CS: The Cappollas (Cont. IV)

There was still a strong lineage at the beginning of the donship of Tony Cappolla. Close knit uncles and cousins resided within the house and put their two cents in at the dinner table. The great conflict, however, had greatly destroyed almost all the Cappollas, as the cousins were too often used for grunt work, and most of the uncles had either fled or been killed while running the casinos, which was their command. Now, the Cappolla crime family was made up of only a few Cappolla relatives, a few distant cousins and one remaining uncle, all of little power and intelligence. In fact, the only two powerful and close Cappollas left in the bloodline were Reno and Tony. It was for this reason that Tony often pressured Reno to try and create a strong lineage again, though Reno had little charm like his father and it often lead to conflict between the two.

The family had also been bolstered by the addition of the scattered remnants of the older Italian crime families who were wiped out during the rise of Gambini power and the formation of the anti-Italian syndicates. These men accepted domination by the Cappollas, Tony allowing a small portion of power to be granted to them in the ways of discussing entire family matters. Still, these men sometimes tried to overextend their power and reroute the large amount of non-Cappolla forces against Tony and his son, which always failed. Especially since the constant monitoring of their conversations quickly revealed these deceptions. It had come to be known that to try and stop the Cappollas would be useless, and that they had just to wait until Tony was gone to finish Reno, then the Cappolla blood would be gone and the other families could try to take control. It was rumored Tony was trying to find a new wife himself to try and stop this threat, it was not going so positively, as none of the help really wanted to marry him for as much as they were pleased to serve him, they knew his business and wanted no part of it.

The greatest asset, portion, and disadvantage of the Cappolla family comprisal was that of the mercenaries, hired killers, and thugs that were allowed into the organization. They formed the largest section of the Cappolla crime family, some working to pay off debt, others for pay, others out of loyalty, and still others doing it solely because the Cappollas offered protection from the other families who were often targets of former disgressions. These mercenaries were very picky about what jobs they would take, how far they would go, and just how deep their loyalties ran. They often tried to raise conflicts within the Cappolla family if only to try and see if they could get a raise or more power within the organization. There were several, however, whose loyalties ran deep, and these select few happened to be the most skilled of the group and kept the rest in check through fear and leadership.

Still, every so often, a small group of mercenaries would bring their protests before the Don, usually to have them squashed or have their own lives extinguished by those who were happy already. It was beginning to be quite often that the mercenaries would back down after the Don dismissed them, because pushing the issue would only get one killed.

Thus, through fear, violence, and pride, the Cappolla family remained a contender in the gang wars. Of course, there weren’t any really strong mercenaries who could compare to a well-groomed force like the Gambinis or the discipline of the entire Black Dragon syndicate.

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Max stepped into the small, carefully decorated living room where several bodyguards followed up the original men with a second bodycheck. They then waved him up the stairs, telling him not to stop until he reached the second floor. He could feel their eyes burning into his back, their hands tensed on their guns as they didn’t desire to let their boss go down just yet. He counted the stairs slowly. Fifteen per floor, the fourth and sixth one creaked on the first set, the last set were heavily carpetted, no sound.

At the top of the stairs, he was halted once more, this time by a very large bodyguard dressed in a bright red suit. He was obviously not meant to be inconspicuous, as the houses dulled colors were nothing to the man’s vibrant suit and newsie style hat. The giant tomato also stood at an imposing 6’5″, his muscles easily seen through the snug suit which concealed a purple tie. The man obviously didn’t need to worry about anyone pointing out his terrible fashion sense. What remained concealed was both the man’s firearm, which seemed to be too far out of reach for a quick grab, as the coat was already buttoned almost all the way up, Max noted. That meant the man was no stranger to using his hands to beat a would-be attacker into submission. At the same time, the man wasn’t a fool and Max guessed that the man’s overabundant chest and gut was helped by a kevlar vest. The man peered over his ovular sunglasses, revealing his hazel and rather bland eyes. He observed Max with a skeptical air about his every step. “Arms up,” he commanded.

Hudson. Real name unknown. Stands 6’5″, weighs near 250 lbs. Tony’s personal bodyguard. Responsible for mostly brutalities, no singular crimes attributed to him. Past vague, mostly concealed. No one seems to know who he is. Probably an orphan, constant loner. Low IQ, strong and fast in combat, however. Terrible fashion taste. Carries two handguns, one under each arm, rarely needs to use them. Skilled with automatic weapons as has been demonstrated during many a gang war. Hired by Tony, short time within the Cappollas, loyalty fierce, however. Like a big rottweiller.