John sat anxiously on the train as it approached Paradise City, NV thinking back over the long journey that had brought him to this place so far from the small town he was raised in outside of Philly or the new apartment he held in Detroit.

Really it had started when he was about 9 years old and had asked his mother for the first time who his father was. At the time, she had regaled him with a tale about a soldier who had gone off to fight in the Nicaragua in 1914 while his mom was still pregnant with John and hadn’t returned home. John had been delighted to think of his father has a war hero and had tried to get more information out of his mother many times but all she would tell him was that he had died a soldier and that John was named after his father’s grandfather who he had looked up to a great deal.

As the years went on John heard whispers in the small town that made him question what his mother had told him but he steadfastly refused to give them credence – after all, his mother was a respectable woman, there was no way that she would take up with some criminal from the city. Even as the other kids began to tease him about being a bastard Jimmy refused to believe it – and thankfully after the first kid to say that to his face ended up with a broken nose no others were willing to directly insult him even if the whispers continued behind his back.

Jimmy was now 17 and the lie he had made himself believe had come crashing down in the last few days. Just three days before a man had appeared at the door and spoken a few quite words to his mother before handing her a newspaper and walking away. When she turned back to Jimmy she seemed slightly upset but wouldn’t tell Jimmy what was wrong or who the man was. Later that night as he took out the trash he had found the newspaper and curiosity caused him to grab it – looking back he wasn’t sure that was what he should have done.

As he flipped through the paper trying to find what had upset his mother his heart skipped a beat when he came across a picture of a man who bore and unmistakable resemblance to him. The article below confirmed that there could be no doubt this man was his father.

Violence in Vegas Claims Philly Businessman

In a shocking act of violence Jim Scalise Jr., known in Philly as the proprietor of Uncle Jimmy’s Italian Restaurant was gunned down in his Paradise, NV home. Investigators state that they cannot release any information as it is an ongoing investigation but sources indicate that Mr. Scalise may have been targeted due to his ties to the Italian mob.

While law enforcement has been unwilling to release any details, unnamed sources have stated that Mr. Scalise’s businesses in Philadelphia and Vegas were in fact no more than fronts for elicit activity. What may otherwise be able to be written off as unfounded rumors is granted more credence by the fact that several other shootings rumored to be tied to a fight between two Vegas crime families occurred on the same night. 

Even thinking back to that night Jimmy fumed – his mother had lied to him for all those years! He hadn’t finished the article, instead he had rushed back into the house and thrown the paper down on the table were his mother was drinking a cup of tea and demanded to know if it was true. Rather than deny it his mother had simply looked defeated and told him to sit down. As he sat with her she told him of how she had met Jimmy_The_Hand as she had known him when he was still a small-time associate of one of the families in Philly. She had been drawn to the slightly hard edge he had and they had a short affair that came to a screeching halt when the family he was associated with had moved from Philly to Las Vegas and he had followed. They had exchanged letters for a short time but as he got deeper into the world of crime she had distanced herself and told him that she didn’t want anything to do with that life. Per her Jimmy had known about John and had been sending money for years to help raise him but had stayed away at his mother’s request; she didn’t want him associated with that life at all. John had been sick to his stomach as he processed it all but his blood had also started to boil as he thought about his father being shot down. When he expressed his rage to his mother she had sternly stated that “Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord” and forbid him from trying to learn any more about his father or what got him killed. That night John had packed a small bag full of his belongings and left a letter for his mother saying he had to find out who he really was.

That was 3 days ago and now he had travelled to Philly to visit the restaurant that is father had owned. The place was empty except for an old man who introduced himself as the manager. He said he had gotten a call the day after Jimmy had been shot informing him to close the place down but to keep it ready to be opened again quickly if the moment arose. The only other thing he could tell John was that Jimmy had been good friends with a man named Joey_Scarlotta and he might be a good person to talk to – though he cautioned that looking to far might not be the healthiest choice to make.

That was when Jimmy had boarded a flight to LA and then a train down to Vegas; he knew he was walking a dangerous line but he had to know more about the man his father was.

The train shuddering to a stop dragged John out of his thoughts. Grabbing his bag John exited the train and began to walk toward the cab stand when a man larger than anyone he had ever known stepped into his path before indicating that Jimmy should follow him to the side of the station. A bit wary given that he had never met the man John followed him over and the man began to speak.

“You shouldn’t be here John, it’s not safe.” Seeing John take a quick step backwards the man held up his hands and quickly added “You have no need to fear me, I worked for your father and his passing was a blow to my heart. My name is Mario and I was one of his most trusted bodyguards – the night he died he had sent me away with instructions to look after you in the event anything happened to him.”

Jimmy quickly asked “What happened, why did he think something would?”

“Those are questions better left unanswered John, though you should know that your father was avenged in the end. The fighting that took his life has ended and it is best left in the past – that is how your father would have wanted it – but you still must be careful. Your name, Scalise, is a name to be proud of and holds weight, but it could also draw enemies to you so you must be careful. You should be happy your mother thought to call me to make sure you would be looked after if you ended up out here. Myself and a few of the others who survived are ready to pledge our allegiance to you the way we did to your father – we couldn’t save him but we are ready to stand for you if you choose to follow in his footsteps.”

“What footsteps?” Jimmy angrily replied, “I never knew the bastard damnit, how the hell am I supposed to know if I should follow in his footsteps?”

A look of compassion came over Mario’s face as he responded “You have every right to be angry, but your father loved you and wanted to have you with him here, to teach you the ways of our world and prepare you to take over for him – he would not, however, go against the wishes of your mother and so he stayed away. He left instructions for you to inherit his two restaurants and his scrapyard –  I have shut them down for now until you can decide what you would like to do but I have left instructions for them to be left ready to open. I suggest you visit Jimmy’s old restaurant in Paradise and consider what you want to do. When you make a decision contact me and I will help you no matter what you choose.” So saying the man handed Jimmy a card with a number on it. “And don’t worry, we will stay inconspicuous but me and the boys will be watching out for you while you are here.”

As the man turned to leave John quickly asked “Did you know a man named Joey?  I heard he was a good friend to my father?”

Slowly turning Mario had a sad look on his face as he responded “Aye, they were good friends indeed. Sadly, Joey’s funeral was one of the last your father attended before he himself was killed – it was his death that made your father decide to put his affairs in order.”

As the man walked away Joey dejectedly got in a cab and headed to his father’s restaurant – he didn’t know what he would find there but with no better options he decided it was as good a path as any to take.