I shrug since there’re still times where things get violent among families. There was a shootout a couple of years ago where my family and the Mancinellis’ paths crossed with a foreign syndicate. That syndicate now has ties to the O’Rourkes and Mancinellis through marriage and us because ofTíoEnrique’s position asjefe de jefes.
It’s a good thing the Four Families aren’t connected by combined blood at this point, or it would be majorly incestuous.As long as none of my generation’s children wind up together, we should be safe that the bloodlines don’t cross over too many times. But who knows? Maybe that would be the best way for all of us to extricate our families from this fucked-up life. I can’t imagine that or look that far into the future.
“You told me about working out and eating with your family and payroll at the strip clubs. What else do you do on a normal day?”
I’m glad we’re moving back to an easier topic.
“After I get home from my morning workout and get cleaned up, I usually check the markets since Asia and Europe have already been open for several hours, and the U.S. is just starting their day. I’m not just a CPA but a licensed broker as well. After that, I’ll deal with any correspondence or paperwork needed for the companies I own which include three accounting firms where my name isn’t on the letterhead. But if anybody asks, they’ll easily discover I own the companies. I’m also our family’s accountant for the casinos we own in Atlantic City, Vegas, and Reno. We own a few in European cities and Tokyo. I’m a heavy investor in a luxury car line with manufacturers in Asia, so there are times where I must travel for meetings there too. Mostly I’m home every evening by eight even if I have dinner with someone in my family.”
“That’s your mornings and a little about your evenings. What about your afternoons?”
I suspected she would ask that, and that’s where things get more uncomfortable to discuss.
“My afternoons often involve family business in our communities.”
I give her that blank expression again, and she’s already picked up on what that means. However, there’s a greater risk someone from another family will speak to Liesel and shit all over us.
“My brothers and I are known asTres J’s. Our reputation stems from our early childhood in Colombia. AfterPapádied, we became targets for local street gangs. We had to protect ourselves since some members wanted to build their reputations on killing thejefe de jefes’nephews. We also protected our mother when we believed we had to. We were too young to understandMamáwas better equipped than most to not only defend herself but to retaliate.”
I don’t need to share how my brothers and I had all stabbed and killed before we reached double digits. It wasn’t until my brothers and I were in college that we learned just howMamásought her revenge afterPapádied. If people think my brothers and I are psychopaths, then Lord only knows what they would say about our mother. After my father’s murder, she made a very clear point that hell hath no fury like a widowed woman.
I can’t tell Liesel any of that, but I can share things from when we left Colombia.
“When we all moved to the States and closer toTíoEnrique, who isn’t just the head of the Colombian cartels but is also the strongest, most powerfuljefein Latin America, we thought we needed to protect ourselves with the same reputation we needed in Bogotá. We were so young, we didn’t know any better except that we needed to protect each other.”
I need to explain this to Liesel before anyone from the other families pollutes her mind about us.
“We aren’t the men people believe us to be except for when we have to play the roles our family’s responsibilities necessitate. I have anxiety that flares at the most inopportune times, but thank heavens for the medication I take. Javier is an introvert and misanthrope through and through. He just doesn’t like other people and would rather be by himself or now with Madeline and our family. And Joaquin is painfully shy. They think he’s the laziest man in any syndicate because he’spractically a recluse whenever he can be. Nobody ever believes these things about us, but it’s true.”
“I’ve seen hints of that anxiety. You can always come to me if you need help.” Liesel brushes a kiss on my cheek before sitting back to continue listening.
“Because of the reputation we’ve developed and our duties to our family, we’re the shit stirrers.”
That’s as much as I can say without admitting to crimes. Assicarios—enforcers—we cause problems for local businesses, then force them to pay protection money against the threats they don’t realize come from us. We also handle a number of the low-level members who need a little reminder that they work for us and not the other way around. Pablo is our head enforcer, but I can’t tell her that. I definitely can’t tell her that my brothers, cousins, and I aresanguinarios—the blood thirsty ones—the “Blooddrinkers,” as some would call us. Others call us butchers since we’re the ones who handle—dispose of—people who make poor life choices.
“Pablo oversees our legitimate operations in New York, so he’s also ajefein his own right because of our local endeavors. We all have roles,chica, and mine often fill my afternoons.”
I hate it, but I’m certain she’ll figure out much of it over time just like Madeline and Florencia.
“So, you’re usually just a regular businessman. That seems so normal.”
Liesel’s assessment makes me smile as I nod. If that’s her takeaway from what I just explained, then her ignorance is bliss.
“Jorge, I do have one question. I know you explained you can’t leave, and that all makes sense, but how was Friedrich able to walk away?”
“He’s not a member of the ruling family of his branch in the Camorra. His father is probably a senior member, and from the sounds of it, he was well-connected to the ruling family.However, he wouldn’t have the same responsibilities as his best friend did. I’m certain they can and have called upon him to go back to Essen or wherever they want to send him, and he’s had to fulfill obligations. He’ll never explain that to Heidi.”
Liesel merely nods, but I see the sadness in her eyes. She accepts what I’ve told her and how I’ve described the life she’ll have. But it seems like she’s sad for her sister, even though Heidi will have less to do with syndicate life than Liesel will. It makes me wonder if she’s hiding her emotions about our future better than I thought.
“Jorge, I accept this life that I’m walking into. It’s not like I’ve been part of a syndicate before, but you know I’ve had questionable clients. It wasn’t by choice, and I didn’t realize the extent of it, but I’ve essentially worked for one of them. I supplied information to the people extorting me and didn’t stop the money passing through my accounts. I know who and what you are and have since the beginning. However, this comes as a monumental shock to Heidi. She’s never dealt with anything like this, and that’s not what she signed up for with Friedrich.”
“Do you think it will cause a rift they can’t overcome?”
“I don’t know. It depends on whether she can get past the secret he kept. They’ve been together a couple of years, and I doubt his role would’ve come out without everything that’s happened. I don’t know if she can live with lies of omission and bald-faced lies. I suspect she can because she loves Friedrich, and I think they’re soulmates too. I just don’t know for sure. I hope they can because they’re good together. They make each other happy.”
“I hope for that as well. If something that’s hard for you to understand or accept comes up, I hope you’ll talk to me about it, Liesel. But if there’s something you don’t feel comfortable sharing with me, then I hope you’ll go to someone else in my family. They’ll accept you because you’re important to me, butI’m confident they’ll also accept you for you. How could they not?”
I give her the most heartfelt smile I can, and I hope she knows it’s genuine.
