Page 67 of Alfie: Part One
I eyed the guys. Tony and Colby Connor. They didn’t look nervous, so I didn’t know if that made them brave or dumb as fuck. I’d be nervous in their position.
They might be bound or cuffed behind their backs, but they weren’t gagged or anything. They could talk if they wanted to. They looked…sober enough. They’d definitely been drinking earlier, though. That hadn’t been a lie.
“Every now and then, we have low-men who don’t know how to take orders,” Finn said. “It’s partly JJ’s fault in this case. He’s been too lenient.” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and shrugged it off. Kellan accepted it, and Finn rolled up his sleeves.
So this was it, wasn’t it? The more violent aspects of being part of the syndicate. I was about to witness it. Finn was serious.
He stopped in front of Tony, the elder of the two. His brother was significantly younger at seventeen.
“Oi. Look alive. I wanna know if you have something to say for yourself.”
Tony lifted his head and clenched his jaw. “We fucked up. Won’t happen again.”
I sucked my teeth. He was gonna have to do better than that, especially if the leniency train had already left the station.
“No, fuck up is what you do the second time,” Finn replied. “The first one can be a mistake. But we’re on what, fourth orfifth now? And I’m not even counting the times you’ve shown up hungover and five minutes late.”
Colby shifted on his knees and eyed his brother. At least he was uncomfortable and worried now.
“I have no excuse, sir,” Tony said. “I’ve been a dumbass—but I really wanna make up for it. I want a spot in the syndicate.”
That was marginally better.
Finn turned his attention to Colby instead. “How old are you?”
“Just turned sixteen, sir,” Colby answered.
Sixteen?! JJ had said seventeen.
I exchanged a look with Kellan, and I couldn’t help but feel alarmed. He was a kid!
“And that one?”
“He’s twenty-five,” Colby said.
Finn nodded once and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Lemme guess. Your big brother wants to get shit-faced every day, and you’re too weak to resist.”
Colby swallowed hard and lowered his gaze. “I won’t throw anyone under the bus, sir. But I’ll be 100% sober from now on if I’m given a last chance. I haven’t taken shit seriously—and I should’ve. I’m-I’m very sorry.”
“Jesus, bro,” Tony muttered. “You gonna offer to suck his dick too?”
Oh, Tony.
Finn found that funny but said nothing.
“Shut the fuck up,” Colby snapped under his breath. “I told you from the get—I wanna climb in JJ’s crew.”
“See, that’s good to know,” Finn noted. “What other ambitions do you have?”
Colby cleared his throat and let out an unsteady breath. “I wanna work in tech. I had an interview with Eric Bell last month,and I blew it by not showing up. B-but in my weak-ass defense, it wasn’t because I was drunk or nothin’. I was too chickenshit.”
Kellan brought out his phone and looked to be texting someone. Maybe Eric?
“It’s good to have ambitions,” Finn said. “Less good to be chickenshit.” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “You got anything to say, Alfie?” Before I could respond, he was looking at the brothers once more. “Alfie’s taking over part of our shipment operations, and if you want in on that money, do yourself a favor and be on his good side. He keeps a short list of people he calls.”
I didn’t, but maybe I should.
I cleared my throat and took a couple steps forward. I wasn’t sure I… Actually, I did have something to say. If Colby was being honest, I wanted to keep an eye on him.