Here's another installment for you, DC.

Say hello to our old friend, Don Altobello.

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Don Nicholas Altobello, deciding whether to bring with him a dark blue necktie, or one of charcoal gray, had always been a close friend and ally of Vito Corleone.

It was Nicholas Altobello who, in 1937 and barely thirty years old, had seen the wisdom in Vito Corleone’s plan to pacify the New York underworld, and so even at such a young age already one of the top lieutenants and bodyguards of Salvatore Maranzano, had almost cheerfully led him to a Brooklyn restaurant, ostensibly for a meeting to make the peace with Don Vito Corleone, but in reality to be trapped and murdered by the gunmen of a secret Corleone regime, led by Sal Tessio.

For performing this act of treachery against his boss, Nicholas Altobello was rewarded by being named as the head of the family, which he then promptly and vainly proceeded to name The Altobello Family after himself, and he assumed his place as the youngest head of one of the six New York Families, along with the other five Dons, Vito Corleone, Emilio Barzini, Phillip Tattaglia, Victor Stracchi, and Otellio Cuneo.

While sometimes held at arms length by the latter four, who thought of his act as one of treachery to be regarded with suspicion, he was secretly embraced by Vito Corleone, who considered him a man of diplomacy and, most of all, common sense.

The two Dons became the closest of friends over the years, confiding in each other, and helping each other in their business dealings whenever possible. But, in fact, had Don Corleone not asked Don Altobello to stand as Godfather to his youngest child, his daughter Constanza, most observers of the underworld, from both outside and within, would not have even begun to realize the depth of the friendship that the two shared.

When the wily Turk, Virgil Sollozzo, proposed his business of drugs, first to Don Tattaglia and Don Barzini, and later to the heads of the other three families for their approval, it was Don Altobello who secretly approached Vito Corleone with the details of what Sollozzo would be requesting of him.

Nearly Don Corleone’s equal in Sicilian cunning as well as having the politician’s flair for diplomacy along with the rare ability to straddle both sides of a fence while making no enemies and keeping those on both sides happy, it was explained to Vito Corleone that while he, Nicholas Altobello, must publicly side with the other Dons in support of the Sollozzo proposition, he was secretly against it and it would be to the benefit of both of them to have, in effect, a spy in the other camp.

But because of their distrust of the other Dons in general, and Don Altobello in particular, the assassination plot against Vito Corleone was kept secret by both Barzini and Tattaglia, and so when Don Corleone had been shot five times in the winter of 1945 and nearly killed, Don Nicholas Altobello had been as surprised as anyone.

When Don Corleone recovered from his wounds and sued for peace in order that he might bring his son Michael home from his exile in Sicily, Don Altobello was advised to not attend the meeting, lest he be forced to publicly state his support for Vito Corleone, thus earning the further distrust and enmity of the heads of the other four families.

And he had done so, feigning illness and, as a widower, spending several days at the newly built Staten Island home of his recently married daughter, his only child, where he sat in the backyard, drinking wine and taking his leisure while playing with his toddler grandson.

And now, some twelve years later, Nicholas Altobello, the last of the six original New York Dons although still relatively young at age fifty-one, was still the loyal soldier, still loyal to the Corleone Family and its head, Michael Corleone.

Ever the diplomat, ever the man who could find comfort on either side of the fence, Don Altobello was on this day preparing to attend the funeral in Miami of his old friend Hyman Roth.

He knew, of course, that Roth had been an enemy of Michael Corleone. That Roth had tried to assassinate Michael Corleone, first at his home in Lake Tahoe, and later in Cuba. But he also knew that as the diplomat he was regarded as being, he must attend the funeral, as there would be representatives of various families from across the United States, and his failure to attend might be seen as an act of disrespect by those unfamiliar with his relationship with the Corleone Family.

Finally, after deciding on the dark blue necktie, Don Altobello closed his bag and summoned his driver and personal bodyguard, Joey Zasa, who was waiting for him in the next room.

Zasa, only twenty-three years old and with a young man’s penchant for fancy clothes and beautiful woman, was already regarded by Altobello as the most important man in his organization. The Altobello Family was small but powerful in its own way, and despite the presence of a titular Consigliere, Don Altobello had immediately and shrewdly noticed something he liked about Joey Zasa, removed him from the crew with which he worked, and taken him under his personal wing, treating him almost like the son he had never had. He now regarded the young Zasa as his most important advisor, believing that because of his youth and intelligence he was more in step with the changing times, thus making his advice that much more valuable.

“Take the bag, Joey” he said when Zasa entered the room. “It's time to leave for the airport.”

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