“Is he in?”
The men nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. It is not
easy to catch the Godfather on one of his days in the office.
I was patted down to make sure I was not carrying any
weapons and escorted through a dark hallway. The bodyguards stepped away and
motioned for me to open the door. This was it. This was the big moment. This
was the meeting that I had arranged for what seemed like my entire career. A
moment with the Godfather was a moment that could make or break you as a
person, much less a journalist.
I took a deep breath and swung the door open. The swivel
chair behind the oak desk turned slowly – maybe the word is majestically? The
large, older man gave me a look I could not describe. It was one that read my
soul but also seemed unamused at being disturbed.
“How can I help you?” The Italian accent floated across the
room.
“Well, yes … um, thank you for getting me in to see you. I
was just wondering … if you would be so kind as to tell me … I mean …” I was
embarrassed at how I was handling myself.
“I do not have all day. Please get it out.”
“Of course. Yes, I need to know what you know about Sita.”
There. I had spit out a question that had ravaged my mind for weeks.
The Godfather chuckled slowly. “They always want to know.
Most of the time they are much too afraid to publish what I tell them.”
“I promise I will publish this!” I said, way too eager for
my own liking.
“Now, kid. Do not get ahead of yourself. You have not even
heard what I have to say yet.”
I leaned back in my chair, cheeks red from embarrassment.
“Sita was running an establishment behind Ram’s back. She
had a gambling business going. Although, no one understands why she had it. It
did not seem that her and Ram were losing money. If they were, it was certainly
covered up really well. Anyway, since Ram was away at all of these battles, he
never realized what Sita was doing. Until the one day that he decided to
surprise her at home two days early. He found Sita hiding money behind a brick.
They got into a huge fight. I do not know if Sita was the one who left or if
Ram forced her to leave. Whatever happened resulted in Sita out of the home and
Ram covering up a huge scandal. I mean, what would the papers have to say about
such a story?”
The real question is if you are going to publish it.”
I sat stunned in my chair. Who would have known that Sita
was leading one of the biggest gambling rings? Also why had the story not been
told? I felt like several reporters would have a great day publishing this. I
was going to publish it.
Little did I know what obstacles I was about to face in
getting this story to the press.
 |
| Godfather |
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is coming from a retelling of Sita. It
makes it difficult to do that retell of a retelling. So, I decided to go with
an idea I had earlier about the Washerman in the original story and how he
reminded me of the Godfather. I kept similar plot structure in the story, but
spun it so the Godfather was a good guy and gave the reporter her needed
information. If I were to continue, I would introduce the Washerman and his men
as they attempt to keep the true story of Sita from getting out into the
public. I really do not want to give important parts of the book away. I will
say that what happened to Sita was not related to her running a gambling
operation behind Ram’s back. That just came to me since I was already writing
about the Godfather. I highly recommend that everyone watches the Godfather and
reads this book. That would be a really fun time. The original story comes from
Samhita Arni’s The Missing Queen (2014).
It is really interesting how you used the Godfather in your story. You did a good job with the intro, as the reporter goes in to see the Godfather. It seemed well paced and interesting. The stuttering speech of the journalist really conveys his/her emotions. However, it seemed like the Godfather's explanation of Sita's predicament was very rushed. When I imagined the Godfather speaking, he quickly blasted through the story, which seems very uncharacteristic of a person with his power. Instead, it might slow the pace down if you had the Godfather say something and then the reporter fills in the details. I thought the end was well paced, and I think the idea of retelling the story with the Godfather is very unique.
ReplyDeleteI, too, felt as if the story was rushed. I understand, however, that we do have a limit on how much we can write. I was very fond of your writing style. I could image the nervousness and excitement the main character felt once they found themselves in the presence of the “Godfather.” Unfortunately, I have never seen the Godfather so I was not able to make any connections to the movie if any were made!
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story. i thought it was interesting that you used the Godfather in your story. I thought the way you told the story was nice. I also like how you used speakers instead of narrating the entire story. Overall great job!
Great story! Anything with the Godfather or the Italian mob always hooks me in! I never thought that sita would be such a crime lord. It would of been awesome if you continued and put the washerman character in the story. it was great story, that flowed really smoothly. The plot itself was really interesting and Sita was just a surprising character in this one!
ReplyDeleteWell I was not expecting that. This story was definitely interesting and I like how you interjected yourself into the story. I like how you made Sita into something that is not the pure persona that we always read about. I also noticed you used Ram instead of Rama. Hopefully another story that you write will contain some of the problems that you faced while getting it to the press.
ReplyDeleteWhy was the Godfather there? Did he help make Sita disappear? Or does he just know what is going on. The story was a bit short. I enjoyed what I read but would have like to read a bit more. Well done, I enjoyed it. It would be hard to do another retelling of something that has already been retold.
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