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the godfather by mario puzo courtesy shahid riaz islamabad pakistan shahid.riaz@gmail.com

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the godfather by mario puzo 2 book one chapter 1 behind every great fortune there is a crime ­ balzac amerigo bonasera sat in new york criminal court number 3 and waited for justice vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter who had tried to dishonor her the judge a formidably heavy-featured man rolled up the sleeves of his black robe as if to physically chastise the two young men standing before the bench his face was cold with majestic contempt but there was something false in all this that amerigo bonasera sensed but did not yet understand you acted like the worst kind of degenerates the judge said harshly yes yes thought amerigo bonasera animals animals the two young men glossy hair crew cut scrubbed clean-cut faces composed into humble contrition bowed their heads in submission the judge went on you acted like wild beasts in a jungle and you are fortunate you did not sexually molest that poor girl or i d put you behind bars for twenty years the judge paused his eyes beneath impressively thick brows flickered slyly toward the sallow-faced amerigo bonasera then lowered to a stack of probation reports before him he frowned and shrugged as if convinced against his own natural desire he spoke again but because of your youth your clean records because of your fine families and because the law in its majesty does not seek vengeance i hereby sentence you to three years confinement to the penitentiary sentence to be suspended only forty years of professional mourning kept the overwhelming frustration and hatred from showing on amerigo bonasera s face his beautiful young daughter was still in the hospital with her broken jaw wired together and now these two animales went free it had all been a farce he watched the happy parents cluster around their darling sons oh they were all happy now they were smiling now the black bile sourly bitter rose in bonasera s throat overflowed through tightly clenched teeth he used his white linen pocket handkerchief and held it against his lips he was standing so when the two young men strode freely up the aisle confident and cool-eyed smiling not giving him so much as a glance he let them pass without saying

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the godfather by mario puzo 3 a word pressing the fresh linen against his mouth the parents of the animales were coming by now two men and two women his age but more american in their dress they glanced at him shamefaced yet in their eyes was an odd triumphant defiance out of control bonasera leaned forward toward the aisle and shouted hoarsely you will weep as i have wept­ i will make you weep as your children make me weep ­ the linen at his eyes now the defense attorneys bringing up the rear swept their clients forward in a tight little band enveloping the two young men who had started back down the aisle as if to protect their parents a huge bailiff moved quickly to block the row in which bonasera stood but it was not necessary all his years in america amerigo bonasera had trusted in law and order and he had prospered thereby now though his brain smoked with hatred though wild visions of buying a gun and killing the two young men jangled the very bones of his skull bonasera turned to his still uncomprehending wife and explained to her they have made fools of us he paused and then made his decision no longer fearing the cost for justice we must go on our knees to don corleone in a garishly decorated los angeles hotel suite johnny fontane was as jealously drunk as any ordinary husband sprawled on a red couch he drank straight from the bottle of scotch in his hand then washed the taste away by dunking his mouth in a crystal bucket of ice cubes and water it was four in the morning and he was spinning drunken fantasies of murdering his trampy wife when she got home if she ever did come home it was too late to call his first wife and ask about the kids and he felt funny about calling any of his friends now that his career was plunging downhill there had been a time when they would have been delighted flattered by his calling them at four in the morning but now he bored them he could even smile a little to himself as he thought that on the way up johnny fontane s troubles had fascinated some of the greatest female stars in america gulping at his bottle of scotch he heard finally his wife s key in the door but he kept drinking until she walked into the room and stood before him she was to him so very beautiful the angelic face soulful violet eyes the delicately fragile but perfectly formed body on the screen her beauty was magnified spiritualized a hundred million men all over the world were in love with the face of margot ashton and paid to see it on the

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the godfather by mario puzo 4 screen where the hell were you johnny fontane asked out fucking she said she had misjudged his drunkenness he sprang over the cocktail table and grabbed her by the throat but close up to that magical face the lovely violet eyes he lost his anger and became helpless again she made the mistake of smiling mockingly saw his fist draw back she screamed johnny not in the face i m making a picture she was laughing he punched her in the stomach and she fell to the floor he fell on top of her he could smell her fragrant breath as she gasped for air he punched her on the arms and on the thigh muscles of her silky tanned legs he beat her as he had beaten snotty smaller kids long ago when he had been a tough teenager in new york s hell s kitchen a painful punishment that would leave no lasting disfigurement of loosened teeth or broken nose but he was not hitting her hard enough he couldn t and she was giggling at him spread-eagled on the floor her brocaded gown hitched up above her thighs she taunted him between giggles come on stick it in stick it in johnny that s what you really want johnny fontane got up he hated the woman on the floor but her beauty was a magic shield margot rolled away and in a dancer s spring was on her feet facing him she went into a childish mocking dance and chanted johnny never hurt me johnny never hurt me then almost sadly with grave beauty she said you poor silly bastard giving me cramps like a kid ah johnny you always will be a dumb romantic guinea you even make love like a kid you still think screwing is really like those dopey songs you used to sing she shook her head and said poor johnny goodbye johnny she walked into the bedroom and he heard her turn the key in the lock johnny sat on the floor with his face in his hands the sick humiliating despair overwhelmed him and then the gutter toughness that had helped him survive the jungle of hollywood made him pick up the phone and call for a car to take him to the airport there was one person who could save him he would go back to new york he would go back to the one man with the power the wisdom he needed and a love he still trusted his godfather corleone

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the godfather by mario puzo 5 the baker nazorine pudgy and crusty as his great italian loaves still dusty with flour scowled at his wife his nubile daughter katherine and his baker s helper enzo enzo had changed into his prisoner-of-war uniform with its green-lettered armband and was terrified that this scene would make him late reporting back to governor s island one of the many thousands of italian army prisoners paroled daily to work in the american economy he lived in constant fear of that parole being revoked and so the little comedy being played now was for him a serious business nazorine asked fiercely have you dishonored my family have you given my daughter a little package to remember you by now that the war is over and you know america will kick your ass back to your village full of shit in sicily enzo a very short strongly built boy put his hand over his heart and said almost in tears yet cleverly padrone i swear by the holy virgin i have never taken advantage of your kindness i love your daughter with all respect i ask for her hand with all respect i know i have no right but if they send me back to italy i can never come back to america i will never be able to marry katherine nazorine s wife filomena spoke to the point stop all this foolishness she said to her pudgy husband you know what you must do keep enzo here send him to hide with our cousins in long island katherine was weeping she was already plump homely and sprouting a faint moustache she would never get a husband as handsome as enzo never find another man who touched her body in secret places with such respectful love i ll go and live in italy she screamed at her father i ll run away if you don t keep enzo here nazorine glanced at her shrewdly she was a hot number this daughter of his he had seen her brush her swelling buttocks against enzo s front when the baker s helper squeezed behind her to fill the counter baskets with hot loaves from the oven the young rascal s hot loaf would be in her oven nazorine thought lewdly if proper steps were not taken enzo must be kept in america and be made an american citizen and there was only one man who could arrange such an affair the godfather don corleone all of these people and many others received engraved invitations to the wedding of miss constanzia corleone to be celebrated on the last saturday in august 1945 the father of the bride don vito corleone never forgot his old friends and neighbors though

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the godfather by mario puzo 6 he himself now lived in a huge house on long island the reception would be held in that house and the festivities would go on all day there was no doubt it would be a momentous occasion the war with the japanese had just ended so there would not be any nagging fear for their sons fighting in the army to cloud these festivities a wedding was just what people needed to show their joy and so on that saturday morning the friends of don corleone streamed out of new york city to do him honor they bore cream-colored envelopes stuffed with cash as bridal gifts no checks inside each envelope a card established the identity of the giver and the measure of his respect for the godfather a respect truly earned don vito corleone was a man to whom everybody came for help and never were they disappointed he made no empty promises nor the craven excuse that his hands were tied by more powerful forces in the world than himself it was not necessary that he be your friend it was not even important that you had no means with which to repay him only one thing was required that you you yourself proclaim your friendship and then no matter how poor or powerless the supplicant don corleone would take that man s troubles to his heart and he would let nothing stand in the way to a solution of that man s woe his reward friendship the respectful title of don and sometimes the more affectionate salutation of godfather and perhaps to show respect only never for profit some humble gift­ a gallon of homemade wine or a basket of peppered taralles­ specially baked to grace his christmas table it was understood it was mere good manners to proclaim that you were in his debt and that he had the right to call upon you at any time to redeem your debt by some small service now on this great day his daughter s wedding day don vito corleone stood in the doorway of his long beach home to greet his guests all of them known all of them trusted many of them owed their good fortune in life to the don and on this intimate occasion felt free to call him godfather to his face even the people performing festal services were his friends the bartender was an old comrade whose gift was all the wedding liquors and his own expert skills the waiters were the friends of don corleone s sons the food on the garden picnic tables had been cooked by the don s wife and her friends and the gaily festooned one-acre garden itself had been decorated by the young girl­chums of the bride don corleone received everyone­ rich and poor powerful and humble­ with an equal show of love he slighted no one that was his character and the guests so exclaimed at how well he looked in his tux that an inexperienced observer might easily have

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the godfather by mario puzo 7 thought the don himself was the lucky groom standing at the door with him were two of his three sons the eldest baptized santino but called sonny by everyone except his father was looked at askance by the older italian men with admiration by the younger sonny corleone was tall for a first-generation american of italian parentage almost six feet and his crop of bushy curly hair made him look even taller his face was that of a gross cupid the features even but the bow-shaped lips thickly sensual the dimpled cleft chin in some curious way obscene he was built as powerfully as a bull and it was common knowledge that he was so generously endowed by nature that his martyred wife feared the marriage bed as unbelievers once feared the rack it was whispered that when as a youth he had visited houses of ill fame even the most hardened and fearless putain after an awed inspection of his massive organ demanded double price here at the wedding feast some young matrons wide-hipped wide-mouthed measured sonny corleone with coolly confident eyes but on this particular day they were wasting their time sonny corleone despite the presence of his wife and three small children had plans for his sister s maid of honor lucy mancini this young girl fully aware sat at a garden table in her pink formal gown a tiara of flowers in her glossy black hair she had flirted with sonny in the past week of rehearsals and squeezed his hand that morning at the altar a maiden could do no more she did not care that he would never be the great man his father had proved to be sonny corleone had strength he had courage he was generous and his heart was admitted to be as big as his organ yet he did not have his father s humility but instead a quick hot temper that led him into errors of judgment though he was a great help in his father s business there were many who doubted that he would become the heir to it the second son frederico called fred or fredo,was a child every italian prayed to the saints for dutiful loyal always at the service of his father living with his parents at age thirty he was short and burly not handsome but with the same cupid head of the family the curly helmet of hair over the round face and sensual bow-shaped lips only in fred these lips were not sensual but granitelike inclined to dourness he was still a crutch to his father never disputed him never embarrassed him by scandalous behavior with women despite all these virtues he did not have that personal magnetism that animal force so necessary for a leader of men and he too was not expected to inherit the family business.

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the godfather by mario puzo 8 the third son michael corleone did not stand with his father and his two brothers but sat at a table in the most secluded corner of the garden but even there he could not escape the attentions of the family friends michael corleone was the youngest son of the don and the only child who had refused the great man s direction he did not have the heavy cupid-shaped face of the other children and his jet black hair was straight rather than curly his skin was a clear olive-brown that would have been called beautiful in a girl he was handsome in a delicate way indeed there had been a time whey the don had worried about his youngest son s masculinity a worry that was put to rest when michael corleone became seventeen years old now this youngest son sat at a table in the extreme corner of the garden to proclaim his chosen alienation from father and family beside him sat the american girl everyone had heard about but whom no one had seen until this day he had of course shown the proper respect and introduced her to everyone at the wedding including his family they were not impressed with her she was too thin she was too fair her face was too sharply intelligent for a woman her manner too free for a maiden her name too was outlandish to their ears she called herself kay adams if she had told them that her family had settled in america two hundred years ago and her name was a common one they would have shrugged every guest noticed that the don paid no particular attention to this third son michael had been his favorite before the war and obviously the chosen heir to run the family business when the proper moment came he had all the quiet force and intelligence of his great father the born instinct to act in such a way that men had no recourse but to respect him but when world war ii broke out michael corleone volunteered for the marine corps he defied his father s express command when he did so don corleone had no desire no intention of letting his youngest son be killed in the service of a power foreign to himself doctors had been bribed secret arrangements had been made a great deal of money had been spent to take the proper precautions but michael was twenty-one years of age and nothing could be done against his own willfulness he enlisted and fought over the pacific ocean he became a captain and won medals in 1944 his picture was printed in life magazine with a photo layout of his deeds a friend had shown don corleone the magazine his family did not dare and the don had grunted disdainfully and said he performs those miracles for strangers

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the godfather by mario puzo 9 when michael corleone was discharged early in 1945 to recover from a disabling wound he had no idea that his father had arranged his release he stayed home for a few weeks then without consulting anyone entered dartmouth college in hanover new hampshire and so he left his father s house to return for the wedding of his sister and to show his own future wife to them the washed-out rag of an american girl michael corleone was amusing kay adams by telling her little stories about some of the more colorful wedding guests he was in turn amused by her finding these people exotic and as always charmed by her intense interest in anything new and foreign to her experience finally her attention was caught by a small group of men gathered around a wooden barrel of homemade wine the men were amerigo bonasera nazorine the baker anthony coppola and luca brasi with her usual alert intelligence she remarked on the fact that these four men did not seem particularly happy michael smiled no they re not he said they re waiting to see my father in private they have favors to ask and indeed it was easy to see that all four men constantly followed the don with their eyes as don corleone stood greeting guests a black chevrolet sedan came to a stop on the far side of the paved mall two men in the front seat pulled notebooks from their jackets and with no attempt at concealment jotted down license numbers of the other cars parked around the mall sonny turned to his father and said those guys over there must be cops don corleone shrugged i don t own the street they can do what they please sonny s heavy cupid face grew red with anger those lousy bastards they don t respect anything he left the steps of the house and walked across the mall to where the black sedan was parked he thrust his face angrily close to the face of the driver who did not flinch but flapped open his wallet to show a green identification card sonny stepped back without saying a word he spat so that the spittle hit the back door of the sedan and walked away he was hoping the driver would get out of the sedan and come after him on the mall but nothing happened when he reached the steps he said to his father those guys are fbi men they re taking down all the license numbers snotty bastards don corleone knew who they were his closest and most intimate friends had been advised to attend the wedding in automobiles not their own and though he disapproved of his son s foolish display of anger the tantrum served a purpose it would convince the

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the godfather by mario puzo 10 interlopers that their presence was unexpected and unprepared for so don corleone himself was not angry he had long ago learned that society imposes insults that must be borne comforted by the knowledge that in this world there comes a time when the most humble of men if he keeps his eyes open can take his revenge on the most powerful it was this knowledge that prevented the don from losing the humility all his friends admired in him but now in the garden behind the house a four-piece band began to play all the guests had arrived don corleone put the intruders out of his mind and led his two sons to the wedding feast there were now hundreds of guests in the huge garden some dancing on the wooden platform bedecked with flowers others sitting at long tables piled high with spicy food and gallon jugs of black homemade wine the bride connie corleone sat in splendor at a special raised table with her groom the maid of honor bridesmaids and ushers it was a rustic setting in the old italian style not to the bride s taste but connie had consented to a guinea wedding to please her father because she had so displeased him in her choice of a husband the groom carlo rizzi was a half-breed born of a sicilian father and the north italian mother from whom he had inherited his blond hair and blue eyes his parents lived in nevada and carlo had left that state because of a little trouble with the law in new york he met sonny corleone and so met the sister don corleone of course sent trusted friends to nevada and they reported that carlo s police trouble was a youthful indiscretion with a gun not serious that could easily be wiped off the books to leave the youth with a clean record they also came back with detailed information on legal gambling in nevada which greatly interested the don and which he had been pondering over since it was part of the don s greatness that he profited from everything connie corleone was a not quite pretty girl thin and nervous and certain to become shrewish later in life but today transformed by her white bridal gown and eager virginity she was so radiant as to be almost beautiful beneath the wooden table her hand rested on the muscular thigh of her groom her cupid-bow mouth pouted to give him an airy kiss she thought him incredibly handsome carlo rizzi had worked in the open desert air while very young­ heavy laborer s work now he had tremendous forearms and his

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the godfather by mario puzo 11 shoulders bulged the jacket of his tux he basked in the adoring eyes of his bride and filled her glass with wine he was elaborately courteous to her as if they were both actors in a play but his eyes kept flickering toward the huge silk purse the bride wore on her right shoulder and which was now stuffed full of money envelopes how much did it hold ten thousand twenty thousand carlo rizzi smiled it was only the beginning he had after all married into a royal family they would have to take care of him in the crowd of guests a dapper young man with the sleek head of a ferret was also studying the silk purse from sheer habit paulie gatto wondered just how he could go about hijacking that fat pocketbook the idea amused him but he knew it was idle innocent dreaming as small children dream of knocking out tanks with popguns he watched his boss fat middle-aged peter clemenza whirling young girls around the wooden dance floor in a rustic and lusty tarantella clemenza immensely tall immensely huge danced with such skill and abandon his hard belly lecherously bumping the breasts of younger tinier women that all the guests were applauding him older women grabbed his arm to become his next partner the younger men respectfully cleared off the floor and clapped their hands in time to the mandolin s wild strumming when clemenza finally collapsed in a chair paulie gatto brought him a glass of icy black wine and wiped the perspiring jovelike brow with his silk handkerchief clemenza was blowing like a whale as he gulped down the wine but instead of thanking paulie he said curtly never mind being a dance judge do your job take a walk around the neighborhood and see everything is ok paulie slid away into the crowd the band took a refreshment break a young man named nino valenti picked up a discarded mandolin put his left foot up on a chair and began to sing a coarse sicilian love song nino valenti s face was handsome though bloated by continual drinking and he was already a little drunk he rolled his eyes as his tongue caressed the obscene lyrics the women shrieked with glee and the men shouted the last word of each stanza with the singer don corleone notoriously straitlaced in such matters though his stout wife was screaming joyfully with the others disappeared tactfully into the house seeing this sonny corleone made his way to the bride s table and sat down beside young lucy mancini the maid of honor they were safe his wife was in the kitchen putting the last touches on the serving of the wedding cake sonny whispered a few words in the young girl s ear and she rose sonny waited a few minutes and then casually followed her,

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the godfather by mario puzo 12 stopping to talk with a guest here and there as he worked his way through the crowd all eyes followed them the maid of honor thoroughly americanized by three years of college was a ripe girl who already had a reputation all through the marriage rehearsals she had flirted with sonny corleone in a teasing joking way she thought was permitted because he was the best man and her wedding partner now holding her pink gown up off the ground lucy mancini went into the house smiling with false innocence ran lightly up the stairs to the bathroom she stayed there for a few moments when she came out sonny corleone was on the landing above beckoning her upward from behind the closed window of don corleone s office a slightly raised corner room thomas hagen watched the wedding party in the festooned garden the walls behind him were stacked with law books hagen was the don s lawyer and acting consigliere or counselor and as such held the most vital subordinate position in the family business he and the don had solved many a knotty problem in this room and so when he saw the godfather leave the festivities and enter the house he knew wedding or no there would be a little work this day the don would be coming to see him then hagen saw sonny corleone whisper in lucy mancini s ear and their little comedy as he followed her into the house hagen grimaced debated whether to inform the don and decided against it he went to the desk and picked up a handwritten list of the people who had been granted permission to see don corleone privately when the don entered the room hagen handed him the list don corleone nodded and said leave bonasera to the end hagen used the french doors and went directly out into the garden to where the supplicants clustered around the barrel of wine he pointed to the baker the pudgy nazorine don corleone greeted the baker with an embrace they had played together as children in italy and had grown up in friendship every easter freshly baked clotted-cheese and wheat-germ pies their crusts yolk-gold big around as truck wheels arrived at don corleone s home on christmas on family birthdays rich creamy pastries proclaimed the nazorines respect and all through the years lean and fat nazorine cheerfully paid his dues to the bakery union organized by the don in his salad days never asking for a favor in return except for the chance to buy black-market opa sugar coupons during the war now the time had come for the baker to claim his rights as a loyal friend and don corleone looked forward with great pleasure to granting his request.

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the godfather by mario puzo 13 he gave the baker a di nobili cigar and a glass of yellow strega and put his hand on the man s shoulder to urge him on that was the mark of the don s humanity he knew from bitter experience what courage it took to ask a favor from a fellow man the baker told the story of his daughter and enzo a fine italian lad from sicily captured by the american army sent to the united states as a prisoner of war given parole to help our war effort a pure and honorable love had sprung up between honest enzo and his sheltered katherine but now that the war was ended the poor lad would be repatriated to italy and nazorine s daughter would surely die of a broken heart only godfather corleone could help this afflicted couple he was their last hope the don walked nazorine up and down the room his hand on the baker s shoulder his head nodding with understanding to keep up the man s courage when the baker had finished don corleone smiled at him and said my dear friend put all your worries aside he went on to explain very carefully what must be done the congressman of the district must be petitioned the congressman would propose a special bill that would allow enzo to become a citizen the bill would surely pass congress a privilege all those rascals extended to each other don corleone explained that this would cost money the going price was now two thousand dollars he don corleone would guarantee performance and accept payment did his friend agree the baker nodded his head vigorously he did not expect such a great favor for nothing that was understood a special act of congress does not come cheap nazorine was almost tearful in his thanks don corleone walked him to the door assuring him that competent people would be sent to the bakery to arrange all details complete all necessary documents the baker embraced him before disappearing into the garden hagen smiled at the don that s a good investment for nazorine a son-in-law and a cheap lifetime helper in his bakery all for two thousand dollars he paused who do i give this job to don corleone frowned in thought not to our paisan give it to the jew in the next district have the home addresses changed i think there might be many such cases now the war is over we should have extra people in washington that can handle the overflow and not raise the price hagen made a note on his pad not congressman luteco try fischer the next man hagen brought in was a very simple case his name was anthony coppola and he was the son of a man don corleone had worked with in the railroad

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the godfather by mario puzo 14 yards in his youth coppola needed five hundred dollars to open a pizzeria for a deposit on fixtures and the special oven for reasons not gone into credit was not available the don reached into his pocket and took out a roll of bills it was not quite enough he grimaced and said to tom hagen loan me a hundred dollars i ll pay you back monday when i go to the bank the supplicant protested that four hundred dollars would be ample but don corleone patted his shoulder saying apologetically this fancy wedding left me a little short of cash he took the money hagen extended to him and gave it to anthony coppola with his own roll of bills hagen watched with quiet admiration the don always taught that when a man was generous he must show the generosity as personal how flattering to anthony coppola that a man like the don would borrow to loan him money not that coppola did not know that the don was a millionaire but how many millionaires let themselves be put to even a small inconvenience by a poor friend the don raised his head inquiringly hagen said he s not on the list but luca brasi wants to see you he understands it can t be public but he wants to congratulate you in person for the first time the don seemed displeased the answer was devious is it necessary he asked hagen shrugged you understand him better than i do but he was very grateful that you invited him to the wedding he never expected that i think he wants to show his gratitude don corleone nodded and gestured that luca brasi should be brought to him in the garden kay adams was struck by the violet fury imprinted on the face of luca brasi she asked about him michael had brought kay to the wedding so that she would slowly and perhaps without too much of a shock absorb the truth about his father but so far she seemed to regard the don as a slightly unethical businessman michael decided to tell her part of the truth indirectly he explained that luca brasi was one of the most feared men in the eastern underworld his great talent it was said was that he could do a job of murder all by himself without confederates which automatically made discovery and conviction by the law almost impossible michael grimaced and said i don t know whether all that stuff is true i do know he is sort of a friend to my father for the first time kay began to understand she asked a little incredulously you re not hinting that a man like that works for your father

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the godfather by mario puzo 15 the hell with it he thought he said straight out nearly fifteen years ago some people wanted to take over my father s oil importing business they tried to kill him and nearly did luca brasi went after them the story is that he killed six men in two weeks and that ended the famous olive oil war he smiled as if it were a joke kay shuddered you mean your father was shot by gangsters fifteen years ago michael said everything s been peaceful since then he was afraid he had gone too far you re trying to scare me kay said you just don t want me to marry you she smiled at him and poked his ribs with her elbow very clever michael smiled back at her i want you to think about it he said did he really kill six men kay asked that s what the newspapers claimed mike said nobody ever proved it but there s another story about him that nobody ever tells it s supposed to be so terrible that even my father won t talk about it tom hagen knows the story and he won t tell me once i kidded him i said `when will i be old enough to hear that story about luca and tom said `when you re a hundred michael sipped his glass of wine that must be some story that must be some luca luca brasi was indeed a man to frighten the devil in hell himself short squat massive-skulled his presence sent out alarm bells of danger his face was stamped into a mask of fury the eyes were brown but with none of the warmth of that color more a deadly tan the mouth was not so much cruel as lifeless thin rubbery and the color of veal brasi s reputation for violence was awesome and his devotion to don corleone legendary he was in himself one of the great blocks that supported the don s power structure his kind was a rarity luca brasi did not fear the police he did not fear society he did not fear god he did not fear hell he did not fear or love his fellow man but he had elected he had chosen to fear and love don corleone ushered into the presence of the don the terrible brasi held himself stiff with respect he stuttered over the flowery congatulations he offered and his formal hope that the first grandchild would be masculine he then handed the don an envelope stuffed with cash as a gift for the bridal couple so that was what he wanted to do hagen noticed the change in don corleone the

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