Capo: a Tale of Life in the Mafia

By Michael Donnelly

Capo tells the violent story of Frankie Scalise. Growing up in the Mafia entrenched streets of the Red hook section of New York with his two friends, Gianni Leone and Salvatore Tramonti, the three boys quickly become seduced by the lifestyle of the local "wiseguys".

The three boys are taken under the wing of a respected Capo in the Costanza crime family where they soon become respected associates of the family.

Working his way up the ranks, Frankie is soon promoted to the position of Capo within the Family where he is put in charge of his own crew and is faced with decisions which will question his loyalty and how far he is willing to go for the Family.

Capo is a story spanning five decades and two generations of life in the Mafia and the often violent and turbulent world in which these men live.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Donnelly
• Release date: Jan 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311357175

Michael Donnelly

I am a new author who has just finished my first novel. I currently work in a busy office but would hope that my dreams of telling captivating stories for a living will eventually come to fruition. I currently reside in Glasgow with my wife, pet dog and rabbit. My loves are film and film making and I have written and directed a number of short films. I have always had a passion for writing and felt that the time is right that I attempt my own novel. My main influences would be horror and crime cinema from all over the world including Italy, Japan, China and the UK. My favourite authors would be Mario Puzo, Jack Ketchum, Mick Foley and James Herbert.

Book preview

Thanks to Claire

Your love and support has kept me going through all of the tough times.

To Ray for being a true friend, my Parents for being the best in the world and to everyone else who knows how important they are in my life.

CAPO

A Novel by

Michael Donnelly

Digital Edition | Cover and content Copyright 2014 Michael Donnelly

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Prologue

From the files of the FBI (1975):

Since the 1800s, criminal gangs from various parts of Italy have infiltrated the U.S. These are split by region and over the course of the last hundred years they have impacted not just the U.S, but the entire world.

The highest impact comes from descendants of the Sicilian Mafia, otherwise known to us as La Cosa Nostra which roughly translates as This thing of ours. This phrase gives us an indication into their values and we now know, after much investigation and surveillance, that the Sicilian criminals have no trust in anyone, even from other parts of Italy such as Naples or Calabria and as such, have been very effective so far in protecting themselves from outsiders.

They further isolate themselves from the rest of the criminal underworld by taking part in membership rituals, aimed at building a sense of brotherhood and loyalty, to young men who have full Sicilian heritage. After the membership ritual these members are then known as Made members.

After much investigation, it has come to the bureau's attention that the highest concentration of Mafia members seems to be located within the five burroughs of New York. This group has undergone many internal struggles for power so in an act of self preservation they have come to an agreement wherein there lies a heirarchy.

Heirarchy of the New York Mafia

This heirarchy is split between five groups, known as Families and the heads of these groups are known as the Father, Godfather Boss or Don of these so called Families. These phrases give us further insight into how these groups operate, with the boss of these Families being treated as a Patriarch and being seen as the man who they bestow the highest honor.

The next stage of the Family Heirarchy is the Underboss, who is essentially in charge of the Family in the absence of the boss.

This is followed by the Lieutenant who is the person who deals directly with the underboss and relays messages to the crew leaders. This role seems to be somewhat optional as some groups have no one who seems to be identified in that position.

The Crew leaders are known as Captain, Capo or Skipper. The Capos are responsible for overseeing the daily management of the lower level members, organised into groups, known as Crews.

Finally, the lowest level of made members is the Street soldier or Soldato. The Soldiers are expected to keep the revenue flowing, which then in turn makes its way up the heirarchy where a percentage of all money earned makes its way to the Boss of each family.

Each Soldier can have any number of Associates or Wiseguys affiliated with them but these are not inducted members into the Family and can be from any background.

The Five Families of New York

After extensive surveillance and information from inside sources, we have managed to establish the bosses of each of the five families:

Costanza Family – Based in Brooklyn and the Red Hook section of New York. Boss – Paul Costanza. Costanza has been suspected of Multiple cases of murder and extortion. Is also believed to have organised the murder of Roberto Mangano, who was known as the previous boss of the Family. Mangano was killed in a New york steakhouse with another man, believed to be the underboss of the family.

Caminito Family – Based in the Bronx and Staten Island. Boss – Albert Caminito. Arrested in 1954 for the murder of a Jewish Banker. No witnesses or murder weapon so no charges were filed. The Caminito Family is known as The Heroin Family within the underworld due to their high level of drug dealing. This has led to the family being exiled from the commission.

Ferrara Family – Based in Queens and New Jersey. Boss – Michael Ferrara. Alias - Don Ferro, Big Mike and Mikey Boy. Filed as self employed owner of multiple construction companies. No corroborated evidence of unlawful activity however is known to specialise in fraud and Money Laundering.

Castellari Family – Based in Brooklyn, Queens and Long island. Boss – Thomas Castellari. Alias - Larry the Jaw Don Jaws and Jaws. Hospitilized in 1952 with a bullet that was lodged in his Jaw, which resulted in nerve damage and making Castellari talk through the side of his mouth. His swollen Jaw due to the injury had led to a number of incensitive nicknames and he has been known to fly into a blind rage in public if anyone refers to him by these nicknames. Is believed to have links to Sicilian Mafioso and has been suspected of importing Sicilian criminals to live illegally in America.

Mancini Family – Based in Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens. Boss -  Carmine Mancini. Is referred to as The Boss of Bosses. The Mancini family is by far the largest of all of the five families and their influence spans all around New York. Mancini is suspected of the 1966 murder of Don Giovanni Bollado, who was the previous boss of the family. After some internal warfare between two rival factions, Carmine Mancini established himself as the new Boss of the Family.

Book 1

Chapter 1

1966

Frankie Scalise and Gianni Leone had gone to the movies. They both loved to go see the Saturday matinees but little Salvatore Tramonti hated movies so they left him on his bike at the corner of Hicks street.

I fuckin’ hate going to that theatre. It always smells like rat piss. Salvatore Tramonti was always complaining when they didn’t do what he wanted them to do.

Hey c’mon. Stop breakin’ balls. You're gonna' love this one. Gianni tried reasoning with Salvatore but he knew there was no way Salvatore would go with them so he and Frankie had decided to just go on without him.

It was the summer of 1966 and this had been one of the hottest summers the city had ever had. The fact they were off school for summer was lost on the three boys as they had stopped going to school long ago and no amount of beatings from their parents would change that. The three boys reasoned that anything they would need to learn they could learn on the streets. On this Saturday Frankie and Johnnie had decided to go sneak into the new gangster picture that had opened 3 weeks before, The St Valentine’s day massacre. They had seen it twice already and they loved it. It was a movie adaptation of Al Capone and the events leading up to the notorious St Valentine’s day shooting.

They walked past the small number of people queuing to get in at the box office and round to the side fire exit where Gianni posted himself as the lookout. Frankie forced his fingers into the small opening of the door and he saw the small plank of wood that was wedged at the bottom of the door keeping it slightly open from the other side. This was an unspoken rule of the kids in the neighbourhood that if you were going to the cinema you would take a piece of wood to wedge into the doorframe and when someone else was coming they could get in the side entrance. The piece of wood would remain there until someone who worked in the cinema noticed and removed it. Sometimes the cinema would be full of kids and less than half of them had paid. Frankie and Gianni made sure the coast was clear and they walked straight into the packed cinema and took their seats. They were just in time to catch the end of the newsreel before the movie.

An hour and a half later they were watching their favourite scene. The actual massacre itself. The room is full of wiseguys playing cards when the cops bust in and line the men up for arrest. One cop searches the men for any concealed weapons. The men protesting saying they would be out by the morning. The hapless mechanic caught in the bust because he agreed to work on his day off. The quietness of the scene unfolding as the cops open the side door and two men in raincoats walk in quietly. They pull back their long coats to reveal the hidden Tommy guns and they open fire. Killing indiscriminately, they shoot everyone in the room. The bullets ricochet off the wall as they all fall to the floor in a flurry of blood and gunfire. Frankie and Johnnie look at each other as if it was the greatest thing in the world they had just witnessed.

Each time they come out of the movie they feel the adrenaline pulse through them as if they had been running for three days.

Wow. Each time I see it, it just seems to get better and better. Frankie said with a huge grin, pretending to be wielding a Tommy gun.

I don’t know why Sal doesn’t like movies like this. Johnnie replied.

They walked home slowly talking about the movie and what it would be like to grow up as bootleggers in Chicago. Instead of firemen or cops, these kids really wanted to be bootleggers in Al Capone’s organisation. This was a common attitude among the neighbourhood kids that instead of idolising John Wayne and other traditional good guys they would look up to the neighbourhood wiseguys. There were no John Wayne's in the real world as far as Frankie and Gianni could tell.

1966 was the year a thirty year long stalemate between three of the five families came to an end. The death of boss Giancarlo Simonelli by heart attack brings to an end the bloodiest time in mafia history. In that time almost 312 people were found murdered in gangland style hits. Over 100 others in that time went  missing and still to this day their cases remain open and their bodies remain missing. The peace between the families starting in 1966 would only last but a short time.  

Frankie Scalise was born and raised in the Red Hook section on the south side of Brooklyn in 1954. He and Gianni had been born in the space of months apart with Frankie being the eldest and their families stayed only blocks away from each other so it was inevitable that they would become friends. Both of their mothers attended the church at Verona street and they had gotten to become friends themselves. Among subjects covered would be the weaknesses of their husbands and men in general. Frankie's mother would explain how her no good deadbeat husband would only show up for a couple of hours at a time only to be gone for three and four nights. How they would be so hard up for money she would be thinking of pawning her engagement ring just to make the rent and then suddenly Frankie's father would return with pockets overflowing with cash. It would be enough for them to live off comfortably for the next few weeks but only for the money to be taken away again and gambled until it was lost. A vicious circle would seem to perpetually revolve around these women and their husbands. It wasn’t strange to these women for it was the same for everyone  who came from that neighbourhood.

It was in this reality that Frankie grew up and with him as always was his best friend Gianni Leone. Frankie rarely ever saw his father. He would see his father for a few hours in the morning if he had returned home at all when he was drunk and had come back to sleep off his hangover. When he grew up he wondered why his Mother put up with it so much but then he wasn’t able to question his parents. If he ever questioned his parents he was always left with a sore face or a black eye so he just stopped asking. Gianni's mother and father were second generation Sicilian and his father had gotten a job as a bus driver in the city. It was a decent job but it still didn’t pay too well. Gianni’s father was a straight laced man whose only vice was gambling. If he was questioned about his addiction he would lash out violently. On the other hand, he tried to instil a good work ethic and a sense of right and wrong in Gianni but living in that neighbourhood showed contradictions with everything he was trying to teach his son. A neighbourhood where kids would see the wiseguys outside their social clubs, throwing money around during their dice games while the kids would be looking on, memorising their names and emulating their mannerisms.

When they were 12 they met a younger kid from around the neighbourhood called Salvatore Tramonti. He was a funny kid so they kept him around. He was always telling jokes and laughing. It turned out his father had been killed in Vietnam and his mother was struggling to bring him up so she sent him to his grandparents when he was still just a young child. His grandparents were a devoutly catholic couple and they always took Salvatore to church on a Sunday. Salvatore wasn’t pleased with this and he hated the fact that every Sunday he had to be trapped in a small sweaty church for an hour listening to the priest talk about things he had no interest in and no understanding of. As he grew up he began to hate Jesus, saying he was a faggot for letting the Romans kill him. He would then go into a long exaggerated story as to what he would do with each and every Roman soldier who even dared to look at him the wrong way. Salvatore had the New York attitude and that’s why Frankie and Johnnie liked him so much.

They started running minor dice games for their friends. Pretty soon every kid in the neighbourhood was involved in the games. They would all charge the other kids a nickel each to play and the three of them were the only people who were guaranteed to walk away with money. If any of the kids got out of line Sal was first to jump in with his fists. He got into a lot of fights and everyone feared him even although he was younger than a lot of the kids he was beating up. They would always hang out around the back of a small pizzeria called Dario's. Frankie’s dad was friendly with the owner and when he found out about Frankie's games, he just smiled and handed Frankie a 10 dollar bill and told him to keep up the good work. The owner of Dario's was a man named Bobby Mancini. Later Frankie overheard his father call him meatballs. All the guys his father knew seemed to have these strange nicknames like they had come from a comic book but he always respectfully called him Sir. Bobby liked that and he always looked out for the young boy. It turned out that unbeknownst to Frankie, Bobby was the capo of the crew his father was a part of.

It was 1967 and Frankie had just turned 13 when his father went missing. At first Frankie thought his father was away on one of his extra long trips but when he didn’t show after three weeks he knew in his gut something was wrong. His mother didn’t seem phased. He thought it strange but his mother was almost acting like she expected it to happen. Soon afterwards that he knew his father probably wouldn’t be coming home and Bobby seemed to take a special interest in him after that.

Bobby meatballs never spoke about Frankie’s father. It was almost forbidden to say his name. When he was much older he managed to piece together a brief timeline in his family tree. He discovered his grandfather’s name was Giovanni Lombardo Scalise. Frankie's father was born in America after his pregnant Grandmother was sent there from their native Sicily just before the war. Frankie's Grandfather, Giovanni was born and lived in the small poverty stricken Sicilian town of Montelepre. When he grew strong he became a soldato, or soldier for the local Mafia, referred to in Sicily as the ‘friends of the friends’.

Italy was in a state of turmoil as Mussolini’s armies took over Italy. He then set his sights on the small province of Sicily. Mussolini knew that his most dangerous threat would be from this violent and ever ready to fight band of  men so he sent his armies to destroy the very backbone of the Mafia. They were ruthless against any suspected members, often utilising their power of execution on anyone they suspected of being a part of the Mafia. It was at this time the young Giovanni Lombardo Scalise decided to send his young pregnant wife to the land of America and send for her and his son after Mussolini had been taken down.

Unfortunately, during a plot to kill one of the fascist chiefs, they were discovered trying to place a car bomb under the car and during the struggle to escape he and his younger cousin were killed. They were shot a total of 73 times. Giovanni Lombardo Scalise was 24 years of age when he died.

The young son of Giovanni Lombardo Scalise was born 4 days after the incident that claimed his father’s life and he was named Fiore Giovanni Scalise. That name would later be changed by one of the young Irish kids who couldn’t pronounce his name so he called him Frank. The name stuck and everyone on the streets knew him as Frank. His mother was the only one to call him by his correct name of Fiore.

When Frank was growing up he became friends with a boy named Paulie Costanza who was a few years older than him. They got into a lot of trouble with the police and they quickly came to the attention of the local Wiseguys. Once it was discovered who Frank's father was, and his reputation in sicily, the American wiseguys took him in as someone to be trusted. He was shown the ways of Wiseguys in America. They were always dressed sharply and he admired them.

He started running errands for the local Wiseguys. They explained to him the chain of command, the commission and the correct ways of acting around made members.  Frank was a quick learner and became an associate at a very young age. As an associate he had the protection of the initiated member who had been responsible for him. He was born into the Mafia so it was only a matter of time before he himself was initiated.

Before Frank could be initiated he had to 'make his bones' on a crooked bookie who had beat up the young girlfriend of a made member. The bookie's death came swiftly. Frank walked up behind him with a .38 service revolver in his pocket. He aimed at the back of the bookies head and the pop that came from the gun muzzle ended the bookies life and started the life of Frank as a soldier.

Over the course of the years Frank was involved in a number of high profile hits. He and Johnny ‘knuckles’ Rabisi were the ones who masterminded the hit of the capo Sam ‘Hardface’ Metracelli. Metracelli was named after a particular fight he was in when he ended up with a smashed cheekbone, broken palette and fractured eye socket but he still beat the living hell out of the other man and won the fight. He now looked like a Picasso painting because of the botched attempt at plastic surgery he received from a back door surgeon. When Sam Metracelli and a fellow wiseguy by the name of Joe Marconi were driving out of a lounge that they owned, a man dressed in rags with a shopping trolley walked in the way of the oncoming car. When the car stopped in front of the man they sounded the horn to get him to move but when the man looked up he pulled an automatic pistol out of his belt. They never noticed the second man running towards the vehicle from the side with a sawn off shotgun in his hands. The gunmen opened  fire and the blasts pierced the night silence. The first shot penetrated the windshield and punched  itself into the chest of Sam Metracelli. The second shot lodged in the eye socket as blood sprayed everywhere. The screaming Joe Marconi tried to get down under the dash but the buckshot from the shotgun practically exploded his chest wide open. As the gunmen peppered the car with rounds there were pieces of glass, blood and shrapnel flying in all directions. By the time the last round was fired, Sam and Joe had been eviscerated.

Frank was a very loyal asset and was extremely well respected but the story that Frankie was able to establish at the time of his father’s death was that there was a power struggle within the family. It became clear that Frank’s long time friend Paulie Costanza and a bunch of other wiseguys were unhappy with the current leadership. They felt that the current boss of the family, Robert Mangano was out of touch with the lower level members. They felt that a change was needed and that was when Frank and a number of other wiseguys, including 'Knuckles' Rabisi went missing while others turned up dead.

The war was quickly resolved after the band of young men took their grievance to the heads of the commission. Don Mangano was out for dinner with his underboss when a number of masked men, whose identities have remained underworld rumour, entered from the back entrance, armed with machine guns and opened fire on the table. The investigating detectives discovered a tank filled with lobsters where they picked out part of a hand that had been blown clean off of one of the victims. A gold middle ring finger was still attached to what remained of the hand.

From that day onwards the commission recognised Paul Costanza as boss and what was previously known as the Mangano family became the Costanza family.

Chapter 2

Frankie, Gianni and Sal were running through their usual routine. They were holding their usual dice games while they saw different people come and go from the pizzeria. Each vistor would be bringing envelopes and leaving empty handed so Frankie figured the visitors were collectors for Bobby and they would be bringing the weekly take. Normally Bobby would be sitting inside filling the pizzeria with cigar smoke while the rest of Bobby's crew sat around talking about scores, women and general chit chat. Frankie and the boys knew that Bobby was a big deal in the neighbourhood as he never went anywhere. People always came to him. As far as Frankie and the other boys knew Bobby was the big boss as he had the authority that people respected.

During this particular day the boys turned around to see a black lincoln pulling up to the curb alongside the pizzeria. He knew there was someone important in that car so the boys stopped their games to go and see. The boys had never seen Bobby move so fast in their lives as Bobby walked right up to the back door of the Lincoln to open it.

As the back door opened they saw a middle aged man step out of the vehicle. The kids had never seen Bobby treat someone with so much respect as the two men kissed each other on the cheek. The two men spoke briefly in Italian. As they finished speaking Bobby turned around to walk back into the pizzeria. The man turned around to see the kids looking on.

Hey Bobby, who’re the kids? Don’t they look like a frightening bunch?

The kids? Aah, they’re a couple of kids from the neighbourhood. Just running dice games like we used to. Bobby beckoned Frankie over.

Actually there’s one kid I think you’d wanna meet. This is Frank's kid. He has the same face and eyes don’t you think?

Fuck. This is Frank’s kid?

The man walked over to Frankie and bent down slightly so that they were at eye level.

 I knew you’re pop son. My names Paul Costanza. I was a friend of your dad’s.

Pleased to meet you sir. Frankie said politely.

Sir? You’re mom did good raising you kid. You don’t need to call me sir Frankie. Paulie will do just fine. Paulie spoke with a broad brooklyn accent.

Ok, Paulie. Frankie didn't feel intimidated as Paulie seemed friendly.

Hey Paul. These kids charge the neighborhood kids a nickel each to play. Smart huh? I wish I had his brains when I was a kid. Bobby said.

You like makin' money kid? Paul put his arm around Frankie's kneck and pulled him in as if to share a secret.

Yeah sure.

You been chargin’ them all a nickel to play? That’s very smart of you. I started out very similar. You see you gotta have control of somethin’. That way you’ll always make money from it. Find yourself a business and let it grow. Pretty soon you may be earning as much as me. Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out a crisp $10 note and handed it to Frankie.

Don't be greedy. Sometimes you gotta let money go so that you get a bigger return in the future. You gotta be smart with your money. Y'hear me?

Sure.

If I give you this 10 dollars what will you do with it?

I don't know. What would you do with it? Frankie looked at Paul with confusion on his face.

Me? I would lend the money and collect the interest. You gotta learn how to make your money work for you. You understand? Frankie nodded. Paul put the note into Frankie's hand and Frankie put the note in his pocket.

Ok, The lessons over. Go win some money from your friends. Paul tousled Frankie's hair as he walked back to his friends.

Paul went into the pizzeria and Bobby locked the door behind them while Frankie and the kids went back to their game. Around twenty minutes later the two men came back outside and as Paul said his farewells to Bobby he shot Frankie a nod which Frankie returned. Paul got back into the Lincoln.

He was a good friend of your father’s. Bobby said as the car drove into the distance.

From that day on Bobby included the kids a lot more. First he started getting them to run errands. They were taking pieces of paper to certain houses to give to the guys who answered the doors. Frankie, Gianni and Salvatore knew them from around the neighbourhood. They were all local legends and it got to a point that the guys started remembering their names also and every time they were getting ten to fifty dollars each time for delivering envelopes. The boys were making more money than they knew what to do with. Soon it would be time for them to move up in the world.

When Frankie was sixteen and just turning seventeen Bobby called him, Gianni and Sal into the pizzeria.

"Hey. You boys are turning into really good prospects. That's why I've gone on the record with you all. I'm now you're sponsor. If you do anything you've got me behind you and if anyone has a beef with you they