Out Of Order
Three: Back In Line
The next day started off badly with another phone call from another woman.
He had just sat down at the table, facing today´s breakfast treat.
Eugh. Pure Milk.
When he heard the phone, he left his single glass of white liquid, somewhat relieved, and picked up the phone, hoping it might be Mike.
It was Theresa.
She kept herself brief. He could hear from her voice that she was smoking. Also, she sounded a little bit as if she had learned her lines by heart or was actually reading them very skillfully from a sheet of paper.
"Mother´s condition has not improved yet, the doctor doesn´t think she´ll recover again," she said cooly. "He´s not giving her much time anymore. That means I´ll be staying one more week, maybe two."
She didn´t even try to fake she was sad about staying away from him. He was glad she didn´t. Her attemps at it had been feeble.
"You said the same thing two weeks ago," he pointed out calmly, forcing down some milk.
"May I kindly remind you," she hissed, "of the thousands or so times when I sat and waited, like a good wife has to, when you felt the sudden urge to go on ominous business trips to God Knows Where? No questions allowed? Did I complain? Did I ever speak up?"
"I didn´t go away from you because it suddenly URGED me," he replied, exasperated. "It was all about business I had to attend t-"
"And THIS is all about my mother dying," she snapped, interrupting him. "But it´s very nice, as always, to learn about your priorities..."
Tom decided to prevent the upcoming tiresome discussion from happening. "You know what?" he said as diplomatic as he could. "Take your time. Stay back with your mother as long as you want. I´ll be fine."
There was a little pause. Then his wife said "Good," sounding oddly satisfied.
He finished the milk jar with effort. He didn´t like breakfast at all, normally a small Espresso was all he could stomach in the morning.
At least, Connie had been right. The glass of water had prevented him from waking up to a hangover. The water, or maybe the two or so hours he had spent bending over the toilet bowl, he wasn´t sure about that.
"How´re the girls?" he asked.
"Oh, they´re great," Theresa said, at once becoming very much alive, "You should see them, they just LOVE it down here, they go walking through the woods or swimming or riding all day long, they look so HEALTHY, it seems they don´t even THINK about going back to Nevada...."
"That´s...." he cleared his throat. "That´s....good to hear."
The was a moment of awkward silence between them. He could hear a soft crackle as she lit herself another cigarette.
"Well," she said, after a while, soundin very businesslike, "I´ll have to talk to the doctor. If something changes, I´ll let you know. And you have a good time, right?"
She wasn´t sounding that much like a wife, more like a mother talking to her 12 year old son who had to stay alone over the weekend for the first time in his life.
"I will, don´t worry" he said, as polite as always. "Give the girls a hug from me and send my best regards to your mother."
Theresa didn´t say anything for a second, then she said "Sure, Tom, I´ll do that," in a normal tone but with an ironical streak in her voice that he didn´t like.
He hung up the receiver and stared at the phone.
What hurt him most wasn´t the fact that she was lying to him.
What hurt him most was the fact that she obviously thought he was very stupid.
Him.
She should have known better. She should at least KNOW that he knew a long distance call from Cleveland, where her mother lived (or died) when he got one, and that her phone calls weren´t long distant calls from Cleveland at all.
Getting into his car, he wondered where in Nevada she might be - and with whom - but to his own surprise he lost the interest in this question very soon. It didn´t seem to matter much anymore.
The moment he was on his way to his Don´s New Den he had forgotten about Theresa.
The thought about Connie occupied him much more - not Connie as a person, of course not, he didn´t really worry about Connie being in serious trouble.
Tom had known this woman since she was a little kid, and he had heard her use the term "life or death" more than once in the oddest of situations, when it came to buying a certain dress, having a certain holiday trip, or having a certain someone, who was up to his neck in law exam preparations, pick her up after a party.
Connie might be able to get herself into trouble, but not into serious trouble, not what HE considered serious trouble.
All she needed was a little more discipline, a little more decency. A little more reason.
And this was the thing he really was thinking about on his way to the Corleone Enterprise´s residence.
He wasn´t expected by Michael, and he knew how the Don hated it when people - may it be close associates, brothers, best friends, the Pope or whatever - popped up unexpectedly without giving him time to prepare.
But he had to tell him. It was his duty to his Don, since he knew how eager Mike was to ease down some of the cooking private family struggles. They only meant extra trouble. And they had particularly talked about this case.
Connie had to be brought back in line for one and all times. And if there was one man who was qualified when it came to being in line, it was Tom Hagen.
That was the thing that really interested him about the Connie case. He considered ways to straighten her out.
Three: Back In Line
The next day started off badly with another phone call from another woman.
He had just sat down at the table, facing today´s breakfast treat.
Eugh. Pure Milk.
When he heard the phone, he left his single glass of white liquid, somewhat relieved, and picked up the phone, hoping it might be Mike.
It was Theresa.
She kept herself brief. He could hear from her voice that she was smoking. Also, she sounded a little bit as if she had learned her lines by heart or was actually reading them very skillfully from a sheet of paper.
"Mother´s condition has not improved yet, the doctor doesn´t think she´ll recover again," she said cooly. "He´s not giving her much time anymore. That means I´ll be staying one more week, maybe two."
She didn´t even try to fake she was sad about staying away from him. He was glad she didn´t. Her attemps at it had been feeble.
"You said the same thing two weeks ago," he pointed out calmly, forcing down some milk.
"May I kindly remind you," she hissed, "of the thousands or so times when I sat and waited, like a good wife has to, when you felt the sudden urge to go on ominous business trips to God Knows Where? No questions allowed? Did I complain? Did I ever speak up?"
"I didn´t go away from you because it suddenly URGED me," he replied, exasperated. "It was all about business I had to attend t-"
"And THIS is all about my mother dying," she snapped, interrupting him. "But it´s very nice, as always, to learn about your priorities..."
Tom decided to prevent the upcoming tiresome discussion from happening. "You know what?" he said as diplomatic as he could. "Take your time. Stay back with your mother as long as you want. I´ll be fine."
There was a little pause. Then his wife said "Good," sounding oddly satisfied.
He finished the milk jar with effort. He didn´t like breakfast at all, normally a small Espresso was all he could stomach in the morning.
At least, Connie had been right. The glass of water had prevented him from waking up to a hangover. The water, or maybe the two or so hours he had spent bending over the toilet bowl, he wasn´t sure about that.
"How´re the girls?" he asked.
"Oh, they´re great," Theresa said, at once becoming very much alive, "You should see them, they just LOVE it down here, they go walking through the woods or swimming or riding all day long, they look so HEALTHY, it seems they don´t even THINK about going back to Nevada...."
"That´s...." he cleared his throat. "That´s....good to hear."
The was a moment of awkward silence between them. He could hear a soft crackle as she lit herself another cigarette.
"Well," she said, after a while, soundin very businesslike, "I´ll have to talk to the doctor. If something changes, I´ll let you know. And you have a good time, right?"
She wasn´t sounding that much like a wife, more like a mother talking to her 12 year old son who had to stay alone over the weekend for the first time in his life.
"I will, don´t worry" he said, as polite as always. "Give the girls a hug from me and send my best regards to your mother."
Theresa didn´t say anything for a second, then she said "Sure, Tom, I´ll do that," in a normal tone but with an ironical streak in her voice that he didn´t like.
He hung up the receiver and stared at the phone.
What hurt him most wasn´t the fact that she was lying to him.
What hurt him most was the fact that she obviously thought he was very stupid.
Him.
She should have known better. She should at least KNOW that he knew a long distance call from Cleveland, where her mother lived (or died) when he got one, and that her phone calls weren´t long distant calls from Cleveland at all.
Getting into his car, he wondered where in Nevada she might be - and with whom - but to his own surprise he lost the interest in this question very soon. It didn´t seem to matter much anymore.
The moment he was on his way to his Don´s New Den he had forgotten about Theresa.
The thought about Connie occupied him much more - not Connie as a person, of course not, he didn´t really worry about Connie being in serious trouble.
Tom had known this woman since she was a little kid, and he had heard her use the term "life or death" more than once in the oddest of situations, when it came to buying a certain dress, having a certain holiday trip, or having a certain someone, who was up to his neck in law exam preparations, pick her up after a party.
Connie might be able to get herself into trouble, but not into serious trouble, not what HE considered serious trouble.
All she needed was a little more discipline, a little more decency. A little more reason.
And this was the thing he really was thinking about on his way to the Corleone Enterprise´s residence.
He wasn´t expected by Michael, and he knew how the Don hated it when people - may it be close associates, brothers, best friends, the Pope or whatever - popped up unexpectedly without giving him time to prepare.
But he had to tell him. It was his duty to his Don, since he knew how eager Mike was to ease down some of the cooking private family struggles. They only meant extra trouble. And they had particularly talked about this case.
Connie had to be brought back in line for one and all times. And if there was one man who was qualified when it came to being in line, it was Tom Hagen.
That was the thing that really interested him about the Connie case. He considered ways to straighten her out.