The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
140
getting in.” She shooed the daughters out of the room. 
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “By the way, Ginny, you know I’m getting divorced? I’m gonna be a 
free man again.” 
She watched him getting dressed. He always kept fresh clothes at her house ever since 
they had come to their new arrangement after the wedding of Don Corleone’s daughter. 
“Christmas is only two weeks away,” she said. “Shall I plan on you being here?” 
It was the first time he had even thought about the holidays. When his voice was in 
shape, holidays were lucrative singing dates but even then Christmas was sacred. If he 
missed this one, it would be the second one. Last year he had been courting his second 
wife in Spain, trying to get her to marry him. 
“Yeah,” he said. “Christmas Eve and Christmas.” He didn’t mention New Year’s Eve. 
That would be one of the wild nights he needed every once in a while, to get drunk with 
his friends, and he didn’t want a wife along then. He didn’t feel guilty about it. 
She helped him put on his jacket and brushed it off. He was always fastidiously neat. 
She could see him frowning because the shirt he had put on was not laundered to his 
taste, the cuff links, a pair he had not worn for some time, were a little too loud for the 
way he liked to dress now. She laughed softly and said, “Tom won’t notice the 
difference.” 
The three women of the family walked him to the door and out on the driveway to his 
car. The two little girls held his hands, one on each side. His wife walked a little behind 
him. She was getting pleasure out of how happy he looked. When he reached his car he 
turned around and swung each girl in turn high up in the air and kissed her on the way 
down. Then he kissed his wife and got into the car. He never liked drawn-out good-byes. 
* * *
Arrangements had been made by his PR man and aide. At his house a chauffeured car 
was waiting, a rented car. In it were the PR man and another member of his entourage. 
Johnny parked his car and hopped in and they were on their way to the airport. He 
waited inside the car while the PR man went out to meet Tom Hagen’s plane. When 
Tom got into the car they shook hands and drove back to his house. 
Finally he and Tom were alone in the living room. There was a coolness between them. 
Johnny had never forgiven Hagen for acting as a barrier to his getting in touch with the 
Don when the Don was angry with him, in those bad days before Connie’s wedding. 

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