1958 was the summer that the Dodgers left Brooklyn, which was also the same summer that I came to Brooklyn. My mom went to rehab for drugs, and my dad flanked out on us when I was little. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Frank let me move in with them. It was them and my cousin, Betty Ann and my deaf cousin Nate.
Brooklyn was different than Boston. The gang related activities were out of this world. Everywhere you look you were either on the 'Deuces' turf or the 'Vipers' turf. It was a load of bull if you asked me.
There was rumors that when Marco Vendetti, the Vipers leader, got out of prison, he was gonna take vengeance out of the Deuces. I was ready to see what damage this Marco could do. All I had heard about him was he gave this kid, Allie-Boy, some heroin and he overdosed.
Leon, the leader of the Deuces, was Allie-Boy's brother. When he died, he automatically blamed Marco, but what I didn't understand was the Marco kid, didn't push the needle and inject the heroin into Allie-Boy's arm…did he? He was a junkie, Leon was too afraid to admit it.
Drugs were a major thing in Brooklyn. So was hate, love, fights, everything you can imagine, was all happening in Brooklyn. What I didn't understand was why? Why was the road divided between the Deuces and Vipers? What was the point? It was just a mark in the road.
I lived next door to a guy named Tino. He was a Deuce, very nice and sweet. He had a girlfriend name Alison. He had answers to every question I had for him. He told me that Marco and Allie-Boy were friends at one time, when Marco started selling drugs, Allie-Boy was like a Ginny Pig, and so was a guy named Jimmy Pockets.
From what I gathered from Tino, Marco never did the drugs, he just sold them. He said that one night he went to Marco for a fix; he was a junkie, and pretty much it was his fault he overdosed. Leon found him in the park with the needle in his arm, on a mary-go-round. Tino made me swear not to say a word. I asked him who ended up ratting out on Marco for the drugs; he said it was Jimmy Pockets, Marco's right hand man.
I also met a Viper, his name was Vinnie. He was like a brother to me, just like Tino was. Vinnie helped my Uncle out a lot. My Uncle owns a construction and painting business, and Vinnie was an ace in the hole.
I was intrigued by this Marco kid. Something about him made me want to know more. There was something that wasn't all adding up to what the hate that was built up on Marco.