Английский язык с Крестным Отцом
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her what he did with it. Her father had shrugged and said, "I would have done the same
if my wife had been as presumptuous (самонадеянный, дерзкий, нахальный
[pri’zmptjus]) as you."
And so she had returned home, a little bewildered, a little frightened. She had always
been her father's favorite and she could not understand his coldness now.
But the Don had not been so unsympathetic as he pretended. He made inquiries and
found out what Carlo Rizzi had done with the wedding present money. He had men
assigned to Carlo Rizzi's bookmaking operation who would report to Hagen everything
Rizzi did on the job. But the Don could not interfere. How expect a man to discharge his
husbandly duties to a wife whose family he feared? It was an impossible situation and
he dared not meddle. Then when Connie became pregnant he was convinced of the
wisdom of his decision and felt he never could interfere though Connie complained to
her mother about a few more beatings and the mother finally became concerned
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enough to mention it to the Don. Connie even hinted that she might want a divorce. For
the first time in her life the Don was angry with her. "He is the father of your child. What
can a child come to in this world if he has no father?" he said to Connie.
Learning all this, Carlo Rizzi grew confident. He was perfectly safe. In fact he bragged
(to brag –
Coach, about how he bounced his wife around when she got snotty and saw their looks
of respect that he had the guts (имеет смелость, не боится; gut – кишка) to
manhandle (тащить, передвигать вручную; грубо обращаться, избивать) the
daughter of the great Don Corleone.
But Rizzi would not have felt so safe if he had known that when Sonny Corleone
learned of the beatings he had flown into a murderous rage and had been restrained
only by the sternest and most imperious command of the Don himself, a command that
even Sonny dared not disobey. Which was why Sonny avoided Rizzi, not trusting
himself to control his temper.
So feeling perfectly safe on this beautiful Sunday morning, Carlo Rizzi sped crosstown
on 96th Street to the East Side. He did not see Sonny's car coming the opposite way
toward his house.
Sonny Corleone had left the protection of the mall and spent the night with Lucy
Mancini in town. Now on the way home he was traveling with four bodyguards, two in
front and two behind. He didn't need guards right beside him, he could take care of a
single direct assault. The other men traveled in their own cars and had apartments on
either side of Lucy's apartment. It was safe to visit her as long as he didn't do it too often.
But now that he was in town he figured he would pick up his sister Connie and take her
out to Long Beach. He knew Carlo would be working at his book and the cheap bastard
wouldn't get her a car. So he'd give his sister a lift out.
He waited for the two men in front to go into the building and then followed them. He
saw the two men in back pull up behind his car and get out to watch the streets. He kept
his own eyes open. It was a million-to-one shot that the opposition even knew he was in
town but he was always careful. He had learned that in the 1930's war.
He never used elevators. They were death traps. He climbed the eight flights to
Connie's apartment, going fast. He knocked on her door. He had seen Carlo's car go by
and knew she would be alone. There was no answer. He knocked again and then he
heard his sister's voice, frightened, timid, asking, "Who is it?"
The fright in the voice stunned him. His kid sister had always been fresh and snotty,
tough as anybody in the family. What the hell had happened to her? He said, "It's
Sonny." The bolt inside slid back and the door opened and Connie was in his arms
sobbing. He was so surprised he just stood there. He pushed her away from him and
saw her swollen face and he understood what had happened.
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He pulled away from her to run down the stairs and go after her husband. Rage flamed
up in him, contorting his own face. Connie saw the rage and clung to him, not letting him
go, making him come into the apartment. She was weeping out of terror now. She knew
her older brother's temper and feared it. She had never complained to him about Carlo
for that reason. Now she made him come into the apartment with her.
"It was my fault," she said. "I started a fight with him and I tried to hit him so he hit me.
He really didn't try to hit me that hard. I walked into it."
Sonny's heavy Cupid face was under control. "You going to see the old man today?"
She didn't answer, so he added, "I thought you were, so I dropped over to give you a
lift. I was in the city anyway."
She shook her head. "I don't want them to see me this way. I'll come next week."
"OK," Sonny said. He picked up her kitchen phone and dialed a number. "I'm getting a
doctor to come over here and take a look at you and fix you up. In your condition you