Disclaimer: The stories and information in this story are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything here as fact.

This story was created using soundtracks in mind, so fire up your Spotify or youtube to get the best experience. you might find the soundtrack while reading the story. the formats could be seen as either these: (Artist - song name) or (song name - Artist). that's all folks enjoy the trip.

Paradise Lost

“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.” - Abraham Lincoln

(Tatanka - Tommy Guerrero) Getting off the bus, Mike threw his skateboard down onto the warm pavement. He adjusted his cap, and started to hop onto his skateboard, pushing it forward with his feet.

From the deck, he could feel the roughness of the ground as he cruised beside the slightly quiet road. His red brown hair that stuck out from his cap swayed around as the warm breeze gently hit his face along with the palm trees that decorated the street.

Up above the blue clear sky, flocks of birds from different kinds of species flying out towards the ocean. Some of them chirped and sang while they perched on buildings, trees and high rises. With this kind weather, it’s not surprising to see all sorts of south florida wildlife running, flying and swimming around the city.

To keep himself from getting bored, the young boy did a couple of kickflips and grinds. With his cunning feet, he kicked his skateboard down onto the pavement, making it bounce and flipped into the air. Simultaneously, he jumped, caught his skateboard with his feet, and landed without oversetting his balance.

Upon seeing a high curb with a sharp edge, he kicked his skateboard again and jumped onto the curb. He slid on it, leaving his mark before getting down and landing back onto the pavement.

To cut some distance, the young boy skated through alleys and parking lots until he popped out onto the “colorful” side of the neighborhood. While passing some abandoned shops, he saw a bunch of teenagers around his age spraying cans of paint as they decorated white walls along the road with artistic and political murals. Besides them, right under a palm tree, a hobo who sat on the ground reached out his hands as he shook a piece of can filled with a couple of pence. A small normal sight to see in this city full of sunshine and palm trees.

Across the street, Mike noticed the usual stuff that he normally encountered in this part of the neighborhood. Cops investigating a murder scene, people fighting in the street, and crackheads getting high on the sidewalk. Throughout his whole life, he never thought that this neighborhood that he grew up with would revert into the lawless land that it was as in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Everytime he thought about it, it always made him wonder.

‘Why was this place used to be called a paradise? And why did people keep saying that this was where everyone could achieve their so-called American dreams?’ He always asked himself.

‘Is it because people didn’t really care back then?’ Upon asking himself a question, an answer passed by right in front of him. A guy in his convertible Ferrari California, surrounded by sexy girls who sat in the passenger and back seat. They are laughing and having fun, enjoying their sunday drive.

‘I guess people didn’t really care.’ The young boy guessed. ‘Perhaps It has always been like that.’ He concluded.

After skating for a considerable amount of time, Mike finally was able to see the big restaurant sign up ahead. “Ravioli”, it spelled. Arriving at the front of the restaurant, he could see the parking lot was already full. He also noticed the large promo sign that hangs over the wall up above the window.

“All menus buy 1 get 1 free + extra cheese.” The sign written. “The IRS really pushed him to the edge, huh?” Mike thought.

As he stepped his foot inside the restaurant, Mike saw his cousin, Tina, who was busy serving some customers behind the counter. The cute short Puerto rican girl noticed Mike and shouted at him. “HEY! Where the hell have you been, dumbass?” With her arms on her hips she gave Mike an angry look. “You should’ve been here 2 hours ago after church. Do you know how much stuff that I need to do because you’re not here?” Her twin white braided hair fell from her shoulder as she shouted loudly towards Mike. She was so pissed, she didn't even care about the customers who needed to be served right in front of her.

“Yeah-yeah, sorry about that.” With a carefree attitude Mike ignored Tina’s shouting and complaint as he walked past her.

“You better go put your stuff down and help me with these people!” She told Mike as she saw him slowly and calmly walk into the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, Mike could smell the sweet sweet aroma from the warm pizza that was being baked from the large brick oven on the corner of the kitchen. Not just the aroma from the oven, he could also feel the heat that came from it. The one who operates the giant brick oven was no one else other than the deaf big fat fella named Sam. With the giant spatula, he took one of the pizzas from the oven and put it on the serving table. While he does that, he notices the young boy who just stepped into the kitchen.

Mike placed his dominant hand on his forehead close to his ear and moved it outwards, away from his body to say hello to the big fella. Sam did the same to respond.

“Ey Mike!” Beside the big fat fella, an american-italian man named Tony who’s busy preparing some pizzas shouted after he noticed Mike was already inside the kitchen. “Where have you been, kid? You’re making us worry.” Tony said.

“Sorry guys, my mom asked me to take her to get some groceries after church.” Mike explained while he took off his jacket and put his stuff in a cabinet on the side of the kitchen.

“Did you tell her we’re going to be busy today?” Tony asked again.

“I already did, but she doesn’t care.” Mike answered honestly as he put on an apron.

“Well, you can’t do anything about that.” Silvio, another Italian American man, who’s busy washing the dishes, commented. Just like Tony, he is a middle-aged man who's been working in the restaurant since the 2000’s.

“Mike, you dumbass! What the hell are you doing in the kitchen? Get out there and help me!” Tina shouted from the counter.

“You better help that little girl before she throws the cash register at you.” Silvio advised.

“Yeah, right.” Mike grinned. Before he left the kitchen to help Tina, Mike called his other cousin who’s busy cooking a ravioli at the other corner of the kitchen. “Hey, Jack!” He called.

The handsome-buff-tan-Arabian-young boy turned around and looked at Mike with his hazel eyes. From his bag, Mike threw a plastic jar at the arabian boy. Jack catched it and looked at it. It’s the protein milkshake that he was looking for.

“You’re looking for that, right?” Mike asked his cousin.

“Where did you find this?”

“At Whole Foods. You should go there if you want to buy it again. They sold like 30 dollars each.” Mike informed Jack while he walked out of the kitchen to help Tina.

“ … Thanks, Mike!” Jack thanked him before continuing to cook the ravioli for the customers.

Going back to the dining room, Mike realized how crowded the restaurant was. It was noisy and the air felt warm and damp. Looking at the ceiling, he noticed how hard the old central AC tried to cool down and dry out the place. ‘I should probably check those air ducts next time' he thought.

“Hey, moron!” Tina shouted.

Mike turned his head and looked at Tina who’s looking annoyed at him.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot, do something!” The little girl yelled at him.

“Gee, relax.” Mike scoffed and quickly got to work. His tasks are pretty simple. Clean some used tables, deliver orders, and help Tina deal with some hot headed customers.

Hours passed, and people keep coming. Mike’s uncle, Mario, got out of his office and stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Mike! Come here! I want you to do something for me.” Mario called his nephew who was busy cleaning up a table.

“What is it?” Mike promptly stopped what he was doing and answered his uncle.

“Just follow me.” Mario told his nephew as he walked back to his office.

Without asking any question, Mike followed his uncle to the back. But unfortunately, before he could run off, Tina pulled his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

Mike looked around to see the short girl was looking at him with a face that gave off a vibe that she’ll probably commit a couple of war crimes if he decides to leave her alone with the customers.

To prevent further escalation, Mike decided to turn down his uncle’s request. "Hey uncle! Can you ask someone else? It looks like I can’t really go anywhere." He shouted.

“Sil, go help my little girl, I’ll take care of the dirty dishes.” Understanding the situation, Mario told his employee to help his foster daughter. Without any complaint, Silvio promptly stopped what he was doing and got out of the kitchen to cover Mike.

“Just go, kid. Let me handle this.” Silvio told Mike.

“Thanks Sil.” Being covered, Mike turned to Tina, gesturing to her to let him go. The short girl pushed and shoo him away. Being subjected to her hostile behavior, Mike could only shake his head in.

The young boy then quickly followed his uncle to the office room beside the kitchen. Walking inside, Mike could smell the lingering smoke trapped inside the small room. On the table he could see there’s a lot of stuff lying around. A couple of cellphones, some radios, a laptop, papers, a notebook, an ashtray full of cigars and 4 stacks of cardboard boxes filled with warm and fresh pizza.

“I want you to deliver these pizzas.” Mario told his nephew as he pointed at the 4 stacks of pizza boxes on his office table. "Here's the address. You should go to this one first." He gave Mike a piece of paper and pointed at one of the addresses that was written on it.

There’s a total of 4 addresses.

"When you get to this place, give the guy this bottom one. You don’t need to ask him for the money. Just give him the pizza and leave." Mario explained as he pointed at the bottom most pizza box.

“It's the stuff isn't it?" Mike guessed.

"Yup." His uncle answered.

"Uncle, you know I don't want to deliver this kind of stuff in the middle of the day, right?"

"I'll pay you 100 dollars-"

"-say no more." Mike quickly took the pizzas out of the office and put them into a delivery bag. He got out of the restaurant from the back door and hopped onto the restaurant delivery vehicle A.K.A the old vespa.

**

Brenggg* The 2 stroke engine comes to life after Mike pushes the crank lever with his feet. He put on his helmet, his earbuds and pulled out the address paper while waiting for the engine to warm up.

Reading the addresses, Mike realized all of them aren't that far from the restaurant, except the one that he needs to visit first. Without using google maps, he can calculate and predict that it only takes less than 30 minutes to deliver all of the pizzas to their addresses, IF he doesn’t need to deliver the ‘special’ order.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

‘I guess this is going to be a slightly long ride.’ He thought to himself.

“Be careful out there,” Mario warned his nephew as he stood at the back door. “Before you are done with that special order, be sure to always keep your eyes wide open.” He advised.

“Relax uncle, you know you can trust me with these kinds of things.” Mike reassured his uncle.

“Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Of course.” Mike twisted the gear handle and put the gear into first. “Later!”

(Mitch Murder - Hollywood Heights) The red bright Vespa vroom out of the alley into the street. It slowly rolled as the sound from the 2 stroke engine echoed throughout the wide busy 4 lane road of Miami. The chrome wheels and metallic bright red paint reflect some cars that were passing by. Not just other road users, it also reflected palm trees and buildings that stood still beside the road.

Today, the traffic isn't really bad. Mike knew he could relax while cruising without having to worry about getting late delivering these orders. It is Sunday after all, relax is the mood for the day. But unfortunately, being relaxed isn’t always a good practice. In this place, there’s always trouble waiting around the corner.

Halfway through the ride, Mike encountered something that he didn’t expect. “Ah shit, wth are they doing here?” Mike cursed after he saw a cruiser sitting at a red light. The young boy was surprised since he knew there weren't supposed to be any cops patrolling around this area at this hour.

Inside the cruiser, there are two officers who're busy eating donuts. One of the officers noticed Mike. He shrugged his partner in the shoulder to get his attention. Meanwhile, on the Vespa, Mike noticed that the two officers were looking at him. “Crap … ” He cursed.

The light turns green. Mike quickly pulled the gas hoping he could get away from the cops. In his mirror, he saw the 5-0 just made a u-turn and headed straight towards him.

WOOP WOOP* The cruiser turned on its sirens and lights. The young boy ignored the call and pretended that he didn't know that he was being pulled over.

“Stop your vehicle, young man!” One of the officers shouted using the megaphone.

Mike sighs as he knew that there’s no way he could outrun the popo with an old Vespa. In the end he admitted defeat and pulled over.

In the mirror, he could see the two officers got out of their cruiser and walked up to him.

"Well, well, well, we finally met again, pizza boy, it’s been a while.” The fat officer put his hand on the handlebar of the Vespa and looked at Mike with his sunglasses.

“We see you’ve grown some balls now.” The thin officer uttered. “Why did you try to run away from us, boi?” He questioned Mike with an intimidating voice.

"Sorry officers, I just don’t want to get caught delivering these drugs." Mike answered honestly.

The two officers looked at each other and shook their heads.

“You and your bad jokes, guess you haven’t changed at all since the first time we stopped you.” Said the fat officer.

"Say, do you know why we pull you over this time around?" The thin officer asked Mike again.

"I have no idea, sir."

“You were hitting the zebra cross at the redlight, you know that’s Illegal. You should've give way to pedestrians."

“Do you know how much fine you can get by doing that?”

“Uhm- '' Mike tried to answer the officer's question.

“Yeah, that’s right. It's a lot.” The fat officer answered his own question before Mike could even answer it.

"Now, we know it's kinda cruel to give you such a hefty fine since you're just a pizza boy. That's why we'll give you a way out, like we always do." The two officers grinned.

"You should be thankful we are the one who caught you. If it weren't us, you'd definitely taking that fine, am I right, Tubs?" The thin officer asked his partner.

"Definitely, Lank. Now kid, why don't you step aside and show us these 'drugs'."

Just as Mike expected, they were only looking for the pizza. He hopped off of the Vespa and took out all of the pizza from the delivery bag. The officers drooled as they saw 4 stacks of warm and fresh pizza right in front of them.

"So, what's the topping on these bad boys?" The fat officer asked.

"The three on top are meat and cheese-" Mike told them honestly.

"-What about the bottom one?"

"It's vegetarian, It has pineapple in it." Mike casually lied as he breath.

"Pineapple huh? Well, I guess we'll just take the meat and cheese." The officers took the top three pizza boxes.

"Thanks for the Pizza, kid.” The thin officer thanked Mike.

“We are really happy to see you again. Now screw off and get the hell out of our sight." The fat officer shoo Mike away.

Without wasting any time, Mike quickly jumped back onto his Vespa and rode away from those crooked cops.

"Heh, what a dumb kid. Guess he hasn't learned a thing at all.” The officers said as they saw Mike riding away.

“You know kids these days, all they know is video games and youtube.”

“Heh, yeah. C’mon Lank, let's get back to the cruiser before these pizzas get cold.” Both of the officers went inside the cruiser and drive away in the other direction.

“What a bunch of morons.” Mike murmured.

After all these years of being pulled over and extorted by those cops, they never realize that they are so close to covering one of the largest drug rings in south Florida.

‘I hope those donuts keep them braindead.’ Mike hoped as he continued on his way to deliver “the stuff”.

After riding through the streets of Miami, Mike finally arrived at the first delivery address. It’s a motel located near the turnpike. Mike quickly parked the Vespa at the parking lot.

While parking his vespa, he noticed a group of kids who are playing playfully with their phones and tablet on the empty side of the parking lot. It seems like they are playing pokemon go.

Knowing their presence, Mike knew that he didn't need to be on guard. Without wasting any time, he took the pizza and proceeded to walk to the second floor.

At the second floor, he started to count the room as he walked along the porch. “205, 206, … 208.” He stopped at room number 208. “Pizza Delivery!” He yelled after he knocked on the door.

Not long after, Mike could hear footsteps coming towards the door. It got louder until he could hear it stop right behind the door. A couple of seconds passed and the door still had not opened.

“Hello?” Mike called the tenant, knowing there’s someone right behind the door.

Waiting for a response, Mike turned his attention back to the parking lot. It looks like the kids are still playing.

Suddenly, the door opened. In a split second, a hand grabbed Mike by the neck and pulled him into the room. Before he could even react, the door was already shut.

Inside the room, Mike could feel a cold steel being pushed onto the side of his skull.

“Got you! Y-you fucking feebs. You really think Y-you can trick me?” The guy yelled after dragging Mike into his dark, damped, and smelly motel room.

“WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! HOLD ON, MAN, I’m not a feeb!” Mike also yelled, telling the guy he’s not a federal agent.

“S-SSHUT UP! Or I’ll f-ffucking send you to say hi to the founding fathers!” The man pushed his gun harder onto Mike’s head.

Mike realized the guy he’s dealing with was probably under the influence of drugs after he noticed some leftover needles and bongs on the table across the room.

“Look, man. I-I'm not a feebs, alright? I’m your delivery guy. You see this?” While being strangled, Mike opened the pizza box, showing the crackhead that he is indeed the courier. “This is the stuff you’re waiting for, right?”

The crackhead’s eyes widen as he sees all of the small plastic bags full of cocaine inside the pizza box. “S-stay still.” He told Mike.

Still pointing the gun to Mike’s head, the crackhead slowly used his shaky left hand to take one of the plastic bags. After taking it, he opened it by pinching the side. He then poked his finger into it. With his index finger, he scoops some of the white powder inside the plastic bag and puts it right under his nose.

The guy inhales the white powder from the tip of his finger before moaning right behind Mike’s back. “Awwwhhh yeeeaah, this is some good shit right here. Those feebs will never have something as good as this.” After he was convinced, he slowly let go of Mike and backed off.

In turn, Mike quickly moves away from him. When Mike turns around, he sees that the man who’s about to blow his head off a second ago turned out to be just another junkie with a thin, lanky body posture, filthy long hair, and an unreasonably droopy asymmetrical face.

“Sorry to scare you off, man.” The guy apologized as he put his gun back into his pants under his bathrobe. “I was just trying to make sure you’re the real guy (Snorts*). There’s a lot of people getting busted these days (Snorts*).” He continued to consume the stuff as he walked to the side of the room where his couch is. “Just put the rest here, (Snort*). Let me clean all of this real quick.” He told Mike to put the pizza box on the table in front of the couch while he cleans it,

“Here’s some cash for you.” The guy hands over a 20 dollar bill to Mike from his bathrobe pocket after Mike approaches him to put the pizza box on the table.

“Oh, thanks.” Mike took the 20 dollar bill. He dusted it off before putting it in his wallet.

“Stay safe out there, man (Snort*). Keep your eyes wide open for those glowie (Snort*). You’ll never know when they are already watching you (Snort*).” The guy advised as he kept scooping the stuff with his finger and snorting it like a true drug addict.

“Uh, sure … Just contact us if you need anything else.” Mike turned around and walked towards the door.

“Of course (Snort*).”

Before he got out of the room, Mike took a last look at the guy. He could see that the guy just can’t stop snorting the stuff. After emptying the plastic bag in his hand, he quickly picks up another bag full of white powder from the pizza box. Instead of scooping it, he now dumped it all over the table and lined it up with his credit card.

“AWHHH~ Yeeeeeaah~” The guy moaned after he snorted the lines like there’s no tomorrow. After taking a big snort, the guy looked at Mike as he noticed he was being watched by the boy “ … You need something, man?” He asked Mike.

“Nah, have fun with your purchase, man.” Mike answered and got out of the room.

“For sure.” The guy gave Mike a thumbs up.

‘I hope something good happens to him.’ The young boy wished as he closed the door, leaving the guy alone with the pizza box full of cocaine.

Outside, in the parking lot, the kids were still playing playfully with their phones. Mike could see they were playing much closer to the vespa. One of them even sits on it. Mike smiled looking at the kids carefree attitude.

Brrrt* Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He took it out from his jacket and saw who’s calling him. It’s uncle. “Sup uncle.” Mike picked up the call while he walked down the stairs.

“Mike, where are you? You already delivered the special delivery?” Asked his uncle on the phone.

“Yeah I already did. Uncle, I think you need to send someone else to deliver the last 3 pizzas.” Mike requested.

“What happened?”

“I got pulled over by those 2 stupid cops again.”

“Oh, they didn't find out, didn’t they?”

“Of course not.”

“Just get back here quickly. I’ll send someone else to deliver the 3 pizzas they took from you.”

“Sure, I’ll see you at the restaurant.” Mike hung up. After walking down the stairs, he walked towards the vespa. “You guys find any good pokemon?” He asked the kids who are still playing closely right to the vespa.

“No, not yet.” One of them answered while looking at his tablet.

“We are still waiting something to show up other than zuubats.” Another kid who’s older than the other kids said.

“Why don't you guys walk around? You gotta go somewhere if you wanna find something different.” Mike told the kids.

“We can’t.” a little girl who’s sitting on the vespa told Mike. "Mom said we can’t play outside the parking lot. She said there’s a lot of bad guys.” She explained. On her hand, she keeps holding her teddy bear while looking at her brother and his friend who’re busy playing Pokemon Go.

“Well, your mom isn’t wrong …” Mike picked up the little girl from his vespa. While being picked up, the little girl looked at Mike in the eye while still holding her teddy bear. “ … There are lots of bad guys out there. So don’t go out on your own without your mommy or daddy, alright?” Mike advised as he put the little girl down from the vespa.

The little girl nods.

“Alright, well, I hope you guys find a good pokemon.” Mike hop onto the vespa and wears his helmet. “Oh yeah, remember kids, don’t steal your mom's credit card and don't do drugs, you hear me?” Mike said as he fired up the engine.

“Of course.” One of the kids replied while still looking at his tablet.

Hearing the reply, Mike started the vespa and said goodbye. “Have fun kids.” He said before rolling out of the parking lot.

“Bye-bye pizza man!” the little girl waved as she saw Mike leave the motel.

**

As the sun set down, people began to leave the restaurant. The phone stopped ringing and the kitchen turned quiet. After spending all day in the restaurant It's finally time for Mike, Jack, Sam, Silvio, Tony and Tina to clean up the place.

While mopping the floor, Mike felt his phone vibrating. He picked it up to see his mother just messaged him. She informed Mike there was an urgent call and it looks like she needs to go somewhere out of the state for a week. After reading the message, Mike sighed and put his phone back into his pocket.

"She's going out on a trip again isn't she?" Mario asked his nephew as he sipped a cigar. He sat on one of the restaurant tables right in front of Mike.

"Yeah ..." Mike answered with a slightly disappointed tone.

" …After all these years, I never thought she would go back dealing with those kinds of things again."

"You know she had to do it, Uncle."

"Is there really no one else that can do it other than her?"

"There must be.”

“Then where the hell are they?”

“You should probably ask the church about that.”

"You really think they could give us an answer? They don't even know what’s going on."

“Yeah, I doubt that too … Relax, uncle. I’m sure she’ll be fine. I mean, she’s your own sister. You know how tough she is, right?”

“I’m not worried about her. I’m worried about you, Mike. Instead of going out, dealing with those things, she should’ve stayed here with you. I don’t want what happened to your father to happen to you.“

“Chill uncle. Mom already taught me a lot of things to deal with those kinds of stuff.” Mike explained. “Just relax, I’m going to be fine.”

“sigh* you just sounded exactly like your father.” Brrt* brtt* Mario’s phone suddenly vibrates. He pulls it out to see who sent him a message. It’s from an unnamed number.

“Who is it?” Mike asked his uncle, wondering who sent him a message.

“It’s that damn pirate.” Mario said with a smile on his face while looking at his phone. “He’s going to arrive at the keys in less than an hour.” Mario told his nephew as he read the message sent from the unnamed number. “Say, you wanna make yourself some cash tonight?" He then asked Mike.

"Of course. You don’t have to ask me about that." Mike answered confidently.