I Wonder If Vito Would Be Proud? - Tumblr Posts
So Tom Hagen personally arranged a hit.
He(Johnny Fontane) was surprised when the executive producer came to him and told him the union rep had to be taken care of to the tune of fifty thousand dollars. There were a lot of problems dealing with overtime and hiring and the fifty thousand dollars would be well spent. Johnny debated whether the executive producer was hustling him and then said, “Send the union guy to me.”
The union guy was Billy Goff. Johnny said to him, “I thought the union stuff was fixed by my friends. I was told not to worry about it. At all. Goff said, “Who told you that?” Johnny said, “You know goddamn well who told me. I won’t say his name but if he tells me something that’s it.” Goff said, “Things have changed. Your friend is in trouble and his word don’t go this far west anymore.” Johnny shrugged. “See me in a couple of days. OK?” Goff smiled. “Sure, Johnny,” he said. “But calling in New York ain’t going to help you.”
But calling New York did help. Johnny spoke to Hagen at his office. Hagen told him bluntly not to pay. “Your Godfather will be sore as hell if you pay that bastard a dime,” he told Johnny. “It will make the Don lose respect and right now he can’t afford that.”
“Can I talk to the Don?” Johnny asked. “Will you talk to him? I gotta get the picture rolling.” “Nobody can talk to the Don right now,” Hagen said. “He’s too sick. I’ll talk to Sonny about fixing things up. But I’ll make the decision on this. Don’t pay that smart bastard a dime. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”
Annoyed, Johnny hung up. Union trouble could add a fortune to making the film and screw up the works generally. For a moment he debated slipping Goff the fifty grand on the quiet. After all, the Don telling him something and Hagen telling him something and giving him orders were two different things. But he decided to wait for a few days."
By waiting he saved fifty thousand dollars. Two nights later, Goff was found shot to death in his home in Glendale. There was no more talk of union trouble. Johnny was a little shaken by the killing. It was the first time the long arm of the Don had struck such a lethal blow so close to him.
From The Godfather novel by Mario Puzo.