The First Job

Exit 11 goes by. The car speeds along Interstate 195 and my heart beats faster than a smack addict drinking coffee. I looked around myself and see Tony, Angelo, Michael and Lips, the senior officers on our little escapade. Me, I'm a rookie on my first job. This gig will tell the boss whether I'm worth havin' around or if I should just get my ass pumped with lead and my body dumped in the Pawtuxet. Exit 14 just flew by. I start rubbing my index fingers and thumbs together...nervous tick. Angelo tells some joke about blondes and bullets, but there are too many questions runnin' through my skull to laugh. Was i doin' the right thing? Was this smart, workin' for the Family? I understand that in the city you're either in the Family or you're payin' the Family, but does that justify the act that is inevitabley going to unfold when our destination, a convenience store off exit 20, is finally reached? Now I'm runnin' through the ext couple of ours in my head. Exit 17 just went by. Four of us will go into the store. Lips will stay in the driver's seat of the Lincoln Towncar. Angelo wil thrust a pistol in my hand and tell me to pistolwhip any bozos that try to screw us up. they didn't pay, they deserve it. Tony will start takin' monry and shootin' witness'. Michael will spray over the security cameras. My leg starts shaking as I sit between Tony and Angelo...nervous tick number two. If I fail to be scary, or if the cashier decides to hit the silent alarm I'm screwed. Exit 19, one more. I might have to shoot someone, I might have to shoot myself. What I'm doing isn't right, but I have a wife and baby girl to think about. I'd rather they live behind the fear of the Boss rather than in it. They'll be protected and respected. hey a rhyme. now I'm makin' jokes to myself and laughing out loud at them, nervous tick number three. I see the green reflection of the road sign up ahead. Exit 20. The blinker ticks and we pulled into the right lane. We're pulling nto the exit when Lips screams. The oil tanker rolls over the median coming in the opposite direction. The large tank rolls over our Towncar. Before I pass out I see the glowing sign of the convenience store that should have been our destination. My mind is hazy after that.