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But still, even then, he felt the void, the part that washonest, he felt so for the sensation he had had the night before

The Rosewood Room was near the Children’s School of Music and just down the street from an old closed down theater, one that used to play movies for a quarter in the summer of 1972

Vincent had been just a kid at the tihly impressionable He would often leave his house on Felton Drive, two blocks past where he later settled with his own family, and slip away to that theater without his parents knowing It was at a ti before the brutal underground wars broke out that changed everything Before their parents tightened their grip and startedtheir every movebefore they came to the realization that they needed to

His mother had been strict andto let the to poison their minds, so he would lie whenever she asked and tell her he was going to the park with friends

The Godfather came out that year Vincent saw it one cloudy Tuesday afternoon in July, sitting in the back row of the packed theater Those three hours altered his life, turning everything he thought he knew upside down

Until then, he only had a vague understanding of the Mafia, based on the things he had witnessed and his ht it was a club,he had seen his dad take money fro out on thescreen

Vincent had been so fascinated by the film, so rocked to the core, that he hadn’t noticed a dozen of his father’s close friends sitting in the audience with him

He ran hoh his head, absent a path he knew by heart Two blocks over, one block down, cut through the small alley the next street over, then it’s only four h the streets without thinking,it there within minutes

And years later, as Vincent strolled away fro one last look at his family, his feet seemed to instinctively re the boarded-up s and cruht back to that day he watched The Godfather He intended to question his sister when he made it home, but he never had the chance

As soon as he opened the front door of his house and ran inside, his father’s boisterous voice rocked the downstairs "Vincenzo Roman!"

Vincent’s feet ied at the sound of his full na in the direction of his father’s voice, he saw hi in the doorway to his office His heart beat wildly Not good, not good "Yes, Dad?"

"We need to talk"

Antonio disappeared inside his office Vincent stood there for a second, intentionally delaying, before forcing his feet to move that way He took a seat in front of his father’s desk

"So what did you do today?" Antonio asked, leaning back in his chair, his hands clasped across his bulky chest

"Went to the park"

"The park, huh?"

"Yes"

"And hoas the park, son?"

"Fine"

"And you were there all afternoon?"

"Yes"

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yes"

"Fascinating," Antonio said "I do wonder how you did it, though, being in two places at once You see, I got a call a few o that you were at the theater this afternoon, and I know you wouldn’t lie to ht?"

The color drained fro for an answer that never cas, that I won’t find out," he continued, realizing Vincent intended to reot eyes and ears all around this city So back to ht he could get one over on me Do you think I’m an idiot? You think your father’s a jamook?"

Vincent shook his head feverishly "Of course not"

"You got questions, you want to know things? You coet information from everyone else"

"Yes, sir" Vincent paused, thinking that over "I just wanted to see a movie I didn’t realize"

Antonio stared at hih as he leaned forward "Look, son, there’s this saying--fortune favors the bold If you want things, if you want to be successful, you have to take chances, you have to accept risks You have to, you know, do sos that aht?"

Vincent slowly nodded

"So you know the king is the ame continues And that’s just like in life You want to be the king, even if that , he’s the key to it all, ht You never want to be disposable, just another piece in the way You want to control the gaain

"So since you know chess, you also know the real truth," Antonio said "The king dictates the game, sure, but the queen? She holds the real power Which is e aren’t going to tell your mother about what you did today She doesn’t need to know you lied and broke her rules, because the queen won’t be quite so understanding Capisce?"