The Other Brooklyn: Joey Toranetti Trilogy (6 page)

25

Time Moves On

I
went out with Joanna for the next few weeks. We went for pizza a lot and to the
ice cream parlor. My birthday was during the second week and hers was the third
week we were going out. I felt that we were getting to know each other really
well. I was falling in love with her.

There were no
incidents with the shooter, but I was very skeptical of running into Larry
Campoella and his friend Pete about three times in two weeks. I hadn’t seen
them since I got out of school. They were being friendly especially when I saw
them at the pizza place. They came over and said, “Hi Joey how are you doing?”

I said, “I am
doing fine. How about you guys?” “We are great. Who is this young lady?”

I didn’t want
to say anything, but that would have been rude so I said, “This is Joanna.”

“It is a pleasure
to meet you. Are you guys together, I mean boyfriend and girlfriend?”

I said, “Why
do you want to know?”

But just as I
got that out Joanna said, “Yes we are.”

I don’t know
why, but I felt that there was a reason for that question and I hoped I was
wrong. I told them we were in an important discussion and were about to leave.
“It was great seeing you guys.”

Larry and
Pete said, “Okay see you around.”

Then we saw
them again in the ice cream parlor. This time they were talking to each other
as they looked over at us and only waved. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I had
this bad feeling in my stomach. When I got home I was telling my brother about
how I felt and he said, “So far every time you had that type of feeling you
were right. Maybe you should tell Dad.”

I said, “I
know, I will wait a little before I say anything. Don’t say anything to Dad
about this, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“Thanks.”

“Just be very
careful, you know how Larry and his friend are.”

“I will
Rocco, I am very aware of their antics.”

26

The Real Deal

W
hen
I got home from work two days later, our phone rang and my mother answered it.
She said, “Hello, oh hi Mr. McDonald, no she isn’t here. I will ask Joey if he
knows where she is. Joey, do you know where Joanna is?”

“No. Why?”

“Well she
didn’t come home from the library. Her dad and mom are worried.”

“Is that Mr.
McDonald on the phone?”

“Yes.”

“Can I talk
to him?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, Mr.
McDonald, I haven’t seen her but I will go and look for her.”

He said, “I
will be calling her friends in the meantime.”

“I will drive
down to the library and see if anyone saw her Mr. McDonald. I will call you
from the library.”

“Thank you
Joey.”

When I got to
the library I saw her car and I said to myself great she is here. I went inside
and looked around and didn’t see her. I went to Marion the librarian, because
she knows Joanna and asked if she had seen her. She told me, “No, I haven’t
seen her tonight.”

“She must
have been here, her car is outside.”

“I have been
here at this desk all night and I watch everyone who comes in and she didn’t
come in.”

Now I really
started to worry because her car was here. I asked if I could use their phone.
She said, “Yes.” I called Mr. McDonald and told him she wasn’t here, but her
car was.

“Oh my god,
where is she?”

I told him I had
spoken to Marion the librarian and she said that Joanna never came in tonight.

Mr. McDonald
said he was going to call the police. I told him that I would tell my father
what is going on and would be over there to help find her right after that.

I got home
and told my father about Joanna and that Mr. McDonald was calling the police.

My father
said, “The police won’t do anything before 24 hours are up. They will tell him
that she probably ran away or has a boyfriend that she was seeing. Remember she
is 19 and that’s what they would say.”

“Okay Dad,
how can we help Mr. McDonald?” I told him I would come over as soon as I talked
to you.

“I will come
with you Joey.”

“Dad, listen,
I was telling Rocco about Larry and Pete showing up at most of the places
Joanna and I went to. I also told him I had a bad feeling about them. Do you
think they could have done something bad?”

“I don’t know
Joey, but we will find out real fast when we get home. I will make some calls.
On second thought I will make those calls now.”

My dad got on
the phone and called Arthur first. He told him what had happened, and said,
“Would you call and speak to Luke and see if you could talk to Larry about
this? Okay thanks, I will keep you informed Arthur.”

We then left
to go to Mr. McDonald’s house. When we arrived the police were there. We
knocked on the door and one of the officers answered.

Mr. McDonald
saw us and said, “Please come in.” He introduced us to the officer and we said,
“Hello.”

The police
finished talking to the McDonalds and they were crying. My father said, “Why
are they leaving?” Mr. McDonald said almost verbatim what my father said would
happen.

I said to my
father softly, “Should we tell him about Larry and Peter?”

My father said,
“I will tell them, then maybe we should look for those two in the neighborhood.
First, I will ask if I could use the phone. “May I use your phone for a minute
Mr. McDonald?”

“Yes. You can
call me Jeff.”

My father
picked up the phone and called Arthur. “Did you talk to Luke? Larry wasn’t
there? Did he say where he was? Okay thanks.”

My father
told Mr. McDonald the story of Larry and Pete from the beginning and said,
“That Joey had a bad feeling when they were showing up where Joanna and he were
together.”

My father
said, “Joey and I are going to try and find Larry and Peter, would you like to
come with us?”

“Yes I
would.”

Mrs. McDonald
said she wanted to come also, but Mr. McDonald said she should stay  home
in case Joanna showed up.

She replied,
“You’re right.”

27

Looking for Larry
& Pete

W
e
got in my father’s car and my father said, “I just need to stop at our house to
pick up something.”

We stopped
and my father went inside while we waited in the car. He came out about five
minutes later with three flashlights and I noticed he had his gun. I don’t
think Mr. McDonald noticed because he didn’t say anything.

We drove
around to all the places we could think of where the older kids hung out and we
didn’t see them. We were going to look at Larry’s house when I saw Pete coming
out of a diner. I said, “There’s Pete.” I showed my father and I jumped out of
the car and yelled out, “Pete!” He turned around and saw me and started
running. I ran as fast as I could after him and tackled him on the next corner.
I said, “Why are you running?”

Pete said,
“No reason.” I pushed him into an alleyway and said, “You remember Joanna?”

“Yes.”

“Did you and
Larry do anything to her tonight?”

“No.”

“I don’t
believe you. Where is she?”

“I don’t
know.”

I hit him with
everything I had and split his mouth open. I asked again. “Where is she?”

“I don’t
know.”

“What did you
and Larry do with her?”

“Nothing.”

My father got
to us and said, “That’s enough Joey. Let me handle this.”

“Pete I am
only going to ask once and you better tell me the truth.”

While he said
this he made sure his gun showed under his jacket. “Did you and Larry do
something to Joanna?”

Pete started
to cry and said, “It was Larry and one of his father’s friends.”

“Where is
she?”

“I don’t know
but they said they were taking her as leverage to get Joey to come for her.
That’s when this guy was going to kill Joey.”

My father
then took out his gun and Mr. McDonald said, “What are you doing?”

My father
said, “Quiet, let me handle this punk.”

My father
said, “I will blow your brains out if you don’t tell me where Joanna is!”

“Please don’t
kill me! They are at the pier in Sheepshead Bay.”

“Where, be
more specific?”

“There is an
old abandoned club on the strip you can get in from the back.”

“Who is
there?”

“Just Larry,
they put a bag over her head so she can’t see them.”

My father
said, “Alright get up! You’re coming with us.” My father opened the trunk and
put Pete in it. He then told Pete, “If you keep quiet you have enough air for
six hours.”

We drove off
to Sheepshead Bay. When we got there my father drove to the side of the
building. He said, “Stay in the car.”

I said, “No I
am coming with you.”

Mr. McDonald
said he was coming too since she was his daughter. My father knew he couldn’t
stop us so we all started to go around the back.

As we opened
the door we heard talking. It was Larry and the shooter Eric Bitterman. As we
started to get closer someone stepped on a piece of glass and it made a big
sound. The shooter turned around with his gun out and shot my father in the
leg. My father’s gun fell and I grabbed it and shot at the shooter and he went
down, I shot him again to make sure he stayed down. I saw Joanna in a chair
with a hood over her head and took it off. I untied her. She was hysterical,
crying.

I put my arm
around her and held her real tight and said, “Your dad is here.”

She looked
and ran to him. He held her and cried and told her he loved her and was very
glad to see her.

I ran over to
my father and asked, “How bad is it?”

“Not bad, I’ve
had worse.”

In the
meantime Larry tried to get away, but I grabbed him and started to beat him to
a pulp. Mr. McDonald stopped me and said, “He wasn’t worth it. My daughter is
okay.”

At that time
the police came running in with their guns out and Mr. McDonald yelled to them
to stop. There is a person who needs a hospital.

He then
proceeded to tell the police what happened. They asked who shot the person that
was dead. I jumped up and said, “I did.” I proceeded to tell them why and they
said they would have to arrest me and my father, but it was only until they
could tell the district attorney the story. It would be up to him if there were
going to be any charges.

The ambulance
arrived and took my father to the hospital. Before then Mr. McDonald got my father’s
keys for the car to take his daughter home. He also opened the trunk and took
Pete out and handed him over to the police.

I was taken
to jail by another patrol car.

28

Police Station

W
hen
we arrived at the station an officer took me to a room and said, “Detective
Callahan will be in shortly.” He took the handcuffs off me. I sat down and
waited. I saw this big mirror against the wall and I knew it was a 2-way
mirror. I was a little nervous so I got up and started to pace the room. In a
few minutes Detective Callahan came in and said, “Sit down please. I know you
are nervous, but I just need to go over everything that happened. Okay?”

“Yes sir.”

“Great. First
I want you to know that you don’t have to answer any of my questions without
your lawyer because anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
Do you understand?”

I said, “Yes
sir.”

“Do you want
a lawyer present?”

Again I said,
“I didn’t do anything wrong except save the life of my father, Mr. McDonald,
and his daughter Joanna. So no I do not need a lawyer at this time.”

“Okay, please
sign this waiver so we can continue.” I signed the waiver that I refused to
have a lawyer present.

Detective
Callahan said, “Do you mind if I tape this interview?”

I said, “No.”

“Now tell me
from the beginning what happened in your own words.”

I told him
what had happened from the night I witnessed the shooting until today. He asked
if I called the police and I told him about Detective Williams. I also told him
that Detective Williams said after riding with me that he didn’t believe the
shooter really knew who I was after three days driving with me and he didn’t
think he would come after me anymore.

When I was
finished Detective Callahan said, “Well, I believe that the D.A. will not press
charges, but I cannot guarantee it.” I am going to have someone take you home.
Please don’t go anywhere until the D.A. makes his decision.

I said,
“Thank you and asked if he could take me to the hospital where my father is.”

He said,
“Lets’ call them first and see if he is still there.”

“Okay.”

He called the
hospital and they said that he was okay, but the police officers took him home
after they found out what happened.

Detective
Callahan said, “Your father is okay and is home so we will take you home.”

I said, “Thank
you very much sir.”