The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
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But he was in deadly fear of Sonny though they treated each other with cold politeness. 
Carlo had the sense to realize that Sonny would kill him, that Sonny was a man who 
could, with the naturalness of an animal, kill another man, while he himself would have 
to call up all his courage, all his will, to commit murder. It never occurred to Carlo that 
because of this he was a better man than Sonny Corleone, if such terms could be used; 
he envied Sonny his awesome savagery, a savagery which was now becoming a 
legend. 
Tom Hagen, as the Consigliere, disapproved of Sonny’s tactics and yet decided not to 
protest to the Don simply because the tactics, to some extent, worked. The Five 
Families seemed to be cowed, finally, as the attrition went on, and their counterblows 
weakened and finally ceased altogether. Hagen at first distrusted this seeming 
pacification of the enemy but Sonny was jubilant. “I’ll pour it on,” he told Hagen, “and 
then those bastards will come begging for a deal.” 
Sonny was worried about other things. His wife was giving him a hard time because the 
rumors had gotten to her that Lucy Mancini had bewitched her husband. And though 
she joked publicly about her Sonny’s equipment and technique, he had stayed away 
from her too long and she missed him in her bed, and she was making life miserable for 
him with her nagging. 
In addition to this Sonny was under the enormous strain of being a marked man. He had 
to be extraordinarily careful in all his movements and he knew that his visits to Lucy 
Mancini had been charted by the enemy. But here he took elaborate precautions since 
this was the traditional vulnerable spot. He was safe there. Though Lucy had not the 
slightest suspicion, she was watched twenty-four hours a day by men of the Santino 
regime and when an apartment became vacant on her floor it was immediately rented 
by one of the most reliable men of that regime. 
The Don was recovering and would soon be able to resume command. At that time the 
tide of battle must swing to the Corleone Family. This Sonny was sure of. Meanwhile he 
would guard his Family’s empire, earn the respect of his father, and, since the position 
was not hereditary to an absolute degree, cement his claim as heir to the Corleone 
Empire. 
But the enemy was making its plans. They too had analyzed the situation and had come 
to the conclusion that the only way to stave off complete defeat was to kill Sonny 
Corleone. They understood the situation better now and felt it was possible to negotiate 

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