At some points Tom is about this close to being asked to shine the shoes of Neri and Rocco. smile

Ok, maybe exaggeration but I think that Michael's relationship with Tom, and increasingly with everyone, was purely transactional, not functional. It was the biggest difference between Michael and Vito and why even though both men were, for lack of a better word, evil, we see Michael's decay and fall as tragic.

That little speech Michael gave Tom before leaving was certainly designed to play to Tom's weak points because at that point in time, Michael had no choice but to trust him. It wasn't out of love but cold calculation. I don't think Michael believed anything he said about brotherhood with Tom. The gratuitously cold way he treated Tom upon his return was I think, his true feeling towards Tom.

Last edited by Lilo; 07/15/12 10:43 AM. Reason: clarity
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.