Bound By Blood: The Rise of a Mafia Prince

by Tony Farraj

  As the sun began to make it’s descent towards the other side of the world, Anthony kissed his mother’s casket and said his final good byes. “I want to go and pay my respect to Helen.”

  “Sure Anthony, whatever you want.” Mr. Spinelli drove them to the other side of town and waited in the car. “Take your time.”

  Anthony got out of the car and walked over to the plot and sat down in front of Helen and Mr. Mazellie’s tombstone. The only light that shined came from the full moon. Anthony wiped the leaves that had fallen on Mr. Mazellie’s head stone. “I’m sorry I got you involved in this whole mess.” A small breeze brought a cold chill up Anthony’s spine. His eyes gazed deeply at Helen’s name etched in stone. “I never wanted anything to happen to you. Because of me, you’re lying under all this dirt.” The sound of his own voice made him shiver. “You will always have a special place in my heart. I promise you, I will make your brother pay. Mr. Mazellie, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. You gave me a piece of heaven and I destroyed it. I couldn’t protect your beautiful daughter. I will miss you both tremendously and I will love you both for eternity.” Anthony wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly rose to his feet. For once in his life, he knew what had to be done. He gently kissed each head stone and walked back to the car. “Mr. Spinelli, I’m going to need a favor. I need two guys that will help me bring Frankie to his knees. I’m also going to need a gun, preferably a semi automatic, untraceable.” Anthony asked.

  “I’ll have them for you by tomorrow. You’re planning to take out Michael and Carlo?” Mr. Spinelli didn’t need an answer; he could see it in Anthony’s eyes.

  “First I need to know if it was them.” Anthony said wisely. “Then I’m going to wipe out that whole family. Starting from the bottom and working my way to Carlo and Michael.”

  Mr. Spinelli drove Anthony home and pulled the car into the driveway. All the lights in Anthony’s house where off. “ Would you like me to hang around?”

  “No, I’ll be fine.” Anthony said as he stepped out of the car.

  “Are you sure?” Mr. Spinelli asked cautiously.

  “Go home. I’ll be fine.” Anthony insisted. “Mr. Spinelli, thanks for all your help. I don’t know how I could have done this with out you.”

  “Don’t mention it, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Mr. Spinelli backed out of the driveway and disappeared into the darkness.

  Anthony walked up the walkway and unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The lonely old house didn’t seem to be the same, since the last time he stood inside it’s walls. Anthony made his way to the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. He scanned the room. Everything was in its proper place. His mom kept the house spotless. The counters where clean and the sink was empty and the apron his mother wore hung neatly on a hook by the back door. Anthony stood up and made his way to his mother’s bedroom door and slowly opened it. He made his way inside and sat on the corner of the bed and stared at his mother’s nightgown, which hung loosely across the bedpost. He carefully laid down on top of the covers and rested his head on his mother’s pillow. He could smell his mother’s face cream; he rolled onto his back and took a deep breath. The smells in the room filled his body and encircled his soul and with a gentle whimper; Anthony began to cry.

  The next morning, several loud knocks awoke him from his restless slumber. “I’m coming, keep your shirt on.” He shouted, as he cautiously opened the door and saw Mr. Spinelli standing there holding a paper in one hand and a brown bag in the other.

  “Good morning.” Mr. Spinelli said. “You remember O’Malley and Carbello.”

  “Yeah, come in please.” Anthony motioned for the men to come inside. “Can I get you guys something to drink?”

  “Do you have any juice?” O’Malley asked softly, as he ducked to step inside the tiny home.

  “Sure, does anyone else need anything?” Anthony walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of juice.

  Mr. Spinelli sat at the table with Joey and unfolded the paper bag. “Last night you asked me to find two guys that I could trust, well they have been here ever since I dropped you off last night.” Vincent walked Anthony to the front door and pointed to a car parked on the other side of his street. “Those two guys will watch you like a hawk in the sky. They both understand the situation and are willing to pledge their life to you.”

  “Mr. Spinelli I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me in the last couple of days.” Anthony said sincerely. “And what about the other favor?”

  Vincent walked back to the kitchen and reached into the wrinkled old brown paper bag and pulled out the hardware. “Will this be to your satisfaction or would you like me to get you something more powerful?”

  “This will be perfect.” Anthony said, as he placed the cold hard steel in his hand. He pulled back the hammer and made sure it was empty, before he raised the gun up and aimed it at the back door and fingered the trigger.

  “Good, so what’s the plan?” Vincent asked.

  “I have to get Frankie alone and then I can grill him with questions.” Anthony gestured with the gun. “Now, all I need is a secluded spot to take Frankie and I’ll find out all I need to know.”

  “Don’t worry about that, I’ve got the perfect place.” Joey interrupted. “The old warehouse on Industrial Road. No one will ever find him there and we can dispose of the body in the near by lake.”

  ”Al right, we got the location. Now how do we get him there?” Vincent inquired. “I don’t see him jumping in the car with you to go talk.”

  “Every Saturday night, Carlo has a big poker game. Frankie has never missed it, he loves to gamble and he loves to drink. We just wait tell he comes stumbling out. We grab him, throw him in the trunk and drive him to the warehouse Joey was talking about.”

  “Then what?”

  “Leave the rest to me.” Anthony answered sternly.

  “We have a couple of days before all this goes down. In the mean time, I want you to stay out of sight. If you need anything, just ask those two guys watching your house. They’re here to cater to all your needs.” Vincent got up and waved to the men in the dark sedan. Two large men got out and waited by the car. “Anthony, come here. I want you to see these guys, so you know what they look like.”

  Anthony walked back to the front door and gave a friendly wave. The two large beefy men nodded and stepped back in the car.

  “Remember, stay out of sight and if you need anything ask Bruno or Vinnie. One more thing, I talked to don Giovanni and he told me to tell you don’t worry about the task we asked you to do, you can take care of that problem after you take care of your own problem.” Vincent gave Anthony a hug and walked out to his car, followed by Joey and O’Malley.

  Meanwhile at the club, Chris was hanging from one of the light fixtures, while Michael poked him with a cattle prod. The electric prod zapped Chris’s naked flesh.

  “How could you be so fucken stupid? You killed my sister!” Michael plunged the electric prod into Chris’s groan. The electric current made Chris’s body twitch furiously.

  “I’m sorry!” Chris screamed in agony. “I thought it was Anthony and his mom! Please Michael, forgive me, I beg of you!”

  “Forgive you? You killed my sister and now you ask for my forgiveness? I’m going to make you suffer beyond your wildest dreams!” Michael walked over to the bar and grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it against Chris’s knee. He began to jab the broken end in different parts of Chris’s naked flesh.

  The blood covered Chris’s bare flesh like a red suit. He was so weak and in so much pain, that he began to loose consciousness.

  That only infuriated Michael. “Don’t you pass out motherfucker? I’m not finished with you yet! I want you awake for all this fun.” Michael shoved the electric prod into Chris’s groan again and again.

  Chris’s body twitched from the electricity that flowed through him like the blood that flowed out onto the hard wood floor.

  “
Don’t you fucken die!” Michael screamed at the top of his voice. He walked back to the bar and grabbed a saltshaker and began to unscrew the top. With one motion, he flung the salt all over Chris’s open wounds.

  Chris began to twist and turn, but the more he struggled, the deeper the salt worked its way into his flesh. His screaming rang out in everyone’s ears.

  “That’s enough.” Carlo finally said. “You made your point.”

  “No, I don’t think I have.” Michael reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun and with one shot, hit Chris right above the left eye. The shot caused Chris’s head to snap backward. “Now I made my point.”

  Carlo and the others didn’t move, not until Michael placed his gun back into his shoulder holster. “Frankie cut him down and get rid of the body. Take it down to the lake and do what you do, make sure he can’t be identified.”

  Frankie pulled a chair next to Chris’s bloody corpse and cut the rope. The body fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Frankie wrapped Chris’s lifeless body in clear plastic and dragged him to the car.

  “Frankie.” Michael said, without looking up. “Don’t fuck this up.”

  Frankie didn’t say a word to Michael; he walked out to his car got in and drove down to the lake. Inside the trunk along side of Chris’s dead body was a small black doctor’s bag. That’s where he kept all the tools he needed to mutilate Chris’s lifeless corpse.

  Frankie never cared for this part of the job, but he knew it was necessary. He opened the trunk and lifted Chris’s corpse out and placed it on level ground. Frankie walked back to the car and removed a brand new butcher’s apron from the back seat. He hated to get blood on his expensive suit. Over the years, Frankie perfected his craft of disposing bodies. At first, he would cut the body in half and freeze the upper torso for a couple of months and discard the lower half. Now, he divided the body in sections, the top: head, arms and hands. The middle: the waist and chest, and the bottom.

  Frankie even began to subscribe to medical journals, so he could learn how to separate bone from bone. What used to take him hours on end, now only took forty five to fifty minutes. He always started by undressing the victims, but in this particular case, Chris was already naked. Frankie started at the bottom and worked his way upward. He grabbed Chris’s foot and began to saw just below the anklebone. The warm blood began to flow onto the clear plastic. Next came the leg, Frankie used a sharper tooth saw to cut through the thicker bone, just above the knee. Each part was neatly stacked side by side. It was time to separate the body into two pieces. Frankie rolled Chris onto his stomach. He lined the teeth of the saw along side of Chris’s lower back and with three or four quick, hard cuts; the lower half was detached from the upper. Next came Chris’s arms and hands. Frankie reached back into his doctor’s bag and pulled out a small stainless steal stem cutters and cut Chris’s fingers off like dead branches off a tree. He straightened Chris’s arms out and cut right above the elbow and placed the arms next to the detached legs. Each part was discarded in different parts of the large lake. Afterward, Frankie rolled Chris’s upper torso facing him. He reached back into his bag and pulled out a pair of pliers. Frankie placed one hand on Chris’s head for stability and began to pull his teeth. Some came out easily, while others broke. Frankie knew the object wasn’t to pull all the teeth, but merely to alter their appearance. Now all the parts had been severed, except for the head. This was the messy part. Once again, Frankie reached back into his bag of horror and pulled out a doctors’ mask and an eye protector.

  Frankie placed the mask over his mouth and slipped on the face shield and began to cut the head off the upper torso. He grabbed Chris’s head and held it up like an offering to the Gods. Then, with all his might he began to saw the head in half. Blood, pieces of skull and brain matter splattered onto his apron. Small pieces of bone struck his face shield and blood spattered under and below his doctor’s mask. The head was split in two like a watermelon. Frankie walked to the edge of the lake and threw the two pieces in different directions. The both made a large splash and then the water was calm and Chris Pappas was no more. Frankie wiped down all his tools with bleach and placed them back in his doctor’s bag. He removed his blood soaked apron, the doctors mask and the face shield and wrapped them inside the plastic and let them on fire.

  The strong smell of burnt bacon and eggs filled Anthony’s home. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he knew he had to learn, now that his mother was gone. The burnt bacon sizzled in the pan and the eggs, which Anthony liked sunny side up broke every time he dropped them into the hot butter. After several more attempts, he finally gave up. Anthony shoveled all the burnt food onto one plate and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. Just then there was a knock at the door. “Saved by the bell.” Anthony thought to himself as he walked to the front door. “Can I help you?” He asked the two men standing on the other side.

  “My name is Vinnie Dimarie and this is my associate Bruno Felucca. Mr. Spinelli asked us to keep an eye out for you; he says you’re having trouble with Michael and Carlo. We’re here to help you anyway we can.”

  Anthony remembered seeing them outside his house in the car parked across the street. “Come in fellas. Can I get you something to eat or drink?” Anthony walked back to the kitchen, followed by Vinnie and Bruno.

  Vinnie looked down at Anthony’s burnt breakfast, and then answered. “No thanks, we already ate plus that looks awful.”

  “You should taste it.” Anthony fired back.

  “If you like I can make you breakfast, I’m pretty good in the kitchen.” Vinnie said.

  “Thanks, but to tell you the truth, I’m not that hungry.” Anthony got up from the table and emptied the eggs and burnt bacon into the drain. With a flip of a switch, the disposal devoured the burnt breakfast. “I hope you enjoy it better than I did.” Anthony mumbled to himself. As he made his way to the bedroom, there was another knock on his door. Before Anthony could say a word, Vinnie and Bruno where by his side.

  “Are you expecting anyone?” Vinnie asked. “Why don’t you step back into the kitchen and let me get the door.” Vinnie approached the door cautiously. He had one hand on the doorknob and the other on his gun. He then turned to Bruno and gestured.

  Bruno grabbed Anthony and pulled him behind his massive frame. He reached into his jacket and pulled his gun and pointed it at the door. Both men made direct eye contact and nodded at one another.

  “Who is it?” Vinnie’s voice deepened.

  “Anthony, it’s agent Shepherd, we need to talk.”

  Anthony looked over at Vinnie. “F.B.I.”

  “Do you want to talk to them?” Vinnie whispered.

  “I guess I have no choice.”

  Bruno slipped his gun back into his holster and leaned up against the kitchen doorframe, while Vinnie removed his hand from his gun and opened the door.

  “Is Anthony here?” Agent Shepherd pushed passed Vinnie and walked right in, while his long time partner sized up the new guests in the house. “We need to talk, in private.”

  “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of these men.”

  “Who are these guys?” Agent Hill asked.

  “These two fine gentlemen are by bodyguards.” Anthony answered.

  “And why do you need a bodyguard?” Agent Hill asked.

  Anthony didn’t answer; he just stared at the two agents. “What is it that you want?” He walked back in the living room and sat down on the couch, but before they could answer, there was another knock on the door.

  “Are you expecting anyone else?” Agent Hill asked. All three men turned and stared at Vinnie.

  “Who is it?” Anthony shouted.

  “Detective William and detective Johnson, we’d like to have a word with you.”

  Vinnie swung open the door and invited the two detectives in. “The party is in here.” Vinnie said sarcastically.

  The two detectives walked in and stood several feet away from the two agents.

 
“I didn’t realize you’se so popular.” Bruno whispered.

  “Me neither.” Anthony continued. “First the F.B.I. and now these two guys. What do you all want?”

  After several introductions, agent Shepherd began. “Last night, we received a tip from a reliable source telling us Michael was planning to take out one of his own…”

  ”And you came here to check to see if I was alright? That’s really nice of you, but as you can see I already have bodyguards.” Anthony interrupted agent Shepherd.

  “Do you know anything about this?” Agent Shepherd ignored the interruption and continued.

  “I haven’t talked to Michael in quiet awhile.”

  “Not since he killed your mother and future fiancé?” Agent Shepherd was fishing and he was hoping Anthony would bite.

  “I didn’t know he had anything to do with her death. I thought she was killed by a carjacker.” Anthony wasn’t going to let them know he knew who killed his mom.

  “Excuse me, agent Shepherd…” Detective William interrupted. “May I speak to you in private. Detective William pulled agent Shepherd a side and whispered something into his ear.

  “Well…” Agent Shepherd said, as he focused his attention back to Anthony. “The detective tells me he just got word that the found several body pieces in the lake.”

  “Who’s?” Anthony asked, hoping it wasn’t Frankie.

  “They’re not sure. They have to do a D.N.A. match to be sure, but they think it may be Chris Pappas.” Detective William waited for some kind of reaction from Anthony, but nothing was forth with.

  “That’s to bad.” Anthony said without any remorse. “He was a nice guy.”