March 26, 2006

Confrontations

Sonny slammed Ric's head against the wall and tightened his grip on his shirt. "Ric, what do you know?"

Ric squirmed and tried to look at Lorenzo leaning on the wall and playing the whole thing cool. "You gonna help me Lorenzo? You gonna let Sonny kill me?"

Lorenzo pushed away Sonny's hand from his noose and forced him to let Ric go. After the release, Ric took an exaggerated cough and leaned on the wall. Lorenzo approached him.

"You got a chance to rest Ric?"

Ric stared at Lorenzo with suspicion in his eyes. "Yea. Why?"

Lorenzo grabbed Ric and slammed him against the wall again. "You better talk. What do you know about Alexis!"

Ric squealed at the top of his lungs prompting Sonny to slam his hand over Ric's mouth.

"This isn't funny Ric!" Sonny barked with anger through his teeth.

"Ok. I'll talk. But I can't. I can't breathe. It's not like I can go anywhere guys."

They both let him go. He took a quick minute to catch his breath.

"Ok. Yes. I know. What's wrong. Well. I only know so much." Ric doubled over to take another breath and pulled himself back together. "Apparently she's dying."

"Dying from what Ric!" Sonny screamed flinging his hands in the air.

"I don't know Sonny. I really don't man." Ric's eyes started to well with tears. "I try to help and she won't let me. If she won't let me, there's no way she's gonna let you. Or even you Lorenzo!"

Sonny closes up the storybook thankful she lost interest when he opened the cover. He looks down at Kristina passed out on his arm not a bit disappointed in her lack of a story for the evening. Alexis creeps into the apartment hoping not to disturb the quiet.

"Was I gone long?" She asks him.

"No. She's easy. We just read a story and sang songs. It was great. How was visiting Ricky?"

"Good. It's always a good thing to do. Keeps life in perspective. Makes me very glad to see her." Alexis points towards Kristina.

Sonny stands up always nervous about the subject of Ricky, but he always knows the importance of asking.

"Cause Momma taught me manners." Sonny points his fork in Lois' direction.

"Did she? Like when you used to trail your dirty sneakers through my momma's house after it rained."

"I was young and dumb. And now. I'm old and dumb."

"Brookie said you wanna write a book or something. Wouldn't that be bad for you legally?"

"Naw. Not that kind of book. Like parables and stuff. Nursery rhymes or something. I don't know. I'm not exactly on schedule."

"What's this schedule thing you keep bringing up? I think you have partial conversations with me Sonny. Like you've talked to someone else and you finish it with me, but I didn't get the beginning."

Sonny pokes at his food starting to feel slightly delusional. "Do you sometimes get your wish in the worse way possible? Like the knife you were hoping to twist in someone else gets turned on you. And you find yourself using that same knife to cut your cake?"

Lois stares at him clueless. "Run that by me again slowly ok."

AJ acted more nervous than her considering it was her case they were trying to build. She knew he was hoping to set some type of precedence for Sonny's bad behavior for his own satisfaction.

"Alexis. I've seen him. I know. I'm an alcoholic. Put it down on your pad." AJ pointed towards her pad sitting on the desk.

Alexis swung around in her chair and decided to chew on her pen cap instead.

"Alexis. He drinks like ten times a day."

"Ten AJ?"

"Ok. Maybe five."

"Is five severe AJ? Are we talking about sips? I mean how would you know?"

"I heard it through the grapevine."

"Not good enough Marvin." Alexis swung her chair around again biting to fill in the holes of his accusations with something concrete. She finally stopped and climbed onto her desk and grabbed at the bottom of his suit coat. "Focus AJ. Have you had any violent confrontations with Michael J Corinthos since the birth of my daughter?"

AJ stopped his pacing and looked her in her desperate eyes.

"No Alexis. I haven't."

"Damn!" Alexis pulled a hapless Fay Wray and laid her tired body on her desk.

"He practically gave me Michael back."

"You're useless AJ."

"That's what everyone says."

She looked up at him. "I'm sorry AJ. I'd love to chat, but I need to do what I can to keep Sonny from chopping my child in half."

"I want half Eddie." Lorenzo mocked Sonny over dinner with Ric.

"You're gonna kill me here. He said that to her?" Ric laughed and almost choked on his last bite.

"That's what I overheard."

"So you were in your apartment?"

"Yea." Lorenzo answered without thought.

"Where was Alexis? Like why were they arguing outside?"

"Uh." Lorenzo looked down at his plate rendered speechless. "Uh. Ric?"

"Yea? What?"

"I think Alexis might be pregnant."

Lorenzo committed the ultimate sin. And he knew it. He threw Alexis to the wolves.

And later that day, with a balled fist, Natasha decked Lorenzo clear across his face.

Unexpectedly and with malice.

Premeditated. Natasha cleared his freezer of steaks so he had no choice but to truck his injured ass over to Marty's Meat Market. He told Marty his injury was an escort service gone awry.

Lorenzo shook his head with steak attached and offered his advice. "Marty, don't ever bid on Russian girls on E-bay."

"It's all about avoiding confrontations Brooke. That's the kind of guy I am now." Sonny licks his finger and holds it up to the sky.

"What are you doing?" Brooke Lynn asks finally putting her book down to take notice.

"I'm measuring the change in the winds. So I can know which side of the tree to start building." Sonny picks up his plans attached to a pile of lumber. He starts to turn them in different directions.

"Can't read 'em huh Uncle Sonny?"

Alexis makes her presence in the backyard known with the slam of the door. "That's all the conformation I needed. Please tell me what Kevin said isn't true. Sonny, you really don't know how to read?"

Brooke Lynn buries her face in her arm.

"It's ok Brooke Lynn." Sonny reassures her with softness in his voice feeling her anxiety more than his own.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Brooke Lynn passes out in the chair.

Sonny quietly thanks God that the child is typically overdramatic while Alexis stares at her laid out across Sonny's lawn apparently disturbed.

"She pulled a Fay Wray. She's a better actress than I am."

Sonny nods his head. "She really is. That kid is useful. I could rob a bank with her if I wanted to."

Ric pulled on the doorknob hoping maybe she forgot to lock it.

"Alexis! Are you really sick! We need to talk about this! How can you tell Lorenzo that you're pregnant before me? Does Sonny know too?"

Alexis kicked up her feet on the edge of the tub and flipped through her magazine.

"Alexis! I don't hear you in there!"

She quickly hopped up, flushed the toilet, and mustered up an ill-sounding voice. "Oh my God! I'm so sick! I need peace and quiet for like five…no half an hour…half an hour Ric! Then we'll talk!"

She sat back down on the floor and whispered to herself. "After I finish my magazine. And then I will channel Natasha and beat Lorenzo to a bloody pulp. I'll show him a dirty Russian girl."