Andre and I were left speechless that moment. I couldn't believe what the kid was telling me. I didn't believe him, not a word, but then there was something I couldn't deny about him and that was his resemblance to his old man. The same posture, the same facial features, the same behavior that I can't claim not to have been around for so long. So Andre and I took him to our new club. I went first while I knew Andre kept an eye on him the whole time, just in case he was a wiseguy looking to make a name by whacking us. However, had that been his goal, he could have just shot us as soon as we walked out of Purtaro's house.
Beck, Andre and Victor walked into the club before Andre closed and locked the door behind them. Beck motioned for Victor not to move.
"Against the wall, kid." Andre said. Victor let out a sigh as he leaned on the wall with his hands as Andre searched him for weapons.
"He's clean." Andre said a few moments later.
"I told the truth, guys." Victor said as he moved back from the wall.
"That's what I want to find out." Beck said as he walked towards the bar and sat down.
"Come on, talk to us." Andre said as he patted Victor on the back and walked behind the bar. Victor sat down on the bar chair next to Beck while Andre took some glasses and put them down on the bar before filling them with whiskey.
"You do understand that your story is hard to believe?" Beck asked him as he downed his drink.
"I do, I do… But it's the truth." Victor said before finishing his drink. "My mom is Joannie Kelp. I don't think you guys remember her." Victor said.
"Actually I do. Rob and she had something going for a while. She worked as a waitress in one of the bars." Andre explained.
"Yeah, she worked in Roy's bar back then. What were we, seventeen then?" Beck agreed, remembering her.
"Yes, that's her. I guess what Rob didn't tell you is how he knocked her up one night. He got really drunk and took her home. I think it was when you took over your first racket." Victor said.
"Holy shit, yes. That was when I saw her. You and Adam left early that evening and Rob and I stayed with the ladies." Andre said.
"The night Adam met Cat." Beck said, pointing at his glass, which Andre immediately filled.
"Mom found out that she was pregnant a few weeks later. He didn't take it well. Stopped seeing her and got her fired from the bar." Victor said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know that." Beck said.
"He never told you any of that?" Victor asked.
"No. He switched girls so often that none of us had ever even bothered asking. You would have needed a book to keep track of them all." Andre said.
"Well, he did come round a few months later. My mom told me he would send her some money every month, but I believe it was to make her shut up and keep her away from him. At one point he stopped sending money. She tried to call him, but to no avail. Two weeks later, she found out that he was killed. They found him buried in a hole on one of the farms north from LA." Victor explained.
"What do you know about that?" Beck asked.
"I know that it was you who whacked him. It's well known in LA that he was killed by his own crew for fucking up and wanting to rat out everyone to the feds." Victor said.
"Yes, you are correct." Andre said. "If you speak the truth, if you really are his son, how do we know that you are not here for your personal vendetta?" Andre asked.
Victor let out a loud laugh at that question, looking at both Andre and Beck before he looked back down and shook his head.
"I don't give a shit about him. He left my mom and me when we needed him the most so he could continue his fucking spree. As far as I'm concerned, he deserved what happened to him. A coward and a rat. What a great combination." Victor said in spite.
"Yes, he was all that. But he also was a great friend and capable man who made his mistakes in life. You didn't know him, and you have no idea what he went through in his short life." Beck said in defense of his friend.
"Fuck that. As if he is the only one who went through shit in his life." Victor said.
"This is going nowhere. Alright, you are Rob's kid. What do you need?" Andre asked. Victor let out a long sigh before answering Andre's question.
"I'm part of a crew myself. An associate of the leading family that now runs LA." Victor said.
"Bring me up to date on that." Beck said.
"Jackie Falcine is the boss of LA and his family is running eighty percent of it. They took over a few years after you guys left. A lot of kids like me wanted to join them because of the stories we heard about your old crew and what shit you pulled back then." Victor explained.
"They still talk about us?" Andre asked.
"Are you kidding me? You guys are fucking legends back home. Beck, Andre, Rob and Adam, Roy's little crew that firmly held LA like a nice tit." Victor said, earning a chuckle from both men. "Long story short, I got into trouble with one of his capos, Ralph."
"What happened?" Beck asked.
"I love gambling and he is one of the guys who holds poker games and other stuff. I was in one of those poker games he loves to hold. Just those Saturday night games in his place he does all the time. And one game, when it looked so good for me, I mean really good…"
"You got hustled and now owe him money." Beck finished.
"Gambling, huh? You really are Robbie's kid." Andre said while Beck chuckled at the comment.
"How much do you owe him?"
"A hundred." Victor admitted.
"A hundred grand?" Andre said. "They fucked you over real good."
"You can say that. Now he either wants his money or my head. And I don't have the money." Victor said.
"A hundred grand is a lot of money, kid." Andre said.
"I know."
"And what do you expect us to do about it?" Beck asked.
"I have no idea. Look, I came here because Ralph sent his dogs after me and I needed to get my head out of the sling I tied myself."
"How long have you been here?" Beck asked.
"Two months."
"And you had no idea that we are here?" Andre asked.
"No. I was sitting in a bar behind Purtaro's place, trying to figure a way out of my predicament when I heard that cocksucker run his mouth. Then I heard your names. I heard what happened, how you handled it and told myself that it must be you guys. I knew that you were alive and just settled somewhere else after Adam went crazy and killed Roy, Theodore and Dominique. And now I'm here." Victor explained.
"Well, what do you expect us to do, kid? I don't have a hundred grand in my pocket I can give you. Andre and I bought up this place because we need income ourselves." Beck said.
"So you can't help me." Victor said with a sigh.
"Sorry kid, that's too much money." Andre said.
"Alright. Sorry for wasting your time." Victor said as he got up and began walking towards the door. Andre and Beck looked at each other for a moment. They knew they thought the same thing.
"Wait." Beck said.
"What?" Victor asked.
"I can come to LA and talk to Ralph. Maybe I can talk him into a deal." Beck said. Victor turned around, not believing what Beck just offered him.
"I'll go with you. You can't go into one of those meetings by yourself." Andre said, at which Beck nodded in agreement.
"We'll go there, talk to him, and cut a deal, whatever. My guess is we'll have to do some jobs for him as compensation." Beck said.
"Thank you guys." Victor said.
"Hey, you are back. Did you talk to Richie?" Carlo asked as he walked down the stairs.
"Yes, we did. He won't bother you anymore. Now, take this money and fix this place up." Andre said as he handed Carlo the money.
"Alright. Thank you guys."
"Carlo, we'll have some business to do for a few days, so take care of everything while we are gone." Beck said as he, Andre and Victor walked out of the club.
Go back to LA. I'd rather stick my arm into burning oil, but what can I do? Rob's kid needs my help and after what Rob did to him and his mother and what we did to his father, I had to help him. I owe that much to Robbie for everything he had done for me. And I knew that Andre thought that as well. Despite what Robbie did in his final days, he still was one of us. He was like a brother to us and that makes Victor family too. I told him that he could stay at my place for tonight and that we would leave for LA in a day or two.
But before we leave, Andre and I knew that there was something else we had to do. Something that none of us wanted to do, but we knew we had to do. We had to tell our wives. And after everything that happened, we both knew that they would give us hell for wanting to go back to LA. And we were right. Jade and I have been arguing for hours now, and while the anger radiates out of her, the tears that flow down her face tell what her true concern is.
"Jade, it's Robbie's kid. What the fuck should I do? Let him get killed back there?" Beck asked, trying to stay as calm as possible.
"And how are you helping by getting killed yourself?" Jade yelled.
"I won't get killed. Nobody knows what happened that day at your house. They all believe that Adam went nuts and killed them. They think we skipped because we couldn't deal with all that. Adam's plan worked." Beck said.
"Oh really? How the fuck do you know that he's Robbie's son? Maybe it's just a trick to get you back to LA so they can collect your head." Jade said.
"You saw him. Add the curls and the glasses and he is a spitting image of Robbie. Also, what he told us is true. Andre remembers the girl that Robbie knocked up. Everything he said adds up." Beck said. "Jade, I know you are scared, but I can't let him get killed. He's still a kid and after what Robbie did to them and what in hindsight we did to them, we owe him that help. We shot his father, Jade. After shooting my best friend, should I just stand back and let his son get killed too?" Beck asked.
Jade didn't answer immediately. She only looked at Beck, tears freely running down her cheeks while fear consumed her. She didn't want him to go back to LA. She didn't want anything to happen to him.
"Promise me that you will come back. Promise me that nothing will happen to you." Jade said.
"I promise." Beck told her. She walked towards him and hugged him around the chest while he hugged her back.
"I know you just want to help, but I'm scared." Jade said.
"I know, I know… But nothing will happen to us.
An hour later Jade finally calmed down and went to bed. Beck walked downstairs and outside where Victor was sitting on one of the chairs.
"We are leaving for LA tomorrow." Beck said as he sat down on one of the chairs himself.
"Thank you for helping me." Victor said.
"Don't thank me yet. We got a lot of work to do." Beck said. Right now he only wondered if Andre had it any easier with Tori.