Part 5
Club 101
Sky proudly moved about her office at Club 101. It had been ten days since her last drink, a great accomplishment. In addition, she made sure she attended an AA meeting everyday for the past week. Surprisingly, the only person she told about going to AA was Coleman. Ironically, she fully trusted him with all her secrets even though their association had started out with him blackmailing her. Now, Sky knew she could count on Coleman. Furthermore, she never had to put on a show for him because he already had seen her at her worst and still liked her. Anyhow she knew that if she tried to pretend with him he would see past it because you could not kid a kidder. Consequently, they did not play games with each other which worked out shockingly well in Sky's opinion.
In fact, if everything went according to plan she would have exactly what she wanted within a few months, sole ownership of the Port Charles Hotel and grandfather declared mentally incompetent. Sky smiled to herself as she thought about the consequences of Edward being declared senile. First he would be forced to resign his powerful board positions at General Hospital and ELQ among others. Second he would lose much of the influence he currently welded against city officials throughout Port Charles. Sky laughed with joy at these thoughts as she repeatedly tossed a paperweight between her hands.
Thanks to Coleman's associate Andy, Big Alice was firmly planted as the mole at the Quartermaine's. Andy had followed Big Alice for days before he discovered that she used to be on Sonny Corinthos' payroll. How he found out Sky did not know. Fortunately, the information provided Coleman and Sky with a perfect opportunity. Coleman suggested that Andy approach Big Alice as one of Sonny's henchmen and offer her a sum of money to take on a new assignment at the Quartermaines. She agreed and Andy established himself as her contact. Now they had their mole and Big Alice did not even realize that it was them rather than Sonny who hired her. Perfection.
To further advance the plan, Sky had visited Alan at General Hospital a few days ago. While she was there she managed to still a prescription pad from his office. Coleman had filled a prescription yesterday that would help them move against Edward.
In addition, Coleman dug up dirt on Edward's administrative assistant. He had called her on Tuesday to blackmail her into faxing a copy of Edward's weekly schedule to the Kinko's around the corner from Club 101. He had the fax sent in Tina's name, one of the dancers who worked at the Oasis. For a small sum of money, Tina readily agreed to pick up the fax and deliver it to Club 101 every Monday.
Sky also agreed to team up with AJ to help him regain control of ELQ. As a result, AJ agreed to sell Sky the Port Charles Hotel once he reestablished himself as CEO. AJ believed the key to ELQ was the current dock project, Sky concurred. In fact, the dock project would provide AJ with ELQ as well as revenge on Sonny. Sky recalled grandfather mentioning at the dinner party Jax and Ned's involvement with the project and decided that AJ controlling it would work to her advantage as well.
The only thing missing from making the plan complete was a psychiatrist to declare grandfather mentally incompetent. She would worry about that later.
Port Charles Hotel
Edward decided he needed to pay Faith a visit. He had originally planned on Faith distracting Ned away from ELQ and involving him in her world of organized crime. He figured that once the board of directors realized that Ned was so focused on revenge against Sonny and the crime world they would remove him as CEO.
Unfortunately, Ned and Jax were making successful inroads into the dock project which would substantially increase ELQ's bottom line. If Ned and Jax accomplished obtaining the project then there was no way the board would fire Ned. Consequently, Edward resorted going to Tracy in order to hinder Ned and Jax's progress on the project. Now he was in bed literally with a she devil. He knew Tracy would realize that whoever in the family controlled the dock project would control ELQ. Unfailingly she would make a bid for the project herself. Edward did not know yet how he would counter attack when Tracy made her move.
Edward still wanted Faith to distract Ned. However, he must tell her she to use any means necessary to turn Ned's focus away from the dock project even if that meant baby Christina. Using baby Christina had its merits; however, several roadblocks could hinder such a solution. One problem was if Faith could calm her blood lust for Sonny long enough to appropriately respond to his new plan. Another was if Faith could make Ned trust her around the baby. He would soon find out about the first problem.
Kelly's
Rick was furious. Everything he had tried over the past months had come to naught. He needed access to Sonny's network especially the Port Charles docks and his islands. Rick had painstakingly set up Alcazar's murder in order to take over Alcazar's operation.
"Dammit" Rick yelled as he through a glass against the wall.
He needed access to Sonny's islands because they would provide the perfect staging area for the gun running operation. Access to the Port Charles docks would only enhance the smuggling operation. Unfortunately, Rick could not approach Sonny directly because Sonny refused to be involved in any type of smuggling due to heightened security resulting from 9/11.
How Sonny kept control of his organization was beyond Rick's comprehension. Rick knew that success in this type of business required risk and ruthlessness. Sonny was too emotional and had too much to lose.
Rick angrily paced back and forth deluding himself into believing that the only reason he was angry at Sonny was due to his business plans. However, his anger was not strictly about business but also very personal.
New York
AJ was meeting Tracy at the Ritz hotel at 4:00 PM. He decided to approach her regarding the dock project. When he was CEO of ELQ several years ago, they had worked many very successful deals together. Currently, he wanted to find out exactly how she was involved with grandfather and if she would be problem when he made his move on the project. He recognized that Tracy could not be trusted but then again neither could he. The grandfather clock in the hotel lobby chimed 4:00 PM. AJ looked up from his paper to see Tracy approaching him. He stood up to meet her. "Hello Aunt Tracy" AJ said as he kissed her on the check. "AJ" she coolly replied.
General Hospital
Luke rushed over to the nurse's station where Bobbi and Amy busily filled out hospital charts. "Barbara Jean, do you have a moment? It is very important that I talk to you in private." Amy perked up to listen for any juicy tidbit she might overhear.
Bobbi nervously replied, "Ah Amy I will be back in a minute. Follow me Luke." Bobbi took Luke by the arm and proceeded to lead him to the waiting room section of the ER. "Tell me what is so urgent, Luke." Bobbi whispered.
"He is coming here Barbara Jean! Jimmy is on his way to Port Charles. I got confirmation this morning that he took the bus and should be arriving shortly" whispered Luke urgently.
"Are your sure?" Bobbi asked with panic in her voice. With a worried look, Luke nodded his head yes. "What are we going to do, Luke?"
Quartermaines
Alan and Monica excitedly opened the door to the Q mansion. Emily looked around the foyer as they entered. Her parents were being a little overbearing which she had fully expected. As she took everything in, Emily thought to herself that it all seemed the same but she felt an unexplained difference that confused her.
She had been gone for a long time, and she distinctly got the sensation that all was not well at home. Feeling the unspoken tension, she knew adjustment back into her old life would be difficult. It had been so peaceful when she was away. Now she had to deal with her family and with her feelings about Zander.
She knew that she could not put off seeing Zander. She just did not know how meeting with him would affect her. She told herself she would worry about that tomorrow for now she wanted to get settled into her room. "Mom - dad would you mind if I went to my room to rest?" Alan and Monica replied that was fine and kissed her on the cheek.
PC Bus Station
An imposing man in his mid to late fifties stepped off a bus arriving from Florida. He had short dark hair peppered liberally with grey and a long thick goatee. He stood well over six feet, and he had a very powerful looking physique. He was dressed casually in a black t-shirt and black jeans that stretched tightly over thick biceps and muscular thighs respectively. His right forearm bore a large tattoo of two bones crossing to from an X with a rattlesnake intertwined around it. He glanced around the bus depot with cold dark brown eyes. The overall combination of these attributes made for a very intimidating presence. As a result, many of the people in the station gave him a wide berth as he walked by them.
Welcome to Port Charles he told himself. He had several people to look up while in town the first being his son Coleman.
Taking in his surroundings, he headed towards the payphones. Once there, he lit a cigarette picked up a phone and dialed.
Jake's
Coleman slowly hung up the phone. His father otherwise known as Jimmy had arrived. Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind.
At age 12 his dad went to prison, and at age 16 his mom died. Coleman grew up in Florida. He remembered worshipping his father as well as fearing him. His dad had belonged to a motorcycle gang that was extremely rough. He recalled going on trips with his father to biker bars and other places. Not only was his father involved with the biker gang but he also hired out as muscle for the local mob organization. Coleman knew even as a young boy that his father was a man not to be crossed.
His mother's name was Luann. She was very beautiful, but struggled with internal demons her whole life. She had told him once that she ran away from home at age 15. To support herself, she lied about her aged and starting working as a stripper. At the strip club she met Jimmy. She said that she fell in love with him instantly. Soon she was pregnant with Coleman. At first Jimmy said he was not the type of man to settle down and wanted nothing to do with the kid... later that changed but by then it was too late for Luann. Feeling rejected his mother spiraled down into a life of drug addiction and disappointment. Fortunately, the downward spiral did not start until after Coleman was born.
His earliest memories were of his mother taking him to the backroom of the strip club were she worked to wait for her as she finished her shift. Her coworkers looked out for him especially the woman who owned the club. In fact, they made sure he had plenty to eat and clothes on his back whenever Luann had a particularly bad spell. He learned early on that he could not fight his mother's demons for her. He tried and always failed. The women at the club told him that the only person who could help Luann was Luann.
One night, his father showed up at their trailer house. Coleman was seven years old. From that moment on his father became a part of his life for good or bad.
Unfortunately for his mother, Jimmy's involvement in his life did not translate to hers. Jimmy wanted nothing to do with a junkie and decided that his son did not need the grief either. He insistently removed Coleman from her care and refused to let Coleman see her. Coleman went to live with Jimmy's mother. His grandmother grudgingly took him in. He frequently saw his father and enjoyed spending time with him. However, he missed his mother. As a result, Coleman tried to return to his mom several times but was always stopped.
Eventually, he saw her again when his father went on trial for murder. After the conviction, Luann stole him away from his grandmother who was not sad to see him go and moved them to New York City. There she died of a drug overdose. After her death, Coleman wrote to his father in prison. They kept in touch thereafter through letters and infrequent visits.
He soon learned on the streets of New York that the only person who he could rely on was himself and from that day forward he decided that he would be the only person allowed to control his life. After all, the world was an unforgiving place and you had to look out for number one as his father used to say.
Club 101
Sky proudly moved about her office at Club 101. It had been ten days since her last drink, a great accomplishment. In addition, she made sure she attended an AA meeting everyday for the past week. Surprisingly, the only person she told about going to AA was Coleman. Ironically, she fully trusted him with all her secrets even though their association had started out with him blackmailing her. Now, Sky knew she could count on Coleman. Furthermore, she never had to put on a show for him because he already had seen her at her worst and still liked her. Anyhow she knew that if she tried to pretend with him he would see past it because you could not kid a kidder. Consequently, they did not play games with each other which worked out shockingly well in Sky's opinion.
In fact, if everything went according to plan she would have exactly what she wanted within a few months, sole ownership of the Port Charles Hotel and grandfather declared mentally incompetent. Sky smiled to herself as she thought about the consequences of Edward being declared senile. First he would be forced to resign his powerful board positions at General Hospital and ELQ among others. Second he would lose much of the influence he currently welded against city officials throughout Port Charles. Sky laughed with joy at these thoughts as she repeatedly tossed a paperweight between her hands.
Thanks to Coleman's associate Andy, Big Alice was firmly planted as the mole at the Quartermaine's. Andy had followed Big Alice for days before he discovered that she used to be on Sonny Corinthos' payroll. How he found out Sky did not know. Fortunately, the information provided Coleman and Sky with a perfect opportunity. Coleman suggested that Andy approach Big Alice as one of Sonny's henchmen and offer her a sum of money to take on a new assignment at the Quartermaines. She agreed and Andy established himself as her contact. Now they had their mole and Big Alice did not even realize that it was them rather than Sonny who hired her. Perfection.
To further advance the plan, Sky had visited Alan at General Hospital a few days ago. While she was there she managed to still a prescription pad from his office. Coleman had filled a prescription yesterday that would help them move against Edward.
In addition, Coleman dug up dirt on Edward's administrative assistant. He had called her on Tuesday to blackmail her into faxing a copy of Edward's weekly schedule to the Kinko's around the corner from Club 101. He had the fax sent in Tina's name, one of the dancers who worked at the Oasis. For a small sum of money, Tina readily agreed to pick up the fax and deliver it to Club 101 every Monday.
Sky also agreed to team up with AJ to help him regain control of ELQ. As a result, AJ agreed to sell Sky the Port Charles Hotel once he reestablished himself as CEO. AJ believed the key to ELQ was the current dock project, Sky concurred. In fact, the dock project would provide AJ with ELQ as well as revenge on Sonny. Sky recalled grandfather mentioning at the dinner party Jax and Ned's involvement with the project and decided that AJ controlling it would work to her advantage as well.
The only thing missing from making the plan complete was a psychiatrist to declare grandfather mentally incompetent. She would worry about that later.
Port Charles Hotel
Edward decided he needed to pay Faith a visit. He had originally planned on Faith distracting Ned away from ELQ and involving him in her world of organized crime. He figured that once the board of directors realized that Ned was so focused on revenge against Sonny and the crime world they would remove him as CEO.
Unfortunately, Ned and Jax were making successful inroads into the dock project which would substantially increase ELQ's bottom line. If Ned and Jax accomplished obtaining the project then there was no way the board would fire Ned. Consequently, Edward resorted going to Tracy in order to hinder Ned and Jax's progress on the project. Now he was in bed literally with a she devil. He knew Tracy would realize that whoever in the family controlled the dock project would control ELQ. Unfailingly she would make a bid for the project herself. Edward did not know yet how he would counter attack when Tracy made her move.
Edward still wanted Faith to distract Ned. However, he must tell her she to use any means necessary to turn Ned's focus away from the dock project even if that meant baby Christina. Using baby Christina had its merits; however, several roadblocks could hinder such a solution. One problem was if Faith could calm her blood lust for Sonny long enough to appropriately respond to his new plan. Another was if Faith could make Ned trust her around the baby. He would soon find out about the first problem.
Kelly's
Rick was furious. Everything he had tried over the past months had come to naught. He needed access to Sonny's network especially the Port Charles docks and his islands. Rick had painstakingly set up Alcazar's murder in order to take over Alcazar's operation.
"Dammit" Rick yelled as he through a glass against the wall.
He needed access to Sonny's islands because they would provide the perfect staging area for the gun running operation. Access to the Port Charles docks would only enhance the smuggling operation. Unfortunately, Rick could not approach Sonny directly because Sonny refused to be involved in any type of smuggling due to heightened security resulting from 9/11.
How Sonny kept control of his organization was beyond Rick's comprehension. Rick knew that success in this type of business required risk and ruthlessness. Sonny was too emotional and had too much to lose.
Rick angrily paced back and forth deluding himself into believing that the only reason he was angry at Sonny was due to his business plans. However, his anger was not strictly about business but also very personal.
New York
AJ was meeting Tracy at the Ritz hotel at 4:00 PM. He decided to approach her regarding the dock project. When he was CEO of ELQ several years ago, they had worked many very successful deals together. Currently, he wanted to find out exactly how she was involved with grandfather and if she would be problem when he made his move on the project. He recognized that Tracy could not be trusted but then again neither could he. The grandfather clock in the hotel lobby chimed 4:00 PM. AJ looked up from his paper to see Tracy approaching him. He stood up to meet her. "Hello Aunt Tracy" AJ said as he kissed her on the check. "AJ" she coolly replied.
General Hospital
Luke rushed over to the nurse's station where Bobbi and Amy busily filled out hospital charts. "Barbara Jean, do you have a moment? It is very important that I talk to you in private." Amy perked up to listen for any juicy tidbit she might overhear.
Bobbi nervously replied, "Ah Amy I will be back in a minute. Follow me Luke." Bobbi took Luke by the arm and proceeded to lead him to the waiting room section of the ER. "Tell me what is so urgent, Luke." Bobbi whispered.
"He is coming here Barbara Jean! Jimmy is on his way to Port Charles. I got confirmation this morning that he took the bus and should be arriving shortly" whispered Luke urgently.
"Are your sure?" Bobbi asked with panic in her voice. With a worried look, Luke nodded his head yes. "What are we going to do, Luke?"
Quartermaines
Alan and Monica excitedly opened the door to the Q mansion. Emily looked around the foyer as they entered. Her parents were being a little overbearing which she had fully expected. As she took everything in, Emily thought to herself that it all seemed the same but she felt an unexplained difference that confused her.
She had been gone for a long time, and she distinctly got the sensation that all was not well at home. Feeling the unspoken tension, she knew adjustment back into her old life would be difficult. It had been so peaceful when she was away. Now she had to deal with her family and with her feelings about Zander.
She knew that she could not put off seeing Zander. She just did not know how meeting with him would affect her. She told herself she would worry about that tomorrow for now she wanted to get settled into her room. "Mom - dad would you mind if I went to my room to rest?" Alan and Monica replied that was fine and kissed her on the cheek.
PC Bus Station
An imposing man in his mid to late fifties stepped off a bus arriving from Florida. He had short dark hair peppered liberally with grey and a long thick goatee. He stood well over six feet, and he had a very powerful looking physique. He was dressed casually in a black t-shirt and black jeans that stretched tightly over thick biceps and muscular thighs respectively. His right forearm bore a large tattoo of two bones crossing to from an X with a rattlesnake intertwined around it. He glanced around the bus depot with cold dark brown eyes. The overall combination of these attributes made for a very intimidating presence. As a result, many of the people in the station gave him a wide berth as he walked by them.
Welcome to Port Charles he told himself. He had several people to look up while in town the first being his son Coleman.
Taking in his surroundings, he headed towards the payphones. Once there, he lit a cigarette picked up a phone and dialed.
Jake's
Coleman slowly hung up the phone. His father otherwise known as Jimmy had arrived. Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind.
At age 12 his dad went to prison, and at age 16 his mom died. Coleman grew up in Florida. He remembered worshipping his father as well as fearing him. His dad had belonged to a motorcycle gang that was extremely rough. He recalled going on trips with his father to biker bars and other places. Not only was his father involved with the biker gang but he also hired out as muscle for the local mob organization. Coleman knew even as a young boy that his father was a man not to be crossed.
His mother's name was Luann. She was very beautiful, but struggled with internal demons her whole life. She had told him once that she ran away from home at age 15. To support herself, she lied about her aged and starting working as a stripper. At the strip club she met Jimmy. She said that she fell in love with him instantly. Soon she was pregnant with Coleman. At first Jimmy said he was not the type of man to settle down and wanted nothing to do with the kid... later that changed but by then it was too late for Luann. Feeling rejected his mother spiraled down into a life of drug addiction and disappointment. Fortunately, the downward spiral did not start until after Coleman was born.
His earliest memories were of his mother taking him to the backroom of the strip club were she worked to wait for her as she finished her shift. Her coworkers looked out for him especially the woman who owned the club. In fact, they made sure he had plenty to eat and clothes on his back whenever Luann had a particularly bad spell. He learned early on that he could not fight his mother's demons for her. He tried and always failed. The women at the club told him that the only person who could help Luann was Luann.
One night, his father showed up at their trailer house. Coleman was seven years old. From that moment on his father became a part of his life for good or bad.
Unfortunately for his mother, Jimmy's involvement in his life did not translate to hers. Jimmy wanted nothing to do with a junkie and decided that his son did not need the grief either. He insistently removed Coleman from her care and refused to let Coleman see her. Coleman went to live with Jimmy's mother. His grandmother grudgingly took him in. He frequently saw his father and enjoyed spending time with him. However, he missed his mother. As a result, Coleman tried to return to his mom several times but was always stopped.
Eventually, he saw her again when his father went on trial for murder. After the conviction, Luann stole him away from his grandmother who was not sad to see him go and moved them to New York City. There she died of a drug overdose. After her death, Coleman wrote to his father in prison. They kept in touch thereafter through letters and infrequent visits.
He soon learned on the streets of New York that the only person who he could rely on was himself and from that day forward he decided that he would be the only person allowed to control his life. After all, the world was an unforgiving place and you had to look out for number one as his father used to say.