The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
83
slot. Clemenza had not been unaware that Paulie Gatto ‘supplemented his income with 
free-lance stickups, strictly against the Family rules, but even this was a sign of the 
man’s worth. The breaking of such regulations was considered a sign of 
high-spiritedness, like that shown by a fine racing horse fighting the reins. 
And Paulie had never caused trouble with his stickups. They had always been 
meticulously planned and carried out with the minimum of fuss and trouble, with no one 
ever getting hurt: a three-thousand-dollar Manhattan garment center payroll, a small 
chinaware factory payroll in the slums of Brooklyn. After all, a young man could always 
use some extra pocket money. It was all in the pattern. Who could ever foretell that 
Paulie Gatto would turn traitor? 
What was troubling Peter Clemenza this morning was an administrative problem. The 
actual execution of Gatto was a cut-and-dried chore. The problem was, who should the 
caporegime bring up from the ranks to replace Gatto in the Family? It was an important 
promotion, that to “button” man, one not to be handed out lightly. The man had to be 
tough and he had to be smart. He had to be safe, not a person who would talk to the 
police if he got in trouble, one well saturated in the Sicilians’ law of omerta, the law of 
silence. And then, what kind of a living would he receive for his new duties? Clemenza 
had several times spoken to the Don about better rewards for the all-important button 
man who was first in the front line when trouble arose, but the Don had put him off. If 
Paulie had been making more money, he might have been able to resist the 
blandishments of the wily Turk, Sollozzo. 
Clemenza finally narrowed down the list of candidates to three men. The first was an 
enforcer who worked with the colored policy bankers in Harlem, a big brawny brute of a 
man of great physical strength, a man with a great deal of personal charm who could get 
along with people and yet when necessary make them go in fear of him. But Clemenza 
scratched him off the list after considering his name for a half hour. This man got along 
too well with the black people, which hinted at some flaw of character. Also he would be 
too hard to replace in the position he now held. 
The second name Clemenza considered and almost settled on was a hard-working 
chap who served faithfully and well in the organization. This man was the collector of 
delinquent accounts for Family-licensed shylocks in Manhattan. He had started off as a 
bookmaker’s runner. But he was not quite yet ready for such an important promotion. 
Finally he settled on Rocco Lampone. Lampone had served a short but impressive 

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