Down all of Paulie's phone calls in and out Clemenza's too. On the three days
Paulie was sick this month he got a call from a street booth across from the old
Man's building. Today too. They were checking to see if Paulie was coming down
Or somebody was being sent down to take his place. Or for some other reason. It
doesn't matter." Sonny shrugged. "Thank God it was Paulie. We'll need Clemenza
bad."
34 Michael asked hesitantly, "Is it going to be an all-out war?"
35 Sonny's eyes were hard. "That's how I'm going to play it as soon as Tom
checks in. Until the old man tells me different."
36 Michael asked, "So why don't you wait until the old man can tell you?"
37 Sonny looked at him curiously. "How the hell did you win those combat
Medals? We are under the gun, man, we gotta fight. I'm just afraid they won't let
Tom go."
38 Michael was surprised at this. "Why not?"
39 Again Sonny's voice was patient "They snatched Tom because they figured
The old man was finished and they could make a deal with me and Tom would be
The sit-down guy in the preliminary stages, carry the proposition. Now with the
Old man alive they know I can't make a deal so Tom's no good to them. They can
Turn him loose or dump him, depending how Sollozzo feels. If they dump him, it
would be just to show us they really mean business, trying to bulldoze us."
40 Michael said quietly, "What think he could get a deal with you?"
41 Sonny flushed and he didn't answer for a moment. Then he said, "We had a
Meeting a few months ago, Sollozzo came to us with a proposition on drugs. The
Old man turned him down. But during the meeting I shot off my mouth a little, I
Showed I wanted the deal. Which is absolutely the wrong thing to do; if there's
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One thing the old man hammered into me it's never to do a thing like that, to let
Other people know there's a split of opinion in the Family. So Sollozzo figures he
Gets rid of the old man, I have to go in with him on the drugs. With the old man
Gone, the Family power is cut at least in half. I would be fighting for my life
Anyway to keep all the businesses the old man got together. Drugs are the
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Coming thing, we should get into it. And his knocking off the old man is purely
Business, nothing personal. As a matter of business I would go in with him. Of
Course he would never let me get too close, he'd make sure I'd never get a clean
Shot at him, just in case. But he also knows that once I accepted the deal the
Other Families would never let me start a war a couple of years later just for
revenge. Also, the Tattaglia Family is behind him."
42 "If they had gotten the old man, what would you have done?" Michael asked.
43 Sonny said very simply, "Sollozzo is dead meat. I don't care what it costs. I
Don't care if we have to fight all the five families in New York. The Tattaglia Family
is going to be wiped out. I don't care if we all go down together."
44 Michael said softly, "That's not how Pop would have played it."
Sonny made a violent gesture. "I know I'm not the man he was. But I'll tell you this
And he'll tell you too. When it comes to real action I can operate as good as
Anybody, short-range. Sollozzo knows that and so do Clemenza and Tessio, I
'made my bones' when I was nineteen, the last time the Family had a war, and I
Was a big help to the old man. So I'm not worried now. And our Family has all the
horses in a deal like this. I just wish we could get contact with Luca."
45 Michael asked curiously, "Is Luca that tough, like they say? Is he that good?"
46 Sonny nodded. "He's in a class by himself. I’m going to send him after the
three Tattaglias. I'll get Sollozzo myself."
Michael shifted uneasily in his chair. He looked at his older brother. He
Remembered Sonny as being sometimes casually brutal but essentially
Warmhearted. A nice guy. It seemed unnatural to hear him talking this way, it was
Chilling to see the list of names he had scribbled down, men to be executed, as if
He were some newly crowned Roman Emperor. He was glad that he was not truly
Part of all this, that now his father lived he did not have to involve himself in
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Vengeance. He'd help out, answering the phone, running errands and messages.
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