2013-10-05

Giovanni had reached a point of audacious desperation. He didn’t merely want his latest effort to succeed, he needed successful results. Failure could, quite literately, mean the end of him. Saying he was willing to try anything wasn’t sufficient—he was willing to try everything.
His venture as a farm worker was short lived. How was he supposed to know which fields the livestock were and were not allowed to graze in?
Giovanni’s attempt at construction faired little better. Did it really matter if he used the metric or standard side of the tape measure?
When he had tried to integrate himself into the ‘white collar’ world, the results weren’t much different. He understood the IRS, but he couldn’t understand why the bank manager seemed so upset about Giovanni’s actions having ‘possible repercussions with both the FTC and SEC.’
He didn’t even want to think about what happened to that poor model in his one and only attempt being a photographer. He wondered how well those skin grafts had worked out.
This time, he knew it would be different. Of all the things he had tried in his life, nothing had excited him, nor engaged him, as much as the culinary arts, and more specifically baking. He truly felt this was his calling.
Having recently acquired his grandmothers collection of recipes, he improved and honed them to a razor’s edge. Giovanni had been especially proud of his latest creation. He had taken his nona’s classic amaretti cookies and, in his opinion, greatly improved upon them. He had even found a business partner willing to help him market them. Even this morning he had made a last minute adjustment, deciding to make as much as he could from scratch.

It was until several days later, alerted by complaints of the smell by neighbors, that the bodies of Giovanni and his partner were found. According to the autopsy, the amaretti the men had ingested had cyanide levels high enough to kill a bull elephant. Further investigation revealed the source to be a failed attempt at creating homemade almond extract.