Carlito Brigante Carlito Brigante Carlito Brigante is an eponymous character and the antihero of "Carlito's Way" and "After Hours", novels by Edwin Torres. Torres has stated that Brigante was a combination of several men he knew in his street days, as well as a compilation of several of his own personal characteristics. Born in 1930 in Spanish Harlem, his parents were Puerto Ricans with his father being of Corsican ancestry. His father abandoned his family and returned to Puerto Rico while his mother, a fervent Pentecostal convert, died during Carlito's early teenage years. Carlito starts out as a small-time thief, eventually working
Carlito's Way with a hot-headed young gangster from the Bronx named Benny Blanco. Carlito also rekindles his romance with his former girlfriend Gail (who calls him “Charlie”), a ballet dancer who moonlights as a stripper. Kleinfeld develops a love interest with Benny's girlfriend, Steffie, a waitress at the club. Benny's frustration with Carlito's constant rejections boils over and he confronts Carlito one night at his table. Carlito publicly humiliates Benny, who reacts by manhandling Steffie. Fueled by his now-extensive use of alcohol and cocaine, Kleinfeld brazenly pulls out a gun and threatens to kill Benny, but Carlito intervenes. Despite being personally threatened