The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
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do all the work, he just plays the fool with his garden, his peppers, his tomatoes. As if he 
were some peasant still. But men are always like that.” 
Later in the morning Connie Corleone would walk across the mall with her two children 
to pay Kay a visit and chat. Kay liked Connie, her vivaciousness, her obvious fondness 
for her brother Michael. Connie had taught Kay how to cook some Italian dishes but 
sometimes brought her own more expert concoctions over for Michael to taste. 
Now this morning as she usually did, she asked Kay what Michael thought of her 
husband, Carlo. Did Michael really like Carlo, as he seemed to? Carlo had always had a 
little trouble with the Family but now over the last years he had straightened out. He was 
really doing well in the labor union but he had to work so hard, such long hours. Carlo 
really liked Michael, Connie always said. But then, everybody liked Michael, just as 
everybody liked her father. Michael was the Don all over again. It was the best thing that 
Michael was going to run the Family olive oil business. 
Kay had observed before that when Connie spoke about her husband in relation to the 
Family, she was always nervously eager for some word of approval for Carlo. Kay would 
have been stupid if she had not noticed the almost terrified concern Connie had for 
whether Michael liked Carlo or not. One night she spoke to Michael about it and 
mentioned the fact that nobody ever spoke about Sonny Corleone, nobody even 
referred to him; at least not in her presence. Kay had once tried to express her 
condolences to the Don and his wife and had been listened to with almost rude silence 
and then ignored. She had tried to get Connie talking about her older brother without 
success. 
Sonny’s wife, Sandra, had taken her children and moved to Florida, where her own 
parents now lived. Certain financial arrangements had been made so that she and her 
children could live comfortably, but Sonny had left no estate. 
Michael reluctantly explained what had happened the night Sonny was killed. That Carlo 
had beaten his wife and Connie had called the mall and Sonny had taken the call and 
rushed out in a blind rage. So naturally Connie and Carlo were always nervous that the 
rest of the Family blamed her for indirectly causing Sonny’s death. Or blamed her 
husband, Carlo. But this wasn’t the case. The proof was that they had given Connie and 
Carlo a house in the mall itself and promoted Carlo to an important job in the labor union 
setup. And Carlo had straightened out, stopped drinking, stopped whoring, stopped 
trying to be a wise guy. The Family was pleased with his work and attitude for the last 

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