Vince Torelli - The Wayfarer

[Vince Torelli]

"You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down, he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Aye, and he falls for those ahead of him, who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone."

- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

 

"Birth."

Newark, New Jersey. 1987.

 

 

Vincent James Torelli was born into a household wrought with moral decay, veiled under secrecy and fear. His family's involvement in the North Jersey Cosa Nostra was kept hidden during Vince's early years. He was a child of the nineties, and the RICO predicates had delivered a clear and blistering blow to his grandfather, James. It was obvious to those who experienced it, that the golden years of the American mafia were over; shot dead suddenly and buried shallow, in the event that, one day, it could be dug up once more, to produce forth its stink upon those who come upon its rotted cadaver.

 

It wasn't brought up at the dinner table. It wasn't ever mentioned directly. The Cosa Nostra hung over them like an inherited, genetic disease for many in the Torelli household. Like a diagnosis of cancer, it was more a black jacketed topic of solemnness and pity, than the status of pride and arrogance it was, less than ten years prior.

 

Vince wasn't lied to, when he was curious. He knew his grandfather was in prison on RICO indictments. He knew his father was connected. However, he never asked directly. He never took it as a thing of pride, yet he never took it as a thing to be fearful of. It was part of him, and as he aged, he simply lived with it.

 

 

 

"College."

Columbia University, New York City. 2005.

 

 

Vince ascended into the Ivy League, no doubt thanks to his father's many "friends" in New York. Life was looking up for the young Vince, despite it not looking in the direction he had hoped. Dreaming, his entire life, of being an astronomer, he dared not challenge his father's wishes for him to eventually work among the many millionaires of Wall Street. No matter the trial, Vince knew that with his girlfriend Abigail by his side, nothing could stop him from success.

 

By late-2005, Vince was secured a full time position at Faraday Securities Corporation, located high up within 100 Wall Street. As he progressed through university, so did his portfolio.

 

Married in 2007. A father to a daughter and a son in 2008. A Master of Business Analytics in 2011.

 

His family thrived in North Caldwell. He drove an Albany V-STR. He was successful, but he was unhappy. He wasn't an astronomer.

 

 

 

"Security."

Wall Street. 2014.

 

 

Rumors swirled that year, 2014, about outsourcing. Faraday Securities Corporation was in turbulence. Vince began drinking to get drunk, spending many lonely nights zoned out and alone among friends in the Carpe Diem bar in Hoboken. His wife was less concerned with wealth, and more concerned with his happiness. He didn't belong where he was. He wanted to move to Colorado. He never did.

 

By August, Vince's position was targeted in the outsource. Cheaper analytical staff could be found overseas. By November, Vince was bleeding money. His wife was disgusted with him. He knew he was about to lose everything, as he sat within a house he could no longer afford.

 

"Loss."
Newark. 2016.

 

 

Vince had sold most of his assets to afford those he actually kept. However, after a night of arguing with Abigail, the action of throwing a wine glass at her was justification enough for her to file a divorce, and win with flying colors.

 

Alcoholism. Domestic abuse. Marijuana usage. To a jury, Vince was a bad husband, and an even worse father. A danger to himself, and obviously to his own children. By 2017, all that was left in Vince's life was a Toyota and enough will to work odd jobs to satisfy his lust for Jack Daniel's.

 

Many a horny night was spent on the internet. Never a night was spent in the arms of a woman who loved him.

 

 

 

"Freelancer."

Alcoholics Anonymous. 2021.

 

 

A wealthy sponsor in Vince's AA group signed him up for a two-month long furlough in a rehab facility in the sunny city of Los Santos. On a bus bound for the land of milk and honey, he arrived one late summer's night, and immediately went to work as a garbage hauler for a company based out of El Burro.

 

Many lonely nights were spent as the sole driver of a route from El Burro to Del Perro, idolizing the rich and the successful members of Los Santos' high society. Clad in a polyester, weatherproof poncho and beaten up jeans, Vince swore to himself that one day, he would be like them.

 

After several cases of harassment on the job, Vince acquired a gun from a man named Tyrone. A chance encounter at the Pacific Standard bank. However, Vince was robbed of the gun shortly after. Knowing he couldn't turn to the police, Vince embraced, in his small, pathetic way, his status as a criminal.

 

As the weeks rolled on, Vince became less concerned with sobriety and more concerned with survival. He eventually stopped showing up to the AA meetings altogether, instead opting to drive up to Paleto Bay. He met a mysterious figure by the name of 'David the angel', who showed Vince how to grow marijuana in several public growing spots up north. Vince also met a lady named Charlie Bankshot, who would go on to show him the politics of the region.

 

Robbed at gunpoint by the lab-rolling gangs of Blaine County, Vince added to his trade the art of car theft, breaking into the parking lot of a mechanic in Paleto and stealing cars right from under their noses. This is how he first wound up in the county jail.

 

However, Vince knew the risk far outweighed the reward, and if he were to make any money, he'd need to join an organization. By chance, he met a man named Christoph Wellerman. A suit-donning and clean shaven fellow, he had an aura of leadership about him, as he rambled on about various subtle topics of criminality. Vince was determined to work for Wellerman.

 

 

 

"The Underground."

Del Perro Pier. October 2021.

 

 

In early October 2021, a cancer awareness gala was held on the Del Perro pier. Vince picked up a random hitchhiker, and the two set off to the event. Upon arrival, it was filled to the brim with individuals wearing pink. On the far side of the pier was Wellerman, Charlie and a mysterious lady in pink camouflage. This lady would come to be known as Melody Frey, the leader of an anarchist organization known simply as The Underground.

 

Seeking employment, Vince began to work for this group, which identified itself with pink clothes and cars. Vince's first murder was that of a clown on Mischief Night. As he sat on the beach sands, cutting up the clown, he knew that his choice to enter into this life was permanent. He was a criminal. He embraced this.

 

Later that month, Vince and David the angel were robbed in Paleto. Vince was shot at three times with a .50 pistol. The rounds were deflected by the car's metal, which sent shrouds of lead, glass and metal deep into Vince's skull. By the time the doctors removed it from his frontal lobe, they concluded that enough had already seeped into Vince's blood to blind him. They also said that what couldn't be removed, deep within his head, would lead to his own death from lead poisoning in a maximum of three years.

 

The next few weeks were spent committing petty crimes, or chasing after the daughters of Misha McQueen with his friend and co-member, Sean O'Malley. Misha was actually the woman who inspired Vince to leave The Underground, as she told of the moral corruption of Melody, and her apathy towards her own members.

 

And leave is exactly what Vince did. Initially wanting to join a band of Italian heist men, he opted instead to join a loose collective of Mexicans who robbed stores, and eventually targeted Melody. By mid-December, the group was in tatters, and it was obvious to Vince that he made the wrong choice. He sold them out to Melody, in exchange for forgiveness.

 

 

 

"Grace."

Del Perro. January 2022.

 

 

Vince's life was back on track. He was earning regularly with The Underground. He still lacked a basic human component to survival - companionship.

 

Vince encountered Grace Adams, who joined The Underground during Vince's hiatus. By chance, the two fell for each other, during a night of sightseeing at the Kortz Center, on a chilly winter's night. January 28th, to be exact.

 

For the next several weeks, the two lovers would share their lives together. They'd fish at the Del Perro pier, or cuddle at their borrowed apartment, reveling in their mutual hatred of existence and melancholy. Grace was a widow from Arizona, who became a car mechanic in Los Santos. She was 27, at the time.

 

Eventually, an FBI investigation into the kidnapping and murder of a prison guard forced Vince and Grace to leave The Underground. Instead of laying low, Vince was contacted by his father and given the blessing to establish a small crew of Italian store-heisters, based out of Del Perro.

 

In mid-March, Vince proposed to Grace on the Chumash pier. Too poor to afford a ring, the pair instead swapped their cheap, beaten up wristwatches.

 

The short-lived crew was eventually absorbed back into The Underground, at the beckoning command of Grace.

 

However, even within The Underground, Vince wasn't making enough money to support the couple. Grace repeatedly bought him cars and clothes, leading to ridicule from members of the organization. Grace, indeed, was the one with the full-time job as a mechanic, paying for a house in Eclipse Towers that overlooked the city. Vince was still a lowly street thug, barely making enough to pay for a BurgerShot meal, and constantly being bailed out of jail by Grace.

 

It caught up to Vince. On April 11, the couple separated, and Vince was kicked out of their apartment. Alone again, Vince was broken and without a tribe. He couldn't stay in The Underground, for as long as Grace was there. He had to move on. He had to find a new home.

 

 

 

"Benny Diamonds."

Mission Row. May 2022.

 

 

Vince's initial time directly after the breakup was spent either in bars, or sulking about Grace. He also stalked her.

 

However, fate would blow in Vince's favor when, by chance, he entered into a diamond store one late-May afternoon. May 7th, to be exact.

 

He encountered a man named Benjamin, who quickly inducted him into a shadowy Italian-American community, unseen by the public. He was introduced to a man named Villione, and was tasked with chopping cars.

 

Vince's birthright had finally found him, once more. Vince was about to enter head-first into the Cosa Nostra.

 

The next few months were spent slowly working his way up the food chain. Members of the family would come and go. Benny, shot twice in the head. John, coming to take his place. Death became an accepted part of his new lifestyle.

 

 

 

"Chloe."

Pillbox Hill. July 2022.

 

Vince received a call, late one night, from a girl he happened to meet outside of a beauty shop in Del Perro. Her name was Chloe Hill. She was out of friends. She needed one.

 

The two soon bonded, before they found themselves madly in love. Much like Grace, the two became closest when sharing their troubles with life. However, unlike Grace, Vince and Chloe were united in the fact that they were ill. Chloe, a schizophrenic with early-onset Parkinson's, and Vince, a depressed loner with lead poisoning and frequent strokes.

 

Vince and Chloe's love was real and unconditional. They knew they were both heavily aware of their mortality and frailty.

Might as well die within the company of someone you love.

 

The two became engaged on July 31. Vince stole Chloe's engagement ring from Benny's old shop.

 

 

 

"On Record."

Mission Row. August 2022.

 

Vince was put on record into the Italian coalition by John on August 6th. Chloe was impregnated by Vince, that same day.

 

On August 7th, Chloe was taken from Vince's life, in the middle of the night, by men in white suits. She was taken to a psychiatric facility in upstate San Andreas.

 

Vince is once again alone, in his day to day life. His thirty-fifth birthday approaches quickly. He's broke, and he needs to make money.

 

This is the story of Vince Torelli.

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Vince Torelli

[olivern389]

Top notch, loved it 

[Vince Torelli]

STORIES LIST:

1. Intro Video
2. Vince Torelli - The Underground Exclusive
3. Welcome Back, Joe - The Torelli Crime Family Exclusive
4. Veni, Vidi, Vici - The Torelli Crime Family Exclusive
5. Homecoming - The Underground Exclusive
6. Ghosts
7. Chamber of Reflection

Edited April 12, 2022 by Vince Torelli

[Vince Torelli]

 

 

 

 

The American Dream - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To some, mainly to men born of great nothings, the slight and soft touch of this dream, much like a leper to the robes of Christ, is satisfactory enough when compared to a seemingly endless and pitiful existence of no coin and even lesser hope. The pursuit of happiness, with no guarantee of attaining it, was at one point in American history a filter of the quality of man, and a test of his tenacity to want something, and to take it without prejudice, oft and ironically at the sacrifice of the dream entire; life and liberty.

 

 

Messina, Sicily - 1927

 

 

James Torelli of Sicily, born in 1908. A man no stranger to poverty and decay, raised in the blood-soaked streets of Messina. Known to pick fights with other children and frequently rob local stores, he was feared among the civilian populace, even at a young age. Coming from a family of Sicilian peasant fishermen with distant ties to families in Verona and Milan, the poor conditions of a family of five living in a decrepit two-room apartment drove James to a life of bitter hatred of the rich and powerful, brought on even more so by the repeated business abuse inflicted upon the Sicilians from northern Italian aristocrats.

 

Growing up not far removed from the Cosa Nostra, the wild stories of disrespected, poor men making a name for themselves was further inspiration for James' descent into criminality. However, his nature was childish and petty, and his brutal methods of robbery were looked down upon with distaste from the local mafiosi. In addition, as the womanizing and violent hood grew into a teenager, his father Antonio became indebted to the Sicilian Mafia, when he refused to pay extortion fees to the mobster that ran the fishing boat racket.

 

 

Sicilian fishermen off the coast of Messina - 1927

 

 

In late 1927, the Mafia's patience for protection payment had run empty. Late one night, a band of hired gangsters raided the Torelli house, executing the entire family, save for two who managed to escape - James Torelli and his brother, who was never seen again. On the run with nothing to his name, he escaped Sicily on several industrial ships. Sailing through the Balkans to Croatia, then by land through northern Italy and France, eventually arriving in England, boarding a freighter carrying European exported goods to America.

 

Several weeks later, after a grand voyage across the Atlantic, James left the boat when it was temporarily docked in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Angry at the almost total destruction of his world, he contemplated ending it fully or looking for a better alternative, as he fell in love with the taffy-scented boardwalks of the South Jersey shore. Eventually, he met several other likeminded Italians and Irishmen, who made short work of forming a ruthless syndicate of cat burglars and moonshine peddlers.

 

Dominating the South Jersey highways, if even a shot glass of prohibited alcohol passed from New York City to Philadelphia, it went through Torelli. If it was coming down from Canada to Pittsburgh, it went through Torelli. If it was coming up north from Cuba, it went through Torelli. In short time, an empire was forming beneath his feet. His wealth helped him grow in favor among local politicians, who turned a blind eye to his crimes in exchange for a new Cadillac or a free pass at the cathouse.

 

 

James Torelli in Atlantic City - 1929

 

 

The late '20s were a glorious time for James Torelli. Cars, women, power and essentially every vice imaginable was there for the taking. Every time a member of his syndicate was jailed or killed, two more would sprout up. The police got a slice to keep their mouths shut. Local businesses would receive large donations so they'd stay loyal. The press far and wide praised James Torelli as a philanthropist and businessman, giving the people what they wanted in a nation where it was illegal. He was a champion for beverage choice, and a friend of the working man. Soon, every wiseguy and two-bit gangster on the street knew that every mile between Atlantic City and Philadelphia belonged to one crew alone - the Torelli family.

 

Below the glamorized surface and general public acceptance of a violent criminal kingpin lay countless families traumatized, abused and often ruined. The wives of police officers murdered for doing their jobs. The mothers of sons who were killed in vendettas, or for talking too much. James Torelli was the paragon of cut-throat and ruthless crime, and the epitome of a man borne into an uncaring, cold world of poverty and capital competition, transformed into his own greatest fear through the incessant and often unavoidable cycle of criminality. A man doomed to eventual damnation and the assured ruination of his seed.

 

James Torelli's empire was built on blood. He had chosen to live by the sword. He sold the world for a fleeting sixpence life of sin and perceived power, assured at its inception an eventual end, either by vendetta, suicide or the long arm of the law.

 

He had joined the pursuit of happiness, but at the cost of life and liberty.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Vince Torelli

[Vince Torelli]

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Edited May 26, 2023 by Vince Torelli

[Jack Flimsy]

Holly molly, such an amazing story. Reminds me of when I used to drive on my brothers bikes on the dunes near sandy, hehe.

[Vince Torelli]

[Vince Torelli]

[Vince Torelli]

@Melody Frey