The Playground Mafia

The playground. A place of fun and wonderment. How lovely it is to be on it. The sun in
the sky, the birds in the trees, and the playground; ready to be ambushed by the always energetic
kindergarteners and first graders. Oh how they loved that place. Countless hours could be spent
on it but, when on the playground, time seemed to stand still. Everything seemed as pretty as a
peach at St. John's Elementary School, but things were about to get as ugly as a Chinese
gooseberry. A metaphorical playground storm was brewing, the likes of which St. John's had
never seen before.
There was an evil force always in attendance at recess and lunch that was more powerful
than all the Duracell batteries in the world. His name was Donny Bellucci. "The Don", they
called him. He was the meanest and most brutal second grader at St. John's Elementary. He
would sneak his way into the kindergarten and first grade playground during playtime. There he
was the king, there he was the boss, there he was The Don.
Now this was no ordinary elementary school playground. This place had everything from
hopscotch, four square, and a baseball diamond to swings, slides, and monkey bars as far as the
eye could see. It was the perfect place for a kid to run around and play as they pleased, but The
Don had other plans, for he was the second grader amongst kindergarteners and first graders, a
shark amongst fish. The Don, of course, had his mafia to do his dirty work for him which
included a group of first graders who called themselves "The Enforcers" and a first grader named
Jonathan Levenson, The Don's number two and most trusted advisor. The Don makes the rules
on this playground and the enforcers take care of anyone who doesn't follow them. It's a dog eat
dog world out there and that's just how the cookie crumbles at St. John's.

It was a normal day on the playground at St. John's Elementary School, except it wasn't.
The recess bell had just chimed and all the children rushed out to the playground. A young
Kindergartener named Leopold Peabody was playing on the swings as happy as can be when all
of a sudden, one of the enforcers approached him. "Lookie what we have here" the enforcer said
to one of his comrades. "Looks like we need to take out the trash!" exclaimed the other enforcer
as they both grabbed young Leopold by the shirt and lifted him off the seat of the swing,
laughing as his glasses launched straight off of his face. "No! No! Please not the trash can. It's
lasagna daaaay!" Leopold screamed at the top of his lungs as tears began to drip down his face.
He held onto the rusty metal chains of the swing with all his five year old might, but the
enforcers kept a good grip. Just as Leopold could hear his shirt begin to rip, he heard a voice.
"Hey! What are you doing to that kid?" asked a passing first grader.
"Only first graders are allowed on the swings. Orders of The Don." said the enforcer.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" the first grader challenged.
"Ya know what? I'm gonna let you off easy just this once cause you're new around here
and frankly, neither of yous guys are worth it! Consider this your warning Kinder-FARTener. I don't ever wanna see you on these swings again. Y'understand?" said the enforcer,
gripping Leopold harder and closer to his face. "Yes-s-s-s-s-s" Leopold cried softly, struggling to
get the word out while still heavily weeping. The enforcer walked away frustrated as his comrade
murmured age based insults.
"Hey, are you okay? My name's Stevie. I just moved here from West Virginia. Want be
my friend? Hey, here's your glasses" the first grader greeted Leopold with warmth and comfort.
This was the first time Leopold had ever been talked to this way at school. Stevie helped him up

off the ground and began to brush the dirt off his once perfectly white polo shirt. "Gee thanks.
Sure I'll be your friend" Leopold said as he cleaned off his glasses and put them back on his face,
"It's about time somebody stood up to those enforcers. I think they're a real nuisance". Leopold
started to tell Stevie about all the times he had been picked on for being small. He told him how
it made him feel like a piece of trash, mostly because he would usually end up in the trash can.
Stevie was appalled at how people have been treated during such a fun time of the day.
He wanted to get to the bottom of this and to get to the bottom, he had to go straight to the top.
He had to talk to The Don. "Take me to The Don, Leopold" Stevie commanded. "Oh I don't think
you wanna do that. He's a mean boy and he's a second grader" said Leopold nervously. The last
time Leopold had seen Donny was because he had asked to trade his PB and J for an enforcer's
turkey and Swiss on white, which is one of the biggest offenses someone can commit. Leopold
was not eager to cross paths with The Don again but Stevie was his first and only friend so he
didn't want to jeopardize his chances at a possible friendship. "You know what? Let's go meet
Donny" Leopold uttered reluctantly. He led Stevie all the way up to the top of the play equipment
where The Don sits during recess and lunchtime while Jonathan, his number two, stands guard.
"Fancy seeing you here Peabody. Back for more I presume?" said Jonathan.
"Um, no. My friend here would like to speak to Donny" said Leopold.
"No one speaks to the boss during his chow time" retorted Jonathan.
"No, I need to speak with him. Now!" Stevie demanded.
"Ya know what? Ok. But the boss isn't gonna like this" said Jonathan as he lead Stevie
and Leopold into The Don's private room. As they entered, they felt like they were transported
into a completely different world just by the way the room looked. It was dark and well

decorated with velvet and mahogany as The Don sat and ate in candle light. Jonathan approached
The Don and said "Donny, these boys would like to have a word with you". With mouth full The
Don said "Peabody?!" The Don politely took the corner of his eggshell white cloth napkin off his
lap to dab the corners of his mouth and then spoke. "You come to me on the day of lasagna? Do
you realize how much I already have on my plate, and I ain't talkin' about the lasagna. I got three
second graders who want to get yet another basketball on the playground. I got an enforcer in the
nurse's office with the flu that they're sending home. I got a kindergartener who needs a napkin to
wipe the boogies off his upper lip! I got a kid who came to me asking for a handball court. What
even is handball?! And now you! You come to me on this, the day of lasagna. This is an outrage!
This is what I get for trying to help everyone. Holy crud!" Leopold, Stevie, and Jonathan all
gasped. "Easy Donny" said Jonathan. "Yeah that's right I said it! What could you possibly want
from me" The Don's words hit Stevie harder than a timed multiplication test hits the brain. Stevie
began to speak cautiously "Well your enforcers were being very mean to my friend Leopold".
"Was he on the swings?" asked The Don.
"Well he was just trying to..." Stevie began to say.
"Was he on the swings? Yes or no" The Don interrupted.
"Yes" Stevie admitted.
"Then my enforcers are doing their jobs. You see, only first graders are allowed on the
swings so when Peabody over here decides he wants to go on the swings, my enforcers will take
care of him whether you like it or not. That's just how things work around here. You don't like it?
Go back to West Virginia. Welcome to St. John's, or should I say St. Don's. Now get out!"
Leopold and Stevie left as fast as they could.

It was now minutes before the end of lunchtime so Stevie knew he had to act fast. "We
may not be able to beat him on our own Leopold, but if we get enough people, we may have a
fighting chance. We need a rebellion. Quick, spread the word. We're forming La Resistance
against The Don and we need all the help we can get. Tomorrow at recess we'll challenge Donny
and his enforcers to a good old fashioned game of kickball. Got it?" Leopold was ecstatic about
what he just heard. He said "I only understood about half of the words you just said and I'm
pretty sure I just peed a little out of excitement but I think I know what to do". Leopold gathered
up every non-enforcer first grader to fight with him and Stevie for La Resistance against Donny.
It was only a matter of time before they would face their opponent in The Battle of
Kickballington.
The next day, the recess bell chimed and the mafia was about to get a surprise one could
only compare to the surprise of opening presents from Santa Claus on Christmas Day. Alas, this
was no Christmas surprise, this was war. Stevie gathered up all the members of La Resistance
and marched together on to the play equipment. Stevie shouted as low as his first grade voice
could go "Donny Bellucci, we, members of La Resistance, challenge you and your mafia to a
game of KICKBALL!! And whoever wins will have control over the playground" Cheers were
heard throughout the playground as everyone awaited The Don's response. "We...ACCEPT!!"
Exclaimed The Don as everyone tried to get to good seat to witness the events at The Battle of
Kickballington.
First things first, the two out of three challenge of stone, parchment, and shears to decide
which team gets to kick first. The first round goes to La Resistance because everybody knows
that stone beats shears. Round two goes to The Mafia. It all comes down to this "Stone!

Parchment! Shears!" The Mafia holds parchment and La Resistance is showing stone so The
Mafia kicks first. All spectators sat in suspense as The Don took off all of his precious jewelry,
Ring Pops, candy necklaces, and the like, so that he could go pitch.
Inning after inning went by and now the game was neck and neck. The Mafia will score
three runs and La Resistance will answer right back with three runs of their own. Stevie has
really been the star kicker all game while Leopold sat on the sideline watching because sports
have never really been his strong suit in all his five years on this earth. It all came down to this,
bottom of the eleventh inning, the score was tied thirteen to thirteen and Stevie was up to kick. "I
want it nice and slow" Stevie said to The Don but just like always, The Don makes the rules.
Donny held the bouncy red ball in his hands knowing that he had only one choice if he wanted to
win this game. He took the ball in his right hand, cocked back his shoulder, and overhand threw
the ball as hard as he possibly could straight for Stevie's head. The ball hit Stevie like a bullet
and he went down hard.
"Hey! That's cheating!" shouted Leopold.
"I'm sorry, it slipped. Well, it looks like you guys have to forfeit" said The Don.
"No!...um...I can kick" said Leopold.
"What? You? Kick? Haha. You have to be joking...Well, ok Peabody, show us what ya
got". The Don picked up the ball up off the floor and got ready to pitch his last strike out. He
cocked his shoulder and rolled that ball as fast as he could. Leopold saw the ball coming straight
for him, closed his eyes and swung his leg as hard as he's ever swung anything. Strike. Once
again The Don gets ready to pitch, rolls it fast, Leopold closes his eyes and swings hard. Strike.
One last chance to win it all. Donny cocks, Donny rolls, and Leopold keeps his eyes open, looks

at the ball, looks at The Don, looks at the Mafia, swings his leg with all the strength of all his
built up frustration with all those people he sees before him. Contact. The ball soars faster than
anyone has ever seen before but, as fast as it went, time seemed to move in slow motion.
Everyone watched in anticipation as this kick could be the kick they've all been waiting for. It
traveled at the speed of a bullet until finally it reached its final destination. BAM! It hit Donny
right in the kisser. The crowd was silent. Donny went down and within seconds, he began to cry.
He screamed and cried like an infant. "Hey! You're not tough at all! You're a big baby!" said one
of his enforcers. "Yeah, you're a big old wimp!" said another. "Why did we ever obey you? I
never liked you anyway. Hey Peabody! Thank you for showing us how big of a wimp Donny is.
You're in charge now. What's your first order of business?" asked Jonathan. Leopold thought for
a moment and said "Free lasagna for everyone!"