The Sicilian (23 page)

In a corner of the garden, beneath a lemon tree, was an oval wooden table with rustic wooden chairs around it. Clemenza and Michael sat in two of the chairs and then Clemenza called out to the group of men. One of them came over and sat down. Clemenza asked questions about the man’s personal life. Was he married? Did he have children? How long had he worked for Don Domenic? Who were his relatives in Trapani? Did he ever think of going to America to make his fortune? The answer to this last question was invariably a Yes.

An old woman in black brought out a huge jug of wine mixed with fresh lemons, then brought out a tray with many glasses. Clemenza offered each man he interviewed a drink and a cigarette. When he had finished and the last one was gone and the group had left the garden, Clemenza said to Michael, “Any of them hit you wrong?”

Michael shrugged and said, “They all seemed the same to me. They all want to go to America.”

Clemenza said, “We need fresh blood back home. We lost a lot of men and we might lose a lot more. Every five years or so I come home and bring about twelve guys back with me. I train them myself. Little jobs first—collections, strong-arm, guard duty. I test their loyalty. When I feel the time is right and the opportunity comes along, I give them a chance to make their bones. But I’m very careful about that. Once they get that far they know they have a good living for the rest of their lives as long as they remain loyal. Everybody here knows I’m the recruiter for the Corleone Family and every man in the province wants to see me. But my brother picks them out. Nobody gets to see me without his okay.”

Michael looked around the beautiful garden with its many colored flowers, fragrant lemon trees, the old statues of the gods dug from ancient ruins, other newer ones of holy saints, the rose-colored walls around the villa. It was a lovely setting for the examination of twelve murderous apostles.

In the late afternoon the small Fiat reappeared at the villa gates and was waved through by the guards. Andolini was driving, and beside him there was a girl with long jet-black hair and the exquisite oval features of a painter’s Madonna. When she got out of the car Michael could see she was pregnant; though she wore the modest loose dress of the Sicilian woman it was not black, rather a hideous floral rose and white. But her face was so pretty the dress didn’t matter.

Michael Corleone was surprised to see the small figure of Hector Adonis get out of the back seat. It was Adonis who made the introductions. The girl’s name was Justina. She had none of the shyness of the young; and at only seventeen years of age, her face had the strength of an older woman, as if she had already tasted the same tragedies of life. She studied Michael closely before she bowed her head to acknowledge his introduction. As if she were studying him to find any hint of treachery in his face.

One of the old women took her away to her room and Andolini took her luggage out of the car. It consisted of only a small suitcase. Michael carried it into the house himself.

That night they all had dinner together except for Andolini, who had left in the Fiat. Hector Adonis remained. At the dinner table they made plans to get Justina to America. Don Domenic said the boat to Tunis was ready; it always would be since they did not know when Guiliano would arrive and they would have to move quickly when he did. “Who knows what evil companions he will bring after him,” Don Domenic said with a little smile.

Peter Clemenza said he would accompany Justina to Tunis and make sure she was put on a special plane with special documents that would enable her to enter the United States without trouble. Then he would return to the villa.

When Justina arrived in America she would send her code word back and the final operation to save Guiliano would begin.

Justina said very little during the meal. Don Domenic asked her if she was up to making the journey this very night after she had traveled so much of the day.

When she answered Michael could see the attraction she must have had for Guiliano. She had the same flashing black eyes, the determined jaw and mouth of the strongest Sicilian women and spoke as imperiously.

“Traveling is easier than working and less dangerous than hiding,” she said. “I’ve slept in the mountains and in the fields with sheep, so why can’t I sleep in a ship or on an airplane? Surely it won’t be as cold?” She said this with all the pride of the young, but her hands trembled as she lifted her glass of wine. “I worry only that Turi be able to escape. Why couldn’t he come with me?”

Hector Adonis said gently, “Justina, he didn’t want to endanger you with his presence. It is more difficult for him to travel; more precautions must be taken.”

Peter Clemenza said, “The boat takes you to Africa just before dawn, Justina. Perhaps you’d better get some rest.”

Justina said, “No, I’m not tired and I’m too excited to sleep. Could I have another glass of wine?”

Don Domenic poured her glass full. “Drink, it’s good for your baby and it will help you sleep later. Did Guiliano give you any messages for us?”

Justina smiled at him sadly. “I haven’t seen him for months. Aspanu Pisciotta is the only one he trusts. Not that he thinks I would betray him but that I am his weakness through which they might snare him. It’s from his reading all those romances where the love of women brings about the downfall of heroes. He thinks his love for me his most terrible weakness, and of course he never tells me his plans.”

Michael was curious to find out more about Guiliano, the man he might have been if his father had remained in Sicily, the man Sonny might have been. “How did you meet Turi?” he asked Justina.

She laughed. “I fell in love with him when I was eleven years old,” she said. “That was almost seven years ago and the first year that Turi was an outlaw, but he was already famous in our little village in Sicily. My younger brother and I were working in the fields with my father, and Papa gave me a packet of lire notes to bring back to my mother. My brother and I were silly children and we flaunted the notes, we were so excited at having that much money in our hands. Two
carabinieri
saw us on the road and took away our money and laughed at us when we cried. We didn’t know what to do, we were afraid to go home and we were afraid to go back to our father. Then this young man came out of the bushes. He was taller than most men in Sicily and much broader in the shoulders. He looked like the American soldiers we had seen during the war. He carried a machine gun under his arm yet he had such gentle brown eyes. He was very handsome. He asked us, ‘Children, why are you crying on such a wonderful day? And you, young lady, you’re ruining your beautiful looks, who will want to marry you?’ But he was laughing and you could see that the sight of us delighted him for some reason. We told him what had happened and he laughed again and said we must always beware of the
carabinieri
and that this was a good lesson for us to learn so early in life. Then he gave my brother a huge wad of lire to bring home to our mother and to me he gave a note for my father. I can still remember it word for word. It said, ‘Don’t reproach your two beautiful children who will be the pleasure and comfort of your old age. The money I have given them is far greater than you have lost. And know this: From today on, you and your children are under the protection of GUILIANO.’ I thought that name was so wonderful and he had written it in large letters. I saw that name in my dreams for months. Just those letters. GUILIANO.

“But what made me love him was the pleasure he received in doing a good deed. He was really delighted to help someone else. That never changed. I always saw the same pleasure, as if he gained more from the giving than they did from the taking. That is why the people of Sicily love him.”

Hector Adonis said quietly, “Until the Portella della Ginestra.”

Justina lowered her eyes and said fiercely, “They love him still.”

Michael said quickly, “But how did you meet him again?”

Justina said, “My older brother was a friend of his. And maybe my father was a member of the band. I don’t know. Only my family and Turi’s chiefs know we were married. Turi swore everybody to secrecy, afraid the authorities would arrest me.”

Everybody at the table was stunned at this news. Justina reached inside her dress and drew out a small purse. From it she took out a cream-colored stiff-papered document with a heavy seal and offered it to Michael, but Hector Adonis took it and read it. Then he smiled at her. “You will be in America tomorrow. Can I tell Turi’s parents the good news?”

Justina blushed. “They always thought I was pregnant without being married,” she said. “They thought less of me for it. Yes, you can tell them.”

Michael said, “Have you ever seen or read the Testament that Turi has hidden?”

Justina shook her head. “No,” she said. “Turi never spoke of it to me.”

Don Domenic’s face had gone wintry, but he also looked curious. He had heard about the Testament, Michael thought, but didn’t approve of it. How many people did know? Certainly not the people of Sicily. Only members of the government in Rome, Don Croce and Guiliano’s family and his inner circle of outlaws.

Hector Adonis said, “Don Domenic, may I ask to be your guest until word arrives from America that Justina is safely there? Then I can arrange for Guiliano to receive the news. It should be for no more than an extra night.”

Don Domenic said with blunt forcefulness, “You will do me an honor, my dear Professor. Stay as long as you like. But now it’s time for us all to go to bed. Our young
Signora
must get some sleep for her long journey and I am too old to stay up so late.
Avanti
.” And he made a shooing gesture like a great affectionate bird, to send them on their way. He personally took Hector Adonis by the arm to lead him to a bedroom, shouting orders to the women servants to take care of the rest of his guests.

When Michael rose the next morning Justina was gone.

Hector Adonis had to sleep over for two nights before the courier letter came from Justina that she was safely in America. Somewhere in the letter was the code word that satisfied Adonis, and the morning he was to leave he asked Michael for a private conference.

Michael had spent the two days tense with anticipation, anxious to get home to America himself. Peter Clemenza’s description of Sonny’s murder had filled Michael with a sense of foreboding about Turi Guiliano. In his mind the two men were growing intertwined. They looked somewhat alike and they both had the same sense of physical vitality and power. Guiliano was only Michael’s age, and Michael was intrigued by the man’s fame; he was anxious at the thought that they would finally meet face to face. He wondered what use his father could put Guiliano to in America. For he had no doubt that was his father’s purpose. Otherwise the assignment of bringing Guiliano home with him did not make sense.

Michael walked with Adonis down to the beach. The armed guards saluted them both: “
Vossia
,” Your Lordship. Not one of them showed any sign of derision at the sight of the tiny elegantly dressed Hector Adonis. The motorboat had come back, and now closer to it Michael could see it was almost as big as a small yacht. The men aboard it were armed with
lupare
and machine guns.

The July sun was very hot and the sea so blue and so still that the sun reflected off of it as if it were metal. Michael and Hector Adonis sat on two chairs on the pier.

“Before I leave this morning, I have a final instruction for you,” Hector Adonis said quietly. “It is the most important thing that you can do for Guiliano.”

“With all my heart,” Michael said.

“You must send Guiliano’s Testament to America immediately, to your father,” Adonis said. “He will know how to use it. He will make sure that Don Croce and the government in Rome will know it is safely in America and then they will not dare harm Guiliano. They will let him emigrate safely.”

“Do you have it with you?” Michael asked.

The little man smiled at him slyly and then laughed, “You have it,” he said.

Michael was astonished. “You’ve been misinformed,” he said. “No one has given it to me.”

“Yes they have,” Hector Adonis said. He put a friendly hand on Michael’s arm and Michael noticed how small and dainty his fingers were, like a child’s. “Maria Lombardo, Guiliano’s mother, gave it to you. Only she and myself know where it is, not even Pisciotta knows.”

He saw Michael’s uncomprehending look. “It’s in the black Madonna,” Hector Adonis said. “It’s true the Madonna has been in the family for generations and is valuable. Everybody knows about it. But Guiliano was given a replica. It is hollow. The Testament is written on very thin paper and each sheet has Guiliano’s signature. I helped him compose it over the last few years. There are also some incriminating documents. Turi always knew what the end might be and wanted to be prepared. For a young man he has a great sense of strategy.”

Michael laughed. “And his mother is a great actress.”

“All Sicilians are,” Hector Adonis said. “We trust no one and dissemble before everyone. Guiliano’s father is certainly trustworthy, but he might be indiscreet. Pisciotta has been Guiliano’s truest friend since their childhood, Stefan Andolini has saved Guiliano’s life in battle with the
carabinieri
, but men change with time or under torture. So it’s best they do not know.”

“But he trusted you,” Michael said.

“I am blessed,” Hector Adonis said simply. “But you see how clever Guiliano can be? He trusts only me with the Testament and he trusts only Pisciotta with his life. Both of us must betray him if he is to fail.”

CHAPTER 17

M
ICHAEL
C
ORLEONE AND
Hector Adonis walked back to the villa and sat under a lemon tree with Peter Clemenza. Michael was eager to read the Testament, but Hector Adonis said that Andolini was due to pick him up for the trip back to Montelepre and Michael waited to see if Andolini had any messages for him.

An hour passed. Hector Adonis looked at his watch, his face worried.

Michael said, “His car probably broke down. That Fiat is on its last legs.”

Hector Adonis shook his head. “Stefan Andolini has the heart of a murderer, but he is the soul of punctuality. And dependable. I’m afraid that since he is already an hour late, something has gone wrong. And I must be in Montelepre before dark when curfew begins.”

Peter Clemenza said, “My brother will give you a car and driver.”

Adonis thought about this for a moment. “No,” he said, “I will wait. It’s important that I see him.”

Michael said, “Do you mind if we go on and read the Testament without you? How do you open the statue?”

Hector Adonis said, “Of course—read it. As for opening it there’s no trick. It is carved out of solid wood. The head was soldered on after Turi put the papers inside. You simply chop off the head. If you have trouble reading it, I will be glad to assist you. Send one of the servants for me.”

Michael and Peter Clemenza went up to Michael’s bedroom. The statue was still in Michael’s jacket; he had completely forgotten it. When he took it out, both men stared at the black Virgin Mary. The features were definitely African yet the expression was exactly that of the white Madonnas that decorated almost every poor household in Sicily. Michael turned it over in his hands. It was very heavy—you could not guess that it was hollow.

Peter Clemenza went to the door and shouted an order down to one of the women servants. The woman appeared carrying the kitchen cleaver. She stared into the room for a moment and handed the cleaver to Clemenza. He shut the door to close out her curious eyes.

Michael held the black Madonna on the heavy wooden dresser table. He grasped the disc carved into the bottom with one hand and used his other to clasp the top of the statue’s head. Clemenza carefully put the cleaver to the neck of the Madonna, raised his burly arm, and with one quick powerful stroke, chopped off the head and sent it flying across the room. A sheaf of papers bound with a piece of soft gray leather sprouted out of the hollow neck.

Clemenza had hit exactly on the seam where it had been soldered; the cleaver could never have cut through the hard olive wood. He put the cleaver on the table and pulled the papers out of the headless statue. He loosened the leather thong and spread the papers out on the table. They consisted of one sheaf of about fifteen onionskin pages covered with close handwriting in black ink. The bottom of each page was signed by Guiliano in the careless scrawl of kings. There were also documents with official government seals, letters with government letterheads and statements bearing notary seals. The papers were curling up to resume the shape of their confinement and Michael used the two pieces of the statue and the cleaver to hold them flat on the table. Then he ceremoniously poured two glasses of wine from the jug on the night table and handed one to Clemenza. They drank and then started to read the Testament.

It took them almost two hours to finish.

Michael marveled that Turi Guiliano, so young, so idealistic, had lived through these treacheries. Michael knew enough of the world to imagine that Guiliano harbored his own cunning, his own scheme of power, in order to remain dedicated to his mission. Michael was filled with an enormous sense of identification and commitment to the cause of Guiliano’s escape.

It was not so much Guiliano’s diary which recounted his history for the past seven years but the documents supporting it that could surely topple the Christian Democratic government in Rome. How could these powerful men have been so foolish, Michael wondered: a note signed by the Cardinal, a letter sent by the Minister of Justice to Don Croce asking what could be done to crush the demonstration at Ginestra, all coyly worded to be sure, but damning in the light of the events that followed. Each thing by itself was innocent enough, brought together they built a mountain of evidence as imposing as the Pyramids.

There was a letter from Prince Ollorto full of flowery compliments to Guiliano and assuring him that all the men in high places of the Christian Democratic government in Rome had assured the Prince that they would do everything in their power to have Guiliano pardoned, providing he did what they had asked of him. In his letter Prince Ollorto claimed he had a complete understanding with the Minister of Justice in Rome.

There were also copies of operational plans prepared by high officials of the
carabinieri
to capture Guiliano—plans that had been turned over to Guiliano in exchange for services rendered.

“No wonder they don’t want to catch Guiliano,” Michael said. “He can blow them all up with these papers.”

Peter Clemenza said, “I’m taking this stuff to Tunis right away. By tomorrow night they’ll be in your father’s safe.”

He picked up the headless Madonna and stuffed the papers back inside. He put the statue in his pocket and said to Michael, “Let’s get going. If I start now I can be back here tomorrow morning.”

They went out of the villa, Clemenza depositing the cleaver with the old crone in the kitchen, who examined it suspiciously as if for some sign of blood. They started down toward the beach when they were surprised by the sight of Hector Adonis still waiting. Stefan Andolini had not appeared.

The little man had unloosened his tie and taken off his jacket; his shiny white shirt was dulled with sweat though he was in the shade of a lemon tree. He was also a bit drunk—the big wine jug on the wooden garden table was empty.

He greeted Michael and Peter Clemenza despairingly. “The final treacheries are beginning. Andolini is three hours late. I must get to Montelepre and Palermo. I must send word to Guiliano.”

Peter Clemenza said with rough good humor, “Professor, his car might have broken down, or he might have been detained by some other more urgent business, any number of things. He knows you’re here in safety and will wait. Spend another night with us if he doesn’t come today.”

But Hector Adonis kept muttering, “It will all go badly, it will all go badly,” and begged them for transportation. Clemenza ordered two men to use one of the Alfa Romeos and drive Hector Adonis as far as Palermo. He told the men to be sure to have the car back at the villa before nightfall.

They helped Hector Adonis get into the car and told him not to worry. The Testament would be in America within twenty-four hours and Guiliano would be safe. After the car rolled through the gates, Michael walked down to the beach with Clemenza and watched him get on the motor launch, and continued watching as the boat started its journey to Africa. “I’ll be back in the morning,” Peter Clemenza called out. And Michael wondered what would happen if this was the night Guiliano chose to appear.

Later he had dinner, the two old women serving him. Afterward he walked along the beach until turned back by the guards at the perimeter of the villa’s estate. It was the few minutes before darkness, and the Mediterranean Sea was the deepest and most velvety blue and from beyond the horizon he could smell the continent of Africa, a perfume of wild flowers and wild animals.

Here by the water there was not the whirring of insects; those creatures needed the lush vegetation, the smoky heated air of the interior. It was almost as if a machine had stopped running. He stood on the beach feeling the peace and beauty of a Sicilian night and he pitied all the others voyaging fearfully in the darkness; Guiliano in his mountains, Pisciotta with the fragile shield of his special red-bordered pass going through enemy lines, Professor Adonis and Stefan Andolini searching for each other on the dusty roads of Sicily, Peter Clemenza riding the blue-black sea to Tunis; and where had Don Domenic Clemenza gone that he had not appeared for dinner? They were all shadows in the Sicilian night, and when they reappeared the stage would be set for the life or death of Turi Guiliano.