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As promised, here is a story that has been passed down through my family for years. Not only is it an interesting tale of an epic period in my family's history, it also highlights the strength and importance of women--both in the family and in the crime world. --both in day-to-day operations and, especially, times of crisis:
It was late on a cold Thursday when Ricky burst through the front door of his father's house with the news:
"Pop's been shot," he said simply. He let the rippling effect of his words circle the room, but stopped become emotion overcame himself. It was situations like these when they had to keep their calm. That's what pop would have said.
"How?!...W-Whee?!" Mama Giogio asked without lifting her arms or rising from her chair. Disbelief and skepticism were apparent in her voice.
"We don't know all the details right now, Ma, but please stay calm. We need to sort all of this out and figure out what we're going to do before you go all nutty on us." Mama Giorgia rolled her eyes.
"How can you expect her to st--"
"Not now, Sammy," Ricky silenced his older brother, "You'll get your turn to talk. For now, just listen. What we do know is that they got him ont he way out of the bank. apparently the guards were actually Don Ricardo's boys dressed up. They followed him out the door and plugged him in the back on the way down the stairs. Pauly was watching the whole time and manged to nail one in the face, but, after that, they other jumped the railing and go away."
Pauly was the undisputed crack-shot of the crew, and Don Giorgio's hand-picked strongarm. he was accompanying the Don on his way to and from his weekly stop at St Cleid's, one of his bars downtown.
Ricky continued, "Now, we're not sure if Pop will be alright; he's on his way to the butcher shop as we speak, but it doesn't look good. Until further notice, Sammy's in charge. that was about all Pauly could get out of him before Pop went out completely."
"Okay, let's not waste any time," Sammy took his new position in stride, pausing only to let the air settle after his little brother's testimony. "I want Pauly and Carl outisde of Pop's door until we knwo for sure what's going on."
Pauly's already there," Ricky interjected, "I'll get Carl on the line right now."
"Good, we don't want to take any chances. It Pop turns out alright, there's no telling what Ricardo's boys might chance to get him out of the way completely. Angela," he turned to his wife on his left, simultaneously motioning to her, "Take my mother upstairs and keep her calm. Have a few drinks or something, but promise me you won't panic, okay, Ma?"
"Oh, shut up, Samuel." His mother responded. "You may think I'm old and weak, but I've been around here longer than you boys have. Don't you think I've sat by your father and watched him handle business like this many times? I'll sit here and wait to see how you handle everything, and then I'll make my way upstairs by myself, thank you very much. As much as I may want to mourn your father, i've learned enough from him to know that, right now, the most important thing is to keep you trigger-happy fools from botching our reaction." Doris Giorgio's calm and cold resolution to her son's wishes seemed not entirely out of place--and probably wise, so Sammy nodded before going on.
"Alright, Ma. Sorry, Ma. Just trying to look out for you, Ma," Sammy pouted. "Alrigth, so listen, before anything else can be done, we need to figure out if there's a rat in the house."
Sammy looked around. The room was filled with nothing but his two younger brothers, Ricky and Freddy, his wife, Ricky's wife, Paula, their mother, and their father's right-hand man, Stevie. All could be trusted, but he thought it strange that Stevie hadn't spoken up already, so he asked, "What do you think, Stevie? How do you smoke out a rat?"
"Well," Steven Hartzelli started slowly, thinking about each word. "We should send two guys to St. Cleid's. Obviously Don Ricardo knew why your father visited there and could infer that he'd typically visit the bank afterwards, but there's no telling how they knew it would be today. It's likely they had this plan in their pocket for a while and had people watching the bar to see when he'd make the trip. I already have Caporegime Dudley researching his men. I trust Dudley and believe that he has a firm enough grip on his men to ensure his ability. I don't believe our problem has come from that end. I have one lead I picke dup myself, since I do the payroll."
Now he paused pointedly, and stared at Freddy and Ricky with a scalding intensity. "Chewy has been pretty flaky lately," Steven went on. "He refused work for the past week, but we know he needs the money. I've never seen behavior like this before. I want the two of you to personally go to his house and question him. I'd send you too, Sammy, but you're too important right now. When you guys get there, tell him you want to sit down and have a talk, nothing more. Ask him how he's been spending his time off, ask abotu any unexpected funds or jobs. You guys know Chewy. If he has anything to hide, you'll know. We're talking about someone who has potentially brought harm to your father, after all. If he gets fidgety, I want you both to plug him yourselves, right then and there. Do it systematically, at the same time. Put him on his knees. No mercy, but make him beg. You'll know if you're killing the right man.
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