— The nature of the deal is explained in my proposal. I've booked you a suite at the Midland Hotel. If you need anything in this city, just mention my name.
— So you want to impress me, Mr Shelby?
— Also in the envelope is a cheque for five hundred pounds for your wife. She can use it to buy a black dress, rent a black horse with black feathers, to pull a black carriage with your body in it, should you break the terms of the white flag. Now, please, enjoy the city it's my honour to represent.
And what fucking line am I supposed to have crossed? How many fathers, right, how many sons, yeah, have you cut, killed, murdered, fucking butchered, innocent and guilty, to send straight to fucking hell, ain’t ya? Just like me!!! You fucking stand there, you judging me, stand there and talk to me about crossing some fucking “line”.
Worm's dad did the grounds, when he wasn't too fuckin' drunk. That's when we did 'em. Of course, the grounds weren't all we did. 'Worm' put us into a scam a day on all the young aristocrats we went to school with selling 'em dime bags of oregano, nunchakus and firecrackers from Chinatown. Kept us in lunch money. Until the time we went for more than just pocket change and got caught. We had the starting five take a dive against Friends Academy. They hauled him up before the school board, offered him a deal. Tell us who else was involved, and we'll go easy on you. 'Worm' didn't say a fuckin' word. Got himself expelled. I stayed in school and graduated. Not many guys would stand up for a friend like that.
We finish off the bottle, letting its liquid darkness fill us both.