Английский язык с Крестным Отцом

"Do you find that so unbelievable?" she asked. "Wasn't he the one who brought you

home when you were a kid?"

"He was a different person," Hagen said, "he grew up to be a different kind of man."

"Not to me," Lucy said. "Maybe to everybody else, but not to me." She was still too

weak to explain how Sonny had never been anything but gentle with her. He'd never

been angry with her, never even irritable or nervous.

Hagen made all the arrangements for her to move to Las Vegas. A rented apartment

was waiting, he took her to the airport himself and he made her promise that if she ever

felt lonely or if things didn't go right, she would call him and he would help her in any

way he could.

Before she got on the plane she asked him hesitantly, "Does Sonny's father know

what you're doing?"

Hagen smiled, "I'm acting for him as well as myself. He's old-fashioned in these things

and he would never go against the legal wife of his son. But he feels that you were just

a young girl and Sonny should have known better. And your taking all those pills shook

everybody up." He didn't explain how incredible it was to a man like the Don that any

person should try suicide.

Now, after nearly eighteen months in Las Vegas, she was surprised to find herself

almost happy. Some nights she dreamed about Sonny and lying awake before dawn

continued her dream with her own caresses until she could sleep again. She had not

had a man since. But the life in Vegas agreed with her. She went swimming in the hotel

pools, sailed on Lake Mead and drove through the desert on her day off. She became

thinner and this improved her figure. She was still voluptuous but more in the American

than the old Italian style. She worked in the public relations section of the hotel as a

receptionist and had nothing to do with Freddie though when he saw her he would stop

and chat a little. She was surprised at the change in Freddie. He had become a ladies'

man, dressed beautifully, and seemed to have a real flair (чутье) for running a gambling

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resort. He controlled the hotel side, something not usually done by casino owners. With

the long, very hot summer seasons, or perhaps his more active sex life, he too had

become thinner and Hollywood tailoring made him look almost debonair

(жизнерадостный, веселый [deb∂’nε∂]) in a deadly sort of way.

It was after six months that Tom Hagen came out to see how she was doing. She had

been receiving a check for six hundred dollars a month, every month, in addition to her

salary. Hagen explained that this money had to be shown as coming from some place

and asked her to sign complete powers of attorney so that he could channel the money

properly. He also told her that as a matter of form she would be listed as owner of five

"points" in the hotel in which she worked. She would have to go through all the legal

formalities required by the Nevada laws but everything would be taken care of for her

and her own personal inconvenience would be at a minimum. However she was not to

discuss this arrangement with anyone without his consent. She would be protected

legally in every way and her money every month would be assured. If the authorities or

any law-enforcement (enforcement – давление, принуждение; принудительный)

agencies ever questioned her, she was to simply refer them to her lawyer and she

would not be bothered any further.

Lucy agreed. She understood what was happening but had no objections to how she

was being used. It seemed a reasonable favor. But when Hagen asked her to keep her

eyes open around the hotel, keep an eye on Freddie and on Freddie's boss, the man

who owned and operated the hotel, as a major stockholder (акционер), she said to him,

"Oh, Tom, you don't want me to spy on Freddie?"

Hagen smiled. "His father worries about Freddie. He's in fast company with Moe

Greene and we just want to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." He didn't bother

to explain to her that the Don had backed the building of this hotel in the desert of Las

Vegas not only to supply a haven for his son, but to get a foot in the door for bigger

operations.

It was shortly after this interview that Dr. Jules Segal came to work as the hotel

physician. He was very thin, very handsome and charming and seemed very young to

be a doctor, at least to Lucy. She met him when a lump (опухоль, шишка) grew above

her wrist on her forearm. She worried about it for a few days, then one morning went to

the doctor's suite of offices in the hotel. Two of the show girls from the chorus line were

in the waiting room, gossiping with each other. They had the blond peach-colored

prettiness Lucy always envied. They looked angelic. But one of the girls was saying, "I

swear if I have another dose I'm giving up dancing."

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When Dr. Jules Segal opened his office door to motion one of the show girls inside,

Lucy was tempted to leave, and if it had been something more personal and serious she

would have. Dr. Segal was wearing slacks (широкие брюки) and an open shirt. The