⬛️[Alpha] V.2

'Maybe I just need some sleep.'

Alfie thought as he rubbed his painful butt; the belt to the ass is quite a memorable thing for anyone to remember.

It could also straighten some kids before they become weirdos, at least that's the word around the future.

"Alfie!"

He looked towards the streets from his front door to see Billy and the others riding onto the yard.

He suddenly panicked as a few of them started riding their bikes into the green grass. "Stop! Don't ride your bikes on the lawn!"

He didn't need another reason for his mentally grown ass to get a beating from the old fool.

Of course, Billy, Rose, and a few of them who had been with Alfie the longest knew about the forbidden areas in Alfie's house so they avoided it.

He gave an exasperated sigh as the few Cubs clumsily dragged their bikes out of the lawn, not forgetting to make a mess.

"Alfie, guess where we're going next?" Rose suddenly chirped in excitement.

"To Coney Island?" Alfie teased, knowing they always dreamed of going to the most prestigious amusement park in New York.

"Wait, really?!"

""We're going to Coney Island?!!!!""

"Let's do it!!"

The group of Cubs behind them rattled in excitement; the simple words of Coney Island made them ecstatic.

"No!" Alfie shouted as he dramatically pointed his fingers at the Cubs, as if parenting them. "We are not, unless you guys have the money."

"We can get the money!"

"Yeah, I have a lot saved up."

"My momma said she has all the money I saved up, I don't know how much but it should be enough." One of the Cubs said with resolve.

"My momma also holds all my money." Another said with pride.

Alfie's brow twitched, regretting his words earlier. "No, that's not what I mean—"

"Let's go!" Billy, not helping the situation, held up a two-dollar bill with a beaming smile.

"Quiet! No more talking!" Alfie suddenly shouted with a frustrated look.

But a split second later calmed down, realizing he might actually need some sleep.

"Sorry for yelling, my little Cubs." He turned to the redhead. "Go ahead, red, where are we going?"

"No way." She huffed with an obvious pout. "You ruined it."

She was hoping to give Alfie the news and even make him guess himself, but now she didn't feel like it after being yelled at.

"We're going to Kingsbridge against the Roller Rockers." Rolo, ever the mature and quiet one, spoke up.

"Rolo!" Rose whined.

"Ah, so the Castle Knights lost." Alfie thought aloud.

He was in charge of the bracket, so he made sure each team sent a messenger to Morris Park the day after every game for the bracket update.

To which the Cubs informed him most of the teams did, but a few didn't even bother like the Claremont Cyclone who probably think too highly of themselves or are too busy dealing with what occurred last night and the losers who just didn't feel comfortable sending a messenger to report their loss.

Though it wasn't unexpected to him, he was dealing with kids after all.

"…as for our game today against the Roller Rockers, maybe we can stop near Claremont park and see who won yesterday against the Belmont Striders." Rose suggested.

"Maybe even beat them up a little bit." Billy grinned from his idea.

"Hmmm…" Alfie's eyes squinted. "Nah, we'll just go through Mount Eden on the west side of the Bronx and head straight for Kingsbridge." He finalized.

"And avoid Claremont?" Timmy asked. "To take the long way to Kingsbridge?"

In the past, no matter where they went they didn't avoid any neighborhoods and always intimidated everyone or clashed with other teams.

Timmy gets his strength when rolling with the entirety of the Cubs; he also gets a bit of thrill from it so he didn't know why Alfie would wanna switch up the usual plan.

"Not to avoid it, but we're going sightseeing, plus I heard there's some good restaurants over there so we'll make a stop and have some lunch there." Alfie made up an idea.

He turned towards Rolo; it seemed he didn't speak about what happened last night. Well, he wasn't much of a storyteller either so no surprise there.

Arnold didn't tell Timmy much either considering Timmy didn't ask about it.

They soon reached the park as they did their morning routine practice.

Alfie stood on the home plate as three lines were formed near the bases, each Cubs taking turns catching ground balls and pop-ups.

The same went for the outfielders who focused on the fly balls.

Out of everyone in the Cubs, Alfie had the most control over his batting skills, including every other position he played.

So he could coach them in certain ways that the era hadn't thought of yet thanks to his previous experience playing baseball in high school.

He taught them how to swing in the most efficient way and corrected their forms; he would demonstrate the results in doing a perfect form.

And then came the least favorite part of the Cubs' day, something Alfie called suicide drills.

It involved each and every member of the Cubs running at the edge of the baseball field one end to the other until Alfie tells everyone to stop, focusing solely on endurance.

A good amount of break before they move on to sprints, which a few of the chubby Cubs hate with a passion, especially chubby ginger Hammy.

Of course, as their leader/coach/manager/boss, Alfie participated in all the drills in practice, leaving them with no room to complain about him.

It also helps with his usual exercises every day.

They go through this almost every day, sometimes taking breaks on the weekends but even when they have planned games against other teams like today, Alfie makes sure they still do the drills and practice.

By the time it was close to lunchtime, they ended their practice and started their rest before heading for their game.

But as they planned to make a stop at one of the restaurants in Mount Eden on the west side of the Bronx, some of the kids went home to grab some quick cash for lunch.

Some came back with a smile, while others with betrayed faces, no doubt finding out their mothers did NOT keep their money as they promised.

That's why a piggy bank is the perfect place to save money for kids, not the greedy lying parents you thought you could trust.

(I could've been a millionaire if I just didn't let my momma "hold" my money for me😢)

As the Cubs had their own little game on the field, Alfie caught a few familiar figures on the street.

A frown suddenly landed on his face, annoyance flowed into his body.

He made his way out of the field, then out of the park where he told a few of the Cubs to stop following him and then finally stood before the obvious Mafia group that had been following him.

"Hey kid." The most relaxed one of them greeted him.

"Mr. Martin Rafforza, great to see you again." Alfie greeted back; usually he knew who to show his childish behavior to, and he would usually do so in front of threatening people like the Mafia.

The best-case scenario? They would simply think of Alfie as a kid and leave him be.

But it didn't seem to…work.

They've been appearing more constant than ever, and Alfie just can't seem to find a reason why they would have an interest in him; maybe he was just being paranoid.

But he might as well confront them and see if he can find out.

"Oh, you remember my name?" Martin smiled amusedly; it's not every day he finds an American easily remembering, let alone pronouncing his name right, his last name to be specific.

"McBride…that's Irish, correct?" Martin smirked, showing he knew well who Alfie is.

"And why am I a concern to you?"

Alfie stood there with disdain on his face, something he didn't realize he had shown nor did he seem to realize a sense of hate in his chest.

"Right to the point." Martin's smile widened more than before.

He had been keeping tabs on Alfie, even at times he got out of his way just to observe him.

The first time he heard of Alfie McBride was through the kids in the surrounding neighborhoods, more specifically the kids that had potential and desire to join the family.

They would usually run errands and be kept around as lookouts in case bulls and spectators were around when they needed to do less than legal activities.

But recently he had been hearing a lot of talks from these kids about a certain "Alfie", someone the kids feared quite a bit.

It was surprising to hear that, especially of a kid around their age who would usually run around playing in the mud.

"What do you know about the Maggia, kid?"

Alfie's ears perked, remembering how his father didn't want to give him any explanation yet here he is given the chance to learn about it.

Of course, he didn't care much as it was a simple curiosity, but it seems his sleeplessness made him act out in front of his parents.

He could've just asked the Cubs, he was sure a few of them might know a thing or two.

"Is that what you guys are? Is it a mafia group?" He asked.

It did sound like some Italian Mafia name

The Maggia Crime family.

Though it did sound a lot like Mafia, in fact it rhymed, The Maggia Mafia…

"Mafia?" Martin's brow raised in question, as if never hearing that term. "Not sure where you got that, but yes, we are the Maggia, the Silvermane Crime Family."

"So you're criminals?" Alfie kept it simple with an uninterested look.

"We…don't prefer that term, rather we call ourselves Outlaws, there is a difference." Martin spoke in a Matter-of-fact manner.

"Criminals tend to take things that do not belong to them to survive or simply for satisfaction by any means, sometimes they hurt people."

"The Outlaws, like ourselves, we play the game just as any rich snob sitting in their mansion, we play outside of the law and take what really belongs to us."

Martin explained; he walked back and forth in front of Alfie making sure he gets a good look at what kind of life he lives.

The car, the manpower, and the fashion he showed off shined; it is also worth noting that the Maggia were feared even amongst some of the law enforcement.

Most kids Martin ran into seem to idolize them, picturing themselves in his shoes and such; he is hoping to pull that desire out of Alfie who might grow up to be a force in the city.

He noticed that out of every single kid he knew, Alfie had the most potential to make a name for himself and maybe even surpass a few small gangsters during this time.

"You see, the laws are only there to separate the rich from the people like us, where we pick up the scraps and follow the laws while the rich don't even have to acknowledge it, we are making them money every day without us knowing."

Alfie stood there nodding along with the explanation, agreeing to the man's thoughts.

Of course, he already knew this.

The people in the 21st century, including some keyboard warriors and conspiracy theorists, cleared out a lot of things for people at the time.

Something most people don't know of in this era, but then again, some people are simply trying to get through the day while taking care of their families.

And also, what the hell is the Maggia?!

Alfie thought he might be far out of the past he knew about; he thought it might be time to look into this world and its history.

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Alfie asked, not minding any of the things Martin spoke about.

"Hahaha, well nothing now, but you'll know soon, I want you to join our Family." Martin's words seemed to even surprise the men around him.

Of course, recruiting kids was something that went against the code of any Maggia; it went against their honor to bring in children and put them in danger.

But many were recruited when they were of age; the age of sixteen was the lowest the Maggia allowed, but even that was very rare.

And if they did recruit those around the age of sixteen and up, then it usually happened with youngsters who had blood relations to the crime family.

Though it is rare, they could understand why Martin wanted to recruit Alfie.

After keeping their eyes on him for a while, they acknowledged the power Alfie held in the Bronx and even his potential.

"Not interested." Was Alfie's answer.

It was certainly something he can think of, but if he can't make his own path with what he got then he really isn't worth being born with all his memories.

He wanted something; he doesn't know what it is yet but he wanted to be more sensational than any group of criminals, something that will be greater than any figures in the 90's.

Martin smirked, not worried about the rejection. "The world is crazier than you think, kid. One day you'll come to me, and I will open my doors."