The Godfather - Mario Puzo (The English Version)

In the garden Kay Adams was struck by the violet fury imprinted on the face of Luca Brasi. She asked about him. Michael had brought Kay to the wedding so that she would slowly and perhaps without too much of shock, absorb the truth about his father. But so far she seemed to regard the Don as a slightly unethical businessman. Michael decided to tell her part of the truth indirectly. He explained that Luca Brasi was one of the most feared men in the Eastern underworld. His great talent, it was said, was that he could do a job of murder all by himself, without confederates, which automatically made discovery and conviction by the law almost impossible. Michael grimaced and said, ?oI don?Tt know whether all that stuff was true. I do know he is sort of a friend to my father.?
For the first time Kay began to understand. She asked a little incredulously, ?oYou?Tre not hinting that a man like that works for your father??
The hell with it, he thought. He said, straight out, ?oNearly fifteen years ago some people wanted to take over my father?Ts oil importing business. They tried to kill him and nearly did. Luca Brasi went after them. The story is that he killed six men in two weeks and that ended the famous olive oil war.? He smiled as if it were a joke.
Kay shuddered. ?oYou mean your father was shot by gangsters??
?oFifteen years ago,? Michael said. ?oEverything''s been peaceful since then.? He was afraid he had gone too far.
?oYou?Tre trying to scare me,? Kay said. ?oYou just don?Tt want me to marry you.? She smile at him and poked his ribs with her elbow. ?oVery clever.?
Michael smiled back at her. ?oI want you to think about it,? he said.
?oDid he really kill six men?? Kay asked.
?oThat?Ts what the newspapers claimed,? Mike said. ?oNobody ever proved it. But therê?Ts another story about him that nobody ever tells. It?Ts supposed to be so terrible that even my father won?Tt talk about it. Tom Hagen knows the story and he won?Tt tell me. Once I kidded him, I said, ?oWhen will I be old enough to hear that story about Luca?? and Tom said, ?~When you?Tre a hundred.?T? Michael sipped his glass of wine. ?oThat must be some story. That must be some Luca.?
Luca Brasi was indeed a man to frighten the devil in hell himself. Short, squat, massive-skulled, his presence sent out alarm bells of danger. His face was stamped into a mask of fury. The eyes were brown but with none of the warmth of that color, more a deadly tan. The mouth was not so much cruel as lifeless; thin, rubbery and the color of veal.
Brasi?Ts reputation for violence was awesome and his devotion to Don Corleone legendary. He was, in himself, one of the great blocks that supported the Don?Ts power structure. His hind was a rarity.
Luca Brasi did not fear the police, he did not fear society, he did not fear God, he did not fear hell, he did not fear or love his fellow man. But he had elected, he had chosen, to fear and love Don Corleone. Ushered into the presence of the Don, the terrible Brasi held himself stiff with respect. He stuttered over the flowery congratulations he offered and his formal hope that the first grandchild would be masculine. He then handed the Don an envelope stuffed with cash as a gift for the bridal couple.
So that was what he wanted to do. Hagen noticed the change in Don Corleone. The Don received Brasi as a king greets a subject who has done him an enormous service, never familiar but with regal respect. With every gesture, with every word, Don Corleone made it clear to Luca Brasi that he was valued. Not for one moment did he show surprise at the wedding gift presented to him personally. He understood.
The money in the envelope was sure to be more than anyone else had given. Brasi had spent many hours deciding on the sum, comparing it to what the other guests might offer. He wanted to be the most generous to show that he had the most respect, and that was why he had given his envelope to the Don personally, a gaucherie the Don overlooked in his own flowery sentence of thanks. Hagen saw Luca Brasi?Ts face lose its mask of fury, swell with pride and pleasure. Brasi kissed the Don?Ts hand before he went out the door that Hagen held open. Hagen prudently gave Brasi a friendly smile with the squat man acknowledged with a polite stretching of rubbery, veal-colored lips.
When the door closed Don Corleone gave a small sigh of relief. Brasi was the only man in the world who could make him nervous. The man was like a natural force, not truly subject to control. He had to be handled as gingerly as dynamite. The Don shrugged. Even dynamite could be exploded harmlessly if the need arose. He looked questioningly at Hagen. ?oIs Bonasera the only one left??
Hagen nodded. Don Corleone frowned in thought, then said, ?oBefore you bring him in, tell Santino to come here. He should learn some things.?
Out in the garden, Hagen searched anxiously for Sonny Corleone. He told the waiting Bonasera to be patient and went over to Michael Corleone and his girl friend. ?oDid you see Sonny around?? he asked. Michael shook his head. Damn, Hagen thought, if Sonny was screwing the maid of honor all this time there was going to be a mess of trouble. His wife, the young girl?Ts family; it could be a disaster. Anxiously he hurried to the entrance through which he had seen Sonny disappear almost a half hour ago.
Seeing Hagen go into the house, Kay Adams asked Michael Corleone, ?oWho is he? You introduced him as your brother but his name is different and he certainly doesn?Tt look Italian.?
?oTom lived with us since he was twelve years old,? Michael said. ?oHis parents died and he was roaming around the streets with this bad eye infection. Sonny brought him home one night and he just stayed. He didn?Tt have anyplace to go. He lived with us until he got married.?
Kay Adams was thrilled. ?oThat?Ts really romantic,? she said. ?oYour father must be a warmhearted person. To adopt somebody just like that when he had so many children of his own.?
Michael didn?Tt bother to point out that immigrant Italians considered four children a small family. He merely said, ?oTom wasn?Tt adopted. He just lived with us.?
?oOh,? Kay said, then asked curiously, ?owhy didn?Tt you adopt him??
Michael laughed. ?oBecause my father said it would be disrespectful for Tom to change his name. Disrespectful to his own parents.?
They saw Hagen shoo Sonny through the French door into the Don?Ts office and then crook a finger at Amerigo Bonasera. ?oWhy do they bother your father with business on a day like this?? Kay asked.
Michael laughed again. ?oBecause they know that by tra***ion no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter?Ts wedding day. And no Sicilian ever lets a chance like that go by.?