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Chapter 11

Speaking of the twins, Luigi and Guido were growing up fast and soon grasped that the locals exploited them. This was realized soon after the mayor of Pissaccotta, Giuseppe Antonio Osvalido Jr., posted a picture of them dancing in the “Why visit the small towns in Italy” brochure.

The mayor, according to his few enemies, looked like a tomato—very plump and his skin looked ripe. His main interest in being mayor of Pissaccotta is to make sure that all the businesses have taken loans from his bank, insured with his wife’s insurance agency, and purchased their clothing and food from his son’s store, Pissa Good Food and Toppings, his crafty name for all clothing!

So, Luigi and Guido, after finishing their fifth year in high school, decided to leave their small town and travel to America and make a name for themselves. They had had enough of the laughter for little money. They had learned about America from their shared schoolbooks that were written after the war by US military public relations occupation troops.

Luigi and Guido, not knowing all of this, read slowly about the great America; and there was no crime, cheap housing, great food (except for Italian, Japanese, and German). They learned that once you were in America, everything was almost free. With all this twirling around in their minds, there was no doubt that this was where they were going.

First they had to learn English. They planned their trip in three months and went about learning English from their mother, who up to this time was only allowed to speak Italian at home by their father, Emilio. They also spent time with a small group of students from BUNY (Black University of New York), who were there studying the swine trade. Their English lessons were filled with Irish and black slang sayings. Of course, they felt that this was more than they needed to travel to the US. They were comfortable with English basics and ready to travel.

Mary and Emilio were pleased their boys were on a great adventure and, hopefully, would be successful and then send them money. Tterrassa was still living with them and helping in the kitchen. Although she was well aware of the locals’ ridicule, she was not asked to go with them and felt comfortable as long she kept silent.

Luigi and Guido worked extra hours to get enough money for their journey; they even danced in the street for the weekly minibus load of five tourists who paid a lot to see the authentic rural Italy. The tourists loved the dancing and usually tipped well.

They were told by the BUNY bros that they should have an enough to get to America. Asking the bros from BUNY where to go, they were told they would fit right into one of the great neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey, a suburb of New York.

Luigi and Guido, not understanding this, looked at a World War Two water-stained map and found Newark, and it was indeed a suburb of New York City. They also saw that there was a place where ships docked nearby. As religious men, Luigi a Italian Catholic and Guido an Irish Protestant, decided on going to follow the bros’ suggestion and go to the place called New Ark, New Jersey, a suburb of New York.

They trusted the bros since most of them had gold crosses on, along with gold chains. Gold emulates and strange pants that seemed a little short to surround the waist, so short that they had to hold them up with one of their hands since they either could not afford or forgot to put on a belt.

It also sounded like the place would be full of like-minded religious people and it was new.

They were the envy of all in the small Italian village of Pissaccotta. They were the first not to be born in the village and the first to travel more than fifty kilometers. The saying in town was, “Everything we need is here in Pissaccotta!”

Pissaccotta was a small town, barely out of the village stage. One main street that was hard packed dirt with six side streets also packed dirt, along these hard packed streets lived a majority of the population, mostly single story homes with a roof for the chickens and small back yard for the pigs. In the short winter, the pigs stayed inside to avoid gaining to much fat—this limited their sale ability. The town was known for its pork products and pork by-products such as “Pissa Good Soap, “Pissa Good Pigs Ears,” and “Pissa Good Tongue.” Their Pissa Good products were well-known for miles around.

Yet Luigi and Guido felt they had to leave; they were on their way to fame and fortune in America. It certainly seemed like a good idea at that time.

“Go America, you will find your fortunes and wives. Get rich, send money, we come see you!’’ It was a constant conversation at the dinner table with their parents, relatives, and locals.

To prepare for the trip and before three days of hitchhiking to the Port of Naples seventy-five miles away, they did a little research by talking to their parents, relatives, and mainly the good people in the small village of Pissaccotta.

Of course, none had traveled beyond the area, yet in true Italian fashion, all had an opinion.

Their friends from BUNY told them to dress like them to help them fit in better. They, as an act of courtesy, swapped a pair of their pants for a bucket of pork jowls.

When they arrived in Newark, the bros told them to take the number 9G bus from the port and get off at the end for their old neighborhood on Kennington Court and ask for Realitty.

Realitty would help them out for a few days while they found jobs. They said there were a lot of jobs since most people preferred receiving government money rather than work for it. They were now committed to their journey to become rich. All they had to do was find a way to this port the bros spoke of. Since there was only one car and a very used truck in Pissaccotta, they only had one way to get to the Port of Salerno—by thumb.

They never had to hitchhike before, so they asked the bros who told them to look respectable next to the road and let the drivers see that you don’t have any guns or knives.

“Be courteous, and when you got close to where you are going, ask if they have extra money to help with your journey. When you do, glare at them and look drugged out to make sure they would get extra.”

Luigi and Guido, not really understanding this, gave it their best shot with the thumbs out, and after a long journey, they made it to the port. Most of the rides in were the back of pickup trucks on their way to market.

The rides were mostly nice people and truckers. Many knew of their parents and had interesting things to say:

“I heard that they give the best rub jobs of anyone in Italy!”

“I heard that she couldn’t dance a jig if one was standing in front of her!”

“Is it true that the faster she dances, the faster he rubs?”

The twins were totally lost in this conversation, not understanding the humor. They laughed alone with the driver since they felt it was good manners. They tried the bros’ stare method and picked up a little extra money, typically given to them by very nervous drivers.