Clay B., 9th Grade
A Hard Knock Life
It was a breezy spring morning. Besides the priest talking I could hear my mother weeping softly. I was fighting back the tears back when I noticed four nicely dressed Italian looking men in suits behind everybody. I had never seen these men in my life and wondered what they were doing at my father’s funeral. My father was a big, Italian man who had a thick New York accent and loved everyone he met. He always gave great advice and one day he said to me, “Sammy, be careful who you trust.” My father made an honest living selling newspapers and magazines. I was an only child and so I had to be strong for my mother. When the priest was done, everyone came to give their condolences to my mother and me. As everyone was clearing out of the graveyard, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was one of the nicely dressed men that were behind everybody.“Sammy,” he said to me in a thick New York accent “I’m Charlie. I was a friend of your dad’s and we worked together. I’ve got a job opportunity for you if you’re interested.” “What’s the job”, I said “That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that you meet me here at 7 a.m. tomorrow.” “Yes sir!” I said. “Call Me Charlie, and hey I’m sorry for your loss,” Charlie said as he walked away to his black Cadillac.
I set my alarm for six in the morning. I needed this job to help my mother and I get by. I took a shower and dressed in my normal clothes some gym shorts and a sweatshirt. I rode my bike back to the graveyard and made it there at six fifty eight. I saw Charlie come out of his Cadillac with a black duffle bag. As he approached me he looked around like he was being followed. When he finally reached me he gave me the duffle bag. “This is your first job,” he told me “go to your dad’s old newspaper stand and wait for a man that goes by Sheik. You can’t miss, him he’ll be wearing a black suit and red shoes. When you meet him you need to do what he says. He will give you the location of your drop off zone.” “When will I get paid?” I asked Charlie. “You’ll get paid when you bring the bag to the drop off zone,” he told me. “Hey!” Charlie shouted, “Whatever you do, don’t look inside of the bag and don’t ask questions,” Charlie said to me.
As I was biking to my father’s old stand I wondered what was in the mysterious bag. Every time I thought about opening it, I heard Charlie’s voice yelling at me not to. When I finally reached the stand I looked around to see if I could find Sheik. There was no sign of him for two hours. Then suddenly I saw an odd looking man with a black suit and red shoes. I knew it was him. I approached him and got the drop off location from him. I was to go to the Lady Liberty Bar and go to the back entrance. The Lady Liberty was a well-known bar that pulled in lots of customers, but why would I go there in the middle of the day? I took Charlie’s advice and asked no questions. I got to the bar and went to the back entrance where a big, muscular man was standing. When I got closer to the man I noticed a shiny silver plated pistol inside of his jacket. He asked who I was and I told him I was Sammy. He let me in and told me to go to the second door on the right. When I
reached the room, I found five men smoking cigars and playing poker. “Who are you?” said the fat man in the middle, “I’m Sammy, Charlie sent me,” I replied. “Oh yeah set the bag down on the table,” he said. I set the bag down in the middle of the table they were sitting. The man opened the bag and it was full of one hundred dollar bills. The man sitting on the right put the bills into a money counting machine. After fifteen minutes of counting, the machine said it came out to five hundred thousand dollars. The fat man took this money and put it back into the bag except for eight hundred dollars. “Here’s your pay kid, if you want another job meet Charlie at the same time tomorrow,” said the fat man. I left the bar and went home.
I couldn’t believe I had just made eight hundred dollars for delivering a duffel bag.
The next day I did the same thing but they increased my pay. I carried this on ten more times each day I had the same routine except I no longer had to meet Sheik. Charlie began to be like a brother to me and I was trusted by the boss. I knew that they were part of the mafia and what they were doing was illegal, but I didn’t care I had to take care of my mother and me. This is what my father had done as a side job, so I figured it was okay for me to do the same. Charlie set up a bank account for me so that I could bring in the money slowly so my mother wouldn’t be suspicious. On my fifth run I wasn’t
so lucky. It was like any other day I got the money from Charlie and dropped it off to the boss. On my way to the bar I noticed someone following me so I went through a couple alleyways. The second alley way led to a dead end, I had
nowhere to go. Then I noticed the people following me were cops. As they approached me I was sweating. “Hey officers, how may I help you?” I said. “Listen kid we know what you’re doing there is no hiding it,” said one of the cops. “I don’t know what you’re talking about sir,” I replied. “We know you’re running money for the mafia, and you’re lucky we don’t have any proof or else we would book you. Your friends are coming down sooner or later and if you don’t want to got to jail I suggest you tell us why you’re carrying all this money,” said the cop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Listen, you seem like a good kid and you don’t want to ruin your life doing this. Here take my card if you change your mind and call this number,” said the police officer. I took the card and biked off to the bar.
I entered through the back as usual. As I was approaching the door I heard them mention my name. I wanted to here what they were saying about me so I stopped and listened. “Sammy is a good kid, but it’s a shame that we can’t even tell him what happened to his father. Yeah well his father was going to rat us out, and Charlie did a good job of eliminating the threat.” I couldn’t believe it. The man I had grown to love like a brother was my father’s killer. I had hate in my heart. I no longer liked these men, but despised them. All I wanted to do was kill them but I knew that this was not the answer to this problem. I had to do something way worse. I was going to put them all in jail for the rest of their lives. I went into the room and acted normal and I let them count the money I took my pay and left.
As soon as I got home I called the police officer and told them I was prepared to tell them all the information they needed to take these men down. I told them the times they were at the bar, who they were and what they did at the bar. I also told them about who killed my father and who ordered for him to be killed. The police officer told me that my father was in the process of giving them this information before he was killed. Most members of the mafia were arrested, but some are still at large today. I started selling newspapers and magazines at my father’s old stand and work an honest job now. And I always remember his advice about being careful of whom you trust.
It was a breezy spring morning. Besides the priest talking I could hear my mother weeping softly. I was fighting back the tears back when I noticed four nicely dressed Italian looking men in suits behind everybody. I had never seen these men in my life and wondered what they were doing at my father’s funeral. My father was a big, Italian man who had a thick New York accent and loved everyone he met. He always gave great advice and one day he said to me, “Sammy, be careful who you trust.” My father made an honest living selling newspapers and magazines. I was an only child and so I had to be strong for my mother. When the priest was done, everyone came to give their condolences to my mother and me. As everyone was clearing out of the graveyard, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was one of the nicely dressed men that were behind everybody.“Sammy,” he said to me in a thick New York accent “I’m Charlie. I was a friend of your dad’s and we worked together. I’ve got a job opportunity for you if you’re interested.” “What’s the job”, I said “That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that you meet me here at 7 a.m. tomorrow.” “Yes sir!” I said. “Call Me Charlie, and hey I’m sorry for your loss,” Charlie said as he walked away to his black Cadillac.
I set my alarm for six in the morning. I needed this job to help my mother and I get by. I took a shower and dressed in my normal clothes some gym shorts and a sweatshirt. I rode my bike back to the graveyard and made it there at six fifty eight. I saw Charlie come out of his Cadillac with a black duffle bag. As he approached me he looked around like he was being followed. When he finally reached me he gave me the duffle bag. “This is your first job,” he told me “go to your dad’s old newspaper stand and wait for a man that goes by Sheik. You can’t miss, him he’ll be wearing a black suit and red shoes. When you meet him you need to do what he says. He will give you the location of your drop off zone.” “When will I get paid?” I asked Charlie. “You’ll get paid when you bring the bag to the drop off zone,” he told me. “Hey!” Charlie shouted, “Whatever you do, don’t look inside of the bag and don’t ask questions,” Charlie said to me.
As I was biking to my father’s old stand I wondered what was in the mysterious bag. Every time I thought about opening it, I heard Charlie’s voice yelling at me not to. When I finally reached the stand I looked around to see if I could find Sheik. There was no sign of him for two hours. Then suddenly I saw an odd looking man with a black suit and red shoes. I knew it was him. I approached him and got the drop off location from him. I was to go to the Lady Liberty Bar and go to the back entrance. The Lady Liberty was a well-known bar that pulled in lots of customers, but why would I go there in the middle of the day? I took Charlie’s advice and asked no questions. I got to the bar and went to the back entrance where a big, muscular man was standing. When I got closer to the man I noticed a shiny silver plated pistol inside of his jacket. He asked who I was and I told him I was Sammy. He let me in and told me to go to the second door on the right. When I
reached the room, I found five men smoking cigars and playing poker. “Who are you?” said the fat man in the middle, “I’m Sammy, Charlie sent me,” I replied. “Oh yeah set the bag down on the table,” he said. I set the bag down in the middle of the table they were sitting. The man opened the bag and it was full of one hundred dollar bills. The man sitting on the right put the bills into a money counting machine. After fifteen minutes of counting, the machine said it came out to five hundred thousand dollars. The fat man took this money and put it back into the bag except for eight hundred dollars. “Here’s your pay kid, if you want another job meet Charlie at the same time tomorrow,” said the fat man. I left the bar and went home.
I couldn’t believe I had just made eight hundred dollars for delivering a duffel bag.
The next day I did the same thing but they increased my pay. I carried this on ten more times each day I had the same routine except I no longer had to meet Sheik. Charlie began to be like a brother to me and I was trusted by the boss. I knew that they were part of the mafia and what they were doing was illegal, but I didn’t care I had to take care of my mother and me. This is what my father had done as a side job, so I figured it was okay for me to do the same. Charlie set up a bank account for me so that I could bring in the money slowly so my mother wouldn’t be suspicious. On my fifth run I wasn’t
so lucky. It was like any other day I got the money from Charlie and dropped it off to the boss. On my way to the bar I noticed someone following me so I went through a couple alleyways. The second alley way led to a dead end, I had
nowhere to go. Then I noticed the people following me were cops. As they approached me I was sweating. “Hey officers, how may I help you?” I said. “Listen kid we know what you’re doing there is no hiding it,” said one of the cops. “I don’t know what you’re talking about sir,” I replied. “We know you’re running money for the mafia, and you’re lucky we don’t have any proof or else we would book you. Your friends are coming down sooner or later and if you don’t want to got to jail I suggest you tell us why you’re carrying all this money,” said the cop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Listen, you seem like a good kid and you don’t want to ruin your life doing this. Here take my card if you change your mind and call this number,” said the police officer. I took the card and biked off to the bar.
I entered through the back as usual. As I was approaching the door I heard them mention my name. I wanted to here what they were saying about me so I stopped and listened. “Sammy is a good kid, but it’s a shame that we can’t even tell him what happened to his father. Yeah well his father was going to rat us out, and Charlie did a good job of eliminating the threat.” I couldn’t believe it. The man I had grown to love like a brother was my father’s killer. I had hate in my heart. I no longer liked these men, but despised them. All I wanted to do was kill them but I knew that this was not the answer to this problem. I had to do something way worse. I was going to put them all in jail for the rest of their lives. I went into the room and acted normal and I let them count the money I took my pay and left.
As soon as I got home I called the police officer and told them I was prepared to tell them all the information they needed to take these men down. I told them the times they were at the bar, who they were and what they did at the bar. I also told them about who killed my father and who ordered for him to be killed. The police officer told me that my father was in the process of giving them this information before he was killed. Most members of the mafia were arrested, but some are still at large today. I started selling newspapers and magazines at my father’s old stand and work an honest job now. And I always remember his advice about being careful of whom you trust.