Hey Everyone! Glad I could finally sit down and write the end of this story. It seems the majority of you want Arnoldo to……. well read and find out for cryin' out loud!
Mafia facts:
The mafia hierarchy consists of--
Don- head of family
Underboss- second in command
Consigliari- counselor
Caporegima (Capo)- Captain
Soldiers- hit men. They also interrogate and other stuff. Basically they do all the dirty work
Associates - venal politicians, cops, etc who aren't Italian/Sicilian
* * *
"Have a seat Arnold," said Principal Wartz.
Arnoldo felt weird sitting in front of Principal Wartz's desk. He was usually the one on the other side of the desk.
"Now, Arnold, I'm not sure if this is true or not…but I have from a source- who I will not mention the name of- that you had the winner of the upcoming little league series fixed for your own personal gain. How a nine-year-old could achieve this is beyond me, but one can never be too cautious."
"Maybe you don't know who my father is."
"Young man, I don't care who your father is. What I care about is if you fixed the little league series." Principal Wartz walked over to the filing cabinet. "Now, unless you want this on your permanent record, you are going to tell me the truth. Understand?" He pulled out the box that contained the dreaded permanent marker.
Arnoldo stared into Wartz's eyes. "No." He stood up and walked out of the room without shutting the door.
"Young man, get right back here, I'm not finished with you!"
The next morning, Principal Wartz found a message from a Mr. Michael Valdini concerning his son Arnoldo.
***
The Next day; Little League Series between PS119 and PS116
Arnoldo had invited his entire family. They filled up a whole bleacher at the City Park baseball field. Arnoldo had even invited his associates; the hall monitors, Mr. Simmons, Principal Wartz, Lorenzo, and the entire student government. He wanted to see exactly how loyal they were. He turned around and caught the eye of Antonio Nassadi, who would soon owe him 40 bucks and 3 bags of mini oreos.
"Criminy!" Yelled Helga. "Hit the stinkin' ball already!" She threw a piece of hotdog at the catcher so that he wouldn't catch the ball and the PS 119 kid on second base could steal third.
Arnoldo grinned at Helga. Yep, they were definitely set to win. Everyone hushed when Ryan Marco of PS119 stepped up to the plate. The pitcher pitched a fast one, which grazed Marco's bat and flew into the bleachers
Arnoldo stared at the baseball coming at him. "Helga, where's my glove?"
"How should I know, I'm not your—"
SMACK!
Everyone gasped when the baseball cracked off of Don Arnoldo's head and knocked him unconscious.
"Arnold!" Yelled Helga. She scooted over to him and pulled his head on her lap. Everyone gathered around them. He mumbled something.
"My head…what happened?" He slightly opened his eyes but the sun was too bright to see much. He could slightly make out the silhouette of a girl's head hovering over him. It looked like she had to brooms coming out of her head.
"Helga?"
"Arnold!"
Is my head in her lap? he thought.
"I, I, were am I?" He sat up slightly and looked at his surroundings. A lot of people, a baseball field…mini oreos…
Oreos? Were did that come from?
Suddenly, memories of the last two months crashed over him like a tidal wave. He shook his head. It couldn't be! He saw himself ordering people to be taken care of, and not in a good way either! Then, he remembered the wedding, the wine, speaking Italian, and Stinky as a priest. What the heck had gotten into him?
"I have to go." He pushed himself up despite feeling dizzy.
"Wait! Don Arnoldo, you aren't fit to walk yet!" Park started to kiss his hand, but Arnold pulled it away. "Stop kissing my hand!"
He stumbled down the bleachers and caught a bus back to Sunset Arms. He had never wanted this for himself or for his friends. He made his way up to his bedroom and collapsed onto his mattress. It was all to much to take in. He would need to think about it tomorrow.
***
The next morning
Gerald, Helga, Park, Peapod kid, and some soldiers keeping watch, hovered tentatively around Arnold's door.
"I wonder what's gotten into him?" said Helga, who feared she already knew the answer. She wasn't sure she wanted to be around to find out.
"I believe Don Arnoldo suddenly had a relapse in his memory when the baseball hit his head," said Peapod Kid.
"That's what I thought." said Gerald. "So who's gonna talk to him? By the way, I'm the one who did it the first time!"
Everyone turned to look at Helga.
"What?" she glared at everyone.
"You are his 'wife'."
"Oh geez, gimme a break!" but inwardly, she sighed. She never got tired of hearing the word 'wife'.
Gerald handed her a pixy stick. "Use it as the last resort, ok?"
"But what if he's…you know…"
"Believe me, Arnold always sleeps with clothes on, well at least the Arnold that I remember." Gerald laughed.
She grumbled as she knocked on Arnold's door. "Hey Football Head! Open up or I'm comin' in!"
She heard a slight moan and took that as Arnold's way of saying, "Go away".
She flung the door open and shut it behind her. "Listen, Arnoldo, you need to get out of bed! There's a lot of people who need you right now!"
He mumbled something Helga couldn't quite understand.
"Speak English, Hair boy!"
He turned his head toward her slightly. "I said, they don't need me."
"Yes, they do. Now get up, it's 5:00 and you've been in bed for almost two days."
He turned his head toward the wall.
"Ok, you asked for it!" She grabbed his face, squeezed his lips open and poured the contents of the pixie stick into his mouth. He choked on the sugar until it was all down.
It almost immediately woke him up.
"Listen, thanks for trying to help, Helga, but I think I need to take a walk alone and clear my mind."
* * *
He had finally come to terms with what he had been doing, but where to turn now?
He shuffled down the sidewalk and kicked a pebble ahead of him. He saw the ice cream parlor were he had his last meeting with Big Gino Gambino. One of Gino's soldiers glared at him from a small French café table. Maybe Arnold wouldn't be getting icecream after all.
He had not only changed his own life but the lives of others as well. Now everyone's lives centered around the family busness.
All of a sudden, he remembered Arnie when he spotted one of Vincetto's men make his way down the street and disappear into an alley.
Arnold quickened his pace and eventually caught up to Vincetto's soldier, but made sure to keep a safe distance. The kid entered a door behind one of the buildings and Arnold waited behind a trashcan for him to come out again.
About fifteen minutes later the kid exited the building and Arnold cautiously opened the door.
"Arnie!" Arnold saw Arnie tied and gagged in a chair, slowly munching on a gag sock. Arnold shuddered at the thought of eating a dirty sock but figured Arnie probably didn't have a sense of smell or taste and simply thought it was gum. He quickly untied the knots and pulled Arnie up from the chair. "C'mon, we gotta go!"
"Attenda un minuto!! It's Arnoldo!" said Vincetto who had come into the room. "I'm surprised you'd be stupid enough to come here yourself. I guess I was right then. Boys, take care of 'im."
"Let's go!" Arnold grabbed Arnie's wrist and pulled him down the alley with Vincetto's boys in pursuit. Where was Torvald when he needed him?
Suddenly, something came over him that he didn't recognize right away. He pushed Arnie aside and stood in front of Vincetto's soldiers. It was three against one.
"C'mon, I'm not afraid of you."
They looked at eachother and started toward him.
He suddenly charged and slammed his fist into one of their faces. The other two looked in surprised shock. This gave Arnold time to grab Arnie and run.
So much for being a pacifist, thought Arnold with a slight grin on his face.
When they returned to the Sunset Arms, Arnold found Helga, Gerald, and the rest of his gang still waiting.
"So, any revelations come to you on your walk, Football head?"
"Yeah, actually I did have some."
"Well, spill it, Arnoldo!"
"I realized now that I've started something big, I can't turn it around. I've got a family to protect now. I can't just stop doing that. This is the life we've chosen, and we'll have to keep on living it."
Everyone applauded Arnold's small speech.
"Pretty hot speech, Arnold," said Gerald with a grin.
"Call me Arnoldo," Arnold winked at everyone. "Let's go to my office and have a toast!"
They all piled into Arnold's office/room and sat around the long glossy table.
Arnold held up his drink. "To the Valdinis!"
Everyone repeated in unison, "TO THE VALDINIS!"
"Salut!"
* * *
Finis