Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All characters and names are fictional and were made up.
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Miami, Florida
Darkness had fallen over the city some hours ago. It seemed at times that Miami during the night was a whole different place than the hours with the sun hanging in the sky. Tony knew that feeling, all the way back to his own youth. Here he was, taking the drive out to his club after an emergency phone call with Maria. An altercation had been made between his son Antonio and cousin Carlos. On the way there, Tony sat on the phone listening to one of the security guards describe the scene. They both were bruised up, but it appeared that Antonio got the worst end of the beating. Multiple men were thrown out of the club who had arrived as an entourage with Carlos.
After parking his car, the old man got out and slammed the door before making his entrance into the club. Tony wasted no time going upstairs, walking through that white door that led to the V.I.P. rooms and the inner areas of the club. He had thrown on a black suit before leaving his yacht, nothing too fancy as he had no desire to stay the night after he took care of this situation. Upon walking through the halls, he seen Maria coming down to greet him. The young woman appeared to be burdened from the sign on her face. She pulled at her white jacket over her shoulders while approaching Tony.
"Señor Diaz, I'm glad you've arrived."
"Yes Maria, I'm here now. How bad is my boy injured?"
"I don't know, security is holding both of them down in a room. They wouldn't let me in."
"I'll see to it, thank you for calling."
The older man offered her a reassuring smile, but he could still witness the sense of worry over her face. She bit her lower lip, before walking off. Tony continued to walk his pace down the hall. For Maria, she had every reason to fear the worst for Antonio. If only Steven had answered his phone, she wouldn't have been forced to call Tony. She could sense from her interactions with Antonio that he did not get along with his father, at least compared to the positive relationship he had with his uncle Steven. While walking down the hall, her phone rang in her pocket. Maria hurried to the office upon answering it, she could see it was Steven from the caller ID on the screen.
"Hey, you called?"
A sigh was heard before she answered back.
"Yeah about twenty minutes ago."
"I was having dinner with Emily. I couldn't answer right away, sorry. What's going on?"
"Carlos and Antonio got into a brawl."
"What the fuck!? Antonio's not hurt bad, is he?"
"I'm afraid so, security had to get involved."
"Give me five minutes, I'll be right there."
"I had to call Tony since you didn't pick up."
"Don't matter, I'm coming to the club anyway. See you soon, thanks for the call."
The phone clicked, hanging up. Maria sighed, hoping that she didn't create a family problem with the two older men. By now, Tony had made his way into the security room and observed the scene of Antonio and Carlos broken apart in the same room. They were guarded by bouncers who retold the story. The surveillance cameras were brought to Tony, allowing him to witness the altercation and make a judgement for himself. The man was enraged, already not wanting to hear both sides of the story. His son appeared to be wrong from the camera evidence, as Antonio threw the first punch, but Carlos had outnumbered him with a number of men.
Antonio sat bruised and bloody. His nose was busted, but thankfully not broken. He held a bloody rag up to his nose to stop the bleeding. A purple bruise had formed over his right eye, forcing the skin to inflate a bit. Carlos on the other hand, barely had a scratch. It wasn't a fair fight at all since he was older; bigger, and had came with other men to outnumber the younger man. Tony looked back at both of them in the room as they sat apart. Between them were two security guards there to prevent them from fighting again. While shoving his hands into his pockets, the old man looked at both of them sternly before speaking directly to Carlos.
"You, look at me."
Carlos looked up at Tony, just before the man spoke again.
"Get out, you're fucking fired."
"Wait you-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!! YOU THINK I'M IN THE MOOD FOR YOUR FUCKING SHIT, CARLOS!? YOU JUST FUCKED YOURSELF, NOW GET OUT! YOU'RE FIRED, DON'T FUCKING COME BACK!!"
The eruption of the old man's voice into screaming was enough to tell anyone in the room that Tony truly was not playing. Carlos sighed and then got up from his chair, proceeding to walk out the door. Tony's eyes watched him, moving to the door to open it for him. The older man had to make sure he still got the last word. As Carlos stepped out, he taunted him again.
"I told you, this was your last chance! Don't fucking come back trying to ride my coat tails for another job! You just fucked yourself out of this one!"
Now that Carlos was dealt with, Tony slammed the door and turned his attention to his son. He took a sigh before looking over Antonio's injuries. The young man looked up at his father before listening to him launch off into another rant.
"And you, what in the fuck is wrong with you? I watched the surveillance tape, what did you think you were gonna accomplish? He had you outnumbered, and you don't need me to tell you how Carlos is much taller than you, yet you still threw the first punch. Why!?"
He sighed while rolling his eyes. Tony continued to speak again.
"Did it not cross your mind that you were going to get your ass kicked?"
"Dad, you don't understand."
"Yes, I do understand! You're the one that don't! I raised you better than to stupidly get into fights where you know the odds are stacked against you. What the fuck were you trying to prove to him!?"
Antonio sighed before looking back at his father.
"Look Dad, he came to me talking shit."
"But still, why did you try to fight him!? You could've called a bodyguard or someone to dispose of him. I know Carlos is stupid, but this isn't an excuse. This is so fucking embarrassing. It makes ME look bad! My son getting in fights at my club, were you trying to make me look like a goddamn fool tonight!?"
"No! Why is this about you now!?"
"It's my club, and you are my son. It is about me, I'm the reason you are here."
At that moment, Antonio couldn't help but to drop his jaw in sudden shock. His dad always did make problems all about him, but this was too much to bear. Here he was, bruised and beaten yet his old man had such a lack of understanding. Tony stepped away, turning his back to Antonio while shoving his hands back into his pockets. The older man took a sigh before turning around and waving his finger back to Antonio.
"You must learn from this, I'm taking you off staff tomorrow."
"What!? Are you fucking serious!?"
"Yes, I'm serious and watch your mouth, boy!"
"This is unfair, dad! I'm getting punished for this bullshit?"
"I can't allow my son to be seen like this. Have you looked in the mirror yet? Your face is all fucked up. Besides, you have this altercation and it makes me look bad. My son getting in fights in my club, how you think that's gonna read in the newspapers?"
A knock was heard on the door, interrupting their argument. Tony sighed and then walked to the door, ready to blow up at whoever was outside. He opened the door and was greeted to the face of his brother: Steven. The older man looked back somewhat confused before speaking.
"Steven? What are you doing here?"
"I got a call that it was an emergency at the club. I called off dinner to get here as fast as I could."
Steven gazed beyond Tony's shoulder to see Antonio sitting in the background. The younger man leaned in his chair to see his uncle. Tony eventually stepped back, allowing him to enter the room. Steven stood tall in his grey suit with matching grey pants. Underneath the jacket was a neon purple shirt. He took one look at Antonio's battered face and then spoke to him.
"So Carlos did this?"
Taking in a deep breath, Antonio nodded at him. Steven shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket before speaking again.
"Where's he at now?"
"I told him to get out and I fired him."
As Tony answered, Steven looked back at him and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that was fucking smart. You should've left him here until I arrived, I would've beat the living shit out of that fucker like he deserves. You just let him walk free after beating up on your son, that was a fucking genius decision Tony."
Tony shook his head, knowing that soon he would have to hear Steven's mouth and an argument. Looking back at his brother, he offered his reply before getting angry.
"My boy is the wrong too. You see, I got the tape and Junior here threw the first punch. It didn't even cross his mind that Carlos had two guys with him and that meant he was outnumbered!"
Steven shook his head.
"Come on, you can't be serious. If Carlos came to him with two guys, you should know he wanted to start some shit. The fuck is wrong with you, man? That's your son right there, look at what that mother fucker did to your son."
It was that moment when Antonio realized something he would never forget. His uncle truly had his back. Tony looked back at Steven and nodded before giving him an irritated response.
"Step outside with me and let's talk about this."
