Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,884 times)

[André DiMera]

Glad Claire was trying to talk Ciara out of recording Allie sleeping, and that Hope came in just then.

I’m glad Alison convinced J.J. not to violate Abe’s privacy.

Hope the cop doesn’t find some stupid reason to arrest Hannah.

So glad Paige is talking about this, even though it’s hard.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 242 - 3

“Wow,” Paige said. “That’s pretty deep.” She bit her lip. “Does it really work that way? Feeling bad about one thing and telling yourself you feel bad about something else, I mean?”

“Well, that’s not quite how it works. I believe your feelings about what happened in jail are real. But I think they were probably amplified by those feelings of guilt and shame over your rape, especially because you were trying so hard to numb yourself to those feelings. Now, there’s a number of directions we can go with this. I think it’s important to talk about the root issue here, which is your very painful feelings about the rape, and it’s also important to talk about the way you used this other woman’s problems to distract yourself from your own. But let’s also connect this to the present. You’ve been talking a lot today about your friend’s problems and I’ve had to redirect you several times. Do you see how that might relate to your insight that you focused on Gina to numb yourself to your own pain?”

Paige nodded. “It’s like an addiction,” she said flatly. “I find people who have problems and try to fix them no matter how much it ruins my life.”

“That’s a good way of putting it. When was the first time you used someone else’s problems to distract you from your own, do you think?”

Paige was silent, thinking. She remembered JJ telling her he needed to take care of his ADHD himself. She had been so heartbroken but she’d kept it to herself because she didn’t want to discourage him. “With JJ, I guess,” she said. “After he was diagnosed with ADHD I tried to do everything for him and then one day after he saw his therapist he told me he didn’t want me to take care of him anymore and that was when we started having problems.”

“Right. So your overfocus on your boyfriend contributed to an unhealthy dynamic between the two of you. And that happened after the rape?”

Paige nodded. “W-we weren’t together when I was kidnapped. My mom had tricked me into thinking JJ cheated on me when he didn’t. Her and Jill. T-that was part of why the cops thought I killed her, there was a lot of bad blood that started with Jill drugging JJ so she could make it look like he had sex with her when he didn’t.”

“I see. That must have been traumatic for you, realizing that your mother had lied to you and had participated in hurting your boyfriend.”

“I didn’t talk to her for three years. But I forgave her a long time ago, before Jill died even.”

“So you were angry for a long time aout what your mom did. It's possible that when you overfocused on your boyfriend, it was partially because you felt bad about believing the lies you were told about him. I wonder, Paige… did you ever overfocus on anyone prior to the rape, or did it start then?”

Paige stiffened. “I just told you. It started when JJ found out he had ADHD.”

“And helping him made you feel purposeful again after you quit your job at the hospital, didn’t it?” Genieva wrote that down. “So there are multiple reasons for  your tendency to overfocus on other people, many feelings that you most likely are not aware of because you overfocus on others' problems to numb yourself to painful emotions. I’d like you to imagine that this overfocusing behavior is a blanket covering all sorts of things that you have not been ready to look at. If we began to fold the blanket back, what’s the first thing we might see?”

“So much regret,” Paige said, her voice soft.

“Regret about what?”

“Everything.” Paige blinked back tears. “I...I hurt JJ so much because I listened to my mom when I knew deep down something didn’t add up. I could have ruined his life. He could have gone to jail because of me, because I was so afraid to be with him after the rape I tried to be with someone else and then I had a… I guess a flashback and I screamed in public GET AWAY FROM ME! and the police thought he was bothering me when he wasn’t even who I was yelling at. And then after that he took me back but I couldn’t trust him and it made him so angry and so scared that he would do the wrong thing and make me leave only I was the one who didn’t deserve him.” Tears rolled down Paige’s face.

“What made you feel that you didn’t deserve your boyfriend?”

“Because I was so broken.” Paige’s voice shook. “I was so broken and he was broken too and then he started to get better and it scared me.”

Genieva handed her a tissue. “Keep going.”

“I…” Paige began twisting the tissue. “God forgive me, I didn’t want him to be whole if it meant leaving me behind.” More tears came. “I’m just like my mom…”

Paige put her hands over her eyes. She cried and cried while Genieva said nothing. “SAY SOMETHING!” Paige snapped. “Tell me I’m an awful person if you have to, just don’t sit there staring at me.”

“I was trying to give you space to process your feelings,but clearly that didn’t work the way I meant it to.” Genieva’s voice was soft. “First of all, I don’t think you are a terrible person. I think you have some issues that you weren’t consciously aware of and that some of your behavior is designed to keep those problems under wraps. In your mind, exhibiting behaviors like your mom’s is the worst possible thing you could do, so much so that even having a DESIRE to do some of the seriously problematic things she has done has been unacceptable to you. Let me ask you a question. You felt you didn’t want your boyfriend to outgrow you. Did you ever do anything to sabotage his growth?”

Paige dabbed at her eyes, sniffing to try to get back in control of herself. “Only when I was drunk,” she said, trying to keep her tone light but failing. “I mean, I could have ruined his career that day. I accused him in public of cheating on me with his work partner, what if the girls he was working with thought he came with too much drama and didn’t want to work with him anymore? No one was more shocked than me that he gave me another chance after that. My Aunt Theresa said that after some of the crazy things JJ used to do, he had no room to talk. But still. I embarrassed him in front of his friends and I completely deserved to be dragged off in handcuffs. The only reason I wasn’t was because he and Aunt Theresa got me out of there before the cops could show up. And if his life had been ruined too by me acting like that, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have been happy about it.”

“So when you were drunk, your poorer impulse control led you to say and do things that could have seriously hurt both of you, and you found it hard to understand why your boyfriend forgave you for it. But I think that was a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. From what you told me, you were under a lot of stress and extremely frightened that your boyfriend might leave you. So I suspect that you chose to drink to numb the pain, but when you lost control you behaved in a way that could have caused the very thing you feared to happen.” Genieva paused. “What concerns me the most is your feelings about yourself. You said that one of the things underneath your overfocusing behavior is this feeling that you’re like your mom in ways you don’t like and that you think that makes you unworthy of your boyfriend’s love. Let’s talk more about that. In what ways, specifically, do you fear you’re like your mom?”

“My mom’s not a bad person,” Paige said, hugging herself tight while she tried to explain. “She’s really not. But she can be very insecure and needy and when she thinks someone’s going to leave her she gets crazy.” She sighed. “I hope she doesn’t ever ruin things with Eric. He’s really good for her and it would be awful if she messed that up.”

“Paige,” Genieva said gently. “Do you see how you just shifted the focus from yourself to your mom? Let’s talk about you and your own insecurities instead of about her relationship, okay? You said your mom can get insecure and that she can get crazy if she thinks someone is going to leave her. How does Paige act and feel that’s similar to that?”

Paige bit her lip. “I don’t, most of the time,” she said. “But when JJ first went back to school I went nuts. I mean, he was making new friends and doing really well in school and what was I doing with my life? Nothing. So I didn’t see why he’d want me when he was always surrounded by these girls at school who were doing amazing things. And then one night I came in all upset about something, I don’t even remember what, and he had to text Alison back before he dealt with me. I know now it was nothing, it was innocent, but I felt like I wasn’t his first priority and the more he tried to tell me nothing was going on between them, the more sure I was that he was lying to me.”

“And that reminded you of your mom?”

Paige nodded. “It got so bad I could barely stand to look at myself in the mirror. I don’t look anything like her but I felt like her face was staring back at me.”

“You didn’t like to look at yourself because you felt you were spiraling more and more down into the kind of out of control behavior your mom sometimes engaged in. And I suppose that culminated in your drunken misbehavior.”

“Y-yeah. That morning JJ told me he wanted to see a couples counselor. He was trying to put us back together but I couldn’t see that, in my mind I was convinced it was a precursor towards leaving me. So I refused to go and when we started fighting about it I decided to go out to breakfast with my aunt. She tried to stop me from ordering alcohol and that made me so mad that I drank to spite her.” She frowned. “My mom always has a glass of wine in her hand,” she said. “She’s not an alcoholic, I don’t think. I mean, she’s never falling down drunk or anything like that. But before she met Eric she was always drinking and getting drunk was just another way I was like her.”

“I see. So your drinking that day was another thing that reminded you of your mom. How about now? Do you feel that at this moment in time, you’re like your mother in negative ways?”

Paige wriggled. “Isn’t it time to go yet?” she asked weakly.

“We still have about ten minutes. Go ahead, Paige, it’s okay to talk about this. I won’t judge you.”

Paige stared down at her hands. “I’m a lot better than I used to be.”

“But?”

Paige bit her lip. “But I still let things get so bad that I had to be arrested to hit bottom.” She swallowed hard. “I don’t think I’m like my mom, exactly, but I definitely don’t deserve any gold stars for how I’ve lived my life.”

“It’s okay that you were lost.” Genieva’s voice was soft. “It’s even okay that you’ve been to jail. That doesn’t make you a bad person, Paige. It doesn’t make you unworthy. And despite how disappointed you are in your past, you just had a birthday and it’s a new year for you. So you can still make 25 a better year than you’ve ever had before.”

“Right,” Paige said. “How?”

“Well,” Genieva said, “for one thing, I’m going to ask you to commit to some new behaviors this week. You have another friend in your life who is struggling, and that means you can choose to keep overfocusing on someone else or you can choose to do something different. I’d like you to commit to choosing to focus on you despite your friend’s problems. I’d also like you to look more closely at these insecurities you have that remind you of your mom at her worst. This week, I’d like you to write in your journal about what it was like for you when you were a little girl and you saw men going in and out of your mom’s life.” Paige’s head jerked up and Genieva said, “I know that’s scary for you to talk about. But you are stronger than you think, Paige, and I know you can bear to experience these feelings for just one minute a day.”

“One minute? That’s all?”

“That’ll be enough to start with. Set a timer every day and free write about your childhood experiences with your mom’s boyfriends. That way we can start to get to the bottom of this fear that your boyfriend will abandon you and you can resolve it for once and for all.”


Abe was on a laptop in the conference room when Duncan knocked, then came in. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Yes. Have a seat.” Abe turned to make sure the door was closed. He sighed and said, “I hate to have to talk to you about this, but we received a complaint about your treatment of the woman you arrested last night.”

Duncan crossed her arms. “The racist piece of trash that called 911 on Hannah Martin for no real reason, you mean.”

Abe held up his hand. “As much as I agree with your sentiment, comments like that will not help your case. In fact, I suggest you call your PBA rep before we continue.”

“Continue what?” Duncan’s eyes were very narrow. “Come on, Deputy Commissioner! You know me, you know I would never - “

“I have to treat all officers equally,” Abe said, “especially since the department is under fire for what we did to Hannah Martin the first time. That means that even though I suspect it’s nonsense, I must thoroughly investigate Miranda Willis’ claims that you abused her during her arrest. I’m afraid that per our department policy, until your name is cleared, I’m going to have to place you on administrative leave.”


[lumiforeverandalways]

Cant wait for more

[Kpatch]

I can't believe Paige is 25 already. Then again, time marches on. Interesting exercise the therapist gave her.

[André DiMera]

Glad Genieva is making Paige focus on herself, and getting into these deep feelings. I hope Paige listens.

This is ridiculous! Abe knows that Miranda’s lying! I get that he’s a by the book guy, but still!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 242 - 4
“Seriously?” Duncan said, jumping up. “Come on, Deputy Commissioner! This is BS and you know it!”

“Sit back down,” Abe said quietly, “and listen to me. I have never had a problem with you, Duncan, and I’ve looked through your record and you have never had a disciplinary issue.”

“Right,” Duncan said. “So why am I the one in trouble?”

“You’re not,” Abe said. “I’m simply following protocol.” He crossed his arms. “Even though I think this is a spurious complaint on the part of an angry arrestee, I have to treat it with the same seriousness as any other complaint.”

“Why?” Duncan asked. “No one treated it serious when Hannah Martin was treated like a criminal over nothing. But now a white woman complains about a black cop and all of a sudden we gotta take it serious?”

“If Hannah Martin had lodged a complaint it would have been treated the same way.” Abe’s voice was firm. “In fact, the moment Wolfe told me he thought he’d made a mistake, I contacted IAB and started an investigation and he has been on administrative leave ever since. Commissioner Brady is waiting for a decision on whether he can go back to work too. So don’t you dare make me putting you on leave a race issue. This is the one time it isn’t. Now I need your gun and your badge. Please don’t make me ask a third time.”

Duncan took off her gun and badge. She slammed the badge onto the table, though she was more careful with the gun. “Fine,” she said, “but just so you know, you’re making the wrong move here. Investigating something like this is just giving her what she wants. She didn’t get away with it with Hannah Martin but she got a bigger fish cause you’re letting her get away with making a false report against me.”

“You will be cleared and be back on duty within a few days,” Abe said. “In the meantime, I need to ask you a few questions about what happened last night.”

“Fine,” Duncan said. “Let’s get on with this farce of an investigation.”

Abe turned on his tape recorder. “Explain in your own words what happened during the arrest of Miranda Willis.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed and she said, “We were called to Ms. Willis’ residence after she called 911 to report an intruder in Julie Williams’ backyard. The intruder she described was Mrs. William’s granddaughter, Hannah Martin, who was an invited guest at a party Mrs. Williams was having. My partner and I placed Ms. Willis under arrest for placing a false 911 call.”

“Did you talk to Julie Williams to confirm that there was no intruder at her party prior to making this arrest?”

“No, sir.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” Duncan said evenly, “we were aware that Mrs. Williams was having a party and that my commanding officer was attending that party. We also were aware of Hannah Martin’s relationship to Mrs. Williams and recognized her from the description given.”

“All right. Let’s move on to the arrest. Were any heated words exchanged by either party during the arrest?”

“Ms. Willis said we were being ridiculous and that Mrs. Williams would appreciate her looking out for her. I informed her that she had called the police on Mrs. Williams’ granddaughter. She said that she was sure Mrs. Williams was unhappy to have ‘people like that’ in her family.”

Abe scowled. Recovering his composure, he said, “Officer Duncan, did you at any time threaten Ms. Willis?”

“Of course not.”

“Did you purposely tighten her handcuffs more than was warranted to teach her a lesson?”

“As satisfying as that would have been, I wasn’t about to risk my career on a racist piece of trash like her.”

“Are those the words you used when talking to her? ‘Racist piece of trash’?”

Duncan hesitated. She couldn’t remember. “Those are the words I’m using to describe her to you. No more, no less.”

“Thank you.” Abe turned off the tape recorder. “Let’s review the body cam footage together and then you can go home and await my call.”


“They really rejected Mason because they think you’re not social enough?” Paige asked Bev. They had met for coffee after Paige’s therapy session.

“Not social enough is code for not snobby enough,” Bev said. “No big loss, really.” She sighed. “Though I was looking forward to Mason being in preschool for most of the day. I thought it would give me a chance to go back to school too.”

Paige patted her hand. “I’m doing better now,” she said. “Mostly. If I’m not working I can watch Mason while you’re in class.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. You and JJ have more than enough going on without that.”

“If you say so.” Paige bit her lip, not sure why she was so disappointed that Bev didn’t want her to watch Mason. Then it hit her that she was doing the same thing she’d done with Gina. She was trying to help Bev so that she wouldn’t have to think about herself.

Bev kicked her under the table. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Paige put her hands around her coffee cup. “It’s just… my therapist helped me see that I focus too much on other people so I won’t have to deal with what Jeff did to me and I want to stop but I don’t want to stop being nice.”

Bev frowned. “I don’t understand. I mean, yeah, you have to deal with the stupid rape for once and for all, but helping people’s like your middle name.”

“That’s why this is so confusing.” Paige took a sip of her coffee. “After talking to her, it’s obvious it’s like an addiction. I mean, look what happened in jail. I tried to force Gina to let me help her and that’s what caused all the drama. I almost went to the hole and Squeaky almost got stabbed and none of that would have happened if I left Gina alone like she told me to.”

“Yeah, but that’s because you were in jail. Being a good person is dangerous in there.”

“It’s more than that, though. I did the same thing with JJ before I was arrested. Remember that time I got drunk? That had a lot to do with him not wanting me to help him with his ADHD anymore. And now that Squeaky’s home, all I want to do is take care of her. And I feel like I want to cry just because you don’t want me to take care of Mason for you, and that’s ridiculous.”

Bev frowned. “It’s not that I don’t want you to. It’s just, you and JJ both have work and he’s always involved in something dangerous. It’s bad enough I was kidnapped, if anything happened to Mason…”

“Right.” Paige patted Bev’s hand. “We wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

“Yeah, well, no offense, but JJ already got threatened over this racism story and I almost got beaten up by some protesters, too. So until JJ is finished with this story I’d rather my dad’s staff watch Mason while I’m in school. If I go.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed. Bev said, “Anyway, you said Squeaky was joining us?”

“She’ll be here soon.” Paige lowered her voice. “They’re making her do drug testing as part of her probation.”

“So she’s more like me and Rory than you, then.” Bev laughed bitterly. “I can just see Melinda Trask’s reaction to the fact that I’m far more social with other ex-inmates than with idiots like her.”

“Forget her. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.” Paige stood as Hannah came into the cafe. “Squeaky! Over here.”

Hannah came over. “Hey, sorry I’m late. My stupid mom - “ She stopped herself short, noticing Bev. “Oh. Is this another relative?”

“No, just a good friend,” Paige said. “This is Bev, my best friend besides you.”

“Hi,” Hannah said, looking away. “I’m Hannah Martin.”

Bev and Hannah shook hands. Hannah sat down and Bev said, “Hannah Martin, as in the girl the cops messed with over an open beer?”

Hannah bit her lip. “I guess you watched the show about that guy who called the cops on me.”

“That,” Bev said, “and some girls tried to beat me up last time I was at that S-Mart. They want it to go out of business because of what happened to you.” She raised her eyebrows at Hannah in a way that convinced Hannah that this new girl hated her.



Wanda glared at Maxine. “What do you mean I can’t see my daughter?”

“I didn’t use any words too big for you to understand,” Maxine said. “Your daughter’s on the jail ward. She can’t have visitors without prior approval from the police department.”

Wanda’s eyes flashed. “I’m the warden at Salem City Jail! Surely I’d be cleared to - “

“I don’t make the rules. If you’re going to throw a tantrum, at least direct it at someone who can do something.”

“Fine. I want to see your supervisor.”

Just then, Kayla came down the hall. “Is there a problem here?”

“Sure is,” Maxine told her. “Warden Jefferson here doesn’t seem to be too good at taking No for an answer. Now I told her that her daughter’s in police custody but she seems to think that cause she’s the warden of the biggest jail in Salem, she doesn’t have to go through the same vetting process as everyone else before she gets to see her.”

“I see.” Kayla turned. “Warden Jefferson. I’m sure at your jail, there’s procedures people have to follow before they can visit an inmate, regardless of their relationship to that inmate.”

“I know there are,” Maxine interjected. “I tried to go down to see Paige when she was locked up there and they wouldn’t let me through the doors.”

“You must not have been on the visitor list,” Wanda said. “So if this is some sort of revenge - “

“It isn’t,” Kayla said. “We have rules here too for prisoners on the jail ward. Paula is not stable enough to have many visitors anyway, and since she’s in custody the police department has to approve all visitors. So if you have a problem, take it up with Abe Carver.”

Wanda frowned. “Roman Brady isn’t in charge of the police department anymore?”

“My brother,” Kayla said, “is on a leave of absence at the moment. So you’ll have to deal with Abe.”

“Oh, I’ll deal with him all right,” Wanda said. She turned and stomped away.

“Nice touch using the brother card,” Maxine said. “But don’t fool yourself. This is far from over.”

“Oh, I know,” Kayla said. “In fact, I’d better call up to the jail ward and make sure the cops on duty know to look out for a very upset mother trying to sneak her way into her daughter’s room.”



Melissa had taken Victor and Maggie to a sandwich shop around the corner from the hospital. “Isn’t this a cute little place?” Maggie said as they sat down. “It’s almost like an Italian bistro, don’t you think, Victor?”

“I think,” Victor said, “that I have never heard such glowing praise for a place so unworthy. This is nothing but a run of the mill shop, Maggie.”

“Sarah would like it,” Melissa said, “but since someone hit her over the head…”

Maggie patted her hand, apparently oblivious to the scathing glare Melissa gave Victor. Victor cleared his throat and said, “Why don’t you pass the time by telling us what the doctor had to say about Sarah.”

“Yes,” Melissa said. “I’d like to know that too.”

Maggie shrugged. “He didn’t say much, I’m afraid. He did think it was a good sign that Sarah is talking about not drinking, though if you ask me he’s overly optimistic. She won’t hear of going to AA, she thinks she’s going to quit on her own.”

“Which she’s said at least 750 times in the last year,” Melissa said, pulling her sandwich apart and eating the meat out of it with a fork.

“Right,” Maggie said. “But he said her interest in sobriety is a way to get a foot in the door, so to speak, and he’s going to send an addictions specialist to talk to her.”

“I hope the counselor likes being paid to waste their breath, then,” Melissa said. “I’ve been doing it for free for a year.” She glanced at Victor, who was staring at his watch. “No sarcastic comment?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no.” Victor sighed. “Philip’s daughter should be going into surgery in an hour’s time. I can’t help thinking of him and wishing I could be in two places at once.”

[lumiforeverandalways]

Good chap

[André DiMera]

I agree with Duncan, this is pretty ridiculous. At least Abe is gonna review the bodycam footage.

Well, at least Paige realized she was trying yo focus on Bev this time. Somehow, I can’t see Bev and Hannah becoming friends, at least not immediately.

So glad Maxine and Kayla didn’t let Wanda see Paula!

I have to agree, I’m not sure the counselor will do any good, but we’ll see.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Speaking negatively to Sarah's mother and sister isn't wise on Victor's part. He's not winning any brownie points.

[heroicmuse]

Week 242 - 5
“Oh good, you’re all awake. I was wondering if - “ Hope crossed her arms. “Get down from that bed, Ciara, before you break it.”

“Whatever,” Ciara said, jumping down. “What were you saying, Mom?”

“I was saying that I thought we could all go to the diner for breakfast. But maybe I should take our guests and leave the children who live here at home.”

Ciara sulked. “You wouldn’t really do that, would you?”

“Depends. Can you get ready to go out without showing off for your cousins how good you are at breaking rules?”

Ciara’s eyes narrowed but she said, “Go ahead into the shower first, Allie, Claire has another song to show me on her phone.”

“I want to see too,” Allie objected.

“Maybe afterwards,” Hope said. “Chase already took his shower, we’re just waiting for the three of you.”

“Yeah,” Ciara said. “You’re not SCARED of the shower, are you?”

Allie’s eyes narrowed. So did Hope’s. Allie pushed her hair behind her ear and said, “No... “ She sighed and picked up her shower caddy from a corner of the room. “I’m going.”

Allie left. Hope raised an eyebrow at Ciara, who said, “Do you mind? Claire and I want to be alone.”

“Considering the trouble you two got into last time you were alone, maybe I should mind,” Hope said. “But fine. I’ll give you a chance to spend time together. But no more nastiness. If I hear either of you say something mean to Allie again, I will call Belle to come babysit the two of you while Aiden and I take Allie and Chase to breakfast. Do you understand me?”

“We’ll be nice,” Claire said quickly, not wanting to miss out on breakfast with Chase.

“I hope so,” Hope said. “Ciara Alice?”

“I’m not in third grade anymore, but fine. I’ll be nice too.” Ciara threw herself onto her bed. “Now can you leave us in peace?”

“I have to check on Chase anyway,” Hope said. “Behave yourselves.” She left.

“ARGH!” Ciara said. “See what I have to put up with?”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so mean to Allie - “

“Shut up!” Ciara snapped. “You talk to me like I’m that awful girl that locked Joy Wesley in her locker.” She threw her phone down. "You’re supposed to be my best friend, Claire. So why aren’t you on my side?”

“I am! I just think - “

“You already got me in trouble at school,” Ciara went on, “and I forgave you. So now you have to prove yourself.” She played with her phone. “Not a word to Allie about this video or we’re not friends anymore.”

Claire blinked back tears at the idea of Ciara not being her best friend. “All right, fine,” she mumbled even though she didn’t like what Ciara was doing one bit.



JJ and Alison met at the front desk at the cop shop. “No one’ll talk to me,” JJ said. “I never knew there were so many ways to say ‘no comment.’”

“Me either,” Alison said. “All I got was that they can’t talk about ongoing investigations. Maybe you were right and we would have been better off looking through Commander Carver’s things.”

“I don’t get it. What could have been so freaking bad that they can’t even tell us what this lady was arrested for?”

“Dunno,” Alison said, “but arrest records are a matter of public record. All we need is to find out the name of Julie’s neighbor and we can look her up.”

“Hope Julie hates the woman then,” JJ said, “cause if she likes her we’ll never get a name out of her.”

“You don’t have to,” another voice said, and JJ and Alison turned to see Duncan standing there. Her arms were crossed and when JJ looked her up and down he realized she wasn’t wearing her gun.

“Officer Duncan,” he said. “Um, what happened to your gun?”

“You mind if we go to the Pub before I get into that story?” Duncan asked. “I gotta get out of here.”

“Yeah, of course,” JJ said. “You mind me asking if you’re okay?”

“I’m not,” Duncan said, “but I will be.”

JJ and Alison exchanged glances. “Let’s go,” JJ said.

A few minutes later, they were at the booth at the back of Brady Pub. Alison said, “What’s wrong, Officer Duncan?”

“What’s wrong is there’s a woman who set out to make things harder for people like me, and I guess she got her wish.” Duncan crossed her arms. “Last night I arrested Miranda Willis for tying up 911 complaining about a black girl going to Julie’s house for a barbecue and this morning I got suspended cause this racist bitch turned around and claimed I abused her when I did no such thing. So go ahead and turn on your tape recorder and I’ll give you the whole story.”


“I-I didn’t tell them to do that!” Hannah stammered. “I didn’t even know there was a protest, I wish they would have kept my name out of their mouths.” She slumped down in her seat. “You didn’t get hurt for real, did you?”

“Just my pride,” Bev said. “Oh, and I thought the cops were going to shoot me by accident.”

“They didn’t shoot anyone, did they?” Paige asked, seeing the scared look on Hannah’s face.

“Uh uh. They just pulled their guns out and the girl who started it ran away and then they arrested like, a billion people.”

“They still in jail?” Hannah asked, a bitter tone creeping into her voice.

“I don’t know. I didn’t stick around after it was over.” Bev’s voice was hard.

Paige fidgeted. “This isn’t what I’d hoped would happen when you two met,” she said. “How about we start over?”

“That’s okay,” Bev said. “I have to go talk to my dad about other schools for Mason anyway.” She got up and left without another word.

Hannah groaned. “Your friend hates me, doesn’t she?”

“She’s just upset about the protest,” Paige said. “I’ll talk to her and get her to see it wasn’t your fault, okay?”

“Don’t bother,” Hannah said. “If she doesn’t like me, she doesn’t like me.”

Hannah’s voice was flat but Paige could see tears in her eyes. She was obviously depressed again. Paige hoped Hannah wasn’t feeling suicidal again because of Bev.

“Tell you what,” she said, not knowing what else to do. “Let me buy you a coffee and we’ll talk, okay?”

“I guess,” Hannah said, sighing deeply. “You got something to put on the chairs so no one takes our table?

“Don’t worry about it,” Paige said. “There’s plenty of tables.”

“I’ll go buy it myself then. I don’t feel right sending you to get me coffee like you work for me or something.”

“I really don’t mind,” Paige said. “Are you sure you don’t want to risk coming with me, though?”

Hannah shook her head slightly. “Caramel latte’s my favorite if you’re gonna insist on buying.”

Paige patted her hand. “Got it. Be right back.”

Paige got up slowly and walked away, turning her head over her shoulder a couple of times to look at Hannah. She didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone.

Hannah’s phone buzzed. She sighed again and stared at it.


Sami knocked on Johnny’s door. “Rise and shine, sweetheart,” she called. “It’s a new day, let’s play a new game of how long can we go without getting in big enough trouble to get locked in our room.”

Johnny had been scraping at the glue on the window again, this time with a pocket knife Uncle Shane had given him last Christmas that Sami had forgotten to take away from him. He hurried to put the knife away. “Go away!”

“I don’t think so,” Sami said. “I’m unlocking the door and coming in so you’d better be decent.”

Johnny got onto his bed and crossed his arms, doing his best to look like he’d been sulking this whole time. Sami came in and said, “So. What did you learn from being locked in your room all night?”

Johnny shrugged but said nothing.

“You learned to be quiet, at least,” Sami said. She sat down on the bed. “You know, Syd and Allie are still out of the house for a few hours so if you want my undivided attention, right now you’ve got it.”

“I don’t care,” Johnny said flatly.

Sami sighed. “What happened to my smiling barrel of mischief?” she asked. “Yeah, you’re a handful, but that’s my Johnny. Where’d he go?”

“I wish we’d stayed in LA,” Johnny said. “Even though I’d probably be in jail.”

“Nah,” Sami said. “I wouldn’t have let them lock you up. Not without a fight. I mean, you are my son.”

“But you blamed me for that girl being allergic! And you won’t blame Allie at all. Admit it.You like her better.”

“Allie did not tell you to switch the drinks, did she? You need to think, Johnny, there are some jokes that aren’t jokes. Never mess with someone’s food. You know, unless they’re a threat to your life and you don’t care if you poison them.”

“Whatever.” Johnny sighed. “I wish Dad was still here. He’d understand.”

Sami sighed. “I’m glad you had a connection with EJ. He needed someone to, poor guy.” Johnny glared at her and she said, “Is that why you’ve been such a pain in my behind? Because you miss your father?”

“I guess,” Johnny said. “You talk about it him like you’re glad he’s gone.”

“I try not to talk about him at all.”

Johnny gave her a look. “Some jokes aren’t jokes. And he was my dad.” He bit his lip. “Sydney doesn’t remember him, but I do and I miss him even if he did do mean things to Lucas.”

“And to me. He made me think you were dead once, Johnny!”

Johnny’s eyes widened but he mumbled, “Like you cared.”

“Of course I cared. You know what a nervous wreck I was when Will fell down the stairs at the Titan building. Do you really think I was able to keep it together any better when I thought you were dead?”

“You’d still have Allie and Sydney. And you wouldn’t have to yell so much.”

“I’d rather lose my voice yelling at you than have to go to your funeral,” Sami said. “Don’t ever talk again about you dying. Do you understand me?”

Johnny nodded. Sami kissed the top of his head. Just then, there was a knock on the door. “Oops,” Sami said. “Let’s go see who’s ruining our tender moment.”

Johnny followed her to the door. “RAFE!” he said happily when Sami looked through the peephole, then opened it.

“Hey, kid.” Rafe ruffled Johnny’s hair.

“Can Rafe take me out for breakfast?” Johnny asked. “Please?”

“Maybe in a little bit,” Rafe said. “Actually, I need to talk to your mom about something important.”

“About me?” Johnny said.

“Nope,” Rafe told him. “About a grown-up matter.”

“Go play or whatever it is you do,” Sami told him.

“So much for our mother-son time,” Johnny mumbled. He went and stood in the hall between his room and the living room so he could spy on his mom and Rafe.

[André DiMera]

Personally, I think it’d be better if Claire did tell someone about the video. Ciara needs to learn that actions have consequences, and she can’t bully people into being her friend. Then again, with friends like Ciara...

While I’m glad that Duncan is telling her side of the story, I hope that this doesn’t lead to her getting into more trouble.

Well that wasn’t exactly how Paige hoped Hannah and Bev meeting would go. I get Bev being upset, but I hope she understands that the protest wasn’t Hannah’s fault. Wonder who just called or texted Hannah.

Glad Sami talked to Johnny, though I’m not sure how much it helped. Wonder what Rafe has to say.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[lumiforeverandalways]

Ciara is so mean for putting Claire in that position - Claire needs to say something so someone can help Allie.
I loved the scene between Sami and Johnny.
Wondered what Rafe needed to Sami about.
Great chap

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera , Kpatch , and lumiforeverandalways for your comments this week.

Someone gets exciting news next week, while other people are struggling with serious problems. Here's a sneak peek.

Coming Up on Breaking Ties...



Sarah is not happy when she gets a visit from her new addictions counselor. She is defensive, convinced that the woman is yet another person who is going to try to force her to go to AA and refuse to accept her belief she can quit drinking on her own. However, the counselor makes it clear that she is not going to force Sarah to do anything -- in fact, she believes it is up to Sarah to decide what to do about her drinking and wants to help her figure it out for herself. Sarah begins to let her guard down a little bit, though she gets defensive every time the counselor mentions the idea of her not drinking at all. Will the baby steps Sarah takes towards giving up alcohol be enough to save her life?

Meanwhile, there is plenty of drama back in Salem. Sami is not particularly happy with the news Rafe is here to share with her: he is dating Nicole. But when she realizes that Rafe might be able to help Johnny, she puts her anger aside. And later, Johnny has a not-so-nice encounter with the girls at the diner. Will Rafe realize what’s is going on?

Breakfast at the diner seems to have come with a side of drama for the girls, too. Ciara blurts something out that may be a major clue to why she’s become so mean -- will Hope be able to get through to her? And Claire makes an attempt to tell the adults what's going on with that video while Ciara is away from the table, though she is vague and backs off quickly when Ciara returns.

Elsewhere, Paige does her best to be supportive of Hannah, who is upset that her mother is asking colleagues at the East Salem hospital about the possibility of her working there. Hannah knows she has to have a job while on probation, but is hoping for something else. Paige can't help with the job situation, but  encourages Hannah’s dream of going to school to be a filmmaker and the girls head to the library to work on their Salem U applications.

While there, Hannah is offended by what the librarian says when she asks for a visitor’s pass so she can work on the computer, but is this yet another example of racism in Salem or is Hannah being oversensitive? And when Paige makes a suggestion about Hannah’s application, Hannah rejects it out of hand. Will Paige be able to back off, or will she return to overfocusing on her friend? And will Hannah be able to put aside her anger to finish her application?

Later, Paige decides to do her therapy homework so she can get a handle on this behavior. The memory she digs up from her early childhood is emotional, but she doesn’t see its relevance to her current problems. Will she stick with what she has been asked to do, and will it actually help her?

Across town, JJ and Alison are surprised about what Duncan has to say and concerned about the possible consequences for her career if they broadcast it. After Duncan goes, they discuss their next steps. They are both reluctant to ask Abe about Duncan’s claims, but somebody has to do it. Before they can decide on how to approach it, however, Dr. Blanton calls. The contest results are in and he wants to share them in person. The news for one of them is very good, but not both of them have made it to the next round of the contest, and Alison makes a decision after she gets the news and can’t get ahold of Kelsey to discuss it.

Finally, it is an emotional day for Philip, Chloe, and Brady as they arrive at the hospital for Charley’s surgery, Valerie fears that learning Hannah was in jail will make a colleague change his mind about possibly hiring her, and in Kentucky, Eduardo meets the ISA agent he will be working with to break up the black market baby ring.

[André DiMera]

Well, I hope this counselor is helpful for Sarah, but I don’t know.

Hopefully, we can figure out why Ciara is being mean. Glad Claire tries to tell someone what Ciara did.

Both Paige and Hannah need to chill. I get why Hannah’s angry, but I seriously doubt that literally everyone she comes in contact with outside of her family is gonna be racist or mean to her. And Paige needs to stop obsessing like her she and Genieva talked about. Glad she actually attempts to do the homework.

It'll be interesting to see what J.J. and Alison do with what Duncan tells them. Wonder which of them is getting good news. Alison, it might be best to drop Kelsey.

Glad the surgery’s finally happening. While I can kind of understand Valerie’s concern, I think she’s overthinking it. Wonder who Eduardo’s working with.

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[lumiforeverandalways]

Cant wait.

I hope Claire can tell them somehow