it’s good to see all of them in the same room again, but it’s also rare. Usually, it’s only the captains who come together like this, and it’s because Leo only deals with the highest members of The Family, and it’s our job to pass down the information to our respective crews. That’s the way the hierarchy of Our Thing works. We don’t get to hang out much, because it’s safer for us if we’re apart, but I’d go to war for the guys in this room, and regardless of what went on between me and Frankie, I think they’d go to war for me. Which brings me back to my original question; why the hell is everyone here?
“Sal,” I lean over and whisper. “What the fuck is going on? Why is everybody here, and why isn’t Frankie saying anything to me if he sent for me?”
Sal scrunches his big forehead in confusion.
“It wasn’t Frankie who sent for you, Dominic,” he says. “It was Leo.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, our boss, Leo Capizzi, and our underboss, Jimmy Gravato, walk through the door.
He was pinched only a few days ago, but it looks like Leo’s been away for a year or two already. His hair looks grayer, and his eyes look baggier. His confidence is gone, and I understand. Charges like the ones he’s facing are enough to stress anybody out, even someone as strong as Leo. He’s still my boss, though. He’s my father’s boss, and my level for respect for him is through the roof. The same can be said about everybody in this room. Everybody loves Leo. He’s always done what he thought was best for The Family, and we’ve thrived because of it. When the Feds and St. Louis PD torched The Family a few years back, it was Leo who survived it and brought us back to life. Our loyalty to him is unbreakable.
Leo comes in and sits down in the head seat, and Jimmy stands behind him with his arms folded. He looks around the room at everyone, taking in all of our faces as the voices die down so we can hear what he has to say. Once again, I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation, because so far, this isn’t going anything like I expected it to. I’m still alive.
“It’s good to see you all here,” he begins in his low, raspy, Godfather-style voice. “We don’t do this often, and I’m saddened by the fact that this will be the last time I see you all together like this. As you know, we’re only here because we’re out on bail, and it won’t last long because the trial is set to start in two weeks. They pushed for the trial to start faster than usual because they wanna see me go down, and they want to be able to put my former consigliere, Danny Ramano, on the stand before something bad happens to him and they lose their case. So, this is going to be the end of my era as boss of this family. However, with the end of one era, comes the beginning of a new one.”
There it is. The lightbulb in my head finally clicks on, and I realize why we’re here. Leo is about to push for Frankie to be the new boss, and we’re all here to show our support and pledge our allegiance to him. The Family is about to change forever.
“So, I won’t waste time or beat around the bush with this,” Leo continues. “I’ve spoken to The Commission, and they’ve given me their two cents on who they think has done enough for The Family and been a steady earner. They told me what they thought, and I informed them of who I thought was respected enough in this family to take control and start a new era. We all agreed, and we’re here now to make sure we won’t have any internal feuds or plays for power in the future. We’ve seen too many families in Our Thing destroyed because of that type of greed, so we want the support of all of you. Does everybody understand what I’m saying?”
We nod along, and I’m wondering why we’re dragging this out. We all know what’s coming next.
Leo clears his throat and continues.
“So, after a lot of thinking and phone calls to New York, I’ve come to a decision, and I want to put my weight behind who I think