Page 123 of Forced Vows

"Like ancient Rome, the mafia has a re. A king. We call him godfather. He rules over the Cosa Nostra in the United States. Once he is elected by vote of all the dons, he is godfather until he dies."

Do syndicate men ever think they have enough power?

"What if he's a bad godfather?" I ask, my curiosity pushing aside some of my bad mood.

Miceli shrugs. "What if a king fucks up his country?"

"They get away with it," I say a little bitterly.

The Irish mob doesn't have the same kind of structure as the Italian mafia, but Uncle Brogan has no checks on his power.

He's the boss over the Shaughnessy family in New York and no one can challenge that. Not without bloodshed.

But Uncle Brogan's authority doesn't extend beyond our territory even if his influence does through alliances.

There is no King of the Irish Mob.

Miceli shrugs again. "Or they get assassinated."

"That's hardly a reliable check on his authority. Even good kings get assassinated."

And whether they were good depends on who wrote the history, right? That's almost never the general population who live under the tyranny of monarchy. People like me, whose lives get stolen by the powers that be.

Maybe I could be a history teacher and change that. You know, teach good little mafia girls and boys about the real history of la famiglia.

Shoving away the fanciful thought that is also silly because I don't know that history, I ask, "So, the godfather is the king. What does that make the dons? Princes?"

"If you are referring to Roman princes."

"Why do they have to be Roman? And please don't tell me it's because of Italian superiority."

"Roman princes ruled over their own fiefdoms."

"This sound like feudalism."

"You wouldn't be the first woman to say that the mafia is stuck in the Middle Ages," Miceli drawls sarcastically.

"Oh, joy. Every modern woman's dream is to end up married into a Medieval culture setting equality back centuries."

"It's not that bad, but our leadership structure is feudal."

"The dons rule over their own territories. Like my uncle."

"Yes."

"And the capos?"

"The capo dei capi operate under the authority of their don. They have a second-in-command and no one except the don outranks them."

"What about you? You're the underboss. And Big Sal is the consigliere."

"Your accent is improving."

"I'm learning Italian on Duo Lingo." I'm not living with a bunch of people who speak a language I don't understand.

"I am equal to the capos in rank, unless I am speaking on behalf of Sev. Then I carry the authority of his position."

"A prince's prince," I quip.

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