The Gatekeepers Page 2
Prison Period: 1995-2015
Offense: Money Laundering
Giovanni “Jonny Bullseye” Pigretto
Age 46
Height: 6’1
Weight: 240 lbs.
Family: Gio Dizio
Specialty: Weapons expert, marksman, hit man, carjacking, car theft, weapons dealer, secretly sold heroine and peyote behind the back of the family
Prison Period: 1995-2015
Offense: Money Laundering
After a third sequence of cell doors and gates opened and closed, three more Italian men who lived by the oath that brought them down this road were awaiting a car to pick them up. It’s a relative of one of the newly freed men. It’s always good to see a familiar face after such an unmerciful period of seeing only two.
Claudio "Claudi" Golo
Age: 41
Height: 5'10
Weight: 235 lbs
Family: Gio Dizio
Specialty: Narcotic smuggling (unknown to the family), burglar, tax collector (protection, bust outs, etc.)
Prison Period: 1995-2015
Offense: Money Laundering
Jacomo "Jackie B" Bramaralli
Age 43
Height: 6'1
Weight: 240 lbs.
Family: Gio Dizio
Specialty: Street hits, carjacking, semi-truck robberies, extortion from kidnapping, house invasion
Prison Period: 1995-2015
Offense: Money Laundering
Venchenzo "Venny" Avadicio
Age: 40
Height: 6'0
Weight: 220 lbs
Family: Gio Dizio
Speicalty: Illegal gambling, loan sharking, bank robbery, street hits, carjacking, house invasion, large scale burglary
Prison Period: 1995-2015
Offense: Money Laundering
“I’m telling’ you the first kid I see prissin’ around in these new tight jeans these root tooters are wearin’, I’m gonna stomp my heel through his fuckin eye sockets.”
An ornery man of the three, the angry toned ex-convict spit on the concrete as he complained about a world he hadn’t seen and would never understand.
“Man I can’t wait to hit the streets. I wanna eat about 10 calzones and smoke till my fuckin eyes melt.”
The third man cocked his head sideways toward his gluttonous associate, “First day out and already makin plans to be a degenerate scumbag.”
He turned his head back forward.
“Jesus Christ, Claudi. I can’t say I’m not jealous.”
The first angry mobster laughed.
“There’s a smile outta that clean shaven cum catcher of yours! I knew you had it in ya!!”
Claudi erupted with laughter as an olive green Lincoln Town Car approached slowly and came to a stop.
The three men entered and the car sped off. The driver looked over to the largest of the three who was in the passenger seat.
“God damn it, it’s good to see you see you Uncle Venny!! And you too Uncle Jackie! Holy shit! Uncle Claudio!! You’re finally outta that fuckin dump!! It’s time to throw down!” the twenty-four year old Italian upstart yelled as he moved through traffic missing car bumpers by mere inches.
“Whoa, slow the fuck down kid! You and the car! You havin a heart attack or this car fuckin another car at 90 miles an hour is not beneficial for all parties IN-FUCKIN-VOLVED……..CAPEESH??!!”
The youngster faced forward radiating with the aura of startled silence. Venny put his hand on the driver’s shoulder.
“Spastic monkey fuck……you look like ya dad, Ricky…..act like him too.”
They both let out a relief infused chuckle as Venny squeezed Ricky’s shoulder.
“It’s good to see you too, kid.”
“Meena can’t wait to see you guys. She’s gonna fuckin flip’ when we get there!” Ricky exclaimed.
“I hope she has somethin whipped up. A lot of something” Claudi said as he gave a glaring smile out of the town car’s tinted windows.
His companions shot each other a smirk.
“Ya know what? Cut him some slack, it’s gonna be his first time in a long time that he had somethin other than toilet hooch with his dinner”
Jackie let out a quick laugh and sprang upright.
“How long till we get there?”
Ricky glanced at the clock on the car radio.
“We should be there in about 20 minutes, Uncle J.”
“Alright, alright, we’re on the right track.” Jackie said in a rising tone as he clapped his hands together.
The twenty minute journey ended and the four men arrived in front of a brick home in a quiet and secluded neighborhood in Nevada. They cracked their doors in unison and got out of the car followed by a stretch and several pops. Just as they proceeded toward the house, a middle aged man dashed out of the house holding a large black case.
Ricky got into his sky blue Porsche that was parked nearby.
"Alright, I gotta go. If ma knew what I was doin' right now, she'd kick my balls up through my throat. It was great seein' you guys!" he said.
"Good seein' you too, kid. Take care of yourself." Jackie said with a wave.
Ricky waived back before pulling out onto the small street and making his way back to the city.
“Oh, there they are! There THEY FUCKIN ARE!!! COME HERE!!”
The man dropped his case as he rushed to embrace the three momentarily grateful men.
“How ya doin, Marv? You still runnin numbas in the streets these days? I thought they had cameras in every bathroom and church confessional now.”
Marvino (Marv) Lecumazera gave a high pitched whale and patted Jackie on his back.
“Holy shit, I missed you Jackie!! You crazy fuckin bastard!!” the man bellowed as he embraced Jackie and kissed his cheek. A kiss that carried a stinging aroma of vodka directly into Jackie’s nostrils. He rolled his eyes.
“I missed you too Marv. It’s very good to see you again, my friend.”
“Claudi, Venny! Been way too long, fellas. How’s it feel to be back in familiar territory?”
The pair shrugged almost simultaneously. Claudi spoke, “It’s gonna take a while gettin used to shittin without palmin’ a shiv.”
“So what’s in the cases, Marvy? A fuckin pool table?”
Marv smiled with his eyes widely beaming into Jackie’s.
“Jackie…………..check….this…….shit out…….”
He unclipped the case and staggeringly kicked both lids open. He kneeled down and returned to stance with 2 immensely modified machine guns in each hand. Jackie’s eyes were now wider than Marv’s. Claudi and Venny stared with an unshaken gaze at the pair of magnificent weapons that they had only read about in prison.
“Holy shit, Marv. Are these…..Hecklers? With laser beams? Super scopes?”
Marv handed one of the Heckler and Koch MG4 sub-machine rifles to Jackie. He racked a round into the chamber.
“Easy, you fuckin, kook. It’s loaded”
Jackie smiled larger than he had in decades as he was enveloped by the figure of a magnificent weapon. He visually trailed the weapon from stock to barrel.
“Don’t tell my Mena. She’s at the market. She thought you would be here later than now. She’d shit a brick cathedral if she knew I had these. It’s all your fault, Ricky, you little baby faced fuck”
They all laughed including Ricky. When the laughter died down, Jackie pointed the barrel to the air while examining the weapon.
“How much for the gun?”
Marv smiled.
“That’s for you, Jacomo. You’re comin home present.”
Jackie gleefully embraced his friend and then quickly aimed the weapon to check the sights.
“This baby’s gonna come in handy”
Marv grinned.
“Gotta send some people home?”
Jackie continued to look through the scope and answered hi
s friend.
“Their ticket is already stamped. They’re just waitin’ for the ride, now.”
Chapter Four
Straightening Out Again
It wasn't long before the kitchen was a lair of cigar smoke and bourbon glasses.
Vic leaned his elbows on the kitchen table at which the seven men were sitting and interlocked his resting hands. He raised his head high and spoke.
"So, it's been some years since we've done this. It's no secret that a lot has changed since we been away and there's gonna be some growin' pains if we're even gonna be close to gettin back to where we were. Before we approach this matter, as underboss of this family, I feel we should get some fairly mandatory things outta the way. The boss left us too soon, God rest his soul, but it's time to fill his shoes. Tradition would have it that the underboss steps in and take this position, but I feel a decision should be agreed upon by all of us. Twenty years is a lot of time to think so if anything changed; it needs to be brought forth now."
The men eyed each other. Claudi leaned back and spoke up.
"Victor's got my vote. I'm good with tradition and all that shit. Besides, he was the closest to the Rocko. He knows the ins and outs....and the operations."
Merc was the next to cast his vote. He tapped the table and spoke sharply.
"Vic is next in line. No question."
Artie and Jonny looked at each other and gave a slight nod of agreement.
"Take the chair, Vic. I got no problems with it." Artie said.
"Same here" Jonny added.
Jackie took a long sip of his brandy. He inhaled through his nose and blew out.
"All hail the king." Jackie said as he raised his glass toward Vic.
Only Jonny let out a snicker. Everyone looked at Venny.
"I'm not gonna be the asshole here-"
Jonny went to speak but Venny cut him off.
"Shut the fuck up. Of course I'm for Victor. Who the fuck else is gonna do it?"
Vic turned his head toward Marv and Troy who stood against the kitchen wall.
"You two come to the table."
They proceeded side by side in steps of unison almost as if rehearsed.
"So," Victor leaned his head back, "do either of you gentlemen object to the decision that was made at this table?"
Troy and Marv looked at each other and then back to Vic.
"No way, Victor. You're the heir." Marv said nodding his head.
"Agreed. It would be an honor to serve under you as the boss of this family." Troy said bowing his head and raising it.
At that moment, Venny cut his eyes and glanced at Artie. Then he glanced at Jackie. Neither acknowledged him. He shook his head and turned back toward Victor who didn't notice.
"Thank you gentlemen for your input" Victor said nodding his head. Troy and Marv moved back to the wall. There was a brief silence.
All of a sudden, Jackie slapped the table and raised his glass a second time wearing a giant smile.
"It's settled then. To Don Vanitio, the new boss of Dio Gizo family. God watch over him. Salute!"
They all raised their glasses and spoke in unison.
"Salute!"
The seven men took a long drink from their glasses and placed them back on the table.
Victor took a deep breath and carried on.
"Now, we come to the matter of earning again. I know all of ya have heard whispers about how they been out here gettin a taste while you was locked up. When we go back home, I wanna be prepared and not caught standin’ with my dick in my hand. I'm openin the floor for anything.”
The six men went through a cycle of looking at each other, looking at the table, or looking at the ceiling. This caused a brief silence.
"Don't fuckin break the table tryin to tell me" Vic said in a stern voice.
Jackie spoke up.
"There any businesses left to collect protection from?"
Artie laughed and shook his head.
"That place is probably a fuckin’ shit dumpster. The movies with Manhattan in 'em make the place look like a parade of fuckin douchebags."
Troy stepped forward.
"There are...." everyone at the table turned toward Troy "... but very few. I can make some calls and check out whose runnin protection in those areas."
Venny quickly turned back around and pulled a cigar from his jacket. He lit it and blew the smoke into the air as if to make light of the information.
"Thank you, Troy. See, this is why I wanted them here." Vic said slightly extending his right hand.
Troy stepped back to the wall and Vic continued while regaining attention.
"What else we got?"
Claudi put a finger up. Vic glanced at him and raised his eyebrows.
"One of the inmates was this ginny that gambled in the yard. He was from East Brunswick. His pops was runnin' with some Luchessi wise guys back when. He ran that mojo dope bullshit from the outside in to the junkies. His kid is fresh outta school and started these cleanin' companies. Thing is, his boy is gettin these illegal aliens from Mexico for next to nothin' and havin ‘em clean these buildings. He gets the deposit upfront and then sends ‘em into these high end joints to rob em fuckin blind. The contract he makes ‘em sign says he ain't liable for any of the shit that's picked but to save face he calls the man to do an investigation and by that time, the spics are back across the river with their little cut for services and his kid sells the shit that isn't cash and pockets the guap. When they go, he's already got another team set up with bogus papers ready to roll"
Vic leaned back in his chair.
"You got the connects to get in on this?" he asked.
Claudi gave a quick nod.
"Yeah, I got all his kid's info. His pops gets a cut sent to his books every month and he plans on goin full time when he's out. He's got another two years on a bid for armed robbery."
Vic nodded.
"If you got him read, Claudi, then we'll set up a sit-down when we get back."
Claudi nodded and took a sip of brandy.
Marv stepped forward.
"Victor......"
"Go ahead Marv" Vic responded.
Marv pointed his thumb behind him and spoke.
"There's a crew that hangs downtown that does some green washin' for some Russians. They also do scores on jewels and car jackin’s. My guy said they mostly hit the rich weddings and parties. They got a few jobs in....."
"Hang on....."
Venny turned around to look at Marv through squinted eyes with his cigar gripped by the teeth. He took a puff and spoke after exhaling.
"Where are they doin these scores? Here?"
"Yeah. They hit a lick somewheres and then wait it out. Keep the boys in blue guessin’." Marv replied.
Venny blew a fast puff of smoke upward. He quickly turned to Victor and folded his hands.
"You know, I'm thinkin’…Do we really gotta wait till we get back to start earnin' somethin'?"
Vic leaned in for a sip of brandy and pulled a cigar of his own from his jacket.
"Yeah?" he responded while lighting his cigar's tip.
Venny's eyes widened followed by a slight grin.
"It's been a long time since we did a job." he said.
Everyone gave a glance of agreement.
"Yeah but it was a lot easier when we all actually had a fuckin’ crew," Merc interjected
They all had a crew. All seven of them. A group of soldiers at their disposal for the sole purpose of creating income for the family.
All of the men at the table (with the exception of the newly elected boss) served the family at the rank of "capo" or captain. Each captain had a crew of three or more soldiers. Soldiers were made-men in the family. Being made meant you were bound to a family by a blood oath. A ceremony of La Cosa Nostra (Italian for "This Thing of Ours") would be held for the new inductee into the family followed by a celebratory feast.