Mobster's Vendetta (3 page)

“Yeah, but now we won’t get there ‘til
later.”

“So, let me get this straight,” I question,
“Carlo told you to come here and not go straight to the casino?”
Something is not right.

“Well...no. He told me where you were
staying, and I decided I meet you here and go with you guys over to
the casino. You know, to surprise Megan. How is she doing?”

“So, Carlo expects you at the casino?”
Alessandra is obviously trying to change the conversation, but I
don’t drop it.

“Um, yeah...” She looks ashamed.

“When you drove into this neighborhood, did
you not start to get a clue it might not be the best place?!” Vito
spits at her.

I sigh. “We’ll have to drop her off before
the meeting.”

“I can drive myself,” San huffs.

“There is a lot of shit going down,
Alessandra. I would feel better if we took you.”

I pick up my phone and call Carlo.

“Hey, man,” he answers.

“Alessandra’s here.”

“What?!”

“She is at the hotel.”

“I sent a guy to the airport to pick her
up!” he says annoyed.

“They must have missed each other because
she is standing right in front of me.”

“Do you want me to come and get her?”

“No. We’ll drop her off.”

I click the phone off and walk to the
bathroom to shower. I make it a quick one and dry off, dressing
quickly. Vito and Alessandra are having a heated conversation in
the next room. The door is so paper-thin that I can hear every
word.

“Don’t play me, Vito! I know you like
her.”

“Just shut up, San! You don’t know what the
hell you’re talking about?”

“The hell I don’t! I see the way you look at
her. You follow her with your eyes at school!”

“She was at school for what, two weeks,
before all this shit went down,” grumbles Vito.

“Don’t play me, Vito. I’m not stupid!”

“Yes you are! You came here by yourself. You
are fuckin’ stupid.”

San huffs and curses under her breath.

“Carlo has been filling me in. He said you
bend over backwards for that girl.”

“Why the fuck are you starting shit with
me?! Stay out of my business!” Vito sounds at his limit.

Who the frig are they talking about? My
brain kicks in. Shit!

“What the hell does Carlo know? We’ve hardly
seen him in years. Besides, I’m supposed to be watching out for
her. She is my responsibility,” he adds.

“
...and he said you haven’t
been doing your usual screwing anything on two legs! To me, that
sounds like a man who is whipped!” Alessandra is
pushing.

“What the fuck did you call me?” Vito’s
voice is alarmingly sharp.

“Wh-ip-ped! Would you like me to spell it,
dumbass?”

I yell through the door,
“
Sta-zitto
!
Now!”

Their voices lower.

“San, I’m gonna say this once. She. Is. A.
Kid.”

“And I’m gonna say this once. Does. Not.
Matter.”

Oh, shit! Erin!

We pile in the SUV that we are using,
courtesy of Ennio, and leave San’s car at the hotel. I’ll send
someone for it later.

The two of them are uncharacteristically
quiet.

How did I not see it before?
Am I dense? Am I losing it? Have I been so caught up in my own
shit? Getting her to drink and eat...freaking out over that
chooch
, Jake...sleeping
in her bed to get her through her nightmares...sitting at her
bedside... Fuck! He’s got a hard-on for her!

Deep down, Vito is a nice guy, but that
stuff did seem over the top even for him. Come to think of it, I
did catch him watching her a lot. Not that he has had much
opportunity, but San is right, he hasn’t gone after girls...hasn’t
even mentioned any.

“So, San, how’s school?” I ask.

“Boring without you guys,” she mutters.

Vito snorts.

The ride gets quiet again but then
Alessandra speaks up.

“How are Erin and Megan?”

Vito stiffens noticeably beside me.

“They’re safe. I haven’t seen Megan in a few
weeks, but I get regular reports and call her. She hates being
there.”

“I’m sure she does. She probably feels like
a caged animal. Poor Clarissa, I don’t know how she has done it all
of these years. Ennio keeps a short leash on her.”

We pull up in front of Regale Casino. A
doorman opens Vito’s door, but Vito waves him away and points to
the back where Alessandra is.

“Aren’t you coming in at least for a
minute?” she asks.

“If I go in there, San, I’ll never come
out,” I say, meaning it. It has been so long since I’ve seen Megan
that I’m not going to want to leave.

Alessandra gets out, and Carlo shows up at
the curb. His face is stern. He is pissed at Alessandra. Carlo
knows better than to tell anyone where we are staying. San made him
look bad, and I will have to talk to Carlo later. It’s not that we
can’t trust Alessandra, but you never give out information someone
doesn’t need to know...she didn’t need to know. It is important to
maintain discipline between enforcers and associates within the
families.

Vito plugs the address into his phone, and
we arrive a few minutes early for the meeting. I get out of the car
and light a cigarette, taking a deep puff. I watch the smoke mixed
with my breath in cold in the night air.

Business is always the same, no matter where
we go. Dark alleys, warehouses, seedy bars. We are constantly
reliving the same smells and the same sounds. The air reeks of cat
piss and rotting trash.

The mob underworld never changes. It hides
itself deep in the cities. The rules, people, and danger are a
given. Sometimes I wish things were different, but they're not.

I take one last drag of my cigarette and
toss it on to the pavement. Vito is standing beside me, partially
in shadow from the street light. His figure is intimidating.
Menacing is what we need right now. Forming alliances brings out
territorial bad asses wanting to strut their shit. They want to let
you know how tough and dangerous they are. They’ll try to challenge
us tonight...one sit down is not going to cut it. This is not a
simple thing, but a process, just like everything else in the
Mafia.

The door is a huge metal one with a chain
that lifts it. I rap on the metal, and I can hear the rattle of the
chain as the door rises. A shiny, gray cement floor is revealed.
Round tables and folding chairs create a makeshift meeting place,
just like we do in Palmetto. My father is leaning against a wall
talking to Donny, who looks really good. A bullet doesn’t keep him
down for long. Others are milling around, talking. Pop spots Vito
and I.

“Tonio!” he beams at me.

I walk to Pop and Donny, Vito behind me. I
approach my dad and in a flash I can see myself for the first
time...really see myself...what I am meant to be...who I am meant
to be.

“Hi Pop.” I smile.

My father’s stance is confident and sure. It
is very good to see him. I miss him and Ma. I reach out for the
typical, half-hug with pats on the back. But Pop grabs me and holds
me tight.

“I missed you, son,” he says.

“I missed you, too,” I say into his
shoulder.

Donny clasps me on the back, and I turn to
hug him. It’s weird. Donny and Pop have been friends since they
were kids, the same as Vito and I.

Vito greets Donny and Pop, too.

“Eh, Vito, you look good! How’s the back?”
Donny asks.

“It’s healing up.”

“If everyone will take a seat, please,” Mr.
Furlotti says.

I pull out a chair and think that I can’t
wait for this meeting to be over. I just want to see Megan.

We all take our seats accordingly. Pop and
Donny have a couple of their enforcers with them from Palmetto.
Ennio also sent a couple of his own...Julio, his head enforcer, and
a couple muscle thugs, people who take care of the little shit.

Don Furlotti is a short, balding guy and the
boss. Next to him sits his underboss, Mikey Fingers. Mikey scans
the room like everyone is a threat. He started out in this business
as a cleaner, his specialty being dismemberment. He starts with the
fingers. The thought crosses my mind that he has a lot in common
with Patrick.

“Loyalty!” Mr. Furlotti calls out and slams
his fist on the table as he launches into a long speech about
alliances and what it means for all of us. It is all the common
blah, blah, blah, that has been ingrained in me since I was a
child.

Then he brings up Uncle Tutti, and my fists
clench.

“Tutti has taken the wrong road. He's going
away from his boss, going away from us all. We cannot let him come
into his own power. Palmetto’s boss and son are here to form an
alliance. It is a tradition that our first order of business is a
challenge.”

The room buzzes with everyone talking
quietly amongst themselves. I drink in the vision of the mobsters
around me...all similar to me. We all know the rules. We all know
the game. We all know the lifestyle. Once you're in, you’re always
in, and it is very difficult to get out.

“Tonight there is going to be a fight. Don
Delisi, please select someone from your family.”

I stand. I don't even want to give Pop a
chance to pick anyone. I know my place. It is my responsibility.
Don’t think, just do.

“I volunteer,” I say.

Pop nods at me with pride.

“Okay, Antonio,” Mr. Furlotti replies.

I glance over at Vito, and he regards me
with annoyance. A glacial stare at me that says he wanted to offer
himself for the challenge. But it's my obligation.

A door opens up across the warehouse towards
the back and slams with an echo. A tall man approaches. I recognize
him, and he is someone I wouldn’t choose to spend time with.
Demetrius! He emerges from the darkness and to the harsh light of
the warehouse. His demeanor runs at a constant zero-degrees
coldness to the trained eye. To the unsuspecting or ignorant, he
may appear charming and friendly, but it is all a front. I’m sure
the ladies love him and he has a new one on his arm all the
time...until they learn what a sick fuck he is. Stories fly about
him. The truly saddest part of all the rumor shit running rampant
is that it’s true.

Demetrius walks towards the table never
taking his eyes off me. He sits down next to his boss,
Furlotti.

“Now, from the Furlotti family, who chooses
to fight?” The words aren’t even finished when Demetrius
stands.

This is a set up. I should've known that
they would do something like this. Demetrius wasn't even at the
meeting. They kept him in the back on purpose.

Demetrius is a lethal thug feared by the
entire underground, disturbed on a level that rivals the worst
mobster. He is mentally unbalanced, and, in this business, that’s
scary. He defies the rules and breaks them as a habit. People avoid
Demetrius and his attention at all costs.

“Oh, hell, no!” Vito yells. My father
silences him with a steely glance.

He's impulsive, volatile,
and a plain fucking psycho. He's
oobatz
in the head. I can't believe I
need to fight him for this damn alliance. Pop needs this though.
Good relations are an important step to putting Uncle Tutti
down.

As I walk towards the ring, I strip off my
shirt and start jumping up and down to warm up my muscles. I clench
together my fists a few times and roll my head side-to-side,
stretching out my neck.

If I had to picture what the devil looks
like, I would pick Demetrius. His eyes radiate death and hate. He
watches me with sharp eyes - staring at me like he wants to eat me
alive with a fork and a knife...like a cannibal.

Pop leans over to me, and I stop
jumping.

“Tonio, you can take this guy. Focus. Use
everything you’ve learned...everything you’ve been taught.” He puts
his hand on my shoulder, reassuring me that he has faith in me.
Donny leans over as well.

“Tonio, this kid is crazy. Give ‘im
everything you got. Don't hold back. Give this kid everything you
got!” he repeats. The room gets louder, everyone gearing up for a
fight.

Vito scrubs his hands down his face,
worried. Dammit! He shouldn't be showing it. He knows to keep his
face stoic and his eyes straight. Never show an emotion. It’s the
only way to win these things. This alliance is important. This
fight is our first set up, our first test. I start jumping
again.

Money starts exchanging hands. Everyone in
the room begins betting. This underworld makes everything about a
pot of money, power and gain. Hands switch and swap cash.
Cigarettes and cigars hang from foul mouths. For probably the first
time in my life, I want to throw up at the smell of the smoke.

Demetrius is cool, cold, calculating, and
blood-thirsty, these traits oozing from his pores. He’s as big as
Vito. But I’m not afraid of getting hurt, I’m more afraid of
losing. Pop is counting on me. Tonight is one step closer to a
valuable alliance happening.

I need to put Uncle Tutti in the ground, and
here I am in a boxing ring with a psychopath waiting to beat the
shit out of me. I love a beautiful girl who is waiting for me in a
suite at the casino. Megan’s face flashes before me, a welcome
vision.

Ennio can’t be here tonight because - it is
one of his biggest casino nights – and they all know it. I think to
myself that his absence is another reason why they are doing this.
They know Ennio won't be here. These fuckers wanted to see what
were made of...without friends or supporters.

I guess I’d play the game the same way if
the tables were turned. I'd want to know their weaknesses and true
grit.

I step into the dirt of the ring. It kicks
up around my shoes. Demetrius walks in, his confidence and
instability evident in his eyes. The announcer calls out last bets,
and we face off, waiting.