fellas he had taken under his wing. Even the knock-around guys, the guys that did jobs for him, even they traveled with him around the city sometimes. But his closest companion, whom he went everywhere with, was his brother, Joey.
Now, sitting in the restrauant, he felt loneliness starting to bear down on him. He was alone in the city, completely alone, to fend for himself. As much as this fact scared him, or made him depressed, it also gave him a sense of power. He was now in total control of his life. Every action from now on would be his decision, his choice. No one, not his father or anyone else, was around pulling strings. Sonny was on his own now, and he felt good about it.
After he had eaten at the restrauant, he drove around the city in the car he had stolen from the airport parking lot, a skill his brother had mastered in, and then finally found the Malibu night club, where he saw loads and loads of people coming in. Figuring this would be a great place to find out some info about Vice City, he went in, paying off the bouncers. Inside, he met Kent Paul, an English fuck who wouldn't shut the hell up. After that he met Mercedes and after that, well.good times.
He walked through the city now, then remembering he had a car and walked back to Mercedes' house and found it sitting in the driveway. Then he proceeded to drive around town, and then passed by the North Point Mall, parking and going in.
"You sure?" He asked the gun clerk at Ammunation when he offered to show ID. The clerk shook his head, looking about, and handed Sonny the two .45s he had purchased. Sonny slid the two of them in the back of his pants and walked out the Mall, getting back in his car. He saw a better car, a red Cheetah across the parking lot and boosted it easy, then drove around town looking for a pay phone. He took one of the .45s and hid it in the glove compartment of his car, then kept the other in the back of his pants.
He found a payphone and dialed in the number Mercedes had given him. It rang three times then a husky voice came on. "Yeah?"
"Uh, I'm looking for Mr. Vercetti." Sonny replied, slipping the paper back in his jacket pocket.
"Who's calling?"
"Sonny." He said. "I was told by someone to call him."
"Hold on." The voice replied, and moments passed, then a strong voice came on. "Mr. Sonny?"
"Uh, yes. This is Sonny. Is this uh, Mr. Vercetti?"
"Yeah, Mercedes told me about you." The voice said back. "So, you looking for work?"
"Yes, sir." Sonny replied.
"Cut the sir crap, kid." The voice replied. "Why don't you come down to my house? We'll talk."
"Uh, okay."
"It's on Starfish Island. The big mansion."
Sonny had to ask directions to Starfish Island and then found out that Tommy's directions for the mansion didn't really help. The entire island was made up of mansions, and only when Tommy saw the one mansion with bodyguards waiting by the entrance of the driveway did he drive up and investigate.
"I'm here to see Mr. Vercetti." Sonny said, as one of the bodyguards leaned down toward him.
"You Mr. Sonny?" He asked, holding his gun at his waist.
Sonny nodded, the guard stepped back and waved Sonny forward. Sonny drove in, down the driveway to the huge stairs, where a man was waiting for him.
"Hey dere." He said. He was a chunky man in a Hawaiian shirt with orange hair and a scruffy orange beard. He waved him past. "Jus park it down dere." He said, pointing to the end of the driveway. Sonny parked and walked over to the man. "I'm Mario. I'll take you in to see Mr. Vercetti." Mario turned, walking up the stairs.
As Sonny followed him up, two other men walked down the stairs passed them. The first man looked hard at Sonny, and Sonny stared back. He was a tall man, as tall as and built just like Sonny with red hair. His cheeks and chin were scruffy and he stared at Sonny all the way as he passed him, turning his head back. The moment seemed to last in slow motion to Sonny. He turned his head back also, looking into the man's eyes as he returned the glare. Those eyes intrigued Sonny, and then the man was gone, turning his head away. The man walking behind him, who shared a likeness with the first man, simply glanced at Sonny and then looked forward. Sonny hardly noticed him.
Mario led him into the mansion, into the huge main room, up a wide set of stairs, and finally into the main room, where a well-built man in a black jumpsuit sat behind the desk, reading a newspaper. He had slick brown hair and a scruffy face, with sharp features. When he saw Mario and Sonny walking up, he raised his chin to them.
"This is Mr. Sonny, boss." Mario said.
"Good." Tommy said. "Go downstairs and get us a drink."
Mario nodded and left the room. Tommy continued to read the paper as Sonny stood for a moment. "Take a seat, Mr. Sonny." Tommy said, not looking up from the paper. Sonny sat down in one of the couch seats as Tommy continued. "What's your first name?"
Sonny looked up. "Oh, uh, Sonny's my first name, Mr. Vercetti."
"Tommy, kid. Call me Tommy." He replied, closing the paper and putting it down. "So then, what's your last name?"
"Uh.Carter." Sonny said, almost surprising himself. He didn't want to say his last name, for something made him not want to. He was no longer was the son of Don Leone; he was his own man.
"Carter? Nice name." He said. "Where you from, Sonny?"
"Liberty City."
"No shit?" Tommy smiled. Mario came in then, placing a bottle of scotch and glasses down, then turned and left the room. "I'm from Liberty. Grew up in Portland area. Did you work for any of the families there?"
"Worked for the Leone family a bit, some for the Forelli. Just got work wherever I could."
"Oh yeah?" Tommy poured out the drinks. "What work did you do?"
Sonny shrugged. "Started out in the books. Did some hits for a while, then went into boosting cars."
"That right?" Tommy said, screwing on the top of the scotch bottle. He handed a glass to Sonny, who took it. "What made you want to leave ol' Liberty?"
Sonny took a sip. "Got left out in the dust by someone I thought I could trust."
"I know that feeling." Tommy replied. A moment passed between them.
"What about you? What made you leave the island?" Sonny asked.
Tommy swallowed. "Didn't. It was another job for me, coming out here. Luckily, things turned out that I stayed. I like it here more though." He took a drink and then looked at Sonny. "You worked for the Forellis?"
Sonny nodded. "Yeah, a bit."
"Never heard the name Vercetti?" Tommy asked.
Sonny shook his head.
"You sure?" He sat back. "Maybe this will jog your memory. The Harwood Butcher."
"The Harwood Butch--?" Sonny looked up at him. "You're the Harwood Butcher?"
Tommy nodded.
Sonny suddenly acted out a scene in his head in that instant. Sonny sat up, pulled the gun out from the back of his belt and shot Tommy point blank, ripping apart his chest.
The Harwood Butcher was a part of a hit that had been put out on Sonny's father that had gone drastically wrong. In the end, seventeen of the Leone's family's men were dead instead, all killed in about half an hour, by The Harwood Butcher. Sonny had even known some of them. Not too well. Which was good right now, for if he had, Tommy would have been dead right then. Sonny held friendship very close in his heart and had many stories on his shoulders about acts of violence he had done for his friends, if they needed help or vengeance was served.
"Boss, someone on the phone for you." Mario had come back up.
Tommy leaned back in his seat and picked up the phone on his desk. He turned his seat aside, the call getting his entire attention.
After a moment, he turned back, said into the phone, "Yeah, ok, I'll be right over. You just stay there." He hung up the phone and looked over at Sonny as if he didn't notice he had been there, then rose out of the seat saying, "Where are you staying?" He grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting something down on it.
"Uh," Sonny said. "Well, last night I stayed at."
Tommy held up a hand, smiling. "I know where you stayed last night." He finished what he was writing on the paper, ripped it off and handed it to Sonny. "I own some apartment complexes down by the Ocean Beach." He said, walking around his desk.
Sonny looked at the piece of paper. On it was written 'Ocean Heights Apartments.' Sonny slipped it in his jacket pocket and looked up to see Tommy pull out a roll of twenties out of his pocket. Tommy tilted his head, motioning for Sonny to follow him out the room.
"I gotta' go." He said as they walked out the door and headed down the stairs. "I got some business to take care of." He peeled of a load of twenties and handed them to Sonny. "Here." He slipped the rest of the twenties in his pocket and moved his other hand around as he talked. "There's plenty of shops and stuff down by the beach. You go down, get what you need, take care of yourself, then come on by tomorrow." At the bottom of the stairs, Tommy turned to Sonny, pointing. "Oh, you got some wheels?"
"Yeah, boosted some before." Sonny said.
Tommy smiled. "Right." He walked past him, motioning for some of his men to follow him. He turned back to Sonny. "Well, take a drive around, get to know the place and come by tomorrow about," He looked at his watch. "10:00. Ok? I'll see ya' then." And with that, Tommy dissepeared behind a hallway corner with his men following in his wake.
Sonny stood for a moment, alone in the huge mansion, looking around at the vast size of the place. He had never been in a room so big. He took a breath then walked out the front door.
The next day, Sonny arrived in a new black Banshee and was waved through by the guards at the entrance to the Vercetti Estate.
He found Tommy standing at the steps talking to one of his men. Sonny noticed, as he drove closer, that it was in fact the same man he had seen yesterday with the red hair and the other guy that looked like him was standing beside him. As Sonny drove into Tommy's view, the two men walked off, disappearing into the building. Tommy turned and raised his chin at Sonny as he walked down the stairs toward him. Sonny parked his car where he had yesterday and met Tommy at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey, kid." Tommy said, shaking his hand. "Did you get squared away? Got everything you needed?"
Sonny nodded his head. "Yeah, everything's cool."
"Good, good." He started back up the stairs. "C'mon inside."
They headed up to Tommy's office and Tommy entered to see a man sitting in one of the seats wearing a cowboy hat and dressed like one. Tommy turned to him. "Sonny, this is Avery Carrington, one of my business associates. Avery, this is Sonny Carter, one of my new recruits. He just got in yesterday from good old Liberty City." Avery stood and shook Sonny's hand. "How do ya' do?" He said.
"How ya' doin?" Sonny replied, returning the handshake.
Avery sat back down in his seat and asked, "So, how you like our fare city, Sonny?"
Sonny smiled, nodded his head. "It's nice." He looked at Tommy. "Nice and hot."
They all laughed then Tommy spoke up.
"Avery and I were just talking business, so, uh, why don't you just have a seat." Tommy said, sitting down at his desk and motioning to the seat next to Avery. "Ok, so continue." He looked to Avery.
Avery leaned forward. "All right, Tommy, here's what happened. I get a call from one a' my floor managers working this construction site over in Little Haiti. Y'know, the old Haitian compound that got blown away. Anyway, the manager starts jabbering that there's been guys there pushing for him to leave the premises or else there's going to be trouble. I figure it's the Cubans, y'know; since they now own the Haitian territory. Now, all in all, I'd just send some of my guys down there and take care of it. I'd take it there'd be some trouble, some bodies, I could take care of all that, but I don't like violence, Tommy, you know that, it costs money. So, I was hoping you could head down there and take care of it for me, considering you have contacts with the Cubans and you can, y'know, deal with them better than me."
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, sure, no problem, Avery. I got business I got to discuss with them anyway."
"Thank ya', Tommy, much appreciated." Avery smiled and nodded.
"So the drunk says 'Rechtem? It damn near killed 'em!'" Avery laughed as the group walked down the stairs. Tommy and Sonny joined in the laughter as Sonny secretly tried to figure out the joke in his head.
A black limo pulled up in front of them and Avery opened one of the doors, getting in. "Well, good to meet ya', Sonny. Tommy, thanks again."
He got in and the limo pulled out the driveway. Tommy turned to Sonny. "Ok, let's go for a ride."
Sonny nodded to Tommy.
"Allright." Tommy walked toward his garage. He stopped and turned, snapping his fingers and pointed to a group of men standing on the steps. "Hey, Mario! MARIO! C'mon! Frankie, you too." Two of the men walked down the stairs.
"I hate that woman!" Mario muttered as he walked down.
"What woman, Mario?" Tommy asked as the garage opened and he walked around to driver's side of his white convertible Stinger.
"Oh, nothing, boss." Mario shook his head, scratching his neck. He got in the back with Frankie and Sully got in shotgun.
"Nice car." Sully said, admiring the car as he slipped into his seat.
Tommy turned the ignition. "Oh yeah?" He smiled. "This is one of my favorites." He pulled out the garage and turned down the driveway with ease, spinning the wheel with his palm. As they drove onto the road, Tommy pointed at the glove compartment in front of Sonny. "Open that up."
Sonny leaned forward and clicked open the compartment. A slick, silver handgun sat inside.
"Take it." Tommy said, looking at him, driving with one hand. "I want ya' ta' have that." Sonny took the gun and held it in his hands. "The first thing I learned here," Tommy continued. "Is always pack some heat."
"Right." Sonny nodded, looking down at the gun. "Who'd you learn that from?" He looked up at him.
Tommy looked forward, his expression changing. After a moment he said, "An old friend of mine, an old partner."
"Oh." Sonny replied. Tommy nodded, still looking forward. Sonny asked, "What happened to this partner of yours?"
"I killed him." Tommy replied, and Sonny stared at him. Tommy glanced at him, seeing his stare, then looked forward, driving down the road.
The car stopped in the street in front of the Café Robina and all four of them got out. Tommy looked about then walked into the café with Sonny, Mario, and Frankie following behind him.
Umberto Robina was sitting at the bar talking to his father when he looked up and saw Tommy enter. "Tommy!" He said, smiling and standing. He walked over to him.
"How ya' doing, Umberto?" Tommy said, as Umberto patted his shoulders.
"Good, my friend. Hey, I saw that movie you told me about, de Scarface!" Umberto replied. "I love it, man, I love it!"
"I told ya' you would." He turned to Sonny. "Umberto, this is one of my new men, Sonny Carter. He's new in town, comes from the same place I did, Liberty City."
"How you do?" Umberto said. "Any friend of Tommy, he friend of mine, ok?"
Sonny shook his hand and nodded, smiling.
"Ok, Umberto, we need to talk." Tommy said. Umberto stepped closer to him.
"What you need, Tommy?" Umberto said, sitting down at the bar as Tommy sat beside him.
"Y'know that construction happening over in Little Haiti?" Tommy continued.
"What chu talkin' 'bout?" Umberto picked up his drink and took a swig.
"Where the Haitian joint used to be, the old compound."
Umberto swallowed his drink down. "Uh.oh, yeah. Yeah, right. What about it?"
"Yeah, well, I need it left alone."
"Uh?"
"I need you to keep your boys away from it." Tommy said. "The guy whose behind it is one of my partners and asked for me to take care of the place."
"Tommy, I don't know what chu talkin' 'bout!" Umberto said. "My boys don't mess wit' no place, if they have, I would know."
Tommy looked at him. "You haven't sent any boys over there to push the construction guys away?"
"No, my friend, I didn't know anybody was doing work on the place, everyone thinking it was haunted and all."
"No?"
"No."
Tommy sat back and thought to himself.
"You got problems, Thomas? You need our help?" Umberto's father said from behind the bar.
"No, no, it's allright, Pape." Tommy said, rising. "I gotta' go." He turned and motioned to Sonny and the others to follow him.
"Hey, Tommy! You need any help, you call me, eh?" Umberto called behind them.
Tommy turned to him. "You got it, Umberto." They walked back to the car. As they drove down the street Mario spoke up in the back.
"What's going on, boss?"
Tommy turned the corner. "I don't know." He said. "Let's head over to the construction site."
"How long we gonna' wait here boss?" Mario asked, moving about in his seat.
Tommy chewed on a piece of gum. "Until whoever it is who's causing the problems comes back."
They had been sitting in Tommy's Stinger for the last hour, waiting, staking out the construction site, watching as workers continued working on the site, all edgy and scared.
"How we gonna' know who it is when they come?" Frankie asked.
"We'll know who it is, don't worry." Tommy said. After a moment, he said to Sonny without looking at him, "So, Sonny, what part of Liberty are you from."
Sully smiled. "Oh, uh, Portland. Portland Island."
"Right." He replied. "And who was it you worked for?"
"Well, I worked for whoever was offering. I worked for almost everyone, I guess." Sonny said.
Tommy nodded. "Who'd you like working for more?"
"Huh?" Sonny replied.
"Between the Forellis and the Leones?" Tommy looked over at him. "Who'd you like better?"
Sonny looked him, saw that Tommy was asking a lot more then he was just asking and shrugged his shoulders, looking forward. "I don't know, I liked both of them, but I guess I like the Leones better."
Tommy nodded, still looking at him. "Yeah, the Leones always knew how to run things better. Old man Leone." He said to himself, looking down. "He still alive, that old fart?"
Sonny didn't let his emotions betray him. He smiled. "Yeah, he's still alive. Still an asshole."
Tommy laughed. "Yeah." He smile, still looking down. "What about those two boys of his? They still alive too? I figured they'd at least be dead by now."
"Hey, boss, there you go." Mario suddenly said, interrupting them. Up ahead of them, a car pulled up on the road in front of the construction site and two men got out.
"They're packing." Sonny said.
"Yeah." Frankie said behind him.
"OK, let's go." Tommy said, getting out, and everyone following. They walked across the street. As they made their way to them, the two men were already pushing about the manager, yelling at him. "Hey!" Tommy yelled. The two men looked over at him. "Come 'ere." Tommy said, stopping and waving them over. Mario and Frankie stared the men down, holding onto their handguns in their belts. The two men suddenly looked confused and almost afraid and walked over.
They came over to Tommy and he turned to them. "You know who I am?" He asked the first man. The first man looked at him, and nodded nervously. "You know who I am?" Tommy asked the second man. The second man also nodded nervously. Tommy looked them down for a moment. "What you doing here?"
The men looked nervously at Frankie and Mario, but avoided glancing at Sonny, who was staring them down harshly. "What our boss told us to do." The first man said.
"Who's your boss?" Tommy asked, interrupting him. They didn't reply. "Who's your boss?" They still didn't reply. Mario stepped forward, pulling his gun free. Tommy motioned for him to step back. He looked at the men. "Give me your wallets." He said, holding out his hand. After both Frankie and Mario stepped forward, the two men pulled out their wallets and handed them to Tommy.
Tommy looked through the wallets and pulled out the licenses, looking at them. He looked up at the two men. "You may know who I am, but now I know who you are, ya' understand?"
The two men nodded. Tommy handed back the wallets and slipped the licenses in his shirt pocket.
"Now, who's your boss?"
After a moment, the first man spoke up. "Bobby Sentangio."
"Bobby Sentangio?" Tommy repeated. "Well, you tell this Sentangio that if he wants to do anything in Vice City, I mean take a breath or take a piss, he talks to me first, understand?"
The two men nodded.
"Now, I get anymore trouble from this Sentangio and I'm gonna' kill him. And I'm gonna' kill both a' you too." Tommy said. "Now, my advice to your boss is to get out of town, 'cause you already pissed me off with this little act here. Now get out of here." Tommy waved them away, and then walked back to the car, Sonny walking beside him.
Mario and Frankie stepped forward, pushing the men back to their car. "But-but you took our licenses." The first man pleaded.
Mario stepped forward. "Get the fuck outta' here!" He yelled, moving to the man about to pistol whip him. The two men hurried to the car and drove off. "Fucking punks." Mario said, as everyone laughed.
Tommy walked to the side and said some words to the manager, then walked back toward the car, the rest following behind them. As they got in, Mario said, "Boss, who's this Sentangio guy then?"
"I don't know. Who ever he is he's got some big balls if he thinks he can mess with Vice City. Especially if he knows who I am and knows I run this place."
Sonny looked over. "Where we going now, then?"
Tommy turned the wheel as they got back on the long stretch of highway. "Going to see somebody who knows something."
"How do you know he'll know something?" Sonny asked.
Tommy almost smiled. "Trust me. He'll know something."
Kent Paul was taking another drink when a hand slapped his shoulder. He turned. "Whasat? Tommy, me ol' son, how you been, mate?"
There was much activity at The Malibu and Sonny smiled as the memories of the first time he had been here those few nights ago flooded through his head.
"Paul, I need some information." Tommy began.
"What else would you come to me for, sunshine? C'mon then, what ya' need, chum?" Paul replied.
Tommy leaned on the bar next to Paul. "What do you know about this guy Sentangio? Bobby Sentangio?"
"Sentangio? You mean the dark geezer from downtown? Stay away from him, mate."
"Wait, he's black?" Sonny suddenly asked. Paul looked at him.
"Naw, naw. He's a tan, mate, gets a lot of the sunshine." Paul replies. "Takes good care a' his skin, one dem toggers."
"Allright, allright." Tommy said. "What do you know about him?"
Paul creaked his neck. "He's a tosser, allright. Up the ass, mate. I wouldn't touch him, Tommy."
Tommy almost smiled. "Touch him? I am Vice City, Paul. I can do anything I want." He leaned closer, threatening Paul.
"Oi! No burn, mate! I'm just laying the dust, son! You don't want to mess wit' dis geezer, that' all I'm saying, he's a dangerous bloke."
"Look, let me take care of myself. Where can I find him?"
"Allright, mate." Paul waved his hands in the air. "You can find him at the docks, west end. He's running arms through there last I heard, might even be doing business with dem Columbians, that uh, Umberto, that 'is name?"
"Ok, thanks, Paul." Tommy walked past him.
Paul looked at Sonny. "Oi, I remember you from the other night. Sonny, right?"
Sonny nodded, shaking his hand. "Yeah."
"Yous' working for ol' Tommy then, that's a coffin nail, mate." Paul said.
Sonny just stared at him, trying to understand what he said.
Paul leaned closer to him. "You take it peachy with Tommy, mate. He's a good bloke an' all, but you take it peachy, allright?" Paul raised his glass, winked at him, and then downed the rest of his drink.
Sonny shook his head, then turned and followed after Tommy out the club.
They drove up toward the port area but parked their car back a few blocks and walked the rest of the way. Sonny soon realized Tommy was hoping to get the drop on this Bobby Sentangio and soon enough, they were sneaking around buildings, searching and searching till they saw some guards standing around a certain building. From where they were, they could see inside and saw a tall man, looking about Tommy's size and weight, slapping this other man to the ground. The smaller man, whom was getting beat, was shorter and a lot skinner, and was helpless to defend himself. Yet he kept getting up.
Tommy turned to Frankie. "Frankie, head back and get some more boys here quick."
"You got it boss." Frankie said, moving off to the side.
"And Frankie!" Tommy called back. "Have 'em come in shooting 'cause shits going to be going down probably by the time you get back."
Frankie nodded and snuck off out of view. Sonny suddenly felt his heart beating. It had been a while since he had been in a gunfight, or a big one for that matter. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
"I swear!" They heard the big guy yell as he slapped the man down to the ground again.
Finally, Tommy had seen enough. "Hey!" He screamed, coming out from undercover. The big man turned and saw Tommy, started walking toward him, his men circling behind him with their guns. Sonny emerged and stood behind Tommy, with Mario behind him. Frankie was nowhere to be seen.
"Who the hell are you?" The big guy asked.
"Tommy Vercetti." He said out flat and it had the effect he hoped for. Everyone stopped walking, even the guy in the back that had been beaten up rose his head at this, even thought it must have hurt. "You Bobby Sentangio?" He called to the big guy.
The big guy nodded. "Yeah, that's me." He wasn't scarred like everyone else, he seemed angry.
"So then you're the punk who's been doing business in my neighborhood?" Tommy called.
Sentangio stared straight at him. "I didn't know the Port was your neighborhood. And who you calling a punk!"
Tommy shook his head, smiling. "No, no, you're not listening!" He called back. "The Port isn't my neighborhood, Vice City is my neighborhood, you understand? And anyone who operates in my neighborhood without my knowing, is a punk, ok?"
"Is that right?" Sentangio said, looking to the side at some of his men. Sonny then thought he saw something move on top of a building near them and without really thinking at all, Sonny dove forward as a single shot rang out and Sonny knocked into Tommy, pulling him down behind some boxes as Sentangio and his men opened up, bullets scorching the air all around them.
"Sniper!" Sonny screamed, "They got a god-damn sniper!" Suddenly, felt cool liquid on his hand and looked at it to see it was blood. He snapped his head to Tommy.
Tommy was smiling. "It's allright, just grazed my arm." He said, holding his arm. He looked up at Sonny, suddenly pausing. "Y'know, kid, you just saved my life." But before the moment could last any longer, Tommy rose and fired a few shots at Sentangio and his men, only to have another shot from the sniper narrowly miss him, scorching his left cheek. Sonny pulled him down.
"You got to stay down, Tommy. We can't do shit while that sniper's up there!" Sonny screamed over the gun fire.
Tommy nodded, feeling his cheek. "Yeah, you're right." He looked back and saw Mario farther back behind some cover, his was beyond the range of the sniper. "Mario!" He called over the gunfire. "Go around and see if you can shuffle out that damn sniper!"
Mario screamed, "I'll take care of it, boss!" And ran behind the side of a building. Even for his huge size, Sonny saw, he moved faster then most men he had seen.
"I hope Frankie gets back soon!" Tommy said, and sort of laughed. He looked at Sonny. "How many men did you count?"
"Including Sentangio and that guy he was beating up," Sonny thought for a moment. "About twenty, twenty-five."
"Yeah," Tommy yelled. "I though that too." He looked farther down the boxes and saw a gap between a few. He pointed with his gun and said, "See if you can get a look at them! See how close they are!"
Sonny was already crawling to the spot as Tommy was yelling and saw the men, mostly all hiding behind cover. Some were moving closer but they were still a distance away. Sonny crawled back to Tommy.
"They're still pretty far back." He pointed in front of them. "Hey, if the shit really gets hot," Sonny called, "We can jump off the dock into the water!"
Tommy nodded and then turned, looking up toward the sniper. It was just then the sniper turned from his position and looked behind him. Tommy knew then it was Mario and raised his gun, firing at the back of the sniper. His first shot went wide but his second shot connected with the sniper's shoulder, sending him spinning then falling off the building, to his death.
"Nice shot, Tommy!" Sonny called.
"Experience, kid!" He called back. "Allright, let's give these assholes something to take cover from!" He yelled. "One, two, THREE!" He screamed and they both rose, firing their handguns at the oncoming forces. Three men went down, and the rest dove for cover. Those stupid enough to stay and fire back were also dropped to the ground.
They leaned back against the cover, Tommy reloading and Sonny pulling out the other gun from the back of his pants.
"I got four at least!" Tommy yelled over the returning fire, sliding the clip in and chambering a round.
"I think I got two!" Sonny replied, chambering a round on his new gun. Tommy looked at it and then at Sonny. "Oh, I got this the day I came here!" He said. "I come from Liberty City too, Tommy!" He said and Tommy still looked surprised then smiled and rose with him to fire more shots at the oncoming men.
Soon enough, the men were coming closer and closer and Tommy and Sonny were running out of ammo. Without either one saying a thing, they looked to the edge of the dock and nodded to each other, then rose and charged toward it as the oncoming men were almost on top of them, firing at their heels.
Sentangio jumped atop the boxes they were using for cover and fired after them, screaming "Get 'em!"
Sonny and Tommy ran and ran as puffs of pavements exploded around them, bullets hitting everything but them. They came to the edge and jumped, flying into mid-air and slammed down into the water, disappearing as Sentangio and his men came up and fired down into the water.
Beneath the crisp, cool surface, Tommy pulled Sonny back with him as they pressed against the wall of the port, watching as bullets shot down through the water in front of them, leaving trails of white bubbles. Soon enough, the shots ceased but they still heard gunfire above them. They realized it was Tommy's men now firing at Sentangio and his men and then realized they couldn't hold their breath for much longer.
They swan to the side and came up between to boats in the harbor and crawled onto them, then hid behind the rigging and watched the scene. They heard a splash from where they had just swam from and realized it was just a body dropping into the water.
Soon enough, the battle was over and Tommy's men were victorious. Tommy and Sonny emerged and Mario ran up to them, asking if they were allright and then telling them that Frankie had been killed during the skirmish. Sonny didn't really feel to much pain, this was the life he had been living. This was all he had known, people died all the time. Yet it was still a weird feeling inside him, to have been working with a man hours ago and now he was dead.
Inside the building, the man whom Sentangio had been beating up had been scrambling to his feet as Tommy's men came up to him, pointing their guns at him. Tommy was outside talking with some of his men while Sonny had walked into the building and seen the commotion.
"Hey, guys!" He yelled to the men and noticed they all stopped. "Back off, fellas, back off." He said, waving them away, walking toward the guy. The guy looked scared, Sonny could see, but he stood up to his full height.
"What's your name?" Sonny asked, having a sudden interest in the man. He didn't know what it was at first, perhaps just that the man was standing at full height. When he didn't reply, Sonny asked again, coming closer.
"Maddie." The man said quickly, as if trying to get Sonny to stop coming closer.
"Maddie." Sonny repeated, nodding. He raised his hand. "I'm Sonny."
Maddie looked at his hand then at Sonny and after a moment shook his hand.
Sonny smiled. "So, you, uh, work for Sentangio?"
"Worked." Maddie replied, wiping his mouth free of the blood that had been there, caused by Sentangio.
Sonny nodded. "What did you do for him?"
"Ran his books. Organized things, y'know, normal stuff." Maddie shrugged.
"So you were his brains?" Sonny said.
Maddie nodded, almost smiling. "He needed some, I'll tell ya' that."
Sonny laughed. "You didn't like working for him, did ya'?"
Maddie shook his head.
Sonny nodded again. "Well, from what I see, you're out of a job now, so, how about."
Tommy walked in then, seeing Sonny talking to Maddie. "Hey, who's this?"
Sonny turned to him. "He's that guy Sentangio was beating on when we walked in."
"Oh." Tommy said. "He work for him?"
"Yeah, he was his brains." Sonny replied.
Tommy nodded, then looked to one of his men and motioned toward Maddie. Sonny saw emmediently what was happening. "No, no, wait. Tommy." He walked to Tommy and spoke low to him. "I like this guy, Tommy, I think we can use him."
"Like him, kid, you don't even know him." Tommy replied.
"I know, but," He looked back at Maddie. "There's something about him, I'm getting this feeling."
Tommy looked at Maddie. "I don't know, kid."
"Hey, Tommy," Sonny said. "You didn't know me and look where we are now."
Tommy looked at Sonny. Shaking his head and smiling, he said, "Fine, shack him up some place, but he's your responsibility."
Sonny nodded, smiled then turned nodded to Maddie.
Walking away, Tommy held an arm around Sonny's shoulders. "Now, Sonny, I don't want you to let this day form any opinion on your part. Vice City really is a nice place once you get used to it!"
They both started laughing and soon all of Tommy's men joined in.
END OF CHAPTER 5
To be continued
Author's note: Okay, so begins the Vice City saga. But don't worry, we'll be back with the GTA3 crew before you know it, but trust me, when you're done with this Vice City Saga, you'll have wished we never left!
Next chapter: Sonny Leone, I mean.Sonny Carter, is making his way up the chain. He's got some from Mercedes, Tommy Vercetti likes him, and it seems he's going to get some more work, what could be wrong? Wait and find out. Next chapter: HIS NAME WAS TAYLOR.
Shout out to Petey, who plays Vice City on my Playstation 2! Go Egypt!
WARNING: This story does contain violence and language! Don't say I didn't warn you!
THE BATTLE OF LIBERTY CITY
A GTA3 YARN
BY JayJay Bakes
Author's Note: The following takes place before the events in the earlier chapters. This is a prequel story set in Vice City.
CHAPTER 5:
ANCIENT HISTORY: MR. VERCETTI
The morning sunlight stung Sonny's eyes just as he awoke, raising his head, stretching his eyes open, yawning. He raised his arms, stretching out his back muscles. He rubbed his face and eyes and then looked about at where he was.
He was in a bedroom, lying in a long, white bed; the silk bed sheets strewn about. He was alone in the bed, yet Sonny could tell someone had been sleeping beside him.
Just as he heard the sound of a shower in the next room, the sound stopped. He wondered for a moment who it was taking the shower, but couldn't remember.
Across the room, to his left, his jacket was thrown on a chair. His pants were not far, strewn on the ground, along with his pants and socks. He noticed then a reddish dress and some high-heel shoes across the room, next to the bed lying on the ground.
The room was very stylish; weird paintings hung about, one even above the bed. The walls were painted white, with long streaks of pink flowing across them. It was a very rich room, Sonny could see, whomever it belonged to was very well off.
It was just then a voice came from the door to Sonny's left. "Meeesssttteeer Soooonnnneeee." A sultry, female voice echoed into the room. Sonny turned and saw a beautiful woman leaning against the doorway, smiling at him, one long, smooth leg up against the wall. She was Hispanic with short black hair that had two flowing strands of purple in the front. Sonny smiled at her.
"Good morning." He groaned, rising on his arms. He smiled as she came over to the bed, wrapped in a towel, crawled across the bed to him. "What time is it?"
"Ten o'clock." She replied, bringing a hand to his chest, massaging it.
"Jeez." He said, swing his legs out, sitting on the side of the bed. Her hands spread across his back. "I can't remember anything from last night." He laughed.
The woman came up behind him, bringing arms around his shoulders. "Mmmm. That's funny, I remember everything about last night."
Sonny laughed. "No, no. That's not what I meant." He let her rub his chest. "I mean, uh, where.where did we meet last night?"
"At the Malibu." The woman replied. "You were talking to that English fellow, Paul. I came over and asked you to dance and.here we are." She leaned over him and kissed him.
Sonny returned the kiss and smiled. "Oh." He said. He rose to walk to his jacket and she pulled him back down, kissing him.
Moments later, Sonny rose from the bed and picked up his jacket and shirt from across the room. As he put them on, the woman's voice came again from the bed. "Mmmm.you are very good at that, Mr. Sonny." She said, rolling in the sheets of the bed. Her towel was now across the room, tossed away in the earlier moments.
Sonny smiled as he buttoned up his shirt, then picked his pants from the ground, sliding them on. He grabbed his shoes and socks and sat on the edge of the bed, beginning to put them on.
"So, Mr. Sonny, what brings you to Vice City?"
"Business." Sonny replied. "I'm, uh, moving out here." He pulled on one sock, then the other.
"Mmmm, business, I see. You will need to meet people, yes?" The woman replied.
Sonny looked back at her. "Yeah. You know people?"
"Yes, yes. I know people. I can introduce you to the right people, show you the right people." She smiled at him.
"I'd appreciate that." He smiled back.
She reached to the side of the bed and grabbed a pad of paper, then a pen. "You just be sure to come give me a visit every once in a while, Mmm?" She began writing down numbers.
Sonny smiled. "You bet." He put on his shoes and rose, just as she handed him the piece of paper. He looked down at it. There was a number and a man's name above it. "Tommy Vercetti?"
"Yes. You'll want to talk to him." She replied, putting back the pad and pen.
Sonny nodded, slipping the piece of paper in his jacket pocket. "So he's uh, big in Vice City."
The woman laughed. "No, no. He's not big in Vice City." She replied. "Tommy is Vice City."
Sonny smiled and nodded, slowly, then walked around the bed to the door.
"Goodbye, Mr. Sonny." Her voice called after him as he reached the doorway.
He turned to her. "Goodbye, uh." He scratched the back of his neck, trying to remember.
"Mercedes." She smiled. He nodded and smiled back, then slipped out the front door.
Sonny had arrived in Vice City the day before, sometime in the early afternoon. He hadn't eaten on the plane so he caught a meal at a small restrauant near the airport. Sitting in the empty restrauant eating, he felt totally alone. In Liberty City, his hometown, he had friends almost everywhere, and he hardly went anywhere without someone. Luigi or Toni, even business partners and guys he was helping rise in the organization, fellas he had taken under his wing. Even the knock-around guys, the guys that did jobs for him, even they traveled with him around the city sometimes. But his closest companion, whom he went everywhere with, was his brother, Joey.
Now, sitting in the restrauant, he felt loneliness starting to bear down on him. He was alone in the city, completely alone, to fend for himself. As much as this fact scared him, or made him depressed, it also gave him a sense of power. He was now in total control of his life. Every action from now on would be his decision, his choice. No one, not his father or anyone else, was around pulling strings. Sonny was on his own now, and he felt good about it.
After he had eaten at the restrauant, he drove around the city in the car he had stolen from the airport parking lot, a skill his brother had mastered in, and then finally found the Malibu night club, where he saw loads and loads of people coming in. Figuring this would be a great place to find out some info about Vice City, he went in, paying off the bouncers. Inside, he met Kent Paul, an English fuck who wouldn't shut the hell up. After that he met Mercedes and after that, well.good times.
He walked through the city now, then remembering he had a car and walked back to Mercedes' house and found it sitting in the driveway. Then he proceeded to drive around town, and then passed by the North Point Mall, parking and going in.
"You sure?" He asked the gun clerk at Ammunation when he offered to show ID. The clerk shook his head, looking about, and handed Sonny the two .45s he had purchased. Sonny slid the two of them in the back of his pants and walked out the Mall, getting back in his car. He saw a better car, a red Cheetah across the parking lot and boosted it easy, then drove around town looking for a pay phone. He took one of the .45s and hid it in the glove compartment of his car, then kept the other in the back of his pants.
He found a payphone and dialed in the number Mercedes had given him. It rang three times then a husky voice came on. "Yeah?"
"Uh, I'm looking for Mr. Vercetti." Sonny replied, slipping the paper back in his jacket pocket.
"Who's calling?"
"Sonny." He said. "I was told by someone to call him."
"Hold on." The voice replied, and moments passed, then a strong voice came on. "Mr. Sonny?"
"Uh, yes. This is Sonny. Is this uh, Mr. Vercetti?"
"Yeah, Mercedes told me about you." The voice said back. "So, you looking for work?"
"Yes, sir." Sonny replied.
"Cut the sir crap, kid." The voice replied. "Why don't you come down to my house? We'll talk."
"Uh, okay."
"It's on Starfish Island. The big mansion."
Sonny had to ask directions to Starfish Island and then found out that Tommy's directions for the mansion didn't really help. The entire island was made up of mansions, and only when Tommy saw the one mansion with bodyguards waiting by the entrance of the driveway did he drive up and investigate.
"I'm here to see Mr. Vercetti." Sonny said, as one of the bodyguards leaned down toward him.
"You Mr. Sonny?" He asked, holding his gun at his waist.
Sonny nodded, the guard stepped back and waved Sonny forward. Sonny drove in, down the driveway to the huge stairs, where a man was waiting for him.
"Hey dere." He said. He was a chunky man in a Hawaiian shirt with orange hair and a scruffy orange beard. He waved him past. "Jus park it down dere." He said, pointing to the end of the driveway. Sonny parked and walked over to the man. "I'm Mario. I'll take you in to see Mr. Vercetti." Mario turned, walking up the stairs.
As Sonny followed him up, two other men walked down the stairs passed them. The first man looked hard at Sonny, and Sonny stared back. He was a tall man, as tall as and built just like Sonny with red hair. His cheeks and chin were scruffy and he stared at Sonny all the way as he passed him, turning his head back. The moment seemed to last in slow motion to Sonny. He turned his head back also, looking into the man's eyes as he returned the glare. Those eyes intrigued Sonny, and then the man was gone, turning his head away. The man walking behind him, who shared a likeness with the first man, simply glanced at Sonny and then looked forward. Sonny hardly noticed him.
Mario led him into the mansion, into the huge main room, up a wide set of stairs, and finally into the main room, where a well-built man in a black jumpsuit sat behind the desk, reading a newspaper. He had slick brown hair and a scruffy face, with sharp features. When he saw Mario and Sonny walking up, he raised his chin to them.
"This is Mr. Sonny, boss." Mario said.
"Good." Tommy said. "Go downstairs and get us a drink."
Mario nodded and left the room. Tommy continued to read the paper as Sonny stood for a moment. "Take a seat, Mr. Sonny." Tommy said, not looking up from the paper. Sonny sat down in one of the couch seats as Tommy continued. "What's your first name?"
Sonny looked up. "Oh, uh, Sonny's my first name, Mr. Vercetti."
"Tommy, kid. Call me Tommy." He replied, closing the paper and putting it down. "So then, what's your last name?"
"Uh.Carter." Sonny said, almost surprising himself. He didn't want to say his last name, for something made him not want to. He was no longer was the son of Don Leone; he was his own man.
"Carter? Nice name." He said. "Where you from, Sonny?"
"Liberty City."
"No shit?" Tommy smiled. Mario came in then, placing a bottle of scotch and glasses down, then turned and left the room. "I'm from Liberty. Grew up in Portland area. Did you work for any of the families there?"
"Worked for the Leone family a bit, some for the Forelli. Just got work wherever I could."
"Oh yeah?" Tommy poured out the drinks. "What work did you do?"
Sonny shrugged. "Started out in the books. Did some hits for a while, then went into boosting cars."
"That right?" Tommy said, screwing on the top of the scotch bottle. He handed a glass to Sonny, who took it. "What made you want to leave ol' Liberty?"
Sonny took a sip. "Got left out in the dust by someone I thought I could trust."
"I know that feeling." Tommy replied. A moment passed between them.
"What about you? What made you leave the island?" Sonny asked.
Tommy swallowed. "Didn't. It was another job for me, coming out here. Luckily, things turned out that I stayed. I like it here more though." He took a drink and then looked at Sonny. "You worked for the Forellis?"
Sonny nodded. "Yeah, a bit."
"Never heard the name Vercetti?" Tommy asked.
Sonny shook his head.
"You sure?" He sat back. "Maybe this will jog your memory. The Harwood Butcher."
"The Harwood Butch--?" Sonny looked up at him. "You're the Harwood Butcher?"
Tommy nodded.
Sonny suddenly acted out a scene in his head in that instant. Sonny sat up, pulled the gun out from the back of his belt and shot Tommy point blank, ripping apart his chest.
The Harwood Butcher was a part of a hit that had been put out on Sonny's father that had gone drastically wrong. In the end, seventeen of the Leone's family's men were dead instead, all killed in about half an hour, by The Harwood Butcher. Sonny had even known some of them. Not too well. Which was good right now, for if he had, Tommy would have been dead right then. Sonny held friendship very close in his heart and had many stories on his shoulders about acts of violence he had done for his friends, if they needed help or vengeance was served.
"Boss, someone on the phone for you." Mario had come back up.
Tommy leaned back in his seat and picked up the phone on his desk. He turned his seat aside, the call getting his entire attention.
After a moment, he turned back, said into the phone, "Yeah, ok, I'll be right over. You just stay there." He hung up the phone and looked over at Sonny as if he didn't notice he had been there, then rose out of the seat saying, "Where are you staying?" He grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting something down on it.
"Uh," Sonny said. "Well, last night I stayed at."
Tommy held up a hand, smiling. "I know where you stayed last night." He finished what he was writing on the paper, ripped it off and handed it to Sonny. "I own some apartment complexes down by the Ocean Beach." He said, walking around his desk.
Sonny looked at the piece of paper. On it was written 'Ocean Heights Apartments.' Sonny slipped it in his jacket pocket and looked up to see Tommy pull out a roll of twenties out of his pocket. Tommy tilted his head, motioning for Sonny to follow him out the room.
"I gotta' go." He said as they walked out the door and headed down the stairs. "I got some business to take care of." He peeled of a load of twenties and handed them to Sonny. "Here." He slipped the rest of the twenties in his pocket and moved his other hand around as he talked. "There's plenty of shops and stuff down by the beach. You go down, get what you need, take care of yourself, then come on by tomorrow." At the bottom of the stairs, Tommy turned to Sonny, pointing. "Oh, you got some wheels?"
"Yeah, boosted some before." Sonny said.
Tommy smiled. "Right." He walked past him, motioning for some of his men to follow him. He turned back to Sonny. "Well, take a drive around, get to know the place and come by tomorrow about," He looked at his watch. "10:00. Ok? I'll see ya' then." And with that, Tommy dissepeared behind a hallway corner with his men following in his wake.
Sonny stood for a moment, alone in the huge mansion, looking around at the vast size of the place. He had never been in a room so big. He took a breath then walked out the front door.
The next day, Sonny arrived in a new black Banshee and was waved through by the guards at the entrance to the Vercetti Estate.
He found Tommy standing at the steps talking to one of his men. Sonny noticed, as he drove closer, that it was in fact the same man he had seen yesterday with the red hair and the other guy that looked like him was standing beside him. As Sonny drove into Tommy's view, the two men walked off, disappearing into the building. Tommy turned and raised his chin at Sonny as he walked down the stairs toward him. Sonny parked his car where he had yesterday and met Tommy at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey, kid." Tommy said, shaking his hand. "Did you get squared away? Got everything you needed?"
Sonny nodded his head. "Yeah, everything's cool."
"Good, good." He started back up the stairs. "C'mon inside."
They headed up to Tommy's office and Tommy entered to see a man sitting in one of the seats wearing a cowboy hat and dressed like one. Tommy turned to him. "Sonny, this is Avery Carrington, one of my business associates. Avery, this is Sonny Carter, one of my new recruits. He just got in yesterday from good old Liberty City." Avery stood and shook Sonny's hand. "How do ya' do?" He said.
"How ya' doin?" Sonny replied, returning the handshake.
Avery sat back down in his seat and asked, "So, how you like our fare city, Sonny?"
Sonny smiled, nodded his head. "It's nice." He looked at Tommy. "Nice and hot."
They all laughed then Tommy spoke up.
"Avery and I were just talking business, so, uh, why don't you just have a seat." Tommy said, sitting down at his desk and motioning to the seat next to Avery. "Ok, so continue." He looked to Avery.
Avery leaned forward. "All right, Tommy, here's what happened. I get a call from one a' my floor managers working this construction site over in Little Haiti. Y'know, the old Haitian compound that got blown away. Anyway, the manager starts jabbering that there's been guys there pushing for him to leave the premises or else there's going to be trouble. I figure it's the Cubans, y'know; since they now own the Haitian territory. Now, all in all, I'd just send some of my guys down there and take care of it. I'd take it there'd be some trouble, some bodies, I could take care of all that, but I don't like violence, Tommy, you know that, it costs money. So, I was hoping you could head down there and take care of it for me, considering you have contacts with the Cubans and you can, y'know, deal with them better than me."
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, sure, no problem, Avery. I got business I got to discuss with them anyway."
"Thank ya', Tommy, much appreciated." Avery smiled and nodded.
"So the drunk says 'Rechtem? It damn near killed 'em!'" Avery laughed as the group walked down the stairs. Tommy and Sonny joined in the laughter as Sonny secretly tried to figure out the joke in his head.
A black limo pulled up in front of them and Avery opened one of the doors, getting in. "Well, good to meet ya', Sonny. Tommy, thanks again."
He got in and the limo pulled out the driveway. Tommy turned to Sonny. "Ok, let's go for a ride."
Sonny nodded to Tommy.
"Allright." Tommy walked toward his garage. He stopped and turned, snapping his fingers and pointed to a group of men standing on the steps. "Hey, Mario! MARIO! C'mon! Frankie, you too." Two of the men walked down the stairs.
"I hate that woman!" Mario muttered as he walked down.
"What woman, Mario?" Tommy asked as the garage opened and he walked around to driver's side of his white convertible Stinger.
"Oh, nothing, boss." Mario shook his head, scratching his neck. He got in the back with Frankie and Sully got in shotgun.
"Nice car." Sully said, admiring the car as he slipped into his seat.
Tommy turned the ignition. "Oh yeah?" He smiled. "This is one of my favorites." He pulled out the garage and turned down the driveway with ease, spinning the wheel with his palm. As they drove onto the road, Tommy pointed at the glove compartment in front of Sonny. "Open that up."
Sonny leaned forward and clicked open the compartment. A slick, silver handgun sat inside.
"Take it." Tommy said, looking at him, driving with one hand. "I want ya' ta' have that." Sonny took the gun and held it in his hands. "The first thing I learned here," Tommy continued. "Is always pack some heat."
"Right." Sonny nodded, looking down at the gun. "Who'd you learn that from?" He looked up at him.
Tommy looked forward, his expression changing. After a moment he said, "An old friend of mine, an old partner."
"Oh." Sonny replied. Tommy nodded, still looking forward. Sonny asked, "What happened to this partner of yours?"
"I killed him." Tommy replied, and Sonny stared at him. Tommy glanced at him, seeing his stare, then looked forward, driving down the road.
The car stopped in the street in front of the Café Robina and all four of them got out. Tommy looked about then walked into the café with Sonny, Mario, and Frankie following behind him.
Umberto Robina was sitting at the bar talking to his father when he looked up and saw Tommy enter. "Tommy!" He said, smiling and standing. He walked over to him.
"How ya' doing, Umberto?" Tommy said, as Umberto patted his shoulders.
"Good, my friend. Hey, I saw that movie you told me about, de Scarface!" Umberto replied. "I love it, man, I love it!"
"I told ya' you would." He turned to Sonny. "Umberto, this is one of my new men, Sonny Carter. He's new in town, comes from the same place I did, Liberty City."
"How you do?" Umberto said. "Any friend of Tommy, he friend of mine, ok?"
Sonny shook his hand and nodded, smiling.
"Ok, Umberto, we need to talk." Tommy said. Umberto stepped closer to him.
"What you need, Tommy?" Umberto said, sitting down at the bar as Tommy sat beside him.
"Y'know that construction happening over in Little Haiti?" Tommy continued.
"What chu talkin' 'bout?" Umberto picked up his drink and took a swig.
"Where the Haitian joint used to be, the old compound."
Umberto swallowed his drink down. "Uh.oh, yeah. Yeah, right. What about it?"
"Yeah, well, I need it left alone."
"Uh?"
"I need you to keep your boys away from it." Tommy said. "The guy whose behind it is one of my partners and asked for me to take care of the place."
"Tommy, I don't know what chu talkin' 'bout!" Umberto said. "My boys don't mess wit' no place, if they have, I would know."
Tommy looked at him. "You haven't sent any boys over there to push the construction guys away?"
"No, my friend, I didn't know anybody was doing work on the place, everyone thinking it was haunted and all."
"No?"
"No."
Tommy sat back and thought to himself.
"You got problems, Thomas? You need our help?" Umberto's father said from behind the bar.
"No, no, it's allright, Pape." Tommy said, rising. "I gotta' go." He turned and motioned to Sonny and the others to follow him.
"Hey, Tommy! You need any help, you call me, eh?" Umberto called behind them.
Tommy turned to him. "You got it, Umberto." They walked back to the car. As they drove down the street Mario spoke up in the back.
"What's going on, boss?"
Tommy turned the corner. "I don't know." He said. "Let's head over to the construction site."
"How long we gonna' wait here boss?" Mario asked, moving about in his seat.
Tommy chewed on a piece of gum. "Until whoever it is who's causing the problems comes back."
They had been sitting in Tommy's Stinger for the last hour, waiting, staking out the construction site, watching as workers continued working on the site, all edgy and scared.
"How we gonna' know who it is when they come?" Frankie asked.
"We'll know who it is, don't worry." Tommy said. After a moment, he said to Sonny without looking at him, "So, Sonny, what part of Liberty are you from."
Sully smiled. "Oh, uh, Portland. Portland Island."
"Right." He replied. "And who was it you worked for?"
"Well, I worked for whoever was offering. I worked for almost everyone, I guess." Sonny said.
Tommy nodded. "Who'd you like working for more?"
"Huh?" Sonny replied.
"Between the Forellis and the Leones?" Tommy looked over at him. "Who'd you like better?"
Sonny looked him, saw that Tommy was asking a lot more then he was just asking and shrugged his shoulders, looking forward. "I don't know, I liked both of them, but I guess I like the Leones better."
Tommy nodded, still looking at him. "Yeah, the Leones always knew how to run things better. Old man Leone." He said to himself, looking down. "He still alive, that old fart?"
Sonny didn't let his emotions betray him. He smiled. "Yeah, he's still alive. Still an asshole."
Tommy laughed. "Yeah." He smile, still looking down. "What about those two boys of his? They still alive too? I figured they'd at least be dead by now."
"Hey, boss, there you go." Mario suddenly said, interrupting them. Up ahead of them, a car pulled up on the road in front of the construction site and two men got out.
"They're packing." Sonny said.
"Yeah." Frankie said behind him.
"OK, let's go." Tommy said, getting out, and everyone following. They walked across the street. As they made their way to them, the two men were already pushing about the manager, yelling at him. "Hey!" Tommy yelled. The two men looked over at him. "Come 'ere." Tommy said, stopping and waving them over. Mario and Frankie stared the men down, holding onto their handguns in their belts. The two men suddenly looked confused and almost afraid and walked over.
They came over to Tommy and he turned to them. "You know who I am?" He asked the first man. The first man looked at him, and nodded nervously. "You know who I am?" Tommy asked the second man. The second man also nodded nervously. Tommy looked them down for a moment. "What you doing here?"
The men looked nervously at Frankie and Mario, but avoided glancing at Sonny, who was staring them down harshly. "What our boss told us to do." The first man said.
"Who's your boss?" Tommy asked, interrupting him. They didn't reply. "Who's your boss?" They still didn't reply. Mario stepped forward, pulling his gun free. Tommy motioned for him to step back. He looked at the men. "Give me your wallets." He said, holding out his hand. After both Frankie and Mario stepped forward, the two men pulled out their wallets and handed them to Tommy.
Tommy looked through the wallets and pulled out the licenses, looking at them. He looked up at the two men. "You may know who I am, but now I know who you are, ya' understand?"
The two men nodded. Tommy handed back the wallets and slipped the licenses in his shirt pocket.
"Now, who's your boss?"
After a moment, the first man spoke up. "Bobby Sentangio."
"Bobby Sentangio?" Tommy repeated. "Well, you tell this Sentangio that if he wants to do anything in Vice City, I mean take a breath or take a piss, he talks to me first, understand?"
The two men nodded.
"Now, I get anymore trouble from this Sentangio and I'm gonna' kill him. And I'm gonna' kill both a' you too." Tommy said. "Now, my advice to your boss is to get out of town, 'cause you already pissed me off with this little act here. Now get out of here." Tommy waved them away, and then walked back to the car, Sonny walking beside him.
Mario and Frankie stepped forward, pushing the men back to their car. "But-but you took our licenses." The first man pleaded.
Mario stepped forward. "Get the fuck outta' here!" He yelled, moving to the man about to pistol whip him. The two men hurried to the car and drove off. "Fucking punks." Mario said, as everyone laughed.
Tommy walked to the side and said some words to the manager, then walked back toward the car, the rest following behind them. As they got in, Mario said, "Boss, who's this Sentangio guy then?"
"I don't know. Who ever he is he's got some big balls if he thinks he can mess with Vice City. Especially if he knows who I am and knows I run this place."
Sonny looked over. "Where we going now, then?"
Tommy turned the wheel as they got back on the long stretch of highway. "Going to see somebody who knows something."
"How do you know he'll know something?" Sonny asked.
Tommy almost smiled. "Trust me. He'll know something."
Kent Paul was taking another drink when a hand slapped his shoulder. He turned. "Whasat? Tommy, me ol' son, how you been, mate?"
There was much activity at The Malibu and Sonny smiled as the memories of the first time he had been here those few nights ago flooded through his head.
"Paul, I need some information." Tommy began.
"What else would you come to me for, sunshine? C'mon then, what ya' need, chum?" Paul replied.
Tommy leaned on the bar next to Paul. "What do you know about this guy Sentangio? Bobby Sentangio?"
"Sentangio? You mean the dark geezer from downtown? Stay away from him, mate."
"Wait, he's black?" Sonny suddenly asked. Paul looked at him.
"Naw, naw. He's a tan, mate, gets a lot of the sunshine." Paul replies. "Takes good care a' his skin, one dem toggers."
"Allright, allright." Tommy said. "What do you know about him?"
Paul creaked his neck. "He's a tosser, allright. Up the ass, mate. I wouldn't touch him, Tommy."
Tommy almost smiled. "Touch him? I am Vice City, Paul. I can do anything I want." He leaned closer, threatening Paul.
"Oi! No burn, mate! I'm just laying the dust, son! You don't want to mess wit' dis geezer, that' all I'm saying, he's a dangerous bloke."
"Look, let me take care of myself. Where can I find him?"
"Allright, mate." Paul waved his hands in the air. "You can find him at the docks, west end. He's running arms through there last I heard, might even be doing business with dem Columbians, that uh, Umberto, that 'is name?"
"Ok, thanks, Paul." Tommy walked past him.
Paul looked at Sonny. "Oi, I remember you from the other night. Sonny, right?"
Sonny nodded, shaking his hand. "Yeah."
"Yous' working for ol' Tommy then, that's a coffin nail, mate." Paul said.
Sonny just stared at him, trying to understand what he said.
Paul leaned closer to him. "You take it peachy with Tommy, mate. He's a good bloke an' all, but you take it peachy, allright?" Paul raised his glass, winked at him, and then downed the rest of his drink.
Sonny shook his head, then turned and followed after Tommy out the club.
They drove up toward the port area but parked their car back a few blocks and walked the rest of the way. Sonny soon realized Tommy was hoping to get the drop on this Bobby Sentangio and soon enough, they were sneaking around buildings, searching and searching till they saw some guards standing around a certain building. From where they were, they could see inside and saw a tall man, looking about Tommy's size and weight, slapping this other man to the ground. The smaller man, whom was getting beat, was shorter and a lot skinner, and was helpless to defend himself. Yet he kept getting up.
Tommy turned to Frankie. "Frankie, head back and get some more boys here quick."
"You got it boss." Frankie said, moving off to the side.
"And Frankie!" Tommy called back. "Have 'em come in shooting 'cause shits going to be going down probably by the time you get back."
Frankie nodded and snuck off out of view. Sonny suddenly felt his heart beating. It had been a while since he had been in a gunfight, or a big one for that matter. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
"I swear!" They heard the big guy yell as he slapped the man down to the ground again.
Finally, Tommy had seen enough. "Hey!" He screamed, coming out from undercover. The big man turned and saw Tommy, started walking toward him, his men circling behind him with their guns. Sonny emerged and stood behind Tommy, with Mario behind him. Frankie was nowhere to be seen.
"Who the hell are you?" The big guy asked.
"Tommy Vercetti." He said out flat and it had the effect he hoped for. Everyone stopped walking, even the guy in the back that had been beaten up rose his head at this, even thought it must have hurt. "You Bobby Sentangio?" He called to the big guy.
The big guy nodded. "Yeah, that's me." He wasn't scarred like everyone else, he seemed angry.
"So then you're the punk who's been doing business in my neighborhood?" Tommy called.
Sentangio stared straight at him. "I didn't know the Port was your neighborhood. And who you calling a punk!"
Tommy shook his head, smiling. "No, no, you're not listening!" He called back. "The Port isn't my neighborhood, Vice City is my neighborhood, you understand? And anyone who operates in my neighborhood without my knowing, is a punk, ok?"
"Is that right?" Sentangio said, looking to the side at some of his men. Sonny then thought he saw something move on top of a building near them and without really thinking at all, Sonny dove forward as a single shot rang out and Sonny knocked into Tommy, pulling him down behind some boxes as Sentangio and his men opened up, bullets scorching the air all around them.
"Sniper!" Sonny screamed, "They got a god-damn sniper!" Suddenly, felt cool liquid on his hand and looked at it to see it was blood. He snapped his head to Tommy.
Tommy was smiling. "It's allright, just grazed my arm." He said, holding his arm. He looked up at Sonny, suddenly pausing. "Y'know, kid, you just saved my life." But before the moment could last any longer, Tommy rose and fired a few shots at Sentangio and his men, only to have another shot from the sniper narrowly miss him, scorching his left cheek. Sonny pulled him down.
"You got to stay down, Tommy. We can't do shit while that sniper's up there!" Sonny screamed over the gun fire.
Tommy nodded, feeling his cheek. "Yeah, you're right." He looked back and saw Mario farther back behind some cover, his was beyond the range of the sniper. "Mario!" He called over the gunfire. "Go around and see if you can shuffle out that damn sniper!"
Mario screamed, "I'll take care of it, boss!" And ran behind the side of a building. Even for his huge size, Sonny saw, he moved faster then most men he had seen.
"I hope Frankie gets back soon!" Tommy said, and sort of laughed. He looked at Sonny. "How many men did you count?"
"Including Sentangio and that guy he was beating up," Sonny thought for a moment. "About twenty, twenty-five."
"Yeah," Tommy yelled. "I though that too." He looked farther down the boxes and saw a gap between a few. He pointed with his gun and said, "See if you can get a look at them! See how close they are!"
Sonny was already crawling to the spot as Tommy was yelling and saw the men, mostly all hiding behind cover. Some were moving closer but they were still a distance away. Sonny crawled back to Tommy.
"They're still pretty far back." He pointed in front of them. "Hey, if the shit really gets hot," Sonny called, "We can jump off the dock into the water!"
Tommy nodded and then turned, looking up toward the sniper. It was just then the sniper turned from his position and looked behind him. Tommy knew then it was Mario and raised his gun, firing at the back of the sniper. His first shot went wide but his second shot connected with the sniper's shoulder, sending him spinning then falling off the building, to his death.
"Nice shot, Tommy!" Sonny called.
"Experience, kid!" He called back. "Allright, let's give these assholes something to take cover from!" He yelled. "One, two, THREE!" He screamed and they both rose, firing their handguns at the oncoming forces. Three men went down, and the rest dove for cover. Those stupid enough to stay and fire back were also dropped to the ground.
They leaned back against the cover, Tommy reloading and Sonny pulling out the other gun from the back of his pants.
"I got four at least!" Tommy yelled over the returning fire, sliding the clip in and chambering a round.
"I think I got two!" Sonny replied, chambering a round on his new gun. Tommy looked at it and then at Sonny. "Oh, I got this the day I came here!" He said. "I come from Liberty City too, Tommy!" He said and Tommy still looked surprised then smiled and rose with him to fire more shots at the oncoming men.
Soon enough, the men were coming closer and closer and Tommy and Sonny were running out of ammo. Without either one saying a thing, they looked to the edge of the dock and nodded to each other, then rose and charged toward it as the oncoming men were almost on top of them, firing at their heels.
Sentangio jumped atop the boxes they were using for cover and fired after them, screaming "Get 'em!"
Sonny and Tommy ran and ran as puffs of pavements exploded around them, bullets hitting everything but them. They came to the edge and jumped, flying into mid-air and slammed down into the water, disappearing as Sentangio and his men came up and fired down into the water.
Beneath the crisp, cool surface, Tommy pulled Sonny back with him as they pressed against the wall of the port, watching as bullets shot down through the water in front of them, leaving trails of white bubbles. Soon enough, the shots ceased but they still heard gunfire above them. They realized it was Tommy's men now firing at Sentangio and his men and then realized they couldn't hold their breath for much longer.
They swan to the side and came up between to boats in the harbor and crawled onto them, then hid behind the rigging and watched the scene. They heard a splash from where they had just swam from and realized it was just a body dropping into the water.
Soon enough, the battle was over and Tommy's men were victorious. Tommy and Sonny emerged and Mario ran up to them, asking if they were allright and then telling them that Frankie had been killed during the skirmish. Sonny didn't really feel to much pain, this was the life he had been living. This was all he had known, people died all the time. Yet it was still a weird feeling inside him, to have been working with a man hours ago and now he was dead.
Inside the building, the man whom Sentangio had been beating up had been scrambling to his feet as Tommy's men came up to him, pointing their guns at him. Tommy was outside talking with some of his men while Sonny had walked into the building and seen the commotion.
"Hey, guys!" He yelled to the men and noticed they all stopped. "Back off, fellas, back off." He said, waving them away, walking toward the guy. The guy looked scared, Sonny could see, but he stood up to his full height.
"What's your name?" Sonny asked, having a sudden interest in the man. He didn't know what it was at first, perhaps just that the man was standing at full height. When he didn't reply, Sonny asked again, coming closer.
"Maddie." The man said quickly, as if trying to get Sonny to stop coming closer.
"Maddie." Sonny repeated, nodding. He raised his hand. "I'm Sonny."
Maddie looked at his hand then at Sonny and after a moment shook his hand.
Sonny smiled. "So, you, uh, work for Sentangio?"
"Worked." Maddie replied, wiping his mouth free of the blood that had been there, caused by Sentangio.
Sonny nodded. "What did you do for him?"
"Ran his books. Organized things, y'know, normal stuff." Maddie shrugged.
"So you were his brains?" Sonny said.
Maddie nodded, almost smiling. "He needed some, I'll tell ya' that."
Sonny laughed. "You didn't like working for him, did ya'?"
Maddie shook his head.
Sonny nodded again. "Well, from what I see, you're out of a job now, so, how about."
Tommy walked in then, seeing Sonny talking to Maddie. "Hey, who's this?"
Sonny turned to him. "He's that guy Sentangio was beating on when we walked in."
"Oh." Tommy said. "He work for him?"
"Yeah, he was his brains." Sonny replied.
Tommy nodded, then looked to one of his men and motioned toward Maddie. Sonny saw emmediently what was happening. "No, no, wait. Tommy." He walked to Tommy and spoke low to him. "I like this guy, Tommy, I think we can use him."
"Like him, kid, you don't even know him." Tommy replied.
"I know, but," He looked back at Maddie. "There's something about him, I'm getting this feeling."
Tommy looked at Maddie. "I don't know, kid."
"Hey, Tommy," Sonny said. "You didn't know me and look where we are now."
Tommy looked at Sonny. Shaking his head and smiling, he said, "Fine, shack him up some place, but he's your responsibility."
Sonny nodded, smiled then turned nodded to Maddie.
Walking away, Tommy held an arm around Sonny's shoulders. "Now, Sonny, I don't want you to let this day form any opinion on your part. Vice City really is a nice place once you get used to it!"
They both started laughing and soon all of Tommy's men joined in.
END OF CHAPTER 5
To be continued
Author's note: Okay, so begins the Vice City saga. But don't worry, we'll be back with the GTA3 crew before you know it, but trust me, when you're done with this Vice City Saga, you'll have wished we never left!
Next chapter: Sonny Leone, I mean.Sonny Carter, is making his way up the chain. He's got some from Mercedes, Tommy Vercetti likes him, and it seems he's going to get some more work, what could be wrong? Wait and find out. Next chapter: HIS NAME WAS TAYLOR.