Giovanni and Ricardo sat at a table in the office playing cards and waiting for someone to ring up. It was five in the morning, the morning rush would be beginning very shortly. "Bruh, do you got any spades?" Ricardo asked
Giovanni replied by instructing him to 'go fish.' Just then the bell above the doorframe rang to indicate somebody had come in. Giovanni looked up at the door to see his mother carrying three large coffee's from the 24/7 down the street, as well as balancing her Gucci handbag in the crook of her left arm.
"Hola, boys!" She said pushing the door closed with the heel of her fur boot. "How are you this morning?" She said in an accent that still hinted at Puerta Rican origins even after living in Liberty City for over twenty years, and was now mostly reminiscent of a stereotypical Bohan one.
"Good, mama," Giovanni said after getting out of his chair to help his mother carry her things in. He sat the coffees down on the front desk while his mother slid in behind the computer, putting her handbag at her feet. She let out a deep breath.
"My Gawd, traffic is awful this mornin'" She started pushing her fringe out of hr face. "Where's ya father?" She asked handing both Giovanni and Ricardo coffee.
"I have no idea," Giovanni replied, taking off the lid of the paper cup to help it cool down. Just as his mother was about to make a sly remark about her husband's whereabouts, the telephone rang.
"Hold, on. I better take this." She said picking up the phone. "Good morning, this is Bellic Enterprises, how can we be of service?"
The two young men returned to their table, Ricardo had braved the coffee by taking a sip before allowing it to cool. You could see the pain in his eyes as he swallowed the scorching liquid. "Aw man. I needed this. You know how early I got up this morning?"
"Oh I do," Giovanni replied. "I was there." Ricardo rolled his eyes.
"No problem, I'll send one of my boys to pick you up. have a nice day." Giovanni's mother said hanging up the phone. "Gino, I need you to go pick up some guys on Frankfort Avenue. And Ricardo, you should go too because they did sound pretty drunk and we need someone to beat them up if they don't pay." Ricardo giggled.
"Yeah, Okay. I'm on it." Giovanni said, exiting through the back door and into the garage. The two of them jumped in the taxi closest to the rolling door. Once it had gone up, Gino turned the key and took off down the driveway and into the street.
"I can't believe we've got to go all the way to Algonquin for this shit." He mumbled, sipping his coffee as the sat at a red light.
"Don't be so salty G, it's another adventure. You never know the kinds of people you might meet at this job."
"Oh yeah? I just thought I'd be driving around drunks and gangster's who are too poor to pay for a normal ab issued by to council. Well, excuse me." Giovanni said sarcastically.
"Why can't you be more enthusiastic, you are your father's fun for goodness sake."
"Fine, I don't have my father's enthusiasm, sure. But I also don't have a gambling addiction and a fifty-inch waistline, does that not count for something?" Ricardo said nothing.
"Roman is a good man," He added after a while.
"For chrissake, you sound like Mohammud." Giovanni groaned as he turned onto Broker Bridge.
"Hey, I liked Mohammud." Ricardo protested.
"Ric, you like everyone. That's your problem, you're too fucking nice." Gino said throwing his hands in the air. "Besides, we let Mohammad go for good reason."
"I know, I know," Ricardo said in an attempt to calm Giovanni.
After another few minutes of driving, the taxi pulled up in central Algonquin. "Where are these guys?" Gino said under his breath, sipping his coffee.
"Here they come," Ricardo said pointing to two guys stumbling down the road. Laughing and shoving each other all the way.
"Jesus Christ," Giovanni snarled before winding down his window and honking the horn. "Hurry up! I wanna go home!" he yelled
"Oh my God." Ricardo laughed at his friend's impatience. The two men approach the cab and got in either side. "So where are we taking you both?"
The two men struggled to speak, giggling whenever they opened their mouths. Giovanni struggled to not scream at them. "Okay," said one of the guys. "Take us back to Hotel Inn on Albany Avenue."
Giovanni sighed as Ricardo entered the directions into the taxi meter "We'll get there in no time." Ricardo reassured them.
"Hm," Giovanni responded, pushing the gear stick into drive.
When they arrived at the motel, the total bill gave to $25. One of the men gave Giovanni a fifty dollar bill, which he took without giving them change, the guys didn't seem to notice as they stumbled out of the cab and into the hotel lobby. Giovanni made a u-turn and started heading back to the Broker Depot. Ricardo looked at him disapprovingly.
"What? They tipped well." He smirked waving the fifty dollar bill at him.
"They were Italian tourists, I'm sure that the extra twenty-five dollars were a tip."
Giovanni giggled as he rolled up the note and stuck it in his breast pocket. "This is why we don't drink too much, Ric. You'll remember that next time you call for an illegal taxi."
"Thanks, bus. What a good tip." Ricardo responded rolling his eyes. Giovanni pulled up into the garage at the depot. The two of them jumped out and took the back entrance into the store. By this time, the sun was now high in the sky, for driving from Broker to Algonquin and back again had taken them over an hour.
"Why do I do this job?" Giovanni asked wiping the sweat off of his brow.
"Because you love your family and because you are struggling to pay for that nice Penthouse apartment of yours."
Giovanni shrugged. "That's true."