The Mississippi Gulf Coast Mafia

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      My Father was tasked with collecting money from various bars, nightclubs, and other establishments which offered gambling in Southern Mississippi. He worked as a soldier directly under his Uncle.  His duties included messengero, bodyguard, and collector, basically a strong arm. He was not fully Italian for his Mother was from France but due to his character, integrity, and family connections he was trusted with handling large sums of Mr. Marcellos cash.  

     My Father would go to his Uncle's  house every Saturday morning for briefings, during which he would be briefed on family business in a stern manner, (My uncle mostly yelling and complaining), after which he would start his weekly trek to collect money from various bars, restaurants,and nightclubs such as Bennie French's, Labat's, Mallinis, and the Fox's Den in Pass Christian. Some of the clubs along RR Street in Long Beach were small clubs which had slots, pinball, and video games like centipede, frogger, and Pac-Man. In Gulfport on 28th Street the clubs were larger and more modernized than the ones in Long Beach. In Biloxi, many of the clubs were first class establishments which served seafood, steak, and margaritas. Most of the clubs were on highway 90, clubs like The Gringo Room, The Silver Slipper, and The Horseshoe room, restaurants such as  The Friendship House, The Fiesta Club, and The Sea N' Sirloin Restaurant and motels such as The Cabana Beach motel which had slot machines in the lobby. All of these businesses were in Dixie Mafia territory but the machines were owned by Mr.Marcello.   

     My Family's sphere of influence was centered mainly on the 26 mile strip bordering the Gulf of Mexico. We rarely ventured to towns to the north such as Saucier, Lumberton, and Lucedale as these were purely Dixie Mafia controlled areas where Marcellos and his men had no business as these areas were strictly controlled by Dixie Mafia elements and Italians would stand out like a sore thumb. One of the locations he would collect from was The Fox's Den, a popular hangout for certain Dixie Mafia types at the corner of Menge Avenue and 2nd street. It was owned by Mr. Rogers, a Dixie Mafia figure who ran gambling, alcohol, and prostitution operations at this location and another location on the beach in Long Beach in a metal building which served as a bar. My Father would stop by to collect money from Mr. Rogers‎ on a weekly basis. His son, Ernesto, was one of the six children that I was allowed to associate with, all of them having parents who were associates of my Father.  When he would finish his business at The Foxs Den we would go to a small nightclub off of Railroad Street in long beach where I would play the game centipede while smoking a cigarette. I was allowed to play slot machines, roullette wheels, and card games for money as a child. My father discouraged me from playing arcade games such as this due to the fact that "you get nothing back for your quarter, at least with a slot machine you get a return." 

     We would then head on to a small bar on Jeff Davis street in Long Beach, and then on to other establishments along RR street and Hwy 90 in Biloxi, places like the Red Carpet, The Gringo Room, and The Silver Slipper, eventually ending up at a large 2-story casino on back bay in Biloxi, which was guarded by 4 giant doberman pinchers. By the time that we made it back to Pass Christian my father would always have a big bag of cash that he would deliver to a man at "The Casino". It is no surprise that he was always armed as he carried thousands in a paper bag. He carried a pair of brass knuckles and a pistol everywhere that he went and was usually calm and collected, he was after-all a veteran of The Battle of Okinawa where he had seen combat on a scale that most of us could never comprehend.