The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
96
he’s money in their pockets, dead he’s trouble.” 
Sonny’s face was as Michael had never seen it. The heavy Cupid mouth and bronzed 
skin seemed gray. “I don’t give a fuck what they want. They better not mess in this fight.” 
Clemenza and Tessio shifted uneasily in their chairs, infantry leaders who hear their 
general rave about storming an impregnable hill no matter what the cost. Hagen said a 
little impatiently, “Come on, Sonny, your father wouldn’t like you thinking that way. You 
know what he always says, ‘That’s a waste.’ Sure, we’re not going to let anybody stop 
us if the old man says we go after Sollozzo. But this is not a personal thing, this is 
business. If we go after the Turk and the Families interfere, we’ll negotiate the issue. If 
the Families see that we’re determined to have Sollozzo, they’ll let us. The Don will 
make concessions in other areas to square things. But don’t go blood crazy on a thing 
like this. It’s business. Even the shooting of your father was business, not personal. You 
should know that by now.” 
Sonny’s eyes were still hard. “OK. I understand all that. Just so long as you understand 
that nobody stands in our way when we want Sollozzo.” 
Sonny turned to Tessio. “Any leads on Luca?” 
Tessio shook his head. “None at all. Sollozzo must have snatched him.” 
Hagen said quietly, “Sollozzo wasn’t worried about Luca, which struck me as funny. 
He’s too smart not to worry about a guy like Luca. I think he maybe got him out of the 
picture, one way or the other.” 
Sonny muttered, “Christ, I hope Luca isn’t fighting against us. That’s the one thing I’d be 
afraid of. Clemenza, Tessio, how do you two guys figure it?” 
Clemenza said slowly, “Anybody could go wrong, look at Paulie. But with Luca, he was 
a man who could only go one way. The Godfather was the only thing he believed in, the 
only man he feared. But not only that, Sonny, he respected your father as no one else 
respected him and the Godfather has earned respect from everyone. No, Luca would 
never betray us. And I find it hard to believe that a man like Sollozzo, no matter how 
cunning, could surprise Luca. He was a man who suspected everyone and everything. 
He was always ready for the worst. I think maybe he just went off someplace for a few 
days. We’ll be hearing from him anytime now.” 
Sonny turned to Tessio. The Brooklyn caporegime shrugged. “Any man can turn traitor. 
Luca was very touchy. Maybe the Don offended him some way. That could be. I think 

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