"Judges, lawyers, and politicians have a license to steal. We don't need one." ~ Carlo Gambino
As the limousine rolled silently down the road, Vitto was in deep thought. Looking out the passenger window he smiled to himself. That Anthony kid had caught him by surprise. That rarely ever happened. Of course, it's not every day a father learns there is a young man in his daughter's life who thinks he wants to marry her. Where had the time all gone?
A guy grows up, dreams of the future and what will be. He meets a woman, they get serious, they get married, have children, live a life, until one day those children of theirs suddenly are adults and have dreams of their own. Even if he is in the mob.
Vitto Salerno was caught completely off guard and for some reason found this amusing. His lovely little girl was now a grown beautiful woman. And this Anthony character wants to marry her. What could she see in a little coward who would text a girl he was breaking up with her? Maybe that's the way young people do those things now.
Turning to the front, "Christopher, did you take care of that thing we discussed regarding Tony Gallo?"
Christopher looked over his shoulder, "Sure thing Boss, I stuck the drill in his chest and his legs a couple of times but then the bit broke. Hammer to the head a few times. Got what was ours and left."
"What about Tony Gallo?"
Christopher shrugged, "He's gone."
Nothing left to say. Gone meant, 'forever'. Wrap the body up, throw in the trunk, and make it disappear.
In the order of things, both Christopher and Angelo were Caporegimes (Captains) or Capos of the Salerno crime family. Both managed their own crews within the family, they had designated neighborhoods to operate with particular rackets to run. Both of their 'careers' relied heavily on how much money they could bring to the family.
This is one of the reasons Christopher preferred a hands-on approach when dealing with family problems. He had a dozen soldiers under his command to call upon and setting an example now and then kept his crew in line.
These soldiers were street-level enforcers who essentially were no more than your average criminals who were expected to stick their necks on the line. The end. Most of them didn't last long.
Nothing else was said. Vito returned to the view outside of his passenger window. What to do about this kid Anthony? And this was his daughters' choice? Jesus. She could do so much better than marry a guy that would break up with a girl by texting it in. For some reason that really bothered Vitto.
On the plus side, the kid was Italian. He had that going for him. And a lawyer. Studying to be a lawyer. That was good. Solid occupation. Vitto would never allow his daughter to see anyone in the business. So yes, a lawyer was a good thing. Legitimate.
Nice looking kid too. Clean cut. Angelina liked what she saw of him. His wife was pretty good at sizing people up. But if Anthony had any serious intentions about marrying his daughter, he would need to grow a pair.
Another thought crossed his mind, "Angelo, I called Joey Mangano 5 times yesterday and he never returned my calls. Do we have a problem here?"
Angelo looked over a Christopher, then looked in the review mirror. "Vito, I haven't heard a thing. What's up?"
"What's up? I left 5 messages asking Joey Mangano to return my calls and he didn't, that's what's up Angelo."
Returning his to the review mirror, "Boss, as soon I drop you home, I'll take some of my crew and go visit him. Is there something you want me to tell him."
"Yeah Angelo, you can tell him from me, "I am greatly disappointed he did not return any of my 5 calls. Because of the time-sensitive nature of our agreement, other arrangements had to be made. Those other arrangements included an increased cost I cannot accept. You tell that piece of shit that I want 80 large by 6:00 tonight and the next time I call, I want him to return the damn thing! You tell Joey, the next time something like this happens, he'll have a reason for not returning my calls. I'll have someone come by with a knife, cut out his tongue and we'll send it to that big titty, bleached blond, polish comáre* of his!" (mistress)
Nodding his head slowly in agreement, Angelo's eyes returned to the rearview mirror, "Sure thing. Consider it done. I'll leave a few crew members with Joey until he comes through."
Christopher turned over his shoulder to speak, "Vitto, Joey may not like it, but he will be reasonable...just saying."
Seeing an understanding had taken place, Vitto simply commented, "Okay, you two need anything?... No?... Fine, just do what needs to be done to put this bit of business behind us.
Vitto returned to look out his window to watch pedestrians walking on the sidewalk.
He'd have to keep an eye out for Joey Mangano. Fucking kid.
Joey Mangano was the nephew of the "Boss", Paul (Big Paulie) Mangano.
As always one of the sharpest dress men in a room, Paulie Mangano was feared for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence. Nothing was off the table when it came to profits from any 'business' endeavors belonging to his organization. And not only was Vitto Salerno was Big Paulie's, "Under-Boss". They were cousins through their mothers' side of the family. As they say, "Blood made them relatives, loyalty made them Family".
Vitto's position as underboss gave him charge of all of the capos and would be first in line to become acting boss if Big Paulie was imprisoned or died. Vitto's role was to look after the regular day-to-day affairs of the Family business and to settle disputes that did not need to be escalated up to the Big Paulie. The payoff was cash. And lots of it. When a Capo passed an envelope to Vitto, he would take his cut and pass it up to the boss. It was a good place to be in the Family.
The problem was in this line of work, power grabs happened. Vitto had his suspicions about Joey Mangano. Family or not, this kid was trouble waiting to happen.
Sometimes a capo or an ambitious relative may try to make a power move. Joey Mangano was both. Feelings of envy for power and admiration that come with the position of under-boss can drive a man's ego. Vitto decided to pay special attention to Joey Mangano. To make sure that kid, who just a couple years older than his daughter, stayed in line. If he had too, with a baseball bat to his head...
A slight bump in the road reminded him, of that other thing.
