Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35-36 | 37 | 38A | 38B | 38C | 38D | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42-43 | 44-45 | 46 | 47 | 48-49A | 49B | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57A | 57B | 58-59| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68-69 | 70A | 70B | 71A | 71B | 72 | 73 | 74A | 74B | 75 | 76-77A | 77B | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85-87 | 88A | 88B | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94A | 94B | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98-99 | 100 | 101 | 102-103 | 104A
PART V
MIRACLES
104B
“I do not believe one goddamned thing you people believe.”
“I don’t care whether you believe it or not.”
Trey gestured around. “And what would your congregation think about their new bishop’s livelihood?”
Albright sucked his teeth. “I don’t think you’re going to last much longer.”
“You been goin’ around me, talkin’ to Boss Tom again? Gio?”
He shook his head. “Neither. I hear things. See things like what happened to Ida. I can put two and two together and come up with a pretty clear picture of your place in the Machine, and right now it’s shaky. Doubt you can get your balance again, with the way things are going. You can give up the speak and run away to Marina like she wants you to—”
“I already got run out of my home once. I’m not gonna get run out of it again.”
“—or you can give up the speak, take my place, have Marina back, stay here, and go to school like you want to.”
“I will get out as soon’s I get a buyer for this place, who’s not insultin’ me with half-price offers.”
Albright was busy chewing.
Trey poked his thumb into his own chest. “You think your god really wants this kind of muscle?”
“He does,” he answered immediately. “In return, he’ll take care of you. You aren’t going to have to worry about the Machine or the Mafia.”
That might actually be true, with the intricate relationships amongst Pendergast, Lazia, and Albright, all threatening each other while simultaneously protecting each other from hostile outsiders.
Trey couldn’t imagine making a more stupid decision. “I ain’t no preacher.”
“You don’t have to preach. You let other people do that. Take care of my people and my building the way you take care of your employees and the speak, let the Relief Society and the Elders Quorum take care of the widows and orphans, sick and needy, and go get your education, whatever that is, although if you want my opinion, you should probably think about medical school.”
“Already thought about it,” Trey grumbled. “What’d they call someone who delivers babies?”
“Obstetrician.” He gave Trey a flat smile. “Giving life instead of taking it? Atone for your sins?”
Trey hated that Albright could see through him so easily. “I ain’t killin’ innocent people here. No guilt, no need to atone.”
“The bet. And Ethel, whom Dot is taking care of while Marina’s gone. Yes, I heard all about it, and not from Gio for once.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t come after me for it.”
“She got what she deserved.”
Trey’s jaw dropped.
“And you got what you deserved. We—Liz and I—understand your morality. We’ve lived this life and worse, though Dot didn’t like finding out our sordid past isn’t as far behind us as she thought. If you’d killed her, then we’d have a problem.”
“Uh … Oh.” Trey sat there stumped for a bit. “So, uh … what’s this, you got a hankerin’ to go west all of a sudden just ’cuz Dot’s headed out?” he asked, more to get away from the topic of his sins than any real curiosity.
That was when Albright sighed and then Trey could see how really tired he was. “She,” he mused, “is a wildcat.”
Trey reluctantly chuckled.
“She is her mother’s daughter through and through, and I have never been able to control her, and I am never going to be able to control her. Between me and Gio, we have her corralled for the time being.”
“You could do worse for a son-in-law.”
“I know. But I also have four sons who are growing up fast, and another daughter, and now that I’m about to pawn Dot off on that poor unsuspecting bastard—”
Trey burst out laughing.
“—I don’t want to spend the rest of my life at church. I’m getting older and I need to spend time with my little ones and maybe train them to carry on my business. At the very least, I will need help because broken down old men can’t pull a calf out of a cow. I want to take ’em fishing, picnics, hunting, stuff we can’t do as a family because I’m either working or at church. I want a vacation. I also want to get Dot out of the Cosa Nostra’s sights, which means helping to hide Gio. He can’t disappear because she will track him like a bloodhound and I’ll have to spend time tracking her down, so … I am going to bend before we all break. I can protect her better if we’re right there with her.”
“Look, I can appreciate all what you’re tellin’ me, but there is no way on God’s green Earth I am signin’ up for religion, much less yours, much less as the cat leadin’ ’em all to the promised land. Make me no better’n Scarritt or Elmer Gantry. Find somebody else with as much blood on his hands and a guiltier conscience.”
“Dunham,” Albright said with mock sadness, “if you intend to stay in Kansas City, you may not have a choice. Now, this is how it’s going to work … ”
• • •
Not for the first time, Trey felt a box closing in around him, but this one seemed to be made of steel. He didn’t have a buyer for 1520. He was stuck (albeit willingly) under the weight of George Remus’s whisky. He was in a struggle with a soulless Mafia thug with a years-long penny-ante grudge. He had a wife who wouldn’t come home until he solved his problems.
And now Albright wanted him to whore himself out to the Mormon church.
Not only that, but he still didn’t know the name of the cat—clearly connected to Carrollo somehow—who’d been interested in Carville’s wife. No, Trey hadn’t bothered to get a name before shooting him in his expensively dressed kneecaps, yet again being short-sighted, being so arrogant about his place in Kansas City it didn’t occur to him to get the name of some unimportant two-bit thug.
In desperation, he went to Boss Tom, who didn’t know the cat, and nobody in Trey’s sphere or on Boss Tom’s payroll had shown up on crutches, but it seemed Boss Tom had his own bone to pick.
“Trey, you are becoming a bit of a liability to me.”
“Me?! I’m your man. I have made you a lot of money over the last five years and you’re still getting a good cut of me!”
“I get a good cut from a lot of other people who don’t cause me as many problems as you do. Now, look. You’re going to have to decide what you want and what you’re willing to do to get it. You can keep on as you are, no buyers—and you aren’t going to get any offers because I’ve made sure you won’t.”
Trey’s heart dropped into his toes.
“You can turn the speak over to me and stay on as you are, but you won’t have your wife back anytime soon. Or you can walk away from it, get your family back, and go find something else to do. You’re getting an education for some reason other than to make the rest of town look stupid.”
“Walking away isn’t going to keep me safe from Carrollo and if I kill him, that’s lights out for me,” Trey said tightly, his rage barely under control.
“You’ve got a whole country to explore, my boy.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No. Well, it is if you expect me to get between you and Carrollo, and I guarantee it’s not one of my men. You are not handling your business well and it’s wasting my time. In fact, you’ve been a pain in my ass since that bet.”
“I didn’t propose that bet. I won it. You’re just mad.”
Boss Tom’s eyes narrowed.
“No disrespect intended, Boss.”
“Your mouth gets you in a lot of hot water that it need not and your mouth isn’t the only thing you’re careless about.”
Trey couldn’t muster an argument for that. “Keeping that in mind, then, what am I paying you for?”
“For me not to give the order to bust you up. It wouldn’t take much.”
“Sooo in this imaginary scenario, where does Remus fit?”
“Funny you should ask. Remus and I have a meeting scheduled Friday. At your place.”
And Trey’s last trump card went fluttering out the window, just like that.
He trudged on back up the street to 1520 Main only to see a crowd of people gathered in front of it, and his spine tingled. “Move!” he barked as he shoved his way through the crowd.
On the ground, three of his guards dead, clean holes in the middle of their foreheads, and his plate glass windows shot out.
Trey dropped his face in his hand and wondered if he should start praying.
104B
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
Donations can be made here, if you so desire.
“A man’s got to know his limitations.” — H. Callahan
That escalated quickly.
I ain’t into these but I appreciate them. If that makes sense.
Isreal is learning that the threats from Iran are just to bolster their proxy groups. Seems they are systematically taking out the heads of multiple groups that are against them while Iran plays the American Republican part of sending a stern letter of disappointment.
VICTORIAAAAA
All caught up… diving into this chapter.
Trey hated that Albright could see through him so easily.
I like Albright. I think I said that already. I don’t care, I’ll say it again.
now that I’m about to pawn Dot off on that poor unsuspecting bastard—”
Trey burst out laughing.
I laughed too.
“I can run the country or I can control Alice Roosevelt. I can’t do both.” —Teddy
On the ground, three of his guards dead, clean holes in the middle of their foreheads, and his plate glass windows shot out.
Fuck. Saying that is an ominous note is an understatement.
I hate the new WordPress editor. Have I mentioned this? Yes? Too bad. Here it is again.
’tis the worst sort of bother: at first ye can’t figure it, then clarity comes at a burst, and then narry a speck of recognition survives when ye to it returneth*
this silly shite brought to you by Aberfeldy and red-bearded genes…..slainte mhath
Life is cheap, death is permanent.
Looks like Trey is getting educated, in anatomy if not in medicine.
Thanks, Moj
Another interesting episode, Mojeaux.
https://x.com/backwoodstips/status/1839409932451684651/photo/1
The limeys printed range cards on their 24hr ration packs. One of many things I appreciated.
Nice!
WNBA players association wants reporter fired for hinting that maybe a player poked Caitlyn Clark in the eye on purpose.
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/wnba/news/wnbpa-usa-today-christine-brennan-caitlin-clark-dijonai-carrington/95ca66a6902c384237480397
Btw…. consensus is that she absolutely,100% did in point of fact jab her in the eye on purpose. Even Stephen A Smith was on that side.
Screw the WNBA. They aren’t the least bit serious about building on their golden opportunity. They want to act like assholes? Fine keep playing to smaller crowds than my local high school.
Earlier today (around 3) my niece headed for her parents house in Charlotte from her place in Ashville. They had no power and no phones, so she didn’t know about all the roads out.
Somewhere along I-40 she got trapped between landslides and flooded out road.
No cell service.
They haven’t heard from her.
So…. say a little prayer for her safe return.
We are hoping she stays on the highway on high ground and sleeps there. This is the same area where dams are in danger of failing, so heading up the wrong valley looking for a path around the landslides could prove fatal.
She is working in rural medical service to prepare for med school. That’s why she was out in the boondocks. Hopefully this just makes for a good story one day.
Yikes, safe travels to her.
That’s serious. I hope she safely returns.
Yikes. 🤞
positive waves sent. please keep us updated.
Oh my. I hope she’s ok.
Agnostic but sincere prayer given. Please keep us posted!
This strike is unbelievable.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/israel-strikes-hezbollah-headquarters-in-beiruit-targeting-terror-groups-leader/
Israel is speaking the common language of the region.
Morning, Glibs.
😀
Morning all!
😄
Huzzah! Happy Saturday!
☕☔🍁
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ2QT88m_nk
🎶🎶
I got my car back! 😁
Does the car work?
⬅
Vroom vroom.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/teen-accused-in-bethlehem-shooting-in-custody-police-say/article_44a559c0-7d38-11ef-bc70-0f10ba6d6e5c.html
“over by Governor Wolf Elementary School”
*utters long string of curses*
Some years ago convicted sex offenders complained that they were forbidden to live within some given distance away from all schools, day-care facilities, etc and that that requirement effectively banished them from society because such a place barely exists. That means schools are scattered out in such a way that nearly everywhere is ‘near’ a school.
I guess SOP for gun-grabbing journalists now is that every shooting will be reported as occurring ‘near a school’.
Gun grabbers lie. Everything they say is calculated to deceive. They do not want you helpless for. your own good. They are after your second amendment rights as a path to all of your other rights.
My objection is they named it after that commie rat fucker.
suh’ fam
whats goody yo
TALL WEEKEND CANS!
/still in the (216)
😀
https://x.com/abc7newsbayarea/status/1839791450458075468
54 people airlifted out from flooded hospital in TN.
https://nypost.com/2024/09/28/us-news/hogwild-drama-unfolds-as-hero-teen-caleb-morris-thwarts-unhinged-groundhogs-attack-on-jogger/
😲😂
Mornin’. Best of luck to Cyto’s niece and family. We lost power at the plasma center in central Indiana yesterday from the upswing of the storm. We had 60mph winds all day. I’m thankful I was that far away from the storm. Blessings to all in the actual Danger Zone.
Good morning, Evan, Sean, homey, Suthen, U, and NA!
How goes?
OK, but I’m staying inside, at least for the time being. The rain has mostly stopped, but it’s very gray and unappealing at Tranq Base so far. How are you?
I just had leftovers wraps for breakfast (burrito tortillass filled with leftover ingredients from previous meals). Mayo, roast beef (2 types), pepperoni slices, cheeses.
It was okay.
I haven’t gone and engaged with the world, but I appear to be well out of the path of the hurricane.
I didn’t know there was more than one type of roast beef. What two types?
One was deli sliced beef from one of the larger round style cuts. The other was the remains of a new york strip I didn’t finish
😋👍
This is for Mojeaux (if you haven’t seen it yet):
https://babylonbee.com/news/10-breakfast-cereals-that-sound-like-mormons-swearing-after-stepping-on-a-lego
In central Indiana, we lost power twice near the end of my shift due to the weather’s upswing. Generators quickly picked up the slack but it was odd, even for ‘long-time’ employees. At least one centrifuge had to be gravity-fed (read: Held up) to drain properly. I did this for ten minutes before I reminded Boss my shift was up. We’re on a strict no-OT schedule. I had worked 29.5 hours as of Wed and added ~10 more yesterday. I was at 69 hours for the pay period. Uh. I may let them know about this in case they haven’t put it together.
I am not sure if they’ll pretty much scrap today’s (on paper) 9-9 shift or decide to pay OT. They will not do the latter. For the former, I’m guessing they’ll be able to skirt around whatever ‘rules’ they have as best they can. I wouldn’t mind having a chill day today.
Yesterday a regular donor sassed me a bit. Well, in his well-dressed, elderly black man manner. Repeatedly expressed his disappointment in the center and told me multiple times I was “on the chopping block” for employee culling. Rare for me, I gave him the tiniest bit of my mind, though careful to never cross my Rudeness Boundaries. Quite close to: “Gotta practice to learn. No one’s born able to walk, talk, read or survive. Gotta practice to learn and improve.”
I wish I had a natural “Get off my back!” emotional response. I also don’t ever get ‘angry,’ and while that’s remarkably useful 99% of the time, when ya need a particular emotion, it’d be nice to have it in the toolbox. However, I’m unconcerned by events at work, other than getting the job done. Good lesson to embrace in the Bizarro Land of medical factory work.