"Everybody's got to earn a crust somehow, and Mario Condello's racket was loan sharking." "He didn't care who, what or why." "All he was interested in was the interest." "A drug dealer walks in the door looking to finance his next deal - no problemo." "Here's 10 grand." "Have a nice day." "Unfortunately for our side, a few bad apples in the drug squad had their own ideas about earning a crust." "When the law finally caught up, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry." "The upside - we knew we were clean again." "The downside - the public thought we were all dirty." "Plus, it meant half the crims serving time for drugs got a free walk on account of tainted evidence." "Around the same time Carl Williams got out of jail free," "Jason Moran finished his sentence for being a vicious, brutal, ugly little turd." "Suck my fuckin' toe jam." "And then Carl, Jason, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all got back to the business of earning a crust." "Gentlemen, your pizza." "Family size." "Look at this." "Look at that." "OK." "Enjoy." "Giovanni, a little more drinks, please, for my friends." "I got to say something, alright?" "Hey, Jase, you need an injection of funds, get yourself back in the business, you let me know, hmm?" "What, are you kidding, Mario?" "Not at your rates." "I'm talking about 12 months interest free." "As much as you need." "You think about it." "I will." "Thank you." "I, um..." "Mr Condello." "Alrighty, let's eat." "Mario." "There's, um, been a bit of a mix-up with your, um..." "with your credit card." "It's, um... it's been rejected." "Might have some work for you." "Oh, yeah?" "What might that be?" "I hear you like playing with guns." "Who told you that?" "What's the going rate?" "Depends on who we're offing." "Fat boy." "Carl Williams?" "You know he's a mate of mine?" "Why do you think I'm talking to you?" "You can get close to him." "Why?" "He's been running round telling everyone that he shot my brother." "Personally, I don't think he's a shooter's arsehole, but either way," "I can't have him taking credit for it." "100 Gs." "70 now, 30 after I've done it." "That's if I do decide to do it." "50 all up." "Fuck off." "You know what?" "Your old man still hasn't paid me for the last time." "No, 100 Gs. 70 up-front." "Take it or leave it, Jase." "60. 40/20 split." "90." "70." "80." "Done." "He asked you to do it?" "Me best mate?" "Mm-hm." "That's outrageous." "Even given me the gun." "How much?" "80." "That's not bad." "I tell you what, I'll give you 120 to put him off with his own gun." "Nah, hang on, that's a bit obvious." "Yeah, he'd be expecting us to come back at him." "Let me think about it." "And this is Damien behind you." "He's from next door." "Guess how we met?" "Caught him perving on me when I was in the spa starkers." "We're good mates now, but." "I'm investing a sum of money in him." "Yeah." "You know them one-tonne utes with the coffee machines and the pie warmers and shit out the back?" "They go round the factories at lunchtime?" "Reckon I can pick up a second-hand one for 12,000 or 14,000." "He saved up half, the little champ." "I'm gonna loan him the rest." "Good on you, mate." "Good to see a man put his money where his mouth is." "Enjoy the party." "Good luck, Damien." "Roberta, um, sorry," "I... thanks for your offer and everything, and no offence," "I just reckon I'll get the money from a bank." "Oh, why, you don't like the colour of my money - is that it?" "Suit yourself." "Fuck." "I was just trying to throw a dog a bone." "Malcolm, thanks for coming into my home." "Oh, fuck!" "Ah!" "So that's what you do all day, huh?" "You scared the hell out of me." "Good to see you." "Good." "Please." "Hey, er, Col, I, um, just happened to be glancing through the ledger, and there's no pressure here, but you're late again." "Late?" "I don't think so, mate." "It's the 20th, Col." "It's the 20th already?" "You're kidding me." "By close of business tomorrow, yeah?" "I mean, I can count on you." "Yeah, alright, just don't threaten us, OK?" "It's not a threat, it's a courtesy call." "Courtesy?" "Bullshit." "$88,000 by 5:00 tomorrow, we say no more about it." "5:00 tomorrow." "OK." "See ya." "OK." "Fuck." "50 now, 50 when it's done." "Carl decided the best candidate for the Jason hit was veteran hard man Victor Peirce." "50 now, 50 when we pick up the newspaper and we read the headline 'Jason Moran Gunned Down'." "Why bother me?" "Why don't you off him, you weird little munchkin?" "Well, you used to be friends with him, didn't you?" "Carl likes the, er..." "What do you call it?" "Irony?" "The irony." "That's it." "75/25." "50/50." "You think I'm gonna rip youse off?" "I'm a professional, sonny." "If I say I'm gonna do something, it's done." "50 now, 50 later." "Got it with ya?" "Yeah, it's in the wagon." "Any special requests?" "Yeah." "Use this." "June 15's the anniversary of Mark's death." "Jason always visits the grave." "We thought it'd be..." "Ironic." "We believe you may be at risk." "From who?" "You tell me." "Shortbread?" "Mmm." "Ta." "Whoever killed your brother." "I doubt it." "Not worried about someone carrying a grudge?" "Nope." "You can't think of anyone who might want to hurt you?" "Or your family?" "I don't have any enemies so why would anyone wanna hurt me?" "OK, I've got a deal for you." "We're prepared to ask the parole board to allow you to leave the country, provided you make it permanent." "Permanent?" "Well, for the time being." "Till things settle down." "You expect us to drag the kids out of school, jump on a plane and never come back, just to suit you?" "All we're worried about is your family's safety." "Who's gonna foot the bill, huh?" "Him?" "That's not part of the deal." "You guys are pathetic." "Let's go." "Trish, if you want me to speak to the parole board, just pick up the phone." "Trish." "Thanks for the cuppa." "Surveillance on both camps 24/7 is the only way to stop this, boss." "Haven't got the budget." "He could be on his way to Carl's to knock him off right now." "I can't even get my photocopier replaced." "Want another biscuit?" "Damien, is it?" "Take a pew." "I need a loan, Mr Condello." "Why else would you be here?" "See, I've got this business plan." "You know those auto..." "Please, please." "No details." "Just the numbers." "OK." "Um, I reckon I could pick up a second-hand unit for maybe 12,000 to 14,000." "I've got my own 8,000 saved up." "It's just no-one's gonna lend me the rest." "Why is that?" "Are you a bank robber?" "No, I've just... got some personal problems." "I'm taking care of it." "I'm taking my medication." "Good for you, young man, good for you." "Just the banks look at me as some form of risk." "Oh." "That's OK." "We're not prejudiced here." "Er, we'll take anyone's money." "So we're talking about, what, $5,000?" "This is my rates, my standard agreement." "So five thou over six months at 40% would make repayments of $217 a week." "That's... pretty steep." "Think of me as a convenience store." "You pay a premium for the service." "The question is, how bad do you want it?" "Sausage rolls..." "Don't worry about that." "I hate it when he's like this." "It's Mark's anniversary." "Hmm." "Hey." "Pass it to me!" "Hey." "Pass it to me." "You're scaring me." "Why?" "You're worried all the time." "I'll always protect you." "I think we should do what Garry Butterworth said." "I don't want our kids to grow up without their father." "You want to run away?" "Yep." "Oh, God." "You got the wrong day, munchkin." "You hear me?" "Wrong day." "It's the 15th." "So..." "Well, where is he?" "I wanna earn me the other 50 grand." "Eh?" "Eh, listen!" "Kick me again and I'll stab you in the fuckin' eye, alright?" "Hey, sexy wheels, Damien." "Oh, hey, Roberta." "Hey." "So this is it, eh?" "Yeah." "What do you reckon?" "Oh, it's beautiful, mate." "Hey, um, no hard feelings, eh?" "No." "Yeah?" "So how much did it put you back?" "Yeah, bit more than I thought." "Yeah?" "When Jason announced he was heading off overseas, the Carlton Crew passed the hat around to help him on his way - the size of the contributions directly proportional to the size of the donor's ego." "$15,000." "Whoa, whoa." "Mario, that's..." "Hey, you need extra, you make a reverse-charge call to your Uncle Mario." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Yeah, good man." "Good man, Mario." "Thank you." "Boys." "Boys..." "Even the loyal retainers and hangers-on were expected to chip in." "Bon voyage, Jason." "Have a safe trip." "Benji." "Don't, er... don't forget our little arrangement." "Right." "I'll be keeping an eye on things while I'm away." "Stay healthy." "Hey, what are you doing?" "Come on, let's get a drink!" "Come on!" "Jesus." "Everybody, where are the girls?" "What sort of a party is this?" "Why didn't you stab him when you had the chance?" "Hired Peirce to do that." "What about Jase?" "Hey, how can he piss off overseas?" "I mean, what about his parole conditions?" "The cops leaned on the parole board." "You're the one that postponed it till Mark's anniversary." "Go back to Peirce and get me my deposit back now." "Please?" "Would you do me that favour, Benj?" "Hey, come on, mate." "I'll make it worth your while." "Eh?" "Eh?" "Come on." "Alright." "He's not gonna like it, though." "How long's it take to hang up a couple of G-strings?" "Lew Caine was barely earning a crust as general gopher and dogsbody to Mick Gatto." "Inspired by his upwardly mobile lawyer girlfriend, he wanted a bigger slice of the action." "Are you OK?" "Yeah, I'm good." "No, I'm good." "Yeah?" "Think it's time I went into business for myself." "Yeah." "It's better than running errands for Mick Gatto, yeah?" "Yeah, too right." "Yeah." "You could do a TAFE course or something." "A TAFE course?" "Yeah." "Set yourself up as a handyman or something." "I've always been good at screwing things." "Mmm." "I just want you to be happy." "I am happy." "Fuckin' hell." "Ohh." "What have you got in mind?" "Thought I'd, er, go into partnership with Benji Veniamin." "Oh." "What's up, munchkin?" "Heard the news?" "Jason's skipped the country." "Yeah, I get the mail too." "Yeah, I want the deposit back." "Get stuffed." "Job's cancelled." "I consider it on hold." "What, you're gonna make me ask twice?" "Is that why he's here?" "Is he your muscle?" "No, I don't need extra muscle." "Just give me the gun and the money." "Piss off." "That goes for you and your boyfriend." "Look, there is no deposit." "I spent it." "That gun's a piece of junk." "I wouldn't embarrass myself." "That's Carl Williams's money, mate." "He's gonna spew." "Carl Williams is a fuckin' amateur that couldn't blow the head off a beer." "Don't insult my reputation." "Righto." "This what you do for Carl Williams?" "How's Gatto feel about it?" "Well, you do what you gotta do, Lew." "It's all about earning the cash." "Si?" "I'm late." "I'll have it to you by close of business tomorrow, yeah?" "No problem." "Yeah, all of it." "Ciao." "Hey, Col. You're early this month, huh?" "Good to see you." "Look at you." "I mean, how come you always look so fit?" "You know, you're relaxed, you're healthy, Mario." "Well, you ought to see the stressed-out portrait in the attic." "Sit down." "Now, I hope you're not expecting a discount." "No, no, Mario, mate, the truth is, things are quiet, turnover's down." "Now, there's no way I can make a repayment on the 20th." "Oh, Col, come on." "Don't disappoint me." "I know..." "Please, don't disappoint me." "It's 88 grand." "I mean, shit, Mario." "That's a fucking lot of money to find every month." "You don't think I know that?" "How do you think I got the finance to put you into the business in the first place?" "I borrowed it." "Which means each and every month I have repayments just like you." "You default, I'm at risk of defaulting too." "Hey, listen, you don't pay up, my family goes hungry." "Come on, you can understand that." "Look, I got you a present, alright?" "Now, I hope..." "I hope you accept these Cuban cigars as a token of good faith." "Ahh." "Is that good?" "Nice." "Nice?" "Nice." "I've got to say one thing." "I'm still gonna see you on the 20th." "The 20th." "OK." "Alright." "You fucking wog bastard." "Time for your party trick." "How long are you gonna be?" "I don't know." "Just got to see a bloke about something up the road." "Few minutes?" "I've got the stopwatch on you." "Just put the coffee machine on." "No." "No!" "NO!" "Oh, my God!" "Hey." "How's big Mick?" "Yeah, he's good." "How's the job?" "Doing a little bit of work for another company as well at the moment " "Williams and Williams." "What do they do for a crust?" "Deliveries." "Oh." "So you're a delivery driver." "Something like that." "And they let you dress like that?" "Yeah, I got a uniform at work." "Was that a gun I saw in your room?" "Yeah." "I do security for 'em as well." "Security guard?" "Little shit like you?" "Yeah, come in if you're good-Iooking." "Hey, Apollo." "How are you?" "Hey, Lew." "Hey." "Beer's in the fridge." "Oh, thanks, mate." "Help yourself, Lew." "You right?" "Yeah." "Get me one as well, yeah?" "It was you, wasn't it?" "Come on." "Peirce - it was you." "I don't know what you're talking about." "You little fuckin' shit." "There's a story, if you want to hear it." "You in the mood to party?" "# Don't you wanna be" "# A personality?" "# An ocean in the sea?" "# But you'll never make it if you can't shake it" "# So don't mistake it Just try and fake it" "# And I want you to know" "# You don't have far to go" "# So we'll use all your dough" "# To buy new clothes and see what flows" "# And powder your nose for those photos" "# 'Cause there's nobody else like you" "# And we sure care just what you're doing" "# After we have gone our separate ways" "# Yeah" "# So don't you wanna be" "# A big-time entity?" "# Your place in history?" "# But don't be scared of what we said" "# 'Cause there's no end to being your friend" "# But there's so many round like you" "# And we don't care just what you're doing" "# After we have gone our separate ways" "# Yeah, yeah" "# Yeah. #" "Aaaargh!" "Should get you started." "What is this?" "A loan?" "No, mate, you can keep that." "You serious?" "This is to say sorry." "You made me feel dirty." "I..." "Look, I was inside for a long time." "I..." "I just... fuckin' forgot how to behave." "And, er..." "I mean, I see a girl and I want her." "It's just as simple as that." "Fuck." "Fuck!" "Fuck." "Will it happen again?" "Hmm?" "Will it happen again?" "Not if you're here when I want you." "Fuck." "No..." "Not if you're here when I need you." "The party drug business had become a mega business." "An eccy could be produced for around a buck and sold in the clubs for over 20." "Of course, the really greedy drug barons could make even more profit by cutting the good stuff with codeine or caffeine or anything else handy." "Tough luck on the kids and tough luck on the street-level dealers trying to peddle the rubbish, especially the ones who'd borrowed money to finance their operation." "And middlemen like Nik 'The Russian' Radev, who bought the product in bulk and supplied the street-level dealers, they were caught fair and square in the middle." "Nik." "Cold beer or hot pussy?" "Please, Tony, it is not fucking social call." "You will give me guarantee now." "No more shit pills." "Hey, Nik, we're the first to admit there's..." "Shut up, fat boy." "You want to fuck with me?" "Come on, it's just a misunderstanding." "We feel bad about it too, yeah?" "We got this new cook down from Sydney." "Josh." "At great expense too, 'cause he's supposed to be the business." "Turns out he's been stiffing' us." "He's been cuttin' the top-end product with caffeine, pocketing the rest for himself." "Come on!" "Hey, I feel betrayed about it, personally, you know?" "And I know Tony does too, right, Tone?" "Yeah, yeah, devastated." "Devastated." "How long I do business with you, eh?" "And now you do this to me?" "You tell me this is cook fault?" "Fuck!" "Come on!" "We straightened him out." "He's on notice." "Everything's back on track." "Let me talk to him." "I want to meet this cook." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "I don't think so, Nik." "I can't do that." "I want to hear from his mouth." "I don't fucking believe you two." "I will meet him or you and me is kaput." "You know what this means?" "Huh?" "You know what this means, fat boy?" "Yeah, I know what 'kaput' means." "OK, you understand situation." "G'day, Josh?" "Yeah, I got a Mr Radev here." "He wants to meet you." "Yes, Mr Williams." "Tell Mr Radev I'll look forward to meeting him very soon. 'Bye." "Five minutes." "I should be the shooter." "You've been out of jail five minutes and the world owes you a living." "No." "I just think I'm better than you." "How do you know I'm not the best fucking shooter in the history of organised crime?" "That's not fair." "Driver only gets 30." "Shooter gets 70." "Standard industry practice." "I really need the extra dosh." "Yeah, you said." "For my business." "Your business?" "Yeah, I'm opening a creperie in St Kilda." "I thought I was a fuckin' head case." "Fuck you!" "FUCK YOU!" "FUCK YOU!" "FUCK YOU!" "FUCK!" "Fuck you!" "Get back in the fucking car." "ARGGH!" "Got him!" "Got him!" "Oh, fuck." "Got him!" "I got him." "I got him." "Fuck, I got him." "I got him." "I fucking got him." "I fucking got him!" "I fucking got him!" "You didn't fucking get him, I got him!" "Fuck you!" "No, man, I fucking got him!" "Possibly the only person who genuinely mourned" "Nik the Russian's death, apart from Danielle McGuire, that is, was his dentist." "He still owed him 55 grand for a full set of crowns." "All we can say at the present moment is that it has the hallmarks of an underworld killing." "What are police doing to crack down on what's obviously an escalating underworld war?" "I wouldn't call it a war." "18 bodies on the streets?" "What else would you call it?" "No comment." "Thank you." "Worst part of the job." "Detective Brownlow..." "They found shell casings from two different guns." "Is that one man with two guns or two gunmen?" "Jeepers, don't tell me they're multiplying." "Inspector..." "My second shot hit him in the heart." "He was already fuckin' dead, you spastic." "Mate, you were spraying bullets all over the place." "You're lucky you didn't shoot yourself." "Why'd you bring a gun along anyway?" "'Cause I knew you'd make a dog's breakfast of it." "You're the only fuckin' dog around here." "Say what?" "What?" "Woof woof, fleabag." "Yeah?" "Come on!" "Knock it off!" "Knock it off!" "KNOCK IT OFF!" "JESUS!" "This is my home here." "What do you want me to do?" "Call the coroner?" "Get a ballistics report?" "Who cares who fired the fatal shot?" "The prick's dead, alright?" "Now, we've all got a vested interest in this." "So what I'm gonna do is split the fee 50/50." "Oh..." "And I want youse to shake on it." "That was the first time Carl Williams commissioned a murder for purely business reasons." "It wouldn't be the last." "An important milestone was reached in our world too." "Because of the brazen nature of the Nik Radev murder, a special taskforce was formed to tackle what the press were starting to call the gangland war." "Todd McDonald and Garry Butterworth famously hated each other's guts." "To me, Todd always looked like he'd just climbed out of a saddle and tied up his horse outside." "Do you all know why you're here?" "Course they do, Garry." "Welcome to Taskforce Purana, folks." "Sure, we're a small team but we're a united team." "From now on, you've got a single focus - gangland murders." "Garry and I want all the killers walking our streets locked up." "So what's it mean, boss?" "'Purana'?" "Don't ask me." "The computer generated the name." "But what it's going to mean is up to you." "It's looking good, Damien." "Yeah." "Oh, hey, Roberta, can I borrow your car?" "What if I want to use it?" "Um... walk." "Do you good." "Get rid of those love handles." "Take care of it, smart-arse." "Oh, my God!" "Arggh!" "Damien!" "You right?" "Shit!" "ARRGGH!" "Is he OK?" "Can you..." "You gotta ring for an ambulance!" "We're gonna get someone here, mate." "Mate, mate, mate!" "Damien, what the hell happened to you?" "I had an accident, Mr Condello." "Sit down, sit down." "Tibor, help the boy." "Go on." "Take it easy." "Come on." "Relax." "What's going on?" "I, er..." "I'm not gonna be able to drive the truck anymore." "I..." "I don't know how I'II..." "The doctor said I won't be back on deck for months." "So they're gonna pin my ankle and  I don't know how I'm gonna make the repayments." "So I was wondering if maybe just  an extension or something." "I tell you what I'll do." "And this is only because I like you." "I'll accept goods in lieu of the outstanding balance." "How's that?" "Goods?" "Yeah, items of value." "Jewellery, family heirlooms, objet d'art vehicles." "You can't take that!" "That's Nanna's best dinner service." "Mr Condello, it's gonna kill her." "Please!" "Fuckin' blood-suckin' wop!" "Put that stuff back." "Come on, give that back." "Put that stuff back." "You turd!" "I hope you're happy, dickhead - you fuckin' eyetie, arsewipe, shitty, greasy arse monkey!" "Prick!" "My truck." "Come on, get out of the way." "He was hit by a car, you dickhead." "He was hit by a car." "Arsehole!" "Damien, I'm sorry, mate, I'm sorry." "50, 60... 61,000." "27 grand short." "A lot of money, Col." "Yeah, well, you'll get the rest Monday, alright?" "Monday?" "Absolute latest." "You've been in the wars, my friend." "Yeah, someone attacked us last night." "Hit me from behind, gave us a kicking." "It was a fucking mongrel act." "So, Col, tell us about these Rollers of yours." "Bit light on, Mario." "What's up?" "Bad month?" "Ah, well, no need to complain about this, that and the other, Lewis." "Hmm." "That's what you said last time." "Ah, but this time there's a sweetener." "Hello." "Damien?" "Yeah?" "Yeah." "OK." "Kid I know just died." "He topped himself." "Just wish that I'd forced him to take my money instead of going to that mother-fucking blood-sucking wop." "You can't change someone else's life." "Your own, maybe." "That's if you want it bad enough." "What?" "I've never met anyone like you before." "That's 'cause there's only one Benji Veniamin on the planet." "How come they call you that?" "What, Benji?" "Yeah." "When I was a kid, if the jacks ever picked me up," "I used to call myself Andy Benjamin." "Veniamin, Benjamin." "Benji." "I made your T-shirt all soggy." "How come they call you that?" "Benji?" "Yeah." "When I was a kid, if the jacks ever picked me up," "I used to call myself Andy Benjamin." "Veniamin, Benjamin." "Benji is really Andrew Veniamin." "At last, we put a face to the name of our biggest problem." "They shoot me, they beat up Tony, and now they drive our next-door neighbour to his death." "Who are we talking about?" "Them Carlton bastards." "Gatto, Condello, Kinniburgh, Moran." "They're dead, mate." "They're fuckin' history." "Let me at 'em, Carl." "I need the extra dosh." "Yep." "Everybody's gotta earn a crust somehow." "You can do it thumping a bloke." "FUCK YOU!" "You can do it bumpin' a bloke." "You can do it charging a million per cent interest." "But all the gangsters agree the best way of earning a crust is when it's the other poor bugger who does all the work."