Passion and Power

By John Michele

John Verra is a young man moving to a much bigger stage. He arrives with a love and belief in the founding principles of our country. He is not in Washington, DC, but living in another shinning city on a hill, or so he believes, Boston, Massachusetts, a town where he attended college and falls in love.

As a member of the city council, a seat in Boston's governing body, attained because of the sacrifice of a new friend, he eventually realizes he is politically naive and inexperienced and to some of like mind, to be worthy of their attention. To others to be used.

Who should he trust? Too many in and out of government have their own personal agendas. So does he. His beliefs about government are based upon essentially three human qualities--a passion for power and where it can take one, personal freedom, not given by the laws of government but by God; and the recognition that none of us are angels.

Why does he visit the country of his grandparents, Sicily? What is he looking for, and where will it take him with his beliefs strengthened or compromise to get along as do many?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662482700

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Passion and Power

John Michele

Copyright © 2022 John Michele

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

Author photograph courtesy of Dachowski Photography

ISBN 978-1-6624-8261-8 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8270-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Author's Acknowledgments

Author's Note

Authors Words About His Writing Style

Praise for John Michele's Trilogy

Author's Additional Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

About the Author

Author's Acknowledgments

To my wife, Catherine; my mother, Beatrice; my grandmothers, my many aunts, my daughters, Patrice and Susan; my daughter-in-law, Karin; and to a special friend, Joanne; I offer this short story.

Author's Note

It is important and necessary to state that my story was not taken from crime news or real events. A few characters may have been part of my extended family and actual first names may have been used. Today, reality seems to cloud imagination but not destroy it. There may be unavoidable unpleasant comparisons of a name, place, or situation. However, one cannot be held responsible for the roll of the dice, better described as chance. This story is pure and complete fiction.

Authors Words About His Writing Style

When writing a story, I work to write in a style that allows the reader to walk along and identify with each character. These Sicilian American mysteries, Club Morocco, Promises, and Passion and Power, are quick, easy reads that give insight into the immigrant experience of the '40s and '50s as well as the years which follow for their family members into the middle of the twentieth century.

Praise for John Michele's Trilogy

Passion and Power is book three, which began with Club Morocco and follows Promises.

TOP REVIEWS FROM UNITED STATES READERS

Very interesting and enjoyable reading. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Looking forward to John Michele's future books.—Jessie A. Mc.

When is the movie? John Michele's first novel reads like a classic film noir, crackling dialogue wrapped around a Sicilian immigrant family's story. Club Morocco would make a great film. I hope there are future stories from Mr. Michele following this family's immigrant journey.—Buddy Nelson

Promises is a great sequel to Club Morocco. Loved this sequel. Promises finds John Boy [Verra} now an adult tangled up in the political machinations and crime in Boston. Though fictional, it is a Boston that echoes its past and comes alive with the characters such as Chubby Presto. A great read, and I look forward to what Mr. Michele creates next for this colorful cast of characters.—Buddy Nelson

Quick, easy historical fiction read! Loved reading about the unconditional bonds of family during a time in history that created the greatest generation.—Dina

Old-school Boston neighborhood meets crime families, meets politics, meets secrets, and Promises.—Dina

A tight-knit Sicilian family fighting corruption their own way. Wonderful story of a Sicilian family that love, protect each other, and ultimately have to take matters into their own hands when a situation spins out of control.—P. Pening

Great new writer! Really enjoyed this book! It's a unique perspective and a nice, quick read! Hope John Michele authors more!!—William Phelan

Enjoyable! Very enjoyable book!—Susan Hillhouse

Author's Additional Acknowledgments

The Leopard

It tells the story of a Sicilian aristocrat living at the time of the Risorgimento, who finds himself engulfed by the tides of history. And it records in vivid detail his shrewd responses to those tides, along with his pessimism and his honest distaste for much of what that history was forcing him to accommodate, so wrote Wilfred M. McClay, Professor at the University of Oklahoma. This author's grandparents lived through those very times in the late 1800 before they immigrated to the Unites States.

The film critic Roger Ebert, on September 14, 2003, wrote these words, "The Leopard was written by the only man who could have written it, directed by the only man who could have directed it, and stars the only man who could have played its title character."

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, a Sicilian aristocrat, wrote the story out of his own experiences and based it on his great-grandfather.

Cantine Sollami

Don Michele Sollami, in times, marked by misery and contrasts; transformed lands and cultivated only with wheat into vineyards. Continuing tradition and innovation, today, his son, Giovanni; and his three grandchildren, Michele, Pierluigi, and Fabio; implement with passion and extreme attention the evolution of even better wines, full of uniqueness. The people and the lands that produce them are unique as well. Michele is the husband to this author's cugino, Rosa Linda Giuffre. Their wines are superb.

Teatro Massimo

The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II. It is the biggest in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. Its architect was Giovan Basile. He was inspired by ancient and classical Sicilian architecture, and thus, the exterior was designed in the high neoclassical style, incorporating elements of the Greek temples at Selinunte and Agrigento.

The final scenes of The Godfather Part III were filmed at the theatre, where the uncle of Francis Ford Coppola, the composer, and conductor Anton Coppola, is shown conducting the opera, Cavalleria rusticana.

Sicily's most famous tree

The chestnut tree of one hundred horses is located in the small town of Sant'Alfio, where you would hardly expect a tree that could be four thousand years old. It is found growing happily on the side of Sicily's Mount Etna, especially when you consider that Etna has experienced about seventy eruptions since 1600 AD, and the tree is only a mere 7.2 kilometers from the volcano's crater.

Legend dictates that during a violent rainstorm, Princess Giovanna of Aragon, who was traveling with a mounted suite of around a hundred retainers and knights, sought shelter under the huge tree, and due to its great size, everyone remained dry.

Palermo

The city was founded in 734 BC and today, has a population of around six hundred eighty thousand people and a metropolitan population of around 1.2 million. It is the cultural, economic, and tourism capital of Sicily. It is a city rich in history, culture, art, music, and food. Numerous tourists are attracted to the city for its appealing climate, night life, and its churches and palaces and buildings. It is now among the top tourist destinations in Italy and Europe.

Chapter 1

The First Meeting

You're the new guy, John Verra. Tell me kid, how did it feel having Presto's blood spilling all over your new suit?

Now that is some greeting. Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?

Don't be so thin-skinned. Just pulling your leg. Everyone in Boston knows who you are. We both represent immigrant neighborhoods where people bluntly speak their minds. Mine is in Southie with the Micks, and yours is in East Boston with the Wops. I'm Joe Kelly, been in this seat for almost fifteen years, so I know more of what's going on than most of the other members. Don't worry, I'll steer you straight.

Thanks, but I can do my own steering.

Don't be a smart-ass, kid. Boston is like any other big city. It can eat you alive if you don't fit. Consider yourself lucky to have won. If Chubby were alive, he would have won.

Don't I know it, but if he were alive, I would have been the one spilling my blood. He saved my life when he jumped in front of me.

You're right, he did. Be careful kid, someone does not think highly of you. Why is that, John Boy? What's your game plan?

Joe, I will do what is in the best interest of the voters in East Boston. That's my game plan. And stop with that John Boy shit.

Why? It's all over the newspapers and TV. John, the meeting is about to start. I'll introduce you to the other members later.

Okay, Joe, but where is Mayor Harris?

"He comes in later after we review the prior meeting minutes and review reports. Harris has a copy of all the necessary information, so he will arrive in about one hour. Usually shows if it's necessary and if he is pushing some plan, but he will today because it is the first meeting after our elections. Didn't you work in the mayor's office? He comes from Breakheart where you're from, right?

Ya, that's right.

I read about you and Club Morocco in the Globe story during the election run. You were that kid, John Boy, when the chief was clubbed to death. Some say you know more than you're letting on about that.

Mr. Kelly—

Call me Joe, kid

Joe, that's water over the dam, and I'm sick of talking about it. And as you say, I was just a kid back then. Everyone who was a suspect is dead, so let's let drop it.

But it is an unsolved murder, right kid?

*****

Good morning, June.

Hello, John, that was a long meeting.

It was. Not much was accomplished except formally meeting each other. Mayor Harris prolonged it with talk about his and each member's election efforts, especially the newcomers like me and what he wanted to accomplish during the year.

I could see you were sitting next to Joe Kelly. John, be careful when dealing with him. He knows all the tricks.

I guessed that, but why are you telling me that?

John, I have family in Southie. In fact, I grew up there.

But you live in Melrose, don't you?

I had to get out of there. For me, it was a smothering existence.

Why?

Because of people like Joe Kelly.

June, let's not talk like this in city hall. How about dinner one night soon but not in Boston?

Pick me up. I know a place in Lynnfield. Very private, no one will know us, and the food is great. I have much more to explain about Joe. How about tomorrow night?

Let's do it.

*****

John, I love the Colonial. The food and service is top notch, and we can relax and enjoy each other's company while we talk business.

June Bug, I should have asked you out long ago.

Forget that nickname. Speaking of names, are you using Dolf?

Yes, at times, if the situation fits.

When?

Not now, I'll explain later. Let's talk about Joe Kelly. He is more of a concern to me.

Joe Kelly is related to Kevin Black.

You mean the thief in Southie, that Kevin Black?

Yes, and Joe Kelly's brother is part of Black's muscle. He is a big redhead with a quick temper.

I know the guy. He picked me up for a meeting last summer with Black. And I do mean picked me up physically with the help of another guy, like a lamb going to the slaughter.

Watch yourself with any of Black's followers. I'm sure that applies to Joe Kelly.

June, don't put yourself in the middle of any situation that will harm you. But if you hear anything that does not seem right at city hall, even with the mayor, quietly give me a heads up. I have a feeling I'm being given too much attention for a new city council member. Here is the waitress for our dinner orders.

John, before our food arrives, I need to ask you a question. You have been working for Lindy Harris for about four or five years. How did you manage to do that right out of college?

Harris and my uncle Jim were good friends where they grew up in Breakheart. Jim asked Lindy to give me a shot, first as an unpaid intern, and if I performed well, he would keep me on as part of the paid staff. You do know I left the mayor's office when I won the election. Now, I need to find a job outside of politics. How long have you been in your position at city hall?

This is what I need to tell you. I've been here for almost three years. Here is the important part. It was Joe Kelly who put in a word for me.

"What?"

When my mom died, he found out that I was looking for a job. You see, John, my mom was Joe Kelly's cousin. The Irish in Southie stick together.

"I can see that, even more than