[TheStellarEnsemble.com] The Godfather - Mario Puzo

was a fag. He sipped his drink thoughtfully.Johnny Fontane came up beside him and said, “Hi, old buddy, having a good time?”Nino grinned. “I don’t know. It’s different. Now when I go back to the old neighborhoodI can say Deanna Dunn had me.”Johnny laughed. “She can be better than that if she invites you home with her. Did she?”Nino shook his head. “I got too interested in the movie,” he said. But this time Johnnydidn’t laugh.“Get serious, kid,” he said.” A dame like that can do you a lot of good. And you used to,boff anything. Man, sometimes I still get nightmares when I remember those ugly broads youused to bang.”Nino waved his glass drunkenly and said very loud, “Yeah, they were ugly but they werewomen.” Deanna Dunn, in the corner, turned her head to look at them. Nino waved his glass ather in greeting.Johnny Fontane sighed. “OK, you’re just a guinea peasant.”“And I ain’t gonna change,” Nino said with his charmingly drunken smile.Johnny understood him perfectly. He knew Nino was not as drunk as he pretended. Heknew that Nino was only pretending so that he could say things which he felt were too rude tosay to his new Hollywood padrone when sober. He put his arm around Nino’s neck and saidaffectionately, “You wise guy bum, you know you got an ironclad contract for a year and youcan say and do anything you want and I can’t fire you.”“You can’t fire me?” Nino said with drunken cunning.“No,” Johnny said.“Then fuck you,” Nino said.For a moment Johnny was surprised into anger. He saw the careless grin on Nino’s face.But in the past few years he must have gotten smarter, or his own descent from stardom hadmade him more sensitive. In that moment he understood Nino, why his boyhood singing partnerhad never become successful, why he was trying to destroy any chance of success now. ThatNino was reacting away from all the prices of success, that in some way he felt insulted byeverything that was being done for him.Johnny took Nino by the arm and led him out of the house. Nino could barely walk now.Johnny was talking to him soothingly. “OK, kid, you just sing for me, I wanta make dough on163