FASTALINO

FASTALINO - Chapter 1

The Iron Fist

Immigrants were flowing into New York's Grand Central Station by the hundreds that summer afternoon. America, the land of the free, was a perfect breeding ground for a dramatic escape from anyone's past life.

Raphael Baldano was a thin-looking, teenage boy with some masculine facial features. He had made the trip to America with his parents, brother, and sister and was the oldest of three. His family called him Ralphy, and he had dreamt of a peaceful life without his Father in America.

Roberto Baldano was a sinister man when partaking in his true love, the devil's elixir, which was a daily occurrence in Italy. Roberto had the fine job being the neighborhood gypsy and was always looking for the next person to swindle out of their fortunes.

Raphael envisioned his life differently in America, with his vivid imagination coming from the many books he had read about the Western World. It was the summer of 1882, and the Baldano family had arrived at Ellis Island by making their way through all the customary checks to enter the country. With the travels from Ellis Island to Grand Central Station taking hours with the number of people coming in, their final destination was worth the agony. The family stood there on that warm summer morning on Grand Central Station's platform, free to go and do as they wished. They found themselves each with a suitcase in their possession while wearing the best drab clothing they owned.

Ralphy's mother, Maria, a slender woman, perked up for the opportunity to change her and her children's fortunes by putting aside her naturally timid ways and making a run for it from the man she never wanted to see again, her husband. The train in front of them was almost leaving. She understood English but had a tougher time speaking it.

"Last call boarding!" yelled the train conductor.

Maria said to her husband in a calm, direct sort of way, "Roberto, go ask that gentleman down on the end with the big hat and suit where we need to go."

"I told you, we will get on the next train to Philadelphia. My cousin lives there, and we can stay there," Roberto clapped back in a visibly annoyed way.

"Please, honey, go find out. That man will know. Look at that gold watch he has on; I am sure there is more there. Go talk to him," Maria pleaded.

She knew his weakness of being a thief amongst real men; his eyes went from freedom to deception. The man was quite a ways down the platform, and as Roberto walked further, the train in front of his family was about to leave.

Maria crouched down quickly to her three children and said in Italian, "You see that platform on the train in front of us? When the train starts, we need to run and get on there. All of us together, without your father!"

Raphael stood up and saw his dream to part ways from the man he hated so much unfolding and said, "I am the oldest and strongest. I will take the suitcases and get on first, and all of you follow. I will pull you up one by one. Mom, you get on first, then Rose, and then Luigi. We can only bring a couple of suitcases because this has to be quick."

Maria looked into all her children's eyes as they filled with tears and said, "I never want to be hit again, do you?"

Rose looked back and in her innocent, high-pitched voice said, "Dads don't always hit their children?"

Luigi, a stockier young teen, shouted, "No, they love their children, Rose," Luigi lowered his voice not to frighten his sister. "Now when Mom says run, we all run as fast as we can so Ralphy and Mom can pull each of us up."

Maria stared down the platform as Roberto started talking to the man. She thought in her head: turn your back to us, you disgusting man. As she thought it, the steam engine blared, and Roberto turned his back to them.

"Go!" she screamed.

They all started running toward the train while confusion set in amongst the onlookers. Ralphy was leading the charge toward the platform. When he got there, he threw the two suitcases he was carrying for the family onto the train's platform. Their mom was a close second, but Luigi was trying to help Rose move faster because he had to get her on the train before him. Ralphy got onto the train's steel ladder and extended his arm to help his mother onto the train.

"Stop!" Roberto's voice echoed across the platform and overshadowed all other conversations as he saw his family leaving him. He started running toward them with vengeful eyes.

Maria screamed in a frightened panic, "He sees us leaving. If he catches us, we are dead. Boys, please!"

Luigi ran beside his sister, picked her up with the strength of two men, and lifted her to Ralphy's arms of safety. Luigi, out of breath from carrying his sister, was slowing down. Ralphy saw his brother, his best friend, might not make it, and jumped off the ladder of safety to help his ailing brother.

Luigi screamed, "Go, Ralphy, go!"

Maria screamed in horror, "Boys, he is coming!"

Ralphy grabbed his brother's shirt and screamed while they were running, "If you make it, you are free. If you don't, you are dead, Luigi!"

Luigi sprung his legs into action with everything he had left and regained some ground to the ladder, but Roberto was not far behind. He was on a full-out sprint to catch his family. A conductor, watching this happen, came out onto the stairs. He moved Maria and Rose out of the way and set up on the lowest rung of the ladder to grab Luigi first. Luigi grabbed the man's hand and was lifted to safety.

Ralphy was the last one as he was helping his brother onto the train, but the train was speeding up. Ralphy tried to catch up and heard his brother scream out in pure fear, "Dad is right behind you, Ralphy!"

The conductor was on the bottom rung of the steel ladder of safety with an arm extended as far as it could go. Roberto extended his hand to try to grab Ralphy's loose jacket. He got ahold of it, pulled it right off Ralphy, and stumbled from the last grab. Ralphy narrowly missed his death, knowing that what he'd said to Luigi would be his fate if he did not make it. Trying to keep up with the train as it was speeding up. The platform was beginning to end, Ralphy made one last effort, and the conductor narrowly grabbed his fingers and pulled the young man to safety with his family.

The conductor, out a breath, was happy to have helped the family. Ralphy was safely on the last rung of the ladder. Luigi closed his tearful eyes and went to grab his brother in happiness when he came up with empty arms. When he opened his eyes, he watched in horror as Ralphy was torn from the platform of safety by the terrible hand of his father. The screams of his family ricocheted through the air for miles. All of them were leaving free, and the one that had helped them all was left to suffer.

Ralphy lay on the ground and turned over to watch his family ride off to their freedom. When he locked eyes with his brother, he smiled and gave a small wave. Ralphy's smile of happiness was pure because he knew they would be fine, and he was tough enough to stand up to the ruthless man he called his father. Luigi wept as he saw his brother being turned over from his stomach and was about to be hit with the iron hand of his father. Maria and Rose held each other crying in sadness because they had left the true man of the house behind.

Roberto's hand went up as high as it could, and Ralphy smiled as the first fist came pounding down onto his face. He felt the bones crunch in his mouth and face as the pain shot through his body like electricity. The bystanders ran over to stop Roberto from giving his oldest son another hit. While they prevented his father from hitting Ralphy again, he had a calm take over him. He knew that his loyalty to his family had helped them leave this terrible man. He said one more thing to make sure his family was safe as the train was almost out of sight.

"You will never be my father! Roberto!" Ralphy screamed as he spat out the sticky blood hanging out of his mouth onto the brick ground.

Roberto, in another burst of wrath, broke free from the two men holding him and brought one more fist to a smiling Ralphy. When the iron fist connected, the crack of the fist on his face was a precursor to the horrific smashing of his head on the brick ground. Ralphy's once hopeful smile disappeared instantly as everything went dark.