The man's name was Mark. He was a young man; not younger than Joseph but not older than Caesar. He was a kind man, soon to be married.
"Wow, that's great, Mark!" Caesar gave him a pat on the back as Mark was driving. "You know, I would've gotten married by now, but since there's so many ladies after me, gosh, I can't just pick one!"
The both of them laughed at the joke. But Joseph gave Caesar a face. How could he say such rude things when it's so obvious that Joseph likes him? Caesar shot him a 'You know that I was joking' type of look. "What about you, Joseph?" Caesar asked him, as if he were trying to tease him, "Anybody you got your eye on?"
Joseph scoffed, "Uh, yeah?!" He said with confidence, "And I'm sure you know who it is."
Caesar raised an eyebrow, "Well then, do tell, Joseph."
"No." Joseph refused, "I guess we'll never know."
Caesar rolled his eyes and chuckled. Part of Joseph wanted Caesar to know that Joseph likes him but the other part wants to be cutesy and mysterious. As though his head was as thick as a cinder block. "Oh! You think that I like you? What makes you think that!?"
Joseph's fantasy was stopped abruptly when they made it to the airport. Mark led them to where their jet was. It was a very nice and sleek jet. Joseph had never been on a private jet before. Well, mainly because he's afraid of flying and he can't afford one.
"Mr. Zeppeli," Mark climbed the stairs to the door of the jet and opened the door. Caesar and Joseph carried their bags inside. As Joseph was opening the storage area on the roof of the jet, the lid smacked him in the head.
"Fuck!" He shouted. Caesar looked at him, alarmed for a split second. When their eyes met, they burst out in laughter. "Why does it open like that?!"
"That's normal," Caesar laughed, "You're just stupid."
Joseph smacked Caesar's shoulder. Caesar grabbed his hand and held it in his. "And just what do you think you're doing, Joestar?" He said as he smiled at Joseph.
Joseph smiled back.
Until they heard a loud bang outside.
Caesar's smile went as quickly as it came. The two dropped their bags and went rushing out to see what was happening. Mark was clutching his arm, blood spilling out of it. He had been shot. Joseph looked around, trying to soak in what was happening.
There was a man on the airport runway. He held a gun in his hand and was covered in black clothing. His hair was also long and black. Then it hit Joseph.
This was the same man that he had met earlier that day. He turned to look at Caesar. Caesar pulled a gun out of his ass. Literally. It was in the back of his pants.
"Joseph! Get inside the plane and tell the pilot to start!" Caesar yelled as he began to shoot at the man. Joseph grabbed the bleeding Mark and went in. His anxiety levels were going through the roof- no, through the atmosphere. He was trembling all over, he could barely hear because of the gunfire, and he was beginning to panic.
JoJo did as he was told and ran to the cockpit. He opened the door and saw two people; a woman with long black hair and goggles, and a dirty blond haired man with a scar across his face. "Caesar said to start the plane!" He yelled. The two people began to do stuff to the controls and soon enough, they told him they were ready whenever Caesar was.
Joseph nodded and sprinted back to where Caesar was. "Are we ready yet?" Caesar was inside the plane, closing the door. Joseph nodded. Caesar speed walked to the cockpit to give the pilots the okay.
Joseph looked through the window of the plane and saw the man talking on the phone, blood coming out of his left leg. The man caught Joseph staring at him through the window. He stood up, slightly limping and pointed his gun to the window that Joseph was looking through. JoJo felt a cold sweat and fell to the floor as fast as he could.
And thank goodness he did because a bullet shot through the window and shattered it. Just then, the plane began to move. Joseph felt his heart stop. He quite literally dodged a major bullet. The plane took off and Caesar came out of the cockpit.
He ran to Joseph who was still laying on the floor, soaking all of the events in. "Joseph! Are you alright?" He crouched down next to him, looking at his face.
"What the fuck."
-
Joseph eventually cooled down and was sitting in a seat. He and Caesar sat next to each other. "So," Caesar spoke, breaking the silence, "Do you want me to explain everything? Or will you catch up on your own?"
"I don't even know anymore," Joseph said, "I guess fill me in?"
Caesar took a deep breath.
"So, I was born in Italy. I'm the oldest of 5 siblings. When I was young, about 6, my mother passed. My father struggled to make ends meet with five children and himself to take care of. And he was grieving over my mother at the time. So, he ended up going down the path of doing sketchy mafia type of jobs."
Caesar took a sip of his water. He continued.
"When I was 10, my father got into trouble. Apparently he had a relative who killed some mafia dude. So, as punishment, they went after my father too. And they got him. So that left me, at the ripe age of 10 years old, to take care of my younger siblings. I considered sex work, but I was too afraid, thank goodness. But then a partner of my father decided to give me work to become his new partner."
Caesar looked at Joseph. Joseph had his hand covering his mouth, as though he were watching a drama.
"So now, I'm like, 11, and I'm helping him with dirty work. There was a gang in my hometown. They were called The Pillar Men. 3 brothers, Kars, Esidisi, and Wamuu. They were in their late teenage years, but they were feared. Unfortunately, my partner had owed them a large sum of money."
Joseph gasped. "Oh gosh…"
"Let me finish," Caesar said, "My partner did not have enough money to pay them back. So he decided that he would simply flee the country. That was a horrible decision because The Pillar Men were more than just 3 people, they had their people all over Italy and even reaching as far as Mexico. Of course, they killed my partner. And since they are so super huge on punishments to people who were ever so slightly involved, they went after me. But they didn't go after me, they went after my youngest sister."
Joseph winced.
"Yeah, they got her. It was their warning to me that if 'I' fuck up one more time, then it's not me their going to be getting, but the people that I love. But I did not let them get away with that so easily. I went after one of their closer guys. I pretended to be a brothel worker and since the dude was a pervert, he accepted and I shot him as he was taking off his shirt."
"Christ, Caesar…" Joseph mumbled.
"The Pillar Men didn't take that lightly, of course. I still don't know why I would do such a thing. Because the next day, when I came home to my siblings, they were all dead. Just dead in their bedroom. And I got the message. Loud and clear. They were coming after me next, no more warnings."
"Oh my…Caesar…" Joseph said quietly, putting a hand on Caesar's back.
"I don't know how I was able to do it, maybe they let me get away, but I left Italy. I came to America when I was 12 going on 13. I picked up work at a bakery owned by a little old woman. She had no grandkids and her children never visited her. She felt sorry for me since I had no family so she let me live with her in exchange for my help with the bakery."
Caesar took another sip of his drink.
"When I was 18 and got my citizenship, she decided that it would be nice if I owned the bakery since she was getting old. So, she let me rename it, decorate it as I please, and it became The Zeppeli Cove. She passed away last year. Anyways, I'm assuming that now The Pillar Men are trying to get me. But I'm going to attempt the impossible and try to get them first."
Caesar exhaled and looked at JoJo. Joseph felt like he just binge watched a sad show. He never knew that Caesar went through such things. He just thought he was a cute Italian guy who owned a bakery.
"Wow…that was," Joseph said, scratching his head, "A lot."
They awkwardly chuckled. "Yeah…yeah, it's a lot." Caesar said.
"Too much." Joseph sighed.
"Way too much." Caesar mumbled.