Крестный отец

           TheDon,hiswifeandSonnywereinthegardentakingtheireaseandenjoyingthesaltyseaair.

           MuchtotheDon’sannoyancehewassummonedintothehousebyhisbodyguard.Thethreeworkmen,allbigburlyfellows,weregroupedaroundthefurnace.Theyhadtakenitapart,itwasstrewnaroundthecementbasementfloor.Theirleader,anauthoritativeman,saidtotheDoninagruffvoice,"Yourfurnaceisinlousyshape.Ifyouwantustofixitandputittogetheragain,it’llcostyouonehundredfiftydollarsforlaborandpartsandthenwe’llpassyouforcountyinspection."Hetookoutaredpaperlabel."Westampthissealonit,see,thennobodyfromthecountybothersyouagain."

           TheDonwasamused.Ithadbeenaboring,quietweekinwhichhehadhadtoneglecthisbusinesstotakecareofsuchfamilydetailsmovingtoanewhouseentailed.InmorebrokenEnglishthanhisusualslightaccentheasked,"IfIdon’tpayyou,whathappenstomyfurnace?"

           Theleaderofthethreemenshrugged."Wejustleavethefurnacethewayitisnow."Hegesturedatthemetalpartsstrewnoverthefloor.

           TheDonsaidmeekly,"Wait,I’llgetyouyourmoney."ThenhewentoutintothegardenandsaidtoSonny,"Listen,there’ssomemenworkingonthefurnace,Idon’tunderstandwhattheywant.Goinandtakecareofthematter."Itwasnotsimplyajoke;hewasconsideringmakinghissonhisunderboss.Thiswasoneofthetestsabusinessexecutivehadtopass.

           Sonny’ssolutiondidnotaltogetherpleasehisfather.