Chapter18 Acting Lessons 4

Someone being buried alive in wet cement is the sort of thing that just sticks in a persons mind, and news of that type of activity tends to travel quickly. It would be hard to prove who did it and it was not going to be proven by anyone within the Rat Town Police Department. So it became the stuff of legend. Victor had no problem with being the name attached to the legend even it it was followed with adjectives like brutal, unfeeling and maniacal, then capped off with the all too easily added monster, tyrant or asshole. In fact, he quite enjoyed it and it made him laugh as he relived the moment, the helplessness of Ozzie and his own complete disregard for the man's suffering which only served to further distance him from Victor as Victor was clearly the alpha male, not just the one who would survive but most certainly the one who would dominate.

The incident worked well for Victor as a message to all who worked for him, that he would not tolerate anyone who did not strictly follow his orders. It also sent a message to those who did not work for him that he was just plain scary. For several months following the live burial of Ozzie there was not a single missed payment or botched deal. People who had dealings with the Alonso organization were considerate, responsible and respectful of the organization as a whole and particularly of Victor himself.

Ironically, less than two weeks after the demise of Ozzie, Victor began forging agreements with a variety of businesses in various trades, widening his reach and generating some purely legal income. With frighteningly bad taste Victor would refer to the process of selection regarding new partner or acquisition decisions as "Ozzilating" and the establishment of an arrangement leading to a final contract as "Ozzification" as if in doing so he bolstered his own stature. Most everyone else found it disgusting, repulsive and horrible, except Sal who really seemed to admire the way Victor handled every aspect of the incident with Ozzie. In fact, Sal invited Victor over for dinner, without Max, shortly after the incident so they could sit around afterwards, get blasted on Juice and shots of liquor and discuss the various ways they had made the weaker people in the world suffer.