Part I: Carmine_Lucetto - The Cruel Captaincy

Bellicose stepped into the streets. Looking around, he quickly realized he was no longer the one who frequented the area the most. 

I guess that will have to change. 

He quickly gathered the local associates around, the little goombahs if you would, to share with them a story of a frustrated Don who found himself struggling in his attempt to retake control of his own crew and would eventually prove to be an ineffective leader that would be brought down by the weight of enemies within his own circle. 

I wish to share with you, my little Goombahs, a story of a man named Carmine_Lucetto. Carmine, was around a decade or so ago and at the time was considered to be one of the most powerful mobsters of his generation. When i use the word powerful, I mean this guy knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. He never wasted his own time and could read people like you wouldnt believe. Eventually, He was invited by Don "Violent" Vincenzo himself to be a Capo, in charge of several made men making sure they were earning and taking care of the necessities. 

Bellicose smirked

In fact, there was this one time, Don Vincenzo was at a meeting with Carmine and was wildly impressed with how much money his little crew was bringing in after only a few months as a captain. He asked him how he did it and Carmine responded, "I just shoot whoever doesnt pay in the face." Shooting people in the face was certainly a way to get your message across and for Carmine he did not want to waste any time in dealing with people who were going to be a hassle. Word got around that instead of suffering a broken window or a trashed store, you would end up dead made plenty of people respond with immediacy. Carmine was pretty fair, he never asked for more money than was unreasonable for protection and after some hoodlums broke into one of the stores that was under Carmines protection, well lets just say that never happened again. 

One of the goombahs perked up, "What happened Bellicose?"

Well, word on the street went around that when Carmine heard of how this little shop was broken into and many goods were stolen he sent his crew asking around. Eventually, someone shared that it was some college kid and his friends that were looking for some sort of thrill. So, Carmine and a couple of his friends went over to this college kids house, in the midst of this kid getting drunk with a couple of his friends, Carmine and his crew roped these guys up and hung them over the roof of the school. The next morning the papers read out five college kids committed suicide, but everyone, including the papers knew what happened. Now if you thought that was all it wasn't. Carmine then sent his crew to go speak to the kids father, just before the funeral. "If this is how someone raises kids to live in this neighborhood than they are just as much to blame." Carmine then shot the guy twice in the chest and left his body in the street with his blood dripping into the sewer. 

Bellicose pointed at a building that housed several apartments and underneath was a store that sold produce. 

Thats essentially where it all went down. That store was the same store those college kids broke into. After he removed those people from the planet, Carmine sent his crew to go clean the store and repair the damages. He also gave his guy a $1,000 cash donation. Which was a huge loss to what he was actually receiving from all his stores but he gave it from his own pocket and told the guy that if this ever happens again that next time he will kill both parents of the problem child first. 

So, word spread around that Carmine had given a $1,000 gift to someone who had an issue with intruders in their store. Another opportunist thought he could pull the same thing. His name was Jimmy and he sold Jewelry for a living. Jimmy reported to Carmine that another rival family broke into his jewelry shop and smashed everything he had and stole thousands of dollars worth of jewels. The closest family was the Ezekiel family and it was not like them to intrude on another's turf. So Carmine decided to meet with the Ezekiel family's leaders to see what went down. To his surprise that same night the Ezekiel family had a pretty big celebration in honor of Don Ezekiel turning 67 and almost every known mobster in that family was there. So it would appear, that a false insurance claim was made by Jimmy the Jeweler. 

Carmine showed up to Jimmy's house around midnight with some of his crew members. He quickly tied up his wife and Jimmy. He had his men search the house for jewels and found them stashed in a bag under Jimmy's bed. His hunch was correct, Jimmy was a liar and was trying to get a massive bonus by taking advantage of the good hearted Carmine who only extorted him to keep him safe. Carmine pried open the woman's mouth and started stuffing it with jewelry and sealed it shut with tape. "This is what you wanted Jimmy? Your wife to have all this Jewelry? Well isnt it a dream come true?" He jabbed at her nose until it was pouring blood. Now, no longer able to breathe out of her nose she began to suffocate with all the jewels in her mouth until finally she began to choke on one of the items that slipped down her throat. The crew of Carmine were struggling to watch this. They never knew him to be so violent, so vengeful, so evil. As the woman choked to death Carmine pulled out a gun and placed it to the side of Jimmy the Jewelers head, "She suffered because of you." Pulling the trigger sent an echo in the room that was only followed by loud sirens moments later.

So what happened? Basically, no one ever robbed another place under Carmines protection and no one ever lied to Carmine again. Yet, this was the beginning of some unraveling within his own crew. They began to talk and wonder how he could kill so many innocent people and sleep at night. They began to wonder if this guy as a captain was really stable at all. 

Bellicose pulled out an old article and read it aloud. 

"Fears of mob wars begin to loom as rumored made man Two Guns was killed in a shootout at a bar on 40th and Baker." The problem with Carmine after a few years was not the businesses he extorted. In fact, it became he had problems with his own families way of disciplining or correcting made men. One Friday evening, Carmine took some of his crew for some beers at a local speak easy he ran, oversaw i should say. While they were all there Carmine found himself taken by a lovely flapper. A beautiful blonde bombshell who was more educated than a Harvard lawyer. This girl had it all, brains, beauty and a boyfriend. Of course, Carmine did not know that yet but he also would not have cared. He approached the young lady and began to smooth talk her sharing with her that she was was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. As he flirted with her word got around to her boyfriend, Michael "Scar" Silvio who started scanning the room looking for Carmine. 

"Scar" Was an interesting type to say the least. This guy was one of the coldest hitters for the Vincenzo family anyone ever knew. He once took out two bosses in mob war within minutes of each other. The craziest thing about this guy? He never cared for protection. He would go out all alone guns blazing and come back to his little flapper girl as if he spent the entire day in an office. The only thing Scar was remotely possessive of was his girl and when he learned of Carmines behavior he immediately went to intervene. 

As Scar approached Carmine he found himself stopped by one of Carmines crew members, Carlo Two guns. Carlo explained to Scar how Carmine was just having a little fun and nothing serious needs to happen. Carmine looked over at Scar and winked as if to share, shes his girl now. Scar smiled and asked Carlo to have a smoke with him outside then so he could "cool his jets". Carlo, a pretty easy going guy who was actually fond of Scar agreed. They went out for a smoke and as they were in an alley way exhaling Two guns expressed how he feels that Scar gets to emotional too easy and needs to learn to settle down. This actually sent Scar in a wild rage. With out hesitation, scar pulled out a gun and blasted lead into the body of Carlo. 

Scar quickly went back in the bar and as everyone was screaming and running out he searched for Carmine. Unable to find him he noticed his little flapper girl and went towards her grabbing her by the arm and escorting her out. Carmine went out with a few of his crew to see what the gun shot was about. He heard a wailing from the alley way and ran over seeing Carlo holding his gut bleeding out. 

"Fuck Two Guns!" Carlo was bleeding out fast and with so much commotion Carmine began to lose concentration. He knew it was Silvio who did it. It was just a matter of time before he took his vengeance. 

Bellicose stood up started walking towards the store. 

I am going to take a piss. When i come back, I will share with you how Carmines exacted revenge on his enemies. 

Part II: Carmine_Lucetto - The Vengeful Victor

Carmine was pacing around his headquarters that night. Every other word seemed to be a swear word. His mind kept racing back thinking of Two Guns lifeless body in the alleyway. How the sirens sounded off and they left him there. Not that he was particularly close to him but that he left him there, it was not good for his reputation as a devoted capo. 

"Im going to split this fuckers head in two." Carmine claimed as he threw back a shot of whiskey. He Leaned over looking at his crew who looked quite discouraged at the fact they lost one of their own guys by what appeared to be negligence and pride on the part of Carmine. Now he wanted to get vengeance but it did not seem like he wanted to do it for Carlo, but for himself. One of his crew members, Joey the Bat looked up and spoke, out of turn, to Carmine. 

"Boss, maybe we should reconsider how this plays out. Maybe we take it up with Don Vincenzo and have him get one of his boys to take care of this whole mess for us. It seems like this is a much bigger issue and we could really start a whole wa...." His words were immediately cut off. Carmine threw the bottle of whiskey at the wall behind him then began to shout at his crew, mainly Joey, "I want a fucking war! You think we let shit like this slide? The only thing I will let slide is my bullets into the side of that bastards whole fucking crew!" 

It was certainly tense. No one wanted to breathe as the pressure from Carmine was honestly unsettling. Scar had a crew of his own and if Carmine took out one of Don Vincenzo's main hitters without first consulting the Don himself, well there was likely a price that would be paid. The Capo continued to think of the violence that would erupt immediately after but he knew he needed to set a standard that if you mess with him or his crew, you would face extreme punishment on the likes that have never been seen. 

Carmine had decided that if he was going to make this happen he would have to follow Scar and know what his plans would be. He got some intel from one of Scars crew members who wanted to see Scar disappear for a long time that he would be at Melz Steakhouse this weekend. So, the trap was set, Carmine would meet him there, unexpected and unannounced to get his vengeance.  

A few days later Carmine and a couple of his crew were outside of a restaurant that Scar was known to frequent. He had parked his car and went inside and sat at the furthest table. Awaiting Scar to show up with his crew, Carmine was planning on sitting at their table and causing a whole slew of problems, all the while his men would be setting a bomb underneath the car that Scar was known to drive. Carmine was holding a gun in his right hand while drinking a glass of red wine in his left. The gun belonged to Carlo, the engraved words Two Guns were traced over by Carmine as he waited patiently for Scar to arrive. 

At around 9:00, Scar finally arrived in his flashy red car. This time he was not alone. As he got out of the car he brought the girl from the speakeasy, she was if you remember the blonde bombshell that made everyone gaga over her. They exited the vehicle and went through the entrance of the steakhouse. As they strolled in the owner of the restaurant placed them in the best seat in the house. After a few brief moments of them sitting the lady stood up and informed Scar she was going to go freshen up. As she left the table, Carmine raced over and sat at Scars table. He held his gun under the table. This was only a threat, the real attack was going to be the bomb. 

"Oh Carmine the Cunt! What, you going to shoot me here?" Scar laughed. Carmines plan was to blow the car up destroying both him and the car he loved so much. When he noticed the lady he had reservations. "Ill make it easy for you go ahead, no one is looking. You fucking prick!" Carmine smiled as Scar continued talking. "You know i shot your boy, Carlo. What waste of fucking space you know that? And ill do it ...." Carmine had placed his gun on the forehead of Scar. He fired a single round and Scar collapsed backwards. Carmine placed two more bullets in the stomach of Scar then placed the white table cloth over his body. 

He quickly exited the restaurant as mass panic was ensuing. Sirens were heard Carmines crew began to run out of the building. The papers were going to have a field day with this one. Carmine just broke one of the biggest rules of Don Vincenzo's family and there was no way he would be able to keep this under wraps. The crew heard the gun shots and left the bomb underneath the car. They quickly got in their vehicle and waited for Carmine, then they sped off escaping the heat. 

The lady, who you may be wondering about heard the gun shots as well while she was in the restroom. She stepped out only to see Carmine running across the street. She looked to where she was seated and noticed the lifeless Scar bleeding all over the floor. The paramedics and police rushed in and rushed her out. 

Bellicose looked up at his goombahs 

This was a turning point for Mr. Lucetto. See, Carmine made a grave mistake in that he should have went straight to his boss. He should have left no witnesses. He should have never tried to take another mans woman. This was the beginning of the end for Carmine. Sure he exacted his revenge but at what cost? Now he was going to be found as someone undeserving to lead a crew and Don Vincenzo would eventually have him removed. 

Bellicose motions to the Gelato stand on the corner. 

Anyone interested in getting some with me before we continue? I guess I should share that Carmine did not immediately get found out, at least, not by Don Vincenzo. What did immediately happen is the crew Scar lead decided that the inner turmoil was too much. The crew split in half and hits were being carried out without permission. I will get into all that next time, oh and the new relationship Carmine found himself in. 

Darkening was roaming the back alleys as usual. Keeping to himself. He hated attention and preferred to be alone except for the darkness as his friend. Using the shadows of the buildings around him and he made his way forward. The random passer-by’s not even registering his presence. As Darkening made his way around a corner street, he noticed a little huddle of goomba’s and at the center of them his old friend Bellicose. Bellicose was regaling them all with a story about a former mobster. Darkening decided to keep to the shadows but stay and listen to the story. It wasn’t long before he was hooked. Bellicose was really a great storyteller, Darkening thought. He sighed with disappointment as Bellicose wrapped up the next part in the story. Darkening wanted more and followed Bellicose to the Gelato stand.

“Bellicose my friend!” Called out Darkening. “Your gelato is on me,” Darkening shoved a note in the server’s top pocket, “As long as you keep this story going. I’ve heard rumours about it but I have never heard the full story told in such amazing detail. You truly are gifted my friend at capturing your audience’s attention.”

As Darkening handed Bellicose the Gelato, Bellicose smiled as he peered into the cup, "This is what dreams are made of." Thank you Don Darkening. I appreciate the kind gesture and even more so the words you share. 

Part III: Carmine_Lucetto - Shockwaves in the City

Newspapers rang out claiming that the underworld was murdering innocent people and steakhouses and in alleyways. This started to gain traction and the Chief O'Donnell was catching a lot of heat from both the mayor and the public for not extinguishing these flames earlier. Of course, O'Donnell knew that the underground feud was not taking out innocent people he also knew this was a wonderful chance to begin to nail down some of the perpetrators that have been causing him to stay up late at night. O'Donnell truly believed that to kill the serpent of organized crime he would have to cut off its head and that without proper direction it would wither up and die. He began to organize a full scale war from the city of Brooklyn against Don Vincenzo and his associates of the underworld. "I want every copper on these streets to be advised, we are taking down the Vincenzo family and we are doing so in a way that will cause disarray. If they don't want to live like civilized humans then we will treat them like the dogs they are." 

In killing Scar, the capo from another crew, without permission mind you, Carmine put a legit target on his back. Now, Don Vincenzo had a gut feeling it was Carmine that executed Scar but he could not be so sure as he thought perhaps it really was the Ezekiel family moving things around. He did not want to do anything rash without knowing but he knew he needed to replace Scar and replace him fast because that crew was crumbling from within. So, Don Vincenzo called Carmine up for a meeting at his hideaway apartment in a run down area of Brooklyn. He claimed he wanted to introduce Carmine to the new Capo of the east side of Brooklyn, Mario "the Mop". Mario "The Mop" was known for clearing out any problems that Scar could not deal with. He was also known for taking care of problems without anyone learning that a murder went down. Of course, his nickname helped as he was a tall lanky figure with long hair, too long for Don Vincenzo's care. Mario never really cared about the norms of society he was a bit different than everyone else in that. No clean cuts, no fancy suits. Just a collard shirt with slacks and his trusty revolver on his side. He may not have had the greatest reputation for leadership but he did have the best reputation for getting the job done and unlike Carmine, there were never any witnesses. 

Immediately after receiving the phone call, Carmine knew he something was up. Carmine panicked internally knowing that he was likely to not walk out of that meeting alive. He had to do something and do something fast. He organized his crew at the last minute calling them all to an immediate gathering it was around 6:00 p.m. dinner time, and some of the guys who had families were a little perplexed as to why they would be called away on a regular Wednesday night. After all, Wednesday night was family night in America. 

"Listen up crew. There is a price on my head. A big price." Carmine muttered out. One of his crew members made a joke, "How much we talking?" The room burst into laughter. Carmine shut it down, "They will kill me tonight. Unless we hit them first." The laughter faded away. The crew was silent and all eyes were on Carmine. One of the soldiers perked up and asked, "What are we going to do boss?" Carmine played with his hair a little bit and stared at the several men before him. Knowing that most of them were well known by the Don Vincenzo upper structure he stared reserving his thoughts for a few moments. "We go to the meeting. Two cars wait for us in the alleyway. The rest of us go to the room and hit them first. My bet is they will try to keep you boys from joining me up to the room. So, we have to be smart about this. I want Louie to go up the fire escape prior to us even entering the building, Louie I want you to steadily aim your gun at the guys closest to us, Tommy and I will aim our guns at Vincenzo and Mario. Joey and Milo you two will be in the cars, keep the engines running. I want one of you parked one way and the other parked the other. Once the car is full drive in that direction and we head back here. Tommy you will stay with me the entire time, I want you to be the one to take out Don Vincenzo. Vinny I want you to get a disguise, get a girl and pretend to be drunk. Try to fiddle a key in the room next door and once we get in the apartment I want you to blast anyone who comes chasing after us from behind." Carmine laid out the plan clean enough that he knew he would be able to pull this off but what would happen next is all that haunted his mind the entire drive over. 

As they arrived Carmine looked up at the window, where they should be meeting. Carmine pulled the guys outside and pointed up at the lit room, "Just like they said there would be a green light in the window. Louie, that's where you will go. Seventh floor boys." Remember, pull the trigger when you hear me shoot not a moment sooner." The two cars went to the entrance and rear of the building and like Carmine wanted were facing two different directions. The engines were running awaiting for the return of the mobsters. Carmine and Tommy began to go upstairs but they noticed Vinny with a young prostitute going up first. They thought they would give him a few moments before they went up. They chose to go up a staircase so they wouldn't be blinded by getting off of an exiting elevator. Suddenly they were stopped. "Carmine! Good to see you. I was told to inform you that Don Vincenzo wanted you to meet him on the fifth floor. I will walk with you guys over. Tommy how you been?" The enforcer was a monster of a man. At least four inches taller than Carmine and one hundred pounds larger, Enzo the enforcer was no joke. He was formerly in a crew with Carmine when they first started and they pulled off some small crimes together mostly extortion but when Don Vincenzo learned how people feared him he made him his own personal bodyguard. "Good to see you Enzo. Been a long time. Why did he move it to the 5th floor?" Carmine paranoid as ever inquired. Enzo laughed, "Something about the fifth level is a place for kings. You will see when you get there."

The panic of Carmine was setting in. Tommy too was nervous. Louie peered into a window that he finally climbed and he immediately noticed no one was there. He tried lifting it and to his surprise it opened. Louie carefully walked around the room, on one had been here. No one was going to be here is what Louie thought. He opened the door and glanced across the way, he saw Vinny pretending to be drunk and ran up to him, "Vinny ditch the broad! They ain't here! Its a setup!" Vinny grabbed his gun and took off with Louie down the hallway. "Where the fuck would they be?" He shouted as they raced towards the staircase. "We should be quiet, we know for a fact they are still here somewhere. Lets just listen. As they made their way down to the sixth hallway they did not hear or see anyone. "Lets go down one more." Louie directed. Vinny scratched his head, "They were right behind me at the lounge. They have to be close." Finally they made their way to the fifth level, guns drawn and they peeked over the wall they saw the two men being walked with Enzo to the room. "The fuck do we do now?" Vinny wondered. Louie looked at him. "Wait, you still have your disguise on. We can use it! Get out there."

Moments later Enzo knocked on the door. "Don Vincenzo, the boys are here." The door opened. Two men dressed to the nines smiled. The room was so well lit and there were a few other people in the room. Carmines nerves raised as if that was even possible. He leaned over to Tommy, "Somethings not right. Be ready." Then, Don Vincenzo approached his capo. 

"Ah, Carmine_Lucetto the most daring Capo in the world." The room laughed, "This guy is as dangerous as they come. If I want a job done, who else do I call but Carmine?" Don motioned for the Capo and his crew member to sit down at the table. Several men were staring blankly at Tommy wondering why he was in there. "As I informed you, tonight we will be ushering in a new Capo as Silvio was tragically killed at a steakhouse a while back. The crew has been in disorder and anytime there is disorder, you have to clean it. That is why we will be bringing in the Mop for this mess." Don Vincenzo continued. "I have it on good authority that the Ezekiel family pulled the hit off on Scar. So, we will begin bombing their businesses and hitting their men this weekend after the funeral. But for now, we need someone, and someone tactical to take care of Scars old crew. Mario, would you come here a minute?" 

Mario approached Don Vincenzo and knelt before him as if he was about to be dubbed a knight. "I know Mario that your old Captain meant a great deal to you and to fill his role must mean a great deal to you. So it is with this great honor..." As Don Vincenzo spoke he was interrupted by gunshots from out in the hallway. Vinny and Louie let off their weapons in the oblivious enforcer. As his face collided on the floor the several men ushered Don Vincenzo down the fire hatch, Don Vincenzo motioned for Carmine and Mario to come with him. Carmine looked at Tommy, "Take care of these guys." Tommy held his tommy gun up at the door. The several men inside were all waiting for someone to come in. Finally Tommy began to spray his bullets across the room hitting the guards and dropping them like flies. He continued to spray even as they laid there lifeless just to be certain. 

The gunshots echoed across the alley and Don Vincenzo, scurried down the staircase. As Mario quickly turned to rush down behind Don Vincenzo, Carmine pulled his gun and fired two shots into the chest of Mario who then fell four stories to his death. His head crashed on the pavement. Vincenzo shocked looked up at Carmine. "You rat bastard! I fucking knew it!" He screamed at Carmine. He continued to run and Carmine chased him. Unable to get a good shot off he missed at firing twice. As he raced after the older man he tackled him to the floor. Vincenzo began to scream, "Wait! Wait Carmine! NO!" Carmine pulled off Vincenzo's tie and began to strangle him with it. The sound of sirens was immediately followed up with the matching berry lights. Chief O'Donnell pulled his gun. "Get off that man Boyo!" Carmine pulled tighter. Vincenzo's eyes widened his face turning a new color. The Chief fired a bullet in the air, "NOW!" Carmine raised his hands. Vincenzo clutched his throat gasping for air. "Boys, arrest those two men."

Louie, Tommy, and Vinny all stared helplessly from the window. "We gotta go now. The coppers are going to get us!" One of them blurted out. They ran up to the seventh floor where the green lit room was. They locked the door behind them and patiently waited for the cops to disappear. As they looked out the window they saw a copper pulling Milo out from his car and throwing him against the car door. placing him in handcuffs. Gunshots rang off in the distance. "Joey!" Although they couldn't see it, they knew Milo was likely in a shootout that ended with him in a pool of blood. 

Bellicose scratched his chin. 

So now we have Carmine, Milo, and Don Vincenzo locked up. Vincenzo's family is falling a part and the Ezekiel family is noticing the civil war really take off or maybe it was a revolution and decided now was the time to begin recruiting some of the associates of the Vincenzo family as well taking over new businesses and rackets. The Ezekiel family was not made for war they were made for business and they did it better than anyone else. Vincenzo knew that if he was to retake control of his divided family he would have to reach out to his rival and request a favor. 

Darkening stood there fully entranced by Bellicose’s story telling. Every moment kept Darkening further on the edge of his seat. The biggest shock was when Carmine ended up killing some of the big hitters with Vincenzo and then tried to kill Vincenzo. He thought for sure Carmine would back off when it seemed that Vincenzo wasn’t going to take him out. But then those shots went off. Bellicose’s next part in the story ended but ended on a big cliff-hanger. Darkening slapped his thigh with frustration, wanting to hear more. He stood up and headed over to the gelato stand. He ordered 4 scoops wanting to binge while he thought about what might happen next in the story. Still with his mouth full he spoke too Bellicose.

“My friend you are a story tease that is for sure. Please don’t let us wait much longer.”