Getting Made

when the decision is made, somebody close to you tells you. your boss, your pop, whoever. they tell you when to be where. you go to the boss's house. whoever is the big boss in your city. its him, and some other bosses there. the big guys. you go in, and they are sitting on one side of the room. they got a chair for you to sit in and you do. they explain it to you. its an oath for life, and is more sacred than wedding vows. you are making an oath to god, in front of men, and you must uphold it even at risk to your life. they ask can you do this. you tell them yes. the boss gives you a blank piece of paper, and you write down, in sicilian, your oath. your boss or whoever told you that you were being made told you in advance what it is. . then you sign your name, and one of the guys who is watching the door comes over. you hold out your right hand. he cuts across your palm and you place a blood mark on the paper. you wrap your hand up and then they pass the paper around for everyone to see. he gives it back to you, and you burn it, while you recite the oath. then, your made. they congratulate you. hugs all around. drinks are poured. afterwards, there is a party. its a huge event and something that you never forget. its right up there with confirmation and all that. of course its scary. if for some reason, someone doubts you, they kill you right there. its been known to happen. however, once its over, you have security. you know you have a job for life. no layoffs, no downsizing, no economy problems. you dont have to worry about somebody else aiming for you because as soon as the word goes out that your made, you are untouchable except with permission. from that moment on, you are an equal to the other guys. not to your boss, but to the other bosses. you are given something to run, and you get your own crew. life becomes much easier and you can actually relax after that.

Many Familys do it with a select few members of the family, including capos, the member who is benig formerly inducted's capo, and any other of his blood relatives who are formal members. The Don says the oath and a few rules, then he asks for the new members trigger finger, the Don slits it and blood is dripped onto a picture of a saint, it is sometimes substituited for a piece of ordinary paper. The picture is then burnt while the new member holds it. It's not like in the movies where the paper burns for about five minutes and the guys hand gets hurt, it usually burns for a few seconds and the guy juggles it in his hand. then the guy is made. In some Familys the same ritual is performed, but with about forty members of the Family present, and the members include soldiers aswell as capos. The ritual is perforem and then all the men hold out all ten fingers. A random number is picked and the fingers starting with the don are counted round the table, when they reach the number the mans hand that they land on will be the new member's mentor and teacher, and sponser. Sometimes a knife and a gun is placed on the table at which they all sit.

In 1976 a Los Angeles mobster called Michael Rizzitello was made into an L.A. family. Both the Don and the underboss of the Family were in jail, so acting boss Louis Tom Dragna was in charge. Dragna, consiglieri Frank Bompensiero, Capo Jimmy 'The Weasal' Fratianno and Rizzitello had the cerimony in a smoke filled car on some road in L.A. for a quick induction. Rizzitello said the oath, his finger was pricked and that was that.

In the Chicago Outfit, ever since the Mafia hit the city the have inducted there members the same way. The new member is invited to a big Mafiosi dinner where all the main guys are, he is shown around and introduced to the boys, they sit down, eat, talk about things, joke, drink lots of wine and then the guys in. Thats it, nothing special, but you still have too be of Italian heritage.

So all the Familys and citys have there own unique ways of doing it. Some are more strict on age, In some Familys a new member can be as young as thirteen, but in some he must be a proven man of at least nineteen.Some Familys are strict on your heritage, some only let full blooded Sicilian/Americans, some let Sicilian and Italian/Americans in, some let you in if your Father is Sicilian/Italian/American but some only let you in if both your Mother and Father are of Italian heritage. You have to be male to join, and in many Familys you have to have killed at least one man for the Family before, but some are less strict and let you in as a potential money maker.


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		getting made is one of the most importent times in a wiseguys life, differnet familys do it different ways, heres how some do it



		when the decision is made, somebody close to you tells you. your boss, your pop, whoever. they tell you when to be where. you go to the boss's house. whoever is the big boss in your city. its him, and some other bosses there. the big guys. you go in, and they are sitting on one side of the room. they got a chair for you to sit in and you do. they explain it to you. its an oath for life, and is more sacred than wedding vows. you are making an oath to god, in front of men, and you must uphold it even at risk to your life. they ask can you do this. you tell them yes. the boss gives you a blank piece of paper, and you write down, in sicilian, your oath. your boss or whoever told you that you were being made told you in advance what it is. . then you sign your name, and one of the guys who is watching the door comes over. you hold out your right hand. he cuts across your palm and you place a blood mark on the paper. you wrap your hand up and then they pass the paper around for everyone to see. he gives it back to you, and you burn it, while you recite the oath. then, your made. they congratulate you. hugs all around. drinks are poured. afterwards, there is a party. its a huge event and something that you never forget. its right up there with confirmation and all that. of course its scary. if for some reason, someone doubts you, they kill you right there. its been known to happen. however, once its over, you have security. you know you have a job for life. no layoffs, no downsizing, no economy problems. you dont have to worry about somebody else aiming for you because as soon as the word goes out that your made, you are untouchable except with permission. from that moment on, you are an equal to the other guys. not to your boss, but to the other bosses. you are given something to run, and you get your own crew. life becomes much easier and you can actually relax after that. Many Familys do it with a select few members of the family, including capos, the member who is benig formerly inducted's capo, and any other of his blood relatives who are formal members. The Don says the oath and a few rules, then he asks for the new members trigger finger, the Don slits it and blood is dripped onto a picture of a saint, it is sometimes substituited for a piece of ordinary paper. The picture is then burnt while the new member holds it. It's not like in the movies where the paper burns for about five minutes and the guys hand gets hurt, it usually burns for a few seconds and the guy juggles it in his hand. then the guy is made. In some Familys the same ritual is performed, but with about forty members of the Family present, and the members include soldiers aswell as capos. The ritual is perforem and then all the men hold out all ten fingers. A random number is picked and the fingers starting with the don are counted round the table, when they reach the number the mans hand that they land on will be the new member's mentor and teacher, and sponser. Sometimes a knife and a gun is placed on the table at which they all sit. In 1976 a Los Angeles mobster called Michael Rizzitello was made into an L.A. family. Both the Don and the underboss of the Family were in jail, so acting boss Louis Tom Dragna was in charge. Dragna, consiglieri Frank Bompensiero, Capo Jimmy 'The Weasal' Fratianno and Rizzitello had the cerimony in a smoke filled car on some road in L.A. for a quick induction. Rizzitello said the oath, his finger was pricked and that was that. In the Chicago Outfit, ever since the Mafia hit the city the have inducted there members the same way. The new member is invited to a big Mafiosi dinner where all the main guys are, he is shown around and introduced to the boys, they sit down, eat, talk about things, joke, drink lots of wine and then the guys in. Thats it, nothing special, but you still have too be of Italian heritage. So all the Familys and citys have there own unique ways of doing it. Some are more strict on age, In some Familys a new member can be as young as thirteen, but in some he must be a proven man of at least nineteen.Some Familys are strict on your heritage, some only let full blooded Sicilian/Americans, some let Sicilian and Italian/Americans in, some let you in if your Father is Sicilian/Italian/American but some only let you in if both your Mother and Father are of Italian heritage. You have to be male to join, and in many Familys you have to have killed at least one man for the Family before, but some are less strict and let you in as a potential money maker.