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When Cassadines Fall
Granny Sophia
"So you going to tell me who those young men are?" Granny Sophia starts unbuttoning her coat. Maddy takes it from her and hangs it up on the hall tree next to the door. Maddy escorts her to her favorite chair that has a view of the street. Granny Sophia liked to keep up on things.
Perfectly comfortable in Granny's kitchen, Maddy goes to put the kettle on and sets up a tea tray. "The younger one is Nikolas Cassadine; he was one of the first friends I made in Port Charles."
"That's the place you are staying up in New York?"
"Right. It's way, way, way upstate New York closer to Canada than it is to New York City."
Sophia shivers. "It sounds cold."
"It is cold. I feel like I'm boiling hot here now. It was at least thirty degrees colder when I left New York last night." Maddy shakes her head. "It doesn't feel like it was just last night."
"Now tell me about the other young man." Granny asks greedily.
"His name is Stefan Cassadine. He is Nikolas' uncle and boss of the family holdings until Nikolas is old enough to run things. I play chess with him every week."
"He's pretty." There is almost a cackle in Granny's tone.
"Granny." Maddy shakes her head and brings the tea tray over pouring Sophia a cup and doctoring it the way she likes with just a little shot of something to warm her bones.
"Oh fiddle. The day I can't look-- shut the vault and call out the band I'm done." Sophia realizes what she just alluded to. "Oh Sweetie. I'm so sorry. Lisette...."
"I was so far away, Granny. And I didn't call the way I should." There is a sob in Maddy's voice.
"Should shmood. You and I both know if you had called more then Lisette would have wanted more money. And Billy Bob would have been tanked up more often than that worthless piece of gator bait was already. Sweetie, she probably lasted longer cause you were as firm as you were. You made sure she had a roof over her head and lights. Anything more you would have been enabling Lisette." Sophia takes her hand and grips Maddy's chin. "She lived the life she wanted; the one she chose, and she lived every damn day. You remember two things-- you were not Lisette's mother; she was yours."
"And the other?"
"Sweetie, she is free. Free Free of her addictions, free of Billy Bob, free of that petty jealousy she had of her sister. She'll answer at the gates like we all will. But I know the Lord sees the good in your mama that she tried to smother so hard." Maddy breaks down in sobs burying her head in Granny Sophia's lap. Granny brushes her hair back comfortingly letting the little one get it out and just keeps repeating over and over "She's free. She's free now." Looking out the window she sees the white van she'd been expecting to see ever since Pete Robideau picked her up at her daughter's place this morning.
Pete had been watching from the front window as well. "They're here."
"The cleaning crew?" Ricky asks sort of milling around picking up things and then setting them back down.
"Yeah. Ricky, you're done here. Go home grab some sleep."
"What about you? You know O'Meara probably has the place staked out."
Pete grins. "O'Meara is busy down at the precinct. Some old man stopped by there this morning and started raising holy hell. Something about being king of the world and what were the cops doing about women being assaulted in this town." Jerry snorts. He can guess who they were talking about.
Stefan and Nik look at each other and nod. "Edward."
"Go son, I'll be right behind you. After I give directions to the crew." Pete gives Ricky a quick hug. "Sorry about last night."
"We were all functioning on short sleep." Ricky excuses his dad and then takes off. He passes the crew on their way up and keeps moving. Once they arrive Pete indicates the back bedroom. They get started immediately gloving up and moving like a well oiled machine. There is a soft knock on the door and then it opens. A little bird like woman her white hair pulled back tidily in a bun enters.
"How is she?" Pete asks quickly.
"I got her to lay down in my spare room. Baby cried herself to sleep." Sophia walks over to Pete. "You did right coming to get me."
"I knew you were the only one to reach her. You or Martine."
"Granny Martine is in a nursing home." Nik remembers. "She broke her hip and never came back."
"Yes, How did you know that?" Sophia looks at him suspiciously.
"Something Maddy told my grandmother."
"That girl. Already she starts collecting elders up there. She's done it since she was a baby. It's a habit now."
"Well my mother will break her of it." Stefan holds out a hand. "Stefan Cassadine."
"Sophia Moriz." Sophia takes it and gives his a squeeze before releasing him. "You had people checking up on Maddy."
"Yes, and I believe you threatened my operative with a .44 bigger than you are." Nik starts and Pete groans. Jerry just grins. He'd had a feeling about this woman.
Sophia decides to change the subject quickly-- there is a new man here. One she hadn't seen before. "Who are you?"
"Jerry Jacks, madam. At your service." Jerry makes a little bow.
"Jacks? Any relation to John Jacks?"
"My father."
"Then you are a bad boy... from a long and distinguished line of bad boys."
"Guilty. You knew my father?"
"A long, long time ago. Long before your mother ruined him. Good women have a habit of doing that." Sophia lifts Jerry's left hand examining the gold band on his ring finger. "But I see you know this already."
"I don't feel ruined."
"Your father didn't either." Sophia steps back and puts her hands on her hips. "When Maddy wakes up I don't want her feeling overwhelmed. You and you can leave. Call me before you come back." Sophia refers to Pete and Jerry. Sophia just looks at them until she gets the reply she wants.
"Yes ma'am." Pete shrugs. He leans over and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, Jere, we've got our walking papers."
"And you ... you with the questions about Maddy." Sophia walks to the kitchen window. "Do you see that park over there? Find an old man in a black suit. The cuffs of his shirt are frayed but well pressed and he is wearing a red straw hat. He has the answers to your questions. Bring money and a cafe au lait from the corner store."
"The park?"
"He is the man who taught the little one to play chess."
"How do you know he is there?"
"He is always there." Sophia turns to Nikolas. "You and I will talk while we wait for Madeliene to wake." Sophia turns around and walks back to her apartment leaving both doors open.
"I think we have just discovered from whom Maddy gets it." Stefan shakes his head at Nikolas.
"Maddy would hate us going through her things when she isn't here." Nik realizes.
"Are you coming, young man?" Sophia calls from across the hall.
"Go. I have my cell phone if Maddy should wake." Stefan directs.
"Are you going to the park?"
"I think I am."
Nikolas hesitantly enters the apartment across the hall. The voice calls out impatiently. "Shut the door-- you are letting in all the cold air."
"Cold air?" Nik mutters under his breath in disbelief. "Yes, Ma'am." He shuts the door and walks into the living room. The living room is spotless smelling of lemon oil, beeswax and cinnamon. The newest piece of furniture in it is about a decade old and that's a television. There is framed original art on the walls. Crisp white doilies things cover the back of the upholstered couch.
"Sit down." Sophia insists from the kitchen. She walks out of the kitchen carrying the tea tray. Nik jumps to his feet again taking the tray from her and setting it on the nearby table. "Thank you." Nik waits until she is seated and then takes the seat across from her. Sophia pours him tea and offers him that and a plate of small cookies. "So you're Candy." She studies him closely. "The girl always did have a good eye."
Nik flushes. "Mrs Moriz..."
"Oh no honey. Never married. Call me Miz Sophia or Granny Sophia like my Maddy does. Bet you're wondering how a girl like her got messed up with a woman like me. And I'm going to tell you true-- it was gambling."
Nik chokes on the tea. "Ma'am."
"You know about Martine so you know a bit about the women that Maddy calls the grannys. Maddy found Rosa first but I'm getting ahead of myself. Rosa was a sweet girl. Salt of the earth and stubborn as all get out. When she moved down here she was all alone and miserable. Course she had her man..." Sophia shakes her hand in an ohlala type motion. "... but he was an oil man always out on the rigs. He could be gone for weeks at a time. And the old biddies around here were more interested in gossiping than making friends. They had standards." Sophia rolls her eyes. "I had um... retired by the time I met Rosa. And I didn't exactly conform to the biddies standards either. So Rosa and I started being friendly. I was old enough to be her mother but I wasn't and that made all the difference. You know what Mahjongg is?"
"It's a chinese tile game."
"You can make some serious money playing mahjongg-- lose it too, and it's addictive. Some people play bridge, hearts, poker, chess, dominos heck half of the time you can see a couple of old goats playing checkers over at the corner store. Rosa and I started playing Mahjongg to pass the time. Martine was our third and Lucille our fourth. We'd rotate to each other's houses every Tuesday and play. One Tuesday when it was Rosa's turn there was a little girl here. She'd come over to help Rosa get ready and stayed."
"I've heard some about Grannys Rosa and Martine; I've met you now. Will I be meeting Granny Lucille?"
"Oh hell no. We kicked her out of the group for cheating." Sophia puts down her tea cup. "Maddy being such a softy kept checking up on her until she passed away in... '96 I think. But I never spoke to her again. Cheating." Sophia snorts. "There is nothing lower I swear. It's one thing to fleece a mark but to try to fleece your friends? Is it cold in here?" Sophia gathers her sweater around her. "That dang radiator. It hisses and rattles but no heat. I swear I'm chilled to the bone."
"Do you want me to take a look at it for you? It may just need to be bled."
Sophia looks at the young man. His pants alone would pay her food bill for half a year. "What do you know about radiators?"
"More than I'd like. I just remodeled... well helped remodel a house like this one up in Port Charles. One of the major projects was replacing the boiler."
"Bet you learned a few choice words."
"More than a few. Maddy told me I was hanging around the crews too much. Where do you keep your tools? All I need is a screw driver and a coffee can or something." Nikolas stands.
"Everything is under the sink. You don't have to..."
"You're cold." Nik shrugs. After finding the screwdriver and something to collect the water and sets about bleeding the system. "So you were saying-- Rosa introduced you to Maddy. Let me guess she added you to her route."
"The very next day. And her business grew from there. After Lucille got kicked out of the game Maddy even recruited different fourths for us, bringing new money to the game."
"You said that she was a little girl here. Wasn't this your house?"
"No, this was Rosa's house. Rosa left half of it to Maddy and half to her son. Pete sold Maddy his half. Or should I say financed her splitting it up into apartments. Maddy and her mother lived in a project up from here. A real hell hole. Too crowded, too many trouble makers. My place had gotten too big for me and my grandson's family had gotten too big for his place. So he moved into my old house and I moved in here. Rather than doing one of those reverse mortgage things, my grandson pays my rent here. Maddy found some other tenants for the other apartments. The very last person she moved in was her mother."
"Cause Lisette was... difficult."
"God rest her soul. Lisette was a bitch to get along with. She had her moments when she could be sweet and you could almost believe that Maddy was her daughter but then she'd get around Billy Bob or one of those other trashy men that she liked so well and she was unbearable. Many a time when Maddy would spend the night with me or before Rosa died with her."
"Aren't there agencies...people, the police... someone who could have stepped in?"
"Never any proof. After Maddy took over paying the bills there was always lights on at their house. She always made sure that the house was picked up, food in the fridge, that her clothes were clean. Her school work got done. 'Bout the time there was a solid case and the cops were getting ready to pull her out of Lisette's place, Maddy made an end run around the system and got herself emancipated. If that Clinton woman is right that it takes a village to raise a child then Maddy is that child. The year that Maddy got emancipated was a rough one. They were still living in the projects. All kinds of hell broke loose, Maddy was staying almost full time with Rosa and then Rosa..."
"Was murdered."
"Yes. Pete was a crazy man. He was having his own rough year. Business was booming but his personal life was a mess. His son was causing all kinds of trouble in school. Pete's wife decided she like the view in Rio better. And then his mama...." Sophia shakes her head. "Setting this up for Maddy was something he could control and Pete's a man who likes control. You know men like that don't you?"
"Um... yeah." Nik says wryly. "Maddy's accused me of being one myself."
"Getting Maddy emancipated was a way for him to get out of his own head. Converting the house into apartments was a way to get Maddy out of the projects and away from her mother and to give her an income so she would focus on school."
"I guess two out of three isn't bad. Out of the projects, and an income. Pete must have freaked when Maddy moved her mother in here."
"What could he say? It was just so Madeliene. She'd been taking care of her mother for as long as she could remember. She couldn't just stop." Sophia sees the Nik is finished with the radiators in the living areas. "There are two more. One in my bedroom and one in the spare room." Sophia looks out the window watching the action on the street and via the reflection off the glass as Nikolas goes first into her room and then he silently opens the door to the spare room where Maddy is sleeping.
Nikolas looks around the spare room. Actually it couldn't really be called a spare room. This was clearly Maddy's room. There were pictures of her as a child on the walls. Surrounded by the grannies, by herself, with her bike. Even a picture of her proudly holding the keys to her van. There are framed awards dating back a decade-- best reader all the way through honor society. He finds the radiator and quickly bleds it off moving as silently as possible avoiding looking at the single bed in the room.
At Wyndmere lite Maddy had always kept her door locked and padlocked. The only times he had been in her room had when she had invited him or before she moved in. Rising to his feet he finally looks over at Maddy. She is curled up on her side with a hand crocheted afghan over the top of her. Bending over her he brushes her hair back from her face. Maddy moves restlessly and Nikolas freezes not wanting to wake her. Practically tip toeing from the room, Nikolas retreats to the living room making the sure that Maddy's door is shut.
"Is she is still sleeping?"
"Yes, and I didn't want to wake her. Pete said the cleaners needed a few hours over in the other apartment."
Sophia is distracted by a cab pulling up to the building. "Do you know an gentleman in a...sherlock holmes costume?"
Nik rushes to the window. "That's Edward Quartermaine one of the people who flew down here with us. He's very... loud. Let me go meet him outside and fill him in on what has happened and that Maddy is sleeping."
Sophia pats her hair carefully. "Bring him up for some tea." She waits until Nikolas has left the apartment and then reaches for her bag. She carefully puts on some lipstick smacking her lips and then pursing them carefully to make sure there is no bleeding. Nikolas returns with Edward both are speaking in hushed tones.
"Mr Quartermaine, this is Miz Sophia Moriz." Nikolas provides the introductions.
Sophia reaches out a regal hand. "Call me Sophia and you are....?"
"Edward." Edward takes her hand squeezing it softly used to Lila's delicate hands.
"Nikolas, be a dear and put the kettle on." Sophia suggests not breaking eye contact with Edward. "I've been telling Nikolas all about New Orleans but now I think it's time for you to tell me all about where Maddy is staying in New York."
Nikolas grins. Edward would never know what hit him. "Yes, ma'am."