The Jersey Man

Part One

​'Have you ever felt so complete, you suddenly feel ready for death?' Tony Santoro used to say. He sucked on his Cuban cigar reminiscing a memory that haunted him as much as it elated him.

New Jersey, USA, 1972

I was 19 when I moved to Jersey. I had told my Pa, I was gonna be big. Because I was small then. Tony was a nobody. But I used to say to myself, but Tony won't be a nobody for long.

One of my distant cousins had become a hitter for the Sabella family as early as his teenage years and he recently became a made man. That meant he was part of the family. Nobody could fuck with him. And his Ma had a soft corner for my Pa and information communed and my cousin, Nicky "BigNose" Lupo called me and said, "Why don't you come on over to Jersey, brother?" And I came over to Jersey.

As you can guess by the name, he had a big nose. The nostrils looked like an entrance to a land of spiritos.

He brought me into the world from where you wouldn't wanna go back. It was the American Dream for any Italian. It was the staircase to a life of danger so thrilling I can't explain it. I was going to be a gangster. I knew it then and I am proud now.

Jimmy Sabella was one of the members on the board for Magnet Corporation. It ran two major casinos in Las Vegas. If you check up a list of dignitaries or go to any one of the board meetings, you wouldn't find Jimmy there though. Because the board he was in was never in the papers. The old and the bold in the Sabella family in a joint venture with the Gambino's ran the company. Every profit the company made was theirs first but they were honorable men. Every loss they incurred, the families bore.

Jimmy had a business at home too. He had a chain of bakeries called the Jimmys Loaf Company. He was known to be the man who baked the best bread in all of New Jersey.

In the Chevy Van, the breads were transported to where they needed to be transported. But what the outside world did not know was that with the bread, a variety of firearms used to be packed and transported, obviously to where it needed to be transported.

And Nicky got me a job driving these vans. There were around four shops in the Trenton area where we stashed the guns and whenever a piece was required for a job, the hitters just got the gun from the hideout shops.

I worked the nights. A lot of cops were paid off in the check points and work was smooth. It grew on me and I started feeling a purpose in life. I could see bigger things for myself.

A new load of AK-47s had come. This was a kind of Automatic rifle which pocketed 7.52 bullets in its magazine. It was a tough baby.

'Get these to Paul's, pick up what he gives and meet me at Rookies, okay?' Nicky liked Rookies diner. But he liked the busty broad, Macy, more.

My drive was uneventful mostly.

I turned into Monmouth street and that was when I first noticed it. A DeVille was tailing me. I steadily geared up and I saw the Cadillac speeding up with me.

I had never personally met Jimmy but Nicky assured me that the orders were given directly by Jimmy to Nicky and it weren't just 'orders to a servant', these were rather 'requests to a son'. I was family too. The old man wanted me to know. And I am loyal, I will say that proudly.

The consignment was important and I was not going to let anything happen to it.

Within five minutes another Cadillac screeched to stop in front of me and men stepped out, sub machine guns in hand. I don't know what that piece was but it was modern and compact. It was a beauty.

I had my Beretta with me. I had never used it before. I'm a teenager for fucks sake I said to myself.

I saw in my rear view mirror that two men had exited the DeVille and were heading towards the rear of the van. I had a choice to make. I knew then the men would only just walk till a particular point before they decide to fill my body with holes. I put my foot down, literally and sped forward hitting both men. On my side, I saw as one head popped like a balloon from the pressure of the van on his torso. It was bloody. I was sure I killed both of them. The DeVille men had started firing. The van felt nothing.

I sped through screaming men, women and children on the sides. They were running for their lives. I was too but I had something more important than my life to protect. I was running out of road but the DeVille was still behind me. I took a hard right, skid onto the sidewalk and crash stopped. My heart was racing.

The men had reached, opened their doors and started firing.

I got out and hugging the van I moved to the rear end. The angle of the van had saved my ass. The men did not see me exit.

I came out from the rear end with my pistol and the element of surprise

They were down before they even turned.

I remember hearing sirens. I reversed into the road and kept driving.

Two days after that incident, I get a call. A call very crucial to my role. A call that changed my very life.

Jimmy Sabella wanted to see me.

I wore a black suit I borrowed from Nicky.

'Lupo told me about you, told me about what you did' he offered me Bourbon and I felt then a feeling which was one of those you cannot explain.

'You popped your cherry son. I'm proud. Everybody at the house is proud. You're making you Ma proud too I'm sure. '

I was happy like this for the first time in my life. I had started dreaming big.

'I have a very important job for you, Tony.'