Chapter 2

My deep-seated and well-hidden thoughts of my adopted younger sister Angela and my childhood crush Alex were all put on the “back burner” due to circumstances of internal conflict between our “old blood” clan and some of the newer syndicates that had popped up recently.

It was my suspicion that the exploding profits from international drug distribution and the trafficking of pretty young things from the east caused the new wave of unknown faces now in direct competition with our well-established “thing”. Those girls now recruited against their wills to work for the organization in highly lucrative enterprises ranging from massage parlors to casinos were happy just to be living in a supposed free society and seldom made trouble with the authorities. The drugs were constantly flowing now and even dirtied our own back yards unlike in previous years when the bosses kept them away from our own people.

My immediate boss justified our involvement on the basis that many in the community now were “foreigners” and they were judged to be ripe for exploitation no matter how shady or damaging to their well-being. I still wasn’t made yet so I had to keep my mouth shut even though the unfairness of it was irritating to my outlook on life.

Our little squabbles led to the unfortunate demise of Angela’s small-fry spouse and she came back to live with our family dragging two little ones along with her with snotty noses and loud voices that demanded more attention than they deserved. Knowing Angela’s calm and submissive nature, I assumed that attitude came from her prick of a husband. He was such a dunce that he didn’t even look outside before he walked to his car and that stupidity cost him his life plain and simple.

I moved my shit down to the basement giving Angela my bedroom for her and her two little ones because we were a little cramped for space in a building that the landlord never repaired. I got the repairs done out of pocket rather than go hat in hand to the little fat prick that never worked a day in his life and made oodles of cash just raking in the monthly payments on dozens of buildings all over the city. It was none of my business but I sensed our boss was not really smart enough to see where the real income was being produced lately and it wasn’t from protecting premises that were in no real danger because the outside gangs knew better than to fuck around with clan territory.

I started my own sideline of moving pills and selling doctor’s prescriptions to people needing relief from the pain of everyday living. I simply brought the supply and the demand together in a safe transaction and took a reasonable commission for my services from both sides. I managed to build up a nice little nest egg for a rainy day and things were looking up despite the fact that I expected to go another full year before getting made for services performed.

The reality of life in the “Family” was that you were only as good as you earned and turned over the proper cut to your superiors on a timely basis.

I guess I was only a soldier and not a made-man as yet because I choose to play it safe and keep my nose to the grindstone and not getting involved in the shit that paid a high dividend but at an even greater price including one’s life.

Angela knew I was the one responsible for looking after her and her kids and she let me know she was grateful with her eyes but we kept our distance due to the strict moral code of conduct between widows and unattached male members of the family that existed only as foot-soldiers in the army of the “black hand”.

I managed to keep my legitimate business enterprises out of the picture by forming several bogus entities that made the legitimate business successful and played by all the rules of the commercial world around us.

Sure, I broke a few rules of regular business by hiring ex-cons and using part-time prostitutes with families of their own to staff my organizations with loyal followers with dubious backgrounds. I knew that all of those people could be depended on in a pinch and they would keep their mouths shut about our relationships in a legitimate manner.

I set Angela up as a front in a Spa operation that was turning over big bucks doing hair styling, nails and skin treatments without resorting to any funny business like turning a trick behind closed doors. She made sure that all of her girls were straight about their work and did not try any tricks to make some extra dough and might cause the business to suffer from any accusations of illegal activities.

It was important to me to keep all of my legitimate enterprises above board and mob-free in order to file my taxes the old-fashioned way with a standard book-keeper and a lawyer to make certain all the rules were followed right to the letter of the law.

I made it a practice that a full ten percent of our gross income would be expensed out as donations to worthy causes and that the business received proper credit for their charitable works as was only fitting.

Angela received recognition as a major donor to the “Little Sisters of the Poor” and she even had a photo of her and her kids down at the nun’s convent over near the docks where they all made their home and prayed in the adjoining chapel for the salvation and redemption of the rank and file members who were only flesh and blood and not monsters by any stretch of the imagination.