The Other Brooklyn: Joey Toranetti Trilogy (2 page)

P
eter
was about 5ꞌ 1" and pretty well built. He lived in the same area of
Brooklyn that Larry lived and Larry was his best friend. Pete’s father, Will,
was a bus driver for the city and stayed pretty much by himself. Will didn’t
hang out at the social club, but knew some of the people that did by sight
only. Will was very upset about his son being kicked in the groin and wanted to
go after the person who did this to his son. Will does not know the details of
the situation and his son wouldn’t tell him.

Pete talked to Larry about getting even with Joey. Larry
told him, “I overheard my father say to his friend that it is better to wait a
while before you do anything because it can come back at you. So, hang on Pete
there will be a time and a place one day that we will get even with Joey. Just
not now because my father is still very upset with me and he will know that it
was us.”

Pete said, “Okay I will wait for you to tell me when.”

Larry said, “Good.”

At the school Larry and Pete pretended that they were over
the situation with Joey and acknowledged Joey as a friend.

I
had no problems in the school for a long time, everything was real smooth. I
graduated and the next term and would start in Lafayette High School.

I went away with my mother, father, and brother to upstate
New York for a vacation in the country. It was really beautiful. There were
cows we helped milk in the mornings and pigs that we helped feed. The food they
served was plentiful and really good. I really enjoyed the time we had up
there.

When we came home it was time to get ready for school to
start. We went shopping for school clothes and books and other items. Rocco was
still in the school by our house. Lafayette High School was near Coney Island
so I had to take a school bus.

The morning that school started I went to the bus stop and
waited with a few other kids including Larry and Pete. They said “Hello” and I
nodded my head. When we got to the school we went into the yard to wait to
enter the building. Larry said “Hi Joey” and as I turned to say hello I was
jumped from behind by someone. This person hit me about two times before I knew
what happened. I went backwards but did not go down. I tackled this guy and as
we went to the ground. I was hit with something hard.

The next thing I saw was a teacher pulling me up. I was
brought to the office and was read the riot act from the dean. Dean Summers was
like a principal in my other school. Mr. Summers said, “I will not tolerate
fighting in my school. Now, tell me why you were fighting.”

I said, “I was jumped from behind.”

That is not what Mr. Peterson said, “He said that you
tackled the other boy.”

I said, “Where is the other boy?”

The dean said, “He is in class where you should be. I will
let this go this time but don’t let me see you again for something like this.”

I walked out of the office and went to my first period class.
I entered the class and recognized the other guy. He was sitting next to Larry
and Pete and they were laughing and looking at me. I tried to hold my temper,
but it didn’t work. I dove on top of the guy who hit me and punched him in the
middle of his neck. He fell backwards and was having, a very hard time
breathing. I turned around to Larry and Pete and told them they would regret
this day.

Of course I was brought back to the dean’s office within
20 minutes after I had left his office. My teacher, Mr. O’Connor, told the dean
what had happened and the dean was really upset. He said, “Thank you” to Mr.
O’Connor and said he could go back to his class.

The dean said to me, “I want your father up here tomorrow
morning and you are suspended for the day. Now go home and calm down.”

I said to the dean, “You should have brought the other guy
into this office in the first place so do not judge me you asshole.” I walked
out.

I walked home—about six miles, all the time worrying about
my father. He was going to be really upset with me for fighting on the very
first day of school. My mother asked, “What are you doing home?” I told her
what happened and she started to cry. She said, “Your father is going to have a
fit.” I showed her the welt on my head and she started to cry again. She asked,
“What did he hit you with?”

I said, “I don’t know. All I know is that my head still
hurts.” My mother calmed down and told me to go lie down and rest.

She called my father and he came right away. When he got
in the house he yelled out, “JOEY GET IN HERE!!” I came in and he said, “What
the hell is wrong with you? Why are you fighting on the very first day of
school?” I told him what happened and he was really mad. I told him that the
dean wanted to see him in the morning and please let me work this out with
Larry and Pete. He said “Why, so you could beat the hell out of them?”

I said, “I won’t lay a hand on them. They must be afraid
of me otherwise they would have jumped me themselves. I am just going to smile
at them and let them wonder when they will get it.”

My father said, “Where do you get these ideas from?”

I said, “I hear you talking to your friends and I
remember. Oh, I also called the Dean an asshole.”

Guess my mother heard me and said “The apple doesn’t fall
far from the tree,” and walked away.

My father laughed and said “I will come to the school with
you to see the dean and you will not be suspended. This will not go on your
school record, okay?” I said, “Thank you Dad, and went back to my room to rest
my head.”

M
y
father and I arrived at the school at 7:30 a.m. to see Dean Summers. Since I
knew where the office was my father followed me. When we arrived at the office
my father told me to not say a word unless he told me to. I said okay. We
opened the door to the office and my father said to the receptionist, “I am
Antonio Toranetti and I am here to see Dean Summers.”

The receptionist replied, “Mr. Toranetti he is expecting
you. I will let him know that you are here.” She went into the Dean’s office
and came back about three minutes later. She said, “Dean Summers will see you
now.”

We went into the office and my father and the Dean shook
hands. My father said to the Dean, “My son tells me that he was attacked
yesterday by someone and hit in the back of the head with something very hard.
He also said that he was the only one brought to this office and reprimanded by
you. Please explain why only Joey and not the other boy.”

The dean then said, “I was told by a witness that your son
started the fight. One of our teachers pulled him up and brought him to this
office.”

“Are you calling my son a liar?”

“No sir, I am going by what the teacher had told me.”

“What was that?”

“There were two boys who said they had seen the whole
thing.”

“Who were the boys that told this teacher this lie?”

“I am not at liberty to say.”

My father said to me, “Joey did you start the fight?”

“No I didn’t.”

My father said to the Dean, “My son doesn’t lie to me. If
he had started the fight he would admit it.”

“I am not saying that your son lied to you. I am going by
what a teacher told me. I also told your son that I would forget about the
whole incident just go to his class and calm down. It wasn’t even 20 minutes he
was back here in my office for fighting again. That is why I sent him home and told
him to bring you to see me in the morning.”

My father said to the Dean, “I know about the second
incident also, my son told me. He was reprimanded by me for doing what he did.
I do know who really started the first fight and who lied to your teacher.

“My son and I do not know who hit him from behind. I know
my son can be a hot head, but when he saw the three laughing when he entered
the home room, he knew they were laughing at him and acted out of rage. By the
way how is the boy my son hit in the home room?”

“He is Okay.”

“That is great to hear. I am going to the other boy’s
father and have a discussion with him about what they did. In the meantime,
please do not put anything in my son’s record about being suspended or
fighting. Do you understand? It will be greatly appreciated.”

Dean Summers said, “I will handle that.”

“Thank you.” My father said to me, “Go to your class now
and do not bother with those boys, do you understand.”

I said, “Yes” and left for my class.

I
walked down the hall and went into my home room. I went up to the teacher and
said to him that I cannot sit near those three guys. So he gave me a seat on
the other side of the room. Larry and Pete were sitting with the guy I hit and
not saying a word. I found out the other guy’s name was Jeremy Thompson. He was
very tall, a little heavy and had muscles all over him. All he did was stare at
me through the whole class.

When the bell rang I left the room and went to the rest of
my classes that day. I was hoping that I didn’t have any other issues with
Larry and Pete. I noticed that Jeremy went in another direction to his class
and I said to myself, “I hope he stays away from me.” I wasn’t afraid of him
but I didn’t want to get in trouble again.

I
arrived home at 3:00 p.m. and saw my father sitting on the couch deep in
thought. I went over to him and asked if I was in a lot of trouble with him. He
told me, “No, you stood up for yourself. The only thing is that you need to
control your temper and think first before taking action. I have told you this
a million times.”

“I know; I just felt I couldn’t let them think I was
afraid of them.”

“I understand son but sometimes it is better to wait. When
I was your age I would have done exactly what you did. I learned from a very
good friend that you have to be smarter than the other person and leave the
rage behind. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“I think so.”

“Well, please try to not let your anger get the best of
you. You will have your enemies worried what you will do next. I have a meeting
with Arthur about this situation at 7:00 p.m.”

“I thought you were going to Larry’s father and talk to
him.”

“I must talk to Arthur first. Then I will see Larry’s
father, Luke. Understand diplomacy first. Okay?”

“Okay.”

My father left the house and went to his meeting with
Arthur. He came home around 8:00 p.m. and said, “He has a meeting with Luke at
7:00 p.m. tomorrow night and that I need to come with him.” I said, “Okay.”

The next night we left for Luke Campoella’s house. His
house was in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn and it was a big place. My father
rang the bell and Mr. Campoella answered the door and said, “Hi Antonio, please
come in.”

“Hello Joey.” I said hello back to him. We entered his
office and there I saw Larry sitting down next to his father’s desk.

Luke sat behind his desk and my father and I sat across
from him. Luke said, “I heard from our friend Arthur last night, Antonio and
I’m very upset with what happened. I asked my son and he told me that he is
very sorry for the incident and he only did it to satisfy his friend Pete. It
seems that Pete was very upset that your son Joey had kicked him in the groin.”

“My son, Joey, was only defending himself when Pete
decided to make the fight two against one.”

“I realize this and that is what I told my son. Now, I
understand that you are very upset with my son Larry and his friends. How do
you want to handle this?”

“Well, the last thing I want is an issue with you. I
believe that you should warn your son and his friends that any further
incidents can become a big issue with us.”

“I understand. I will see to it that your son Joey or your
son Rocco will not have any more problems. Isn’t that right Larry?”

“Yes.”

“Now Larry and Joey please step out of the room I need to
talk to Mr. Toranetti.”

Larry and I walked out of the office and sat in chairs
away from each other. I do not know what was going on in the office but when my
father came out he had a smile on his face that we had succeeded.

We thanked Mr. Campoella and left to go home.

I
want to tell you about the area in Brooklyn where we lived. I told you the area
was controlled so I need to explain how. There are four sections that made up
the area we lived in. The first is Bay Ridge, second is Bensonhurst, third is
Dyker Heights and last is Bath Beach. This took up a lot of area.

By controlled I mean that the big families made sure there
were very few problems. For instance, you could not start a sanitation business
unless you asked permission. You could not open a club or put in vending
machines without permission. There are many other examples, but I know you get
the picture.

I lived in the Bath Beach & Dyker Heights area. I
lived in a two family house that was converted into a one family. This was a
great area because across the street was Dyker Heights Golf Course and down the
street was Dyker Heights Park. On the other end of the park was Graves End Bay.
We used to go there and watch the big tankers and freighters come through the
bay to the downtown Brooklyn piers. If you walked west along the water you
could get to the army’s Fort Hamilton. This fort watched the whole bay. During
WWII a German sub was spotted in the bay and that really was a cause for alarm.
Across the street from the fort was Fort Hamilton Park. In the park there was a
huge cannon that we used to climb on to get a better view of the water.

If you walked east by Grave Ends Bay you went into Coney
Island. My brother and I used to go to Coney Island with my mother and father
at least once a month. Coney Island was a big amusement park with great rides
and of course the famous Nathan’s
^®
hot dogs. We would go on the
largest wooden roller coaster, the Bobsled, bumper cars, and many other rides.
The one we both loved was the Merry-Go-Round. We always had to get a horse that
was on the outside because they had this arm that came out from the sidewalk
that had rings slide down to the bottom of the arm and stick there for us to
grab. There were always at least five brass rings and if you got one you got a
free ride.

Inside Coney Island was a place called Steeplechase. This
was an amusement park inside Coney Island.

You had to buy tickets to get in. They had quite a few
rides but the one we loved was the horse racing ride. The horse was just like a
horse on the Merry-Go-Round but it sat on a rail instead of a pole. The horses
were in a row of four just like a race track. You get on the horse, a bell
would ring, and you’re off and running. These horses went pretty fast so you
had to put your strap on and hold on. This was the greatest ride of all. You
didn’t win anything but it was a lot of fun. My father used to fix the cars for
owners of Steeple Chase so they gave him lots of tickets for free. Sometimes we
would take some of the kids on our block with us to Steeplechase and they would
love it.

I loved living in Brooklyn and I had made many friends. We
played a lot of stick ball, baseball, and built snow forts stacked with
snowballs. It was a lot of fun living in Brooklyn.