In addition to this Sonny was under the enormous strain of being a marked man. He

had to be extraordinarily careful in all his movements and he knew that his visits to Lucy

Mancini had been charted by the enemy. But here he took elaborate precautions since

this was the traditional vulnerable spot. He was safe there. Though Lucy had not the

slightest suspicion, she was watched twenty-four hours a day by men of the Santino

regime and when an apartment became vacant on her floor it was immediately rented

by one of the most reliable men of that regime.

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru

The Don was recovering and would soon be able to resume command. At that time

the tide of battle must swing to the Corleone Family. This Sonny was sure of.

Meanwhile he would guard his Family's empire, earn the respect of his father, and,

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since the position was not hereditary to an absolute degree, cement his claim as heir to

the Corleone Empire.

But the enemy was making its plans. They too had analyzed the situation and had

come to the conclusion that the only way to stave off (предотвратить, отсрочить

/бедствие/; stave – палка, шест) complete defeat was to kill Sonny Corleone. They

understood the situation better now and felt it was possible to negotiate with the Don,

known for his logical reasonableness. They had come to hate Sonny for his

bloodthirstiness, which they considered barbaric. Also not good business sense.

Nobody wanted the old days back again with all its turmoil (суматоха, беспорядок

['t∂:moıl]) and trouble.

One evening Connie Corleone received an anonymous phone call, a girl's voice,

asking for Carlo. "Who is this?" Connie asked.

The girl on the other end giggled and said, "I'm a friend of Carlo's. I just wanted to tell

him I can't see him tonight. I have to go out of town."

"You lousy bitch," Connie Corleone said. She screamed it again into the phone. "You

lousy tramp bitch." There was a click on the other end.

Carlo had gone to the track for that afternoon and when he came home in the late

evening he was sore at losing and half drunk from the bottle he always carried. As soon

as he stepped into the door, Connie started screaming curses at him. He ignored her

and went in to take a shower. When he came out he dried his naked body in front of her

and started dolling up (to doll up – наряжать/ся/; doll – кукла) to go out.

Connie stood with hands on hips, her face pointy (заостренный) and white with rage.

"You're not going any place," she said. "Your girl friend called and said she can't make it

tonight. You lousy bastard, you have the nerve to give your whores my phone number.

I'll kill you, you bastard." She rushed at him, kicking and scratching.

He held her off with one muscular forearm. "You're crazy," he said coldly. But she

could see he was worried, as if he knew the crazy girl he was screwing would actually

pull such a stunt (удачное, эффектное выступление; штука, трюк, фокус). "She was

kidding around, some nut," Carlo said.

Connie ducked (to duck – нырять, увертываться; duck – утка) around his arm and

clawed (to claw – царапать; claw – коготь) at his face. She got a little bit of his cheek

under her fingernails. With surprising patience he pushed her away. She noticed he was

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96

careful because 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 two months and she wanted it, before the last two months started.

Yet her wish to inflict a physical injury 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're

staying home," she said, "you're not going out."

"OK, OK," he said. He was still undressed, only wearing his shorts. He liked to go

around the house like that, he was proud of his V-shaped body, the golden skin. Connie

looked at him hungrily. He tried to laugh. "You gonna give me something to eat at

least?"

That mollified (to mollify – смягчить) her, his calling on her duties, one of them at

least. She was a good cook, she had learned that from her mother. She sauteed (to

sautй – потушить, приготовить что-либо быстро в небольшом количестве масла

или жира) veal and peppers, preparing a mixed salad while the pan simmered (to

simmer – закипать; кипеть на медленном огне). Meanwhile Carlo stretched out on his

bed to read the next day's racing form. 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

close to 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 them

against the sink. The loud crashes brought Carlo in from the bedroom. He looked at the

greasy veal and peppers splattered all over the kitchen walls and his finicky

(разборчивый, мелочно требовательный) neatness was outraged. "You filthy guinea

spoiled brat," he said venomously. "Clean that up right now or I'll kick the shit out of

you."

"Like hell I will," Connie said. She held her hands like claws ready to scratch his bare

chest to ribbons.

Carlo went back into the bedroom and when he came out he was holding his belt

doubled in his hand. "Clean it up," he said and there was no mistaking the menace in

his voice. She stood there not moving and he swung the belt against her heavily padded

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97

hips, the leather stinging but not really hurting. Connie retreated to the kitchen cabinets

and her hand went into one of the drawers to haul out the long bread knife. She held it

ready.

Carlo laughed. "Even the female Corleones are murderers," he said. He put the belt

down on the kitchen table and advanced toward her. She tried a sudden lunge but her

pregnant heavy body made her slow and he eluded the thrust she aimed at his groin in

such deadly earnest. He disarmed her easily and then he started to slap her face with a

slow medium-heavy stroke so as not to break the skin. He hit her again and again as

she retreated around the kitchen table trying to escape him and he pursued her into the

bedroom. She tried to bite his hand and he grabbed her by the hair to lift her head up.

He slapped her face until she began to weep like a little girl, with pain and humiliation.

Then he threw her contemptuously onto the bed. He drank from the bottle of whiskey

still on the night table. He seemed very drunk now, his light blue eyes had a crazy glint