The Wolf Pack : Power, Money, Corruption Read online

  She is the leash I will control Wilson with. Wilson loves his mother more than anything and if she wants to protect me, nothing will happen to me or my position when the term limit is abolished. I told you there's no room for emotions in this game.

  The Making of Gotti

  I had just sold my first company to one of the biggest companies in the world. I started a magazine with the few others I knew, We were all from the streets. But Alan Diender had been to school, he dropped out because he couldn’t afford it. Initially we struggled. But slowly we started turning a profit. We started covering protests and events the people our age were interested in.We didn’t know any better.

  Luckily for us, there was no other magazine doing that, the government and Ministers would threaten us if we published anything of negative nature to them. It reminded me of Communism in Russia, Russia now however was in the hands of Oligarchs. How? When communism fell, the close friends and allies of the government owned the most important state resources. They became the Kingmakers..

  I learnt from that, learned the value of important friends in important places. I learnt a lot from Alan too, but he didn’t seem to agree with my view. We had conflicts until eventually he tried to fire me, but the others didn’t agree to it.

  I had some time to get rid of Alan. I sold the others the vision of taking the Magazine to bigger heights, about how we can make so much more money than we have seen. We were from the streets, we haven’t seen much money before, it was easy to sell the vision to them. They agreed Alan wouldn’t fit in there, the others slowly got rid of Alan in the daily operations. He was eventually sick at the thought of working at the magazine again. How could he? The magazine became everything he hated; He wanted to sell his share and get out, I bought his share with all the money I had saved up.

  We wrote solely for the government, whatever they wanted the youth to believe, we wrote it. The youth of the country were our loyal readers thanks to Alan, but they didn’t know of our new deal with the government. Our revenues increased monthly. We got bigger and bigger, until eventually we became on of the biggest magazines in the nation. A world famous Newspaper expanding into our continent eventually bought us over. We each receieved 10,000,000$, that will be 45 million dollars adjusting for inflation today.

  The others invested in banks and some spent most of it on partying. I spent mine setting up the media company, Gotti TV with two of the former partners. That’s when I met Rita, she helped set up the Television Channel, and she was good with appearances. Over the years I expanded to Banks, Hedge Funds and Medical Labs.

  Life isn’t about playing a good hand well; it is about playing your poor hand extremely well.

  Casanova

  Could he really be? Could he be falling for me now? No. I don't believe him. But there's still a small part of that wishes he was. The only to know for sure is to test him. 

  And if he was lying what do I have to lose? Nothing. If he ever hurt me again, He will lose the only thing that's keeping him away from Prison, My son. I will make sure he ends up in prison if he is lying. 

  I gave him a call asked to meet me for dinner to discuss how to transfer the money Congress Members were asking for, he was still his charming self. The man I fell for years ago. He brought me a gift, an army lighter from all those years ago. It had “Fight or die” written on it. We both liked it. He kept it for all those years.  I started to believe him again, but I knew better. 

  Slowly the dinners grew longer and more frequent and maybe I was falling for him again. Maybe he was ready for me. 

  Abolish

  With Rita feeling protective of me once more and the leash for Wilson set in place if he ever comes after me for a second time. It was time to abolish the term limit on the presidency. The congress members are motivated by two things Money and promise of future power. 

  Few of them were promised the ability to collect large amounts of wealth once they voted to abolish the term limit, the others were warned simply your either with us or against us. They were warned by Black Masks Generals and the Intelligence heads. 

  On the day of the voting 52% voted for it. It was enough to pass the bill. The term limit was abolished; the members who didn't vote for it were simply targeted in corruption raids in the following months and taken either to prison or flown out of the country. 

  I was back, to the position of the kingmaker. Now had to be my final stroke to establish Wilson as the President for the following term and increase his popularity so much so that the people love him more.  Then he will remain president and I will stay in the back ground but in return for me helping him abolish the term limit I wanted control of the country’s Oil and Gas Companies and the Renewable Energy Sources Company. I mean we had the 3rd largest reserve of Natural Gas in the world. 

  However the deal was signed before the voting was done and I owned the largest Oil and Gas Company in the country and the only Renewable energy company in the country. 

  As the final stroke was to make same sex marriages illegal. You, Me or Wilson didn't care one bit about this and to be honest with you if someone makes you happy then go for it.  But the people of the country didn't think so, in fact 89% of the country believed that homosexuality is wrong, I know the world may not believe so, but to increase Wilson’s popularity so that he could stay in power this is what was needed. 

  His approval and poll ratings shot up to 84%, meaning 84% of the country approved of the job he was doing as president and admitted to vote for him again

  If that was not power I don’t know what is.

  The Finale

  My presidency was now safe, my wife was pregnant and Gotti was dating my mother. I didn’t believe him one bit but my mother had a point, what was he going to do? Cheat on her? Who with? And most importantly if he did, he will stand to lose everything.

  Now it was time to collect my wealth, my power was established. I was married to the daughter of the man who runs the most powerful country in the continent. My Next step? To align my continent’s countries to a coalition and lead it to in due course become the most powerful man in the world.

  The most powerful country in the continent was already in an alliance with me, the third most powerful country was my informal ally. Something I have forgotten to mention earlier was what I and Jousseff had agreed when I began my second term. It was the thought that together we could be so much stronger, richer and powerful than if we stood alone. The smaller country presidents were easier to convince, that was Gotti’s Job. To get the smaller countries in the continent together to form an alliance, it was the old trick of bribing. It was the oldest trick in the book. And to be honest they preferred the wealth and money than collide with a powerful enemy, they didn’t seem to care enough to know about what the people thought. It didn’t surprise me. Gotti took care of transferring the money.

  What’s next for me? My father in law had passed, only just. Mostly because of age and his heart couldn’t take the strain and demands, he was old. You see never be over zealous to take a new position, be asked for it. I had to wait till the people asked me to lead the alliance, now that my father in law was dead. Of course after the mourning period was done; and I had finished comforting my wife certainly. Not that I cared, the people did I had to at least demonstrate being the shoulder she cries on. It was time now for Gotti to do his job.

  You thought I won’t be here to say good bye? But before that the aspirant Che Guevara outfit wanted to attack the funeral of Wilson’s father in law, it had all the key heads of state in attendance. The black masks and the intelligence heads prepared a report of this lead and submitted it to Wilson, which got leaked to the continent’s most powerful news channels, it blew up. Next day as the interim leader Wilson ordered the army and air force into the forests, the terrorists were massacred. They could have been captured alive? But what was the use of that to anyone? The people loved it, the alliance state heads voted him in as the new leader of the alliance.

 
I was back to being the king of kingmakers and my wealth was larger than ever. It was time to take this world for all it had. The wolf pack was ready to hunt. There are no more powerful rivals left, no more restrictions. Everything was fair game, not like it wasn’t before.

  In 5 years time

  The media is waiting in the other room, a magazine called TIME, they have chosen me as the most powerful man in the world for this year. They want an interview and a photo shoot, I have to go but before that.

  I only remember this one quote to bid you farewell, who accompanied me in my climb to being the most powerful Man in the World. I have the largest and most technologically advanced army in the world; I am controlling the continent with the largest reserves of natural Gas, Oil and resources. I am now leading the most powerful alliance in the world.

  In your climb to the top remember,

  “Sometimes what this world wants is not another Hero; Sometimes what it wants is not even a Monster.

  What it wants is a Monster disguised as a Hero.”

  By- Gerald Sathiyasiva