The Power of the Dog (Power of the Dog, #1)

by Don Winslow

You hear things about the Barreras—the money they throw around comes from drugs (yeah, like, duh)—but you especially hear things about Raúl. One of the stories they’ve heard whispered about Raúl goes like this: He’s sitting in his ride outside the house, bandera music blasting on the speakers and the bass turned up to sonic-boom level, when one of the neighbors comes out and knocks on the car window. Raúl lowers the window. “Yeah?” “Could you turn it down?!” the guy screams over the music. “I can hear it inside! It’s rattling the windows!” Raúl decides to fuck with him a little. “What?!” he yells. “I can’t hear you!” The man’s in no mood to be messed with. He is macho, too. So he hollers, “The music! Turn it down! It’s too fucking loud!” Raúl takes his pistol from his jacket, sticks it in the man’s chest and pulls the trigger. “It’s not too fucking loud now, is it, pendejo?” The man’s body disappears, and no one complains about Raúl’s music after that.