The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
311
Johnny Fontane. She made her eyes sparkle with invitation, her walk was the sexiest 
walk ever walked, her mouth was, very slightly parted as if she were ready to bite the 
nearest object of her obvious passion. She resembled nothing so much as a female 
animal in heat, but it was a deliberate act. Johnny Fontane thought, oh, Christ, one of 
them. It was the most popular approach of women who wanted to take him to bed. It 
only worked when he was very drunk and he wasn’t drunk now. He gave the girl one of 
his famous grins and said, “Thank you, honey.” The girl looked at him and parted her 
lips in a thank-you smile, her eyes went all smoky, her body tensed with the torso 
leaning slightly back from the long tapering legs in their mesh stockings. An enormous 
tension seemed to be building up in her body, her breasts seemed to grow fuller and 
swell burstingly against her thin scantily cut blouse. Then her whole body gave a slight 
quiver that almost let off a sexual twang. The whole impression was one of a woman 
having an orgasm simply because Johnny Fontane had smiled at her and said, “Thank 
you, honey.” It was very well done. It was done better than Johnny had ever seen it 
done before. But by now he knew it was fake. And the odds were always good that the 
broads who did it were a lousy lay. 
He watched her go back to her chair and nursed his drink slowly. He didn’t want to see 
that little trick again. He wasn’t in the mood for it tonight. 
It was an hour before Nino Valenti began to go. He started leaning first, wavered back, 
and then plunged off the chair straight to the floor. But the pit boss and the relief dealer 
had been alerted by the first weave and caught him before he hit the ground. They lifted 
him and carried him through the parted drapes that led to the bedroom of the suite. 
Johnny kept watching as the cocktail waitress helped the other two men undress Nino 
and shove him under the bed covers. The pit boss was counting Nino’s chips and 
making a note on his pad of chits, then guarding the table with its dealer’s chips. Johnny 
said to him, “How long has that been going on?” 
The pit boss shrugged. “He went early tonight. The first time we got the house doc and 
he fixed Mr. Valenti up with something and gave him some sort of lecture. Then Nino 
told us that we shouldn’t call the doc when that happened, just put him to bed and he’d 
be OK in the morning. So that’s what we do. He’s pretty lucky, he was a winner again 
tonight, almost three grand.” 
Johnny Fontane said, “Well, let’s get the house doc up here tonight. OK? Page the 
casino floor if you have to.” 

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