Chambered Rounds

 Everything went silent. The Slovenian street corner, still in motion, was muted. All he could hear was a heartbeat, his heartbeat. The constant beat was slowly ever-increasing. He fell to his knees and collapsed, the world tilted in the morning sun. He saw a woman screaming, but he heard no sound. Only the echoes of bystanders were all that could be heard with the heartbeat. He was grasping his body without realizing. His blood spilt and reality furthered from him, bystanders came from all sides. His life didn’t flash before his eyes, but rather he saw what mattered in his life, what was left of his family, his friends, all he loved, all he lost. His work cost him his life and all he had ever known. His killer stood over him with vengeance in his eyes, his last memory after the cyclist on Dunajska Road was the face filled with redemption behind the smoking barrel of the pistol. 

Any person who walked past Antonio on that street would think he had a pretty easy life. He didn’t look as weathered as one would be after an upbringing such as his. He had a classically handsome Spanish look; his hair was still wet from his morning shower. He wore a collared shirt over a black shirt, two buttons done with black jeans. His clothes looked expensive, he had a casual look. 

Antonio had a tough childhood like few of us. His parents were murdered when he was merely 9 years old. After that one day he discovered his parents in pools of blood, he was forced to grow up on the streets of London. An old family friend of his, Kent, offered him jobs. Kent was never the kind of person you wanted to know. He was heavily involved in organized crime. Antonio was valuable to Kent, as a child was less likely to be searched for drugs than one of his people. He had other odd jobs for Toni as the years passed, stealing cars, protection rackets, more drug deals, people smuggling and more illegal operations. He disapproved of it, but he did what he had to do to survive on the streets. 

His phone rang in an ominous tone. Kent saw the number on the screen, it didn’t register with him. But the voice on the other end of the line was recognizable as it was all those years ago. 
“Antonio, my boy, How long has it been now?”
“It’s been a while, we should catch up sometime”
“Damn right, where’s my money you schmuck?”
“Listen, how about we meet up for a drink? We have so much to catch up on. Are you in Ljubljana?”
“Are you?”
“I’m on my way now. Let’s meet at the pub near Dunajska Road. We’ll talk this out and put this strife behind us”
“lookin’ forward to it, bub”

The pub and the back street really was a scene like that of a postcard. It was close to the middle of the European city. Nearby were the three bridges that lead across the river to the town hall. Trees enclosed the sky over the bluestone path. Flowers lined the red bridges sharing the contrast of the surrounding environment and the daylight. Kent was waiting at one of the tables outside with a scotch on the rocks.
“Good to see you Antonio, how have you been?”
“I’ve been much better off now than before”
“So running off with my goddamn money was worth it?”
“I was only taking what was mine”
There was a pause. Vengeance enriched Toni’s voice, “I know what you did, you backstabbing prick”
“Toni, I did that for a rea-“
“Shut it! You have no excuse for your actions. You got greedy and you murdered them. Then you used me and kept me in the dark. How does that make you feel?!”
“What does that say about you then? Taking all of my money and pissing off without a goodbye?””
Kent looked him in the eye while he stayed silent in his seat.
“Tell me, what did you really expect to happen when we met up?”
Still, he remained silent. 
“Let’s go for walk, whadaya say?”

Walking up the street, they discussed certain things. The silence would’ve been uncomfortable for anyone else, but finally one spoke up with anger in his voice.
“Where’s my goddamn money?”
“You had no reason to murder my family”
“What I say goes with no questions. They refused to help us out”
There was a pause as Toni pieced together the past. 
“… that’s it?”
“Wasn’t that the reason you were looking for? What do you want me to do? I stand by my actions, they made their choices and I made mine.”
Kent brought up his middle finger straight up to Toni’s face said “levati dalle palle”
As Toni walked away with nothing but anger running through each nerve in his body, time slowed down. The world became subdued. Thirteen meters away, Kent reached for something in his left breast pocket. Toni grabbed his pistol and turned around in a second. Only one pulled a trigger.