The story of a boy, who lost everything then became everything the world of crime has to offer, but would he give it all up to be himself?
Link to chapter one is at the bottom of the page ~ just in case you missed it!
Victor paced the halls of his lavish Victorian style mansion anxiously; everything had to go exactly to plan. There could be no loose ends, everything had to go exactly according to plan in order for this to work. He stopped at the end of the hallway in front of the door that led to Johnnys room, and for a fleeting second Victor put his mental checklist to one side in his mind and wondered to himself as his hand stretched out to the doorknob of the boys room-door; how many times he must have paced passed this door this very morning. He quietly opened the door, Johnnys face cringed as the intrusive light from the ajar door fell on his eyelids and quickly pulled the blanket over his face without any sign of waking up. Victor stood in the arch of the doorway looking at the bundle that was now so tightly curled up in the blanket, he had often wondered why fate has brought their lives together despite the fact that he wholeheartedly knew that he needed the boy in his life as much as the boy needed him, maybe even more.
There was not a single doubt in his entire being that he had grown to love this boy as his own son. In a certain way Victor considered Johnny as his second chance at being the parent that he had always wanted to be for his own two sons. This was the kind of blessing that few men had ever been granted and Victor was fully aware of it, as such he embraced every moment that he have been given with Johnny.
Even though Victor had two sons of his own, his way of life had often steered him away from home for long periods leaving him pining for the days of their youth that he was absent, and all the memories that was not his of all the things that he missed while they were growing up. It was only after his boys was old enough to be introduced into the dark demeanor of the Casteleno’s rule, over a city dictated and managed by syndicates that was infested by the rivalry for territory by drug lords, gangsters and prostitutes alike, that Victor started playing a feature role in the boys lives. Although they had never been directly exposed to the way of life that their father had become accustomed to during their younger years, they still grew up baring the Castelano name, there was never any illusion of who they were and what they were capable of, they were just cocooned in the safety of not living out the actions that gave the Castelano name the status that came with their iron fist ruler-ship, that they had earned and protected over the years.
That was until they respectively turned the age of 17 at least. All the years before that was based on the indoctrination of a strict loyalty and respect for their family name and their father, and it was exactly this respectful fear that the foundations of the relationship between Victor Casteleno and his own two sons were based on.
Vincint and Bronse made their father proud as they transitioned into the family arcana, with ease, they showed great passion in the stone clad manner and precision of every act that hey set out to do.
Victor stepped back into the hallway pulling the door closed behind him. He started to go over everything that needed to get done on this day. He stopped and turned at the stairway that leads to the living area of his house and almost immediately started barking out instructions to everyone in the house despite the fact that dawn had barely broken, as he kept on reminding himself, “There can be no loose ends, everything needs to go according to plan”
Almost as soon as Johnny woke up his brother Bronse was there, and Johnny was swiftly whisked off to run some mundane errands with him on Victors orders. Victor didn’t want the boy in the house, not today, he didn’t want him to see what was about to happen, as he put into play every single meticulously thought through detail of his long plotted plan. Johnny and Bronce only returned much later after Bronce had received a very mysterious phone-call; the voice on the other end of the line belonged to Victor who simply stated “We are done, how long will it take you to get here?”
Bronce replied “8-10 Minutes” then hung up the phone. He mad a u-turn at the first intersection that he came to and headed straight towards the house. Johnny who was never one to be intrusive towards the personal space of others, didn’t question the sudden change of direction or the very brief phone call that Bronse received just prior to that.
Once home, Bronse flung open his door, and made his way to the passenger door where Johnny was still sitting. He ripped at the door and grabbed Johnny by the arm as he desperately yanked him out of the car, then urged him to walk towards the side face of the house, shoving him occasionally as a indication to pick up his pace. Johnny looked at the front door as they walked past it and then to Bronce. He didn’t understand the sudden strange change in Bronse, who had been so kind and caring towards him the entire morning, then changed almost immediately after that call. He had also never seen his brother wear such a deep sense of urgency in his mannerisms. Bronce saw Johnnys questioning eyes that was profusely pleading him for an explanation or a reason, but in stead of setting the boys mind at ease he gave him a harsh jolted shove, and pointed with his entire hand in the direction he wanted Johhny to walk, as they reached the corner of the house, Bronse gave Johnny yet another shove, as he indicated to Johnny to walk along the side face of the house towards the back yard.
Once they reached the archway at the back of the house, Bronce gave Johnny a final shove that had Johnny staggering through the arched gate into the back yard, despite Johnny’s best efforts to keep his footing, Johnny ended up on his knees looking down at a pair of highly glossed shoes of the man standing in front of them, before Johnny looked up he first looked back over his shoulder at Bronce who was still standing at the gate, and instead of seeing the malicious face that he was expecting, he saw Bronse with pleased look on his face that could only be matched with the deep bellied laughter, Johnny frowned heavily, then realized that it was the type of laughter you would come to expect from an accomplished teasing brother as he slowly started to look up at the man standing in front of him. “Dad?” Johnny softly as his locked his eyes into Victors smiling face. Then he shift focus to the gathered people standing behind Victor as the simultaneously yelled out SURPRISE!
Johnny focused once more on Victor, whom reached out his hand and helped Johnny to his feet as he said “You have been here just over a year now, and you have become an irreplaceable part of this family. We had to do some digging, as to when your birthday was and seeing that you never celebrated your birthday last year we tried to make this birthday extra special for you” Victor stepped in beside Johnny and flung his right arm over his shoulder as he raised the campaign glass in his left hand towards the crowd that Johnny and him were now facing as he proclaimed “ a Toast! To My Son” the friends and family members all followed suit then one by one approached Johnny and showered him with best wishes and lavish gifts. Before Johnny had a chance to open any of them Vincint made his way through the people from the back entrance of the house, with the most amazing cake that Johnny had ever seen. The cake was precision made to resemble an exact on scale model of a De Tomaso Pantera with the number 13 perfectly depicted on the hood and doors of the car that gave conformation to the thirteen candles that was burning brightly as the cake was placed on the table in front of Johnny. Johnny who had been born into a very humbled middle class household, could have never in his wildest imagination have fathomed the scene that was playing out before him. He shut is eyes as tightly as he could then rubbed them heavily with the sides of his palms as if he was trying to wake himself from a dream, then he opened them again. This was really happening he thought, then said “all this for me?” whereto Victor replied “yes son, all this is just for you! Now close your eyes and make a wish, those candles aren’t going to blow themselves out you know!” Johnny held out his left hand to Victor and his right hand to Vincint with Bronse closing the circle they held hands standing around the cake while Johnny blew out the candles, then said “I didn’t make a wish you know, this and having you guys as my new family is already more than I could ever wish for.” The onlookers grew silent when they saw the tears streaming down the cheeks of this the blissfully overwhelmed little boy when he said, “I wish that my other dad was here to see this, he would be happy for me you know.” Victor knelt down in front of the boy, put his hands on his shoulders and said “I am pretty sure that he is looking down from heaven as we speak, and I know that if he is, he will definitely see you, because you are just too amazing to miss, and you know what else? There’s more”
“WHAT? MORE??” Johnny asked with radiant excitement.
See for yourself as he pointed o the back of the oversized estate garden that Johnny hadn’t even noticed had been cordoned off with canvass, until now.
Two men standing on the sides of the 2.5 meter high canvas screen that stretched over meters and meters of lawn, dressed in red and white carnival attire, turned to face the crowd with their white painted faces, then turned once more to face each other, bent down and picked up the rope endings at their feet. As they started pulling at the rope connected to a pulley system the canvass started opening up as in folded in sideways on either side revealing the wonderland that stretched out behind them as the mimes beckoned the guests to come closer.
The event hostess cordially greeted everyone, then briefly explained the site maps that was standing just beyond the entrance point on a large easels. She continued by giving a rundown of the activities “to my left you will see that there is a cocktail bar for the adults, with entertainment that will carry on well into the evening, feel free to help yourself to the open buffet and drinks.” Then with a slightly higher tone of voice that appealed to every child there she said “And then, for the kids – If you look to my right, you will see the amusement park rides that you are free to use, just behind that you can see the marquee tent where you can view performances by our fire throwers, jugglers and magicians, inside the park you will also see a candy stand and snack bar where you will be served food, drinks and snacks of your choice whenever you feel the need, the highlight of this event is of course the unmissable hot-rod track that stretches out and around a greater part of the estate grounds, The track will be opened in one hours time by the famous race car drivers .... The Big Daddy Himself ~ Mr D G Garland and the Fierce Jimmy Force Whom will be racing the the custom made hot rods. They will be up against our very own car race enthusiast and honored guest Johnny Castelano Stratton!
After the winner of the race has been announced the race track will open for all users, so make sure to put your name on the entry list under the relevant category, and listen out for the scheduled times of the various races as the day progresses. The legendary guest racers will be in the marquee tent approximately 30 min after the end of the race, for those of you who would like to meet them in person or get an autograph.
Oh, and there is one more thing; HAVE FUN & BE SAFE!!!! THE PARK IS NOW OPEN!!”
All of the kids ecstatically rushed to get in first except for one; Johnny was standing frozen in that moment in time, with his mouth agape and his eyes locked firmly on the entrance board that read “Castelano Park – in Honor of Johhny Castelano Stratton”
Johnny felt a familiar hand nestle on his shoulder and did not even have to look before he knew exactly who it belonged to and said “Thank you dad! This is incredible!" Johnny stood silent for a few moments as he thought to himself 'could it be that they just got it wrong?' He gulped a huge breath, then he spewed out words as fast as he could, as if he wanted them to get lost before reaching Victors ears, however still felt the dire need to utter them whilst fearing the outcome of what he was saying more than he had ever feared anything in his entire life: "Dad, the sign said Johnny Castelano Stratton, and I heard the lady in the front say it too earlier. Does that mean I am a real Castelano now?”
Victor stood there with a content smile stretching across his face as he replied “You better believe it! It took quite a bit of doing, and I had to call in some favors. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, have a look at this right here certificate, it notes that I am officially your adoptive father, and thus you are an heir to the Castelano name. Not that you ever need a certificate to prove that, because it is written in your heart and mine. I thought it would be best to leave the ‘Stratton’ in honor of your father. What do you think? Is that o.k by you?”
Johnny turned to Victor and leaped into his arms hugging him around his neck, and whilst squeezing as hard as he could he replied “that is more than just o.k Dad!”
A few moments later, Victor pried the boy from his neck and set him down. “Go, have fun” he said just seconds before a young girl and two boys all roughly Johnnys’s age passed them by. The girl stopped and turned her freckled face towards Johnny then in a very un-ladylike fashion whistled to the boys who had carried on walking causing them to stop and turn, Rebecca called out in their direction as soon as they came to a halt in a surprisingly graceful manner that could easily make one overlook her tomboy ways "wait up fellas, I see him, he is right over there!” then calling out to Johnny “Hey Johnny, you coming or what?”
https://steemit.com/history/@breezin/a-decade-since-what-happened-10-years-ago-february-2007