The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
120
His father’s usually neat office was taking on the look of a badly kept furnished room. 
Michael shook his brother awake and said, “Why don’t you stop living like. a bum and 
get this place cleaned up?” 
Sonny yawned. “What the hell are you, inspecting the barracks? Mike, we haven’t got 
the word yet where they plan to take you, those bastards Sollozzo and McCluskey. If we 
don’t find that out, how the hell are we going to get the gun to you?” 
“Can’t I carry it on me?” Michael asked. “Maybe they won’t frisk me and even if they do 
maybe they’ll miss it if we’re smart enough. And even if they find it– so what. They’ll just 
take it off me and no harm done.” 
Sonny shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “We have to make this a sure hit on that bastard 
Sollozzo. Remember, get him first if you possibly can. McCluskey is slower and dumber. 
You should have plenty of time to take him. Did Clemenza tell you to be sure to drop the 
gun?” 
“A million times,” Michael said. 
Sonny got up from the sofa and stretched. “How does your jaw feel, kid?” 
“Lousy,” Michael said. The left side of his face ached except those parts that felt numb 
because of the drugged wire holding it together. He took the bottle of whiskey from the 
table and swigged directly from it. The pain eased. 
Sonny said, “Easy, Mike, now is no time to get slowed up by booze.” 
Michael said, “Oh, Christ, Sonny, stop playing the big brother. I’ve been in combat 
against tougher guys than Sollozzo and under worse conditions. Where the hell are his 
mortars? Has he got air cover? Heavy artillery? Land mines? He’s just a wise son of a 
bitch with a big-wheel cop sidekick. Once anybody makes up their mind to kill them 
there’s no other problem. That’s the hard part, making up your mind. They’ll never know 
what hit them.” 
Tom Hagen came into the room. He greeted them with a nod and went directly to the 
falsely listed telephone. He called a few times and then shook his head at Sonny. “Not a 
whisper,” he said. “Sollozzo is keeping it to himself as long as he can.” 
The phone rang. Sonny answered it and he held up a hand as if to signal for quiet 
though no one had spoken. He jotted some notes down on a pad, then said, “OK, he’ll 
be there,” and hung up the phone. 
Sonny was laughing. “That son of a bitch Sollozzo, he really is something. Here’s the 

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