Kingpin (An Italian Mafia Romance) (8 page)

Until this year.

The Dominic Collazo I met in fifth grade is not the same Dominic Collazo I know now. Dominic is five-nine, about a hundred-sixty pounds, and he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on his body. He has the most beautiful lips I’ve ever seen, and his incoming facial hair makes him the most gorgeous thing roaming the halls of East Belleville High School. Girls fall over each other trying to catch a glimpse of Dominic, and the rumors of his mafia ties make him the bad boy they all wish they had. But Dominic doesn’t pay any of them any mind. His way of thinking isn’t anything like other guys in high school. It’s like he’s already an adult. I mean, he basically is. He’s working with his dad, he’s making money, and from what he tells me, he even helps his mom with some of her bills—although their relationship has soured over the past couple of years. When he walks into the school, the other guys become little boys. He’s bigger, more confident, and more mature than all of them. To these high school girls, Dominic is like the big, sexy guy who graduated and went on to college, except he didn’t. He’s a freshman just like me, but it’s like he’s from another planet, and it takes everything in me to ignore how I feel about him now. We’ve always been friends, and even though I’ve always known how he feels about me, I’m worried that my feelings towards him will somehow ruin what we have, and I couldn’t handle it if that happened. I need Dominic in my life, and I can’t risk what we have by crossing that line. So, as I walk down the stairs for breakfast, I ignore thoughts about what it’d be like to go to homecoming with Dominic instead of the guy I’m actually going with.

“Good morning, sweetie,” my father says when I reach the kitchen. To my surprise, my mother is sitting at the table. Usually, she’s gone by now, but she’s wearing her scrubs, so I know she’ll be leaving soon.

I grab a box of cereal out of one cabinet and go to reach for a bowl in another.

“Good morning,” I reply. “Surprised you’re still here, Mom.”

“Yeah, I’m getting ready to go in a bit,” she replies. “I told them I’d be late this morning. There’s something me and your father need to talk to you about before I go, though.”

The look on her face worries me. She’s scrunching her forehead and glancing back and forth between my father and me.

“Okay, what’s up?” I ask as I pour my Froot Loops into the bowl.

“Umm, well I have some news,” my dad chimes in. “It’s about my job.” When I don’t reply, he’s just spits it out. “I got orders last night.”

I set the box of cereal on the counter and turn around so I can face them.

“You got orders?”

“Yeah.”

“So, we’re moving?” I ask, even though I already know. That’s what getting orders means in the Air Force. The military is making us move to another base.

“Yes,” my dad answers, looking at the floor. My parents know how much I love living here.

“When is this supposed to happen? And to where?” I press, feeling hot all over.

“We have a couple of months left,” Dad answers. “And it’s to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. In Anchorage.”

“Alaska?” I snap, making my mother jump. “We’re moving to Alaska? Are you freaking kidding me? A couple of months? That’s insane!” I feel tears already starting to sting my eyes.

“I know, sweetie. It’s a little short notice, but you’ll still be able to go to homecoming, at least,” my mother says, trying to show me the silver lining.

“So what!” I snip. “I’ve been here since the fifth grade. All my friends are here. Dominic is here!”

My parents glance at each other with that look they have when I mention Dominic. They’ve never liked him because of who his father is and the rumors that go around about them.

“I know, sweetheart, but you know this is how the military works,” my father reminds me. “We don’t stay in one place for too long. The good news is, we’ll be able to stay in Alaska long enough for you to graduate high school. You’ll be there your sophomore, junior, and senior year. So, you’ll have made plenty of friends by then. Graduation will still be awesome.”

“Stop it, Dad!” I yell. “It’s not about that. My whole life is here, and I don’t want to move to fucking Alaska!”

“Hey! You watch your mouth, young lady! Where do you get off talking like that?” my dad barks, but I don’t care. The tears are flowing and I’m too upset. I get up and stomp back up the stairs, leaving my parents and my bowl of cereal behind.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew this day would come. Now that it’s here, it feels worse than I ever imagined it would, and my head is filled with questions I don’t have answers to.

How can I just leave Belleville after all this time? And move to Alaska, of all places! Why now? Why does it have to be so soon? How am I supposed to prepare myself for this? How do I tell my friends?

How do I tell Dominic?

It’s official. The cancer has been diagnosed, and everything’s about to change.

Dominic

“W
e’ve got a problem.”

My father looks at Frankie Leonetti like he’s definitely not in the mood to hear bad news, but Frankie presses on anyway.

“Sammy and his brother, Alfonse, are here,” Frankie says in my father’s ear. Dad looks over at the security monitors and sees the Cestone brothers standing outside his office with their arms folded, already defensive. This won’t be good.

“Fucking kids don’t learn, do they?” Dad replies as he pulls a cigar from his desk and lights it. “Let them in.”

We’re about to have drama, and that’s a shame because things have been going so well for us. My father finally got the promotion he was looking for, and he’s now a captain in the Giordano Family. He isn’t the guy he was before. He’s calmer now, more controlled. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he’s in charge of a crew who takes care of most things for him, and now he can sit back and collect money from the casino.

My dad took my idea about taxing casinos and ran with it. It didn’t take long for him to pull strings and move in on the owner of River City. It started out just as a tax, but when the owner kept falling behind on his payments, my dad forced him out and became owner of the casino as a whole, so the money’s just pouring in. Most business is conducted from his office in River City, so the casino is almost like headquarters now, and Dad started making money at the perfect time. It came down to a decision between my dad and Frankie for who was going to be a captain, and the boss, Leo Capizzi, chose my father because he was the better earner. The casino money put him over the top. Now, Frankie works for my dad, and business couldn’t be better.

Everything has been running smooth for a long time now. The Giordano Family is making money all over St. Louis, and I’m developing a little reputation myself as an earner working for my dad. I’m fifteen years old and they’re still calling me Boy Wonder—which I fucking hate—but it’s not the name that matters, it’s the fact that I have a reputation already. Dad fronted me some money and taught me a thing or two about taxing and loan sharking, and even though I have to hide everything from my mother, it’s worth it. This is exactly the person I want to be. I love being a part of this family, and I love making this money. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The small bit of attention we’ve gotten from the nosy ass FBI is nothing, because they don’t have shit on us. So, fuck the FBI, as my father would say.

The only source of annoyance we have is from the two cock suckers walking into the room right now, Sammy and Alfonse Cestone. These two pricks are older than me, but younger than Frankie and my dad. They’re immature, and they want street cred, and since my dad and his crew are focused on bigger things with the casino now, Sammy and Alfonse have started really stepping up their street activity in our absence. They’re pulling a lot of robberies and taking a lot of trucks, which is fine as long as they don’t hit the one’s we already own, and they don’t touch the trucks that are on routes that belong to my father. They’ve abided by the rules for a couple of years, which is why Frankie and Dad have let them do it, but they’re getting greedy now, and that’s going to be a problem. Rumor has it they have serious ties to one of the Five Families in New York, which isn’t anything new because we all do, technically, but they seem to think they’re connections gives them a power the rest of us don’t have. They don’t know how wrong they are.

“How you doing, Donnie?” Sammy says as he saunters in with his hands in his pockets. He has sharp facial features—a long jaw and a pointy nose and chin—and his brother looks just like him, except he’s a little plumper in the belly. They walk to the front of Dad’s desk and wait to be addressed. Still following the rules, for now. Sammy and Alfonse aren’t made guys, they’re simply a crew trying to gain credibility on their own, so rules must be followed.

Dad blows smoke into the air and eyeballs the two goons. He knows why they’re here, and he doesn’t like it. Frankie takes a seat in the corner behind the Cestone brothers and folds his arms. Everyone is tense, even me as I sit next to dad and glance out the big window overlooking the casino floor.

“What the fuck is this, Sammy?” Dad begins. “You coming over here unannounced? I don’t like it.”

“I apologize for that,” Sammy says, remaining calm. “We don’t mean no disrespect, Donnie, we know you’re a capo now. We just had some business we’d like to discuss with you.”

Dad exhales in annoyance, but he relents and tells them to sit down. They do, and Sammy gets started while Alfonse remains silent, looking past my father like he’s not even listening.

“We had an idea. This casino thing is looking pretty lucrative. I mean, I don’t know how you pulled it off, but becoming owner of this place was fucking genius, Donnie, I gotta tell you.”

“I appreciate that, Sammy, but what’s the fucking point?” Dad snips.

“Well, I’m glad you asked. You know who my Uncle Carlo is, don’t’ you?” Sammy asks. He leans back in his chair and makes himself comfortable.

“Why would I know who your uncle is?” Dad asks.

“Because he’s the don of the Lucchese Family now.” Sammy throws one leg over the other and smiles. He’s trying to play the “my uncle’s a boss in New York” card, and you don’t do that without having an agenda. You don’t try to trump a capo with a guy who’s not even in the same state, even if they are related to you, and even if your relative is a boss of one of the Original Five Families of New York.

“Okay, your uncle’s a boss in New York,” my dad says with venom in his voice. “What the fuck do I care? What’s that got to do with me?”

Sammy exhales and somehow manages to sit back even further. Considering the tone of the conversation, he’s entirely too relaxed. He’s an arrogant asshole and it’s rubbing my father and Frankie the wrong way. He’s even managing to get on my fucking nerves.

“The reason it’s important to you, Donnie, is because I know you don’t wanna piss off a head of one of The Five. You don’t need that kind of drama in your life. So, to avoid any unnecessary suffering to your thriving crew, I think it’d be a good idea if you and I went into business together. You know, kind of as a favor to New York.”

Dad doesn’t say a word. Frankie sits up and taps his jacket like he’s looking for a pack of cigarettes, but he’s really making sure his gun is where he expects it to be.

“You understand what I’m saying, Donnie?” Sammy asks, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t even need to be seen, hell I don’t want to be seen. I’ll just be behind the scenes. My brother and I were thinking you kick us seven percent every week and everything will be good to go. Everybody’s happy. Especially New York.”

The air in the room is thin, and the tension is thick. Dad glances at me, then his eyes bounce to Frankie before he finally stands up and straightens out his suit. He puffs on his cigar and blows the smoke right into Sammy’s face. Sammy doesn’t flinch.

“You got alotta balls, kid. Coming in here and thinking you can tax me on my casino is the ballsiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I admire that. It’s also the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. The only fucking person I kick up to, is
my
boss, Leo Capizzi. Anybody else thinking I owe them something is a fucking moron, and that includes you and your ugly fucking brother. I don’t even know your fucking uncle, but if he has a problem with that, he can fly his ass down here and take it up with Leo. You fucking kids have no respect. This isn’t how we do business in Our Thing. Now, you two fucking idiots are gonna get up and get out of my casino, and on your way, you’re gonna thank the Virgin Mary that your uncle is a boss in New York, because that’s the only reason I’m not having both of your bodies thrown in the fucking Mississippi River tonight. Now, get the fuck up, and don’t ever let me catch you on this street again. Consider this a restraining order. If anyone in your crew comes within five hundred yards of River City Casino Boulevard, we’re gonna have problems.”

Sammy’s jaw is tight and Alfonse just stares at my dad like he wants to kill him right here, but neither of them make a move. The last thing they want to do is have a problem in this casino, so they both stand.

“Okay, Donnie. I apologize. I didn’t mean no disrespect.” Like twins, the two of them turn around and walk towards the door together. Frankie gets up and opens the door for them, but just as they exit, I see Sammy glance at me. We make eye contact only for a second, then he steps out and Frankie closes the door behind them.