THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Emanuele did robberies.  He’d strike on Saturdays – every Saturday.  Always in the same place.  Same time,. same street, same day.  Because Saturday was the day for his victims, the day for lovers.  And Route 87 was where all the lovers in the area went.  A shitty road of patched tar and mini-landfills.  It was here that Emanuele and his two friends hid, waiting for a car to park, for the lights to be switched off. They’d wait a few more minutes – to give them time to get undressed – and then, when the lovers were most vulnerable, they’d strike.  They’d shatter the window with the butt of a pistol and stick the barrel under the man’s nose.  After cleaning out their victims, they’d head off for the weekend with dozens of robberies under their belts and 500 euros in their pockets: meager booty, but it felt like a fortune.

Saviano/Gomorrah