Chapter 17 11-2

Sonny had been listening intently. "I think it's going to take a very smart, very reliable guy to put the guns where they're supposed to be," he said to Clemenza. "I can't let my brother come out of the bathroom empty-handed because he can't find a gun." Clemenza said emphatically, "The gun safety will go there." "Well," said Sonny, "then let's do our part and do it." Tessio and Clemenza both left.Tom Hagen says: "Shall I drive Mike downtown?" "Not from you," Sonny said. "I want you to stay here. We're going to get down to business as soon as Mike's mission is over, and I'm going to need you then. Have you got all the papers connected?" ?”

Hagen nodded. "As soon as things got out, I just kept giving them promotional material." Sonny stood up, went to Michael, and shook his hand. "That's it, kid," he said, "you can go on your way, you can't see mother before you leave, I will explain to her. When the time is right, send a message to your girlfriend too, okay? " "Okay," Mike said, "how long do you think it will be before I come back?" "A year at least," Sonny said. Tom Hagen interrupted: "The old man will figure it out then, and maybe earlier. But, Mike, you can't count on that. Timing depends on a lot of factors, like, what kind of plot we give to reporters; To what extent does the bureau also want to prevaricate the matter; whether other big families react strongly. There will definitely be a boil in the future, and there will be a disturbance. At present, this is the only thing we can predict."

Michael held Hagen's hand tightly. "Just do what you can," he said. "One more time, it will be three years away from home, and I have an opinion." Hagen said softly, "It's still time to think about it later, Mike, they can find someone else, and they might as well go back and reconsider another solution. Maybe there is no need to kill Sollozzo." Michael laughed out loud. "We make a lot of sense to ourselves no matter what we do," he said, "but this is the first time that the design is right. I've had an easy life all my life, and now it's my turn to suffer. It's time."

"You shouldn't let a broken jaw sway your opinion," Hagen said. "McCloskey is an idiot, needless to say. The problem is always a business problem, not a personal relationship problem." Again he noticed that Michael Corleone's face had sunk into a strange expression, strangely resembling the old man. "Tom, don't be fooled by others. Everything is personal, after all. Every single thing in business is personal. Every meal we eat, every dollar we spend Heaps of shit, every day of his life, is personal. Some people call it business. Well, let's call it business. But business is really personal. You know where I got it from This way? From the old man, from my old man, from my godfather.

As far as my dad is concerned, even if lightning struck one of his friends, he would take it personally.I was in the Marines and he thought it was personal.This is the key to his greatness.Great old man who took everything personally.Like God, he knew every feather that fell from the tail of every sparrow; or how it fell, he knew.right?Do you understand the mystery?Those who regard accidents as an affront to personal dignity will not encounter accidents.Yes, I'm kind of behind on that.Well, if you're behind, you're behind, but I'm catching up.It is true that I take the problem of the broken jaw as personal; it is also true that I take the problem of Sollozzo's attempt to kill my father as personal. "

He laughed out loud. "Please tell my old man that I learned all this from him, and that I am very glad to have this opportunity to repay him for his guidance. He is a good father." He paused for a moment, and said affectionately to Hagen: "You know, as far as I can remember, he never hit me, or Sonny, or Freddie. Certainly not Connie, or even Yelled at her. Tell me, Tom, how many people do you think the old man killed." Tom changed the subject. "What I'm trying to say is that you haven't learned a little bit. The way you talked just now is not in line with his usual style. Some things have to be done, and you just do it. You don't have to talk about it at all. You don't have to try to prove it What makes sense and what doesn't make sense. Just do what you do, and forget about it after you've done it."

Michael Corleone frowned and said calmly, "There is a perception that keeping Sollozzo alive is dangerous to the Don's whole family. Do you, as a consultant, agree with that?" "Agreed," said Hagen. "Well," said Michael, "I'll have to kill him." Michael Corleone was standing in front of the Jack Dempser restaurant on Broadway waiting to be picked up.He looked at his watch. It was five minutes to eight.Sollozzo seemed to be on time, and Michael arrived early just to be on the safe side.He has been waiting for fifteen minutes. All the way from Long Beach to downtown he was trying to forget what he had said to Hagen.Because if he never forgets what he said, then he will die if he goes here, which means he has set foot on a dead end irretrievably.However, after tonight, will the development of the situation turn for the better?Michael thought terrible things: if he kept talking about that nonsense, he'd be dead after tonight.He must have his mind on business.Sollozzo is not a human target, but McCloskey is a rock that cannot be smashed.He felt pain in his wired jaw, a pain he welcomed because it kept him alert.

Broadway was not so crowded on this cold winter night, even at the opening hours of the theater's night shows.He winces when a long black car pulls up to the side of the road.The driver leaned forward, opened the front door, and said, "Come in, Mike." The driver was a little hooligan with greasy hair and an unbuttoned shirt.He didn't know the kid, but he got in the car anyway.In the back seat were officers McCloskey and Sollozzo. Sollozzo stretched his hand over the back of the chair, and Michael shook his hand.Hands are hard, warm, and dry.Sollozzo said: "Mike, I am very happy that you are here. I hope we can clear everything up. This is all terrible. The development and changes of things are not in line with my original ideas. It shouldn't be."

Michael Corleone said to him calmly, "I hope we can get it over with tonight. I don't want my father to be bothered." "He won't be bothered anymore," Sollozzo pleaded with him. "I swear to you, he won't be bothered again. If I don't do what I say, I'll kill my son. Let's be open and honest in our talks. I hope you're not as easyheaded as your big brother Sonny He has a fever, so we can't talk about serious things with him." Sergeant McCloskey snorted like a pig and said: "He's a good boy, no problem." He leaned forward and gave Michael a warm pat on the shoulder.

"Mike, I'm sorry about that night. I'm too old for this line of work, and too quick to lose my temper. I feel like I'm going to retire soon. I can't stand this line of tantrums. I You can imagine what it's like to be angry all day long." Then he groaned and searched Michael thoroughly to see if he was armed. Michael saw a slight smile from the driver as the car headed west, playing tricks rather than trying to shake off the pursuers. The car drove onto the west road and sped forward, getting in and out of the passing cars for a while.If there is a car following behind, you must still get in and out.Then, to Michael's dismay, the car turned off onto the side road and headed straight for the Washington Bridge, which they were going to cross into New Jersey.Who had given Sonny the intel on the location of the meeting?In fact, false information was provided.

The car drove onto the approach bridge in a roundabout way, and then onto the main bridge, leaving the brightly lit city behind.Michael's face was always pretending to be indifferent.They were going to throw him into the swamp, and the scheming Sollozzo changed the meeting place at the last minute, but when they were almost crossing the line, the driver made a sharp turn.The heavy car bumped into a stone divider, jumped high, jumped onto the one-way street, and headed back toward New York City.Both McCluskey and Sollozzo looked back to see if a car was also making a sharp turn to follow.Then they left the bridge and headed straight for the East Bronx.They only walked on the back street, and there were no cars behind them.At this time, it was almost nine o'clock.They were finally relieved that no one was following them.Sollozzo took out his cigarette and offered McCloskey and Michael a smoke.But neither of them wanted to smoke.He lit it himself and smoked it.He said to the driver: "Great job, I'll keep that in mind." Ten minutes later, the car pulled up in front of a small restaurant in an Italian colony.The streets were deserted; only a few people were still eating inside because it was late.Michael was worried at first that the driver would go in with them, but fortunately, the driver stayed outside to guard the car.The driver was not previously mentioned by the contact person, nor was the driver mentioned by anyone else.Sollozzo had technically broken the agreement by getting another driver to drive with him, but Michael decided to keep quiet about it because he knew they were afraid to mention it and ruin the chances of a successful meeting. The three of them sat at the only round table in the restaurant because Sollozzo refused to sit in a booth.Besides the three of them, there were only two people left in the restaurant.Michael suspected that the two men were the bodyguards that Sollozuo had settled down.But it doesn't matter, when the time comes, he will also make a surprise attack on them, catching them off guard. McCluskey asked with genuine concern: "Is the Italian food really good here?" Once again, Sollozzo assured him that the food was good. "If you don't believe me, just try the veal. The veal here is the best in New York City." The waiter brought them a bottle of wine.Oddly enough, McCloskey didn't want to drink. "I want to be the only Irishman who never drinks," he said. "I've seen a lot of people get into trouble because of alcoholism." Sollozzo said to the police officer in a comforting tone: "I am going to talk to Michael in Italian, not because I don't believe you, but because I can't speak English properly. And I want to make Michael Believe me, I mean it with good intentions, and believe that it would be in everyone's interest to reach an agreement tonight. Don't be put off by it, and it's not because I don't believe you." Inspector McCluskey gave them a sneer, baring his teeth. "It's all right, you two just speak your Italian," he said, "I'm going to concentrate on my veal and spaghetti." Sollozzo began speaking to Michael in the Sicilian dialect. "You have to understand that what's going on between me and your father is purely business. I personally have a lot of respect for Don Corleone and would love to have the opportunity to work for him. But you also have to understand that your father is old, He became a stumbling block in the way of business. The business I am in now is promising and the trend of the future. Everyone can make millions of dollars. But your dad is holding back because of some unrealistic rules and regulations, which hinders the business so that he imposes his personal opinion even on such a man as me. Yes, yes, I know, he said to me: 'Go for it yourself, it's your own business.' But, we both know that's unrealistic. We will definitely touch each other's pain points. He is basically saying to me, my business can't be done. I am a person with self-respect, and I can't let others put me in the wrong place. My will was imposed on me, and therefore what was bound to happen happened. Let me make it clear that I have a backer, all the great families in New York are my backer, and the Tattaglias are with I did it together. If this quarrel continues, the Corleone family will be isolated and besieged. If your father is in good health, he may be able to survive. On the other hand, the boss is a man He can't be compared with the godfather at all, and I don't mean to be derogatory in this. And Hagen, the Irish staff officer, can't be compared with Genco Abbandando in terms of prestige. May God bless Jinco's soul. Rest in peace. Therefore , I proposed peace and a truce. Let's stop all hostilities first, and wait until your father recovers and can participate in the discussion. Because I said good things and offered compensation at the same time, the Tattaglia family agreed not to do so. Bruno's revenge. There will be peace between us, and at the same time I have to make a living and do some business in my line of business. I don't ask you to cooperate, but I ask you Corleone family not to interfere. This, That's my suggestion. I think you have the right to agree and make an agreement." Michael said in Sicilian dialect, "Please tell me more about how you plan to start your business and what role our family will play in it. Also, how much dividend we will get from this business." "So, do you want to hear the details of the whole plan?" Sollozzo asked. Michael said solemnly: "The most important issue is that I must get reliable assurances that my father's life is no longer in danger." Sollozzo raised a hand expressively. "What promise can I give you? I've been hunted and my chances have been lost. My friend, you've set me high. I'm not that capable." Michael is now convinced that the purpose of the other party's talks is just to buy a few days.Sollozzo would risk killing the Don once more.The wonderful thing about it is that the "Turk" looks down on him and treats him like a little hooligan.Therefore, Michael felt an inexplicable sweet and fragrant coolness filling his whole body, but he deliberately put on an uncomfortable look on his face.Sollozzo asked straightforwardly: "What happened to you?" Michael looked embarrassed and said: "I can't bear to urinate, let me go to the toilet, is that okay?" Sollozzo studied his facial expression intently with his black eyes, then turned sideways and brusquely reached up and down, side to side, and up and down his crotch for a gun.Michael looked angry.McCluskey put it bluntly: "I've searched. I've searched thousands of desperadoes without error. He didn't have a gun." Sollozzo wasn't happy about it, he wasn't happy about it, without any reason.He gave a wink to a person sitting at the opposite table, and raised his eyebrows in the direction of the toilet.The man nodded slightly, indicating that he had checked the toilet and there was no one in it.Sollozzo reluctantly agreed with him, saying: "Don't wait too long." His sense of touch is astonishingly sensitive. Michael stood up and went into the toilet.There is a pink bar of soap above the urinal in a small wire basket.He walked into a stall and really wanted to pee, almost leaking it.He finished urinating quickly and reached behind the tank to find the miniature pistol taped there.He tore off the tape and took out the pistol.Quickly insert it on the waistband of the trousers, stretch the jacket, cover it, and button it.He washed his hands, wet his hair, and wiped the fingerprints from the tap with a handkerchief.Then, he walked out of the toilet. Sollozzo remained motionless, his face turned to the toilet door, his dark eyes gleaming with alertness.Michael smiled at him. "Now I can talk," he said, relieved. Constable McCloskey was absorbed in eating the plate of veal spaghetti that had just been served.The man sitting against the wall, who had been completely absorbed and motionless before, was obviously relaxed now. Michael sat down again.He remembered what Clemenza had told him: "Don't sit down, shoot when you come out of the toilet." He didn't feel this rush, either out of instinctive alertness or out of sheer panic.He had a presentiment that if he made a hasty movement he would be stopped.He wasn't nervous now, he might have been freaked out just now.He is glad that now instead of standing he is sitting.His trembling legs were really weak. Sollozzo leaned towards him.Michael, whose stomach was hidden by the table, quietly unbuttoned his coat while pretending to listen.He didn't listen to a word Sollozzo said to him.All he heard were some gurgling noises.His mind was buzzing with hot blood, and he couldn't hear a word.Under the dining table, he reached out with his right hand for the pistol in the waistband of his trousers.He drew his gun, and at that very moment the waiter came up and asked what they wanted; Sollozzo turned to speak to the waiter.Michael slammed the table with his left hand, and the gun in his right hand came close to touching Sollozzo's head.Sollozzo's reaction was also extremely quick: as soon as Michael moved, he strode out of the way.However, after all, Michael was younger and more responsive, and he pulled the trigger.The bullet hit Sollozzo just between the eye and the ear, and the bullet burst out on the other side, exploding a cloud of blood, blood and skull fragments splashing everywhere, as well as the face of the dumbfounded waiter. clothing.Michael instinctively thought that one bullet would be enough.Sollozzo turned his head at the last moment, and Michael clearly saw the light of life in Sollozzo's eyes go out.Seeing it clearly is like seeing a candle go out. It took only a second for Michael to turn the pistol and aim it at McCloskey.The officer stared at Sollozzo with the astonishment of a bystander, as if it had nothing to do with him.He seemed unaware of the danger he was in, and held the fork still on the veal in his hand, motionless; his eyes turned to Michael.There was confidence and anger in the look on his face and eyes, as if he was now waiting for Michael to surrender or run away.Michael smiled at him and pulled the trigger.The shot missed, missed the fatal spot, and hit McCloskey's thick, bull-like neck.He was panting loudly, as if he had swallowed a big mouthful of beef and couldn't swallow it.As he coughed up blood from his shattered lungs, it filled the air like a nebuliser.Michael fired a second shot through his white-haired skull. There was a pink mist in the air.Michael turned to the man sitting against the wall.The man didn't move, as if paralyzed by fright, he carefully put his hands on the table and turned his face away on purpose.The coffin waiter staggered back to the kitchen with a look of horror on his face.Sollozzo still seems to be sitting in the original chair, with his side leaning against the table.McCloskey's hulking body collapsed, slipped from the chair, and fell to the floor.Michael dropped his arms and let the gun slip out of his hand and fall along his body without a sound.He saw that neither the man sitting against the wall nor the waiter noticed that he dropped the gun.He took a few steps to the door, opened it by himself and went out.Sollozzo's car was still parked on the side of the road, but the driver was nowhere to be seen.Michael turned left, around the bend.The headlights of a car came on, and the wretched coupe pulled up in front of him, and the doors opened at the same time.He stepped in, and the car drove away with a whine.He recognized Tessio in the driver, Tessio's dignified face as marble. "Did you fuck Sollozzo?" Tessio asked. At this point, Michael paid special attention to Tessio's use of the idiom "fucked".This idiom is usually used in ambiguous relationships between men and women.It was amusing that Tessio used this idiom on the present occasion. "The two of them together—" Michael said. "Insured?" Tessio asked. There was a set of clothes in the car for Michael to change into.Twenty minutes later he boarded an Italian freighter bound for Sicily.Two hours later, the freighter set sail, and from the cabin Michael could see the lights of New York City burning like will-o'-the-wisps in hell.He felt greatly relieved.He was out of New York now, and there had been a sense of relief in the past.He remembered being carried off once when the Marine division he was with had made a forcible landing on an island.The fighting was still going on, but he was transported to the ship's hospital with minor injuries.The relief he felt now was the same overwhelming relief he felt when he was back from the line of fire.Hell looked like it was going to be turned upside down, but he finally left. The day after Sollozzo and Police Officer McCluskey were murdered, the captains and lieutenants of the New York City Police Department issued an injunction saying that gambling and prostitution are strictly prohibited until the killer of Police Officer McCluskey is arrested and brought to justice , It is strictly forbidden to sign any secret agreement.A big manhunt with surprise raids across the city begins, and all illegal businesses are paralyzed. In the second half of that day, the major families sent an emissary to ask the Corleone family if they planned to hand over the murderer.The answer the families received was: "That matter has nothing to do with the Corleone family." That night, a bomb exploded on the boulevard in Long Beach, and a car suddenly drove over and stopped at the chain blockade. In front of him, he threw a bomb and ran away with a "woo".That night, two low-level members of the Corleone family system were murdered while they were eating quietly at a small Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village.The Great War broke out in 1946.