The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
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told her story. He ordered her to keep silent, that he would attend to everything. At that 
time Brasi did not work for Don Corleone. 
Before Don Corleone could set matters aright, Luca Brasi tried to commit suicide in his 
cell, hacking at his throat with a piece of glass. He was transferred to the prison hospital 
and by the time he recovered Don Corleone had arranged everything. The police did not 
have a case they could prove in court and Luca Brasi was released. 
Though Don Corleone assured Filomena that she had nothing to fear from either Luca 
Brasi or the police, she had no peace. Her nerves were shattered and she could no 
longer work at her profession. Finally she persuaded her husband to sell the grocery 
store and they returned to Italy. Her husband was a good man, had been told everything 
and understood. But he was a weak man and in Italy squandered the fortune they had 
both slaved in America to earn. And so after he died she had become a servant. So 
Filomena ended her story. She had another glass of wine and said to Michael, “I bless 
the name of your father. He always sent me money when I asked, he saved me from 
Brasi. Tell him I say a prayer for his soul every night and that he shouldn’t fear dying.” 
After she had left, Michael asked Don Tommasino, “Is her story true?” The 
capo-mafioso nodded. And Michael thought, no wonder nobody wanted to tell him the 
story. Some story. Some Luca. 
The next morning Michael wanted to discuss the whole thug with Don Tommasino but 
learned that the old man had been called to Palermo by an urgent message delivered by 
a courier. That evening Don Tommasino returned and took Michael aside. News had 
come from America, he said. News that it grieved him to tell. Santino Corleone had been 
killed. 
Chapter 24
The Sicilian sun, early-morning lemon-colored, filled Michael’s bedroom. He awoke and, 
feeling Apollonia’s satiny body against his own sleep-warm skin, made her come awake 
with love. When they were done, even all the months of complete possession could not 
stop him from marveling at her beauty and her passion. 
She left the bedroom to wash and dress in the bathroom down the hall. Michael, still 
naked, the morning sun refreshing his body, lit a cigarette and relaxed on the bed. This 
was the last morning they would spend in this house and the villa. Don Tommasino had 
arranged for him to be transferred to another town on the southern coast of Sicily. 
Apollonia, in the first month of pregnancy, wanted to visit with her family for a few weeks 

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