Chapter II
A week or two after the funeral, there was a call made to all the caporegimes (all the capos were told about this and gathered actually) to gather right away in the Corleone compound. The call was made by Vincent's consigliere, Thomas Tessio—the nephew of family traitor, Salvatore Tessio. No one thought of Tommy to be a traitor like his uncle though.
Tommy did have some of his uncle's looks though. He had a jaw that looked like it was moved forward and bushman eyebrows that meant business. His face seemed somewhat suspicious, but wise and intelligent.
The caporegimes gathered in Vincent's office, where Tommy was already waiting on a chair with a bottle of wine and a shot right in front of him. As soon as they began entering, Tommy was already drinking the shot, and by the time all of them entered, Tommy was done drinking.
Tommy stood from his seat and shook each of their hands. He thanked each one for being able to make it and offered them all seats around the office. He then took his own seat and began.
"Gentlemen, we are caught in a problem," he began in his cool and calm voice. "As it turns out, Vinnie died without any students or sons. He died alone, as some of us like to think." Tommy was one of the only people who called Vincent by that name. Close friends of Vincent knew him by that name and called him that too.
"And since he died alone," Tommy continued, "he was never able to name who would follow him as the Don. That's where our problem comes in."
"You want us to decide who's gonna be the Don?" one of the caporegimes asked.
"More or less," Tommy answered.
"Well obviously, it has to be one of us," another caporegime commented.
"Basically any one of us in this room," Tommy added. All heads turned to him with great suspicion.
"We meant a caporegime, Tommy," the first caporegime told the consigliere. "You're just an advisor. Advise us on whom to choose." In the ranking of organized crime, the caporegimes were higher in rank than the consigliere.
"Well I was a caporegime before I became consigliere," Tommy objected. He raised both his hands to his shoulders as if trying to take in positive answers. "Doesn't that put me in or something?" The others nodded in agreement. Tommy was, like his uncle, intelligent. He could've been a lawyer as his father wished, but he decided to join the crime business than to join a cause against it.
"So who wants to be the Don?" the second caporegime asked.
"Hey, wait a minute," Tommy stopped him. Again, all heads turned to him. "This isn't exactly like drawing straws. We need someone to run it all. We need someone who won't screw up."
"You're talking about who should be the next Don," the third caporegime commented. "The Don can't screw up."
"Yeah," Tommy answered. "But let's first think about it. First, who spent enough time with Vinnie to learn the tricks of the trade?"
"You," the others answered in unison.
"Who knows how to work the business?"
"You," they repeated.
"Who was the last Don's advisor?"
"You," again they answered.
"So who should be the Don?"
They didn't answer. There was an awkward silence as Tommy raised his hands again. He smiled at the caporegimes. They all walked out of the office one by one as a sign of agreement.
It was drawing straws and Tommy got the longest one.
Michael remained out of the business.