The transition from living in the big city of New York where his name and status meant something to living in New Jersey where that was the opposite, would have been smoother if he was willing to go along with the move peacefully. Truthfully it took quite awhile for Raymond to get over the fact that he had been sent away by his father not that he was still fully over it and couldn't see himself letting it go completely any time soon. He wasn't the only one upset with the decision as his father's Capo didn't agree with the move in private after the meeting either and his brother Joey flipped his lid when he heard the news. He threatened to have nothing to do with his father if he went through with this but his father called his bluff when he reminded him that his garage was being funded by him.

Joey was left with no choice but to back down and due to his position all Toni could do was voice his displeasure and he was lucky to have gotten away with that. Raymond didn't have anything to say to anyone. The only reason he was accepting of this move because at this moment he couldn't stand his father. There was always a degree of dislike towards his father but he could honestly say there was a hatred there now. Not only did he always disgrace and not show much respect to their mother but how could he send his own son away to another city and give him to another crime family?

Raymond had never heard of such a thing and honestly it made them all look bad. His father had taken to doing more cocaine and indulging in more whores and making bad decisions but this was truly a head scratcher.  The man who he would begin to work for wasn't a bad guy though. If there was any bright spot in this whole thing it would be the man named Philip Ligambi. He had the authority to make Raymond do any job he would have him to do no matter how menial since he was completely in the man's care and employ. In spite of all that, Philip had chosen to make Raymond his driver and a personal bodyguard of his.

It was a bit of a new experience as he wasn't used to handling any of the physical parts of the business back home when he was affiliated with his father. Philip had sent him around some of the buttons who were working for him. It was with them he learned how to decently handle and shoot a gun. When he'd finished training with them Philip had taken him so a shady arms dealer where he bought his own first gun.

Raymond wasn't much interested in shooting people as he was earning money. Philip told him that he sounded like his older brother but implored him handling the other side of business was just as important as making money. Raymond reluctantly learned how to get his hands dirty with extorting and shaking down store owners and merchants. He also tried his hand at debt collecting and being a loan shark himself.

None of those things were truly Raymond's calling though. Cars were. Another one of the bright spots about not being in New York was he was no longer in his brother's shadow when it came to dealing with cars. He was one of the main one's stealing them and chopping them for parts to put them on other cars and then sell them for higher prices. He was also running street races in almost anything. He ran street races for cars, bikes, he even set up a few of his own foot races with faster younger kids in the neighborhood.

He started bringing in the crew big money and that only served to make Philip more happy with him. He began introducing him to more members of the family. That included the main branch of the crime family and people from Philadelphia and also his real family. Philip was calling on Raymond to pick him up and hang around his house at times when he was there which meant he met his wife and also his only daughter.

It was an honor for a man so private about his home life as Philip was, to welcome Raymond into his home. Raymond didn't take it lightly which led to him being invited over regularly for all kinds of events and social gatherings. He was even invited over to have dinners with the family from time to time since he couldn't have dinner with his own anymore. Philip really began to take Raymond under his wing personally and in business and it was made official when he met the boss of the Ligambi Crime Family at Philips daughter's 14th birthday party.

This was where he was formerly introduced as a part of Philip's crew and where Philip told his older brother that Raymond was his protege'. Raymond was shocked, though if he paid closer attention he would've been able to tell he was being groomed all along. Again the fact that he was even though he was an outsider confounded him but he wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth. Philip the brother to the boss trusted him and that meant a lot of big things were in his future. It also meant if he could make the best of it he'd have a chance to earn a nice living and give a big middle finger to his father. It wouldn't surprise him if his father would say this is what he'd thought would happen all along but Raymond would most certainly call bullshit.

Meeting Joseph Ligambi was interesting as well. He seemed like a gentle man though not too much that you couldn't tell there was more to him than met the eye. He was a calm man who was more laid back than his younger brother but had the same amount of charisma if not even more. He made you want to listen to every word he said when telling a story or a joke and him and his brother got along very well. Raymond felt ashamed that his own family could never hope to be like this. He ended up wandering off to where he was sitting and relaxing by himself in the gardens. It was here where he had his first conversation with little Serafina, the daughter to his boss Philip. The birthday girl came over to talk with him briefly before going off to tend to and chat with the rest of her guest.

She was kept in the house a lot and was rarely ever around when he was at Phil's house but she seemed nice and was very sociable. It was surprising to see her be able to be this way even though she never got out all that much. She was raised much differently than he was. He wondered how he would have ended up if he had come from a loving home. He was interrupted from his inner thoughts when a hand clamped down on his shoulder and he was then aware of Philip's presence. The man had taken a seat next to him.

"So I take it you've finally met my daughter huh? She's quite the surprise eh? You'd think someone like that who has everything she could want given to her and someone like her who's always kept in the house in seclusion, wouldn't be so social and graceful don't ya? She's probably the smartest person here today. I can't believe I was blessed with such a gift. Do you know I wished for a boy?" Philip said with a fond smile on his face and a slight chuckle.

Raymond listened to him carefully and thought over the things he said. She did seem very intuitive for her age in the little bits he talked to her and how she composed herself. She was only 14 years old but if you didn't know that you might mistake her for a young adult. She was also quite graceful for someone who didn't get out of the house very often as well.

"Listen to me Raymond. It's my goal that she never has to dirty her hands like we did. That she's never around any men like us. It's bad enough that an angel like that was given a father like me, but I make it my mission my goal to protect her and keep her away from men like ourselves understand? Guys like us stay away from innocent good women like that. The only thing you could ever do for a woman like that is fuck up her life." Philip preached.

Raymond again took in the words of his mentor and boss. He believed them. He wasn't much of a woman chaser in the first place but he felt like someone sweet and innocent such as Serafina should be protected and kept far away from this side of life. It would seem that Philip was very careful to keep his only child away from his business. He silently promised to himself that he would look out for her and continue on her father's work and try to keep her on the right path, should he ever catch her slipping and her father not be around.

"I understand boss, you got my word that I'll do my best to look out for your daughter and keep her away from anything related to our line of work." Raymond promised while looking Philip dead in his eye.

It was the first time he had a determined look to do anything other than when it came to working with cars. Raymond couldn't explain it himself but seeing the nice family that Phil had down here he couldn't help but wanna make sure it didn't end up as fucked up as his own. After hearing Raymond's promise the smile on Philip's face widened as he again clamped his hand down on Raymond's shoulder.

"Atta boy Raymond! I knew I could rely on you." Philip proclaimed loudly. He was excited and happy that the two of them were on the same page. Raymond could see where the kindness they had came from even though Philip was a bit more gruff than his brother. "Anyway don't worry about that. I got big plans for you. I came into a nice bit of land in downtown Newark. I was talking with my real estate guy and he tells me he thinks it'd be a good idea to flip this into a business property. So seeing as to pull jobs and what not the family is gonna need good vehicles and work done on them to avoid certain things. I was thinkin' how about we get you set up with your own garage and auto shop huh? Since you like workin' on cars and stuff?"

Raymond's eyes grew wide at the mention of him running his own car place. It sounded fantastic and if he wasn't trained and taught not to be too over eager about anything ever he would be jumping right now at this chance. He tried to fight down his excitement as much as he could but he couldn't fight off the smile from his face.

"That sounds fuckin' awesome Phil. I could be like the mechanic for the crew or even the family if it came down to it." Raymond replied trying to keep the excitement out of his voice and failing to do so.

"You think too small my boy. Let's go in my office. I got papers for you to sign and we'll go over the plans more in depth there." Philip said as he stood up and began to lead Raymond into his office.

The two men would be in there talking throughout the night uninterrupted. It would be the first time that Raymond would lower his guard in the months since he had been sent away from New York and his family. It would also be the beginning of his new life in the Garden State of New Jersey.