She shook her head, grumbling at the checkered patterned board before her. This was a stupid game, or at least a game for smarter people. She knocked her king over and it rolled to the ground. The barfly looked on in smug amusement.

"Ah, have your feckin' free drink."

She topped up the gentleman's glass and he wobbled away. In his place were a handful more, each with a grin on their face. Tammy shook her head and barked at them.

"Nah, I'm not fallin' for this tree' times." She declared. Despite this, she was soon sat in-front of the chessboard again.

Her gaze was fixed on the pieces, her mind working to dissolve the puzzle. She scowled a brown brow over her amber eyes, almost willing the correct pattern of moves to jump out at her. As the group huddled round to watch, Gato found the mechanics of the game twisting her thoughts, she began muttering away to herself, loud enough for them all to take an interest.

"When me' Great-Grandfather first landed on these shores, he found himself workin' within a structure which consisted of two major operations. These two operations were held together by an alliance between two people." She began to gesture vaguely with one hand, the Irish in her voice floating off her tongue.

"Two huge, tense, chain link fences which were held together by only a single link. One mornin', having identified this weakness, a rogue struck and took out one of the links. Both fences came crashin' to the ground and the word was reshaped. 

"Now these circumstances are slightly different from the ones I would like to talk about today, those two behemoth operations were taken down by a lone gunman wit' a carefully plotted agenda. Though I would like to talk about how they were regarded, in hindsight."

The pieces on the board moved, Tammy's with some stumbling understanding of what she was doing.

"See, what I would really like to discuss, is at what point we regard as a community a mutiny, uprising or 'internal disagreement' to be justified, or not. As we all know, an act of becomin' a lone gun will paint your successive lineage with that same brush. Regardless of how we may insist that there are no grudges held, bloodline huntin' or predetermined expectations, there will always be dat' thought in the backs of our minds that says 'This one may feck everythin' up.'"

"Now, back to tha' initial question, we could quite easily argue that the circumstances would certainly have to be considered; was the man or woman at the top in touch wit' their members, or did they make bad decisions as a crew leader. We could also discuss the scale and scope of the loyalty which is at stake here. A crew member Wise Guy or below, a Made Member, a Capo to a Godfather, A district head to a Godfather or even an individual who has been authorised into their own city by a Godfather."

The group are no longer watching the board, instead listening intently.

"All of these tings' do come into question when observin' a mutinous act, and then how we perceive the mutineer and his or her kin followin' the event. So where do we draw that line?

"When there is a single imposing operation, or as previously mentioned, an otherwise unbreakable controlling alliance in play, do you believe that there is some form of legitimacy in an internal takeover of that operation? After all, when you've got absolute control from the top, there's still only one direction to go and one likely place the toppling move will come from.

"And what about that individual or group involved, are they regarded as an innovator, liberator? Or an oath breaker, forever to be judged on their actions from that one event?"

As she finishes talking, they look back to the board and her opponent, who is scratching his head with a bemused look. Tammy smiles and chirps.

"Huh, stalemate."

Tabitha, any relation to ChristianGato?

She nods. 

"My father."

Romance approaches TabithaGato... his eyes focused on her body........ he is drawn to her sensuality... her supple breasts... the  voluptuous curvature of her buttocks... he finds himself mesmerized not so much by her words... in fact not at all by her words... but the beauty of her physique.  As he moves closer he lets his eyes slowly scan her over... beginning with her feet, working their way up her thighs... all the way up to her....... face.......

Yikes!  Romance takes a giant step backwards... stunned and startled.  A tear falls down his cheek... this poor woman.... cursed with the face of a Gato...... it was a face pocked with all the unsightly traits carried by all Gato women and men alike.  The misshapen head, the oddly proportioned chin.... mustache stubble.... the laughable SammyGato-esque schnoz.... such a shame.  Romance wept for her......

"Don't screw over your friends.  That's the most important value to have been passed down to me from generation to generation.  And by friends, I don't mean 'Friends of ours'... I mean actual friends... people that would not just be betrayed, but hurt if you stuck a knife in their back.  People who do something despicable like that are the ones who taint their bloodlines permanently.  That aside, many of us have ancestors that have gone 'rogue' for one reason or another, and most are quickly forgiven over time, even though it's not popular to admit.

When it's an internal coup, sometimes people or a small group of people may decide among themselves a change in leadership is needed.  Perhaps the leadership is scum or low-life and need to go, or perhaps they have worn out their welcome on top.  Is it justifiable?  Who is to say.  Sometimes it's the price of doing business, and is often understood as such by the greater whole. 

Would the person in the scenario you are describing be considered a traitor or oath-breaker?  Perhaps.  By definition alone I suppose they would.  But in terms of perception, depending on the circumstances, they could indeed be remembered as a liberator, an innovator, or sometimes even a hero.  It's usually only when a particular family line is guilty of the same heinous acts of betrayal generation after generation after generation that you see their offspring branded as undesirable and are treated as such....."

Speaking of undesirable... Romance accidentally takes another look at TabithaGato's face and winces....... he hurries off back to his loft to make to anybody.... literally anybody.. to erase her image from his mind.  When he finds there is nobody available to lay with... he repeatedly slams his head into a brick wall until he knocks himself unconscious hoping a concussion deletes the sight from his memory...

"Circumstances do indeed dictate and drive dis' situation to a likely 'mutual' opinion."

She gestures with air quotes.

"Though if I understand you right, you are sayin' that there is already a general approach among the women and men of this world as ta' when situations like these are likely to arise, and that they are understood, welcomed or appreciated as a result?"

Tenley had been watching the game with interest. She enjoyed games that often needed some thought to them and she was listening on to Tabitha speak. It peaked her interest and she waited until others had finished their piece before she quietly turned to the young woman and began speaking.

"This is a wonderful topic to bring up. I must say it certainly gave me something to think about while I watched the match play out."

Tenley paused briefly to arrange the thoughts zooming so fast through her mind.

"This brush that often gets painted over people can be quite lacking in the logic department. Once a crew leader is legitimately set up I do not believe that they can or should be panted with that brush. Why? They have been given authorization to run their own family as they see fit. To me this would mean that they could undertake the task of attacking someone they felt is not beneficial to the community.

So when we discuss their members, that circumstance is hard to give bearing to. I mean once you join a leader you are pledging to work for them. If they choose to take on a war, you have already given your consent to follow them regardless.

The brush should only be painted when someone comes out of the blue and begins attacking people.

But wait.. Hold on... Leaders keep telling people to rank up and do something about it. So can we paint these people under a brush at all? Logically we couldn't if the leaders are running around telling people to do so."

Tenley looks around her. She wasn't entirely sure her opinion would be well liked and she couldn't really read the faces around her currently.

"So really this brush that people get painted with is of no use. At least not logically. I suppose it's at the whim of those in the top positions what they choose to label people with."

Shrugging a little, she closed with one last sentence.

"To me the brush is no longer useful regardless of situation since people are only doing as they are constantly told to."

Romance, I like that you're romantic.  Romance is something that is lost on these Streets and in this thing.

TabithaGato's late grandfather, well, there are stories about him.  But I don't think that they are romantic ones.

Thank you for your words Kuku-....... love is indeed alive and in the air............ chivalry is not dead....

Romance takes off his jacket and lays it across a puddle of mud so that a nearby woman can walk across.....

In regards to the ancestry of TabithaGato, I can only assume you are referring to the wide spread reports of the sex scandal  certain Gatos were involved in......... allegedly of course...  but to Tabitha's point... should we be judging people on the merits or deeds of their past relatives?  As much as I do enjoy anything scandalous... especially that kind of scandal..... I would say no...................

Tammy boops Romance on the nose. 

"Aw, what's up darlin'? You jealous someone was getting some actual action?"

She chuckled while sterilising her booping hand. 

"Alas, as much as I would like ta' indulge you both, I have no feckin' idea what scandals you're referrin' to. I think me father was of the same opinion."

"Mistake K, I'm still none the wiser. Though I'd like to point out that a scandal is only such when the accused is regarded as morally wrong or in breach of the law, especially where their actions may cause them to appear hypocritical."

She smiles sweetly once more. 

​​​​​​"And since I do not hold any positions of high authority, moral superiority or shame in the many, many shades of blue I am well within my right to dabble in, I don't quite see any substance to your claim of scandal. 

"We're law breaking, gun toting, brothel running mobsters. The closest I get to scandal is when I chose to kick a police chief out of my quarters in front of the city media."

​​​​

"Sorry, Mista, not mistake."

Well, TabithaGato, it's now what I'm saying, so much as what they were allegedly saying some time ago. 

See, the story goes, that ol' ChristianGato was, ah, something of a nuisance in a few different ways.  I believe that this SEX SCANDAL has been written about elsewhere.

But, since ChristianGato is dead, maybe we should promote Romance over SEX SCANDAL and just get on with our lives?

Tammy groans, unimpressed. 

"The words you are referrin' to also refer to a 'scandal', none of which are the evidence I'm lookin' for.

"Though your vague recollection tells me you have absolutely no substance to these claims and appear to have been misinformed, which means my bein' completely baffled regardin' this little episode is finally startin' to make some sense."

She shrugs, the edges of her mouth curling. 

"Disappointing to be honest wit' ya. I was expectin' you to produce some juicy material to which I could laugh mockingly while informing you that the featured individual was not my father."

"Still, it's good to know you're keepin' busy floggin' nonsensical alleged gossip that they have said about folk."

Thomas rolled his eyes, " Kuku- do you actually have anything of value to add to any conversation anywhere? Or do you simply last longer whilst wanking with every word uttered?" he looked at the man and shook his head, "As for a sex scandal, its hardly anything worth talking about if some spastic of the days long gone made it up in order to garner attention from the masses. Which if my family's journals serve me right, it didn't rightly work. Seems a bit strange that you're out here bringing it up again." he laughed, "mate, no one cared then and no one cares now. Why don't you slink away to whatever hole your family hides in until another brilliant idea pops into its collective slime, and leave us in peace?" 

"Perhaps ThomasGato is right....... maybe we should let the past be the past.... these scandals are all alleged anyhow... neither side being able to truly prove or disprove the validity of the claim....... I think that it is just the fact that people genuinely enjoy torrid scandals such as the late Gato family scandals on a tabloid level.... I for one am guilty of this.  Reading about scandals, especially scandals of this nature... are a guilty pleasure of mine.  I'm embarrassed to admit this... but I can't help but to be honest.

Perhaps we can all just agree that we may never know the truth behind this alleged scandal.  Maybe someday the truth will surface, but until then... it is all speculative......"

Thomas couldn't help it, he started laughing. He went over and slapped Romance on the back, "Except even when the truth does come out," he says pointing at his cousin, and then himself who were both related to the Casanova in question in some way, "no one wants to believe it. So why even bother?" he grinned at Tammy and then raised an eyebrow, "I guess some people will spew any manner of shite for a bit of attention, eh pet?" he asked her before winking and heading back to the Business District of Las Vegas where not nearly as interesting, still devoid of utter wank stains such as these.