Anthony: As Leaves Fall

By A. F. Leone

Antonio F. Leone at the age of 72 is entangled within the trials and tribulations of his son Anthony's divorce. Antonio awakens during the early hours to anxiously denote his thoughts of resolution to this bizarre "War of Leone's."
A man without a desire to read a novel in its entirety, discovers himself becoming an author from his collection of anecdotal notes as he documents each turn of events of this divorce. Antonio finds a cathartic comfort in his writings as therapeutic release in coping with the ongoing hurdles through the seasons, as leaves fall.

Hopefully, these writings will inspire future couples seeking divorce toward a direction of civil mediation prior to being misguided toward an unnecessary and almost irreversible legal battle to conclude with injury of all at the cost of their's or their children's legacy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483614724

A. F. Leone

Antonio F. Leone at the age of 72 is entangled within the trials and tribulations of his son Anthony’s divorce. Antonio awakens during the early hours to anxiously denote his thoughts of resolution to this bizarre “War of the Leone’s.”A man without a desire to read a novel in its entirety discovers himself becoming an author from his collection of anecdotal notes as he documents each turn of events of this divorce. Antonio finds a cathartic comfort in his writings as a therapeutic release in coping with the ongoing hurdles through the seasons, as leaves fall.

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Copyright © 2013 by A. F. Leone.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4836-1471-7

                Ebook          978-1-4836-1472-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The names, locations and specific content has been modified to protect the privacy of the individuals mentioned within.

Rev. date: 04/10/2013

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1   Introduction

Chapter 2   The Children

Chapter 3   In The Bedroom

Chapter 4   Their Families

Chapter 5   Their Friends

Chapter 6   The Menagerie

Chapter 7   The Other Woman

Chapter 8   Repeated Abuse

Chapter 9   The Divorce

Chapter 10   The Rape

Chapter 11   The Arrest

Chapter 12   Caught On Camera

Chapter 13   Fair & Equitable

Chapter 14   The Closing Statement

Chapter 15   The Settlement

anthony

AS LEAVES FALL

Oh! . . . January 31, 1964 was one of the most exciting, memorable and paramount days of our lives with the birth of our first child, Anthony. I can’t remember if we so eagerly confirmed our name selection for a girl at the time, but my wife and I, being from families of Italian decent, not only felt impelled to carry on the tradition of naming my father Antonio as mine, whom we both loved and admired as well, so Anthony he would be even prior to conception. The years that followed blessed my wife and I with three more children. Don’t get me wrong, we loved and nurtured all of our children equally and the first child I reference to is the experience engraved in our memory as with anyone’s first child, first grandchild, first dog, first car, first house, first love… first time.

As a young adult, Anthony’s personality, thinking and reasoning was always, Outside the box, and in many ways, quite colorful and remains that way until today. During most weekends, while in high school he began gardening and trimming our neighbors lawns, hence establishing his first means of employment.

I would guess that many of us have had a unique expression, an affectionate saying, a joke or a special action that formed a memorable and personal connection with you to a loved one. Anthony with his cousin Stephen would defy each other to have the final touch, similar to a game of tag, prior to parting at each family visit. Climbing into a tree, hiding or running away were just a few of the ridiculous ways the two had to keep apart after their final tap.

As a youngster Anthony always seemed to challenge his Uncle Carmine to a squeezing handshake… not so affectionate, but they found it bonding. I use to remind Anthony that he was being foolish in his attempt to overpower my brother Carmine who was a laborer that worked daily with his, Elephant Hands. I’m sure this was not Anthony’s motivation, but has since developed his upper body strength with attention to his grip. During the days of his high school wrestling, Anthony’s greatest defense was to hold his opponent off with the strength of his extended arm against their chest, or quickly take them down with his powerful grip. My brother Carmine now has arthritis, but if we were able to rewind his biological clock twenty years I believe today Anthony could bring Uncle Carmine to his knees in a heartbeat! The pair often reminisce of their foolish shake of affection, while Anthony and Stephen, now adults, continue tapping each other rather than saying goodbye.

I recall Anthony taking the late bus or catching a ride home with a friend after high school football practice. Often times, he would miss the bus and, of course, he would call Mom to bail him out. My wife, being asthmatic, always found herself suffering from these ventures for hours after going into the chilled air of winter, making it clear to Anthony that if he missed the bus again he would have to walk the three miles home. Wouldn’t you know it, Anthony missed the bus on the coldest day of the season and Mom refused to pick him up. I’m not sure if he ever forgave her, but we do know, he never missed the bus again.

Anthony was a good student always interested in photography, videography and quite proficient with computers. He was accepted into a prominent university and accomplished his BA in Computer Science. My wife and I financially funded any schooling our children wanted to pursue and they were very much aware of Mama’s rules, so, Anthony soon refunded the tuition for any courses he dropped and any course with a grade lower than a B.

While attending college and frequenting the nearby gym Anthony enrolled in most every exercise program available. After several months Anthony had become familiar with the instructors, the management and was quite popular with the ladies. It was about the same time that Anthony had an interest in meeting, The right one, that the gym management was looking for a new exercise instructor… what a perfect match! Anthony showed off his physical talents and his suggested exercise program and got the job as the new… "Butt-Crunch Instructor."

Anthony did meet several women and had been seeing two at the same time and was undecided as to which he wished to pursue a more serious relationship. Anthony had a quick fix to satisfy each of the ladies. He created a double-sided picture frame (for his bureau) showing each of the women on opposing sides to proudly display the woman of the day. For a time he appeared quite the romantic, at least, until he could decide who would be the one and thankfully for him, neither ever noticed… the woman on the other side.

Soon after graduation from College, with a Computer Science Degree, our Son got (what we thought was) a real job with the Canon Corporation promoting copiers. That job was short lived when Anthony informed us of continuing with his early endeavors of landscaping. I reminded him of my father’s old saying, Do you want people to say Hey Smith, sweep the floor or would you rather they say, Mr. Smith, should I sweep the floor now? And why would you want a job doing, Bull work dirtying your hands when you have a Computer Science Degree? Knowing Anthony, his answer at the time was probably, Why would anyone call me Mr. Smith when my name is Leone?"

He did, however, tell me not to worry; he felt he had established a solid customer and supplier base and his intent was to computerize his entire operation and hire sub contractors to do the Bull work; He also said he would soon be a millionaire and own a red convertible. It seemingly didn’t take too long for him to build a successful landscaping business, according to plan; he didn’t quite hit the millionaire mark, but then again, soon after, purchased a red Viper convertible.

It was the early 90’s and Toyota introduced the Supra with removable T-tops, Wow, now that was a hot car that Anthony had to own. Landscaping is primarily a seasonal business here in New Jersey, whereas, the bulk of the work and profits were at their peak as the annual seasons allowed from March thru November. During the down months our son managed to store away enough nuts to survive the winter and always kept active creating innovative ways of preparing for the following busy season, often dabbling in developing a new business venture. Anthony loved learning and continuously attended educational seminars, schooling and traveling to various exhibits enhancing his technical skills as well as expanding his knowledge of the latest in computer technologies. This one particular year during his off season Anthony decided to seek employment with Toyota to be one-step closer to the Supra and obtain professional training in salesmanship at the same time. During his short-stay as an auto salesman, I believe Anthony’s only sale was to himself, yes, you guessed it… a new T-top Toyota Supra and I might add, at a super price.

Was Anthony an angel? . . . Of course not! I believe his creative thinking and Smart ass shenanigans probably backfired a few times more than I knew. For example, years ago, I purchased a white Cadillac which had been prepared for repainting. As the purchaser, I requested to have the car painted a metallic cherry blossom pink, to match a popular Cadillac color of that era. I guess I am no angel myself, since I neglected to have the auto registration changed to pink at that time or perhaps it was just an innocent oversight on my behalf. Anyway, years later, Anthony was using the Cadillac, driving at dusk in a strange neighborhood trying to find a specific location. For the sake of this story let’s say Arbor Drive when Anthony noticed a police car across the street in a vacant gas station. Anthony immediately made a U turn pulling side by side to the police car asking, Can you tell me where Arbor Drive is? The officer then responded, Do you know you just made an illegal U turn? Anthony, frustrated replied, No, but I’m lost; should I have driven until I found assistance on the right side of the road? Let me see your license and registration? Viewing the registration the officer asked, What color is this car? Anthony replied, Pink! The officer said, No, it’s white! Anthony hesitated for a while then pointed to an automobile in the distance and said, That’s a white car, this one is pink! Well, Anthony received two tickets that evening, one for an improper registration and one for the illegal U turn. He seemingly received violations two at a time, but none ever really indicating… "Smart Ass!"

So, with two violations added to the list, his license was now in jeopardy. We have a good friend, George, a prominent divorce attorney who adored our children and agreed to do whatever he could to help Anthony (pro bono). At court, George pleaded to the Judge that Anthony was a good student and needed his vehicle at least for commuting to and from college. After consideration the Judge agreed to reduce the points on Anthony’s license if he enrolled in a defensive driving course. Early on at driving school, the instructor questioned, What annoys you most about other drivers on the road? Oh, you know Anthony’s hand went up in an instant. As the instructor recognized him, Anthony responded, When the person in front of you has to make a full stop at a stop sign! Well, the rest of the classmates cheered in agreement and we now know why they too were there! Some months had gone by when I noticed a Pennsylvania violation in Anthony’s room and questioned him about it saying, You could lose your license! He replied, No, I’ll give it to my attorney! "Your Attorney? He’s my friend who did a favor for me… when the hell did you ever retain an attorney?"

Our family generations, both older and younger, and his vast family of friends all have the utmost respect and admiration for Anthony’s innate, creative business sense, innovative ideas and inventive mind-set. Tony Robbins, the renowned Motivational Speaker is Anthony’s idol, whom he met personally and enrolled in several of Tony’s seminars, some of which he has traveled great distances to attend. How innovative can you get cutting lawns? I’ll tell you about several business ventures of Anthony’s before I disclose his approach to enhancing his landscape business of today.

Anthony dabbled in various businesses and I frequently imagined he was born an entrepreneur. My partner and I developed a successful service business in midtown Manhattan and my children and partner’s children, each as youngsters, were invited and enjoyed working as messengers, delivering light packages to nearby accounts during their