The Other Brooklyn: Joey Toranetti Trilogy (7 page)

29

Home

I
walked in the house and my mother came running to me and hugged me telling me,
“I was so worried, are you okay? What did the police say? Are you going to
jail? I don’t believe this.”

I said, “Mom
everything is fine. The police don’t think the D.A. is going to press charges.
So I probably won’t go to jail. They were very nice to me and I am fine. How is
Dad?”

“Your father
is okay, he needs to use a cane for a little while until his wound heels. He is
in the bedroom.”

I went into
my parents’ bedroom and said, “How are you Dad?”

“I am fine
Joey. What happened at the police station?”

I told him
everything that happened and he said, “Why didn’t you wait for an attorney?”

“I felt that
if I waited for an attorney things would really get complicated. I don’t
believe what I did was wrong. I was protecting everyone from a killer. Dad, you
do have a permit for the gun don’t you?

“Yes, Joey
everything is legal. By the way how do you feel about killing someone? If you
want to talk about it I am a good listener.”

“I don’t know
how I feel yet. I haven’t had time to think about it. If I need to talk about
it I will definitely tell you. I feel I had to do what I did. I actually had no
choice.”

“Okay Joey, I
believe that this case will not be prosecuted as the detective said. We will
just have to wait and see.”

“Can I call
Joanna?”

“It is late,
so I think you should wait until tomorrow.”

Just then the
phone rang. My mother must have answered it because she yelled out, “Joey it is
Joanna.”

I went out
and took the phone from her and said, “How are you Joanna?”

“I am much
better thank you. Thank you so much for getting me. I was really scared. I
thought they were going to kill me. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am
fine. I am just glad that you are not hurt and you’re home safe.”

“I heard the
shots and didn’t know what was happening. When you took the hood off me I
thought it was the person that kidnapped me. Then I saw you and felt good. I
saw your father on the floor bleeding and the other person lying on the floor
not moving. I knew at that time you saved me from these people. My father told
me that you killed the man that was lying on the floor before he could hurt
anyone else.”

“Well I did
what I had to do. Everything is going to be okay now, so don’t worry anymore.
You should get some rest now it was a very harrowing day. I will talk to you
tomorrow.”

“Okay,
goodnight Joey.”

“Goodnight
Joanna.” The next morning everything was in the newspaper. They portrayed me as
a hero who saved his girlfriend and killed a very bad person while doing so.

My father
read it and said, “Don’t worry about this. It is a good thing. The D.A. will
have to check out everything now faster than he would normally."

I decided to
listen to my father and didn’t worry about the story.

30

The District Attorney

A
bout
one week later I received a call from Detective Callahan. He said, “Joey can
you, your father, and Mr. McDonald meet me at the D.A.’s office tomorrow
morning at 9:00?”

“I said, my father
and I can, but I will have to see if Mr. McDonald can.”

“Okay, please
call me back. The D.A. just has a few questions to ask before he makes a
decision.”

I called
Joanna and asked if her father could come to D.A.’s office at 9:00 a.m.
tomorrow to answer some questions.

She said,
“Hold on he is right here.”

He got on the
phone and I asked him and he said, “Most definitely.”

I said, “We
can all go together, we would pick him up.”

I called
Detective Callahan and told him we would all be there. He gave me the address
and the room number and said, “See you there.”

I still
hadn’t felt any remorse about killing Eric Bitterman. I still felt I had to do
it. I felt it was a matter of kill or be killed.

I told my
father that Detective Callahan had set up a meeting with the D.A. and we needed
to pick up Mr. McDonald and be there at 9 a.m. The D.A. just had some questions
before he could make a decision. My father said, “Great, now maybe we can put
this all behind us.”

We arrived at
the D.A.’s office at 8:45 a.m. and were told to wait in the lobby for Detective
Callahan.

When he
arrived at 9:00 we were escorted into his office where we met Mr. David
Palermo. We all introduced ourselves and he told us to please sit.

Mr. Palermo
said, “I just have a few questions to ask so I can determine what to do with
this case. First, Mr. Toranetti, Do you have a permit for your gun?”

“Yes I do.
Would you like to see it?”

“Yes Please.”

My father
opened his wallet and gave him his permit.

“Great, this
is a big help. Now, Why didn’t you call the police?”

Mr. McDonald
said, “We did Mr. Palermo and when I told them my daughter was missing they
said they could not do anything until 24 hours passed. They also said she
probably ran away with her boyfriend. I told them she wouldn’t have done that.”

“I see,” the
D.A. said. “Why did you people go out to find her?”

“If it was
your daughter or son wouldn’t you start to look, if the police wouldn’t?”

“I guess I
would. What I don’t understand is how did you find her?”

I said, “I
had a problem with these two boys from a long time ago. They had a grudge
against me. I saw Pete coming out of a diner and called to him to ask if he had
seen Joanna. He ran and I knew he had something to do with her disappearance.
The rest is in the report.”

The D.A. said,
“Well I can see how and why. What I can’t see is any way of winning this case.
So, we will not prosecute. You will be free to go on with your lives. Joey, I
do suggest that you seek some help from a psychologist to help you get through
this. All our officers involved in shooting must do this. I believe that you
should also.”

My father
said “I already have a doctor set up for Joey to talk to.”

“Great, go
home and celebrate because we will not prosecute any of you. There is the
matter of Joey using the gun without a permit, but due to the circumstances we
will overlook it. Have a great day.”

We all said,
“Thank you.” to Mr. Palermo and left.

When we were
outside my father invited everyone out to celebrate. He picked his favorite
Italian restaurant and said to be there at 7:00 p.m. He gave them the address
and said to Detective Callahan, “You too detective and bring your wife also.”

He said,
“Thank you, but due to the situation I will have to decline.”

“Why?” My
father asked.

“I don’t want
people to think there was a conspiracy going on. We know there wasn’t but
people are funny.”

My father
said he understood and he didn’t want the detective to get into any trouble.

When we got
home my father told my mother and brother the good news and we all cheered and
hugged each other. My father then announced the celebration would be at The
Trivolotti Restaurant at 7:00 p.m. He then called Arthur and my Uncle Tommy and
invited them all to the celebration.

We heard the
doorbell ring and my brother Rocco answered it. It was Carlos Barone. My father
said, “Please come in Carlos.”

He came in
and said,” I want to thank you for finding the person who shot my nephew. If
you need any help in fighting this problem I have many connections.”

My father
told him what happened and he put a big smile on his face and said,
“Congratulations.”

My father
then invited him and his family to the restaurant.

Carlos said,
“Can we speak in private, Antonio?” My father said, “Come into my office.”

“I want to
say yes for dinner, but cannot. I have to pay a visit to Luke tonight. I
understand that this Eric Bitterman worked for Luke, so I have to clear this
up. But I would like to see you and Joey in the next couple of days.”

Carlos then
said, “I will talk to you in a few days. Good night everyone and enjoy your
dinner.”

Carlos left
and my father called The Trivolotti Restaurant to make sure they had room for a
party of 20.

They said,
“No problem Mr. Toranetti. We will see you at 7 oꞌclock.”

We went out
to dinner and had a great time. Now everything could get back to normal. I
could go back to work without worrying. My father could go back to his shop and
Joanna and her family could rest easy.

31

Meeting with Mr.
Barone

T
he
next day Arthur called and spoke to my father. I heard my father say, “Okay
Arthur, I understand. I will tell Joey.”

My father
called me into his office and said, “Arthur just called me and we have a
meeting with Carlos Barone at 3:00 p.m. today. I will tell you what Arthur told
me.”

Last night
Mr. Barone went to Luke Campoella’s house to confront him about Eric Bitterman
and found that Luke had disappeared with his wife. They are looking for them.

I said, “How
did they find out so fast? How could they have disappeared on the same night? I
don’t understand.”

“I can’t
answer those questions at this time.” Mr. Barone is very upset because he found
out that Eric Bitterman worked for Luke. It seems that Eric and Gino got into a
big argument and asked Luke if he could go after him. It seems that Luke said
okay without telling Mr. Barone. Mr. Barone would have said no, that’s my
nephew and he would have invited them both for dinner and smoothed things over.
But Luke didn’t have the respect for Mr. Barone that is expected. So then when
he found out what his son did he left town with his wife. He must have been
prepared for this disappearing act.

I said, “What
about Larry and Pete?”

“Well, they
will probably go to jail for 25-30 years for kidnapping. That’s a felony. So,
my guess is that Luke figured it was a lost cause to help his son and friend.”

“I am glad I
have you as my dad. You wouldn’t leave me alone like that, would you?”

“Definitely not,
your mother, you, and your brother mean way too much to me. I would do
everything in my power to help you guys.”

“Thank you
Dad.”

“You’re
welcome son. Now, stop getting into these situations.”

“I will
certainly try.”

“Great, now
let’s get ready for our meeting with Carlos. I want to tell you something
first. I do not know what Carlos wants to talk about but if he should ask you
to work for him do not accept. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, I
already have a job that I like.”

We started
getting ready to meet with Carlos Barone. I was wondering why my father said
not to take a job with him. My father came into the kitchen and said, “Are you
ready Joey?”

I replied
“Yes” and we left to meet Carlos.

We arrived at
his club in south Brooklyn. The name of the club is, CBSC. I assumed it stood
for Carlos Barone Social Club. My father said I was right. We were stopped at
the front door by the same man that stopped us at Arthur’s club. He said “Are
you the Toranetti?”

My father
answered, “Yes we are.”

“Okay, he is
waiting for you in the back office. Someone will take you back there.”

Another
person who was huge, to me, took us back to Carlos Barone’s office. We went in
and Carlos came to meet us and said, “Welcome Tony and Joey. I am so glad you
were able to come. Please sit down. I just want to thank you both again for
finding the killer of my nephew Gino. We were very close and I miss him. I need
to tell you that I knew Bitterman had worked for Luke, but Luke said he had
left his employ. Now I know Luke lied to me. All I want to say is that I am in
your debt. If there is anything I can do or help you with I am at your
service.”

My father
said, “We were only too happy to be able to get Bitterman, but we did it for
all of us. He was a very dangerous person with no regard for life. We do
however appreciate your offer. Thank you.”

“What about
you Joey?”

“I feel the
same way as my dad. I think we did a great service for your neighborhood and
our neighborhood.”

“You are a
very smart young man Joey.” Carlos said.

Carlos then
said, “I don’t want to keep you so have a great day. I really meant what I
said.”

My father and
I said, “Thank you” and we left for home.