The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
267
she was in the hospital for a minor operation; that had been necessary so that they both 
could get time off, and Freddie had told Jules that the hotel would pick up all the bills for 
Lucy. 
Lucy was introducing them and one of the men Jules recognized instantly. The famous 
Johnny Fontane. The other was a big, muscular, snotty-looking Italian guy whose name 
was Nino Valenti. They both shook hands with Jules and then paid no further attention 
to him. They were kidding Lucy, talking about the old neighborhood in New York, about 
people and events Jules had no way of sharing. So he said to Lucy, “I’ll drop by later, I 
have to see Dr. Kellner anyway.” 
But Johnny Fontane was turning the charm on him. “Hey, buddy, we have to leave 
ourselves, you keep Lucy company. Take good care of her, Doc.” Jules noticed a 
peculiar hoarseness in Johnny Fontane’s voice and remembered suddenly that the man 
hadn’t sung in public for over a year now, that he had won the Academy Award for his 
acting. Could the man’s voice have changed so late in life and the papers keeping it a 
secret, everybody keeping it a secret? Jules loved inside gossip and kept listening to 
Fontane’s voice in an attempt to diagnose the trouble. It could be simple strain, or too 
much booze and cigarettes or even too much women. The voice had an ugly timbre to it, 
he could never be called the sweet crooner anymore. 
“You sound like you have a cold,” Jules said to Johnny Fontane. 
Fontane said politely, “Just strain, I tried to sing last night. I guess I just can’t accept the 
fact that my voice changed, getting old you know.” He gave Jules a what-the-hell grin. 
Jules said casually, “Didn’t you get a doctor to look at it? Maybe it’s something that can 
be fixed.” 
Fontane was not so charming now. He gave Jules a long cool look. “That’s the first thing 
I did nearly two years ago. Best specialists. My own doctor who’s supposed to be the 
top guy out here in California. They told me to get a lot of rest. Nothing wrong, just 
getting older. A man’s voice changes when he gets older.” 
Fontane ignored him after that, paying attention to Lucy, charming her as he charmed all 
women. Jules kept listening to the voice. There had to be a growth on those vocal cords. 
But then why the hell hadn’t the specialists spotted it? Was it malignant and inoperable? 
Then there was other stuff. 
He interrupted Fontane to ask, “When was the last time you got examined by a 
specialist?” 

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