Month: August 2013

I grew up in a poor family. We had just come over to the United States from Sicily. Not a dime in our pocket; just another foreigner looking for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. My family made it to New York in 1922. My father had taken a loan from a local Loan Shark and put us all in a massive debt. Every few days some guys would rough up my father in the alleyway for the money he owed the loan shark… One day, around the normal time, the men showed up again. They asked for my father and he stepped outside. They began beating him right there in front of me. I watched as multiple haymakers landed on my fathers face. One of the two men was swinging so wildly his gun fell out of his coat and onto the pavement at my feet… I reached down and shot the man right in his chest… As he fell to the ground, the other man looked up and ran around the corner and disappeared… My father lay there… Not moving. No breathing. Lifeless. He was gone.

The pressure of making money for the family fell onto my shoulders… An eighteen-year-old boy… I kept the gun that I used to kill the Shark with. For protection from any further attempts made on my family by the loan shark…

The next day, I went to the church. It was a Sunday morning. Confession time. I prayed for the strength to help my family and told the priest what I had done the day before… I told him about the anger I felt seeing my fathers lifeless corpse laid on the ground… The loneliness I felt when I saw a drop of blood spill from his mouth after taking several blows to the head… As I left the church and headed home, I noticed about ten men standing outside of our apartment block. All dressed in nice suits… As I approached the men, one of them yelled, “There he is. That’s the boy who killed Johnny!” All of the men pulled weapons and pointed them at me, all except for one. He stepped forward and asked for my name. He explained that he is a very powerful man in this city… He is called Don Leonardo… One of the Mafia bosses in New York. I had shot one of his men… He calmly explained that, since I was the one who killed one of his associates that I was going to take his place…

He said there would be great pay into it. And as soon as I paid the debt off that my father owed, the rest would be pure profit… I had no choice but to agree with nine gunmen staring at me down the sights of their guns. I was told to come to an abandoned warehouse on the harbor as soon as possible. I had no transportation to get there, and no money for a taxi… I had to walk. The men jumped into their cars and sped away… I began the long walk across town to get to the designated warehouse… Thirty minutes later, I was walking down the street. I could see the warehouse. It wasn’t but thirty feet away from me when a young boy bumped into me. I felt his hand reach into my pocket simultaneously. He snatched for my wallet and began running with it… Just as this happened, an older man about thirty-five years old also bumped into my shoulder. I fell down with by the force from him hitting me. I looked over where the boy was running and the man was in hot pursuit. He leaped and fell on top of the young boy. I heard him yelling and the boy gave up my wallet.

As the man walked back towards me, he brandished the wallet in front of my face. He explained that it wouldn’t happen again. The man said that the boy didn’t know I was working for Mr. Leonardo.

I walked into the warehouse and was met by a smiling Don Leonardo. He walked towards me and said he was glad I showed up. He didn’t want to hunt me down and put two in my eyes for not being here. Leonardo wanted me to prove my loyalty. I had to go mug a citizen on the streets… It didn’t matter who it was, he just wanted to wet my toes in this business.

I left the warehouse looking for a victim… I sat in a nearby alley and waited for someone to walk down unsuspecting… Twenty minutes passed and I was growing impatient. I was about to change locations when a man turned down the alleyway. I hid behind a wall and waited for him to pass me. As he took a step by me, I hit him on the back of his head. He fell to the floor and I began searching for his wallet. I found it and searched it, only to find $20 in it… I turned and started jogging off… I heard him call “Hey Boy…” Out of curiosity, I turned and looked over my shoulder. He had stood to his feet and pulled a pistol out on me. He began shooting at me and I heard bullets whiz passed my head. I turned back around and sprinted to get out of the alleyway. Bullets were hitting gutters as I ran passed them.

I made it out safely. I ran to the warehouse and told Leonardo that the man only had $20 and that I just survived an attempted murder. Leonardo said that there would be plenty more attempted murders on my head in the future. “Get used to it.” He said…

I was just a lowly thug for now, but if I put hard work in, donate to my new family, and remain respectful and loyal all the same, I will reach high lengths in this business. No matter how many prostitution rings I have to run, or banks I have to heist. No matter how many murders I have to perform, or muggings I need to make. No matter how many friends I have, or how many enemies I create. I am going make It in this business by Crimes, Murder, and by selling Drugs… Eventually I’ll have my own family once my boss thinks I am ready. It must be earned; I can’t just expect one given to me… I will work for it.