The War of the Cities

An unauthorized retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but without its romantic love story vibes, or any of its good parts.

The Prologue.

Umberto and Luigiano were brothers. Sure, they didn’t share the same parents, but they were inseparable since birth. Their parents, neighbors with one house in between them, gave birth to these little boys in the same hospital, separated only by a single suite in between them. Same went to the incubators these little boys were resting in, separated only by one another, while their mothers were cared for by the Doctors and Nurses in the hospital. 

And since their birth, they became inseparable friends. They were having playdates together when they were two. They have been visiting the park near their homes together, since they were three. They lived every moment, together, without complaint. They were brothers, afterall. 

Late nineteen tens were an interesting time for these little boys. It was just after the Great War. The U.S. economy wasn’t that great. The unemployment was high. The earnings were low. Yet their families didn’t struggle, these boys were lucky. They experienced life and what they wanted. They challenged each other not to piss one another, but to get better. And whether they were fighting with each other, or with others, they enjoyed every second they got to spend with one another, as brothers, since birth. 

Their luck continued as they grew older. They were in the same class in the Elementary School, for they did not have to work, and they were in the same class in the Secondary School. They ate together, breathed together, got bloodied together, and mischieved together.

But their luck ran out, at least when it came to spending every waking moment together, towards their early teens. They didn’t know what their parents' work was, but they have decided to move away from New York. Or was it that they were sent away by powers that be, to two different cities? Umberto was moving to Chicago, while Luigiano was heading towards Philadelphia. 

Six hundred and fifty miles, give or take at least, wasn’t enough however. They wrote to each other when they could. Often tried and sometimes succeeded to spend their vacation time together other times. There was distance between these brothers, yet that distance wasn’t going to break the brotherly love they had for one another. 

Act I

I.I. The Montedigo’s and the Capupita’s.

There were the Police, the Prosecutors, the Judges. There were also Representatives and Senators. Even the Governors. Yet they didn’t matter. They didn’t rule the cities and the streets. Those were ruled by Italian American families. And while there were gangs of varying shapes and sizes everywhere, consisting of whites, of blacks, of hispanics, they didn’t matter. Much like the government, they were nothing more than the unaware pawns that were readily sacrificed when it was necessary, when it made sense. Only the King mattered on the chess board, and everything else was expandable. 

The Montedigo Crime Family ruled the City of Chicago, and had fingers in most things in Illinois. Capupita’s, on the opposite side, were the proverbial Kings of Philadelphia. It didn’t matter what was happening, whether it was big or small. If it had to happen, they had to get their a-okay’s from their respective Dons. Anything else was sacrilege, and for those who didn’t heed, there were no second warnings, no do-overs. 

They were Italian, born and bred, mostly first and second generation immigrants. Southern Italians and Sicilians. Yet they were American, because to be gluttonous was to be American. And they were Americans after all. 

It became clear that their Cities they ruled so wantonly weren’t enough. Not enough to steal, to loot, to pilfer. Being rich and powerful wasn’t enough. They required more money, more power. What they had was never enough, and it was never going to be enough.

So it was clear. To expand was the only solution. But to expand, you had to step on others toes. You had to encroach on others businesses. That was the cost of doing business. Big fuck small.

Unlucky for the both families, however, they both decided to expand into Detroit. 

And thus, blood had to be shed.

I.II. The Town

There had to be order for there to be profit. Detroit lacked order, because it lacked a family. It didn’t have a King looking down to the whole board, moving pieces one at a time while strategizing for ten moves ahead. There were only pawns, squabbling for control. And they were failing. 

The Montedigo’s sent their favorite son to Detroit. He earnt his buttons some time ago. The Don was his father, but there were no nepotisms in this family. He earnt those buttons by being a great earner for the family, he kicked up what he had to, and then some. He wasn’t reckless, but he wasn’t a pushover either. A decent leader, he was the man the Don needed to expand into Detroit, so he was given the nod to set his own crew up as a Captain.

He brought six friends, all having their buttons, and another sixteen associates tagging along. They set up shop in Bricktown, starting to build up the infrastructure they needed to bring order to the city, and to loot, pillage, and pilfer the City.

The Capupita’s had the same idea at roughly the same time. Detroit wasn’t being run smoothly, for it was not being run by them. There were profits to be made, money to be hidden away from the IRS. And they had the right man on their mind. He was family, and he was family. Great earner, rough around the edges maybe, but he was someone who could bring order to the chaos that was Detroit. 

So he was sent to Detroit with five made men, him as their Capo, and another twenty associates who would eat, breathe, and work, tirelessly, with the slimmest hope of earning their buttons one day in the future. They have set up their shop in Corktown. 

I.III. The Clash

The Captains dished the orders, and the soldiers obeyed. Bringing with them the associates, each family started to expand their business in their respective territory, unaware of the others similar intentions. And they did it efficiently, with little bloodshed. Some businesses were even happy to pay for their protection directly, for they no longer had to deal with the violent gangs that were unreliable, too heavy handed, and never there when the business owners needed them. 

First, the protection rackets were set in the respective districts. Then the drug distribution system that brought large quantities from outside the State into the City. Next were the local dealers, and the gangs that run the street corners. Fencing, trafficking of weapons, laundering. The infrastructure was built, and both families were ready to expand into each other's districts. After all, you had to dominate the whole City first, before you could dominate the State.

Knowledge is power, France is Bacon. And for a while now, both Captains were powerless. They weren’t aware of a rival family setting up shop in Detroit, setting their own infrastructure, and planning the takeover of the whole city. So when a soldier from Capupita’s decided to strong-arm a business that was under the protection of Montedigo’s, all hell broke loose. Well, maybe not ‘all’, but for sure, some hell did broke loose.

Captains unaware of what was happening, some made men from both sides gathered some of their associates. Guns weren’t necessary for this, it would have been too loud, too expressive. It had to be a fight. Bats, brass knuckles, batons, shovels, even pool cues. A message had to be sent to the rivals, and the instrument had to be blunt.

So both Crews fought. And while there were no winners, both sides were badly beaten. Retreating back to their districts to nurse their wounds, both Captains started making plans for their retaliation on one another. 

But before they could, word came back. First from their respective cities, and next from New York. There was to be no bloodshed, punishable by death, and both captains were summoned to a villa in upstate New York. They were to travel alone, and the Dons of each respective city would also show up with their own entourage.

There was going to be a sit down. 

Act II

II.I. The Sit Down

Security was tight as the tensions were high, two families were heading towards a potential all out war. The Godfather sensibly made sure the two families were separated, unable to interact with one another until the sit down.

It was there in a villa upstate New York that the two Captains met with their Bosses. Both Dons were unhappy with the sit down that was called. But it was the Godfather of New York. And you wouldn’t cross him, for crossing him meant that they would have to cross all five New York families. And that would have been a death sentence. And yet, they started scheming. Detroit had to be theirs, both families felt. That was the American way. 

The Captains were too low on the totem pole to be involved in the sit down with the five families of New York. It was only the Dons from Chicago and Philadelphia, and their right hand men, who were allowed in. So they awaited the aftermath in their own designated areas with jitters. They knew Detroit was key to both of their success. They could have, at some point in the future of course, ruled the City on their own. Become Dons themselves. They didn’t want to lose that opportunity. 

The mood inside the meeting was solemn and stern. Two families going out on an all out war was not something the five families approved back in New York. Wars brought death and destruction. Having people in your pockets like prosecutors and police captains didn’t matter much, however, when there was too much of that.

So a decision was made. Montedigo’s would keep controlling the Bricktown while Capupita’s would control the Corktown. There was to be no war, no bloodshed. 

Otherwise, the New York families would get involved. 

So the Dons passed this information back to their Captains. With an added asterisk, of course. Find a way around the decision of the Godfather. Attempt to destroy the other crew in Detroit in ways that the New York families wouldn’t moan about. Occupy Detroit, wholly, and evict the other crew.

That was that, and both of the families started trickling out of the villa. Dons, Bosses, and the Captains. And for a brief moment as they loaded up into their cars, Captains from Montedigo’s and Capupita’s noticed one another. 

They were once the inseparable brothers from New York. Umberto and Luigiano simply drove away with their entourage, no words were to be spoken. Dons flew back to their cities, and the Captains returned back to Detroit.

II.II. Brothers meet in secret

With both Captains back at Detroit, this time with the Underboss of each family also present to keep track of the progress, and to set up a plan in motion to control the entirety of the city without drawing the ire of the New York families, Umberto and Luigiano knew that they had to meet up to find a solution to this war that is brewing, soon potentially to an uncontrollable scale.

Yet they had to be careful, as now the right hand men of the Don were present in their Districts, and while they were Captains, men of stature in their family, their position was never permanent, especially if they were to go against the head of the family. They couldn’t trust any of their men to carry the word to the other Captain for a meet up. They were good men, but those men would push their Captain under the bus if it meant that they would get their own crew. Plus, to send a made men to the other crew's district could have resulted in further bloodshed. 

So Umberto took the risk. He knew where Luigiano frequented, where he went, where he slept, who he slept with. Each Crew compiled a ton of information as they were preparing to move onto each other's districts afterall, and that information was useful now. 

Luigiano had a goomar on the side, and he frequented her quite often. Umberto knew, well, hoped that Luigiano mentioned about him one way or another to her. So he went to where she lived, hoping that Luigiano would continue his pattern of visiting her like he did every week, Tuesday at 9 PM. And he did. 

There was a brief shock at first, seeing a man in his goomars apartment. That shock quickly dissipated when he noticed it was Umberto. He wasn’t afraid that Umberto came here to put a bullet in between his eyes, but to have a talk. Because Luigiano had the same idea, only Umberto moved faster. 

Brothers were united once again. And they had to talk. Otherwise, their families were going to try to destroy one another. And be destroyed at the same time.