[TheStellarEnsemble.com] The Godfather - Mario Puzo

unning smooth. Let me know if you ever make up your mind.”Luca shrugged. “It’s not so bad where I’m at.” And so they left it.The general idea had been to lead the Tattaglias to believe that he knew about thelucrative narcotics operation and that he wanted a piece of it free-lance. In that fashion he mighthear something about Sollozzo’s plans if the Turk had any, or whether he was getting ready tostep on the toes of Don Corleone. After waiting for two months with nothing else happening,Luca reported to the Don that obviously Sollozzo was taking his defeat graciously. The Don hadtold him to keep trying but merely as a sideline, not to press it.Luca had dropped into the nightclub the evening before Don Corleone’s being shot.Almost immediately Bruno Tattaglia had come to his table and sat down.“I have a friend who wants to talk to you,” he said.“Bring him over,” Luca said. “I’ll talk to any friend of yours.”“No,” Bruno said. “He wants to see you in private.”“Who is he?” Luca asked.“Just a friend of mine,” Bruno Tattaglia said. “He wants to put a proposition to you. Canyou meet him later on tonight?”“Sure,” Luca said. “What time and where?”Tattaglia said softly, “The club closes at four in the morning. Why don’t you meet in herewhile the waiters are cleaning up?”They knew his habits, Luca thought, they must have been checking him out. He usuallygot up about three or four in the afternoon and had breakfast, then amused himself by gamblingwith cronies in the Family or had a girl. Sometimes he saw one of the midnight movies and thenwould drop in for a drink at one of the clubs. He never went to bed before dawn. So thesuggestion of a four A.M. meeting was not as outlandish as it seemed.“Sure, sure,” he said. “I’ll be back at four.” He left the club and caught a cab to hisfurnished room on Tenth Avenue. He boarded with an Italian family to which he was distantlyrelated. His two rooms were separated from the rest of their railroad flat by a special door. Heliked the arrangement because it gave him some family life and also protection against surprisewhere he was most vulnerable.The sly Turkish fox was going to show his bushy tail, Luca thought. If things went farenough, if Sollozzo committed himself tonight, maybe the whole thing could be wound up as a94