& X2 h! p/ F% k1 _! c8 P- x 3 q; b) d$ y8 `: y( qVictoria Gotti, mother of John Gotti Jr., appeared at three of her son's trials in two years and offered her $715,000 home for her son's bail. , n5 U5 ?1 g" y. | ! @. F/ x) `5 d7 K" Y: z. B) K# a0 G2 ]
Even the toughest mobster has a soft spot for Mom ) m6 L6 L0 L! d6 Q! S0 A# _# vNEW YORK (AP) -- Each and every Mother's Day until he landed behind bars, mobster Jimmy "The Gent" Burke performed a sacrosanct ritual. % ~. i' c; {: U- ^" T$ R8 K * |+ a# v7 R) X3 R6 ^, b# }Burke, the mastermind behind the $5.8 million Lufthansa heist immortalized in "Goodfellas," dropped a few C-notes on dozens of red roses from a Rockaway Boulevard florist. He then toured the homes of his jailed Luchese crime family pals, providing their mothers with a bouquet and a kiss. " ~' m9 E2 A/ t3 O# V* |1 s, n. H5 Z9 e* O - S6 D5 Y- g3 [5 O% V% z/ hHe never missed a year, or a mom. & ?' g! L' M1 h$ }9 @( `: Q ; e T& w* u1 q+ A$ WBurke's gesture was no surprise to his fellow hoodlums: Mother's Day was the most important Sunday on the organized crime calendar, when homicide took a holiday and racketeering gave way to reminiscing -- often over a plate of mom's pasta and gravy.+ n% ?) F: \2 ]: Z
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"These guys, they do have a love for their mothers," said Joe Pistone, the FBI undercover agent who spent six Mother's Days inside the Bonanno family as jewel thief Donnie Brasco. "They thought nothing of killing. But the respect for their mothers? It was amazing." + @% N1 g- s L# m ]/ B0 N; E! [7 ^, J) |/ {0 @
So amazing, Pistone recalled, that Bonanno member Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero once told him that the Mafia -- like a suburban Jersey mall shuttered by blue laws -- closed for business when Mother's Day arrived each May./ J5 d5 ?6 N4 l! C
No vendettas or broken bones. Just gift baskets and boxes of candy.2 w. T" Q7 m( t2 {4 a( P
0 c. `" x' ]) v& o9 P/ Y"Absolutely," said mob informant Henry Hill, who described his old friend Burke's annual rite. "It's Mother's Day, you know?"$ ^' a* ~/ [! w$ I9 {4 o% z! t
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The bond between gangsters and their mothers is more sacred than the oath of omerta and more complex than anything imagined by Oedipus. Pistone watched stone murderers suddenly grow misty when discussing their moms -- or her meals.! D. Q( z/ l% e+ \3 n7 U
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"They're not embarrassed to say how much they love their mother," said Pistone, author of the new mob memoir "Unfinished Business."5 R% H' J* g: T2 h, Z
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"I can remember guys talking about cooking: 'My mom made the best braciole.' Or 'my mother taught me how to make this sauce."' 2 K! w5 z1 D" a ( r9 s! g+ g/ ]1 H! ]" D! uNo surprise there: The way to a man's heart was often through his stomach, as many mob moms knew long before their sons moved from finger paints to fingerprints. * m2 Y1 Z. u, e# ^/ [3 k/ O, ? A4 W0 v
Mob heavyweight Al Capone -- a man who never needed a restaurant reservation during his Roaring '20s reign atop the Chicago underworld -- preferred his mother's spaghetti with meat sauce, heavy on the cheese. a, o6 b, _8 ?! x6 d6 t) ^ 5 J7 C/ J- P+ k" K9 d# l(Capone's sentimentality didn't extend to other holidays. On Feb. 14, 1929, he orchestrated the submachine-gun slayings of seven rival bootleggers in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.) ' A& w8 q0 Q2 H" V1 L$ U2 P& ~9 V: Q* O8 i$ l6 n5 V
[ 本帖最后由 日月光 于 2007-5-13 20:34 编辑 ]