Birth of a Gangster

By: Michael McGavin

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 1 hr and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Hank Burdock was a decorated solider. Then he was branded a criminal. He went on the run using his skills to wreak havoc.

Excerpt:
Anger is not what people think it is. Most people would say it's a prelude to violence, but I don't think so. I think it is more of a substitute.
When someone annoys you and you don't respond verbally or physically for that matter, but you instead get angry what really happened? You took the hit, decided it was wrong and then did nothing. Anger is impotence.
This comes up because of what just happened. I'm actually driving in a tractor trailer cab right now. I figured these guys aren't well paid so with cash and a friendly story you can get transportation for hundreds of miles under the radar. So in this case I went to a guy and said hey how far are you going I'll give you 200 if I could ride along.
Anyway, I'm in the cab with a guy and he's talking about various topics and finally said you know you look like a big strong guy have you ever worked in security. I said why do you ask and he said that trucks have been getting hijacked.
And then he added something like you can't mess with those guys sometimes they're just thieves and sometimes they're killers. So clearly this guy had more to say and I just said enough to keep him telling the story.
Turns out that some hijackers were killed trying to nab three trailers off a farm.
That made the news and then couple weeks later turns out some of the hijacker’s friends came back and killed the farmer.
The trucker I was with said that's why you have to be careful.
So I played along and said how do you find out about that and he said something like it was on the Internet and I said something like can you show me.
He handed me some kind of tablet and I looked it up.
The story was pretty much as he said what got me is it one of the hijackers was identified as the cousin of a big dog crime boss.
The other two had their names listed but were not prominent.
So I figured going after the farmer was retribution.
Now if you remember I sent whoever was on the other end of that phone number a clear message. That I would come after him if anything else happened.
This goes back to my idea of anger.
I did not get angry. I was I think disappointed. That farmer was an ally. So I want to also make it clear this isn't about vengeance. That's a stupid way to run a war. Or a smart way to run a war that you want to lose.
Fact is if you want to maintain allies you have to keep your word. That man helped me. I did a job for him and told him he would be safe.
My tactics may have been incorrect. In most cases they would've been effective but in this case due to the family connection it backfired.
Again even as I write this I am not angry. But I am a one-man war. I have allies and will make more along the way. What I am going to do is make good on my threat.