Borgata

Borgata

4:00 PM. Tuesday, 1971

Needle drop. Record scratch. The honey gold voices of long forgotten Italian opera singers play, belting high notes and deep tones through the vinyl. The music plays in this small Queens town house. Home to one. Maria Vincenzo. She’s in her late 60s, and is the Widow of Don Vincenzo, formally Antonio Vincenzo. Sicilian mob boss, running a small family operation in Queens. He wanted skin in the game. But the New York organized crime underworld is exclusive, especially to Sicilians. He crossed one too many lines, stepped on a few too many toes and bit off a lot more than he could chew. He and his brother, Uncle Carlo, but only ever referred to as Uncle, were found belly up in the Hudson River. Closed casket. Buckshot buying real estate in their skulls. It was work of anyone of the prominent New York families. The NYPD closed the case immediately. No need to investigate mob crime when those pomade-slick-backed hoods are feeding you under the table.

Maria was…relieved when she heard of her husband’s death. Though she would never tell anyone this, the mob life was never for her. Wondering every night if your man would come back alive. Watching your kids fade away into the darkness. Guns hidden in the cupboard. Money in the cookie jar. Can’t go here because of the Valentini’s, can’t go there because of the Giuseppe’s. This never stopped. The Don’s wife is an exhausting job, in need of its own title.

Maria was starting this music because she was about to begin cooking. Not for herself. She was cooking a feast. Her whole family was coming over. Her sons Jimmy and Steven and their wives Andrea and Stephanie. Her daughter Rosa and her toddler son Michael. Her two nephews Johnny and Leo. They usually bring along their girlfriend of the week. Lastly, her brother-in-law Frank. He was close with Carlo and Antonio, but never in the family business; running a machine shop out of Brooklyn.

She’s cooking a classic meat sauce. With such pace and nonchalance, it shows she’s done it a million times before. She’s searing veal neck, beef shank and sweet Italian sausage in a stock pot. Garlic and onions serve as an aromatic, filling the entire neighborhood with its scent. Then goes in the tomato paste, whole Roma tomatoes, a sprig of basil and some salt and pepper. She brings it to a rapid boil, then turns the heat down. Letting it cook on the stove until the kids arrive. She tops the pot, and there’s a knock at the door.

“Come in! Come in!” she shouts. The door opens, and footsteps start pounding the wood floor. Coming into the kitchen is Jimmy and Andrea, then Rosa and her son.

“Ma great to see ya!” Jimmy shouts then kisses his mother on the cheeks. He’s slim and handsome. Wearing a nice brown suit without a tie. Andrea comes in to hug her mother-in-law. Also, attractive but wears way too much makeup. Michael runs around the room, shouting like any toddler would. Jimmy picks him up and holds him. Kisses him on the cheek. “You’re getting bigger every day,” Jimmy says.

“My mommy says I’m gonna be big and strong one day!” Michael says with a smile.

“Well, if you need some inspiration, here I am,” Jimmy says with false bravado, flexing his bicep through his jacket. Michael grabs his arm.

Rosa steps forward, rolling her eyes at her brother. “Hi ma,” she sighs, and gives her mom a hug. Rosa looks tired, wearing bags under her eyes and some untamed hair.

“Wine is in the dining room. Everyone out of the kitchen while I’m cooking, unless you’re going to help out,” Maria orders. Jimmy runs into the dining room with his nephew. Andrea follows, looking for the wine. Rosa stays, putting her back up against the wall. Digging in her pockets. “You gonna help cook?” Maria asks.

“I can,” her daughter responds. Still digging in her pockets.

“How’s Mikey?”

“Kicking my ass mom. Look at me.”

“That’s why you never marry a man in the mafia.”

“He didn’t die ma, he was a scumbag sleeping around with other women!”

“Only a mafia man does that.” Maria stirs her sauce. Gets out another pot and fills it with water. “If you ever need me to watch him.”

“No ma it’s not that. It’s just hard to juggle everything, you know?” She pulls out a pack of cigarettes. Sticking one in her mouth.

“Oh, I know,” Maria looks up and sees her daughter sparking a lighter with a cancer stick in her mouth. “Not in this house. Gotta smoke? Take it outside.” Rosa rolls her eyes and walks out of the back door. Maria starts to boil the pot of water.

Then more footsteps enter the house, voices coloring it. Coming into the Kitchen is Steven and his wife Stephanie. Steven is also tall, thin, and handsome. Wearing a black suit with a black tie, and a red stain near is collar. Maria notices this and clenches her jaw and sighs. He also holds a brown paper box in his right hand, which is tied up in string. Stephanie is blonde and tall, no trace of Italian in her blood. Maria likes this. She smiles when she sees her daughter-in-law and gives her a big hug.

“Nice to see ya sweetheart” Maria says with a smile.

“Thank you for having me again”

“Anytime.” Maria has a big smile. Stephanie steps away and Steven walks forward. Maria’s smile disappears.

“What? Not happy to see your favorite son?” Steven jokes with her. Gives her a hug. “Missed you mom,” Jimmy and Andrea start making their way in from the dining room. “Woulda been here earlier, but I got caught up at work.”

“Like that job huh?” he nods to her questioning. “Got a good retirement plan in place. Saving for any future kids?” She’s prodding at him.

Steven laughs. Thinks she is joking. “What’s next? Start talking about a 401k? Get outta here ma!” He walks past her, she rolls her eyes. He goes up to his brother, who’s finishing giving Stephanie a hug.

“Look at this guy—woah, looks like you spilled a little marinara on your collar,” Jimmy says, pointing to the blood stain on Steven’s shirt. Steven’s embarrassed, caught with his pants down.

“Shit man. I just got off work.” He buttons up his jacket, trying to cover it.

“Eating in the same clothes you’re working in?”

“I was running late!”

“What’s in the box?” Jimmy asks, making Steven smile.

“Come in here.” Steven leads him into the dining room. They sit down. Steven unties the box. Ready to open the box when Michael runs around the room. Steven stops. Jimmy gives him a cut it out look. Steven picks up Michael. “Hey…let’s play a game. Let’s play hide and seek. You hide first.”

“Okay!” Michael says back with enthusiasm. Steven sets him down. Michael runs out as Steven counts to ten.

Steven looks over his shoulders to make sure no one is around. Mom is cooking. Wives are chatting in the other room. Sister is outside. He opens the box and shows it to Jimmy. Jimmy jumps back repulsed, shouting “What the hell is that?!” Steven asks him to settle down, they don’t want any more attention brought in the room. Mainly because in the box, is a severed hand. Sort of fresh; blood is dried and dark, skin is getting green.

“You should be asking ‘who is that?’” Steven says with a smile and closes the box. Ties it back up.

“Why the fuck do you have that?” Jimmy is whisper shouting.

“It’s a bit of a present.”

“Whose hand is that?”

“Jacob Valentini”

“Valentini…are you kidding me…are you fucking stupid?”

“Relax it’s all been authorized, taken care of yadda yadda,” Steven says as he stands up and grabs a glass; beginning to pour red wine into it. “I’m dropping it off to the Valentini residence tonight,” he laughs.

“Why did someone call that hit?”

“My brother,” he sits back down, “we have a war on our hands. The Vincenzo’s are no longer a small-time corner-store robber operation. The glory days are ahead of us.” Jimmy taps his foot nervously. Then, Michael bursts back into the room.

“Hey, you never looked for me!”

“You’re not supposed to come out of hiding. You lose!” Jimmy shouts. Michael rolls his eyes and plops onto the floor. Steven gets up and starts tickling him, making him scream with laughter.

“Everything all right in here—”, Rosa says as she comes into the room, but stops seeing her son laughing out loud. Steven and Jimmy stand. “Good to see ya boys.” They each get a hug. Rosa picks up her son. “Go see your grandmother,” she says and pats him on the back as he runs out of the room. Rosa sits down. Jimmy gets her a glass of wine.

“Mikey’s doing good,” Jimmy says.

“Yeah, he is. Growing up fast.”

“Ever hear anything from Tony?” Steven asks.

“No. He calls occasionally, mainly drunk, talking about how he wants to be in Mikey’s life. That’s not happening,” she punctuates with a sip of her wine.

“You hear what our brother did?” Jimmy asks. Steven rolls his eyes.

“No, what?”

“Show her the box Steve.” Steven pushes the box forward. Opens the top. Rosa gasps.

“Jesus put that thing away. Why’d you bring it here?”

“I’m dropping it off at the Valentini’s tonight. Didn’t want it to stink up the car,” Steven laughs. He takes the box back and ties it up.

“You’re stepping on their toes now?” she asks.

“Direct orders. Like I was telling Jim, the Vincenzo name is getting bigger and bigger every day.”

“Fucking hell, Steven,” Rosa says shaking her head. Sips some wine, hoping to cool her nerves. Steven sets the box on top of the dining room armoire. There’s a knock at the door.

“Someone let you’re damn cousins in!” Maria shouts from the kitchen. Jimmy rolls his eyes, gets up and walks out to the front door. Opening it. His cousins Johnny and Leo stand in front of his uncle Frank. They’re waiting with open arms.

“Jimmy! How the hell are ya?!” Leo shouts, giving his cousin a pat on the back and coming inside. Johnny greets and hugs him as well, following his brother.

“No ladies tonight?” Jimmy says with a smile. Johnny and Leo just shake their heads and go inside.

Frank shakes Jimmy’s hand, leaning in to say, “Partly my fault. I didn’t want their corner store hookers ruining another party.”

Jimmy laughs, “Yeah mom still misses that vase.” Frank laughs and heads inside. Jimmy closes the door behind him and follows his uncle into the kitchen where the new arrivals greet the whole family. Leo is giving Michael a noogie, Frank hugging Maria and Johnny already going for the wine.

“Leave it to Frank to show up fashionably late!” Maria shouts, gaining a laugh from the whole crowd.

“I like to show up when the food is ready,” he jokes, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well you’re right on time,” Maria says as she pulls fresh pasta out of the boiling water and into a large stainless steel bowl. “Let the pasta cool and we’ll eat soon.”

“Johnny, Leo, come here,” Steven says and waves them into the dining room. They follow his direction into the room and sit down.

“What’s up cousin?” Johnny asks. Steven throws the box down onto the table. “Wait…”

“Is this—is this it?” Leo says with curiosity. Steven just nods. Leo and Johnny look at each ither, laugh and smile with childlike enthusiasm. They untie the box and look inside. “Jesus!”

“Keep it down idiots,” Steven says, hushing them and grabbing the box. He ties it up and puts it atop the armoire again. “You guys are riding with me tonight, right?”

“That was the plan right?” Johnny confirms.

“Yes. I just need someone to take Steph home, since we’re leaving right after this thing ends here.” The three men sit at the table in smiles, swirling their wine and sipping it like princes.

In the other room, Maria stirs the sauce as Frank looms around the stove. Checking out the food while pacing back and forth. “How ya been Frank?” Maria asks.

“Good,” he says continuing to pace. He wants to finish his thought, “Great actually.” This enthusiasm causes Maria too look up at him with a questioning face. He leans in close to her. “I’m getting made.” Meaning, he’s to become a fully initiated member of the mafia family. Maria is frozen. She had always thought Frank was better than this. Something they got along with over ever since they’d known each other. “It was partly, thanks to you,” he says. She returns to stirring the sauce. Then turns the burner off with some extra force.

“Dinner is ready!” she shouts, clearly ignoring everything Frank is saying to her.

“Maria, I understand your anger. It seems like everyone is involved in something shady in this family and we’re all in it together…but I promise, I’ll be different.” He’s pleading for her forgiveness now.

“You were different.” The rest of the family has shuffled into the kitchen. “Plates and utensils are here, serve yourself. Meat is all at the bottom of the sauce.” She unties her apron and walks out of the kitchen, hanging it up by the back door. Frank sighs.

“Alright youngest first!” He shouts, trying to reach back and find his enthusiasm.

…

The family sits down at the dining room table. Each has a plate piled high with spaghetti and meat sauce. It takes a moment for everyone to be settled down. Michael is running around the room screaming. Maria picks him up.

“Mom I can get him—” Rosa says, interrupted by Maria.

“No it’s fine. You guys eat.” She settles into a chair in the corner of the room, holding Michael on her lap.

“Don’t want to sit at the table ma?” Steven says with some red sauce in the corner of his mouth.

“Just eat, don’t worry about me,” she responds.

“You got me nervous, huddled up in the corner like that. Are there any red dots in here?” Leo says, jokingly examining his body after. The family at the table laughs. Maria rolls her eyes.

“Who wants to say grace?” Maria asks. Nobody perks up. “You all wear those silver crosses but don’t know a single word of passage, huh?” Frank clears his throat, ready to speak. “Don’t embarrass yourself Frank,” she cuts him off. “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.” Everyone responds with ‘amen’ in thick accents and starts on dinner. Maria tightens up in her chair. Holds Michael tighter…

Crash! The windows are broken in. Boom! The front door broken down. Shouts come from the family. Reaches to their waistband are frozen by the sight of a fully outfitted SWAT team aiming assault rifles in each and every one of the family member’s face.

“What the fuck?!” Steven shouts. Variations of this phrase ensue from each family member. Then silence follows a man in a suit walking through the door. Sergeant Matthews as identified by his badge and name on his lapel.

“NYPD. Vincenzo family. You’re under arrest,” his voice booms. He looks down at Maria who trembles as she holds Michael.

“You can’t—” Johnny begins, but is swiftly interrupted.

“I can, and I am. Take ‘me boys,” the sergeant signals to his men. They nudge each one of the family members and force them out of the house. Sergeant Matthews sticks behind, watching them go. Maria stays seated with her grandson. “Your help is greatly appreciated Mrs. Vincenzo. You held up your end of the deal. You’re all clear from hear,” he starts off toward the door. “Sorry about the windows…and front door. I’ll have someone out tomorrow to fix that. “He continues out through the doorway. Maria stands and looks out her broken front window. Her family escorted away into police cars, one by one. A smirk grows on her face.

…

9:34 AM. That same day.

A busy top floor of the NYPD. Phones are ringing non-stop. A constant chatter. Busy bodies moving fluidly between desks. Then on a dime, the sound stops. One phone ring but is immediately hung up. Heels on the linoleum floor are the only thing that color the room. The heels, belonging to Maria Vincenzo. Widow of infamous Queens mafia head. Everyone is frozen at the sight of her. She walks all the way up to the office of Sergeant Matthews without being stopped. She opens her door, and Matthews is in there, sipping his coffee, unaware of her presence. He looks up and jumps, spilling coffee on himself.

“I want my family in prison.”