The life of a Mafia wife

Being a Mafia wife is no fun

My husband is Frankie Capella, and on the morning of March 23, of this year, he kissed me goodbye and said I would never see him again. My God, what a shock it was ! Somehow I had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen. For about a month Frank seemed distant, troubled and preoccupied. I was ready for some kind of a devastating blow, but nothing as shattering as this.

Frank had been a collection executive in a gambling enterprise owned by Carl Rizzo. Or rather that was how he described his job. Not a soldier or enforcer. And he never referred to the Rizzo crime family as the family. He called it the company. And he never referred to his boss as the don. Carlo Puzo was his employer the owner of the company.

Frank has always been a loving and generous husband to me, and a wonderful father to the kids. It is obvious that he loves us very much. In his own way. He never actually lied to us, but did hold back on telling us the whole truth. It’s crystal clear to me now.

During the twelve years of our marriage I saw only what I wanted to see. I never heard about the company being the Rizzo crime family. Frankie wanted me to think of it as the company that he worked for, and his job as that of a collection manager for dead beats who refused to pay their gambling debts. As far as I had wanted to see, the company was into the numbers gambling business -- a victimless misdemeanor.

Sure, I had read the stories about collectors breaking arms and legs, but I had wanted to believe that Frankie's job was to go and visit the customers and explain why they had to pay, to protect their credit. How niaive could I have been?

Being a Mafia wife is no fun

Believe me when I tell you. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, and believe what we want to believe.

We've always had a nice single family house, two fairly new cars, and plenty of money to give the kids whatever they needed. Life seemed good for the most part. I always had that slightly uncomfortable feeling that Frankie was telling me the truth, but not necessarily the whole truth. Actually he was a minor player, a soldier in the Rizzo crime family. As strange as it may sound, I didn't see what I didn't want to see.

Frankie's so-called associates and colleagues were not as refined or as well educated as he was. He had had two years of college, and had been a good student. When his business associates called on the phone or stopped by the house for a quick visit and a cup of coffee they seemed decent and friendly enough, but a little rough around the edges. Most of them had the accents of men who had grown up in tough neighborhoods. Again, I didn't want to read anything into this. Frank had what seemed like a good job, working for a generous company, with good fringe benefits, and co-workers he seemed to like.

While in college, he had been known on the campus as an up and coming athlete. The first string running back on the football team. His closest friend had been Beansie Rizzo, the son of Carlo. Beansie succeeded in persuading Frankie that a good paying job with his father's company was probably available to a talented young guy like himself.

The Mafia, and that's what it really was, has an unusual way of inspiring blind loyalty in its people. Incredibly generous to the families of members who die in the line of duty, and unbelievably ferocious and brutal to members and their famillies -- yes, the families -- of members who are guilty of flagrant violations, thereby incurring the wrath of the son or his underbosses.

For example, wholesale stealing from the company. Or ratting to the authorities sensitive information that could hurt the company in serious ways. There is no mercy. Such violators might be tortured and killed and even mutilated. Not only that, but their wives, kids, siblings and parents could be eliminated..

On the other hand, crime families have been known to actually support for many years, the families of associates who have shown uncommon loyalty to the enterprise. Such as being killed after going above and beyond, for the good of the company. Or going to jail for a very long sentence, and giving absolutely no damaging information in the hope of a plea bargain.

Unfortunately for Frank and for all of us -- myself, Tommy and Elsie, what Frank had perpetrated was the unpardonable sin I knew nothing about it, but Frank was skimming from the top of his collections. He didn't have to do it. We didn't need the money to enhance our standard of living. We had everything we needed.

I realize now that he had a secret dream. He was making huge deposits to a secret offshore account, with the intention of being able to retire with me and the kids, to a different part of the country. It backfired on him.

Carlo's underboss, Fat Tony Ruggerio got wind of what Frankie had been up to. Someone had ratted on him, and Carlo found out about it. He called Frank in for a conference, and Frank must have known right away what it was about.

Carlo was sober and serious, and spoke sadly and quietly. This is the part of it that I don't believe. Frank told me that Carlo had said to him, "Frankie, you are a very big disappointment to me. I brought you into the company as my own son, because you were such a close friend to Beansie.

You repaid my trust by stealing tens of thousands of dollars. Which you didn't really need. As you are well aware, the punishment for this kind of betrayal would ordinarily be execution of the guilty member --- and sometimes the liquidation of his entire family. For generations we have had to follow these precepts to make sure everybody understands we say what we mean, and mean what we say. We have to protect our credibility at all costs." This is what holds this thing of ours together for so many centuries.

"I am going to bend the rules for you in the following way, because you were recruited by my son Beansie. And also because I have met your lovely wife Annie and your kids. You are going to have to say goodbye to your wife and kids, and disappear, and never see them again"

"Our brotherhood has a long memory, and we have eyes and ears all over the world You will need to disappear and not have any contact with your family. We will not support them, because of your offenses against us. If they go to you, or if you go to them, we will know, and you will be dealt with in a more customary way"

Frank told me all of this on that terrible morning, but I don't believe him. I think he just wanted to spare me the pain of knowing that he was getting ready to submit to his own execution. In my heart and soul I know he is gone now. May his soul rest in peace.

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