Godfather 01 The Godfather pdfdrive com

caporegimes, Clemenza and Tessio; Rocco Lampone, with his reasonable,
competent air; Carlo Rizzi, very quiet, very much knowing his place; Tom
Hagen forsaking his strictly legal role to rally around in this crisis; Albert Neri
trying to stay physically close to Michael, lighting his new Don’s cigarette,
mixing his drink, all to show an unswerving loyalty despite the recent disaster to
the Corleone Family.
The death of the Don was a great misfortune for the Family. Without
him it seemed that half their strength was gone and almost all their bargaining
power against the Barzini-Tattaglia alliance. Everyone in the room knew this and
they waited for what Michael would say. In their eyes he was not yet the new
Don; he had not earned the position or the title. If the Godfather had lived, he
might have assured his son’s succession; now it was by no means certain.
Michael waited until Neri had served drinks. Then he said quietly, “I
just want to tell 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

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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, ferret-like 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 by now.”
Hagen nodded. “It wasn’t hard. Except why you wanted me out of the
action. But I put on my Sicilian hat and I finally figured that too.”
Michael laughed. “The old man said you would. But that’s a luxury I
can’t afford anymore. I need you here. At least for the next few weeks. You
better phone Vegas and talk to your wife. Just tell her a few weeks.”
Hagen said musingly, “How do you think they’ll come at you?”
Michael sighed. “The Don instructed me. Through somebody close.
Barzini will set me up through somebody close that, supposedly, I won’t
suspect.”
Hagen smiled at him. “Somebody like me.”
Michael smiled back. “You’re Irish, they won’t trust you.”

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“I’m German-American,” Hagen said.
“To them that’s Irish,” Michael said. “They won’t go to you and they
won’t go to Neri because Neri was a cop. Plus both of you are too close to me.
They can’t take that gamble. Rocco Lampone isn’t close enough. No, it will be
Clemenza, Tessio or Carlo Rizzi.”
Hagen said softly, “I’m betting it’s Carlo.”
“We’ll see,” Michael said. “It won’t be long.”
It was the next morning, while Hagen and Michael were having
breakfast together. Michael took a phone call in the library, and when he came
back to the kitchen, he said to Hagen, “It’s all set up. I’m going to meet Barzini a
week from now. To make new peace now that the Don is dead.” Michael
laughed.
Hagen asked, “Who phoned you, who made the contact?” They both
knew that whoever in the Corleone Family had made the contact had turned
traitor.
Michael gave Hagen a sad regretful smile. “Tessio,” he said.
They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. Over coffee Hagen
shook his head. “I could have sworn it would have been Carlo or maybe
Clemenza. I never figured Tessio. He’s the best of the lot.”
“He’s the most intelligent,” Michael said.” And he did what seems to
him to be the smart thing. He sets me up for the hit by Barzini and inherits the
Corleone Family. He sticks with me and he gets wiped out; he’s figuring I can’t
win.”
Hagen paused before he asked reluctantly, “How right is he figuring?”
Michael shrugged. “It looks bad. But my father was the only one who
understood that political connections and power are worth ten regimes. I think
I’ve got most of my father’s political power in my hands now, but I’m the only
one who really knows that.” He smiled at Hagen, a reassuring smile. “I’ll make
them call me Don. But I feel lousy about Tessio.”
Hagen said, “Have you agreed to the meeting with Barzini?”
“Yeah,” Michael said.” A week from tonight. In Brooklyn, on Tessio’s
ground where I’ll be safe.” He laughed again.
Hagen said, “Be careful before then.”
For the first time Michael was cold with Hagen. “I don’t need a
Consigliere to give me that kind of advice,” he said.

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During the week preceding the peace meeting between the Corleone
and Barzini Families, Michael showed Hagen just how careful he could be. He
never set foot outside the mall and never received anyone without Neri beside
him. There was only one annoying complication. Connie and Carlo’s oldest boy
was to receive his Confirmation in the Catholic Church and Kay asked Michael
to be the Godfather. Michael refused.
“I don’t often beg you,” Kay said. “Please do this just for me. Connie
wants it so much. And so does Carlo. It’s very important to them. Please,
Michael.”
She could see he was angry with her for insisting and expected him to
refuse. So she was surprised when he nodded and said, “OK. But I can’t leave
the mall. Tell them to arrange for the priest to confirm the kid here. I’ll pay
whatever it costs. If they run into trouble with the church people, Hagen will
straighten it out.”
And so the day before the meeting with the Barzini Family, Michael
Corleone stood Godfather to the son of Carlo and Connie Rizzi. He presented the
boy with an extremely expensive wristwatch and gold band. There was a small