Ricardo tossed the body shrouded in black plastic off of his boat in Ocean City just outside of Delaware. It was an honor to help his boss Phil Steak with a little problem we were having with some schlubs from Delaware, soldiers fighting under some Tyler Durden character. This wasn’t the first time he had gone for a little boat ride with the boss but he could tell that this one was special.

Ricardo lit an unfiltered cigarette with his father’s gold plated flip top lighter, with the spadafora coat of arms beveled on its face so boldly. Illuminated by the light of the cigarette, you could see his face was cold and scarred, but had a lightheartedness about it. That was the thing that set Ricardo apart from most mobsters. Most people knew to never take him seriously – they knew that when he needed to be taken seriously, you would know. You would know just as well as that corpse at the bottom of the ocean did.

Nobody really knew Ricardo well, his father was new to these shores and he tried to do everything in his power to keep him away from ‘This thing of ours’. But after his father’s death reached his ears he knew he had to seek Phil out. He knew he had to carry on his father’s legacy. No one entirely knew though – whether he could be trusted, not even Phil. His father wasn’t very well known – sure he had some good friends from other shores and these shores alike – but not that many – and as most know he died far before his time.

Phil Steak put a cigarette up to his lips and Ricardo immediately lit it for him. He was confused as to why Phil hadn’t started back for shore yet. There was still work to be done back home in philly and DeadlySin surely needed to know that this thing in Delaware was well taken care of.

Phil looked at Ricardo with a solemn and inquisitive glare.

Ricardo gives him a cheeky smile, ‘Whatsamatta!’ he says.

Phil smiles as well and says, ‘Well Ricky, I’ve seen you grow up a lot. You’ve filled your father’s shoes quite well, and frankly you’ve grown out of them. You’ve surpassed what your father accomplished and I’m damn proud of you. I just don’t know if I can trust you kid.’

Ricardo nods and feels a great sensation of accomplishment from the compliments paid by his leader. ‘Well of course ya can trust me! Why wouldn’t ya? Listen – I know I crack a lot of wise, but it’s all in good fun. You know I’m a YAOWA soldier for life – and I will always call the city of Philadelphia my home. You got nothing to worry about chief.’

Phil smiles and says ‘Oh, I know that Ricky my boy, but I’m just curious what you were doing all that time before you came to philly – where were you while your father was here working for me? What’s your story? I’ve always been curious.’

Ricky takes a deep long drag of his cigarette and sighs as he explains his history to Phil.

Ricky was born Paul Spadafora. His father kept him tucked away with his aunt and uncle in Mckees Rock Pennsylvania. As a boy Paulie was always getting into fights. He ended up fighting for money pretty often in his small town and had never lost a fight. One day a boxing promoter saw him trounce a heavyweight from Pittsburgh in a bare-knuckle barroom scuffle – and that was it. He was off to Pittsburgh and started competing professionally. To this day he’s undefeated with a record of 45-0 with 19 knockouts and one draw. Back in Pittsburgh he’s known as ‘The Pittsburgh Kid’.

He was well on his way to stardom when his youthful fervor and fool hardiness began to sprout more vibrantly.

One day he and a friend were tooling around in their brand new Model T he had bought with his prize money. They were speeding down a central street when some pigs got on them hot. Drunk and full of piss and vinegar Paulie says to his pal driving ‘Fuck em – don’t stop.’ But the cops kept chasing. They weren’t gonna let them get away with it. The pigs started firing on the car, striking him in his Achilles tendon – and his friend in the back of the head. The car crashed into a tree but luckily Paulie was largely unharmed apart from the gunshot wound.

Paulie let that pass, he recovered from the gunshot wound – but not from his demons. He returned to the ring and to his life of debauchery. Months later, stinking drunk and high on cocaine he crashed another Model T into a police car. Paulie was locked up for a few days in the drunk tank and had to pay a load of fines and for the police car. Paulie never really cared about the police troubles or anything – he loved his wife and he loved to fight.

One night though – everything changed. Paulie came home from a long night of drinking to find his wife in his bed with another man. Without a second’s hesitation Paulie shot her and the man she was with – and he never misses. After he realized what he had done he rushed to his aunt’s house to ask her what to do.

She gave him Phil’s address in Philly and told him to run there and never look back. His aunt shook her head and said, ‘You certainly are your father’s son.’ That day – Ricardo Spadafora Jr. was born.

Phil looked somewhat shocked by the revelations of Ricardo’s story and almost seemed to be in disbelief. ‘Listen Ricky I’m going to be really pissed if this is all a crude joke – this is no time for funny business!’ Ricardo hung his head, and reached into his wallet and produced a few newspaper clippings about the events.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Spadafora]

Phil skimmed the articles and looked at Ricky with wide eyes.

‘Well Ricky, I’m glad you’ve finally shared your story. Did you want me to tell you a bit about your father? I know you didn’t really know much about him.’

Ricky smiled and nodded excited to finally hear about his Father.

Ricky’s father was from Sicily. The Spadaforas for many years have been Sicilian nobility. The spadafora name can be tracked all the way back to the thirteenth century when his ancestry  was secretary to Emperor Frederick II, the King of Sicily. The Spadafora family still has great land holdings and wineries in the valleys of Palermo on the coast of Sicily. The coat of arms on Ricardo’s old gold plated lighter was that of the Spadafora family. The coat of arms showed a shield with an arm holding a sword.

‘Thank you Phil, it feels really good to finally know about my heritage.’

Phil smiled and ushered Ricky below deck where he saw the other top mobsters of Philly including DeadlySin. What happened below deck no one but made men will ever know. The principals of Omerta sworn in a blood oath keep the official secrets of this thing of ours a great secret – as it should be and shall be from now until the sun burns out. All we really know is that Ricardo got on that boat a wiseguy and got off a Made Man of the YAOWA Army.

congratulations

Thank you Lorenzato. I'm proud to be an official member of this thing of ours

indeed my friend...indeed :)

Cassiopeia listened in to the young man talk of his background, where he came from, what he had overcome and accomplished since. She watched the young recruit emerge with his button and a proud smile crossed her face. She always enjoyed seeing each and every member in her family achieve their goals and aspirations within the family. It was always so inspiring to watch their fresh faces eager to go out and make their CL proud.

Congratulations Ricardo, I know what this means to you and I cannot wait to see how much you grow from here.

Ricardo ran up to Cassiopeia and gave her a bear hug and a big kiss on the cheak.

'Thanks so much for lookin out for me!'