[TheStellarEnsemble.com] The Godfather - Mario Puzo

see he was worried, as if he knew the crazy girl he was screwing would actually pull such a stunt.“She was kidding around, some nut,” Carlo said.Connie ducked around his arm and clawed at his face. She got a little bit of his cheekunder her fingernails. With surprising patience he pushed her away. She noticed he was carefulbecause of her pregnancy and that gave her the courage to feed her rage. She was also excited.Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to do anything, the doctor had said no sex for the last twomonths and she wanted it, before the last two months started. Yet her wish to inflict a physicalinjury on Carlo was very real too. She followed him into the bedroom.She could see he was scared and that filled her with contemptuous delight. “You’restaying home,” she said, “you’re not going out.”“OK, OK,” he said. He was still undressed, only wearing his shorts. He liked to goaround the house like that, he was proud of his V-shaped body, the golden skin. Connie looked athim hungrily. He tried to laugh. “You gonna give me something to eat at least?”That mollified her, his calling on her duties, one of them at least. She was a good cook,she had learned that from her mother. She sautéed veal and peppers, preparing a mixed saladwhile the pan simmered. Meanwhile Carlo stretched out on his bed to read the next day’s racingform. He had a water glass full of whiskey beside him which he kept sipping at.Connie came into the bedroom. She stood in the doorway as if she could not come closeto the bed without being invited. “The food is on the table,” she said.“I’m not hungry yet,” he said, still reading the racing form.“It’s on the table,” Connie said stubbornly.“Stick it up your ass,” Carlo said. He drank off the rest of the whiskey in the water glass,tilted the bottle to fill it again. He paid no more attention to her.Connie went into the kitchen, picked up the plates filled with food and smashed themagainst the sink. The loud crashes brought Carlo in from the bedroom. He looked at the greasyveal and peppers splattered all over the kitchen walls and his finicky neatness was outraged.“You filthy guinea spoiled brat,” he said venomously. “Clean that up right now or I’ll kick theshit out of you.”“Like hell I will,” Connie said. She held her hands like claws ready to scratch his barechest to ribbons.Carlo went back into the bedroom and when he came out he was holding his belt doubled230