Snake in the Grass - Rewrite

Chapter 3

*Note: The words spoken by the characters in this chapter are written in English, but as the setting is in Calabria, they are actually speaking Italian. Use of some imagination will be required.

My father was born in Plati, Calabria, in 1950. Plati was an area full of men who were a part of the 'Ndrangheta, which was Calabria's version of the Sicilian Mafia.

At that time, the 'Ndrangheta mainly made money through extortion, racketeering and the smuggling of contraband such as illegal tobacco. They would expand into larger illegal operations in the 1990s.

The main reason why the 'Ndrangheta remained strong for so long, with little infiltration by police, is because they mostly restrict recruitment to blood relatives.

Sons of members are expected to follow in their father's footsteps and are groomed to it from a young age, while girls are often married off to the sons in other clans to solidify relationships between them.

Salvatore Callipari was my father's best friend when they were children. They were from different worlds - Salvatore's father Emilio was the leader of the locale, the 'Ndrangheta clan who controlled the area, while my Nonno, Giovanni Calabrese, ran a construction business.

And yet they were closer than brothers; they played together, fought together, chased girls together and got in trouble together. Giovanni didn't approve, as he didn't want his son to be connected to the 'Ndrangheta, but there was nothing he could do. Giuseppe was his own man and would make his own decisions.

The two friends made a pact that they would never let the fact that Salvatore was Emilio's son come between them, or ruin their friendship. They reasoned that as long as they kept that part of his life separate, they could keep their closeness intact.

Even as Emilio started his son's training to take over as the leader of the locale, they never discussed it. They simply put it to the side, hoping against hope they could do this forever.

But like all friendships between people from different worlds, there would come a time when challenges to their friendship would occur.

In Papa's case, this happened when they were both 19. Papa had started working as a labourer, and was a few months from meeting my mother; Salvatore had been away for over a year, supposedly learning to take over from his father as leader of the locale.

Papa wanted to work for himself for a bit before he took over his own family business, which is how he ended up meeting my mother later that year.

He was doing a remodel on a butcher shop in the city one day, renovating the cool room where they stored the meat. He suddenly heard a commotion in the front of the shop and ran out of the cool room to check it out.

There was Aldo Benvenuto, the butcher, being held by the arms by two men. Standing in front of Aldo, demanding that he pay up (all the businesses in the area paid protection money) was Salvatore, and behind him stood Vito Bonatti, his bodyguard and an up-and-coming capo in the locale.

"Salvatore! What's going on?"

Before Salvatore could react, Vito came up and stood over my father, giving him a threatening look. Vito wasn't as broad in the body as Salvatore but was heavily muscled, being a former boxer. Like Salvatore, Giuseppe had known Vito since they were children; but unlike he and Salvatore, they did not get along.

"This has nothing to do with you, friend," he said. There was no trace of friendliness in his voice, despite his use of the word "friend".

"Get out of here and mind your own business," he continued, but he was cut off by Salvatore, who laid a calming hand on his arm.