Chapter 11: Second Chance and Success
A few minutes later, all three of them were seated at a park-bench with Gelato's hands tied up in steel wires while Tony and Rosa each held a slightly stale panini sandwich. Gelato was not pleased, and his stomach growled in protest as Spauracchio stood over them all with a looming presence. He took out a cigarette, and lit it much to the dismay of Rosa, who wasn't found of the foul smell. After he took a short drag on it, Spauracchio exhaled the smoke in a loud and definite sigh.
"I probably don't need to tell you this, but considering your performance on this test, you are a disgrace to the Foglia family and mobsters everywhere!"
Tony stared at the ground hard. Rosa was shocked. Then Gelato kicked and screamed like a child denied of his favorite toy.
"Why are being so mean, Capo?! We're only Soldiers, so it's natural for us to make these kinds of mistakes!" Rosa cried, clenching her fists.
"Mean? I'm only being blunt," Spauracchio said. "And even though you're only Soldiers, you need to be prepared for anything. Heck, you may likely fight against opponents who have more experience than you do, and how you deal with it will determine whether you live or die.
"If this were real, you'd all be dead, and I'll tell you why. Gelato, you were too bold and didn't think before you acted. Tony, you trusted your own power too much, and let your confidence get the better of you. Rosa, you failed to see through the obvious deceptions and let your personal feelings get in the way of your actions. That is why each of you failed the test, and because I feel like you could do better, I'm going to give you a second test."
"A second test? Oh, man," Gelato groaned, just as his stomach growled.
"Don't worry, this test is much simpler than the first," Spauracchio said, calmly tapping the end of the cigarette butt. "Because Gelato tried to cheat his way out of the test, he will not be given dinner. Now I'm going to walk down the path for a little bit, and let you enjoy your meals, but if I catch you feeding Gelato by the time I get back, you're disqualified to serve on my Squad. Understand?"
"Yes, Capo!" Tony and Rosa said reluctantly.
"Good," Spauracchio said, and walked down the path until he was out of sight.
At that moment, Gelato's stomach made the biggest growl it had made yet, as Tony and Rosa proceeded to eat their sandwiches. No one said anything, not even Gelato, who was too exhausted and hungry to protest. The stars were now fully out overhead, but the smog and the city lights made the view hazy. Meanwhile, the lampposts burned bright, and there were no sounds except for the breeze, which had grown stronger as the night went on. Then when Tony was halfway through his panini, he looked at Gelato, then at the sandwich, and reached it out towards Gelato's mouth. This surprised everyone, even Rosa.
"Tony, what are you doing? Do you want us to get kicked off the Squad that bad or something?" Rosa exclaimed.
"I don't care," Tony said, still extending the sandwich to Gelato. "I'd rather see an angry Gelato than a miserable one."
At that, Gelato's head perked up, and he looked at Tony with an irritated glare.
"If you think I'm a charity case, you're wrong!" Gelato said, but his stomach betrayed him. "But if you really mean it, then I'll accept this one time."
"Actually, Gelato, I was going to offer you my sandwich before the Capo told us not to," Rosa said, timidly holding her sandwich out as well. "Here, take it."
"Awww, you're just trying to impress Tony, aren't you?" Gelato sneered.
But before Rosa could knock him over the head with her free hand, Spauracchio suddenly appeared in front of them with an angry glare.
"YOU…" he growled.
The three braced themselves for the inevitable words he was going to say.
"…Passed, Soldiers!" he finished, giving them a thumbs-up. "Report at the Godfather's back gate tomorrow morning for your first mission!"
"Yeah!" Gelato cried triumphantly.
"Yes!" Rosa squealed.
"Let me guess, the point of this test was to do the opposite of what you told us to do," Tony said flatly.
"Exactly!" Spauracchio nodded. "If Soldiers just blindly followed orders, more of them would be dead if they didn't occasionally think about their fellow men, or women, which was what I was trying to get you to do in the previous test, but all you guys did was fight for yourselves."
Upon Spauracchio's mentioning of the first test, the three of them felt their spirits fall. But Spauracchio reassured them by patting them all on the shoulders and said, "But you'll get better once you've experienced your first set of missions. Now before you go home, do any of you happen to still have the envelopes that were sent to you?"
"No, I burnt mine when I got home after we met," Tony said.
"Yeah, I did too!" Rosa piped.
"I didn't know what to do with it, so I ripped it into pieces and threw it in a trashcan, I think," Gelato said, feeling embarrassed.
"Good, because the less evidence you have on you, the better our identities will be kept secret," Spauracchio said, and lit another cigarette. "You are all dismissed."
"Sir, yes, sir!" All three said in perfect unison.
End of Chapter 11