Chapter Six; How Far Human Affairs are Governed by Fortune and how Fortune can be Opposed Part 1

Raiding Blitzer's house, Niccolo knew he had to move fast. After Fabienne and Ernie were out of the house, he told Butch to find the gasoline to set the house on fire. He didn't want any evidence against to be discovered by the police.

He ransacked the money in the house, finding a hundred thousand at least. Niccolo's hands trembled as he packed the money in a small bag. It had taken him a long time to find Blitzer's hiding spot, clearly meant to serve as an emergency cash flow. He had spent the last half hour tearing up the house from top to bottom as fast as he could while Butch took the car keys, gave them to Fabienne, and went back inside to stand guard, Blitzer's shotgun in his hand.

Niccolo smiled to himself as he finished collecting the money. Butch might want a cut of that, and he'd lie about the amount he'd found. Butch owed him anyway. He was going to introduce him to Charley.

When he'd finished, he yelled out to Butch, "You found the gasoline yet?"

"Yeah,' Butch replied, 'Let's get the fuck outta here, Nick!"

Niccolo suddenly noticed a roll of dollar bills that he'd forgotten. He counted them and saw that they totaled twenty thousand. He smiled and held it in his hand as he headed out.

He called to Butch, who looked up from pouring gasoline on Blitzer's corpse.

"Here. Take it. This is for you and your wife. It's part of what I found. There wasn't much, so don't complain."

Butch took the money, nodding. He didn't show any sign of suspicion, "What the hell were you doing back there then?"

"Checking some of his clients. Apparently he was working for Marsellus on the side,' Niccolo replied, knowing the mention of that name would forever turn Butch against Blitzer.

Hurling a match on the gasoline, Niccolo fled the house as fast as he could, feeling the heat spreading fast.

Fabienne was sitting in the back seat, Ernie in her arms. Niccolo shoved the keys into the ignition, while Butch literally took shotgun.

Butch turned to Fabienne, "Okay, sweetie, I need you to be real strong for me, okay?"

Fabienne looked terrified, "What happened to Bronson? Is he dead?"

Butch paused, and reluctantly nodded, "He tried to kill Nick here and would have killed you and me too, baby. Don't worry, we're getting out of here to get our money back, okay?"

Fabienne gave a shaky sigh and clutched the silent infant to her breast, as if Ernie was the one reason for her sanity.

Niccolo was about to drive forward, when a shiver went down his back as he heard sirens approaching. They must have seen the smoke and knew instantly where it was coming from.

He heard the rumble of their cars, and knew he had to drive fast to get out of here. Revving the engine, he sped off down the street, as far away from those sirens as possible.

Without looking away from the road, Niccolo spoke to Butch, "Are they coming behind us?"

Butch looked in the rear-view mirror, "I don't see them yet."

Niccolo sighed as he kept driving, trying to turn as many corners as he could. He knew that cops like Scagnetti were looking for him and he would never go back to jail if it killed him.

He glanced quickly at Butch, "You got any clue where we can hide?"

Butch looked at the road signs, "Yeah, there's a park on the end of this street. Just keep driving it and you'll be able to hide out in a clump of trees."

"Not good enough, Butch. It'll cause too much attention!" Niccolo retorted.

Suddenly a police car materialized out of nowhere in front of them. Niccolo screamed as he swerved out of the way, while Butch prepared to shoot if necessary. The cop car might not chase them, after all.

They were disappointed. The car began chasing them, hot on their trail. Niccolo could hear and feel the cop car knocking the back of their car.

Niccolo groaned, "Oh man, this is so-" He just stopped himself from swearing at a look from Butch.

Fabienne, looking paralysed with fear, suddenly frowned and looked into the rear-view mirror, "Oh my god! It's that cop!"

Niccolo ground his teeth; Scagnetti must have taken a detour to catch up to Blitzer's car. If only he had been thinking properly, he would never have made that mistake.

He looked at Butch, "Shoot the tires!"

As Niccolo maneuvered his way through the sparse traffic, Butch leaned out the window and fired. He missed the tires, but hit the car's hood. In response, a cop in shotgun position leaned out to fire at Butch.

Niccolo growled as he turned around another corner. Scagnetti was determined to catch them. And the longer this chase went on, the more cops Scagnetti could recruit.

Butch fired his round empty at the car, mostly missing because of Niccolo's swift turns and zigzag strategy, "Stand still, Nick!" He finally bellowed. Niccolo didn't want to do it, but he decided that Butch knew what he was doing.

Butch prepared to fire, but suddenly a car zoomed out of nowhere to smash into the back of the cop car, spinning it out of control. Quickly, Niccolo turned right to head for the train station and get out of California for good.

Butch sat back in his seat, sighing heavily, "Let's get out of this place."

Niccolo grinned, "I'm with you on that one."

They drove to the train station as fast as they could, hastily paying for the next train to Phoenix, Arizona. Even as they sat down in the train, they could hear sirens massing outside the train station. But by then they were already out of the station.

Niccolo watched the city of Blythe get smaller and smaller in his window, and he sighed, "About time."

He smiled to himself as he pulled out his copy of The Prince to calm his nerves. Maybe it could give him an explanation for this amazing good luck he'd just had. He flipped through until he found what he was looking for; "How Far Human Affairs are Governed by Fortune and how Fortune can be Opposed".

I am not unaware that many have held and hold the opinion that events are controlled by fortune and by God in such a way that the prudence of men cannot moldify them, indeed, that men have no influence whatsoever. Because of this, they would conclude that to the rulings of chance. This opinion has been more widely held in our own times, because of the great changes and variations, beyond human imagining, which we have experienced and experience every day. Sometimes, when thinking of this, I have myself inclined to this same opinion. None the less, so as not to rule out our free will, I believe that it is probably true that fortune is the arbiter of half the things we do, leaving the other half or so to be controlled by ourselves.

Niccolo sighed, as he looked at Butch, "How the hell did we get out of that situation?"

Butch nodded, "I'm asking myself that right now. Thank God for that one car, eh?"

"You can thank me in person."

The three adults looked at the man who had spoken. A large black man who looked to be in his thirties with a well trimmed beard and moustache and clean clothes that looked brand new. He stared at them with a curious interest as he sat down across the aisle from them.

Niccolo stared at the man, "You knocked Scagnetti off our trail?"

The man nodded, smiling with an amused look, "And why do you think that happened?"

Butch shrugged awkwardly, "Because you chose to help us."

The man considered that, "Yeah that can work, but I personally believe that there was divine intervention that day."

Niccolo frowned, "You're telling me that God put you in the positiont to help us?"

The man nodded again, "That's right."

Niccolo looked back at the book he read, and then looked up again, "But you didn't have to listen to God even if he did do that."

The man frowned as he considered that, and shrugged, "That's an interesting way of putting it. So, my man, how did you get in with Butch Coolidge here?"

Niccolo was surprised, "How do you know who Butch is?"

The man smiled again, "'Cause I'm Jules Winnfield, one of the guys who was supposed to kill the bastard."