America: Starting with the Last Liberty

St. Lucy Church, East Los Angeles, 7:50 p.m.

This Catholic church is only a medium-sized church, but it has long served as a meeting place for the Bonanno family.

On the one hand, it's because the Church of St. Lucy is located in an Italian community, where the Mafia has an excellent base of support.

On the other hand, it was also the time when the Bonanno family rose to prominence, near this Church of St. Lucie.

Before eight o'clock, the church of St. Lucy was already full of people, with most of the official members of the Bonanno family having arrived.

The official members were all whispering about recent events; the St. Lucy Church was like a marketplace.

It is clear that the Bonanno family is in a very bad situation recently.

Since Martin Sr. suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, the Bonanno family's situation has deteriorated rapidly, with more than a dozen group leaders recently murdered.

The other gangs aren't stupid either. With such a big incident involving the Bonanno family, they definitely want to take a piece of the pie from the Italians.

Therefore, the Bonanno family has recently suffered considerable losses, and this situation is definitely not sustainable. This gathering was also expected by everyone.

At 8 o'clock sharp, Felice, who looked rather grim, and Antonio, who was all smiles, entered the stadium, followed by Francis Ricci and Sofia Bonanno.

The four men were now the highest-ranking members of the Bonanno family, and the Church of St. Lucy fell silent after they entered.

Before speaking, Francis first asked Alberto a question.

"Is everyone here?"

"Almost everyone has arrived, except for those who are out of town and can't make it back."

"Let's begin!"

Francis had his men bring chairs for Felice, Antonio, and Sofia to sit down before he began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Francis Rich. The reason I have gathered you all here today is because I have a very important matter to ask for your opinions."

Everyone listened quietly to Francis, except for Sophia, who kept getting distracted.

"As you all know, the Bonanno family is currently facing its most difficult time. The Irish and Russians are both eyeing us covetously, and we must change this situation!"

These words resonated with the official members, who genuinely wanted to change things.

However, the Bonanno family doesn't even have a leader now, so it's naturally difficult for them to organize an effective counterattack.

"I have great respect for my godfather—"

As he spoke, Francis bowed to Sophia to show his attitude.

"But given the current situation, someone must reunite the family! Therefore, we must elect a new leader, an official leader, as soon as possible!"

This was Francis's true purpose.

After listening to Francis's words, Felice said something sarcastic.

"Are you trying to say that this person is you?"

It was clear that Felice had guessed who was behind the recent events, even though he had no evidence.

However, by simply thinking about who benefits the most, we can roughly narrow down the scope.

After the deaths of those dozen or so group leaders, the new group leaders were basically all Francis's men, so the answer is quite obvious.

Francis glanced back at Felice.

"Mr. Marino, I very much hope that person is me, because I grew up alongside my godfather and watched him build the family business. I don't want his efforts to go to waste. Therefore, if someone is willing to shoulder this responsibility, I will absolutely not refuse!"

Francis, with a sorrowful expression, led all the official members in reminiscing about the past and appreciating the present. Some of the older veterans even started to shed tears.

It must be said that Francis is an excellent actor; his delivery of lines and his handling of facial expressions are just right.

This is better than most actors, because Francis doesn't have the chance to do retakes; he has to complete the entire performance in one take.

Seeing Francis win over the regular members through his performance, Felice felt utterly disgusted, as if he had swallowed a fly.

"However, to be fair, I suggest that the new leader be determined by vote. And I recommend myself as a candidate!"

Felice glared at Francis, then raised his hand.

"I also recommend myself as a candidate!"

Although he was very dissatisfied with Francis, Felice believed that his prestige within the family was definitely higher than Francis's, so he had no objection to the method of electing a new leader by vote.

However, Felice never considered that democratic elections were a lie.

There are too many ways to manipulate so-called democratic elections, from the initial candidates, through the voting process, to the final vote counting.

If you put your mind to it, you can always find a way to get the results some people want.

If all else fails, they can simply eliminate the candidate.

For example, during Mexico's midterm elections, 37 politicians were murdered, leaving only one female politician to be elected.

Antonio, who is usually the most radical, was unusually quiet today. After Francis and Felice expressed their opinions, he finally spoke up.

"I won't participate, but I can act as a supervisor and be responsible for counting the votes for everyone."

Antonio's unusual attitude puzzled Felice, but he certainly wouldn't refuse to have one less strong competitor.

Moreover, Antonio's status and position are indeed suitable for being a supervisor.

Of course, if Luca were here, he would definitely be the one to do this.

Francis gave Antonio a quick wink before continuing to speak.

"Alright, all official members present today can take a card. You can write my name and Mr. Marino's name on it, but only one name. Writing two names will be considered an abstention! Alberto, go get the ballot box."

"Okay, Mr. Richie."

The voting began quickly and smoothly.

Once all the official members of the Bonanno family had cast their votes, Antonio, as the supervisor, began counting the votes.

"Rich gets a vote!"

"Marino, one vote!"

"Marino, one vote!"

……

At first, Felice remained very calm, but as Antonio counted out the votes one by one, he began to get restless.

Felice was completely taken aback to find that Francis's vote count was not much different from his own.

It is clear that Francis's previous campaign performance was quite effective. Such a performance, followed immediately by voting, naturally triggered many people to vote impulsively.

Unfortunately, it's already the vote counting stage, and even if Felice wanted to campaign for votes, it was too late. He could only sit on pins and needles and wait for the results.

"Final result: Marino 284 votes, Richie 295 votes, Richie wins!"

Felice looked at Antonio in disbelief.

"That's impossible!"

Francis ignored Felice and looked at the official members who were voting.

"It seems I'm the new leader everyone wants. Is there anyone who objects?"

At that moment, a man's voice came from the church door.

"I object!"

(Sofia Bonanno)