Saturday, The Next Day

The fallout from the raid on the brothels extended to the gambling houses run by the bosses, Lazlo Kenny, Leo Varbic, and Emil Chedomir. By Saturday evening most of the underworld figures in New York allied with the three bosses turned their backs on them and scurried for cover.

Part of this was phase four of Dan's Plan: Offer everyone doing business with Lazlo cash and a better deal to cut him off.

Victor's Bar

At a bar club in downtown Manhattan, Rica and the boys met with a minor crew boss named Victor, who ran a profitable net and cash gambling operation. Rica explained to Victor the virtues of staying away from Lazlo and dealing with Tara and Kitty only.

“What are you saying, Rica? If I leave Lazlo and go with Tara is she gonna raise points on me or what?” Victor asked while Bling and Ian stared at him.

“Why would she do that? If anything over the long run you’ll pay less because profit is gonna go up for you, Victor!” said Rica, twirling in circles on a bar stool, all cute.

Victor hesitated, “I don’t know, Rica. Between Lazlo and Varbic-”

“Tch,” She sucked her teeth, “If you’re not interested in our deal, Vic, you give me back the fifty thousand I just gave you and you take your chances without our protection. Or you let me and the boys worry about Lazlo, nya?” she winked and hopped off the stool with her hand on her hip.

Victor blushed, “You learned your extortion technique from Kitty, didn’t you?”

Rica smiled, “Ya, Kitty’s my big sister!”

He glanced up at Bling and Ian, who glared at him, “Yeah, I can see that.”

Victor tried not to stare at Rica for fear that Bling and Ian might knock him the hell out. But the pretty racketeer was hard not to notice. She’d strolled into his spot wearing thigh-high suede boots with hip-hugging skinny jeans, and her black hair down her slim figure. She also gave him fifty thousand in an envelope.

He shook his head, “Ok, I’m down. Just, you know, tell Tara not to be an asshole about this, alright?”

“What?” Rica jumped in front of Victor and poked her finger into his chest. “When has Tara ever been an asshole to anyone, Victor? Certainly not you! So don’t make her start!”

Victor backed up with a gulp, “Not a problem, I’m on board. Besides, I don’t wanna deal with no human slave traffickers like Lazlo anyway, you know!”

“Who would?” she agreed

“Heh, right.” Shit, between this girl's villainous mother Reyna, plus Tara and Kitty, they’re grooming Rica right in their image.

While Victor imagined Rica’s future, he also knew Tara offered a better deal than Lazlo.

“I’m happy you see the light, Victor!” Rica said, then spun with a pout, “Hmph! Come on boys, y'all promised to take me to yogurt berry!”

“We got you, boss,” Ian muttered as her brutes brushed hard against Victor, scowling at him as they followed her out of the venue.

Victor shook his head. Half in disbelief and half in awe of the little girl and her brutes. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what happened to Frank Ross, Artie Salbon, and Nikolai.

They stood in Tara’s way.

One Block

As Rica exited Victor’s place she pulled a set of SUV keys out of her pocket. She forgot she had them.

“Oh~” she turned to Bling, jiggling the keys, “Can I drive the two blocks to eighth avenue?” The voice of a child asking a parent.

Bling smirked, “You got no license and no permit. So no deal.”

“Tch!” Rica frowned, “But I drove one block earlier and parked!”

“So you’re good for the day,” he replied with a smile.

Rica pouted, “No! I like that truck. Please, Bling! Let me drive one block? I command you!”

The brutes laughed, “Heh heh, gimme the keys, little Boss~” Bling snickered with his hand out.

“Hmph!” she pouted and pointed the alarm key at the vehicle.

Back in the Bar

Victor’s bus-boy, Papo, waited for his boss to finish meeting with the pretty Chicana girl named Rica, out in the bar. Peeking from the back, the nineteen-year-old immigrant found her very attractive and knew she spoke Spanish. But he dared not step outside to speak to her in fear of the two brutes who accompanied her.

When Rica left, Papo emerged out the back with a question for his boss, “Victor, do you want the import beer stacked with the-”

As Papo spoke, the ground shook from an explosion outside. The powerful blast shattered the bar’s big front window.

"What the hell was that?" yelled Victor as he and Papo hit the floor.

Within seconds black smoke filled the venue from the front as Papo and Victor recovered and ran outside.

Out on the street, a parked black SUV smoldered in flames. A car bomb. On the sidewalk, the two brutes, Bling and Ian, lay on top of the pretty Chicana girl.

"Oh no!" Papo yelled, racing to help them. Right behind him, Victor called nine-one-one.

When Papo reached the trio, he found the brutes still alive but badly injured. The white guy had a piece of metal jutting from his back and the black guy’s arm appeared broken. The Chicana girl, Rica. She lay under the men with her face on the concrete. It appeared her brutes jumped on top of her before their truck exploded. But she wasn’t moving.

Papo’s heart raced as he bent down to check her pulse, she had one. He had to wake her up.

“Hey Miss!” he raised her face off the ground and slapped it. “Hey, pretty girl, if you stay alive I’ll become a famous singer and I’ll invite you to all my concerts, hello?”

She wiggled her finger.

“That’s good! Hey hey, please wake up!”

Her eyes blinked open.

Papo’s heart cheered. “Miss, you’re still here! That’s excellent. It means I have to keep my promise to you!”

She looked at him, "Who?" she tried to get up.

"Easy, you're gonna be ok," Papo helped Rica climb out from under the boys. She wobbled, leaning on him for support.

"Let's get you inside the bar, the ambulance is coming." He spoke softly.

Her eyes glazed over, "What? I-" She stopped walking and turned around. In the smoke and the carnage, she glanced down at Bling and Ian, pushing Papo away, “Get off of me!” she growled, dropping down to aid her guards.

“Bling?” She rubbed his face. He responded and looked up at her, but his eyes rolled back. She turned to Ian.

“Ian!”

Blood gurgled out of his mouth.

"Ian?"

Growing frantic she checked the injuries on his back and his legs, "No, no, Ian? Ian?"

He didn’t respond.

"IAN!!!!!!!!!!!"

..