Written by:T J Tuner, Sonny Turner and Curt Chown-
May 1985- Sonny, Tom and Curt are in the cafe. Sonny tells them that there are new people moving in on his floor.
Sonny tells them ‘His name is Pete and he has a mechanic's shop on Kings Highway.’
They will see one another tomorrow at the meeting.
June- Stella is getting ready for her wedding. Sonny’s son is the ring bearer and his daughter is the junior bride’s maid.
At the church, Stella’s future husband tells Sonny son ‘This is just the rehearsal, but you will know what to do when you marry her.’
The man laughs.
The night after the wedding, Sonny tells his kids to go to bed.
Sonny, Tom and Curt are at a meeting, having coffee as usual. Before it starts Curt has something to tell Sonny. ‘A rumor is going around about what you did to your girlfriend in South Korea.’
Sonny responds ‘I have been cleared of the charges and ended up getting an honorable discharge. I drank, and I went AWOL. I never was court martialed or got an article 15. I get full V.A. benefits.’
Curt tells Sonny. ‘We will listen to the speakers now.’
Candy tells Sonny the new neighbors are coming over for lunch.
Sonny says ‘That is great, because the meeting is not until tonight.’
afternoon - The new neighbors come in with their son. The neighbors are Pete and Melissa Ryan and their son is Pete Ryan Junior.
Sonny's daughter is at the mall with her friends.
The boys watch TV in the living room and the adults are in the kitchen talking.
Pete is talking and says he is the manager of the mechanic shop. If it wasn't for him the company would be out of business. Pete’s wife says nothing.
After two hours, the neighbors leave and go back to their apartment.
Sonny starts smoking a cigar and tells Candy ‘I get the impression that Pete is doing things to his wife.’
Candy agrees with him.
The daughter comes back an hour later and makes a call to one of her friends.
Sonny is at a meeting by himself. Someone comes up to him and says ‘Hey, Sonny. Maybe after the meeting, we can talk?’
Sonny replies ‘Yes.’
After the meeting, the two men are at the usual coffee spot Sonny asks ‘Ok Paul, what do you want to talk about?’
Paul replies ‘There are a few things. I would advise not to say anything to anyone about it.’
Sonny chimes 'Get on with it.’
Paul tells Sonny that he will get a letter in the mail at the end of the month about certain members of his family.
Sonny tells him’I really don't care.’
He offers to drive Paul, but is declined.
Sonny enters his car, takes out a cigar and drives home.
Coming home from work the next day, he enters the apartment and Candy tells him ‘You got mail.’
As he is smoking his cigar, he sits down and opens the letter.
It says something important and he wants Candy to come over to him and read the piece of paper.
‘What?! Can this be true?! Joanne is not your sister, but your aunt?! Your grandfather had an affair?! Your ex-girlfriend from South Korea is in the United States?! Joanne is controlling your mother?’
Sonny knows who he can call. His cousin Will. He should know more.
Candy tells him that he hopes so.
A call is made to Tom and Sonny wants to show him the letter.
Sonny calls his cousin up and tells him about the letter and what was on it.
Will says ‘I am older than you,but nothing was told to me. So, I don't know. Maybe they are making things up.’
After a meeting, Sonny talks to Curt and Tom about the letter.
Curt tells Sonny ‘Give me the information. I will find out something. I will call you with what I have when I get it.’
Two days later, Curt calls Sonny and tells him that the mailing address came from California and he can't give any other information than that.
That weekend, Sonny and Tom go to the place Pete works at.
Sonny talks to a manager, who is a female.
Sonny asks ‘Do you have a worker here named Pete Ryan?’
She answers ‘Is he in trouble again?’
Sonny shakes his head and informs the female ‘No. I just want to ask him something.’
She tells him that Pete is a lazy bum and Sonny is told she can hire someone else if Pete doesn't show up in a couple of days to clean the place up. They leave in surprise that Pete isn't there.
Later on that day, the kids are over at their friend's house, while Sonny and Candy are watching TV. Sonny grabs a cigarette.
Sonny tells Candy ‘I went to Pete's job and they tell me he hasn't been there in a few days.’
Candy lets Sonny know that Pete’s wife has been asking for things from people in the neighborhood, but not from them.
Sonny is letting Candy know they will be picking up the kids in forty five minutes. So they should watch their show. Candy agrees.
A few days later, Sonny knows that he feels pain in his arm? Is it something serious, something mild? He doesn't know if he should see a doctor. He wants to mention it, but Sonny doesn't really know what it is.
Sonny and Candy are at the VA. The nurse calls the doctor and he is put in a bed and sent to a ward.
That night, Sonny is told he had a mild heart attack.
He has to give up on smoking and stress. He has to start doing exercises.
The day before Sonny is discharged, Curt and Tom come to visit him.
Tom tells Sonny ‘Quit smoking, just like the program says. ‘One moment at a time. Stop trying to worry about other people's problems. Worry about you.’
Sonny says ‘You are right.’
A couple of days later, after his discharge, he had a talk with his boss. He will get paid time off.
Sonny says ‘Thanks for your help.’
Sonny is back at work, and his assistant Roberta tells him that they hired a new guy from midnight to twelve noon.
Roberts says ‘He is doing good and he should be here tomorrow to talk to you.’
Sonny responds ‘That is fine with me.’
Before Sonny goes home, he calls Curt and Tom to let them know that he will meet them at the meeting tonight.
When Sonny is home, Candy says ‘Our new neighbors are weirdos. They are bumming off of everyone.’
Sonny tells her ‘This always happens. I will take a shower, so I can go to a meeting. Also tomorrow, I will be meeting the company’s new employee.’
Candy tells Sonny ‘Great.’
The next day, Sonny is in his office, when someone knocks on the door.
Sonny tells the person ‘Come in.’
Pete walks in.
Sonny holds back his surprise and says ‘So, you are the new guy?’
Pete replies ‘Yep.’
Sonny wants Pete to have a seat. Sonny explains the rules to him.
‘Thursday and Friday, you work from midnight to eight am. Saturday and Sunday, you work from midnight to noon. You are off the rest of the week. Whatever building you get, whoever is in charge of you is your boss for that time. Here are our strict rules. Three strikes and you are out. The first time is a warning, the second time is a write up and the third is a suspension or termination. If you get a suspension and get caught again, you will be automatically terminated. These things last every four months. Just be careful. Do you understand these rules?’
Pete replies ‘Yes.’
Sonny is finished with him and tells him his job is just to clean. Pete leaves.
After Pete leaves he calls personal for Pete’s records and is told they are at West Street.
Making other phone calls, he gets the records of Pete Ryan and Sonny makes notes.
That afternoon, Candy is in the apartment giving a group of females two hundred dollars,who sell female products in the neighborhood.
Candy says ‘This isn't bad for 12 hours of work. Next week, we will have a meeting for next month. It has been a successful month.Thanks everyone.’
All of the females leave happy.
10 am- Candy knocks on Pete’s door. Pete’s wife opens the door ‘Hey, I am going shopping, do you want to go?’
Pete’s wife says ‘At the moment, I can't. Try getting me tomorrow.’
Candy leaves the apartment and goes shopping. Although she does see the shade down, she feels someone is looking through the window at her.
Sonny calls Pete’s old job and is told that Pete was weird. He is a mechanic, but only cleaned and went to the restroom a lot. Pete also had an attitude problem. Sonny thanks the supervisor and hangs up
That evening, just before the meeting, Sonny talks to Curt ‘Are you related to my brother in law?_
Curt replies ‘My grandfather and his grandfather were brothers. Also, my father and his father are brothers. We are first cousins. I haven't seen him or talked to him in a long while. I like living my own life. So, that should answer your question.’.
Sonny says ‘It has.’
They listen to the meeting.
Later in the week, Sonny gets a report from the night supervisor. It is about Pete using the restroom a lot and not doing his work. Pete is complaining too much and it seems like he doesn't want to take on responsibilities. He always argues with the other workers.
Two days later, Pete is in Sonny's office talking about what the night supervisor said. Pete's excuses are they give him more work than he can handle and nobody likes him because he is an outsider.
Sonny says ‘This is your warning. The next time it happens, it will be a write up and it will go to corporate. I suggest you don't let that happen.’
That afternoon, Pete's wife is over the apartment discussing to Candy how Pete treats her. Candy advises the wife to see a marriage counselor. It may work out. The wife will think about it.
A month later, Sonny talks to Pete, in the office.
‘Pete, you just made it to this quarter. Just do your job to the best of your abilities and listen to the supervisor.’
Pete says “They don't like me here! I want to be transferred to another place!’
Sonny says ‘I will. Just send the request and I will send it to corporate.’
Pete leaves his office.
The kids are with the in-laws for the weekend, so Sonny and Candy can enjoy the weekend with each other.
Sonny hears an argument between Pete and his wife.
‘I can't take it anymore! I wish you were dead!’
He hears what seems to be gunshots. Sonny goes to his door, opens it and sees nothing. He tells Candy, they will be getting out of there. She wants to know why. Sonny heard a gun being fired a few times.
While Sonny and Candy are out, Sonny calls the police to report what he heard and where.
The police knock on the door of the apartment. They started questioning Pete and his wife. Pete allows the police to search the apartment. The police officers do not find anything.
Later in the day, Pete knocks on Sonny's door. When he answers the door, Pete tells him what he does outside of the job is no one's business. Sonny apologizes. Pete leaves.
Bio:
I was born in Brooklyn, NY June 30th 1972. I currently have three ebooks online on kobo. I
know I never meant that much to you, secession and sovereignty and Oh, Canada. I am
currently trying to get a few of my short stories published or recognized or plays getting
produced. I have written a lot of plays and am currently in the process of writing several novels.
I am working on a baseball book, as well. I don't have anything else published other than the
three ebooks. Thank you for your time. Sincerely yours, Thomas Turner.