--3 days after the accident--

For the third day in a row, there was no employment at the office. The lines for unemployment and aid were too long, and by the time you got to the end, there were only scraps. Even trying to be a beggar was difficult; the best beggars monopolized the streets and shooed any new blood away.

Even though life was so difficult, Dominic felt better about it. He liked to suffer along with everyone else, because the grind made him feel alive.

Like every other normal person on the streets, he was trying to get better. It had unfortunately taken a near death experience (in his eyes) and the deaths of his brothers and everyone they knew to change him like that. Along with him was Lyle, the only other member of the Gordoli family who wasn’t killed that night. He had been lucky enough to dislocate his hand and escape the handcuffs some bodyguard for the Vasquez family had.

At first, Lyle had been dead set on trying to go back to a life of crime, but as he watched Dominic search for jobs day in and day out, the hardened criminal fell to the pressure.

“Another day of nothing but bust it seems,” Dominic said, leaning himself on the bridge. In the distance, ships were docking at the port. Not many. The river had some commerce, but not much. “I wonder what kind of jobs they have outside of the city? Maybe like as a farmer.”

“A farmer?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. I’ve always thought it might be kinda nice, right? Like, you get to raise animals and stuff.”

“You a big fan of ‘em, boss? Er, sorry, Dom?”

“Yeah, I love animals.”

“Wish I could say the same then,” Lyle said. “More of a people person, I am.”

“Jeesh. We’re opposites then.”

“Guess you could say that. But honestly, I gotta say I don’t mind it. Well, I’d like to get a job sooner or later. Maybe giving haircuts.”

“A barber?”

Lyle blushed.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s what my pops did, and what his pops before him did,” Lyle explained. “They were teaching me it before I joined the gang. Regret it now, obviously.”

“And is your family doing well?”

“Honestly, I ain’t got no clue. They were healthy 15 years ago, but who knows about now?”

“In that case, I’ve got an idea,” Dominic said, grinning. “Make some money, then by a train ticket to wherever they live. After that, you can work for ‘em. Now for myself, finding a job as a farmer is the most important thing.”

“You’re really set on that farmer thing, huh?”

“Huh? Hey, do I know you?”

As the two ex-gangsters chatted, a third voice appeared, calling out to Dominic. As the new man turned his head, his stomach dropped. Standing before him was the short man who killed the entirety of his gang alone. Even if the man let him go free, the sight of that little devil made him worry.

“Ah, yeah. Uh…”

It was sort of hard to explain how they knew each other, but it didn’t seem to matter. Very quickly the assassin understood what was going on.

“Oh! I remember! You were the last gangster! Ahhhh...sorry for killing all your friends. Are you another member of that gang? Yeah, sorry about that. I was doing a contract to bring back the kidnapped children, and I had to make sure with certainty that nobody would try to get revenge. Hope you can forgive me, eh?”

The careless attitude for slaughter should have either made the two men angry or scared, but instead, three days later, it just felt casual. Having lost their ties to the gang life, other opportunities emerged; chances far less damning at the end.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dominic said. “I’m sad that my brothers are dead...but it makes me feel better that this whole thing is over.”

“Same,” Lyle said. “I hope the family is okay.”

“Ah, yeah, they’re fine. In fact, after the whole ordeal finished, I think they actually got a lot closer. Funny how that works, no? Kinda makes me jealous, since the relationship with my sister sucks so much. Oh, how about this...to make up for what we did, I’ll give you one free use of our services. That way, you can’t ever say we didn’t make up for it, yeah?”

“One free use?”

That just seemed confusing for Dominic.

“Yeah, just once, for free, I’ll do a job for ya. I mean, I’m obviously pretty skilled.”

“Um, excuse my asking,” Lyle started. “But just what is it exactly that you do?”

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious?”

Both the two ex-gangsters shook their heads.

“Oh, okay. That’s kind of surprising, honestly. Weren’t you two part of a gang? I can’t imagine a group living here without knowing about us.”

“We only got to the city a little while ago,” Dominic said. “And I guess I never really paid much attention to all the crime stuff. That was mostly my brothers.”

“Huh. Well, maybe you won’t need my services, then. Are you still gonna keep your group together?”

“No, that idea is long gone. From today on, we’re gonna be regular people.”

The short hitman nodded his head slowly. It seemed like he was thinking about something, crossing his arms together and warping his face around. His eyes were screwed shut until he came to an answer to whatever question he was thinking.

“What are you doing now, then?”

“Trying to find jobs,” Lyle answered. “Unsuccessfully, though. I guess we just started, but still. I didn’t even realize the economy was so bad until now. Makes me feel sorry for all the people we extorted.”

“Ahh...I hadn’t even thought about that,” Dominic said, a pained expression growing on his face. “We should probably try to make amends for doing that, shouldn’t we?”

“Jesus christ, did you two suddenly become saints or something? Jumping from hardcore criminal gangster kidnappers to hard working boring citizens?”

They couldn’t answer.

It did seem strange for their sudden jump, but it didn’t feel bad. Rather, it was more like instead of this being some drastic change, the drastic change was running as a gang. This was their normal life, and everything earlier had been a detour.

“Well, if you’re serious about trying to work hard, I’ve actually got a perfect idea,” the short man said. He was now smiling. “I happen to know a very good friend that is looking for staff they can easily take advantage of. In fact, one of your other friends is already being employed there. If you’ve got time, we could head over now?”