God Is a Comedian

I worked at a small restaurant on 57th street. The pay wasn't that good but it gave something else to do besides hang out at the bar all the time. And it was nice to have my own money. That night I got off of work later than usual. I decided to be nice and cover another waiter's shift. It was well pass eleven o'clock when I finally clocked out.

I had just set out for home when a black car pulled up along side of me. Any other part of New York City, the black shiny Cadillac would have been inconspicuous but not in Hell's Kitchen. In my neighborhood, it was symbol of power. Instantly I got a bad feeling. I didn't stop walking and I forced myself not to look at the car. I didn't look until the passenger side window rolled down to reveal Nicky Carrillo.

Now, I only ever saw Nicky Carrillo once before, a few years ago. But he looked the same. Same dark black hair, which was combed back, and the same sharp brown eyes and permanent smirk. I've heard many of my friends comment on his good looks but they were unable to distracted me from the malice written on his face.

"Shit." I said before I turned around and ran the other way.

I heard a car door open and then slam close. I heard the tires screech as the car made a quick U-turn. But I kept running, not daring to look behind me.

I ran down an alleyway but before I go much farther, the black car blocked the exit. I finally dared to look behind me. Nicky had just entered the ally. I didn't have much time to think. There was a fire escape on the side of a building so I started to climb. When I was on the third level, I reached for the ladder leading to the fourth but it was rusted stuck. It wouldn't come down, no matter how hard I pulled on it. Running out of ideas, I waited until Nicky was more than half way up the third ladder, then I proceeded to jumped over the side.

The fall would have broken my legs if I hadn't hit a pair of trash cans first. Slightly dazed, I got up and ran back down the ally. I took a right. I saw the Queensboro Bridge that crossed the East river. Beneath it was a large trade barge which had multiple different colored crates on it. I got another, very crazy idea.

I probably wouldn't have done it if the car hadn't come speeding around the corner. I ran for the bridge. I hadn't ran this much since high school and I was already out of breath by the time I reached the bridge. I hopped up on the edge of the bridge and looked for a safe place to land on the ship. I saw a blue tarp that looked like nothing was under it. I jumped aiming for what I hoped was a safe place.

It seemed to take me forever to hit the tarp. When I did, the tarp softened my landing so I didn't break my legs but it still hurt. I looked up at the bridge. Nicky and his driver were looking over the edge of the bridge but instead of the barge, they were looking in the water. After a few minutes they gave up and left.

As the ship passed a small dock, I jumped off the edge and swam through the polluted East River to a small dock. Wet and freezing, I slowly walked to the bar. I couldn't go home like this. Twenty minutes later, when I entered the bar, my body was no longer cold. But that was because I was numb. Inside, in the warmth, were all my brothers.

"What the hell happen to you?" asked Jimmy who was the first one to see me from his position behind the bar.

"Nicky Carrillo happened." I replied. My teeth shook a little. I stumbled a little while trying to kick off soaked shoes.

"Kevin, go get some towels. Hurry." Tommy said in a very paternal tone.

I hadn't noticed that I was shriving very violently until now. Tommy helped me remove my wet clothes and then wrapped me in a towel and a blanket. Once I was comfortable, I told my brothers what happened.

"You jumped off the Queensboro Bridge? Are you crazy?" asked Kevin.

"What was I supposed to do? Let them catch me?" I replied, slightly pissed off. I wasn't really in the mood to be yelled at. "Why the hell were they chasing me anyways?" There all looked at each other with skeptical looks. "Oh, God. What did you do?" I asked to no one in particular.

No one seemed willing to answer. "Jesus. We kidnapped Louie Downtown and we're holding him for ransom." Jimmy blurted out.

Now there's two things that happened to my brother, Jimmy, that made turn out the way he did. The first thing, do you know what a half moon ride is? It came around every summer. It was like an instant block party. I was sitting on the sidewalk playing with chalk as my twelve year old brother, Jimmy, ran pass me. Joey Ice Cream was close behind. Jimmy was carrying a giant bucket of what appeared to be vanilla ice cream. "Just give me some ice cream." Joey demanded as he continued to chase Jimmy down the street.

"But there's hardly any left." replied Jimmy, why throwing a handful of ice cream into his mouth.

"There's five gallons." Joey yelled before he tackled Jimmy to the ground. Jimmy lost his grip on the bucket and it rolled into the middle of the street. Before Joey could reach it, three other kids got to it first. "Hey! I stole that!" Joey yelled, as he sat, defeated, in the middle of the street.

No one even heard it coming. A black car pulled onto the street full of people. I stood up slowly as I watched Joey just sit there, watching the car move closer towards him. At the last second, the car swerved towards Jimmy, who was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk. One of his legs just shattered. It never seemed to grow much after that. And they never found the driver. It never seemed to slow him down much, through. It was like he didn't even notice. It seemed like the only time he did notice was when someone pointed it out and Jimmy didn't take kindly to being called a 'cripple'. But it did change his life. But not in the way you think and not for a long time.

Now, from what I heard, the bookie that Kevin owed the money to was named Louie Downtown. Louie ran the book for Sal Minetta, the head of the Italian mob. Sal and his right hand Nicky Carrillo would drop by once a week to keep Louie, honest but they weren't there when my brothers stopped by. Since Kevin was short he had to tell Louie that he need more time. So Sean borrowed a friends cab while the friends wasn't looking and they brought Jimmy along in case Louie didn't take the news to well.

Did I tell you the second thing you have to know to understand Jimmy? Our father worker for the steel workers' union, which was run by the Irish. Now some Italians were trying to change that. One day, Jimmy was in the car listening to music when two guys asked him where is father was.

"He's in the coffee shop." Jimmy said, barely looking up.

It wasn't his fault. He didn't know. But while he was listening to music, they were beating his father to death. He never saw their faces before or after but he knew one thing. They were Italian. And that's what Louie Downtown was. Italian.

I was about to respond when Tommy interrupted me. "Never mind that. But until this thing is over with, Allie, you go no where with out one of us. Got it?" Tommy ordered.

"Yea, I got it." I replied feeling very annoyed. I didn't like having to be babysat by my brothers.