Beach Home-Personal Narrative

“And you are part of the garbage whether you know or care to admit, you have been in this business as long as you have been in Galveston, and soon you will be a recognized member of The Family.”

“Filippo, what else, my God, what else?”

“I’ll be with him in the living room of your beach house. Notice that I said your beach house. You’ll come in from the beach by way of the deck that faces the Gulf. He’ll be sitting with his back to you and I will introduce you as my baby. Then I’ll say to you,

“Get my friend a glass of Ruffino, the Reserve, or the best bottle of Italian

wine we have.” You can’t find it so I get up and get the silencer and shoot him three times in his big red head. We pick him up, wrap him in a blanket, a blanket which I
The next day I will call the Don and tell him we sold the stock in the Irish Oatmeal Company.

“It’s done.”

“One more thing, Picca, in The Family you have to earn “Respecto” You learn how to do it, and some never learn and they pay for it. Still hungry?”

‘’No, Filippo, I think I’ve had enough for this night. I guess this is one of those nights.”

“Picca, things will be different for you from now on. Being part and partner of a business makes life more exciting and easier to understand, and a hell of a lot more money. The Family likes America because they can pick grapes off of the vines immediately without the nonsense of buying the seeds, waiting for the vines to grow, watching the grapes, carrying for them, and then fighting to keep the business. Now in America all you have to do is own the winery. Do you understand
They were Jerome, Raymond and Gerald LaFleur, and they were nine, thirteen and fourteen respectively. The weather in the Houston area for the past week had been much colder than usual, and the new gas heater in the boy’s bedroom had been turned on for the first time. It had been installed incorrectly by the Father, Mr. LaFleur. Such a burden of grief is unthinkable. The church was filled with poor souls who wanted to express their grief. There also was a special section for the Media who were there to do a job under trying circumstances. Most noticeable was a section of young men and women who were friends of the victims, all dressed in their best. They were immaculate and fresh in appearance as were their thoughts that they were sheltering and saving for the ceremony. The funeral was a first for many of the children who appeared as sweet and innocent as. the colorful flowers that gracefully covered the railings of the altar and the three caskets. The LaFleur family was of French descent and a family of very modest means who managed on the Father’s meager salary, and the kindness of several of the church members who were more fortunate, and who, unknown to the father and mother, were subsidizing his salary. It was money that never made it to the collection box. Frank Banion was part of this remuneration and in a quiet way, so quiet that his wife