Prologue
The year is 1951 in the city of Empire Bay. In a rundown apartment, a man ruminates on his life and how it went so wrong, as he gazes at a family photo album.
This man is Vittorio Scaletta, Vito to most everyone he knows, born to a poor family on the island of Sicily in 1925. In 1932, he and his family immigrated to the United States in order to escape their life of poverty. There, his mother Maria, his father Antonio, and his older sister Francesca moved into Empire Bay, where Antonio hoped to build a new life working at the docks. Unfortunately, no such improvement came to the Scaletta family, as Antonio developed an addiction to alcohol and worked his fingers to the bone until his dying day, drowning at work.
Vito, for his part, fell into the criminal element of his neighborhood alongside his best friend Joe Barbaro. One fateful night in 1943, a policeman stumbled upon the duo breaking into a jewelry store. Joe managed to escape, but Vito had no such luck. As he could be tried as an adult at the time, he was faced with two unpleasant options; either face time in prison for the robbery, or become drafted into the battles of the Second World War. The United States Army was scheduled to invade Italy, and they were looking for men who could speak Italian in order to aid the resistance fighters. Figuring that anything was better than jail, Vito chose to join up and serve his country.
A Mobster's Life
The date is 11 July 1943. Vito, now a soldier in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, is participating in Operation Husky. Vito and his unit are on a mission where they were meant to be dropped into Italy's southern coast. However, their aircraft is struck by flak, forcing a bailout that leaves only Vito and two other soldiers standing. The survivors are led to the town of San Celeste by the local resistance, where Vito spots civilians being publicly executed at the town hall. A gunfight begins and Vito helps his fellow soldiers and resistance fighters in eliminating several Blackshirts. The battle leads Vito and his troops to a balcony with a light machine gun, which Vito quickly puts to use in battling the fascist soldiers, but the arrival of a tank quickly outmatches them.
Vito is knocked out by the tank's cannon fire, and awakens to see his fellow soldiers being executed by Italian soldiers. One of them is ready to kill him, but Vito is saved at the last minute by the arrival of Calogero Vizzini
, better known around these parts as Don Calò, head of the Sicilian Mafia. The Don offers the Italian soldiers the chance to leave the war behind and return to their loved ones on the condition that they surrender to the Americans. Only after the briefest of hesitations do the soldiers surrender, a sight that utterly amazes Vito.
The date is 8 February 1945. Vito has been given a month's leave after recovering from being shot in the line of duty. He returns to Empire Bay, and waiting for him at the train station is his good friend Joe Barbaro. They decide to catch up over drinks at a bar, where Joe learns about Vito's leave and goes to make a phone call. When he returns, he reiterates that Vito's wound "appears" more serious than it looked, and he can't go back to war after all. He has contacted a good friend to forge some official discharge papers in order to ensure Vito's stay at home is permanent. A thankful Vito leaves the bar to go home for the night.
Arriving in his old neighborhood by cab, Vito joins Francesca and his mother Maria for dinner. The three of them bond over Vito's return, and they enjoy a lovely dinner of chicken soup before Vito goes off to sleep. In the morning, Vito informs his mother that he won't be returning to the war thanks to Joe. Although Maria is glad that Vito isn't going back to war, she implores Vito to stay well away from Joe and pursue honest work instead. She suggests to Vito that he talk to Derek Pappalardo, his father's old boss down at the docks, which Vito promises to do.
As he is leaving, he sees a man yelling in Francesca's face. Vito's fighting skills lay the thug out easily and he is sent running, but he warns Francesca that she and Vito are now in a deep mess. Francesca explains to Vito that before his death, their father had turned to a loan shark and borrowed $2,000 (which is a serious sum of money in 1945). The loan shark is demanding his money back by the end of that week, or the debt will go up. Vito realizes he needs to raise this money fast, and decides to turn to Joe to find opportunities for high-paying work.
Vito arrives at Joe's apartment, where he is lounging around with a couple of women and a messy floor. Their first order of business is to pick up Vito's forged discharge papers. They meet Joe's good friend, a safecracker named Giuseppe Palminteri, and Joe is handed the paperwork while Giuseppe teaches Vito how to pick a lock. Vito makes use of this skill almost immediately by stealing a nearby Jefferson to use it as his own car. The police take notice of this, requiring Vito and Joe to lose them and get the car's plates changed at an auto shop.
With Vito now having his own car, the duo head for Vito's first illicit job. To facilitate this, they drive to a junkyard owned by crooked mechanic Mike Bruski. Mike explains that he deals in stealing cars and selling off their parts. Today, he is in need of a Walter Coupe. Luckily, Joe knows of one usually parked by a bar in Hunters Point, a neighborhood controlled by an African-American gang called the Bombers. Before leaving, Joe provides Vito a pistol, which he tests out by shooting a nearby car (and blowing the thing sky-high, due to Mike forgetting to siphon the leftover fuel).
Vito and Joe drive up to the Lone Star bar, where Joe leaves Vito to take the car. The Bombers in the area do not take kindly to the theft, forcing Vito to shoot through them in order to retrieve the coupe, but he steals it nonetheless. Vito earns himself a few hundred dollars for the job, and the two return to Joe's apartment, where Vito decides to stay over until he has his own place.
The date is 10 February 1945. Vito is awoken by a phone call at Joe's apartment from his mother. When she again insists that he has to find honest work, Vito goes to the Southport docks to see Federico Pappalardo, better known as Fat Derek. He meets the portly gentleman in his office, where Derek reminisces that Vito's father Antonio was a good worker, albeit one who "drank like a fish". Derek's right-hand man Steve Coyne directs Vito to load some crates onto a truck for a pittance.
Vito decides only a few minutes in that he's had enough of backbreaking labour and goes to leave. Steve is ready to dismiss Vito as a lazy bum until he mentions he'd rather be working for "Barbaro Incorporated". Finding it odd that someone who knows Joe Barbaro would ever turn to an honest job, Steve takes Vito back into Derek's office and tells Derek of this apparent connection. Derek opts to call Joe to confirm this, pulling out a pistol on the chance that Vito is lying about such a connection. Thankfully, Joe answers the phone and confirms that Vito is an old friend.
Knowing that Vito is part of the criminal world, Derek decides to give him a task more suited to his skills. He directs him to go around the warehouse and collect a "barber's fee" from the dock workers. Vito takes to the task like a fish to water, getting money via the right threats or beatings. A rather burly employee named Bill makes particular trouble of paying Derek's extortionate fee, but Vito is able to beat him into submission, a task that even Steve wasn't able to do. This manages to get the other workers much more willing to pay for the barber. Derek congratulates Vito on a job well done, and even gives him a bonus for dealing with Bill.
With money in his pocket, but needing more still, Vito hears from Steve that Joe has requested him to come to Freddy's bar. Upon arrival, Joe introduces Vito to Henry Tomasino, a high-ranking mobster in the Clemente crime family. Henry has a job for Vito that will pay better than the more petty ante crimes he's been committing so far. He assigns Vito to break into the Office of Price Administration and steal sheets of gas stamps from the safe within, as gasoline is worth a pretty penny with the current wartime rationing. Vito will learn about the place through Maria Agnello, an employee inside the building. All in all, Vito will earn $600 for his efforts, though Henry warns that if anyone gets killed, Vito will only receive $200. Additionally, Vito will be handling this on his own, as Henry has another job in mind for Joe.
Vito drives out to Agnello's apartment, driving the custodian to a hospital in Uptown to visit her sister. Agnello informs Vito of a basement window Vito can use to infiltrate the office as well as where to find the keys needed to open the safe. Once Maria is where she needs to be, Vito slips into the office undetected. Vito first makes his way to a back room and disables the alarm wired up to the safe. Then, taking special care around the patrolling guards, he locates the keys, opens the safe and slips out once again, gas stamps in hand.
Returning to Freddy's, Vito hands Henry his stamps. Henry is pleased with the haul, but upon examining the stamps more closely, he discovers a complication. The stamps are set to expire the next day, so they won't be worth a cent. In order to gain any money from them, they will need to be sold to and stamped by gas station attendants before midnight. As such, Vito is forced to go on a mad dash around Empire Bay, selling off the stamps to every gas station he can find. He is able to sell them off in the nick of time, then heads back to Joe's for a well-deserved rest.
The date is 11 February 1945. Vito wakes up to find a note that Joe has left for him. The note implores him to go to Freddy's Bar with a gun and some lockpicks for a plan that Joe has lined up. When Vito reaches the place, he finds Joe and Henry at a table and prepares to hear the plan. However, also at the bar is Luca Gurino, a capo in the Clemente family, who is agitated with someone on the telephone. Ignoring him for now, Henry outlines that a jeweler took a loan from Alberto Clemente, the Don of the Clemente family, to open a jewelry store, but he isn't paying back as fast as Clemente would like. To teach him a lesson, Joe and Vito are assigned to break into the jewelry store and steal some of his merchandise. Joe explains that the jewelry store is in the West Side Mall that is left without security staff at night, and he plans to mask the operation by disguising them as maintenance employees with uniforms he has acquired.
When night falls, Vito and Joe make their way to the mall, picking the door on the street to make their way in. The operation is going smoothly until a car rams through the shop window. Out comes a group of Irish gangsters, set on robbing the store before the police arrive. Their leader, Brian O'Neill, directs his men to start breaking display cases until Vito and Joe make themselves known. The two groups of crooks get into a standoff arguing over who gets to rob the store. The Empire Bay Police Department is alerted to Brian's not-so-carefully masterminded robbery attempt, and some officers are sent to arrest the would-be robbers. The sirens distract the gang long enough for Vito and Joe to flee.
With the officers' attention mostly focused on Brian and his crew, Vito and Joe make their way up to the roof to escape, as Joe picks his way through several locked doors while Vito provides covering fire. The roof initially seems a dead end until Joe directs Vito to shimmy along the narrow ledge of the mall's glass arch onto the other rooftop. Vito engages the cops and keeps Joe covered, until he manages to get them onto the fire escape and out of sight. The duo make it to the street and watch in amusement as Brian is dragged off to a squad car. Joe explains to Vito that Brian O'Neill is the head of the Irish gang in Empire Bay, and as tonight has demonstrated, not a particularly brilliant criminal. Joe takes the stolen jewelry to deliver it to Henry while Vito returns to Joe's apartment to rest for the night.
The date is 20 February 1945. Vito wakes up to find one of Joe's regular working girls getting dressed to leave. The lady mentions that Joe wants Vito to meet him at Freddy's once again. As he gets dressed and leaves the apartment, he sees the prostitute outside, where another driver has hit her car. The other driver flies into a rage and starts attacking her, blaming her for the crash despite it being his own damn fault. Vito approaches the scene and tries telling the man to back off before things get ugly. When the man turns his sights onto Vito, the mobster gives him a harsh smackdown. The prostitute proposes that Vito come to her place for an intimate reward, but Vito takes a rain check and makes his way to Freddy's.
Vito meets Joe and Henry at Freddy's Bar, where they properly introduce him to Luca Gurino. Luca congratulates Vito and Joe for their handiwork on the jewelry store robbery, and offers them an assassination job. If Vito and Joe can manage it, they will be formally made in the Clemente family — after they pay an initiation fee of $5,000 (which is a mind-boggling sum of money in 1945). Joe balks at the extortionate cost, but Luca counters that this will be more than worth the price. He leaves Henry to explain the job, bumping into his boss Don Clemente on the way out.
Henry exposits on the target, a fat distillery owner named Sidney Pen. Once upon a time, Pen and Don Clemente worked a sort of partnership with Pen laundering the Don's money, but Pen has now opened a distillery and refuses to hand over a cent of the profits, threatening to reveal evidence of their crooked dealings should the Don try to retaliate. One attempt on the Fat Man's life has been made before, but obviously did not succeed. Henry's plan is to lie in wait for Pen's motorcade in an apartment across the street from the distillery. Once he arrives, they will shred him using a German MG42 machine gun, purchased from local arms trafficker Harry Marsden.
While Henry and Joe set up in the apartment, Vito drives to Harry's gun shop to pick up the MG42. Vito learns that Harry also served in the war, and the two veterans are quick to establish a marvelous rapport. They talk all the day about their wartime experiences, until Vito remembers he still has a job to do. He bids Harry goodbye and leaves with the package. He reaches the apartment where Joe and Henry are based, setting up the machine gun on a windowsill overlooking the entrance to Pen's distillery.
Some time later, as the trio are waiting to strike, Vito and Henry get to talking. Vito asks Henry how he came to the United States, and Henry recalls that his father sent him to America to keep him safe from Benito Mussolini and his fascist authority. Fearing that Henry would have been jailed or forced to join the fascists in the army, Henry's father arranged for him to join in with the Clemente family, but he tragically died in jail. As Vito inquires about Henry's solid grasp of English, Sidney Pen's motorcade arrives at the distillery. Vito lets loose with the MG42, which proves worthy of its famous nickname "Hitler's Buzzsaw" as it peppers Pen's guards and their automobiles with a deadly hailstorm of lead.
However, the Fat Man himself manages to slip out of the kill zone and retreat into his distillery, forcing the trio to follow him inside. They chase Sidney all the way to the top floor, fighting through numerous of his bodyguards along the way. One of them throws a Molotov cocktail in their direction, a rather serious misjudgment that ends up igniting some of the liquor casks, setting the building on fire. Vito, Joe and Henry still manage the firefight well, finally cornering Pen himself. The Fat Man begs for his life as Henry places the barrel of a pistol into his maw. As Pen whimpers at his fate, Henry coldly recites a message that Pen has long feared to hear: "Don Clemente sends his regards."
A shot is heard, but Vito and Joe soon realize the bullet was not Henry finishing Pen off, but the Fat Man unholstering his own revolver and shooting Henry in the leg. As Henry collapses, the other two gangsters pump plenty of lead into Sidney's prominent gut, bringing down the Fat Man for good. Bleeding heavily from his gunshot wound, Henry directs Vito and Joe to get him to the house of mob doctor Andreas Karafantis, better known as El Greco (not to be confused with the painter). As the two load Henry into a car, the police arrive, attracted to the gunfire and the explosions demolishing the distillery. Vito's driving soon leaves them in the dust, getting them to El Greco in no time.
As Joe goes to stay with Henry, the wounded mobster gives Vito $2,000 for the hit. With more than enough money to pay back his father's debt, Vito returns to see Francesca at the Scaletta apartment. Although Francesca is suspicious of where Vito's sudden windfall came from, she is grateful for the help. Satisfied to have freed his family from the loan shark's hunger, Vito once again returns to Joe's place, a job well done.
A Tough New Environment
The date is 26 February 1945, and today is not a happy day for Vito Scaletta. His criminal activities have caught up to him once again, and he is arrested by detectives of the Empire Bay Police Department as he leaves Joe's apartment. Evidently, somebody tipped the police department off to the gas ration stamp job he completed two weeks ago. The detectives found his family's apartment and strong-armed his mother into telling them where he was staying. Vito is charged with theft and illegal distribution of wartime resources, and his trial is scheduled to begin soon.
The Verdict
Vito learns that one of the gas station attendants who bought his stolen gas stamps has sold him out to the authorities. Upon learning of Vito's arrest, Henry arranges for an attorney in the employ of the Clemente family to defend Vito in court. However, after three months in trial, Vito is convicted and sentenced to serve 10 years in prison, despite the best efforts of his legal team.
On 18 May, Vito arrives on a transport bus at Hartmann Federal Penitentiary, a prison that holds some of Empire Bay's worst within its walls. Vito witnesses a guard attack a new arrival who is terrified to enter the building before the guard turns his sights on Vito himself. Upon entry, the new inmates are greeted by the prison's warden, an uncompromising no-nonsense fellow named Terrence Stone, who proclaims that disobeying the rules of his prison is a mistake the inmates should not dare to make. After Vito's head is shaved down, he is escorted to his bleak and rodent-infested cell for the next decade.
Settling In
The date is 21 May. Three days into his sentence, Vito is contacted by Joe. Joe tells Vito that if he wants to survive his stay in prison, he should seek out an inmate named Leone "Leo" Galante who may offer protection. As Vito searches for Leo in the yard, another inmate calls him out, and unfortunately for Vito, that inmate is Brian O'Neill. Evidently, Brian was sent to fulfil his own sentence in Hartmann, and he blames Vito for putting him there. The two of them fight it out in front a jeering crowd of prisoners. Vito holds his own, but Brian's strength allows him to get the upper hand. Just as Brian is about to kill his scrawnier adversary, the prison guards come to break up the fight and the both of them are thrown in solitary confinement. During all this, Leo Galante watches the fight with great interest.
A New Friend
The date is 23 May. After two days locked in his solitary cell, the door is opened by Captain Stone, and beside him is Leo Galante. Vito introduces himself to Galante and explains how he learned of him. Galante informs Vito that he normally does not provide protection to those that work for Clemente. However, he did notice how well Vito handled himself in his fight with O'Neill, and figures such a thing would come in handy for Leo's own project. Leo leads Vito to the prison gym where several men are training to fight. Leo assigns Vito to spar with his best fighter, Giuseppe "Pepé" Costa, to prepare him for a fight with Brian. In exchange for Vito helping his men to train, Leo will guarantee his protection.
In sparring with Costa, Vito learns new techniques to counter his opponent's attacks. After the training session, Vito talks of his brief work with Clemente's family. He causes quite a shock when mentioning the initiation fee, because as Leo explains, there is no initiation fee to join a mafia family, as membership is earned through competence and loyalty. Vito is given another chance to improve his fighting when he bumps into a Chinese inmate on his way out of the gym. The inmate recently lost a fight being bet on by another inmate named Wu, who wants a rematch. Leo accepts the offer and puts Vito up to challenge him. After Leo teaches Vito how to wear out a quicker opponent's energy, he makes quick work of the other inmate.
Family Ties
The date is 30 May. Vito is taken from his cell for his day of labor. However, as a guard is escorting him to work, an inmate informs the guard that Leo has given Vito the day off. The other inmate leads Vito to the prison laundry, where Leo explains that the African-American inmates have challenged the Italian inmates to a fight. Since Leo does not want to risk Pepé being hurt in a way that could affect his chances against Brian O'Neill, Leo wants Vito to handle the fight. Much like the fight with the Chinese inmate, Vito makes it through with no real issue.
Soon after the fight, a guard walks in to tell Vito that he has a visitor, revealed to be Francesca. Francesca tells Vito two important things going on in her life. Her first pointer is that she is soon to be married, but her second pointer is nowhere near as cheerful; Maria has fallen ill over the last few weeks and is looking worse for wear. Vito instructs Francesca to retrieve all his money, currently being held by Joe, and get treatment for their mother. Whatever is left over can be called his wedding gift to his sister.
A Bad Day's News
The date is 6 June. Vito is roused from sleeping in his cell to clean the bathrooms. Upon arrival, the guards instruct him to clean two urinals that have grown dirty. As Vito is nearing the end of the foul task, a guard twists the knife by urinating into one urinal that has already been cleaned. That unpleasantness brought to an end, Vito is instructed to shower with the other inmates. As he does so, a group of inmates convince the guard on duty to go for a "smoke break" while they make a move to rape Vito. Vito, of course, is having none of it, and lays a beating on them.
After defending himself, a group of guards enter and beat Vito into submission, leading him to another stay in solitary confinement. Before leaving, Captain Stone gives Vito a letter he has received. Stone even stops a guard from turning off the lights until Vito has read the letter. Tragically, Vito learns that his mother has died from her illness during Francesca's visit, and every cent Vito had saved will be going towards giving her a proper burial. The lights are shut off and Vito is left all alone in his cell, where he begins to cry.
The Showdown
Some time later, Vito is released from his solitary cell. Upon entering the courtyard, Vito is told by an inmate to meet with Leo. He does so, and with Leo is a badly-injured Pepé. Leo explains that Brian O'Neill sicced some of his fellow Irish inmates on Pepé to turn the fight more in his favor. Leo orders Vito to lay a beating on O'Neill in payback. Pepé arranged for the guards to leave the gym, leaving it empty save for Brian. When Brian notices Vito challenging him to fight, Brian happily leaps at the chance to beat his nemesis.
Vito, with his new fighting prowess in hand, lays a much more successful beatdown on the Irish brute, though not for a lack of trying on O'Neill's part, who manages to take everything Vito throws at him. Eventually though, Brian realizes his disadvantage and brandishes a hand-fashioned blade. Vito manages to avoid his swings and wrenches it out of Brian's hands. He drags the blade across Brian's throat, finishing the job with a well-placed (and well-deserved) jab to the neck.
As a reward, Leo arranges for Vito to be transferred to his own cell, which is allowed amenities that other inmates could only dream of. Leo and Vito chat about the latter's plans once his sentence is complete. Leo ruminates that Vito is better off not returning to work with Alberto Clemente, even figuring that Vito's lawyer was hired not to ensure his acquittal, but to be certain Vito didn't try to cut a deal that would bring down the family. Leo also notes that Clemente and Luca Gurino will have quite a lot to answer for when word of their bogus "initiation fee" gets out.
Vito is confused as to how the boss of Empire Bay could get into trouble over something like this, and Leo explains that Clemente is not the only crime boss in the city. There are two other families established in Empire Bay: the Falcone crime family, run by Don Carlo Falcone; and the Vinci crime family, led by Don Frank Vinci, to whom Leo acts as consigliere. All three families are united under the Commission, which works to keep them in harmony. Leo tells Vito that his own sentence is coming to an end, and to repay Vito's work, he will not only look into getting Vito's sentence reduced, but will also recommend Vito as a potential made man.
A Changing World
The date is 10 April 1951. After 6 years of confinement, Vito Scaletta's release is secured thanks to Leo Galante's connections. Today, he walks out of Hartmann Penitentiary as a free man. So much has changed in Empire Bay since he was imprisoned, and Vito is awed by this whole new world that awaits him. His first stop is to see Joe Barbaro and catch up on what's happened in the last six years. Joe is grateful to see his friend outside Hartmann's walls, and he has secured an apartment to help Vito along as he re-integrates, along with some money and a new pistol.
As the pair drive to Vito's new home, Joe explains that after the Clemente family screwed them both over, he eventually found work with the Falcone family, and tonight he has planned a nice surprise to cap off Vito's return. After Vito gets the grand tour from his landlord, he makes a stop by Francesca's apartment. Francesca herself is not home, but the door is answered by a man, her new husband Eric Reilly. Eric doesn't make the best first impression by being rather rude and dismissive of Vito, but nonetheless, Vito gets himself a snazzy outfit and returns to Joe's.
Joe tells Vito that they will be picked up by a friend Joe has made in the Falcone family, an underboss named Edoardo Scarpa (who prefers going by Eddie). Eddie greets Vito and asks him to drive them in his own car to Vito's surprise; a night at a classy local cathouse called the Garden of Eden. As the three are enjoying their night, Eddie offers Vito the opportunity to work with Joe in the Falcone family, an offer Vito accepts without hesitation. After a night of indulging, Vito is assigned to be the designated driver, as Eddie and Joe have taken far too much alcohol to drive. As they drive, Joe and Vito notice a rather foul odor in the car, which Eddie explains is thanks to a guy named Francesco Potenza (better known as Frankie Potts) — specifically, from his dead body in the trunk.
Potenza is— er, was an agent of the FBI who infiltrated Empire Bay's underground through the Falcone family, until Eddie caught wind of his dealings and killed him. He has been meaning to dispose of the body and planned to do so after Vito's welcome home, but now is far too drunk to handle the task. He directs Vito to drive to a spot in the woods by an abandoned observatory, where a hole to work as Frankie Potts' grave has already been dug. With little other choice in the matter, Vito makes the drive. Upon arrival, Vito, being the most sober of the group, is left with the task of removing Potts' body from the trunk, an already unpleasant job made far worse by the fact that the corpse has been there for two days. After dropping the body in, Vito is also forced to be the one to refill the hole.
Once Potts is finally buried, Vito suffers through quite possibly the worst part of the night: Joe and Eddie drunkenly caterwauling through Dean Martin's "Return to Me". He drops them off at Joe's apartment, where they apologize for ruining his evening and promise to make it up with him sometime later. After that nonsense is over, Vito drives home to his new apartment and has a fitful sleep.
The date is 11 April 1951. As Vito wakes up in his new home, he looks out the window to see Joe standing outside with a loaded truck. Beside Joe is a fast-talking youth named Marty Santorelli. He was Joe's next-door neighbor and he has eagerly appointed himself as Joe's apprentice, much to the latter's chagrin. Joe explains that the truck is loaded with stolen cigarettes, and he plans on selling them around town for a nice profit. As they drive, Vito talks about the night before. He is still upset at having to bury a corpse on his first day back from prison, but Joe reassures him that today will go much better.
They arrive at their first destination in Riverside, where several citizens are waiting for their fill of cigarettes. Joe confirms which kind of cigarettes the customers want while Vito tosses them over from the bed of the truck. After a few hours, the duo drive to Millville and repeat the process. However, they don't get far into their sale before a gang of greasers arrive in their souped-up cars.
The leader of the greasers, a youth named Billy Barnes, steps out of his car and confronts Joe for selling the cigarettes on his gang's territory. He offers to let them leave intact in exchange for a few cartons, but Joe refuses the "offer". In response, one of Billy's cronies tosses a Molotov cocktail into the truck, destroying the vehicle and the cigarettes loaded in the back. In response, Joe shoots Billy dead where he stands, getting Vito and himself into Billy's car to chase after the others. But the two soon discover that Billy's car isn't nearly as tuned up as his buddies' hot rods, and they are quickly left in the dust.
Vito finds a payphone to tell Eddie the bad news, and a livid Eddie orders them to compensate him for the truck to the tune of $2,000 (which is still a serious sum of money in 1951). He also orders them to get back at the greasers, sending Steve Coyne over to assist. Vito and Joe meet Steve at a favorite hangout of the greasers, the Crazy Horse bar. To Joe's surprise, Marty is there as well. Steve explains that he has allowed Marty to help with this job as a learning experience, and he himself already has it out for the greasers for mugging his cousin after they wrecked his car.
Steve plans to destroy this bar, then head over to the greasers' base at the foundry and beat them down in payback (not killing, as Eddie wished to avoid the troubles that killing the greasers would dredge up). Steve passes out Thompson guns for everyone to shred the bar into pieces, then Vito and Marty throw Molotov cocktails into the wooden foundations for the killing blow. As the Crazy Horse burns into a pile of charred wood and furnishings, everyone splits up to head to the foundry.
Once Vito and Joe arrive, Steve passes out baseball bats and pounds on the foundry door. One greaser opens it and gets the knob of Steve's bat for the trouble. This attack causes the greasers to pull their guns out, with Marty shooting one of the thugs to save Joe's life. This of course turns everything into the shootout Eddie wanted to avoid, but Vito and his accomplices shoot their way out anyway. When the dust settles, Vito realizes they can earn back Eddie's $2,000 by selling the greasers' hot rods to Derek Pappalardo at the docks. He takes one and Joe takes another, driving them down to the dockyards where they are loaded on a ship for export. With their money in hand, Vito and Joe meet Eddie at the Maltese Falcon, a bar owned by Don Falcone. Eddie isn't thrilled that murder wasn't avoided, but is satisfied that the greasers won't be doing anymore harm and that something about the day has been salvaged with Vito and Joe paying him back.
The date is 6 May 1951. Vito awakens to Eddie calling him at his apartment. He wants Vito at the Maltese Falcon right away, as an emergency has arisen. When Vito arrives, he is greeted not just by Eddie, but by Don Carlo Falcone himself. The Don is worried that the Clemente family is about to encroach on his operations, so he is going to do something about them first.
As the Don leaves, Eddie explains that three of their best men disappeared yesterday, and rumours abound that Luca Gurino may have something to do with it. The three missing men are Harvey Epstein (better known as "Beans"), the Falcone family's accountant; Antonio Balsamo ("Tony Balls" to his friends), an elderly mobster who has worked in the Falcone family for nearly 20 years; and their Irish bodyguard Frankie. Vito is assigned to follow Luca and kill him if he finds any evidence of Luca's link to the disappearance, while keeping an eye out to rescue Epstein and his escorts.
Vito heads over to Freddy's, waiting outside for Luca. When he sees Luca leave, Vito tails his car, with the drive ending at a slaughterhouse owned by the Clemente family. He enters the facility through the sewer, which is a surefire way to lead him past Clemente's guards, but has the consequence of coating Vito in human waste and other foul substances. The sewer leads Vito into an alley, where he gets a good view of Beans and his escorts, captured by the Clemente mobsters, being forced inside. Vito slips into the building through an open window, sneaking past the slaughterhouse staff and Gurino's henchmen to a room where Balsamo and Epstein are hung by their wrists, Frankie already lying dead on the ground.
As Vito approaches, Luca questions Beans about dope and how it's being smuggled into the city. However, he loses his train of thought when he notices Vito's very distinct odor. Vito manages to get Luca's bodyguards to drop their guns, but his focus on them leaves him open to being attacked by a hulking brute of a guard named Sammy. Vito and Sammy get into a brief round of fisticuffs before Sammy pushes Vito away, deeper into the slaughterhouse. Sammy pursues with a large cleaver in hand, but fortunately, Tony is able to slide Vito's dropped pistol towards him, letting Vito kill the vicious gangster.
Luca takes this as his opportunity to flee, leaving his men to handle Vito. Tony manages to break free of his restraints and get Beans down from his bindings. The two leave Beans to lock himself in the room while they go to find Luca and deal with his goons. Tony and Vito quickly find Luca hiding in an office, but he has barricaded himself inside and reinforced the door. After dealing with a group of Luca's men coming in for backup, Vito gets the idea to use a nearby cart as a battering ram. The office door is forced open and Tony lays a beating on Luca. Grateful for his escape, he motions that Vito is free to leave and he will handle Luca's death himself. As Vito leaves, Tony signals to Epstein that they are safe, and the accountant becomes very eager to join Tony in making Luca Gurino's upcoming death particularly slow and gruesome.
Vito returns to the Maltese Falcon and reports to Eddie, giving the entire bar lounge a whiff of his unholy scent in the process. Eddie takes the news of Balsamo and Epstein's survival well, informing Vito to return to the bar later (after changing his clothes for both their sakes). Once Vito has gotten himself cleaned up, he returns to the bar to find Joe talking with Eddie. Joe explains that thanks to Vito's actions today, they are both going to be properly made men in the Falcone family. Before the two begin the ritual, Leo requests a private word with Vito. Leo tells him that this act will make good on his second promise to Vito, as he was the one to put in word for Vito to be made. Leo admits he would have preferred Vito to work for the Vinci family, but he figured Vito would want to work alongside his best friend, and thus recommended him to Don Falcone.
Vito and Joe are led to an upstairs room, where they are to take their initiations one at a time. After Vito waits outside for Joe to finish, Eddie finally calls him into the room. As the three Dons and their right-hand men observe, Don Falcone reminds Vito that entering the family is a sign of great trust, and betraying it will have dire consequences. He has Eddie prick Vito's index finger and drip his blood onto the image of a saint. Vito is then instructed to recite an oath as he holds the burning image in his hands.
With his initiation complete, Vito is officially inducted into the Falcone crime family, and he finally becomes a somebody as he has always dreamed. The next few weeks provide Vito a taste of the good life, bringing him respect like he has never known before, and enough money that he is able to purchase his own house in Greenfield, which he dubs "Villa Scaletta". Life looks utterly fantastic to Vito now.
A Made Man
The date is 15 June 1951. Vito meets with Joe, Eddie and Don Falcone in the Barbaro apartment to discuss the present situation. The kidnapping and torture of Falcone's men has placed Don Alberto Clemente on the Falcone family's hitlist, and the two families are now in a state of war. Don Clemente has called a meeting of his top underbosses and capos in the Empire Arms Hotel, and Joe plans to strike them down in one fell swoop before they can react.
Joe's plan is to disguise himself and Vito as cleaners in order to plant a bomb in the conference room. Once the task is completed, they will pretend to go about their jobs and observe the explosion from above. Vito is initially apprehensive about the plan, but Joe explains that the bomb's small size will restrict its explosive radius to the conference room. Meanwhile, Falcone has closed the Maltese Falcon in case Clemente strikes, and he gives Vito a number to call when the job is done.
To Vito's disappointment, Marty is waiting outside and quite eager to get going. Joe explains that he picked Marty to be their getaway driver, but Vito is incredulous at bringing the young whipper-snapper on their most dangerous job. As they drive to the hotel, Marty prods his friends until he excitedly figures out what they're up to, so Joe emphasizes to Marty that he simply needs to wait in the parking garage for Vito and Joe. When the team arrive at their destination, Joe instructs Marty not to leave the car and gives him a pistol for self-defence. Joe directs Vito to a door into the laundry room where they will receive their outfits. However, Joe's inside man has not unlocked said door yet, leaving Vito to take a lengthier route to the other side, arriving just as the staff worker lets Joe in.
As Vito and Joe slip into their outfits, Joe gives out another part of their disguise; false moustaches, much to Vito's disbelief. The duo are made to clean a spill by one of Clemente's guards, spotting Henry Tomasino (whom they haven't seen since Vito's trial) as they do. Another guard informs them that there is another mess to clean in a conference room on the 18th floor, which gives them the perfect chance to plant the bomb. The pair are led to the conference room, where they have to clean up a bloodstain on the floor before Clemente's meeting. While Vito cuts a subtle hole in a nearby window, Joe sets up the bomb underneath the table. With their trap mostly set up, Vito and Joe clean the blood, taking the stairs to the roof once they're let loose. Before continuing their plan, Joe passes Vito a pistol with an extended magazine in case of trouble.
Trouble doesn't take long to show itself, as the two are noticed by Clemente's gangsters on the roof and get into a shootout. Vito and Joe emerge victorious, and fortunately, the height of the roof and the soundproof windows means no-one is the wiser. After hijacking a window-washing platform from one of the hotel's actual employees, Vito and Joe lower themselves to the conference room, where Vito wipes the window while Joe connects the bomb to the detonator wire. With the bomb ready to go, Vito and Joe ascend in their platform in order to detonate it. As they ascend, the bomb goes off earlier than they believed, rattling them significantly. The two descend back down to check on their work, and find that the bomb has killed everyone in the room except for one man who was in the bathroom. The duo's luck is shown to have been very soured, as the lone survivor in the bathroom was Don Clemente himself.
Vito and Joe take off their false moustaches and advance through the floor, gunning down every gangster between them and their former boss. The two make it to the elevator and descend to the garage as Clemente and his guards are quickly driving off, but Joe is horrified to find Marty lying dead against a support column, having exited their car in a foolish attempt to gun down Don Clemente. With nothing they can do for the poor boy, Vito and Joe hop into the car and chase Clemente through the city. Vito drives while Joe wields a Thompson and disables Clemente's backup, and before long, Vito catches up to Clemente's car.
Once the vehicle is immobilized, Joe steps out and fires a short volley at Clemente's driver. Turning to Don Clemente, he empties his Thompson's magazine into the not-so-deceitful Don, avenging his friend's death. With their task done, the duo drive back to the Barbaro apartment to inform Eddie of their success. However, Eddie's lax reaction to Marty's death sends Joe into a grief-fueled fury. Vito opts to let his friend process the loss and leaves to return to Villa Scaletta.
But Vito soon discovers that his night is not over yet, as he is awoken by a phone call. The caller is a man named Leon, who is the bartender of the Lone Star bar. Leon explains that Joe has been drinking heavily at the bar and is acting erratic, waving his pistol around, scaring the other patrons away and leaving the bar empty except for them. Joe has provided him Vito's phone number, and Leon is contacting Vito to try and get Joe out before something bad happens. Reluctantly, Vito gets dressed and makes his way to the bar.
Leon lets Vito in and locks the door while Vito tries to talk some sense into Joe. He convinces Joe to leave, but not before Joe finishes his drink. After Joe raises a toast to Marty, he slams his hand right down on his pistol, which discharges a bullet straight into Leon's head. By now, Vito is thoroughly incensed after everything that went wrong today, so he gives his friend a scathing reprimand for his reckless flouting of gun safety. Now having to deal with a corpse and get his drunk pal back home, Vito loads Joe into the passenger seat of Leon's car, and stows Leon's body into the trunk. He drives Joe back to his place to sleep off his hangover and emotions, then takes the car over to Mike Bruski's junkyard to load it into the compactor. With Leon forever locked in a tomb of scrap, Vito returns home with a lot to think about.
The date is 27 July 1951. Vito wakes up to his doorbell ringing, and he is surprised to see Henry Tomasino standing outside. Henry invites Vito to have a drink, and they discuss the current situation as Vito drives. Henry has figured out that Don Falcone had something to do with the hotel bombing, and he fears that what's left of the Clemente family, including him, will be next. He aims to join up with the Falcone family and urges Vito to vouch for him. Vito agrees and takes Henry to meet Eddie Scarpa at the Maltese Falcon.
Meanwhile, Henry prods Vito to open up about the bombing. He reveals that he found Marty's corpse in the garage, so he could trace Marty's involvement back to Vito and Joe. Vito finally gives a vague answer, that he and Joe were only doing an errand for their boss. Henry reveals that he knew all along, as he recognized the pair through their false moustaches, and he suggests getting a better disguise next time. Arriving at the Falcon, Vito goes to talk to Eddie and asks if the Falcone family has any plans for the remains of Alberto's men. Satisfied that the family has no plans to take out whoever's left, Vito properly introduces Henry to the underboss with his request to join.
Eddie first asks Henry if either Don Clemente or Don Vinci were planning anything against the Falcone family. Henry responds that he did once hear Luca and Leo talking at the latter's home, where Luca said that Falcone was involved in a shady practice. Eddie figures that Don Falcone was involved in dealing hard drugs, a practice that Don Vinci is thoroughly against, and thus, the Falcone family must strike first. To do this, he plans for Leo to be murdered, as this will cost Vinci his right-hand man. Such an act would also work as way of showing Henry's loyalty to the family. Eddie offers for Vito to assist Henry with the job, but Vito turns it down due to his history with Leo.
Henry is sent out to kill Leo, but Vito decides he can't stand for this and races to Leo's mansion to warn his mentor. Upon arrival, Vito explains to Leo that Falcone is out to kill him because Clemente lied about him dealing in heroin, which Leo says is an open secret regarding Falcone. Properly aware of the danger he is in, Leo prepares to leave. Unfortunately, Henry arrives, forcing the two to hide from him. Making their way to Leo's laundry room, Vito gets the idea to use some of Leo's bedsheets to make a rope that would lower themselves down to Leo's car. They make it outside as Henry approaches the opened window, raising his pistol, when he hears the sound of a car's engine. Leo and his accomplice escape the mansion just in time, leaving Henry to stew over his failure to complete his contract.
Alternatively, if Leo and Vito are found by Henry:
Unfortunately, Vito and Leo are quickly spotted by Henry, who is thoroughly confused by Vito's presence. Henry forces the two into Leo's kitchen for Vito to explain himself. Vito explains that he feels too grateful to Leo for all he's done to just allow Henry to kill him. Henry sympathizes, even saying that he won't tell of Vito trying to stop him, but he isn't cut out for any other work than the mafia, and thus can't afford to botch this job. Leo accepts his fate, and asks Vito to leave, thanking him for all he's done. With no other option, Vito leaves the room waiting for his mentor's execution. Vito waits outside the room and hears the shot — only for Henry to walk out and tell Vito that he owes him one hell of a favor. To Vito's joy, Henry has decided to spare Leo and let the old man skip town.
With Leo now safe, Vito drives him to the train station, allowing the old man to flee to Lost Heaven. Vito returns to his house, only to find a very upset Francesca on his porch. She explains that her husband Eric has been drinking and partying all the time, is cheating on her constantly, and reveals he has been violent towards her on occasion. Vito is livid to hear this, but Francesca begs Vito merely to talk to Eric and try to get him to change. Vito heads to an apartment on River Street where Eric and his friends usually spend their days. He lays a savage beating on the lousy fellow that he won't soon forget.
Vito warns Eric that if he doesn't stop his hedonistic ways and especially if he ever hurts Francesca again, he will put him in the ground, a proposition Eric makes no argument against. Vito returns to Villa Scaletta and receives a call from Francesca. Vito lies and claims the beating Eric received was the result of Eric's poor taste in friends, and Francesca tells him of Eric's sudden change of heart. When Vito casually iterates that he will kill Eric if he goes back on his word, his tone frightens Francesca to her core. No longer recognizing her brother, Francesca orders Vito never to speak to her or Eric again.
Lying in bed that night, Vito's already miserable day goes from bad to worse as a throng of cars park outside of his house. He hears an Irish gangster ordering his compatriots to destroy the house with Molotov cocktails as revenge for Brian O'Neill's death. Vito is able to escape the blaze through his bedroom window, but all his possessions and every cent he had saved go up in smoke alongside Villa Scaletta. Forced to flee from the armed men in nothing but his underwear, Vito steals a car and drives straight to Joe's.
Upon Joe letting him into the apartment (which he has recently re-decorated), Vito explains that some Irish gangsters burned his house down and everything in it, so Joe makes some phone calls to gather information. He finds out that the Irish gang is now led by Brian O'Neill's cousin Mickey Desmond, and he figures they will find him and his cronies at the Hill of Tara bar in Kingston. Vito and Joe set out to find Desmond at the bar and kill him. Unfortunately, since Vito arrived with only the underwear on his back, he is forced to wear one of Joe's gaudy Hawaiian shirts, which embarrasses him greatly.
Vito and Joe reach the bar to find Mickey airing his frustration to two of his lackeys. When Vito walks in, still alive and looking for vengeance, Mickey is baffled. The Irish gangsters open fire on the two while Mickey makes a run for it, but they are swiftly laid out. Vito and Joe hop into a car to chase Mickey down, eventually cornering and taking him out. Vito asks to stay at Joe's for a while, but Joe offers something else. Marty's mother has been asking him to get rid of her late son's apartment in Oyster Bay on her behalf, and Joe figures Vito might as well use it for the time being. Vito vents about how just as soon as he found new fortune and money, he has lost it all again. After dropping Joe back at his apartment, Vito makes his way over to Marty's apartment. He quickly finds out that calling the rundown bedsit an "apartment" is a very generous interpretation of the term, but without another option, he lays down to sleep.
The date is 22 September 1951. Vito reflects on how his life has been going for the last couple of months. Since he had no insurance on Villa Scaletta, he is still living in Marty's apartment. Eddie handled the issues that came with the police investigating Vito's house fire, leaving Vito out of it. In brighter news, Henry was formally accepted into the Falcone family, as though Leo may still be alive, the family is satisfied that Leo has skipped town and is now off their backs. As such, Henry has been working with Vito and Joe. In fact, on this day, Henry calls Vito to tell him he has a large project he is working on, and he wants to bring Vito in on it, asking him to meet in Lincoln Park to hear more if he's interested.
Arriving at the park, Vito finds Henry and Joe on a park bench. Henry explains that he has been looking into Don Falcone's businesses, and has confirmed that he is in fact trafficking heroin. It's even the reason he had Don Clemente killed, as Clemente was himself in the business and eating into Falcone's profit margins. With this in mind, Henry has decided he has as much right to deal in the stuff as the Don does. His plan is to receive the heroin from the Tongs in Chinatown, who have been looking to deal outside of their territory in the Chinese quarter, though they aren't having much luck at it since most people rightfully fear them.
The Tongs are starting their offer with ten kilograms for $35,000. Vito naturally asks where they can get their hands on that much money, and Henry explains that they will receive it from a loan shark. By Henry's calculations, after they pay the loan shark $45,000 (his money back with interest), the trio will win over $20,000 each (which is a handsome sum of money in 1951). When Vito questions who will actually buy the stuff, Henry explains that he has some buyers in the ghetto districts that will handle the distribution. It takes a bit of convincing, but Vito and Joe are persuaded to join Henry's scheme.
They find the loan shark, a bespectacled Jewish man named Bruno Levine, in his back-alley office in Southport. Henry introduces himself and asks for the loan of $35,000 for his "sure thing". Bruno questions Henry on what sort of "sure thing" he needs the money for, but Henry refuses to divulge any more information. Sensing the high risks involved, Bruno raises the terms higher, and after some tense negotiation, he and Henry agree on a payment of $55,000 (which is a monumental sum of money in 1951), to be returned by Friday. Before they leave, Bruno warns that the money they now have is owned by the Commission, so if Henry's "sure thing" goes awry, simply killing him will not resolve their debt problems.
With the money in hand, the next stop is the Sea Gift warehouse in Chinatown. Along the way, Joe recalls that he actually has heard of Bruno before, as a fellow gangster known as Mickey the Crab once borrowed money from him and lost three of his fingers when he couldn't pay it back, hence his nickname. When the trio arrive at the warehouse, they are taken to meet Zhe Yun Wong, a Red Pole within the Tongs. Wong is satisfied with Henry's payment, and his assistant brings forth two briefcases packaged full of heroin. Henry weighs one of the packages to test its authenticity. He is satisfied that the product is genuine, and concludes his pleasantries with Wong before setting off.
With the product in hand, the three gangsters are ready to get the heroin over to the distributors. But as they leave the warehouse, they are surrounded by men dressed as police officers who order them to drop the product. However, Joe notices that the men are wearing rather nice shoes — far nicer shoes than EBPD officers should be able to afford. Henry soon realizes the men are actually thugs trying to take the heroin for themselves, and a shootout begins. Joe, Henry and Vito retrace their steps through the warehouse, fighting off gangsters as they go, and escape in a car. However, they don't get far before they encounter more gangsters lying in ambush, and a mad car chase ensues.
After the chase finally ends, Henry wonders how someone else would have known about their heroin deal, while Joe posits that the Tongs had something to do with the shootout. Henry reveals to Joe and Vito that, rather than leaving the heroin to his distributors, he actually plans on selling the product himself in smaller amounts to generate some extra profit. Vito protests that he could've been informed before they went ahead with the plan, but Henry iterates that the only way to get some real cash is to look for opportunities for themselves instead of sticking around Don Falcone until they die. After another round of arguing about Henry's seeming streak of misfortune, Henry suggests they leave the past in the past and focus on today's job.
The trio eventually reach their first customers in Hunters Point, and their first sale goes well. Joe Barbaro is especially giddy, until Henry reminds him that they still have to pay Bruno back and give him his cut. They spend the rest of the day selling the heroin around the city, dealing with whoever is willing to pay for it (and disposing of whoever is not). They celebrate their newfound success by spending the night out in town.
A Fall from Grace
The date is 24 September 1951. Vito and Joe are at the latter's apartment, spending the day with a couple of working girls. As the group has their fun, the phone rings. Vito answers it to find the caller is Henry, who has troubling news. Don Falcone found out about their heroin dealing and demanded a cut of $60,000, which not only means they are effectively earning nothing for the heroin, they also don't have enough money to pay back Bruno. Henry requests Joe and Vito meet him in Lincoln Park again to figure out their next move.
The two make their way there, wondering what will happen next — until they hear horrifying screams from further in the park. Vito and Joe soon realize the screams belong to Henry, who has been beset by a group of Chinese gangsters that are slashing him to ribbons with meat cleavers. Vito and Joe gun down Henry's attackers but they are far too late to save their friend, and to make matters worse, the money Henry brought with him is gone. Vito soon notices a car driving away, and in the back seat is Zhe Yun Wong, the man who sold them the heroin.
Vito elects to follow Wong's car to the Tongs' base of operations. While Vito simply seeks to interrogate Wong, Joe is infuriated by the brutality of Henry's murder and he is itching to wipe out the Tongs. Vito implores his friend to be smart about this and avoid an all-out gunfight if they can, which Joe reluctantly agrees to. Wong's car drops him off at a restaurant known to the locals of Chinatown as the Red Dragon, letting Vito and Joe know just where to find Wong and the others. Vito and Joe enter the place, but are stopped by two guards at the door that state that the restaurant is exclusive only to certain members. Joe counteracts by brandishing a pistol and shooting them dead. Vito is angered that Joe disregarded his request to be tactical, but with that option down the drain, the two engage in a bloody shootout with the Tongs.
Working their way down into the deeper sections of the restaurant, Vito and Joe soon find themselves in Wong's office, and demand to know why the Tongs have murdered their friend. Wong tells a shocking story of Henry working as an informant to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who informed the Bureau about the heroin deal between them. When the Tongs learned of this connection through a mole within the Bureau, the took it upon themselves to end him. Vito and Joe refuse to believe such a thing and assume Wong to be a liar. Wong keeps to his story, even denying that the Tongs had anything to do with the group of men who ambushed the trio after the heroin deal.
Vito decides to switch topics and demand their money back, but Wong refuses to tell them where it is. Joe presses Wong to either tell them right now or get a bullet in the head, but Wong figures himself as dead no matter if he tells them or not. Joe loses his patience and puts a bullet into the Red Pole's brain, while Vito is annoyed that they didn't interrogate him further. The two make their way back to street level and exit the Red Dragon through the back door. They elude the police which have been alerted to the gunshots and scramble back to Joe's apartment to collect themselves.
At the apartment, Vito and Joe reflect on the utter fiasco they have gotten themselves in. Henry is dead, all the money they earned is gone, and they now have to find a way to pay Bruno all of his $55,000 back on their own. This kind of attack on the Tongs is sure to lead to a war between them and the Commission, a war that will mark the two for death if Carlo finds out they were responsible. Joe decides the only thing they can do for now is earn the money to pay Bruno themselves. He agrees to meet Vito in the morning to arrange work, having been thoroughly drained by today's events.
The date is 25 September 1951. Vito is awakened from a fitful sleep by a phone call from Joe. He has gotten a job from Eddie that will give them a start on collecting Bruno's money, and he will be there shortly. Once Vito gets dressed and goes outside to meet Joe, he finds him leaning against a Smith Thunderbolt that has been lent to them for the job. Joe explains that they're assigned to head out to Greenfield to assassinate a man, and will receive several thousand dollars to do the job. Once it's over, he and Vito will split up to earn as much money as they can.
As they drive, Joe elaborates more on their target. The man is another mobster who testified against his crime family in 1938, resulting in the whole of the organization being taken down. The family, based outside of Empire Bay, has been looking for the man ever since, and he has finally come onto their radar. They are worried that if the hit is not done today, he will flee, so they have turned to the Falcone family to kill him. Vito worries that the target may still be under federal protection, but Joe says they can't afford to not take the risk, as the money is too good. With the details known, Vito and Joe park their car outside the target's house as he is watering his lawn. They step out of the car, and Vito addresses the target:
The target, an old man named Tommy Angelo, turns to see the men on his lawn. The mention of his true name signals to him that his former family has finally found him, and his time has come. He calmly confirms that he is who they are looking for, and with that, Vito recites a message to the ex-mobster, one that Tommy knows all too well.
"Mr. Salieri sends his regards."
Joe brandishes a lupara and blasts Tommy directly in the chest. As Tommy's wife Sarah and the rest of his family rush onto the lawn to attend to him, Vito and Joe drive off. They find that Tommy was indeed under federal protection, but they manage to elude the multitude of police cars and federal agents chasing them through Empire Bay. With Eddie having paid Joe in advance, the two go their own ways to earn more money. Vito figures Derek Pappalardo should have something profitable for him, so he heads over to the docks.
Derek is more than pleased to see Vito again. His guards have been called to a sitdown with Don Vinci, so he is about to arrange another job for Vito when Steve walks into his office. Steve brings news that some dockworkers are on strike because they believe Derek fired one of them unfairly. Derek decides to bring Vito and Steve with his remaining gunmen to intimidate the workers into ending the strike, offering a payment of $1,000 upon completion. Vito gladly accepts and makes his way with the group over to a warehouse where the striking workers are gathered. The leader of the protestors, an older Irish gentleman, firmly states that they only want their friend rehired. Derek's cold refusal to do so upsets a younger worker by the name of Vinnie, who is fed up with how disposable they seem to Derek's aims. He also elaborates that their fired co-worker only failed to show up to work because he was badly injured on the job, yet Derek remains unphased.
As Derek gripes about his workers to Vito, the older worker recognizes him as Antonio's son, and wonders why Vito would work for Derek after what he did to his father. Steve orders the man to quiet down, but Vinnie elaborates that Derek and Steve conspired to murder Antonio all those years ago. He recalls that Steve took Antonio aside and led him away from the workers, and only the former returned — soaking wet at that. A thoroughly-enraged Vito confronts the two over the story, with Steve callously confirming that he held Antonio underwater and drowned him. Derek tries to reason with Vito over his oath to the Commission, but Vito is now infuriated and wants nothing more than Derek's fat head.
Derek and his gunmen flee the warehouse, leaving Vinnie to pass out guns to his co-workers and go out with them to settle the score. Vito joins in, killing Pappalardo's footsoldiers and Steve, before gunning down Fat Derek himself in the main warehouse. Vito not only avenges his father's murder, but he also finds a large stash of money in Derek's office, which merits a considerable contribution to his half of Bruno's money. The dockworkers swear to leave Vito's name out of it when the cops eventually investigate, and Vito leaves the docks behind.
Through committing small store robberies or crushing cars for Mike Bruski, Vito finally collects his full half of the money, and heads to Joe's to check on him. After enough of a wait, Vito starts to suspect something is terribly wrong when Joe still hasn't answered his door, so Vito sets out to ask around for him. He finds Eddie Scarpa at the Maltese Falcon, who has already learned of the shootout at the Red Dragon and suspiciously interrogates Vito about his knowledge of the incident. Vito denies having anything to do with the shootout, and Eddie says the Tongs are likely to blame either the Falcone or Vinci families for the attack, with them already setting their sights on Frank Vinci.
With Eddie being a bust, Vito thinks that perhaps Giuseppe knows what happened to Joe. Arriving at his hop, Vito asks the dealer if he has seen Joe, which he confirms. Joe was asking him about any potential work, but as he was doing so, a group of men came in and ordered Joe to go with them. Giuseppe adds that the men said someone named Vinci wanted to see Joe, so Vito heads to the Mona Lisa bar run by the Vinci family. When he walks in the door, the men inside immediately train their guns on him and force him to drop his. They explain that they did in fact take Joe, as Don Vinci urgently wanted to speak with him and Vito. With Vito now having come to them, they decide to deliver him to the Don themselves, knocking him out cold.
When Vito comes to, he finds himself chained up right next to Joe at a construction site. Don Vinci arrives soon after, demanding the two explain to him just how this mess with the Tongs got started. Vito and Joe still deny their involvement, with Vinci not believing them for a second and leaving them to be beaten up by one of his men. When the thug decides to take a short break, Vito and Joe work together to break the pipes holding them and their binds, freeing themselves and getting the drop on the thug. The two discretely steal the guns of nearby guards after throwing them to their deaths, letting them shoot their way free as they descend the site. The duo eventually make it to street level, where Joe admits he is badly hurt. Vito decides to drive his friend over to El Greco's before delivering the money they owe to Bruno.
Upon arriving at the doctor's house, El Greco notes that their associate Tony Balls is already there, having been so violently attacked that he is likely never going to walk again. The doctor is not enthused by Vito's surprise at all the violence and bloodshed he's seen, reminding him that such difficult trappings are the price to pay for going into the mobster life. Joe goes inside to wait for treatment while Vito books it across the city to reach Bruno's office. He arrives just as Bruno and his men are about to leave, and Vito gives the loan shark his money.
As Vito goes to leave, Bruno asks his name out of curiosity, and the mention of Scaletta leads him to remember someone else by that name, who visited him some years ago. He remarks that, unlike his father, Vito is punctual about paying his debts. Vito is dismayed to realise that Bruno was the loan shark who loaned Antonio the $2,000 that got his family into so much trouble. Bruno just reminds Vito that he did not force him nor his father to take out the loans that they did, and he is always welcome if Vito needs to borrow money. Not wanting anything more to do with Bruno anyway, a disgusted Vito walks out and goes straight home.
The date is 26 September 1951. Vito finds himself unable to sleep and gazes over his family photo album, as he ruminates on his life and how it went so wrong. In all of his efforts in crime to gain money, respect and everything else he wanted, he has faced huge amounts of violence and bloodshed, his friends have fallen and his family wants nothing to do with him, and his life has been marked by startling unpredictabilities. He can feel his past mistakes catching up with him, and he figures it's only a matter of time before the truth comes out and he and Joe are marked for death.
When Vito does manage to get some sort of sleep, he is woken up by a phone call from Eddie telling him that Don Falcone wants Vito to meet him at the planetarium of the Zavesky Observatory immediately. Vito gets dressed and leaves his apartment, but as he gets to street level, a man standing by a limousine requests that Vito enter it. Vito gets into the limousine and is faced with Leo Galante and Mr. Chu, the chairman of the Tongs in Empire Bay. While Mr. Chu looks on in disappointment, Leo is absolutely furious. He sees right through Vito's denial of his involvement with the Red Dragon shootout and rebukes Vito for upsetting the balance of the criminal underworld.
Leo explains that the Red Dragon incident has not only put the Chinese Tongs and the Italian crime families at each other's throats, but he also confirms that Henry Tomasino was indeed working with the federal government. Henry's involvement has brought the government's focus down on the crime families, and now Mr. Chu and Don Vinci have dead footsoldiers at their feet and are itching for vengeance. The only reason Vito is still alive right now is because Leo has allowed him one chance to redeem himself. If he wants any hope of saving his hide, he must kill Don Carlo Falcone, as the government is focused on him and his forays into the heroin trade.
Knowing he has no real choice in the matter, Vito agrees to the terms and is let out of the limousine. He drives over to the observatory to find two men waiting. He quickly kills them when they ask for his guns, and a massive shootout begins. As much as Don Falcone's men throw everything they have at him, he tears through them and finally makes it into the planetarium. Falcone is quick to mock Vito for thinking he has any real chance of survival, and makes a particular point when Joe approaches Vito from the side and presses a pistol to his head. As Carlo taunts Vito about his upcoming death, Vito quietly asks Joe if he really has it in him to kill him. Joe ultimately decides the two should work together once again, and the duo take aim at Falcone.
After a grueling fight with both Carlo and the last of his men, Vito has the Don lying on the ground. As he puts bullets into Carlo's body, he reminisces about all the people he has killed and all the people he's killed for, informing the Don that this murder is all for himself. With that, Vito finishes off Don Falcone by putting a final round into his skull. As he and Joe walk to the planetarium entrance, Vito asks Joe what his apparent "betrayal" was all about. Joe explains that Falcone offered him the position of capo if he put Vito down, where he would effectively earn all he's ever wanted in life. He ultimately decided he couldn't turn on his friend no matter what.
As Vito and Joe leave the observatory, they find two cars waiting at the bottom of the steps. Leo asks if Carlo has truly been killed, and once Vito confirms it, Leo decides a celebration at the Garden of Eden is in order. Vito is escorted into one car and Joe gets into the other. As the two cars drive on, the one carrying Joe goes in a different direction then the one that Vito and Leo are in, and Vito starts to panic about what's happening to his friend. The older mobster tells him that the offer of sparing Vito in exchange for Carlo's head only applied to Vito himself, so Joe is likely going to be taking the fall for the duo's actions. Vito can only look on in sorrow as Joe is driven off to an uncertain fate, knowing this is the last time he will see his lifelong best friend.
Afterword
With Leo's connections, Vito Scaletta is eventually transferred to work for Don Sal Marcano, who runs the Marcano crime family out of New Bordeaux, Louisiana. He keeps in touch with Galante through coded postcards to an address in Empire Bay, updating him on any news of Marcano's pursuits from time to time.
Joe Barbaro is never seen again, but his disappearance has been the subject of rumours aplenty. Some say that he escaped his captors and is currently out in hiding; others posit that he was murdered for his role in destabilising the Empire Bay underworld. The only certainty seems to be that Joe will never reunite with his best friend, and Vito will never be the same again.
Other Adventures in Empire Bay
Witness
The date is 26 February 1945. Joe Barbaro awakens from another night of debauchery. He looks out the window and is horrified to see Vito Scaletta, his life-long best friend, arrested by detectives from the Empire Bay Police Department. In a panic, he calls up Freddy's Bar, where Luca Gurino picks up the phone. Luca explains that one of the gas station attendants has pointed the finger at Vito for selling him gasoline ration stamps from the Office of Price Administration building, and plans to testify.
Luckily, the gas station where the attendant works is very close to Joe's apartment, though Luca clarifies to Joe that he is only to intimidate the attendant, not kill him, in order to avoid undue attention. Joe quickly gets dressed, storms into the gas station, and threatens the attendant within, but the man is able to fight Joe off and flee to his car. After a chase, Joe confronts the man at gunpoint about ratting on the gas stamps. The man explains that it was actually his co-worker Stan that is going to testify about the robbery, and he is currently at the train station waiting to leave town.
Deciding the man is telling the truth, Joe makes it to the station and confronts Stan on sight. Stan wisely decides to make a run for it, leading Joe to chase him through the trainyard. Eventually, Stan's luck runs out and Joe is able to catch up to him, and he orders Stan to leave Empire Bay and never return. Stan readily agrees to the demand, but notes that his absence won't make a real difference to the case. When Joe presses him further, Stan elaborates that the police have someone else in their care, and their testimony could likely bring down the entirety of the Clemente family.
Joe goes to a payphone and calls Luca to give him the news. The mention of someone else reminds Luca of a particular name that he was suspicious about: Richie Mazzeo. He is under the protection of Empire Bay detectives, so Luca orders Joe to find Mazzeo's safehouse and kill the turncoat gangster. Joe figures to head to police headquarters, and tails two detectives that leave the building and talk of the "babysitting duty" they've been assigned to. The drive eventually leads to the Empire Bay Yacht Club, where Joe manages to slip inside through the docks by walking across the ice floes of the Culver River. Joe makes his way over to the room Mazzeo is kept in, gunning down the detectives guarding him while Mazzeo makes a run for his car. Joe quickly follows, and in desperation, Richie drives onto the ice floes. This proves to be a fatal mistake, as Joe manages to knock his car into the river to serve as his icy grave.
Joe returns to Freddy's and informs Luca of his success in silencing Richie. Luca is satisfied and claims to Joe that with Richie's testimony now permanently lost and the attorney they have secured for Vito, his friend will be freed in no time. Alas, three months later, Vito is found guilty and sentenced to serve ten years in Hartmann Federal Penitentiary. Joe is naturally furious at this outcome and barges into Freddy's, demanding an explanation from Luca as to how Vito got convicted. The underboss implores Joe to leave, saying that he will explain what happened in the morning once Joe has calmed down.
The next day, however, Joe receives a call from Henry Tomasino. Henry has received word that Joe's outburst towards Luca has led the mobster to order his death. Henry has called to warn him so that he can skip town before Luca's hitmen find him. While Joe initially wants to stand his ground and fight, Henry reminds Joe that such a thing isn't truly viable. Joe finally agrees, fleeing to the Southern United States to wait for the heat to die down.
Joe's Return
The year is 1950. Joe Barbaro steps off the train and returns to Empire Bay, disguised with sunglasses and a false moustache. He is greeted by his friend and fellow mobster Antonio Balsamo (or Tony Balls as most call him), who has been looking after Joe's apartment while he has been gone. Tony tells Joe he has connections that will get the two of them work, though he does warn his friends that time has not erased the contract on his head. Joe leaves the station to pick up a Shubert Frigate left for him in the parking lot and head back home, but on his way out, he is accosted by two thugs demanding he pay an "exit toll". Joe easily lays the punks out and returns to his apartment at long last.
The Connection
As Joe reintegrates into Empire Bay's criminal underworld, he finds himself doing various jobs for his criminal cohorts. After enough jobs, Joe gets noticed by the Falcone crime family, who see a great potential in him. As part of that, Derek Pappalardo informs Tony of a gang of crooks who are planning to move military-grade weapons through the docks without cutting him in on the profits. The criminals have their products loaded on a train, and Tony's job is to steal it. Tony arranges for Joe to assist him on the job, figuring it will get Joe into the Falcone family's good graces.
Joe and Tony arrive at the docks from the waterfront, storming into the trainyard and shooting everyone in sight as they make their way to the warehouse the train is stopped in. Once the crooks are dead, Tony hops inside the train and instructs Joe to prepare it to leave. After Joe removes the chocks keeping the train's wheels in place, he ambles to the upper floors of the warehouse to open the gates. As Joe gets the doors open, cars full of gangsters arrive to keep their gear out of the duo's hands. Joe guns his way through them and eventually makes it to the train, climbing aboard and getting it far away.
As a celebration, Tony takes Joe to a classy brothel called the Garden of Eden. Here, Joe is introduced to Falcone underboss Edoardo Scarpa, or Eddie as he prefers to be called. Eddie has been thoroughly impressed with Joe handling himself on this job. As such, he tells Joe that if he keeps performing well on whatever work the Falcone family gives him, Eddie will do what he can to ensure Joe's death contract will be lifted.
The New Boss
As Joe does more work for the Falcone family and his own various criminal contacts, Eddie approaches him and Tony with a high-paying job. He has received word that Maxwell's Supermarket is about to take in a large cash transfer, one that the two are to acquire for themselves. Joe and Tony Balls are happy to take the job, figuring a mere grocery store robbery will leave them little resistance.
However, the two arrive to be met by security guards that are more than well-armed, leaving Joe and Tony to get into a shootout with the guards as the customers flee in terror. Once the guards have been dealt with, Tony beats down the store's owner in order to get the key to the safe out of him. Soon after, the Empire Bay Police Department surround the store and send in officers to resolve the situation. As Tony continues to interrogate the owner, the EBPD sends in heavily-armoured and highly-trained SWAT teams to deal with the two gangsters. Joe manages to keep the cops at bay long enough for the owner to relent and give up the key, but the sheer number of officers in the store forces the duo to run and gun their way through. They are forced to hijack a car displayed on a promotional exhibit inside and drive it out through the wall.
After some hectic driving away from the army of policemen on their heels, Joe and Tony head to an empty building, where Don Falcone is overseeing his underboss Rocco interrogating a man while Eddie tries to keep his composure. As Eddie greets the two gangsters, Rocco storms over to Eddie complaining about the insufficient torturing tools at his disposal. Upon being introduced to Joe, Rocco informs him that he has a few jobs for Joe to work on, and finishing them could be Joe's ticket to having the contract on him called off.
The End of Rocco
Joe has been hard at work with the jobs Rocco has offered to him, but has been consistently ambushed at the last few. As such, Joe is starting to suspect that Rocco has an ulterior motive at play.
In another world, the city of Empire Bay is run primarily by two gangs. One is the Gravina crime family, run by Don Sal Gravina. The other is the Irish mob, led by Tam Brodie. They may run their own operations in their own ways, but the two have one notable thing in common: they both employ the services of a ruthless hitman known only by the name of Jimmy.
At this time, Sal and Tam have other gangs digging under their skin. Sal has Jimmy work to ruin the Bombers and their leaders Duke and Elroy Tussle, while Tam has Jimmy destroy the operations of the Tongs and their leader Eddie Fu before finishing the man off himself. Upon his success with Fu, Jimmy is assigned to collect his reward, a hefty stack of cash placed in the trunk of a car in Riverside (with the car itself acting as a bonus reward).
But once Jimmy sits himself in the car, he is surrounded by officers of the Empire Bay Police Department. Jimmy drives through them, but is finally cornered by a roadblock on a bridge. Jimmy soon realizes that his bosses have been using him to clean up their loose ends, and have now thrown him to the wolves since they no longer need him. The car's trunk is also revealed to actually contain a large amount of heroin, and for the possession, Jimmy is sentenced to be imprisoned for 15 years in Hartmann Federal Penitentiary.
Jimmy has been spending his time in Hartmann Federal Penitentiary plotting his payback against his former employers, and has dodged a fair share of attempts on his life. Now, he is ready to get started on his vengeance. Jimmy arranges for a riot to break out in the prison, which provides a cover for a guard to unlock his cell. Once he is released, Jimmy fights his way through the other guards to reach the prison laundry room, where he removes a grate from the floor and escapes via the sewer systems.
Now back in Empire Bay, Jimmy focuses his efforts on destroying various assets and killing various key members of the Gravina crime family and the Irish mob. He kills Sal Gravina at the docks with the last of his loyal mobsters, and he kills Tam Brodie at the forge with the remnants of his gang. After both his ex-clients and their lackeys are all vanquished, Jimmy sets his sights on the man who put him in prison: Judge Hillwood, who has an enormous stake in the criminal underworld of Empire Bay.
Jimmy faces the crooked judge at his opulent mansion in Greenfield. Though Hillwood's bodyguards put up a good fight, Jimmy doesn't flinch and mows them down with ease until he confronts Hillwood himself.
