Act like my wife

33. The New Don

Patrizio's Point of View

  Mio Padre used to tell me that I was weak, that only the strong survived. But over the years, I have seen men who were considered 'weak', succeed even through the harshest of realities - while those considered to be 'strong' vanished into thin air. Maybe 'Luck and Destiny' have a major part to play in it.

Tonight, I am going to test my luck, for it is the night of my initiation into the mafioso.

The ceremony was conducted in a closed-off space with only a selected number of men present; they were some of the oldest members of the mafioso. They all stood in a straight line, never uttering a word unless it was required, while mio padre performed the rituals to initiate me.

Did I sell my soul to the devil? I do not know...yet.

I never wanted to do this, but this was my only chance to destroy this demon from within. To gnaw through its weakness from the inside until the giant falls to the ground. Maybe I am stronger than my father thought after all.

***

After the ritual, I was welcomed into the family officially. I was being recognized for the first time, and not just as the don's son, but as the don himself.

The next phase would be when Lorenzo hands his power to me as head of the cosa nostra. This time, every common member was in attendance to witness it. It was like a party and everyone was in their best attire. The men wore mostly black suits and the women dressed beautifully in different colour dresses. They gave a big round of applause after my father handed me his authority as the head of the mafioso. Then, they each walked up to me to pay their respect. Even my parents paid their respects to me; So did Felicia and her father. I am after all the new don.

It was time for my speech...

Even as a businessman, I have always dreaded giving speeches.

I stood before the guests with a glass of red wine in my hand, and said the little I could... 

"Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. I would like to thank my Padre for giving me the chance to follow in his footsteps. I believe that with your help, I can be the best don that you have ever known...so help me god. Thank you".

So help me god?

Well, what do you know? They still ate it up. They gave a thunderous round of applause, with huge grins on their faces.

My eyes went round the room as I searched for something. When I saw it, my smile widened, though no one else understood what I was smiling about.

I then cleared my throat and continued my speech. "I understand that many of you have opinions about me and my brother. I understand that many of you wish that my father does not hand me his power, because you hate me for not being Antonio..."  At this point, some people were getting uncomfortable with the direction my speech was heading, but I did not care. I dipped my hand inside my jacket and pulled out a black pistol, this caused a collective gasp from everyone as they watched me point my gun in their direction.

"Figlio! What are you doing?" Mio padre screamed at me with Mia Madre panicking in his arms.

I pointed the gun in his face. "Shut up Or I'll blow your brains out, Lorenzo!" This earned me more looks of disapproval from the crowd as more gasps were heard from around.

That was when some men emerged from the sea of guests and came to stand beside me. They each held their guns out, ready to shoot.

I addressed the crowd who now had puzzled looks on their faces.  "I am going to give you all a chance to choose where you stand. Those loyal to me should stand on my right, while those loyal to my father should stand on my left."

Slowly, a majority moved to my left-hand side where my parents were standing. But I was surprised to see Felicia walk to my right side, she was followed by her father, then two other men. A group of women joined them making them a total of ten people at this point, as opposed to the multitude on the other side.

A loud mocking laughter resonated throughout the room. I didn't have to look to see that it came from my Padre.

When he was done laughing, he spoke condescendingly.  "What did you think would happen? I have served these people for decades! You think you can just come out of nowhere and wave your gun, and they follow you just like that?! I thought you were smarter than this."

I chuckled internally but ignored his words.

I signaled to one of the men standing beside me and he went to open the front door.

When he opened the door, more men trooped in. But these men were not members of our mafioso, these men were outsiders.

When mio Padre saw them, he practically froze where he stood. "FEDERICO'S MEN?!! How dare you let that bastard's men in here?!!" His new right-hand man brought out his gun, but before he could do anything further, I shot him in the head.

Now, the women REALLY began to panic while the men attempted to protect them. Unfortunately for them, they had all dropped their weapons at the entrance before the party started, so they didn't have their guns on them.

I grimaced as I observed the chaos. "I hope you can all understand that I cannot forsake one family to please the other. I desire to have both my families here with me on such a happy occasion."

This time, it was Mia Madre who asked. "Your families?"

"Yes, my families," I stated. "I am Federico's successor, I am the new don of his family just as I am yours."

I will never get over the look of shock on both my parents' faces; priceless, just priceless!

I turned to the rest of them. "Now, I will give you another chance to choose for yourselves... Those loyal to my father, move to my left, and those loyal to me should move to my right!"

This time, the majority of them moved to my right.

Scratch that, they ALL moved to my right.

A/N
Translation.
Mio Padre: My Father
Mio madre: My mother

PS: I'm back!