The Heart of the Griffin Chapter 2, a daria fanfic

Chapter 2

The news or Ms. Barch and Mr. O'Neil being murdered shocked the town of Lawndale. Stuff like this wasn't supposed to happen in Lawndale. This happened in big cities like Philadelphia or economically depressed slum towns like Camden, not a lily-white upper-middle class suburb like Lawndale. What was most shocking was that it had all the trademarks of a mob hit. This baffled the community even further since the only known association the two victims had with the mafia was that they were teachers at Lawndale High. The scandal now known as cola-gate involved a shady deal between Ms. Li and Mr. Lamm, an ad executive with ties to the Philadelphia mob. Rumors speculated that Barch and O'Neil saw something and were executed to ensure it never got out.

Sandi Griffin had no time for such trivial (in her mind) matters as she was snooping in her mother's study at home. It was never of any interest until now. Linda had gone too far when she grounded Sandi for no good reason. Sandi remembered the story of how Quinn once used dirt on her parents to get out of trouble and now Sandi hoped to dig up similar dirt on her own mother. She considered blackmailing Linda with it but dropped that idea as she realized that Linda would just strike back in a cruelly draconian manner. Revenge was the better option. Sandi would even the score by leaking whatever she found, resulting in Linda being humiliated. Since Linda allowed no one in her study Sandi had to wait for an opportunity to snoop without getting caught. She didn't have to wait long.

On this particular evening Linda was spending the night at a business conference in Atlantic City. Sandi's father, Tom, was at a two-week accounting conference in Washington, DC while Sam was at an all night party at the lake and Chris was sleeping over at a friends house. Sandi had the entire Griffin house to herself. She had entered the study with the intention of finding and copying any embarrassing information she found. She'd keep the copies and put the originals back as they were and no one would know until it was time to strike. Linda had pushed Sandi so far that now Sandi was ready to do some pushing of her own.

Sandi looked around the study, the theme from that confusing Tom Cruise movie about spies playing in her head. She noted the desk and computer complete with a printer that was also a copier and fax machine. The room also had a filing cabinet.

She thought to herself Anything damaging on the computer would be password protected and I don't know the password. She continued to look around the room and saw that the top drawer was marked "Business Correspondence".

She tried to open the drawer but found it to be locked shut. She wondered if maybe Linda was smart enough to take the key with her to Atlantic City. Hoping that wasn't the case, Sandi decided to check the desk drawers. She opened the top one and couldn't believe her luck when she saw the key right there atop a stack of blank sheets of paper. Sandi immediately took the key. She had no trouble unlocking the top drawer of the filing cabinet. Inside, there were folders marked with a month and a year, the most recent being "July 2001". Sandi went through it and grimmaced when she found nothing of note.

She got an idea at that moment. She remembered how in addition to grade fixing the scandal that got Ms. Li arrested included the Ultra-Cola incident. She got a folder marked "Dec. 1999" and went through it. There, she found something interesting. It read:

From the Desk of:

Linda Griffin, VP of Marketing

WSBC-TV, Lawndale, NJ

Ms. Angela Li,

It has come to my attention that with the failure of last November's tax referendum the school has found itself in a financial bind. I believe that I can help you out in this matter. I know an executive for a national advertising distributership who can be of service in this matter, Leonard Lamm. If you like, I could arrange a meeting between you and Mr. Lamm.

Sincerely,

Linda Griffin

Sandi grinned as she took the letter to the printer to copy. Once that was done she put the original back where she'd found it. She remembered the whole affair from her junior year and how it had ended with Ms. Li having a very public nervous breakdown. At this moment she wondered if that led to anything else damaging to her mother's reputation. She pulled out another folder, this one marked "Feb. 2000". She found another interesting letter.

From the Desk of:

Linda Griffin, VP of Marketing

WSBC-TV, Lawndale, NJ

Ms. Angela Li,

It appears that the original agreement must be re-negotiated in light of recent mishaps. To that end Mr. Lamm and I would like to introduce you to a mutual friend of ours. He does not wish to be named in any official correspondence but he has a controlling interest in many businesses that have ad time on WSBC programming. He has a proposal that would be mutually beneficial to all of us.

Your Friend,

Linda Griffin

The plot thickens, Sandi thought as she copied this letter as well. She then placed the original back and closed the filing cabinet. She locked it and returned the key to the top drawer of Linda's desk. She was about to leave when she noticed something off. Instead of being right against the wall the filing cabinet had a six-inch gap between its back end and the wall. Finding this unsightly, Sandi tried to push the cabinet back but found it was blocked by something on the floor. When she looked she found a safe deposit box on the floor between the cabinet and the wall. Pulling the box out, Sandi noticed how dusty it was. It had apparently not been touched in a long time.

Mother must have forgotten she had this, Sandi thought as she blew the dust off. I wonder...

Sandi searched for the key. It took almost an hour, but she found another key inside a decorative urn. She placed it in the lock of the safe and it opened. Inside was a video tape. Sandi placed the tape back in the box and locked it. She then left the study and went to her room. She took the copied letters, the safe-deposit box and the key with her. She knew that her mother would not notice they were missing as she'd obviously forgotten she even had them in the first place.

South Philadelphia, 1987...

Twenty-five year old John Mangano was being led into the basement of the home of a high ranking member of the Philadelphia mob. This was the day he had dreamed of since his days as a teenage hood. Today he was to become a full member of the Scapelli crime family. He would soon be umano rispetto, a man of respect. The basement was lit by candlelight. In the center was a table with an urn in the center. At the table were all ten of the family's capo's along with the boss, underboss and consiglieri. The boss was Victorio "Little Vic" Scapelli.

Scapelli was a somewhat scawny 58 year old. Despite this he gave off a vibe that would scare the Terminator. He was power and menace wrapped up in a small package. Some said that Vic was possibly psychotic. In front of him was a needle and a stack of prayer cards.

"Come," said Vic, "Join us."

John was escorted to the table and stood directly across from Vic.

Vic said "You know why you're here. Today is the day of your rebirth. Today, you become a true man and join our sacred brotherhood, this thing of ours: cosa nostra. Any past grievences you had end today. You are being born into a new life. There is one way in and one way out. You come in in a suit and go out in a coffin. There is no return from this. You understand?"

"Yes" said John as he nodded.

Vic continued "This thing is a thing of honor, a sacred brotherhood. If something happens to you then we take care of your family. This family is a thing of honor, la societa onorata. It comes before everything. Before your personal family, your country, even comes before God. From this day foward we are your family, the brotherhood in your country, I am your God. If I send for you, you must come in. Even if that means abandoning a dying loved one. If I tell you to kill then you must kill, even a loved one, or you yourself will die. The family comes first. Can you live with that?"

"Yes"

"Would you die for us?"

"Yes."

"Would you keep our secrets on pain of death?"

"Yes."

"Would you kill for us?"

"Yes."

"With which finger do you pull the trigger?"

John reached across the table with his right hand and extended his index finger. Vic took the needle off the table and pricked the tip of John's index finger, drawing blood. Next, Vic took a prayer card with an image of St. Peter. He held one corner to the nearest candle until it caught fire. He handed the card to John and told him to hold it up in his bloody right hand and stare at the flame.

"Repeat after me," said Vic, "If I betray the family..."

"If I betray the family..."

"...may my soul burn in Hell..."

"...as this saint burns in my hand."

At this point, Vic opened the urn at the center of the table.

"Place the burning saint in the urn." Vic commanded.

John placed the buring card in the urn. Vic immediately closed it. He walked over to John and kissed him once on each cheek.

"Congratulations" said Vic, "You're one of us now."

Atlantic City, 2001...

John Mangano sat in the hot tub outside his penthouse suite and reflected on his life as he smoked a fat Cuban cigar. He had achieved his boyhood dream of money, power and respect. He had it all. He became a made man at 25, was a capo by age 30. Now at age 39 he was the Don, the Godfather, Il Padre della Famiglia, or simply the Boss. He controlled a criminal empire stretching from the Poccono's to the Jersey Shore. He was allied with families in New York and Boston. He even had business interests in South Florida. His personal life was also a dream come true. He lived in a huge mansion in the upscale Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and maintained other residences such as his penthouse in Atlantic City and a condo in Miami. At home he had a beautiful wife and two great kids who never wanted for anything. He even had a hot piece of tail on the side. Linda Griffin may be 46 but she could still pass for 30.

"Penny for your thoughts, sexy." said Linda as she approached the hot tub clad in a sexy bikini and carrying a tray with some drinks.

"Just thinking how great my life is" he said.

Linda took a seat next to her adulterous lover in the hot tub. He remembered how he'd gotten this one. After he became boss John decided to invest his ill gotten wealth in a variety of businesses, including Ultra-Cola. He met Linda as he and Mr. Lamm tried to secure discount airtime for Ultra-Cola commercials. John thought Linda was hot. Linda gave them the discount time in exchange for regular payoffs. She thought her husband, Tom, was a spineless drip and soon began an affair with John. Not only was he very handsome and wealthy but he also had the bad boy thing going.

"You know," said Linda in a sultry tone, "I feel a little overdressed."

Getting the hint, John said "Well, let's do something about that."

He kissed her as he began to take off her bikini.

Meanwhile, back in Lawndale...

Sandi sat in her room in shock. The video was surveillence footage of Ms. Li's office. Ms. Li, Mr. Lamm, her mother and a fourth person were working out a very illegal kickback scheme. Sandi recognized the fourth person. Mob boss Handsome John Mangano had been covered on Fashion Vision often due to his taste in designer clothes.

"I can't believe it!" she said to herself, "My mother is in business with the mob!"

She didn't understand the details of what they were talking about and wished she'd paid more attention in economics because of it. All she knew was that what they were doing was highly illegal. The shock subsided quickly as Sandi realized what she had proof of. She had only expected to find something embarrassing and unethical. Instead she found something that could put Linda in jail for a long time. A wicked smile crossed Sandi's face as she considered what would happen if the tape and letters wound up in the hands of the authorities.

Mother, she thought, You're going down.