Operation: Kefauver - Log 7
Aug. 25th, 2022 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsUnder the cover of the reception, a meeting between Maggia family heads doesn't go well.
Even in a school of sharks, there are certain niceties upheld. In the central board room on the third floor, each person was greeted solemnly and with respect. A handshake and a kiss, a glass of wine furnished, and small talk so pointless as to be borderline gibberish exchanged until the final member was seated and the table officially opened. Only then did the knives truly come out.
At the head, in the traditional spot of the Nefaria family sat Madam Masque. They all knew her as Whitney Frost, but she'd made the change publicly and dared them not to go along with it. To her right were Anthony Karnelli and Hammerhead, another boss who had changed his name in order to align with his image. To the left, Cicero Manfredi and Alberto Libris. All of them exchanged long looks before Masque opened the table.
"I don't see any reason to dance around this. Both the Karnelli and Hammerhead families are interfering over established territories and drawing more attention than we need. How do we make that stop?" She said.
"With all due respect, it's not established territories. The Rushman fighting concession was granted in 1979 by Silvio Berruti. It was affirmed when his son became don and split between Frank and Margaret Rushman after their father's death. When... our newest don Hammerhead replaced the Berruti's, we affirmed their businesses and territories, which does not control the Rushmans as they are not an earning concession for them." Anthony Karnelli had come prepared, his hands flourishing as he spoke. "Margaret agreed to bring her operations back in the fold in return for joining the Karnellis. All of this is in line with our charter and traditions."
"Very well. And Hammerhead?"
"Wit' all due respect, fuck youse Tony." The don said out of one side of his mouth. Hammerhead was the kind of joke you only made in private, certain it would never get back to him. The former enforcer had been left for dead, his skull shattered in a vicious ambush. He'd survived, but the thick leg breaker that never questioned orders had changed into a violent and cunning man. He mainlined gangster films during his recovery, talking like a parody of James Cagney, wearing old school suits and misusing Italian, which he didn't speak. Under that ridiculous façade was a stone killer who'd staged a coup and then welcomed open war with the other families while his Don's blood was still fresh on his clothes, daring them not to accept his new position. "I don't give a rats ass what legal bullshit you think youse can pull. It's still my fucking franchise, and as long as you butt in, I'm taking my loses out of your businesses."
"Look, no one wants open warfare. The peace with the Mafia is shaky at best. All of us are getting squeezed by the fucking drug gangs and those fucking Chinese Tongs muscling in-" Cicero started in. He was the oldest of the Dons, yearning for a time when this would have been more civilized.
"I don't fucking care what's happening on the docks, Manfredi. You mind youse business, I'll mind mine, capice?"
"What if you split the points? Karnellis run the business and pay Hammerhead for their... historic stake in the business." Silvio Libris said. Like Cicero, he wanted to avoid a war, but he didn't want to admit why. His businesses had taken huge losses and he was scrambling to hold his territory. If this went into open conflict, his family would get swallowed up regardless of who won.
"There's a principle at stake here. This system works because we don't just do or take whatever we feel like and the consequences be damned. If you can't-"
"Do youse fucking threaten me, Tony. I gots no problem cracking your fat fucking head open right now!" Hammerhead snarled.
"Enough!" Masque slammed her hand down on the table. "We're clearly not going to get to an agreement now. We've heard all the relevant arguments. Our next meeting is in twenty days. Hammerhead, Karnelli, I strongly urge you both to back down and find an arrangement you can both live with. If not, we will vote as a commission, and whatever decision is made will be backed with the full force of the rest of the families." Her glare through the eyeholes of the mask was piercing and icy. "Find a way to make this right or we will. Twenty days." She said, ending the discussion.
Even in a school of sharks, there are certain niceties upheld. In the central board room on the third floor, each person was greeted solemnly and with respect. A handshake and a kiss, a glass of wine furnished, and small talk so pointless as to be borderline gibberish exchanged until the final member was seated and the table officially opened. Only then did the knives truly come out.
At the head, in the traditional spot of the Nefaria family sat Madam Masque. They all knew her as Whitney Frost, but she'd made the change publicly and dared them not to go along with it. To her right were Anthony Karnelli and Hammerhead, another boss who had changed his name in order to align with his image. To the left, Cicero Manfredi and Alberto Libris. All of them exchanged long looks before Masque opened the table.
"I don't see any reason to dance around this. Both the Karnelli and Hammerhead families are interfering over established territories and drawing more attention than we need. How do we make that stop?" She said.
"With all due respect, it's not established territories. The Rushman fighting concession was granted in 1979 by Silvio Berruti. It was affirmed when his son became don and split between Frank and Margaret Rushman after their father's death. When... our newest don Hammerhead replaced the Berruti's, we affirmed their businesses and territories, which does not control the Rushmans as they are not an earning concession for them." Anthony Karnelli had come prepared, his hands flourishing as he spoke. "Margaret agreed to bring her operations back in the fold in return for joining the Karnellis. All of this is in line with our charter and traditions."
"Very well. And Hammerhead?"
"Wit' all due respect, fuck youse Tony." The don said out of one side of his mouth. Hammerhead was the kind of joke you only made in private, certain it would never get back to him. The former enforcer had been left for dead, his skull shattered in a vicious ambush. He'd survived, but the thick leg breaker that never questioned orders had changed into a violent and cunning man. He mainlined gangster films during his recovery, talking like a parody of James Cagney, wearing old school suits and misusing Italian, which he didn't speak. Under that ridiculous façade was a stone killer who'd staged a coup and then welcomed open war with the other families while his Don's blood was still fresh on his clothes, daring them not to accept his new position. "I don't give a rats ass what legal bullshit you think youse can pull. It's still my fucking franchise, and as long as you butt in, I'm taking my loses out of your businesses."
"Look, no one wants open warfare. The peace with the Mafia is shaky at best. All of us are getting squeezed by the fucking drug gangs and those fucking Chinese Tongs muscling in-" Cicero started in. He was the oldest of the Dons, yearning for a time when this would have been more civilized.
"I don't fucking care what's happening on the docks, Manfredi. You mind youse business, I'll mind mine, capice?"
"What if you split the points? Karnellis run the business and pay Hammerhead for their... historic stake in the business." Silvio Libris said. Like Cicero, he wanted to avoid a war, but he didn't want to admit why. His businesses had taken huge losses and he was scrambling to hold his territory. If this went into open conflict, his family would get swallowed up regardless of who won.
"There's a principle at stake here. This system works because we don't just do or take whatever we feel like and the consequences be damned. If you can't-"
"Do youse fucking threaten me, Tony. I gots no problem cracking your fat fucking head open right now!" Hammerhead snarled.
"Enough!" Masque slammed her hand down on the table. "We're clearly not going to get to an agreement now. We've heard all the relevant arguments. Our next meeting is in twenty days. Hammerhead, Karnelli, I strongly urge you both to back down and find an arrangement you can both live with. If not, we will vote as a commission, and whatever decision is made will be backed with the full force of the rest of the families." Her glare through the eyeholes of the mask was piercing and icy. "Find a way to make this right or we will. Twenty days." She said, ending the discussion.
