Sonny's Carpenter Chronicles
November 7, 2005
"Choices"
"I know each one of them means something to you. That's why I'm giving you this choice. So you can keep one and spare your life as well. But you have to choose or you all die."
The masked gunman cracks a smile and looks through the holes into her fearful eyes. He tightens his grip on her arm and awaits a response beyond her terrified, speechless stare.
"Why don't you spare them and just take me?" She barely lets the words of sacrifice pour from her mouth. But she hopes deep down inside that some supernatural power will come and save them all.
The gunman sits her down in the chair and tightens the rope of her restraints. He paces around her office with his rifle ready to fire at any movement. Constantly looking out of her windows for the authorities stories down below, he notices her struggling with the rope from the corner of his eye.
"The crowd is forming. Have you made your choice Ms. Davis?" He asks.
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"Oh my god!" She sits up from her nightmare re-lived pouring with sweat and finds herself capriciously humming the words to Kristina's sing-along in the living room. She lies back down and listens to the baby's lovable tiny voice competing with…
"I hate Barney. I really really hate him."
She hurries out of bed and stumbles into the living room still shaky from her sleep of distress. But in between the sunrays pouring through her windows and Kristina happily tilting her head from side to side to the music, she shakes off her threats upon the purple dinosaur.
"Morning Little Miss Davis."
Kristina pulls up on the couch. "Morning Mommy. Say hi hi to Barney."
"Mommy doesn't like Barney very much."
Practically ready to leap from the couch, Kristina screams with a furrowed brow and her face red with anger. "That's not a nice thing to say! Apologize! NOW!"
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"You're supposed to pretend that you like what she likes. We've had this discussion already." Kevin emphasizes his point by pounding his fist on the desk.
Alexis crosses her arms refusing to back down. "Why should I? And the next thing you know I'm condoning her drug-dealing boyfriend. Besides. I hate singing animals."
"But you made her cry Alexis. She's a baby."
"You make it sound like I pulled a Joan Crawford and beat her with a wire dress hanger."
Kevin buries his face in his hands. "I'm charging you double for this session."
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Lois dabs her red eyes with a tissue with Sonny looking on not sure if he should offer his sympathies or go home.
"You ok Lois?" He hands her another tissue.
"I'm so sorry. Extreme Makeover Home Edition always does this to me. I'm ok. I swear."
Lois continues to wipe her eyes and immediately sparks another idea. "Oh my god Corinthos! I've got the job for you!"
"Oh no. What now?"
"You could like build stuff. You like power tools and stuff right? You could be like a carpenter."
"And then what? I need to diversify. Remember?"
"Well. You could build like all these cool houses and get your own reality show!"
Sonny jumps up in false excitement. "And then Badabing…"
"You and Ty are like this!" Lois crosses her fingers.
"I thought about rebuilding the house."
"Like tearing down your old house?"
"I can't live there. So why not tear it down and build a new house? Can't exactly sleep in a tent forever. And your couch isn't exactly all that comfortable."
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"What do you think's going to happen?" Ric questions and lays his head back against the wall of the closet. Lorenzo continues to stare up into the ceiling while Sonny bites at his nails almost feeling the crunch of the confined space.
"Sometimes it's best not to question." Lorenzo mutters and closes his eyes.
Sonny stands up and leans his forehead into the corner. He takes a couple of deep breaths but his heart continues to pound in his ears. "I just wanna die right now."
Ric stands up and leans on the banister. "I always figured you for a punk Corinthos. Need a paper bag? You're the reason we're in this position. They're here because of you."
Sonny looks up and back at Ric. He balls his fist ready to swing, but Lorenzo wakes up and grabs his hand.
"Don't Sonny. Shut the hell up Ric! We need to get out of here and get to Alexis."
Ric laughs and continues to lean back. "I don't want him to live. He's the reason my relationship with Alexis fell apart. We lost someone very special to us and it was all his fault."
Lorenzo stands up and grabs Ric by the neck. "Shut up. This is not the time."
Lorenzo releases his hold, but Ric sees fit to continue. "Why should I shut up if I'm gonna die anyway? Alexis told me the stories of your fights with AJ, Sonny. But for some reason I wasn't allowed to call you a big ass hypocrite."
Lorenzo approaches Ric again, but Sonny pulls him back. "Let him talk Lo. Let him say what he wants. You're nothing but a pretty boy with a briefcase Ric."
"That may be, but I'm much smarter than you."
Sonny punches the wall. "Aw man. Here we go. I'm not having this whose encyclopedia is bigger argument with you. It's what's in the heart Buddy. I've always told you that. I gave you my sincerest apologies for what happened. Alexis accepted it. Why the hell can't you!"
"I just enjoy calling you on your code. That's all. Karma's a bitch."
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"I can't talk to you long Zander." Alexis' hand barely remains still holding the phone to her ear.
Zander looks up the skyscraper and catches a gunman perched at the office window peeking out. He places the phone back on his ear. "Alexis! Where is my dad? Is he still alive?"
"Just stay calm especially around Kristina."
Zander looks up again even more frustrated by her subtlety. "She's asking me too many questions. What am I supposed to say? Both of your parents might die today?"
"Zander. Please stay positive. I will let nothing happen to Lorenzo. I promise."
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Alexis lies back down on the couch. "I like to call them fatal errors."
Kevin leans back in his chair ready to listen to her again. "You call promises fatal errors?"
"Kevin, why did I make a promise to Zander that I couldn't keep?"
"You didn't know what was going to happen. So Kristina wants a popsicle that you promised her, but you ran out and the store is closed. That's a fatal error too?"
"Humor me Kevin."
"Alexis. I'm finding one of your issues is control. You think you have control over every situation, but you don't. And you have to start realizing that."
Alexis thinks for a moment. "But he gave me a choice. What the hell was I supposed to do then?"