GINA IS THE BOSS
Gina Maranzano –Zi Vitorrio. She stood in the back of her house watching her Black Lab Luna run around her yard. Gina is the daughter of Don Vito Maranzano and her mother Isabella. She has a sister Luisa and two brothers, Vito II and the eldest Antonio or Tony as associates call him.
Vito II wound up in jail. Twenty years for racketeering, attempted murder, money laundering and more. The list is long but Gina keeps in touch. She writes him and her father decided to take his “retirement” in Palermo. He decided to go back to the Old Country. He had hopes of his oldest son Antonio taking over his construction company and small mom and pop pizza shop he opened in Little Italy. He decided to close the place after the neighborhood changed.
Vito watched all types of people come through Little Italy. Mulberry Street was a stomping ground for everyone. He would smile at John Gotti and once refused Joe Profaci service because he was rude to his wife. No one dared give Vito problems. His family came from Palermo, Sicily with nothing. His father worked on farms and made money any way he could. He would speak of America and the “great American dream.”
Gina would think about those conversations with her great-grandparents. Her brother Antonio was a decent man and quiet at times. He spoke when he had to and not one person messed with him. He drove a regular car unlike his brother who wanted a Cadillac and for people to know who he was. Antonio had no interest in the business. Their sister Luisa is married and moved her family to Upstate New York. Gina visited from time to time. Gina preferred the city. The sounds, the people, the fact that it was busy and business all needed to be taken care of.
Gina stood in her yard in Long Island. She watched as her dog played and her neighbors waved hello. Gina called Luna inside and began packing. She would be heading into Manhattan. Gina’s brother Tony picked her up. He had a black older SUV. Gina called Luna who jumped in the back seat and an identical black SUV pulled up behind her brother. It was the close family friend and confidant. He was known as Shark. The identical cars were a must. Gina got in the car with Shark and Luna her dog rode with her brother. Gina was engaged to be married to Nick. He was a nice man. She met him through a family friend.
They got into an argument one night. Nick left the house and Gina’s brother had Nick followed. He went to Gina’s friend Sherry’s house. Sherry was always jealous and wanted everything Gina always had and has. Tony made a choice and told his sister. They never spoke on the phone, they never spoke in the house. They also never disclosed where they have discussions at.
Tony informed his sister of the situation. Gina wasn’t upset, nor was she shocked. She had her wedding planned, a honeymoon to Capri, Italy planned. She knew what had to be done. She would not put up with anything less.
Nick stayed at Sherry’s house and two men showed up. Nick tried to run but they got him. They tied Sherry up and simply made a gesture. One man slit her throat. He pushed her backwards on to the large plastic sheet he laid out before tying her up.
Nick watched and shouted at the men. He searched for his phone. He knew he couldn’t call anyone anyway. Sherry lived on a back road and was far from neighbors. The other man tied him up, gagged him and shoved him in the trunk of the car that was parked without lights on at the end of the road. Behind that car was Shark. He lead the two men to the river nearby. Shark made a gesture and handed the one man a suit case. The man who had cut Sherry’s throat and cleaned up the mess went to take off his ski mask. Shark gestured and shook his head. Don’t! He said with a stern tone in his voice. The family will be disappointed, you will no longer be needed. The man stopped mid-way to his chin and pulled it back down. Shark gave brief instructions and took both of the burner phones from both men. He smashed them and placed them in a bag. He would dump them on his way to the city.
They backed up to the river. It was swampy, abandoned and Gina’s brother was about to build a building over this property. The two men began disposing of Sherry’s cut-up body. “Make sure you throw the head away from the body.” “WHAT?” the shorter man looked confused as he carried Sherry’s head that he placed in a hat box he found in her closet. “Throw the fucking head away from the body. So she can’t talk in the after-life.” “Who told you that shit?” The man prepping Nick started to laugh! He had a hearty laugh. He was genuine about wanting to know.
“The Boss!” He smiled as he tossed pieces of her all over and watched them slowly sink into the murky water. He made sure to toss the head in the hat box as far away as he could.
They opened the trunk of the car to find a panicked Nick trying to chew through the heavy amount of duct tape that was keeping his mouth shut.
The taller man reached for the duct tape that was sitting at Nick’s feet and tripled it and covered his mouth. He smiled at Nick. “You really fucked up my friend.” He closed the trunk. The next spot was being prepped for Nick. Gina had wanted him gone right away so she made arrangements with the meat market her father dealt with.
She hugged Mikey and smiled at him. “I appreciate you letting me use the shop. I just don’t have enough space in my place now.” Mikey didn’t care what she wanted to use his meat grinder for. The rows of meat laid out in the fridge next to the walk-in freezer would be for Nick. He would be cut up carefully and added in with the existing meat to make meat balls and hamburger patties.
Gina hugged Mikey again as he handed over the key to the shop and said his good nights. She paid for him to take a vacation for about three weeks. Enough time to dispose of Nick, clean up the shop and get rid of the meat. Some of it would be sold to certain places. Gina didn’t care. She made money. She saw lights towards the back of the store. She went to the back door with another man worked under Shark. He pulled a gun out and added a silencer. He opened the door and it was Shark driving the car with Nick in it. Shark had given Nick a shot of a tranquilizer he got from a friend who is a vet. The thing about people now. They don’t ever ask questions when it comes to cash.
People will do anything for cold hard cash. That was the reality. Shark simply inquired he need to “help an injured animal and get it to safety.” Well, Nick was the now injured animal. Shark and Gina’s uncle Vince set up the back of the meat shop where they cut and clean the larger pieces of meat. He prepped a table and walked back out to the car where he opened the back door and pressed a side button. A suit case slowly released from under the seat. Shark already had gloves on and had everyone put surgical booties over their shoes. Gina walked into the room and smiled. She was clutching her usual rosary beads. She looked over at Vincent who watched Shark lay tools out from his suit case.
They walked back out and did double glances and wheeled a cart out that the owners would normally use to carry large boxes and cuts of meat wrapped in plastic. To Gina this was no different. She had seen her fair share of death, blood, guts, destruction. Nick was now a traitor, a liar, a man who cheated and now he would be a part a small contribution to the locals and the Sunday sauce or gravy for those who prefer that term. A lot of old school and new school “Gangsters” didn’t like to use meat shops anymore due to health inspections and the owners could not be “bought or kept quiet.” Mr. Denzio the owner was loyal as could be to Gina’s father. She used that to her advantage. She spoke with him while running into him downtown shopping. Gina wasn’t necessarily shopping but she knows his pattern. Knows his wife stays home. His kids are off at college. She knows he likes to shop local and keep the smaller stores afloat while bigger supermarkets have “enough of their own money” as he likes to preach.
Gina also knew they had a wedding anniversary. And as an engaged woman about to marry the man she is about to have cut up in the meat shop. Gina wanted to give Mr. Denzio a nice anniversary gift. A vacation to Italy to see his family. Her brother happily obliged to “watch over the shop.” “No problem at all Mr. D.” Tony smiled as he handed over plane tickets and ten thousand in cash. Mr. Denzio didn’t question this. He took it as a kind gesture and figured whatever they wanted with his shop it would go away by the time he came back from a beautiful vacation.
Gina watched as Shark and Vincent wheeled a tarp covered Nick into the room. This would be the last place and she would be the last thing he saw. His eyes opened wide when Shark removed the tarp from on top of him. He stared at Gina. You could see his eyes pleading. She didn’t want to prolong this. She wasn’t going to preach to him about what he had done because she was about to make a gesture and Nick was about to be killed. Gina smiled at him. She stared into his eyes and removed her ring and slowly ran her thumb across her neck. That was Vincent’s okay to take his life. Vincent chose a scalpel. It was clean and he would bleed out faster making cutting him up not as entirely messy. Shark added a butcher block and Vincent slit his throat. Nick’s eyes stared at Gina as she watched the life fade out of his dark brown eyes that she looked into every single day for the past five years.
