“HOT STUFF AT ALGONQUINE HARBOUR”
A crime short story
(Written by:Barbara Gugliemo, Bassi Giacomo, Di Nardo Marco, D’Innocenzo Giuseppe, Paolone Francesco, Petrucciani Andrea, Spina Paolo–
Class: III A “Liceo Scientifico Statale “G. Galilei” – Pescara –
English Teacher: Prof.ssa Miscia Roberta)
CHARACTERS:
- The Boss
- The Mafioso Carl
- The Mafioso Jenkins
- The Mafioso Danny
- The Youngsters
- Watchman 1 (E) and the informer (E’)
- Watchman 2 (F) and the Police Head Officer (F’) and his agents
- A Spy (G)
SCENE 1:
(The members of a mafia organization enter the room to meet their boss, they greet one another and after taking a seat, they shake hands and start talking)
A: Hard stuff for us, guys: tomorrow night, at 2 a.m., a big cargo of drug will be unloaded at “Francis Airport”.The police might detect it, so we must act straightaway and be really careful.
B: I have a plan: since “Algonquine Bridge” in the central district, and “Broker Bridge” in South Paddington, are monitored night and day, the best thing to do is to reach and cross the Blackfriars Bridge in the north. It will take us a bit longer to get there, but it will be safer for us.
C: When the ship puts in close enough to Algonquine, I’ll personally handle the affair: two of you willwait for the cargo at “Humble Harbour”, and watch it until it reachesthe west bank of the river”. There Danny’s men will take command of the operation.
D: It sounds a great plan!I’ll have two of my men waiting there at 2.45 a. m., just in time for the cargo to cross the islands. Then they will carry it to one of our factories in the “Industrial District”. No one will suspect of anything, success is guaranteed, you can bet your life!
A: Great…!
D: But be careful, the operation is vital for our business. A mistake and…you’re dead!
B: We won’t fail. But…what is of the dough?
A: Don’t worry, each of you will receive his own nest-egg. (He shows them the overnight bag with the money inside). It’s about 1 million dollars.
SCENE 2 (Part 1)
(The conversation is interrupted by the entrance of a watchman)
F: There’s a call for you, Mr. Jenkins.
(after a while)
C: It’s Jenkins, speaking.
(After the second watchman F has left the room, Jenkins starts talking to the first watchman E)
E: What’s on, youngster?
F: Your voice betrays: “Nothing good…”. Anything wrong with the shipping cargo or any other stuff? Spit it out!
E: The boss wants you to do extra work… (He tells them about it)
F: Fuckin’ hell! He had not made our names before…! I think that the best men for that stuff are Danny’s. That mission can be too risky for us.
E: Right, better stay out of such things… Well, I must go now,I have my round of patrol, see you later.
(He nods to them that he is going away. Shortly after that, E finds a man lying on the ground, he comes close to him to see if he is still alive. He feels his pulse. There is no heartbeat, the man looks dead. – The man lying on the ground was instead a spy, who had managed to think up a stratagem to have access to the base and find them. At that point G disarms F, catching him off-guard, and, after killing him, he puts his clothes on and disguises himself as a watchman)
SCENE 2 (Part 2)
(Jenkins starts speaking with his informer)
E’: Jenkins, there’s a catch…: the police have reinforced security checks on every bridge of the 3 islands, someone, therefore, must have double-crossed. There are also many more cops patrolling the districts there. They are combing the industrial area, where our base is, too.I think that the safest place for us at the moment is “Happiness Island”.
C: Damn it!! I’ll inform the others. (The conversation is over)
C: Bad news, youngsters: I’ve just heard that the police have doubled their security checks on the 3 islands, they are combing every district, looking for us.
A: Someone must have set us up. Let’s think about another plan!
D: Hell! Bad Luck! (After thinking about it over for a few seconds…) We could carry the cargo to the harbour near the airport, then carry it straightaway to “Happiness Island” by sea.
B: That sounds great! If only there wasn’t the control tower in “Castle Garden District” which constantly monitors the shipping there, our cargo wouldn’t draw their attention, especially at night.
D: You’re right. (After a while) Then we could… (they finish finding arrangements for the plan)
SCENE 3
(After killing F, G breaks into the room, disguised as watchman 2, interrupting D’s speech)
G: Men, someone has broken into the base, he has not been identified yet, so, in the meantime you’d better move to a safer place! Go quick!!
A: Damn it! Today nothing seems to ride well…Men, let’s move to the underground bunker, there we’ll be safe. (Speaking to the watchman there) “Follow them until they get to the bunker; I’ll reach you there presently, give me some more time to take my stuff.
(G watches the Mafiosi as far as the door, and, when they are out, he shuts the door, remaining in the room alone. While A busies with collecting various objects in the room, G attacks him from behind and aims a gun at his head)
G: Hands up!! The game is up!
A: Fuckin’ hell! Who are you?!
G: I’ll tell you after killing you, damned bastard! When the going gets tough, the tough get going…Now, you are a dead man!
A: How did you manage to discover our base? Who told you how to get here? Who let you in?
(FLASHBACK)
(The Police Head Officer is in the room with G)
G: To what do I owe the honour of your call, Police Head Officer?
F’: We suspect that one of the largest international Mafia organizations is operating a great deal in our country (he gives G a dossier). We don’t have enough information about their foul play, what weknow is that they have set up hidden bases in all the 3 islands, but we have no idea about where they can be. We have already sent a lot of our men to patrol the districts there and they have started beating the areas inch by inch, however, up to now, we have no further information. It’s a hard matter, do you really think you can really manage to do it?
(G darts a glance at the dossier for a while, then he lays the dossier down on the table and leaves the room)
G: It’s a child’s play! (He says speaking to himself, while going out)
(END OF THE FLASHBACK)
G: Two days ago I arrested one of the men in charge of dealing the drug cargo affair in “Algonquine District”. After a few hours torture, he split anything out. That’s how I found out where your base is. It was neither too hard to me to find the way to defuse the alarm system. It took less than 48 hours to understand how it worked. Then, once inside, not to be under suspicion, I pretended to be dead. I used this tennis ball (he takes a tennis ball out of his pocket). It was enough to put the ball under my armpit and press it strongly to stop blood circulation. Then, I waited for the arrival of a watchman and, after killing the man, I killed the other watchmen coming. Now, you’re a dead man!
(Black screen, a final gunshot is heard in the background)
(On coming back home, F finds a dossier on the doorstep, with the writing “CASE SOLVED” on it and, after opening it, he finds a ticket inside with the word: “EASY”, written on it. F’ smiles, pleased, and puts the dossier away).
THE END
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