Serious People by James A. Shea

in which the old woman felt such a strong a connection to Charlie O’Neil. She shared tales of all his glories as if they reflected some kind of joint achievement for all her countrymen that were on that same boat to England that she and the boys’ Ma had been, along with a few hundred other Irish people travelling away from the homeland.
    All the brothers had been taught the ins and outs of how Payne and O’Neil had run their business and how they had cloaked it with a trade in logistic and haulage. Mary always took great pride whenever she saw one of their large trucks go past them on the street, with the O’Neil & Payne insignia painted on its side.
    John, on the other hand, was never completely convinced of this link. He remembered his Uncle Roy, after weeks of being pestered by Aunt Mary, had applied for a job at O’Neil and Payne’s haulage company. But had not been given it. Of course, Mary had thought this was only another example of Roy’s failings—that he was not a real man, but a complete failure. She knew Charlie O’Neil would have been desperate to give him a job.
    John remembered that evening well. He had been fifteen years old at the time and was close to his Uncle Roy; in hindsight it was probably just that they both shared having some humanity in their souls. He could still hear in his mind the scolding his Aunt Mary had been giving his uncle for not getting the job. John wondered if that was when he started hating his Aunt.
    John walked into the lounge to see Nick strapping the great Robert Payne, who was dressed in just a dressing gown, to what looked like a dining room chair.
    “What the hell are you doing in my house? How the hell do you think you’re going to get away with this?” Robert screamed at the brothers.
    “Get away with this?” Billy looked perplexed for a moment.
    “Breaking into my home and tying me to a bloody chair!” Robert screamed back.
    “Hold on, calm down Robert,” Billy said sitting down on the expensive white sofa. “We’re here to negotiate with you.”
    “Really? Why tie me up then? Why the weapons?” Robert said, seeming to calm a little.
    Billy glanced at his bat, as if he had forgotten he still had it. “Well let’s call it a bit of collateral for our discussion. I’m none too sure that you would entertain a productive conversation with us if we hadn’t come with some equipment?”
    “Really! Well I might agree with you on that while you’re holding a knife to my throat. But what makes you think that, after you’ve untied me and put that knife away, I’ll stick by any agreement I now make with you?” Robert said, negotiating.
    “Well let’s just say, that’s my challenge.”
    Payne seemed to nod as if in acceptance of a reasonable answer. John sat down on the sofa next to Billy; to say that he felt surprised by how well this was going would be an understatement. Billy seemed to be handling this with far more control then John had though he was capable of. But he still thought this was a terrible idea though; his palms were soaked with sweat.
    John tried to think of the best-case scenario that could develop from this point. As much as he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of any that involved Robert Payne still being alive at the end of this.
    “I want you to set up a meeting between us and your Mexican friends,” Billy began, aggressively pointing his baseball bat towards Payne.
    “Why would I do that?” Payne laughed.
    “I’ll tell you why you’re going to do that. You need a new partner. O’Neil’s finished; you know it and we know it. Everyone on the street knows it,” Billy said, his eyes darkening with his mood.
    “You disrespectful prick! You so much as hope, let alone expect me to turn on Charlie for you clowns!” Robert said, still smiling despite his situation.
    John quickly turned to Billy, concerned that his temper would start to break. But to his surprise he saw a smile on his brother’s face, as if he had planned