True
by Abelard

Part 3

Brooklyn, Late 1970s

"Sonny, please, don't leave angry…" Adela was begging her son.

"Mama, what am I supposed to do?! The way he treats you, the things he says and does - look at your face!" Sonny yelled. His mother cringed and turned away in shame. If she was trying to hide the bruises around her right eye from Sonny, it was far too late. "Why don't we just leave? Come with me, stay with me at the Cerullos for a while." Sonny had been crashing at the Cerullos's house ever since his sixteenth birthday, at his mother's request. "Or, or we can go farther away. We can leave the state."

Adela shook her head sadly. Sonny bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from screaming. He knew what she was thinking, because they'd had this conversation before, about ten million times. His mother would say that Deke was a cop, a high-ranking one, and he would find them no matter where they went. And what would they use for money? Sonny scraped by on the Cerullos' generosity and the few dollars he earned as an errand boy for Joe Scully's crew. Adela was completely dependent on Deke's salary; she had no money of her own.

Sonny put his hands on his mother's shoulders and said, "Ma, if only I were older, I'd stand up to that…"

"Don't call your stepfather names," Adela warned in a soft voice. Sonny shook his head in disbelief. It was as if Deke controlled her, not only when he was in the house, but when he was absent, too. He ruled her head. He'd already broken her heart. And he'd broken more than that, with his fists and belt and nightstick…

"I have to go, Mama. I'll see you later." There was only so much Sonny could do. His mother wouldn't let him talk about what Deke was doing to her, to them, but when Sonny was with her in Deke's house, he couldn't think about anything else. Whenever he got to the point where he couldn't bear to talk to his mother any longer, he just had to leave.

"Are you meeting that girl, the one from the ballet?" Adela asked, her eyes lighting up. Sonny was always amazed at how unselfish his mother was. She could be suffering inside, but if one good thing was going on in Sonny's life, she could be so happy for him in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, Ma, it's the girl from the ballet. Do you want to come and meet her? I'm gonna take her to the pool later." Sonny smiled weakly. Maybe he could convince his mother to leave the house, just for a little bit. Deke was out somewhere playing poker with his cop buddies, and he wouldn't be home till late. Adela rarely left the house anymore; it was a miracle Sonny had gotten her to the ballet the Thursday before.

His mother put a hand to her black eye self-consciously, and half-turned away. "Oh, no, not today. I'm sorry, I…" But she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Okay. Maybe some other time," Sonny said, and walked away before he started crying like a little kid in front of his mother.

***

Sonny waited in front of the coffee shop, Mauricio's, where all of Joe Scully's guys hung out. It was where Sonny spent most of his time, since his so-called job was to run messages between the men at Mauricio's and the rest of the crew. Scully barely knew his name and paid him slave wages, but Sonny vowed he'd change that, someday. He'd show these guys what he could do.

He got nervous at 2:05, even though Alexis was only a few minutes late. He sat on the curb outside so that he could see her coming. For the thousandth time since Friday, he kicked himself for not telling her which subway stop to go to. How the heck was she supposed to figure out where this place even was? Girls like her, upper-class girls, never knew their way around Bed-Stuy. And he wasn't even sure Alexis's school was in New York. Maybe she didn't even know what Bed-Stuy was.

But just as Sonny was about to mentally kick himself again, a Mercedes limousine pulled up across the street from Mauricio's. Alexis got out of the back seat, and a tall guy with blondish-brown hair, just a little lighter-colored than Alexis's, got out after her. The guy looked to be in his early or mid-twenties; was this the cousin Alexis had mentioned?

"No, Stefan, please, I'll be okay," Alexis pleaded before they got too far from the limo. But they were close enough that Sonny could hear them.

"If you insist on spending all afternoon with this young man, Alexis, I have the right meet him first," Alexis's cousin answered. Sonny noticed what he was wearing: a black suit that was pressed to sharp angles. His suit and shoes probably cost more cash than Sonny had ever seen at one time, except for the drop bags that Scully's crew sometimes let him peek inside.

Sonny got to his feet and felt like a low-rent bum in his shorts and t-shirt. Alexis smiled nervously as she approached. She was wearing jeans and a white sleeveless top. She looked great. But Sonny barely had time to notice before her cousin loomed in front of him.

"Hello there. You must be Sonny Corinthos." The man didn't extend his hand in greeting. He was talking as if they were at a board meeting or something.

"Yes, I am," Sonny said, and cleared his throat. "You must be…Mr. Davidovich, Alexis's cousin?" Sonny guessed, at a loss.

The man frowned. "I *am* Alexis's cousin, but my name is not Davidovich. I am Stefan Cassadine." The cousin seemed to expect a reaction from Sonny, but Sonny didn't know what to say. The name meant nothing to him. So Sonny stuck out his hand and said, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Cassadine. I promise I'll take good care of Alexis this afternoon, sir. I mean, we won't get into any trouble." *Crap*, Sonny thought to himself. *What the hell are you saying?!* "I mean, sir…"

Stefan cracked a smile so thin it almost looked like a grimace. "It's alright, Sonny. I comprehend your meaning. I plan on holding you to your word, however. No trouble for my cousin. I'm quite protective of her, do you understand?"

"Completely, sir."

"And don't call me 'sir,' Sonny. You make me feel as old as my father." Stefan turned to Alexis and kissed her on both cheeks. "Call when you're ready for Jacques to pick you up. No later than eight o'clock, do you understand?"

Alexis nodded, and Stefan walked back to the limo. Sonny couldn't hide his disappointment at what her cousin had just said. "Six hours, huh?" he sighed.

"Well, that's about five hours and forty minutes more than we've ever spent together, right?" Alexis retorted.

Sonny had to grin. "True. Okay, come on." He brashly took her hand, and was about to lead her away from Mauricio's, but he felt her pull back. She didn't take her hand from his, though.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Alexis asked.

"Did you find a bathing suit?"

"Yes, I'm wearing it under my clothes. Stefan would never have let me come if he thought I'd need a bathing suit. But where are we going?"

"Someplace wet. Where else would you need a bathing suit? Come on. Don't you trust me?" Sonny tugged on her hand, and was inordinately pleased when she let him lead the way.

***

The public pool was loud and raucous, as usual. This was where all the kids spent all their time, during the hot, muggy Brooklyn summers. Sonny hardly came by anymore, since he was sort of a working man now, and didn't have the same kind of time off as kids who were still in school. But he didn't have to work Sundays, and coming here with Alexis Davidovich was about the most fun he could think of having.

He was already down to his swimming trunks when he noticed that Alexis hadn't even taken off her shoes. "What's the matter?' he asked, squinting up at her from her from the side of the pool, where he sat, toes and calves in the water.

Alexis looked around anxiously, and she knelt down next to him. "I didn't realize there'd be so many people here," she said.

All around them, neighborhood kids their age were splashing each other, screaming, playing Marco Polo, diving from the board, everything they could think of to do that involved water. Sonny smiled at Alexis. "These aren't *people*. They're just other kids, like you and me."

"Yes, but…the girls are all…well, they…they're….what they're wearing is…" Alexis was blushing. Sonny looked around and saw what Alexis must have seen right away. All the Bed-Stuy girls in their little string bikinis, showing off their goods for the world to see. Alexis stammered on, "I'm…just not…not so…"

"Hey. You're gorgeous," Sonny said, putting his hand on hers and waiting until Alexis met his stare. "I mean it. You're at least as pretty as the best-looking girl here."

Alexis stood and began backing away. "Don't tease me…"

Sonny rose just as quickly and took both her hands in his. "What? What is it? I'm not making fun of you. I'm dead serious. Hey, look at me. You think a guy who looks as good as I do would run up to meet you if I didn't think you were gorgeous?"

Alexis blushed some more, but smiled, then laughed a little and rolled her eyes. "You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you?"

Sonny laughed. She had his number. He was nothing if not proud. "Maybe I am. But I'm also right. Come on, don't be afraid. No one here's gonna think you're out of place, in any way, I guarantee it."

"Okay, but don't expect too much. And don't laugh!" Alexis warned. She toed off her white flats, unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them off her legs, then stripped off her sleeveless white top. She walked over to the cement edge of the pool and dangled her feet into the water, just as Sonny had done earlier.

It took Sonny a second to follow her. She'd told him not to expect too much, and he didn't know what he was expecting, but what he saw was certainly…more. She wore a one-piece black swimsuit that was cut low in the back and high on the thigh, and even though it was cut straight across in front, showing no skin, it didn't leave anything to the imagination, in terms of what kind of shape she was in. *An amazing shape,* thought Sonny.

"What's the matter?" Alexis said over her shoulder, when Sonny didn't immediately sit next to her. "Trying desperately not to laugh?"

Sonny hurried to sit beside her, before any of the other guys mistook her for being on her own. "Oh, I am not laughing," he assured her. "Definitely. Not. Laughing." There was so much goodness to look at, Sonny's eyes were in overdrive. They moved from her long, long legs, to the skin of her thighs, her narrow waist, and up and up…

"Why are you staring at me?" Alexis asked suddenly. Sonny forced his eyes to her face immediately. Obviously, she didn't know how good she looked. That was too bad, considering she was a knockout, but it also sort of worked in his favor, since she clearly wasn't trying to draw attention to herself. Sonny realized he already thought of anyone else who might give Alexis a second look as "competition."

"I was just thinking, you look good in that suit," Sonny said. It was the most honest thing he could say without scaring her, probably.

"Stop it," Alexis said, a little sadly.

Sonny frowned. "Why do you think I'm teasing you when I pay you a compliment? I mean, maybe it's good that you're not full of yourself, like I am…" Alexis grinned at his joke. "But what's wrong with me saying things like, 'You look good,' or 'You're pretty,' when it's true?"

Alexis turned her face away, leaving Sonny to stare at her long, brown curly hair flowing over her back, which was left bare by the suit. He saw her shoulders shake, and he put a hand on the skin of her back, as he'd wanted to do from the moment he saw her in that suit. "Alexis? Are you crying?"

"I'm…No. But I'm a little…scared." She turned back to face Sonny, and he brushed some of her curls out of her face and behind her shoulder, so he could look at her face. She was telling the truth; her face was dry. But she was still shaking.

"Why?" Sonny asked.

"Be..because you asked why I react that way, when you try to be nice to me, and I want to tell you, but there are…some things that scare me to talk about. Oh," Alexis shut her eyes momentarily. "Listen to me. I'm not even using proper grammar. I can't even talk right. Correctly. I can't even talk correctly when I try to talk about this stuff, I just get all…"

"Hey, whoa, calm down," Sonny interrupted her nervous chatter. "Just breathe." They sat together quietly, just staring at their legs under the blue water line, listening to the sounds of people having fun all around them, Sonny's hand still on Alexis's back.

Finally, Alexis said, "There's someone in my life, who helped raise me. Sort of. Someone I had to live with from the time I was little until two years ago, when I left for school. She wasn't my mother, she's Stefan's mother. My aunt. But there was no one else…she was like a stepmother to me, do you understand?"

Sonny nodded vigorously. "Yeah. I have a stepfather."

"She used to call me things. Names. Awful, awful names," Alexis went on. "I can't even tell you what they were, they were so bad. They made me feel like I was nothing. Like I was less than dirt. She used to make me do things, stupid things, and criticize me and humiliate me and make fun of me…" Alexis stopped, took a couple of deep breaths, and continued. "Sorry, but every time I even think about her, it's hard for me to breathe…"

"Don't ever apologize for that," Sonny said fiercely.

"Well, anyway, she wasn't the only person on the island. There was Stavros, my oldest cousin, who was just as bad as my aunt. But there was also Stefan, who you met today, and sometimes, my uncle, and they were always nice to me. They'd pay me compliments and treat me wonderfully. But you see, they couldn't be around all the time. And when they weren't around, my aunt would find me, and she'd turn all their compliments into insults, and tell me they only said nice things because they were laughing at me behind my back. Sometimes she'd make me tell her every good thing they'd told me, and then she'd call them lies. She'd say, 'Now, I'm going to tell you the truth about yourself, Alexis.'" Alexis was panting hard when she stopped talking, but she still wasn't crying. Sonny wondered if she was just all cried out over it, just as he was done crying over Deke. "I'm sorry to dump all this on you," Alexis said, not looking at Sonny.

Sonny wrapped both his arms around Alexis's body in a sideways hug. She didn't return his back, but she didn't shrink away. "You didn't dump anything on me," Sonny said, his cheek pressed to hers. "I asked. You answered. That's just being truthful. And now that you've told me, you want to know what I think?"

"What do you think," Alexis asked, sounding a little afraid.

"I think you were really brave to go through all that, and still come out so smart, and beautiful, and strong. I just met you, Alexis, but I already know you're all those things. And to know you're this way, even after what you went through, impresses the hell out of me." Alexis didn't say anything at that. Sonny peered around to see her face, and saw she was smiling and a little teary-eyed. Sonny said, "You didn't cry while you were telling me all those things about what your aunt did to you, but you cry when I tell you how great I think you are?"

"Well." Alexis said softly. "I'm just not used to that kind of sweet talk, I guess."

Sonny sucked in his breath. If he wasn't mistaken, she had just flirted with him, the tiniest bit. "Oh, if you think that's sweet talk, you should hear me…"

"Hey, Sonny! Who's the new girl?!" It was Joey Cerullo, walking towards them from the far side of the pool. Sonny removed his arms from Alexis and was immediately sorry, because it gave Joey a chance to see Alexis in her swimsuit. "Wow! Whadda we have here? A new girl in town. Hi there, new girl," Joey got down on one knee on the other side of Alexis. Sonny felt Alexis lean towards him a little, away from Joey's muscular chest and too-close face. "What's your name, hot stuff?"

"Um…Alexis."

Joey's eyes widened. "Never met anyone with that name before. You ain't from Bed-Stuy, huh? Park Slope girl? Hey Sonny, you climbin' the ladder?"

Alexis glanced at Sonny. "Climbing the…?"

"Beat it, Joey!" Sonny said threateningly. "Get outta here. She's just visiting. I'll see you back at your ma's."

"Alright, I'm goin'," Joey said, laughing. But as he rose to his feet, he took Alexis's hand in his and kissed the back of it. "So long, princess." Joey scampered off into the locker room, shouting, "Hey, Gino, Sonny's got a new girl! Alexis!"

"Oh my God, I'm really sorry about that," Sonny said, hands covering his face. Of all the days for Joey to open his big trap…For this, Sonny would take all his underwear and put it in his mother's freezer.

"It's okay. I can be called worse things than 'princess,'" Alexis said, obviously amused.

"Can I ask you something?" Sonny asked. When Alexis nodded, he said, "You're from someplace far away, right? I mean, you said you weren't born in this country, and then you mentioned an island. Where are you from?"

"Well, my family is from…all over. We're Russian, but we don't live in Russia. Or, at least, I never have. I grew up on a tiny island in Greece."

"Greece?! Hey, I'm part Greek!"

"Yeah, I guessed. Corinthos. So, we have something in common. You're part Greek, and I grew up in Greece."

Sonny grew serious. "Actually, Alexis, we have more in common than that. I sort of know what you went through with your aunt because, well, I sort of went through bad stuff too. With my stepfather."

Alexis frowned. "Do you want to tell me about it."

Sonny shook his head. "No. I just wanted you to know, that I understand. I really get it." Then, he smiled again, and gestured to the pool, waiting for them to jump in. "Ready to get wet?"

Alexis laughed. "Okay. Let's go."

***continued on the adult site***

part 4