Chapter 47
Tuesday afternoon, three days later.
The last three days had been long and hard for Brie; long in length, hard on
her mind and body, but all consuming so that she had little time to think or
worry. Jake had kept his promise and Sonny had been decidedly absent from her
life and from Port Charles. She wasn’t sure what he had been doing or what
Jake had said to keep him away, but he had mentioned that he was spending time
with Lois, working on L&B, and watching the kids so that Lo and Ned could
spend some time alone, she was surprised to find that she missed seeing him.
After five years it had taken less than a week to let him back into her life,
it was like going through the pain of when he had first left her all over
again, but this time it was different, almost worse, because she knew exactly
where and just how close he really was. It was already Thursday afternoon and
her class, as she liked to call them much to their chagrin, was taking a
break, some crashed out on mats strewn to one side of the large room, others
sitting at the tables around her talking and laughing. Johnny and Renaldo sat
at the table closest to her, appointing themselves her protectors after the
first day even though she had managed to knock both of them and almost
everyone else to the ground. She thought back and realized that she had
actually enjoyed herself and that she had proven herself as an asset to Sonny
and Jason’s organization, if only… she stopped herself cold, if only nothing,
she was leaving tomorrow. Tonight she would take on last look around Port
Charles, but tomorrow she was outta here.
Jake watched her from across the room as she stared into space, then smiled
when he noticed Renaldo and Johnny sitting near her and thought how amazing
that was. A week ago she was knocking them out and tying them up, but now
they would do anything for her, not that she wanted them to. Yesterday when
he had stopped by he had heard someone about to make a lewd comment about her
but before the sentence was even finished, his mouth was shut by Renaldo’s
fist, Johnny’s not far behind. He shook his head and looked around the room,
he had picked Brie up at six sharp on Tuesday morning as she’d asked and
brought her down to the warehouse district by the docks. The old building had
been dank and dark, all the light bulbs blown out or missing, the bare floors
littered with rubbish and dirt, he had expected her to take one look at the
place and walk out, he was wrong - again. She had pulled out a small notebook
and pen from her backpack then for the next fifteen minutes she walked around
and scribbled notes before finally handing the list to him. He’d looked at it
then back to her and asked what she wanted him to do about it, in a level
voice she had told him get the supplies ordered and delivered then to go to
the corner of Commerce and Elm and hire a couple of kids to help for the day,
she was going to Kelly’s and would be back later. That was it, so he picked
up his cell phone and got to work. A few hours later five boys and one girl,
ranging form 13 to 17, were pushing brooms, picking up trash, and cleaning
windows, then Brie walked in balancing several large boxes, all the work had
stopped as the kids stared at her suspiciously. She ignored them and began
unpacking the boxes, pulling out containers of soup, sandwiches bursting with
meat and vegetables, and cartons of milk, but none of the kids moved in her
direction. When she was done she raised her eyes to them and calmly told them
to come and eat before walking away and towards him. Slowly, one by one, they
made their way towards the food casting doubtful
wary looks over their
shoulders while shoving food into their mouths. She stood there and watched
them eat and I asked her what was going on, she just looked at me and smiled
simply saying that they needed a hot meal. He wondered how she had know about
them and where to find them, it was almost as if she read his mind, because in
the next instant she asked if they’d been where she said, he’d answered yes
and asked how she knew, she replied with a sad smile, that a long time ago she
had a friend that ran with a similar crowd and Port Charles hadn’t changed
that much. Jake knew she was right and he also knew who she was referring to
without having to ask, Stone, anyone who knew Sonny knew of Stone and his
struggle and the friendship that had existed between him, Sonny, Brenda, and
Robin, plus he had seen his share of pictures at the house. It didn’t matter
that he hadn’t ever met Stone, or Robin for that matter, but he knew all about
them. The conversation ended after that and Brie had gone over to grab an
extra broom retreating to the far side of the room obviously lost in thought.
That had been two days ago, now the room had been transformed, half looking
like a gym floor, the other half a classroom and empty space. Other things
hadn’t changed, he knew that she still feed those kids two hot meals a day,
courteous of trips to Kelly’s, and he also knew that not all of the men were
happy to be there - matter a fact some were down right hostile, but Brie had
handled it and he knew that each and every person in the room would be a
better solider, if not man for being here.
Jake - "Hey." He greeted her and she smiled in return. "Everyone gonna
graduate?" He asks her jokingly.
B - "And if I said no?" She quipped.
Jake - "Weellll."
B - "That’s what I thought, but don’t worry about it."
Jake - "Good. When are you going to be done?"
B - She looked at her watch, then back to him "About and hour, why?"
Jake - "Well I wanted to know if you would come to dinner with me and…"
B - "Jake I really can’t."
Jake - "But…."
B - "Jake I really am sorry, but if you wait around a little bit you can walk
me to Kelly’s and we can have a cup of coffee, then I am going to take on last
look around PC and get ready to go."
Jake - They are both silent for a moment "Are you ever coming back?"
B - "I can’t." She replied so quietly that he barely heard.
Jake - "I’d like to say I understand, but to tell you the truth, I really
don’t."
B - "I’m sorry."
Jake - "You do what you have to."
B - "I will."
Jake - "Well get cracking," he says forcing a smile onto his face and into his
voice "I’m not going to wait all day."
B - "Thanks Jake," she says gently "45 minutes max okay?"
Jake - "I thought you said an hour?" he said teasing her.
B - "I’ll cut it short - just for you." She yelled over her shoulder walking
away, a silent Renaldo and Johnny trailing behind her.
Chapter 48
The sun was setting and the night had cooled as Brie and Jake walked to
Kelly’s.
Jake - "Honey I just wanted to tell you that you’ve done an excellent job."
B - "Thanks Jake."
Jake - He hesitates a minute, "Do you have to leave."
B - "You know I do." She replied with a sigh.
Jake - "But Son…"
B - "Jake stop." She interrupts and he snaps his mouth closed. "Your my
friend, right?" he nods "maybe my only one," she adds softly, "but I don’t
want to talk about Sonny with you or anyone else and if you can’t accept that
maybe we ought to say goodbye right here."
Jake - "No. I’m sorry it’s just that.." his voice trails off, "never mind."
B - "Thanks Jake."
Jake - They continue walking silently down the boardwalk passing all the shops
decorated in red, pink and white. "Can I at least take you to the airport
tomorrow?"
B - "No, that’s okay."
Jake - "It’s not any trouble." He tells her seriously..
B - "Don’t you know what tomorrow is?" she asks but he looks at her blankly.
"It’s Valentines day, you should spend the day with your wife."
Jake - "Yea. So I can do that after I take you to the airport."
B - "No I’m leaving from La Guardia and I really need to be alone tomorrow,
you understand right?" she asks gently.
Jake - He watches her intently for a moment. "Sure." He agreed and then
opened the door to Kelly’s.
An hour later Jake finished his coffee and got ready to leave.
Jake - "I’m gonna miss you." He told her from across the table.
B - "I’ll miss you too." She says smiling sadly.
Jake - He pushes back his chair getting up to walk around to her side "I love
you sis." He whispers in her ear as he bends to give her a light kiss.
B - Her throat tightens and she blinks back tears "I’ll miss you too." She
replies softly before he turns and walks out the door, looking back though the
window once more and giving her a quick wave before hurrying off. A few
minutes later Nikolas walks up to her and clears his throat trying to gain her
attention.
N - "You need anything else today Brie?"
B - She blinks her eyes rapidly trying to hold back the tears then looks up at
him "No Nikolas I’m fine, but can I borrow a menu for a sec?"
N - "Sure, hold on."
B - "Never mind I’m done here, I’ll come with you." She says giving him a
forced smile and pushing back from the table to follow him to the counter
where he hands her a menu. "Can I borrow your pad?"
N - "Sure." He says handing it to her while she plucked a pen out of his shirt
pocket. She looked at the menu for a second, skimming the front and back,
then began to scribble on the paper. "Hey your pretty good at that, need a
job?" he asks with a grin.
B - She gave him a genuine smile "Nope. Been there done that." She writes a
little more then hands it back to him.
N - He looks down at it then back up to her "You want all of this?" She nods
yes "You know it’s just Liz and I here right?"
B - "Um hum, but I also know that Lucky will be here in," she looks at her
watch "an hour and a half, so I’ll be back around 7:30, is that enough time?"
N - "All of it?"
B - "Yep." She repeats smiling charmingly.
N - It works. "Sure."
B - "All right see you then." She calls out hopping down from the stool and
heading for the door grabbing her coat as she goes.
Liz - "Should I be jealous?" she asks walking up to him with a cup of coffee
in each hand.
N - "Never." He replies with a smile. "Look." He says waving the paper in
front on her eyes.
Liz - "All this?" she says putting down the coffee and grabbing it out of his
hands.
N - "Yep." He grins.
Liz - "Oh Lord," She sighs "let get to work."
N - "It can wait." He whispers as he bends down to kiss her.
Liz - "Okay." She murmurs wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in for
more.
Brie walked through the back door of Luke’s, pausing to look over her shoulder
trying to shake a niggling feeling that someone was watching her. She closed
and locked the door firmly behind her then ran up the stairs to change and get
the car keys, Gage wasn’t home, she hadn’t seen much of him the last few days
since Jake had him working on the renovations and alterations to the
penthouse’s security system that she and Jason had agreed on. She hurried
into her bedroom reaching for a pair of jeans, a long sleeve thermal shirt,
and a bulky fleece sweatshirt, all of which she pulled on quickly before
sitting down to tug on thick socks and hiking boots. She left her room and
paused in the kitchen for some water and the keys then walked out the door and
down the stairs, literally running into Luke at the bottom.
L - "Hey where’s the fire?" he asks trying to maintain his hold on the large
box in his arms.
B - "Sorry Luke."
L - "You in a hurry, cause I could sure use a woman’s opinion with this." He
says nodding to the box.
B - "With what?"
L - "A girl’s favorite holiday - Valentines Day." He smirks.
B - "Isn’t that a bit sexist?" She says shifting her weight from foot to foot
while she resisted the temptation to put her hands on her hips.
L - "Probably." He laughs.
B - "You’ll never change." She laughs back "Sorry I’m in a bit of a hurry."
L - "Oh come on, I need a woman’s touch."
B - She raises her eyebrows and grinned "Then ask your wife." She says barely
holding back a laugh.
L - "I meant that the CLUB needs a woman’s touch."
B - "Like I said, ask Laura, I’ve gotta go." She tells him stepping around
him and heading out the door.
L - "But.."
B - "Bye Luke." She calls over her shoulder.
L - "Damn." He grumbles and lifts the box higher resigning himself to the fact
he would have to decorate himself. Meanwhile Brie jumps in her car and heads
north knowing exactly where she was going.
Chapter 49
An hour later she pulled off the highway onto a smaller two lane road, all the
while being careful since the snow that had melted during the day had begun to
freeze again making small patches of ice appear in some areas. Fifteen
minutes later she slowed and turned again, this time onto a small country road
that twisted through the hillside with smaller dirt roads branching off in
several areas, but still she drove on, until there was nothing but unbroken
fence on either side of the road, finally she carefully turned onto a dirt
track, the only road around for miles. Though the night was chilly she opened
her window and breathed in the clean fresh air that flowed in, she took a deep
breath then looked back to the road suddenly slamming on the breaks. Two
hundred yards in front of her there stood two large and elaborate iron gates
blocking her path, she slowly opened her door stepping out, pulling on her
gloves as she went. She walked closer and closer to them noticing the detail
and workmanship and how the iron met beautiful wooden fences that stretched as
far as she could see. Headlights came towards her and she stopped but didn’t
retreat, she just stood and waited, two men got out of a black Land Rover and
approached the gates.
M - "Can I help you Miss?" one of them asked in a friendly voice.
B - She was still surprised by their appearance but forced her best smile and
spoke, "Actually I was just looking around."
M - "I understand ma’am but this is private property."
B - "I’m sorry, it’s just that my .. I mean someone I used to know owned this
land and I just wanted to take another look."
M - "I’m sorry ma’am, like I said this is private property."
B - "Maybe if I talk to the owners they would let me in?"
M - "No ma’am." He answers politely but firmly.
B - "Can you at least tell me how long they’ve been here?" She asks rapidly
loosing her patience.
M - "I’m not sure, probably about five years. Is there anything else we can
do for you?"
B - "No, no thank you. I am sorry to bother you."
M - "No problem." He answered but did not move from his position he just
waited for her to leave, she spun on her heel and walked rapidly to the car
then got in slamming the door behind her, shifting into drive, and disappeared
down the lane. Just before the main road she slowed and stopped just sitting
there, her hands shaking so bad that she couldn’t drive and slumped back in
the seat tears streaming down her face thinking to herself that another dream
had just been lost.
Several hours later she pulled into the parking lot closest to Kelly and got
out slowly to walk towards the front door which she pulled open.
N - He looked at his watch then at her "Hello Brie, your early."
B - "I’ll just have a cup of tea and wait if you don’t mind." She said softly
walking past him to take a seat at the far corner of the counter.
N - "You okay?" he asks his concern apparent on his face.
B - "I’m fine, can I please just get some tea."
N - "Um, yeah sure." He answers turning over the cup in front of her and
filling it with hot water while handing her a tea bag while watching her
quizzically the entire time. "Anything else?" he asks and she shakes her head
busy dunking the tea bag up and down in the water, he guesses she’s not in the
mood for company and retreats into the kitchen. "Hey Lucky, Brie is here." He
tells his brother.
Lucky - "Okay her stuff is almost ready, can you put some chili in containers
and add them to that box." He asks and points towards one of the many lined up
on the counter.
N - "Sure." He answers and reaches for the ladle.
Lucky - "I can’t wait until Ruby gets back." he mutters to himself as he slaps
together another sandwich.
N - "I was just thinking the same thing." He laughed. "When is that anyway?"
Lucky - "Tomorrow."
N & Lucky - "Thank god." They both lament making the other laugh, Liz walks in
and looks at the two of them then places her hands on her hips.
L - "Fine time for you two to become best friends." She tells them in an half
gloating, half annoyed which only makes them laugh harder.
Brie got back into the car after thanking Liz for helping to carry everything
to out and drove towards the docks, so distracted that she failed to notice
the lone headlight in her rearview mirror.
Pulling up to the warehouse she cut off the engine and reached into the back
to grab as much as she could kicking the door closed with her toe before
walking towards the metal door. At the door she struggled trying to get the
key in the lock but finally she gave up and kicked the door hard instead, it
opened slowly and two hands reached out to help her.
B - "Thanks Trey." She said smiling he didn’t respond with words he just
smiled and turned to walk further inside the room. Her little band had grown
from it’s original number of six to eight, all of them homeless, alone, and
runaways - kinda like her. She smiled at a girl of 14 who sat at one of the
tables reading a book that she had brought her yesterday.
B - "Hey Cara." She called out warmly.
C - "Hi." She returned shyly, she and one other where the only girls in the
group but she was by farthest the shyest of them all and Brie made a personal
effort to include her and draw her into conversations.
B - "How’s the book?"
C - "It great." She answered quietly her eyes glowing and her face becoming
more animated.
B - "Good." She replied then turned around "Hey guys there is more stuff in my
car." She called out to the entire group, seven of them jumped up to eagerly
do her bidding and she laughed out loud, "I don’t think all of you need to
go." She called after them but they were already filing out the door. She
smiled at Trey and began to lay out the food, the room was quite, no music, no
TV, they all liked it that way, it was much better than the busy hustle and
bustle of the street, then chairs scrapped across the floor as the others
returned throwing warm clothes and blankets onto the other tables and diving
into the food. Brie sat back and watched with a smile on her lips, they were
all basically good kids, all had hung around her since that first day, maybe
because they sensed a kindred spirit, but more likely because she never told
then what to do, she only had three rules - no drugs, no violence, and no
prostitution, and none of them had any problems following them so life, for
now, was good. When they all finished eating Brie handed out the warm clothes
that she had chosen for each of them and pulled Trey the oldest aside.
B - "I have to leave, you guys can stay here as long as you want and no one
should bother you, just watch the lights at night, also there’s an open tab at
Kelly’s so make sure that everyone eats. Take care of them for me okay."
T - "Your leaving? For good?" he asked softly his face stoic.
B - "I have to."
T - "Are you in trouble?"
B - "In a way, yes."
T - "Then let me, let us, help."
B - "No it isn’t that kind of trouble. I can’t really explain, I just can’t
stay in Port Charles anymore." He looked at her but didn’t say anything so she
pulled the key from her pocket, pressed in into his hand, and turned to go.
T - "Aren’t you going to say goodbye to the others?"
B - She turned back to him, "I can’t. Take care of them okay." He nodded
silently but the pain showed in his eyes, in only three days they had become
attached to one another and now it hurt to say good bye. She turned quickly
walking away, not in the direction of her car but down the docks, toward the
water, Trey turned and walked slowly back into the building but a figure in
black moved out of the shadows to follow her.
She walked along the docks, moving closer and closer to the water, until she
stopped at her favorite spot and sank down onto the hard, damp wooden bench,
she sat there stareing out over the water, moonlight skimming over her face
and hair. When she could no longer sit still she walked to the waters edge
tipping back her head to look up at the moon, breathing in the damp air,
smelling the water, and feeling the breeze, her profile illuminated against
the darkness of the water until another scent assaulted her nostrils, she
ignored it until he spoke. "Hello Brenda." Her shoulders stiffened and her
chin dropped but still she remained standing with her back to the familiar
figure who watched her.
Chapter 50
B - "Hello Jason."
J - "How’d you know it was me?" he asked curiously.
B - "Besides your voice?" she say turning around a resigned look on her face.
" Jason you’ve changed a lot, but whether you are Jason Morgan or Jason
Quartermaine in 12 years your colognes never changed."
J - "Oh. Pretty good" He concedes with a smile and walking towards her while
she turned back to the water.
B - "So what gave me away?" He shrugged. "Jake told huh?"
J - "Jake knows?" he said surprised.
B - "Yes."
J - "For how long?"
B - He found out while you were gone," she hedged "he ran my prints."
J - "Smart, I knew I liked him for a reason. Anyway no he didn’t tell me, I
followed you from Kelly’s when I heard that you’d done a little out of town
exploring and when I saw you walk here, let’s just say my suspicions grew. I
while I was watching you sit here everything came together and it hit me. The
dark may hide all the physical changes you have made but your profile gave you
away, your still as beautiful as ever."
B - "I thought you were out of town." She says crossing her arms in front of
her uncomfortably and ignoring his last statement.
J - "I was." He answers simply.
B - "You were in Europe," she paused to think for a minute and then turned
"you went there because of me didn’t you? How did you find out, I covered my
tracks very well, after all I learnt from the best now didn’t I?" she said
almost bitterly.
J - "Yes I went to Europe and yes, I guess, I did because of you."
B - "You guess?" she says watching him closely "Oh I get it, Sonny sent you
there right, you had to make sure that the dead wife stayed gone."
J - "You still jump to conclusions." He states calmly.
B - "Must be something in the water around here." She snaps and looked back
over the harbor. "Anyway," she takes a deep breath "first thing tomorrow I am
leaving."
J - "No." he says firmly.
B - "Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll take the little secret with me. Sonny will
never know that I set foot in Port Charles."
J - "Do you hate him that much?" He asked quietly.
B - She exhaled and sighed before she answered in a tired voice "Jason I don’t
hate Sonny."
J - "Could’ve fooled me."
B - "I don’t. I just excepted the way things are."
J - "So your just going to run?"
B - "I’m not running, I’m leaving. I can’t be around him every day, I thought
I was strong enough but I’m not."
J - "So your going to let him keep thinking your dead?"
B - "He knows I’m not dead." She told him softly.
J - "What do you mean, did you tell him?"
B - "No Jason, I don’t have too. He left me, telling everyone that I’m dead
is a lie."
J - "Why do you think it’s a lie?"
B - "Listen to me. Sonny left me, simple as that, so I know it’s a lie. When
he found out that I couldn’t be the perfect wife or the perfect mother he left
and never looked back." They both remain quiet for a minute and when Jason
didn’t ask any questions she continued on "This *story* about my death is just
that, a story that he made up to, I don’t know, get back into everyone’s good
graces. I mean we took off together right, so he had to think of some
explanation why I didn’t come back, I guess that was the best he could do."
J - "Sonny wouldn’t do that."
B - "Well he did. So get over it, I have." She says not sounding very
convincing.
J - "Brenda, he really believes that your dead."
B - "Jason stop!" she almost yells then she digs deep in her pocket and pulls
something out holding it tightly before speaking again "I always carry this
and I want," she pauses, "I want you to read it." She says and slowly hands it
to him.
J - "What is it?" he asks looking down at the old worn piece of paper that he
now held in his hand.
B - "An explanation."
J - He looks up at her then down, slowly unfolding the small square she’d
pressed into his palm "Are you sure?" she nods her consent and he begins to
read while she walks towards the bench and takes a seat. He finished quickly
then gently refolded it before walking to her to give it back, she reached out
taking it from his fingers pushing it deep into her pocket. "Why would Sonny
write something like that?" he asked sitting down next to her.
B - They sat in silence for a few minutes before she began to speak. "Did
Sonny ever tell you what happened after we left?" he shook his head so she
continued. "We were happy, imagine me and Sonny actually happy and together
and most importantly safe," she smiled sadly at the memory "but then things
changed and I got pregnant. We were both excited, scared, but excited, so we
left the boat we were living on and headed to Europe, always to some small
obscure place where I wouldn’t be recognized and Sonny wouldn’t be noticed.
Anyway a month before the baby was due we settled into a big house we brought
on an island in Italy and then we waited. I went into labor one Sunday
afternoon, and let me tell you it was about time cause I was as big as a
house, we were both scared but I promised Sonny that everything would be fine,
I promised I would protect our baby, I was so sure Jason, so sure." Her voice
drifted off and she sat there silently lost in the pain of the past until she
pulled herself together and continued. "You know that saying ‘all good things
must come to an end’?" he nodded but remained silent "Well that night things
came to an abrupt end. Our dream of a big happy family was lost forever, my
child’s life ended, and Sonny ended us, the happiest time of my life had come
to a disastrous end." She finished her voice shaking.
J - "Brenda?" he asked concerned, his confusion clearly written on his face,
but she didn’t notice.
B - "No Jason, I don’t want sympathy, pity, or anything else from you or
Sonny. The fact is that for all intense and purposes Brenda Corinthos died
that night."
J - "Bren.."
B - "No! Please Jason, no excuses either." She said with a watery smile and
stood up. "It really was good to see you okay, but I have to go my plane
leaves first thing in the morning. Goodbye Jason." She tells him and begins
to walk away.
J - "Wait!"
B - "Let it go Jason, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. You can’t live
in the past, you know that better than anyone." She says and continues
walking.
J - "But you do and so does Sonny." He called after her.
B - She stops, "Don’t Jason, don’t lie."
J - "I don’t lie."
B - "I remember." She sighs.
J - "Then believe me, Sonny thinks your dead. He lives in the past with his
memories of you."
B - "No Jason, no he doesn’t." she takes a deep breath and turns back. "Do
you know how hard it is for me to be in the same room as him and not touch
him, not love him, not want him?" she cries out and they both look at each
other, Jason knew the feeling well she realized. "I’m sorry you do, but I
can’t do it okay I’m not that strong. I saw him the other day after I talked
to Jake and I gave him a chance to come clean. I gave him a chance of change
his mind, a chance to tell me what happened to his wife, to me, but he lied.
He couldn’t even look me in the eye Jason."
J - "Because he feels guilty."
B - "Guilty, your damn right he should feel guilty after leaving me the way he
did."
J - "No he feels guilty for killing you."
B - "What are you talking about, you mean for lying and saying I was killed?"
J - "No Brenda, he thinks you were murdered because of him."
B - "What?" She asks stunned.
J - "He thinks you were murdered," he repeats "that’s why I went to Europe."
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page