Page 90 of Vita Mia

Chapter Sixteen

Incarcerated

Napoli Italy

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THE ITALIAN PRISONsystem in Napoli had undergone many different changes since 1979. Laws were enforced and governed to pretend at reintegration of inmates into society, but did the exact opposite. That was promised to change under the leadership of Vassolini, the Mayor of Naples had failed. Rumors swirled that he intended to run for the political role of President of the Campania. He was once a close friend of Don Giovanni Battaglia. He’d dined in Melanzana and attended every family function. However, with the rise in crime and the turf wars becoming International news, the mutual benefits of such a relationship had soured in the past two years. There would be no help from Giovanni’s political allies now. The exposure was too great.

Don Giovanni had anticipated this. The more pressing matter for him was the politics inside of the prison. Depending on the ruling warden the punishment and treatment to inmates could be as flexible as the warden’s temperament. To survive incarceration, one must have a good understanding of the ruling powers reach. The prison police were responsible for the inner security and the enforcement of the warden’s rules. They were not soldiers like the Carabinieri outside of the prison. They were employed by the Ministry of Justice and were locked into a brotherhood as tight as the clans of Camorra. They were ruled by the same tenants of power and loyalty as any crime syndicate he’d come up against.

There were over 206 prisons in Italy. The good news was Giovanni had been sent to Napoli for detainment, on his turf, in his Campania. The bad news was he was sent toPoggioreale. ThePoggiorealewas the most notorious and corrupt of all the institutions. It was where he sent his rivals, thanks to the political friendship with Vassolini, in the Camorra to be slaughtered. Known for their torture rooms and overcrowding issues, the guards had found the only way to handle the rising population of migrants and gangs was to keep the prison on locked down 23 hours out of the day.

Giovanni had never spent a day, night, passing moment within the judicial system. But he employed nothing but men that were supposedly rehabilitated there. He knew all too well, how the power structure worked. He laid on his bunk with his hands behind his head and stared up at the soiled fungus stained mattress above him. He waited. They would come for him soon. News had spread with the guards that Giovanni was not only unharmed but he’d been given pampered treatment. Aldo, the gypsy king, walked over to Giovanni’s bunk. He sat on the bunk across from him.

“I have information,” Aldo said.

Giovanni gaze slipped over.

“I have a man who mops floors in theufficio matricola. He has permissions to the clean outside and inside the warden’s office.”

Aldo now had Giovanni’s full attention.

“He said your Générale paid the warden a visit. And the Générale left very unhappy.”

“Tell me?” Giovanni asked.

***

EARLIER —

“Warden Fassino,” The Générale walked into the office with his men. The warden looked up from his call and then signaled to the inmate cleaning his office for him to leave. He hung up the phone. The Générale’s presence was expected. He’d been waiting for a personal visit.

“What can I do for you?”

“You got involved in the matters of detainment of Giovanni Battaglia.”

The Warden rocked back in his chair and made a tent of his fingers.

“He should be in the Mamertine. In Roma! Awaiting trial.”

The Warden shrugged.

“You have nothing to say?”

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