Mr. Consultant

Mara woke up in a small, dilapidated apartment. She quit her job at the Federal Hotel two months ago and has yet to find any new means of earning a living.And her savings are so limited, after putting aside water, electricity and food, she can only be rented in this kind of musty place.But she has no regrets, and even in some respects, she is deeply hopeful in such days.

She sat up from the bed and took out her well-made red wool dress.Then put it on, put on black high-heeled shoes, and paint the most popular makeup nowadays like going on a date with a lover.She brushed her brown wavy hair back into a ponytail with a bright red headband.She's going to get dressed up for the best, brightest day of her life.The past ten years or so seemed like a nightmare to her, but now, she seemed to see the end of this nightmare.

In high spirits, she skipped down the stairs, even finding the creaking noise extraordinarily pleasurable.And her big brown eyes shone with a moving brilliance, like a jar of sweet honey, like a brilliant shooting star.Her eyebrows are thick and distinct, her brow bones are deep, and her nose is straight.She has a pair of naturally smiling lips, as radiant as a star on a poster.

She walked through the alley in front of the apartment to the newsstand not far away, then took some change from her bag and bought the latest newspaper of the day.She stood in front of the newsstand and spread out the newspaper. The headline read that several punks were seriously injured last night because of a fight.Feeling baffled, she quickly flipped through the other boards, and moved her eyes closer to make sure she didn't miss any important information.

However, there was still nothing she wanted to see.

Her world suddenly turned gray, even full of unreasonable things. Those sunshines and sunny days are not worth mentioning to her now.She even cursed, cursed from the bottom of her heart, hoping that this world would be destroyed and no longer exist meaninglessly.She raised her beautiful face, pale with disappointment and sorrow.She stared at the owner of the newsstand, and suddenly, as if going crazy, she took out all the banknotes in her bag and bought all types of newspapers in Chicago.

Mara was holding the stack of thick paper with different contents, and the wet ink on it made her palms and cuffs mottled and dirty.As if fleeing, she returned to the apartment in a daze, and then spread the newspapers on the dining table, tremblingly, trying to salvage an insignificant obituary in the mixed black and white ocean currents.

Yes, she was looking for an obituary, she was looking forward to a death.

But her hope was in vain, she never imagined that in that thick stack of newspapers, there was not a single word about the death of Consultant Barone.She didn't understand, and felt that this matter was irrational, and could not even be explained logically.But she was helpless, there was no room for struggle and resistance, she was like a fish stranded on the beach, sinking deep into the mud of endless hatred.

Covering her cheek with her hand, she couldn't help but take two steps back, knocking over the bottles and cans on the cabinet, making a series of harsh noises.She sobbed, retched, and was swept over her heart by great pain.She was teased by the cruel fate and bullied by the ruthless life. In her eyes, all these were unfair and unreasonable.

But she had no choice but to accept this arrangement without complaint and admit it.

And this terrible thing, the root of all these, can be traced back to a very, very early time.Mara, her full name was Mara Cortero, the daughter of Giovanni Cortero, the second-in-command daughter of Giuseppe who died indirectly.Although the relationship between her and Giovanni is very weak, and although her mother who loved her left this world early, she still cannot accept the male whore her father kept in a villa in the suburbs, let alone accept this male whore as an informer. The crime that killed her father.

Although 18 years and more than 500 days have passed, she still cannot forget that rainy night, that pouring rainy night.Her father had promised to spend Thanksgiving with her this year.She even bought a pumpkin pie for this, and ordered a turkey for the holiday, but only waited for Maldini's, the group of death-like messengers in black ponchos.

They said that Falco, that sleazy whore, called Giovanni away with a phone call.Then, on his way to the suburban villa, Barone's killer stopped his driver and fired three machine guns at them for more than ten minutes.Those killers used up thousands of bullets, and smashed a brand new Chrysler into a scrap center.

Mara couldn't believe it was true, and at her age of ten, she still couldn't understand the meaning of three machine guns and thousands of bullets.But when she faced Giovanni's body, when she found that the father who was joking with her on the phone half a day ago had become a pile of rotten meat, nausea and fear rushed to her nerves, Made her cry, made her tremble, made her vomit and pass out.

She looked at the muscles bursting out of the skin, the blood vessels turned out like old wires, and the white bones, black burnt marks.A great sense of helplessness pierced her chest and soul like a knife.

It's not that Mara didn't think about it, even thought about it more than once, that one day she would leave her father.Whether active or passive, she could no longer stay with Giovanni.Life in the mafia was too dangerous for Giovanni to take good care of her, and after all, she didn't want anything to do with an old pervert who kept a 17-year-old male prostitute.

However, when she stood in front of the dead Giovanni, all that existed in her heart was overwhelming sadness.Since then, she has no parents anymore, and although her life can go on, that life itself can no longer be called life.

And this matter reached such a point that the suspicious male prostitute and the villa in the suburbs became the objects of curiosity for everyone in Maldini.They sent people to investigate and inquired in many ways, but they only got a bloodbathed house and a name that was too ordinary:

Falco Rizzo.

After the Giovanni incident, this man disappeared in every corner of Chicago as if he had evaporated from the world.Maldini offered a high reward for this, and searched around the streets for the whereabouts of this prostitute named Falco, who was born in Rue Bertoni.They felt infinite consternation and annoyance, unable to comprehend that an insignificant, lowly and weak male whore could kill their second in command in an instant, and beat his body into that horrific and horrible state.

But those rewards, those spies, and those overt and covert investigations all found nothing.Maldini's people didn't realize until much later that the prostitute named Falco had made an agreement with Barone to reveal Giovanni's whereabouts and set a deadly trap.And he himself has also changed his name and surname, and under the protection of Barone, he fled to that distant Italy on the other side of the ocean.

The sudden death of the second-in-command dealt a heavy blow to Maldini's career. Their army lost command, and the conflicts within the family gradually intensified.And these, directly or indirectly, led to their defeat in the war, and led to the unfavorable agreement they signed with Barone that lasted more than ten years.

However, for Ma La, all the misfortunes have just begun.People had considerable sympathy and love for her at first, but as time went by, the truth of the Giovanni incident gradually became clear.But people have to be surprised to find that if the second in command hadn't taken care of that hateful male whore, if Giovanni hadn't foolishly accepted the mercy of that male whore, perhaps a series of things would not have led to this situation.

It's not that they can't understand Giovanni's experience, nor can they understand Mara's mood, but any failure must have a reason, and they are unwilling to attribute this reason to themselves.This cowardly but common idea enveloped the entire Maldini who was depressed by the war.Not long after, Mara felt other people's strange eyes, and some pointing gossip.She felt ashamed and unfortunate for her father, but what could she do, could she choose her own family?

Mara gradually began to despair, and found that there was no cure for this world, and there were no miracles.After she became an adult, she left Maldini's care, and she didn't want to have any relationship with those mafias.On her own, she graduated from community college and found a subsistence job at the Federal Hotel.Her life is not considered rich, but she is very down-to-earth. She can leave work on time every day and receive her own salary.She felt that maybe her life should go on like this, and it should go on like this, without any waves.

But fate, fate is always unreasonable.

Mara still remembered that just a few days before Christmas last year, there seemed to be some important gathering in the Federal Hotel, and the lobby was full of Italian-speaking people.Curious, she asked her colleagues, but what she got was news of the peace talks between the two major mafia.She felt that she should stay away to avoid Maldini's crowd, but in the corner of the banquet hall, she saw the blond and thin prostitute who was Barone's adviser.

Even Mara herself couldn't understand why she identified Giuseppe's identity at a glance.Although she had only seen this man in Giovanni's car, she was familiar with the expression in those gray-green eyes, and even the malice under that enchanting skin.

Falco Rizzo, the man she hated and cursed by her even if he went to hell, now stands in front of her with dignity and integrity.

Mara felt that she had been hurt, and the wound in her heart that had healed began to gush out bright red blood again, sending out piercing pain.She thought of everything she had suffered in these years, and of Giovanni's death, and suddenly became furious.She can endure her own suffering, but she can't watch the person who deserves retribution live happily ever after.

And this kind of anger, while making her lose her mind, also lit up a sad light for her life without waves.Her body seemed to have strength again, and her life seemed to have hope again.

She wants revenge on Falco, for all the misery of the past.

Mara quit her job at Federal Hotel and began to investigate around Giuseppe. She wanted to know the consultant's schedule and find the best way to retaliate.She rented an apartment near the Brownstone, and used the pretext of taking a walk every day to come and go around the perimeter of the building.

The security of the Brownstone building is quite tight. The guards will check the identity of every visitor and call the office to confirm that it is very difficult for outsiders to have a chance to get in.Therefore, she can only choose to do it externally.She learned that Giuseppe would take his young master out from time to time, or send his assistants to buy drinks and food from nearby coffee shops.

Mara didn't have a driver's license and so couldn't follow the consultant's vehicle, but she could approach the assistant and tamper with his food.She bought a small bottle of meth from a pharmacy, unbelievable that such a deadly poison could be bought so easily.She then watched the assistant closely, following him to his regular shop.

She's patient, because no matter what, there's never been a longer period than the last 18 years.After the assistant left, she repeatedly observed in the store to determine the timing of her attack.She even figured out the shift schedule in the store to make sure the employees wouldn't get suspicious of her.But at the end, she still couldn't help sending a bright red envelope to the consultant to remind him of his sinful past.

Then, just yesterday, she saw the baby-faced assistant step out of the brownstone door and turn another block, as usual.She followed him to the shop that she was already very familiar with, and while waiting, she warmly struck up a conversation with the assistant.She used the sugar not far away as an excuse to dismiss this simple and easy-to-understand man, and then poured the meth into a paper bag in one go.

Mara's heart beat violently immediately, and her hands trembled.She knew that it would not be long before that despicable male prostitute would go to hell and never appear in her nightmare again.The flames of revenge raged in her chest, even consuming her soul and burning her nerves.

But, Falco, that damned whore is still alive.There was no news of his death in the papers, nor on the radio.Mara felt that the world was crazy, so why was that man still alive, still alive without shame!

Thinking of this, she tried her best to get rid of the slumped posture, and got up from the floor in embarrassment.She rummaged desperately in her dressing box, and finally found a handful of jet-black, small-bore guns.

She can't keep him alive.

The author has something to say:

This sad and helpless world.