The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
349
everybody here that I understand how they feel. I know you all respected my father, but 
now you have to worry about yourselves and your families. Some of you wonder how 
what happened is going to affect the planning we’ve done and the promises I made. 
Well, the answer to that is: nothing. Everything goes on as before.” 
Clemenza shook his great shaggy buffalo head. His hair was an iron gray and his 
features, more deeply embedded in added layers of fat, were unpleasant. “The Barzinis 
and Tattaglias are going to move in on us real hard, Mike. You gotta fight or have a 
‘sit-down’ with them.” Everyone in the room noticed that Clemenza had not used a 
formal form of address to Michael, much less the title of Don. 
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” Michael said. “Let them break the peace first.” 
Tessio spoke up in his soft voice. “They already have, Mike. They opened up two 
‘books’ in Brooklyn this morning. I got the word from the police captain who runs the 
protection list at the station house. In a month I won’t have a place to hang my hat in all 
Brooklyn.” 
Michael stared at him thoughtfully. “Have you done anything about it?” 
Tessio shook his small, ferretlike head. “No,” he said. “I didn’t want to give you any 
problems.” 
“Good,” Michael said. “Just sit tight. And I guess that’s what I want to say to all of you. 
Just sit tight. Don’t react to any provocation. Give me a few weeks to straighten things 
out, to see which way the wind is going to blow. Then I’ll make the best deal I can for 
everybody here. Then we’ll have a final meeting and make some final decisions.” 
He ignored their surprise and Albert Neri started ushering them out. Michael said 
sharply, “Tom, stick around a few minutes.” 
Hagen went to the window that faced the mall. He waited until he saw the caporegimes 
and Carlo Rizzo and Rocco Lampone being shepherded through the guarded gate by 
Neri. Then he turned to Michael and said, “Have you got all the political connections 
wired into you?” 
Michael shook his head regretfully. “Not all. I needed about four more months. The Don 
and I were working on it. But I’ve got all the judges, we did that first, and some of the 
more important people in Congress. And the big party boys here in New York were no 
problem, of course. The Corleone Family is a lot stronger than anybody thinks, but I 
hoped to make it foolproof.” He smiled at Hagen. “I guess you’ve figured everything out 

---