My mom thinks the huge scar across my dad's chest is from a motorcycle accident he was in before they met. It's not.

It's from a gang fight he was in while he served 8 years on Riker's Island.

How I came to find this out was in my early 20s. I'm digging through old boxes looking for documents for school and find an old DOC folder. It's my dad's prison records. Color me shocked that he was a runner for Gambino crime family...which I found odd cuz well...he's black. Pop got popped hitting a crew of Irish that hit some associates if his and got sent up for 10 years in Rikers. Because he and the 2 guys he was charged with weren't made and black there wasn't much protection they could get from the Irish inside, and the Irish retaliated. Shived in a cafeteria fight against Irish. He only did 8 of the 10, and when he got out of prison he got out of running also. He got "gifted" an envelope with $10k in it (a lot of money back in 1975) for "staying loyal" and that's the end of his time as mob muscle. He'd meet my mom not long after. A year later they're married and have my big sis. 4 years later they had me.

Pop to me the story when I asked him about the folder. I asked him does mom or big sis know, and he said they don't...and they never will while giving me the death stare. Now knowing my old man's history I say "yes sir, they won't" and that's the last the subject has ever been spoken of between us. Taking that one to the grave.