Baccano! - Volume 18 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 There’s No Other Way to Live

On the highway In a passenger car

“Oho… So Uncle Placido finally made himself scarce, huh?”

“All their territory has been taken by other syndicates already…,” Lua replied.

Ladd burst out laughing. “Ha! I told him so! It’s just like I said: Uncle was all washed up. Actually, I’m impressed he hung on for three years… Maybe nobody knows where he went, but my money’s on somewhere six feet under.” After summarily predicting his uncle’s death, Ladd, in the backseat, spoke to the man who was riding shotgun. “You’re a lucky guy, Nader. She says Uncle Placido’s not around anymore. Well, back when they went and locked Lua up, it was already a sure thing that I was gonna crush the family.”

“Y-yeah… You’re right.”

Rocked by the motion of the car, with those dangerous words in his ears, Nader Schasschule thought, Where did I go wrong?

He looked back over his life. Where had the fork in the road been?

Nader had joined the Lemures just after he turned sixteen.

For several years before that, he’d lived by running cheap, childish flimflams.

He’d run away from his rural home, had gotten through all sorts of trouble using nothing more than his glib tongue, and had made a habit of ingratiating himself with powerful people. In the time it took him to grow from the ringleader of the local kids to a minor mafia executive, he lived off strong people one after another, like a hermit crab going through shells.

As he did so, Nader’s own attitude gradually grew bigger. He could feel power at his fingertips.

There’s a proverb about a fox that borrows a tiger’s authority, and when it came to finding an even stronger tiger, you could have said Nader was twice as greedy as the average person. As a matter of fact, he might have had a gift for it. He’d borrowed the authority of a whole parade of tigers. When one tiger was near death, he’d skin it and offer its pelt to the next one. In other words, he was an opportunistic small-timer, but you could say that his nose for power was the real deal.

At last, he’d made a fatal mistake: The final tiger whose authority he’d borrowed had been Huey Laforet.

Once he’d infiltrated the Lemures, he’d tried to find out just what kind of person their leader was—and after one look at him, he knew this Huey guy wasn’t a tiger or anything like it. He was something far more dire. The man’s authority was poison. Once Nader borrowed it, he’d be finished. His own skin just might rot off.

He harbored a vague fear of Huey.

He had his doubts about the man’s immortality, but he was certain Huey was a bad person.

He didn’t see us as his subordinates or companions or anything like that.

Tools… No, that ain’t right, either.

It was like he didn’t care if we broke. He had the eyes of a kid watching ants drown.

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Nader cut his memories of Huey short.

It’s his fault my life went off the rails.

After Nader joined the Lemures, he’d made a very bad decision.

Since he’d developed an indefinable fear of Huey, Nader avoided ingratiating himself with him directly. Instead, he waited for his chance as the flunky of a man named Goose. One day, an opportunity arrived: Huey got nabbed by the Bureau of Investigation.

His nose for danger wasn’t fully working yet, and Nader ignored his instincts. He made contact with his next tiger—Placido Russo—and got to work poaching the better part of the Lemures.

However, the price for not trusting his intuition had been far too great. He’d lost his right hand, nearly died, and ended up on the run from the Russo Family.

He’d been betrayed, not by his search for new power, but by his fear of Huey. That had probably been the decisive difference between all his other moves and this one.

Should I have just kept on listening to that asshole Goose? No… That’s not right, either. I dunno what was up, but even without me ratting them out, those guys were practically falling apart already. I don’t know what happened on that train, but if I’d been on board…

He couldn’t visualize himself surviving that carnage, and he ground his teeth quietly.

Maybe things had started going off the rails for him when he joined the Lemures, or possibly when he got involved with Huey in the first place.

Where had the gears slipped? He thought about it again, but the answer wouldn’t come. The more he thought, the further back he went. He wasn’t enough of a pessimist to think his very birth had been a mistake, but… Before long, he registered the most important junction, the one an ordinary person would probably have thought of first.

Why did I become a con artist in the first place?

If he’d taken the wrong path, could it have started there?

By any form of normal logic, entering underworld society by choice was a mistake.

Nader was reluctant to admit that, though.

I just wanted power, that’s all.

He hadn’t cared whether he came by it honestly or through underworld society. He’d simply wanted the strength to do everything his way. He’d thought that if he borrowed others’ authority, skinned them, and kept wearing those skins, someday he’d manage to acquire real power. As a matter of fact, if he’d managed to successfully sell out the Lemures, he’d pictured himself ultimately taking over the Russo Family.

But I screwed up.

I managed to get even with Goose, but in the end, I’m just a pitiful traitor.

Come to think of it…I ran into a real head case in front of the station in Chicago that day.

I forgot his name, but…I can’t believe what he managed to do even though he was weak.

All to save scum like me.

Nader came very close to basking in a certain memory, but at the same time, he remembered something.

Oh, that’s right. That was it.

Memories of a distant day rose in his mind.

I wanted to get stronger and become a hero.

It was a childish promise he’d made when he was twelve or so, to a neighborhood girl who was about five years younger.

When I grow up, I’m gonna be a hero!

Yeah, like Wyatt Earp or Jesse James!

Just you watch—I’ll get super strong!

And then, hey… I could protect you, too, if you want.

His own words from when he was a kid echoed in his mind.

He had lied. The girl had been like a little sister to him, and he had been showing off for her. Still, he remembered the girl had smiled happily back at him.

I was a total idiot. I said I’d become a hero, and then I turn out like this?

Come to think of it, I wonder what she’s doing now.

Remembering his younger childhood friend, Nader had a sudden thought.

After he’d gotten his revenge on Goose and was free of the Lemures, he’d planned to go back to his hometown and work his dad’s cornfields. When he got there, though, that girl wasn’t in town anymore.

It made him a little sad, but he was relieved she wouldn’t see what a loser he was now.

Putting it behind him, he tried to get the “power” to throw away his past self and live a new life.

That way, one day, when the girl came back to town, he’d be able to give her a genuine smile.

However, he’d been forced to see something—he was still underestimating Huey Laforet.

Right after Nader got back, the cornfields he’d inherited from his father burned to ashes, barn and all. Stunned, he’d walked back into his room at the house where he’d grown up, and there, he found a note on his bed.

Why don’t you tremble in your shoes like the traitor you are?

—Hilton

He could see the spite in the handwriting, and the moment he saw it, his vision had gone black.

He’d heard the name “Hilton” before. She was a liaison that Goose contacted from time to time. Every time they met, she’d looked different, but she’d probably been in disguise. Either that, or it was an alias that multiple women used.

Realizing he was being watched—and targeted—Nader got out of the house, fast, and rushed to the town’s main street. It was the most densely populated place around. Once he’d confirmed the people coming and going around him were all perfectly ordinary residents, he started to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Say, mister?”

At his feet, a small girl looked up at him, smiling.

She didn’t look like she was ten years old yet. She reminded him a bit of his childhood friend, and Nader gave a small smile and patted her head. “What, little lady?” He spoke in a kind voice that wasn’t at all like him, possibly due to his relief, but the very next instant—

—the smile vanished from the girl’s face, and her voice filled with icy hatred.

“…Do you actually think you can get away, Nader Schasschule?”

After that, his memories were hazy. He didn’t remember where he’d run to, or how, or whether even more frightening things had happened to him when he got there. The next thing he knew, he was banging on the door of the Bureau of Investigation office and begging, “Some crazy bird’s got me on her kill list. Please, lock me up!”

It had been three years since then—and here he was.

Frankly, he was terrified. He had no idea when the Russo Family or Hilton might take a shot at him. For that reason, the fact that he was getting a ride from this Ladd guy was technically a good thing, but…

On the other hand, I’ve got a strong hunch that I’ve stepped into a very nasty mess.

The incident a little while ago had clearly shown him just how dangerous Ladd was. It was also obvious that the guy was more of a mad dog than a tiger, and it wasn’t going to be possible to borrow his authority.

If I stick around, I bet he’ll drag me into an even bigger mess.

I have to split up with him somehow…

After that earlier trouble, the guy still hadn’t grilled him about his connection to the Flying Pussyfoot. Nader had the feeling that telling Ladd about it wouldn’t end up working against him. However, the very fact that Ladd had taken an interest in him might.

In the end, Nader had already rolled the dice. He even suspected that this situation, where disaster followed disaster to his door, was the result of that one choice. He’d calmed his heart down by telling himself that there was no other way for him to live at this point.

Even if that was just a cheat.

With a little sigh, Nader started listening to the conversation in the car, hoping to find a way out.

“So yours truly is the only survivor of the Russo Family, huh? Kinda lonely.”

“Young Master Ricardo’s still around,” the young man in the driver’s seat told Ladd.

“Ah. Ricardo, huh? Ricardo. Yeah. That takes me back. Him, too—he’s still a kid, but he’s like a damn philosopher. Acts like he could die whenever and not give a damn. Ah, I can’t explain it. He’s like Lua, but not.”

Ladd sounded bored. The woman sitting next to him asked, “Did Ricardo start acting that way…after the incident…?”

“Yeah, when my cuz and his wife got blown to kingdom come. Car bomb,” Ladd answered.

Goddammit. The conversation just keeps getting uglier.

The impulse to drop his head into his hands crashed over Nader, but he curbed it and sat quietly in the passenger seat. Beside him, the driver—a guy named Shaft—spoke up as if he’d just remembered something relevant. “Oh, speaking of young Master Ricardo, I hear he’s in New York right now. It sounds like he’s planning to work under some other gang and rebuild the Russo Family… I mean, it’s just a rumor, so I don’t really know the details.”

“Rebuild the Russos? That kid?” At that unexpected bit of news, Ladd looked mildly surprised. “Oho. I’ll be looking forward to that. That gives me more to do in the ol’ Big Apple.”

Ladd crossed his arms cheerfully and leaned back in his seat. Just then, a rapping noise sounded beside him. When he looked over, Graham’s upside-down face was peeking in through the window. So that Lua and Ladd could be alone together in the backseat, he’d considerately gotten on top of the car instead.

He was riding on the roof of a car that was going relatively fast, which meant it wasn’t the sort of act that the word consideration was typically used for, but Nader was determined not to get involved with these people, so he didn’t point that out.

Graham was lying flat on his stomach up there, and when Ladd rolled down the window for him, he peeked in. “So hey, Ladd. There’s this huge convoy of cars coming up behind us. Think they’re chasing us?”

“Hmm?” Ladd turned around and saw a procession of luxury cars approaching from the rear. “Nah… They don’t look like they’re chasing anybody.”

The road was a broad one, so Shaft checked the rearview mirror, pulled the car over toward the shoulder, and kept driving. At that, eight high-end cars passed them, followed by one large truck. Two motorbikes brought up the rear, and they could make out the fact that the men on both bikes were identical to each other. It looked almost like a military parade. The expensive cars stayed the exact same distance from one another as they drove, exerting an intense feeling of pressure on their surroundings. The pair of motorcycle riders in the rear almost seemed to be guarding the big truck, and the odd combination gave Ladd’s heart a thrill. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell is that? Think it’s a circus or something? Bit too ritzy for that, though… Getting a whole group of rich folks together and putting ’em on the flying trapeze and making ’em fight lions—that sounds pretty entertaining, don’t it?”

“Don’t say stuff like that, all right?” Shaft said. “…That’s the Runorata Family.”

That remark made Ladd’s eyes shine. This close encounter with the Runorata Family, one of the biggest syndicates of the area, seemed to have made the emotions welling up in his heart impossible to control. “The Runorata Family, huh? I like the sound of that. Let’s pick a fight with ’em—c’mon, let’s do it! Stomp on the accelerator and ram ’em, Shaft!”

“No way! I don’t want to die yet!”

“Hey, c’mon. Not wanting to die is a good thing, but you gotta get in on the party, or you’ll lose out. I mean, you might lose big even if you do get in on it, but still.”

“I’m surprised you can say that when Lua’s with you.”

Shaft’s commonsense retort made Nader feel just a little kinship with him. Meanwhile, Lua was murmuring “Die…here…with Ladd” and blushing, while Ladd and Graham were seriously discussing whether or not to attack the Runorata Family. Watching them made him feel like he should have never gotten into this car.

Either way, what I want right now is information.

Once the conversation settled down, he turned to Shaft in the hopes of getting some of that information. “Those cars… They looked like they were going our way. Is the Runorata Family based in New York?”

However, Shaft answered in the negative. “No. They’re mostly in New Jersey. Oh… I wonder if it has to do with that one thing.”

That remark had seemed to imply something more, so Nader pressed him. “What one thing?”

It must not have been a secret or anything, because Shaft flatly replied, “The hotel.”

“Hotel?”

“They built a huge hotel in New York, just recently. From what I hear, they’re opening a restaurant that takes up an entire basement floor.”

“Huh.”

“And the thing is, the owner of that restaurant is a member of the Runorata Family.”

It didn’t seem to be a particularly unusual story. Thinking this probably wouldn’t have anything to do with him, Nader felt relieved—and then that relief was destroyed as Shaft continued with more dangerous news.

“That said, they broke into an area where major outfits are fighting over territory. They’ve made a lot of enemies, so they probably need an escort that big.”

“……”

“One floor below that restaurant, they’ve made a big ol’ casino, although they’re calling it the ‘spare guest rooms’… Or that’s the rumor anyway.”

Shaft went on with his explanation, impassively. Nader wasn’t sure how to respond.

As if to say he didn’t care about that answer, Ladd broke in from the rear seat. “A casino? Hey, nice! Those places attract morons who think their luck is great and don’t have the slightest doubt that they’re gonna live forever! I bet they’d be worth killing!”

“Uh, do you think you could avoid the k-word for a bit? You’re scaring Mr. Nader.”

“Oh yeah? Sorry ’bout that, Nader! I’ll pay you back for this favor someday. Assuming I remember.”

I don’t care if you forget, just lemme out already.

Nader was about to start crying on the inside. However, his wishes would not be granted as Ladd went on giving vent to his own curiosity.

“Come to think of it, Firo said something about being a casino owner, too.”

“…An owner?”

“Nah, not an owner. Maybe a manager? Well, whatever. Okay… Once we get to NYC, let’s hunt down that casino first thing. We’ll go big, stake all our assets, and test our luck! Sound good, Nader?!”

Huh? I’m already locked into this bet, too?

It was a perfectly natural question, and he almost asked it, but he ultimately wasn’t able to stand up to Ladd’s presence.

And so the small-timer got closer and closer to New York.

He had no idea what results his dice roll would yield or what payoff might be waiting for him.