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The Tonys, Tony Soprano in particular, were proud of Christopher like it was his first day of college. He wasn’t old enough for college though. He wouldn’t be for a few years.
They were in an abandoned building and Christopher watched at a distance as the Tonys intimidated a guy who owed Johnny money. They knew the guy didn’t have the money, that’s why they’d brought Christopher.
“Where’s the fuckin’ money?!” Tony held him by his collar.
“I don’t–”
Tony moved out the way so Tony B could punch him in the face.
“Where’s the money, Luka?!”
“I don’t have the money! I told–”
Tony punched him to the ground. He was the one who always did that part because Tony B weighed about as much as the mole on Ginny Sack’s ass.
“Chrissy, come on!” Tony B gestured him over.
Tony kicked the guy in the crotch so he wouldn’t move.
Christopher froze up. “Come what?”
“Come kick him!”
He hesitated. The Tonys knew he would, they had too when their fathers had taught them the business. Everyone did, besides a few outliers like Ralph. For most people, the casual approach to violence and death was learned, not inherent.
“Come on, Chrissy!” Tony beckoned him. “Be a good boy.”
He came over and lifted his foot but didn’t move it because he made eye contact with the guy.
“Kick him!”
“Don’t kick me!”
“Shut up!” Tony put his foot on his chest so he couldn’t get up. “Kick him.”
“Kick him, Chrissy!”
He hesitated even more as they continued looking each other in the eye.
“Don’t look at him, he’s a fuckin’ scumbag!”
“Go on, you gonna just let him get away with this shit?” Tony B got him to make eye contact with him instead. “He owes your uncle money, kick the fuckin’ guy!”
“Where do I kick him?”
“The fuckin’ stomach! Where do you think?” Tony B acted like it should be obvious. “Do it already.”
“You love my father?” Tony asked.
He nodded.
“Then kick this piece of shit.”
He kicked him and felt disturbed as he saw the pain on the guy’s face.
“That’s a good boy!”
“Keep kicking him!”
He kicked him.
“You gotta do it harder, Chrissy!”
He kicked him harder.
“Good, keep going!”
The Tonys continued to encourage him so he continued to kick him. With every kick it got less disturbing and he became more enthusiastic about it.
“All right, all right.” Tony looked amused as he pulled him away from him. “Don’t kill the guy.”
Tony B, despite being incredibly scrawny, was able to pull the guy up because he was so winded that a feather could knock him over. He held him in place. “Punch him.”
The guy sighed. “Don’t punch–”
“Punch him, Chrissy. Come on.” Tony B held him lower so Christopher could reach his face. “You punch kids at school all the time.”
“Come on, you’re doing good.” Tony patted him on the cheek and gestured with his head for him to do it. “You got this.”
The guy couldn’t believe he was being used as a training exercise for a child. “What’s wrong with you people–”
Christopher punched him in the face so hard that he hurt his hand. “Ah, fuck!” He shook it.
Tony chuckled. “That was a good one.”
Tony B kneed the guy in the crotch and let him drop to the floor. “Pay Johnny tomorrow or we’ll give the kid some more lessons.”
They started walking away but Tony smirked and tapped Christopher on the shoulder, like he had a treat for him. “Give him one last kick.”
He animatedly jogged back over to him and kicked him harder than all the other times. “Pay Uncle Johnny tomorrow!”
Tony B whistled him back. “Come on, you had your fun.”
“Don’t say uncle, just say Johnny,” Tony whispered as they walked away. “Makes you sound like a kid.”
They left through the back exit and got into Tony’s car. He drove away at a leisurely speed because there was no way that man would ever call the cops. Nobody called the cops on them, they could do whatever they wanted.
“You did good, Chrissy,” Tony B was genuinely nice to him for once.
Christopher nodded with a smile. He was being nice to him for once. “Can I do it again?” He was full of adrenaline.
“Yeah, sure. We’ll wait til your fist heals up first.” Tony smirked. “You like doing that?”
“Yeah, yeah. It was cool. When can I shoot somebody?”
The Tonys laughed.
“Jesus, kid, you gotta go it one step at a time.” Tony B handed him a cigarette as a reward. “You can’t go straight to shooting somebody, you gotta build up to it.”
“How long’s it gonna take to build up to it?” He looked at his main mentor, his uncle, his Tony.
“Christopher, you beat one guy up and we had to hold your hand through it. You gotta wait a while.”
He looked disappointed as he slumped back in his seat. The Tonys laughed again.
Tony smiled at him proudly through the rear-view mirror. He felt like his father had the first time he’d brought Tony along to do this. He wasn’t old enough to be Christopher’s father, but it felt like he was his son.