The Heart of an Assassin Read Online Free Page B

coming down the block, and all of
their eyes turned toward Uncle Ted, who was already rising and
waving them toward the oncoming truck.
    After getting their ice cream and thanking
Uncle Ted, the kids returned to their stoop, and waving, he
returned to his.
    “I wonder where he’s from,” Charlie
asked.
    “Don’t know,” replied Jimmy. “One day he just
appeared.”
    “What you talking about?” asked Tyler. “He’s
always been there. He was here when my mom and I moved in.”
    “Well, he wasn’t here before you came ’cause
I never seen him before that,” Jimmy interjected.
    “Yeah, Tyler. You brought the ice cream man
with you,” said Rick. Once more they all busted out laughing.
    After hanging around on the stoop for some
time, the calls began. “Charlie, come home this minute,” a voice
rang out from one of the windows. Next, it was Ricky’s turn as his
father walked past their stoop and nodded to his son that it was
time to go home. This was an automatic indication for Adam, who
lived in Rick’s building, that Rick was the rule and it was time to
go home.
    Davie, Tyler, and Jimmy hung out until
Tyler’s mother stuck her head out of the third-floor window and
called him up. Jimmy and Davie turned up to look at Tyler’s mom.
“Hi, Ms. Sylvia,” both boys shouted up to her.
    Tyler’s mom was nominated as the best-looking
mom on the block. Charlie, face reddening said, “In all New York.”
She waved to them and said goodnight, and they responded with big
smiles and waves.
    Both Jimmy and Davie lived in the building
where they now sat and were upstairs in their home in a matter of
seconds.

 
The Black Aces
    July 7,
1964 (New York)
    A few blocks away, a stretched silver limo
turned up the block toward 126th Street on its weekly pickup run.
In the back was Joe Coleto, a six foot, broad shouldered lieutenant
with the Costellino family who, over the last six years, had been
entrusted with the responsibility of bringing in the loot made from
drugs on the streets. Headed for his rendezvous with the Black
Aces, a local street gang, he smiled about how things have
developed over the last few years.
    Initially, there was little income for the
family from this area of the city; however, after enlisting these
gang members, business picked up. Their monthly income went from
$3,000 to $25,000 in less than two years. The Black Aces, who first
numbered six, now numbered eighteen. Their territory covered five
square miles of upper Manhattan and was growing every day.
    Jose Torres, the Black Aces leader, grew up
on the streets. By the age of seventeen, he quickly adapted and won
the respect of his peers when he slashed and stabbed Louis Sanchez,
the local nineteen-year-old gang leader who tried to take his bike
away.
    When the ambulance arrived with the local
police, as was the norm in this neighborhood, Jose stepped up and
provided them with detailed information on how a gang from another
street came into the neighborhood and attacked Sanchez. His
demeanor and character convinced the police that he was telling the
truth. Jose, who could charm a young girl’s mother or serve at Mass
on Sunday, could change his persona as easily as he changed his
shoes. The world was his oyster. He could have it all.
    The gang members were impressed and adopted
him into their ranks. Within three weeks, Jose became the leader of
the Black Aces. His first act as their leader was to eliminate his
predecessor.
    Louis Sanchez became a victim of a
hit-and-run driver on the day he was released from the hospital.
The driver was never found, but it turned out that the vehicle was
traced back to a stolen unmarked police car out of the nearby
police station. Politics and embarrassment kept the news out of the
papers and was simply forgotten.
    Jose Torres, also known as Blackie, kept as
low a profile as possible while his empire grew. His most trusted
members, or brothers as he referred to them, were Nelson Diaz
(Loco) and Kenny Roberts