Chapter 22: Tale of Two Gangsters

TJ waited in the living room with a bottle of gin in one hand and his Desert Eagle in the other. It was late; 2:30 in the morning to be exact and TJ was tired and sore. He put the bottle on the coffee table along with his gun and exchanged them for an ice pack and a cigarette. TJ applied the ice pack to his jaw and brought his smoke to his lips before taking a long drag.

Unknown to TJ was Spinelli who was watching from the stairs. She could see that he was hurting but really didn't feel that she could make her presence known to him. After all she was sure that her past actions over the last few weeks were going through his mind right now. Most of them were subtle things all designed to out do the younger Spinelli who Spinelli somehow felt threatened by. Spinelli couldn't even explain it to herself but she felt that as long as little Ashley was there she would somehow stand in the way of TJ and herself.

Things like having unofficial cooking contests in the kitchen. Despite being only seven the younger Ashley was a gifted chef and could almost match Spinelli dish for dish. Most of these ended well enough though TJ had picked up on the strange rivalry. To keep the score even TJ would simply eat a dish from each and refrain from commenting on them. Naturally all of these contests lead to extra food being around but Gretchen was happy to have it around since she was eating more being some six months pregnant now.

Ashley descended the stair case and walked past "Ms. Spinelli" as she called her. Ashley wouldn't tell her father that Spinelli was watching him but she would make Spinelli so mad at her with what she had planned.

TJ looked up at the sound of small feet descending the stairs. Ashley appeared from them and made her way to him before climbing up on the couch, planting herself on her father's lap and snuggling into his warm embrace. TJ held his daughter for some time in silence before he spoke.

"Why are you up Ashley?"

"You weren't asleep so I came down to check on you."

"Hmph…" TJ responded and started to take another drag from his cigarette.

"I thought you said you would stop." Ashley said stopping TJ in mid drag.

TJ exhaled and put out his cigarette in the palm of his hand. "It's a soldier's vice…" He started.

"But not a father's." Ashley finished for him. "I'm getting you some patches and dog biscuits in the morning.

TJ sighed in defeat. He had not put up a fight because he had promised to stop but it had proved harder to do then say since it was his only real escape from the world though a terrible one. And now Ashley was going to make him quit cold turkey.

On the stair case Spinelli had been staring daggers at Ashley. She knew that Ashley was was trying to make her made and jealous and it was working. All of the toying Ashley was doing with her only made Spinelli believe that Ashley was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Unable to watch any more Spinelli returned to her room.

"You got in another fight didn't you?" Ashley asked her father. It was a rhetorical question in truth but it prevented silence. The ice pack and the bruise that was forming on TJ's jaw was enough evidence that TJ had been working again.

"Not my fault they wouldn't listen to your mother's demands."

"Why do you still do it?" Ashley asked looking up at her father with her big round pools of soft brown.

"Do what?" TJ asked.

"Do for the Doña."

"Florence is still your mother even if you won't admit it. I owe her for the some of the things she taught me when I was younger. You know that Ash."  TJ answered.

Ashley couldn't see why her father felt so obligated to stay under her birth mother's thumb. In his other career her father was more powerful then her mother. Ashley wanted nothing more then her father to crush her mother so that she would not have to endure the things her mother made her do.

"She's not my mother." Ashley replied heatedly.

"You still need a mother."

"She's not!" Ashley repeated in the same tone.

The argument would have escalated if Mikey hadn't come in the front door. He had dried blood on the side of his head that seemed to be coming from a cut on his head.

"Out late?" TJ asked calming retrieving his pistol from the coffee table, cocked it and aimed it lazily at Mikey.

Mikey looked at TJ bewildered. He hadn't noticed that TJ and the younger Ashley were up. His eyes widened when he saw the gun pointed at him.

"Sit." TJ said motioning to a chair. Mikey did as instructed.

"Where were you Mikey and how did you get such a wonderful trophy?" TJ asked speaking about Mikey's obvious injury.

"Um… Bar fight. Ya I went out to get a drink and um, had a few more then I meant to and got into a fight." Mikey replied uneasily.

"If you drank as much as you say then why can you still annunciate your words?" Ashley asked.

Mikey blinked at Ashley and stared at her a moment. Who would have ever guessed that she had such a sharp mind at such a young age? "I huh, umm…" Mikey floundered trying to think up a plausible answer.

"Mikey," TJ drew his attention back to him, "I'm gonna tell you something I want you to keep a secret. What I'm about to tell you is very important. So important I can't tell anyone else and if you do tell anyone Ashley will find out and turn your head to mush."

With that the ice pack lifted out of TJ's hand and was suspended in mid air. It then turned a few times and all the ice in it crunched as an unknown force crushed, twisted, and contorted it. Ashley only smiled.

"I known you have a side job as a muscle man for the crime family the Dread Eaters." TJ started off in a calm, cold voice.

Mikey remained silent but he went considerably whiter.

"I know because I am the one who gave you that little crack on the head with the chair." TJ continued showing Mikey his thin black mask. "I am the one they call 'the Jet.'"

A pause followed and all Mikey could do was nod.

"I'm telling you this because Vince and Gretchen don't need to know; they have future ahead of themselves. Gus and Spin just don't need to know and you are in the business so it only makes sense. Now, tell no soul or else Ashley will kill you if I don't get to you first." TJ stood up picking Ashley up in his arms in the process. "Get cleaned up and go to bed. From now on you work for the Spinelli family. This weekend I'll take you to your new Doña." With that TJ left Mikey in the living room to put Ashley to bed.

Once the soldier TJ or deadly mobster Jet left the room Mikey sat petrified in his chair. It was a lot of information to go through. Then some bits of the puzzle came crashing down. TJ must have been in the mob starting out as a child foot soldier back when the gang was all still kids. TJ had started to drift away when they were around 14. A year later the infamous Jet made his first appearance in the underworld. Some things made sense now that Mikey had some insight to a part of TJ's past.

The realization of all of this was too much for Mikey who noticed and took advantage of the gin that TJ left on the table proceeding to do as he had told Ashley he had done; drink more then intended.

Muy triste. So sad, I update and only get one review for my trouble. Because of that and due to my lack of inspiration I may put this on hold. I don't know. Perhaps I will finish this up quickly over the spring break and let you all have at it. We shall see. So the cat is out of the bag and congrats to those of you who guessed that Jet was TJ. More past and a nice little shocker in the next chapter. Heads up Vicki.

LockDown over and out …