Appearance: A well-muscled, strong man of 6’3”, although he was known to be more hulking before he contracted the Iron Fever. Handsome enough, with fair complexion, and chiselled features, although his dark-brown hair has thinned and turned to an almost wispy white-blonde ever since his contraction of the Fever.
Name/Nickname: Mikey Giunta / “The Doo-Wop”
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Role: Heavy
Occupation: Ostensibly, a construction worker (in reality, a ‘no-show job’ bequeathed by the Italian Mafia) / Member of the Ironguard
Origin: Manhattan.
Residence: Midtown Manhattan, in a largely reasonably well-off, and predominantly, Italian neighborhood. A nice enough neighborhood, although there’s something almost perfunctory about its mafia presence, both obvious and subtle all at once. Home of fine bakeries, and eateries, and within walking distance of The Padua, a club for the high rollers.
Personality: Mikey Giunta is a man of music, which is to say that he is high-strung and excitable, and effervescent. He is, some would say, a people person, as affable shattering a man’s kneecap as he is wishing them well on their wedding day. Decidedly a social being, Mikey likes -- needs -- to live in the moment, and is all too eager to get caught up in the whims and wishes and battles of his comrades and superiors.
Biography:
Mikey Giunta spent much of his youth captivated by the effervescent playing of Ragdoll and jazz musicians who inhabited The Padua -- the high rollers’ club curated and maintained by Johnny Giunta, father and bonafide made-man. Kept firmly behind the curtains, prying eyes steered away from the scantily-dressed dancers and belligerent drunkards, he came to be rather dignified and well-mannered, as far as gangster-scions went.
Not that it kept him out of the family business, exactly.
Towards the late 40s, the Afro-Cuban sounds took over Manhattan, mambo and doo-wop harmonies taking over the scene. Mikey Giunta was very intimately familiar with the shifting sounds of New York, having served the Family as a ‘plugger’, an enforcer of sorts who maintained their interests in music and the business of show. Scout out impoverished talented (impressionable and prone to lifelong indebtedness) individuals, introduce them (sometimes aggressively) to A&R executives, and carve out chunks of their future profits for the Family. And if a boss or underboss wanted to get their tone-deaf daughter a music deal? Well, a rod of metal to the patellar tendon
tended to cure executives of their ‘artistic sensibilities’.
And all was swell. He lived in the company of made-men, celebrities and the ambiance of fine music. He thought it almost a dream.
The Iron Fever took him, and showed him otherwise. Sickly, prone to fits, and mentally unwell, Mikey Giunta was kept away from his engagements, and barred from even the Padua -- which had been made his responsibility after the passing of his father. Although the Iron Fever’s potency had lessened by the time he had contracted it, he was particularly ill-suited to the condition, and was left bedridden for many months. Bedridden, alone, and without the sound of music to keep him his spirits.
When at least he was well, he was welcomed to the fold, but found that the jobs and duties belonged to others. The Family would always take care of him, but were wary, cordial and not familial. And so he was of sound health, but, perhaps, alone nonetheless.
When the Ironguard came calling, the choice was simple.
Trivia:
- Has an almost infallible memory of song and the myriad performers that he's seen come, go, thrive or fade. Hums "Pistol Packin' Mama" before he really needs to get down and dirty.
- Although a respected member of the Italian Mafia, he was never made like his father had been, as the 'books were closed'.
- A virgin.