Tony Gamble
“How are you feeling, Tony?”
His left eye fluttered open slowly, but there was no mistaking the voice of his friend, Frank Monteverdi. The light in the room made everything look a little blurry as he tried to adjust to it, but he was able to notice something – no, it was someone – just behind Frank that he couldn’t make out. The swelling on his right eye had gone down a bit, but he was still having trouble seeing out of what little it did open.
“Can’t see for shit,” the man known at this time as Antonio Gambellini yanked on the lever of the recliner to lift himself up to a seated position, the sudden jolt caused his left eye to squeeze shut for a moment as the electricity coursed through his upper body. “But I guess it could be worse, am I right?”
“Considering what worse almost was,” Frank’s answer was accompanied by his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Let’s just be glad I didn’t get caught in traffic.”
“You wouldn’t be visiting me here, that’s for sure.”
“No,” Frank let out a chuckle. “Definitely wouldn’t be here. Can’t promise I’d have visited you anywhere else, to tell you the truth.”
“Can’t say I’d blame you.”
“Up for a little trip?”
“Where to,” Tony’s vision had adjusted to the light a little better and he could make out the look on Frank’s face – he wasn’t going to give him an answer. The person behind him was getting clearer, but at this point all he could discern was that the man was wearing black pants and a white wife beater.
“C’mon,” Frank reached over and punched Tony’s shoulder lightly. “You don’t want to ruin the surprise, do you?”
“You get me a fucking cake?”
“No, but this is going to be so much sweeter than that, right Phil,” Frank looked over his shoulder at the man behind him, but didn’t wait long enough to see the nod of agreement from the larger gentleman. “Shit’s gonna give you cavities, it’s so sweet. Now go clean yourself up a bit.”
“Sure thing, Frank” Tony replied as he stood up. From what he could tell, he did not recognize the man Frank called Phil, but he was not familiar with everyone in the family – especially those higher up the food chain. “Do I have time to do my makeup, or should I just do that on the way?”
“You got jokes?”
“Just want to make sure I look good for my surprise,” Tony stifled the chuckle, but not enough as just that little bit of strain caused him to clutch at his gut from the pain. Get some pants, a shirt, and painkillers in no particular order, then hit the road on a trip he hoped he would come back from. There was something about Phil that made him feel uneasy, but surely Frank did not spare his life just to take it from him like this. Should Phil be considered a threat?
**==**
“This is bullshit!”
Tony slammed the door behind him, his chest heaving with every frustrated breath.
“What’s up, hermano,” Domingo Cruz asked as he stood up from the bench, punching fist into palm – ready for a fight. “We need to bust some heads, or what?”
“Oh, she’ll definitely get what’s coming to her,” Tony replied, that damn grin concealing his true contempt for the woman. “Just can’t happen here.”
“She not giving you the match?” Frank Pastore’s words were accompanied by a sprinkle of ‘I told you so.’
“Don’t start,” Tony snapped in response. “Apparently I already have a match set for next week, but I’ll be damned if I give that son of a bitch the satisfaction.”
“With as many people that want a piece of you,” Frank chuckled slightly as he elbowed Domingo, then shook his head. “I’m not even going to try and figure out who she scheduled you against.”
“That little damn weasel, Dusk.”
“Dusk,” Domingo looked a bit confused, and for good reason. “Didn’t that vato just have his last match at the pay per view?”
“As far as I’m concerned he did,” Tony’s face was red as he continued to pace back and forth in the locker room. “I don’t want any part of this bullshit he and Troy have planned.”
“Well,” Frank turned to Tony and pointed toward the monitor. “He’s on the way to the ring if you want to tell him yourself.”
“Damn right I do.” Tony made his way toward the door of the locker room.
“You want us to come with?” The question from Dom caused Tony to pause for a moment, but he just looked over at Cruz and shook his head in response then walked out of the locker room.
“Twenty bucks says Troy’s going to make him do the match.” Frank waved a twenty dollar bill in the air, as Mortimer walked up behind him.
“Nombre,” Cruz shook his head. “I may as well just give you the cash now.”
“What about you, Morty,” Frank turned to the masked man in the track suit. “You a gambling man?”
“That’s what got me in this mess in the first fuckin’ place,” Mortimer replied. “So it’s gonna be a hard pass for me on this one, Frankie.”
If you watched Revival you know what transpired from here in the ring between Tony and Dusk, if you didn’t read it then you’re probably not reading this RP either. I can tell you it was a very good segment that explains a lot about what is going on with Dusk for the next few shows, so you should go read it right now. Don’t even worry about the rest of this roleplay, because that segment is more important in order for you to understand what is going on.
Unless you don’t care what is going on, because you generally don’t like Dusk. I understand that, the guy should have retired before he took the match with Larry Tact, but like a damn roach we just cannot seem to get rid of him. Maybe one day, after he has had his fifteenth ride into the sunset, but I doubt it. No, he is going to be that little piece of shit that just dangles from your ass, clinging to that hair for dear life because it doesn’t know how to swim. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, I can see the smile on your face.
Anyways… You should have been reading the segment, not the crap I just wrote. I don’t want to hear this or the rest of the roleplay discussed on the twitch show, because you shouldn’t even be here right now.
Cue the owl.
**==**
The rocks made a crunching sound as the tires rolled over them, but all Tony could feel was Phil’s hand as he placed it on Tony’s head and pulled it back against the headrest. Cold hard steel pressed against his temple, followed by a flash of light from the snub nosed 38’s muzzle as the trigger was pulled.
Tony noticed the revolver tucked into the small of Phil’s back when he passed by him to open the back door of Frank’s Lincoln. He wasn’t opening the door for him, instead he hopped in the back and Tony knew this was coming eventually. He could see the smile on Frank’s face as it happened, saw the blood and brain matter splatter against the b pillar and soak itself into the light brown seatbelt. The rest of the splatter floated out of the car with the shattered glass the bullet had passed through, as the spider web spread out from the center of impact.
“Surprise!”
Phil’s hand pulled the blindfold away from Tony’s eyes, but even as his left eye blinked open he could tell the sun was setting and the stars were the only real light illuminating the sky. It was easier to focus this time around, and he realized it was all in his head and he did not have a hold in the side of his head.
“Where the hell are we,” Tony could see the headlights of Frank’s Lincoln reflecting off the side of a building. “Did you buy me a house or something?”
All in all, Tony was just happy he didn’t get offed a few moments ago, but they still had to go into whatever building they were parked in front of. Not out of the woods yet, though now that he paid more attention and could see a little clearer it seemed as if they were in the woods. That must be why the sky looked so clear.
“Nah, but the real surprise is waiting inside.” Frank said as he opened his door. “I swear, you’re gonna piss ya’self.”
Tony was hesitant to open the door, for all he knew the only reason he didn’t feel the business end of that .38 special was because Frank didn’t want to come out of pocket for the cleaning bill. Phil was already standing at the side of the door.
“Come on,” Phil motioned toward him with a quick cock of the head in the direction of the house.
Tony opened the door and stepped out, as Frank and Phil started toward the house with their backs toward him. That, in and of itself, gave Tony a bit of relief. Surely they wouldn’t turn their backs to him if there was something afoot. Maybe there was a party happening inside, then again maybe the two other cars parked next to Frank’s belonged to the real shooters.
Let’s get this shit over with.
**==**
“You really think you’re getting out of this match?”
Tony turned around and found Dametreyus approaching him, Wade Elliott was not with him so Tony felt confident he could take him if he needed to.
“How many times do I need to say it before someone understands that I’m not interested in joining Dusk’s little circus act.” Tony stood firm as Dam stepped up to him.
“Boss says you’re going to be in the match, and that little comment about dragging your ass to the ring will come true if that’s how you wanna play things.”
“I’d like to see your ass try,” Tony looked up to the man, but he did that with most people so it was nothing new. “I ain’t Paxton, I ain’t going easy.”
“I’m really looking forward to that,” Dam replied with a sneer. “See you next week, Scarface.”
Tony watched as Troy’s dog turned and walked away. “Looking forward to it.”
**==**
Tony walked through the door of the room, immediately reached for the gun in the small of Phil’s back. Before he could react, Tony lifted the gun and squeezed the trigger.
“What the fuck, Tony,” Frank yelled as the sound of the body hit the ground. Phil yanked the gun out of Tony’s hand and stepped back, a look of surprise as all three men stared at the puddle of blood that had begun to pool up beneath the head of the man on the ground. His name was Mike, and he was the one that nearly got Tony killed.
Louie had already started to pray, expecting to be next. Tony had other plans.
“I’m going to take my time with this son of a bitch.”