Status: NanoWriMo
Omertà
The Game
Vincent grew up in a small family. He was born into a small Italian family in Italy; and in Italy most Italian families were quite large. In an Italian family, there were usually tons of cousins and tons of siblings mostly because for an Italians, family meant the world to them. His parents, however, didn’t take his heritage as seriously as he did. They were very simple people who preferred to live an American lifestyle – something Vincent could never wrap his head around.
After Vincent was born, his mother found out that she couldn’t have any more children so if they had any hopes of being a big Italian family before that, it was crushed not too long after he turned two. They picked up their things and left their small home in Italy to move to New York in an even smaller apartment.
As Vincent grew older, he knew his dad was disappointed that he didn’t have any other children to call his own so all his life he strived to make his father proud as much as he could. Throughout grade school, he made sure all the teachers sent home good notes about him and he made sure to win any award he could back in his time.
To put it bluntly, Vincent was a teacher’s pet in primary grades. Once he got into high school, he decided to find a way to take on his Italian heritage and he finally found one thing that would give him a sense of family and his heritage and make his father proud at the same time; the American-Italian mafia. Back in the 70’s, the mafia was much different than it was in when he got married and started to want a family of his own. It was all about money and especially at a younger age, getting to know the business.
By the time Vincent was twenty; he had already killed two people in cold blood and ran the business right next to his new best friend, Adam De Luca. Both of them had taken over the business proudly after their Boss had passed away from a heart attack. Although young, they took the business of the Mafia seriously. First, they ran their headquarters from the back of a mini-van filled with a few computers, listening devices and various spy equipment thrown about.
When they first started taking over their boss’s business, they lost most of their members. They were way too loyal to their old boss to listen to two, supposedly immature, young adults. A few people, however, stayed. Mostly the younger kids but a few older guys who respected both Adam and Vincent had stayed as well and eventually, they were able to seek out a small abandoned warehouse in the basement of a local coffee shop. Through tunnels and secret doors, they finally found the place they had been searching for their entire mafia lives.
As they began to get more serious, murdering enemies for money and loaning gamblers from Las Vegas money to support their addiction, they began to get richer and richer. The more well-known they became, the higher the stakes became. They both lost people they loved and scared away relationships and became cold and heartless.
When Vincent’s father found out about his career choice, there was a time where he refused to talk to his son but by that time, Vincent was way too gone into the world to care about whether or not his father approved anymore and until his father became sick, around the time that he met Jacqueline, he didn’t want anything to do with his family anymore. And when his father was on his death bed, he realized things that no one else but a father could tell a son.
“You seem like you’re never proud of me, Dad. No matter what I did, no matter how many awards I got or how much I brought our family back into the Italian life-style, you still acted like you didn’t care.”
He took his father’s hand and squeezed it, knowing that after this was all over that he’d take the newfound love of his life and show her his world. Somehow, his father’s death made him realize that if he was proud of his job, whoever else was in his life needed to be proud of it as well.
“I was never, not proud of you, Vincent. I wasn’t proud of the way you handled things. The mafia is a dedicated thing, Son. It’s something that you can never escape and to bring someone you love into. Jacqueline is a beautiful thing and I know we didn’t like her at first but to bring her into a hideous world like that is not right. The fact that my son has murdered people is not something a father wants to die knowing but I love you, Vincent. Please, don’t let that life ruin you.”
Two days later, his father passed away and his mother went back to Italy to pursue her dream as a painter. When Vincent finally got up the nerve to show Jacqueline his double life, he was more than ready to watch her walk out the door, knowing what that would mean for her. No one who knew about them survived more than five years. They didn’t always kill them but they disappeared forever, never to be seen again. Vincent knew that he could protect her if she let him but once she knew what he did for a living, she didn’t leave.
“I don’t like what you do, Vincent but I love you. And that’s all that matters.” She told him, kissing him on the cheek and dragging him back out into the streets and to the restaurant they had reservations at that night. That night, on a sudden burst of emotion, Vincent proposed to her without a ring and just with words to prove he loved her.
When he finally got back to work, though, everything had changed. Adam had changed. Everything about him seemed different and although nothing could bring Vincent down from the high of love, Adam had a way of making everything in his life difficult after that. The rules of the game had changed and Vincent had no choice but to play by them.
After Vincent was born, his mother found out that she couldn’t have any more children so if they had any hopes of being a big Italian family before that, it was crushed not too long after he turned two. They picked up their things and left their small home in Italy to move to New York in an even smaller apartment.
As Vincent grew older, he knew his dad was disappointed that he didn’t have any other children to call his own so all his life he strived to make his father proud as much as he could. Throughout grade school, he made sure all the teachers sent home good notes about him and he made sure to win any award he could back in his time.
To put it bluntly, Vincent was a teacher’s pet in primary grades. Once he got into high school, he decided to find a way to take on his Italian heritage and he finally found one thing that would give him a sense of family and his heritage and make his father proud at the same time; the American-Italian mafia. Back in the 70’s, the mafia was much different than it was in when he got married and started to want a family of his own. It was all about money and especially at a younger age, getting to know the business.
By the time Vincent was twenty; he had already killed two people in cold blood and ran the business right next to his new best friend, Adam De Luca. Both of them had taken over the business proudly after their Boss had passed away from a heart attack. Although young, they took the business of the Mafia seriously. First, they ran their headquarters from the back of a mini-van filled with a few computers, listening devices and various spy equipment thrown about.
When they first started taking over their boss’s business, they lost most of their members. They were way too loyal to their old boss to listen to two, supposedly immature, young adults. A few people, however, stayed. Mostly the younger kids but a few older guys who respected both Adam and Vincent had stayed as well and eventually, they were able to seek out a small abandoned warehouse in the basement of a local coffee shop. Through tunnels and secret doors, they finally found the place they had been searching for their entire mafia lives.
As they began to get more serious, murdering enemies for money and loaning gamblers from Las Vegas money to support their addiction, they began to get richer and richer. The more well-known they became, the higher the stakes became. They both lost people they loved and scared away relationships and became cold and heartless.
When Vincent’s father found out about his career choice, there was a time where he refused to talk to his son but by that time, Vincent was way too gone into the world to care about whether or not his father approved anymore and until his father became sick, around the time that he met Jacqueline, he didn’t want anything to do with his family anymore. And when his father was on his death bed, he realized things that no one else but a father could tell a son.
“You seem like you’re never proud of me, Dad. No matter what I did, no matter how many awards I got or how much I brought our family back into the Italian life-style, you still acted like you didn’t care.”
He took his father’s hand and squeezed it, knowing that after this was all over that he’d take the newfound love of his life and show her his world. Somehow, his father’s death made him realize that if he was proud of his job, whoever else was in his life needed to be proud of it as well.
“I was never, not proud of you, Vincent. I wasn’t proud of the way you handled things. The mafia is a dedicated thing, Son. It’s something that you can never escape and to bring someone you love into. Jacqueline is a beautiful thing and I know we didn’t like her at first but to bring her into a hideous world like that is not right. The fact that my son has murdered people is not something a father wants to die knowing but I love you, Vincent. Please, don’t let that life ruin you.”
Two days later, his father passed away and his mother went back to Italy to pursue her dream as a painter. When Vincent finally got up the nerve to show Jacqueline his double life, he was more than ready to watch her walk out the door, knowing what that would mean for her. No one who knew about them survived more than five years. They didn’t always kill them but they disappeared forever, never to be seen again. Vincent knew that he could protect her if she let him but once she knew what he did for a living, she didn’t leave.
“I don’t like what you do, Vincent but I love you. And that’s all that matters.” She told him, kissing him on the cheek and dragging him back out into the streets and to the restaurant they had reservations at that night. That night, on a sudden burst of emotion, Vincent proposed to her without a ring and just with words to prove he loved her.
When he finally got back to work, though, everything had changed. Adam had changed. Everything about him seemed different and although nothing could bring Vincent down from the high of love, Adam had a way of making everything in his life difficult after that. The rules of the game had changed and Vincent had no choice but to play by them.