“Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.” It’s how they rope you in with this business. You’re never out unless you’re pushing daisies from six feet under ground. They’re afraid you would snitch to the cops because you no longer are involved. Snitches get stitches is how they say.
Born May 29, 1967 to Calogero and Annalisa Cavataio, Lincoln Aldo Cavataio was born into a legacy of mayhem, murder and money. Your typical boy, Lincoln was rough and tough. He enjoyed sports, being outside, getting dirty and bullying the neighborhood kids. His father quickly saw in him the potential to be a strong force to be reckoned with, for even at the young age of nine, Lincoln had an aggressive side that they couldn’t tame. His bullying and sharp tongue got him kicked out of public schools, forcing his parents to send him away to a military school. Coincidentally, this is what Calogero had wanted in a son.
When Lincoln was ten years old, he became a grande fratello, a big brother. He wasn’t home at the time and really didn’t care that a crying, messy baby was home. That Christmas, when he came home for the holidays he laid eyes for the first time on the little pudgy brat, Nicolaus Calogero Cavataio. The baby had the attention of every woman in the room, something Lincoln would always remember and tease Nic about later. Over the next five years, until Lincoln was fifteen, he would not know his brother that well. Only in summer outings did they spend time as a family, up in the woods of Geneva, New York, where his maternal grandfather, Papa Joe lived. That summer however was different for everyone. His mother Annalisa had suffered a nervous breakdown and needed help with the five year old little boy. A few nannies were hired but Calogero decided that his second son needed a strong, masculine influence, and since he was out doing work abroad most of the time, he pulled Lincoln out of the military school and allowed him back in public schools. One condition though, he needed to watch his little baby brother, and rough him up a bit.
Loyalty didn’t just run within the business for Linc, taking in his brother taught him about family. He saw himself being the mature father figure in the little tyke’s life and hoping to do a better job than their own father could. Linc taught him how to defend himself physically and allowed him to live in the moment of being a kid. There was no molding for his brother, no training to take place inside the world Linc had wanted. No one planned that one day the two combined would be well known, respected and feared. Not even Lincoln himself. It’s a game of chess and Cole is in the shadows planning their next move, strategizing while Lincoln was moving the pawns.
For ten years he was bred and shaped to be the next capo, to take the reigns when his father was good and ready to retire – or die. A decade is a long time to mold and shape, and a monster he was hoping to create and a monster Lincoln became. Stoic and cold; strong and callous. Calogero was successful, or so he thought. Little did he realize the brute he reared was also just a tad smarter than he had known? Sure, you needed more than half a brain to be in this life of crime, but loyalty and discipline were attributes considered far more important.
By the age of sixteen Lincoln watched his families get torn apart by the single hand of the devil himself. He’s witnessed a few close relatives shed blood just to keep other men collecting money for their fat wallets. He wasn’t raised outside the business; Linc was raised within it so that he was bred to be the next maker. He watched his father climb the ladder then fall off, only for the next in line to continue up the pole. The next in line was himself. All his life he craved the power, demanded the respect and chased after the goal of reaching top seniority.
At eighteen years of age Linc had packed his belongings and headed out on his own, renting space at a small apartment to step away from the light shining on his father. Being a delivery boy for a small pizzeria gave Linc all the chances possible to build up his own connections. You'd be surprised what could fit into a pizza box. Making money on a check as well as some on the side. No one knew about the money that rolled in for him but no one needed to know. Just like everyone else inside the families he had to start from the bottom and work his way up.
Once the passing of his father; Linc’s biggest job was to keep Cole out of the light, keep him behind the scenes and away from any business possible. Wasn’t too hard to do either, a few trips to rehab and a bill that says the guy is incapable to finish out is all he needed. Linc wasn’t jealous either. Everything wasn’t just about the money for Linc. It wasn’t always just the money. The name Cavataio came with grief, blood, paranoia, and greed. It weighs heavy on those who can’t succeed inside this families well oiled finery. Calogero prepped Linc to carry such a profound name upon broad shoulders and polished shoes. If he were alive today he may be proud to know that Lincoln has reached his goal, even if it wasn’t done exactly how his father would have wanted him too. In the eyes of their father, he had hoped that he bred both sons to carry on and stand tall side by side however Linc was only looking out for himself. No competition for this man. No sharing his pride and glory. Not everything in Linc’s life is based on the family name; he prides himself of his family and his hard work to keep them together. He's the consummate alpha male: driven, competitive, willing to die for success or victory.
Linc has been in the business so long he wouldn’t get the chance to leave, to walk away and start a new life outside of this business. He’s so far deep but one thing is for sure, it ends with him. No heir to carry on the name and that’s just how Lincoln planned it. The Cavataio legacy ends here.
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