Крестный отец

           Thenafterwe’vebeensofteneduptheyfigurewe’lllistentoapropositiononnarcotic."

           Sonnysaidcurtly,"Nodealondrugs.TheDonsaidnoandit’snountilhechangesit."

           Hagensaidbriskly,"Thenwe’refacedwithatacticalproblem.Ourmoneyisoutintheopen.Bookmakingandpolicy.Wecanbehit.ButtheTattagliaFamilyhasprostitutionandcallgirlsandthedockunions.Howthehellarewegoingtohitthem?TheotherFamiliesareinsomegambling.Butmostofthemareintheconstructiontrades,shylocking,controllingtheunions,gettingthegovernmentcontracts.Theygetalotfromstrong-armandotherstuffthatinvolvesinnocentpeople.Theirmoneyisn’toutinthestreet.TheTattaglianightclubistoofamoustotouchit,itwouldcausetoomuchofastink.AndwiththeDonstilloutofactiontheirpoliticalinfluencematchesours.Sowe’vegotarealproblemhere."

           "It’smyproblem,Tom,"Sonnysaid."I’llfindtheanswer.Keepthenegotiationaliveandfollowthroughontheotherstuff.Let’sgobackintobusinessandseewhathappens.Thenwe’lltakeitfromthere.ClemenzaandTessiohaveplentyofsoldiers,wecanmatchthewholeFiveFamiliesgunforgunifthat’sthewaytheywantit.We’lljustgotothemattresses."

           Therewasnoproblemgettingthefree-lanceNegrobankersoutofbusiness.Thepolicewereinformedandcrackeddown.Withaspecialeffort.AtthattimeitwasnotpossibleforaNegrotomakeapayofftoahighpoliceorpoliticalofficialtokeepsuchanoperationgoing.