Francis "Franky" Marchetti
Age: 33
Height: 5'11
Weight: 175 Lbs
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Black
Age: 33
Height: 5'11
Weight: 175 Lbs
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Black
Salvatore and Vittoria Marchetti were born and raised in Venice Italy, and were still in their early twenties, making them a very young wed couple. While Vittoria, his mother, who had model good looks, was four months pregnant with Francis, her husband Salvatore decided to move to the land of opportunity away from their relatives in Venice to start a new life, and chase the American dream with his wife and his expected son. When they arrived to Los Santos, illegally after being smuggled on the back of a cargo plane, they had enough money to their name for one month’s rent in a one room apartment in a predominately Italian-American neighborhood on the south side of Los Santos. Salvatore who spoke no English whatsoever, only had a high school diploma, worked several odd-jobs, mostly in construction as a tile setter and even worked as a butcher for a shady mom-and-pop meat market, while Vittoria, who spoke a good amount of English, stayed at home with the other working men’s Italian wives to prepare dinner for her husband after work, expecting to give birth in a few months.
Five months later, on February 15, 1985 Vittoria, who is now nine months pregnant was rushed to the hospital early in the morning by her husband to the emergency room to give birth to Francis. Right as Francis popped out of his mother’s womb, Salvatore exclaimed proudly, “il mio bel ragazzo!” Italian for, “What a handsome boy!” At this time, the married couple was living in a tad bigger apartment, enough room to keep it cozy, but enough room to raise a child in. Salvatore was now working with the neighborhood zips, other Italian immigrants who made money from small time stick ups, car jacking’s, and selling cocaine. He even was making enough money through organized crime, to purchase his beloved, 1964 candy red Chino convertible. Salvatore would play as the voice of reason for the crew, taking charge with no argument, as he’d being the most liked and respected member amongst the men.
Vittoria would stay at home all day in fear, caring for their newborn son Francis, left to wonder where her husband was all day, often times going to bed before he’d come home during early hours of the night, reeking like women’s perfume and booze, and if she was to question him at all, she’d be reminded who pays for the bills, and would also occasionally would be given a black eye, bloody nose or both. Even at three months, Francis had a special bond with his mother, and despite the mistreatment she was given by her husband, she stuck around to care for her son, who she cherished more than anything in the world. If Francis was upset, and cried, he’d always calm down when his mother would softly sing Dormi, Dormi Bel Bambin, an Italian lullaby by Francesco Barbuto with her beautiful voice.
On August 20th, 1985, just a little over six months after Francis’ birth, while Salvatore was cruising around in his freshly washed 1985 Chino convertible, on the way to a black jack game on the other side of town, he’d stop at a red light in heavy traffic where three men would approach him, in what LSPD describes as a “Car-jacking gone wrong”, one man was armed with a handgun, while the other two demanded Salvatore to get out of the car. Instead of obeying them, Salvatore decided to defend his beloved car, and pull out a handgun of his own, immediately shooting one of the unarmed assailants in the chest, but would instantly be met with three bullets, one to the neck and the other two to the temple. The two unharmed assailants would bolt away, ditching their friend, leaving him to bleed out like Salvatore in the street like a dog.
As soon as the news broke out to Vittoria, she’d sob all day, wondering what she was going to do with no job, a new born baby, and rent to pay, all of these burdens left on her plate. While looking through her husband’s belongings, wanting to know answers about what her husband’s career choice really was, she’d discover around $35,000 dollars in cash stored in an empty shoe box collecting dust at the top of their coat closet. Vittoria knew that the cash would last for a while, but also knew she couldn’t rely on thirty five grand to last her and her son more than a few years. So, she soon got a job at an Italian-ran boutique. Not having any relatives in America to leave Francis in their care, she often was left with no choice except to take her son to work with her.
Growing up in a single parent household, Francis became accustomed at a very early to his mother bringing home boyfriends whom she often time used to get them to pay for her bills or car payments, as her job wasn’t cutting it. As early as seven, Francis could almost always be seen playing baseball on the street with other Italian boys, some even twice his age, and he always had a natural talent and love for the game, to this day. By the time middle school rolled around, Francis had started to get fully involved in the social scene, being popular with the ladies for his good looks and charismatic personality, but also would get into lots of fights, his first one being at age twelve, when a white student called him a dirty wop. As punishment from the school, he often would get suspensions then have to go home where he’d get an earful of lectures from his mother, as well as threats of getting the belt, even though Francis knew his mother would never lay a finger on him.
Overall, Francis had a good childhood, and would graduate high school with a 2.0 GPA, and even helped take his high school’s varsity baseball team to the final tournament where he played as a short stop, and ended up bringing home a trophy for the school right before he graduated. Growing up, Francis and his mother didn’t talk much about his Father or his death, but their apartment was filled with pictures of Salvatore, whom Francis looks just alike. Francis knows that his father was involved in organized crime, despite his mother trying to hide it, and convince Francis he was a hard working tile setter. However, Francis was able to put two and two together.
After graduating high school, Francis wasn’t interested in furthering his education, and worked several odd jobs, before being hired as a cashier at Davis Liquors, a liquor and spirit store in South Los Santos, a African American neighborhood, his main goal was to move out of his mother’s apartment as soon as possible. Now that he was working full time and had a stable income, he’d begin to save up money for his own apartment. He’d also begin to develop a substance problem, cocaine and alcohol being his favorite pass time. Francis loves the feeling of a good high, liking the way it takes an edge off him, making him lose any stress he may have. While working the counter, is where he met Luppino Crime Family affiliates Tony Greco and made man Joey Carbone. Now that he’d have some connections in the family, Joey saw some use of Francis, and would connect him with the family as an associate at the age of 20.
