The Jersey Wars

Chapter 5 - The War Is On

July 1988

Vito Costanzo considered himself to be a reasonable man. The fiery hot temper that he'd possessed in his 20s had smoldered down to the barely lit embers of his late 50s. Why put yourself into an early grave with strokes and heart attacks that were completely avoidable by just calming down? That was his way of thinking.

Being a mafia boss brought with it considerable stress, but Vito didn't let any of his work related issues effect his personal life. Try as he might, he didn't want Cosa Nostra for any of his four children, but who was he to deny anyone of their destiny? The answer was real simple to him......no one.

Vito had tried to give his three sons and one daughter all of the advantages that a man of his position could offer, which for the most part had its intended effect.

His daughter Jeanie had the unfortunate luck of being cursed with a thyroid condition that had packed almost 400lbs onto her 5'1" frame. It had turned her into a virtual recluse of the Costanzo family's Mantoloking, NJ mansion. The only times that Jeanie dared to venture beyond its vast doors was to attend any one of the many doctors' appointments that were scheduled for her.

His sons on the other hand had taken to the life like a fish to water, all of Vito's efforts to shield the boys from it only made them want it more.

His two oldest, Carmine and Paul, had the natural instincts and ferocity that a Don of his magnitude would look for in a potential associate. His youngest son Peter was more of an artistic type, a trait that he'd no doubt inherited from his mother; Vito's late wife Marie. Peter had always yearned for his older brothers' approval and did whatever he could to get it.

The opening of the study door interrupted his thoughts as his three sons entered the room. Vito's 5 foot 10 inch 210 lb. body rose from behind the solid oak desk as he came around it to greet each of his boys with a hug and a kiss. As they all sat down, Vito was assaulted by a memory of his sons from when they were just children.

It had been the family's first Christmas since Marie had died from Lupus and everyone had been too sad and withdrawn to attack the many presents that lay underneath the white-needled Christmas tree. The look that the boys now had on their faces was identical to the looks they'd had on that Christmas morning so many years ago, but that wasn't going to help ease what was a very tense situation.

Vito had initially thought of The Garden State Syndicate as a joke, that is until his boss Vinnie Ditta gave the OK for the nigger and spic hoodlums of New Jersey to play Cosa Nostra. Paul had wanted in, and his old uncle Vincenzo could never refuse any of the boys of anything that they asked for.

Ditta's business acumen proved to be on point when The Syndicate started making money, REAL money. The amazing thing about it was that they had done it using their own schemes and their own power. It wasn't long before Vito and many of his associates actually began to respect the members of The Syndicate, Paul included. The young Blacks and Puerto Ricans had adopted the laws of Omertà and followed them better than some long time mafia associates ever had.

Being that The Syndicate was held in such high regard by Don Vincenzo, the situation Paul had gotten himself into was very touchy. He'd killed a Syndicate member's wife, and to add insult to injury it wasn't just any old Syndicate member, but North Jersey Consigliere Tre Stone. Paul hadn't known that the broad was Stone's wife of course, but that would be looked upon as a mere formality.

Everybody knew that North Jersey was Ditta's favorite section, so Vito wasn't sure exactly what kind of action would be taken against Paul once Ditta got wind of everything. In the regular Mafia Paul would be sentenced to death. Vito couldn't see how this would end up any differently and he'd personally kill Ditta and anyone else who intended to do his son any harm, so there had to be some way for alternate arrangements to be made.