Sonny Holds a Mob Meeting, 1995

Luke's Club was fire-bombed by Phil Cusak before it could open.
Sonny ordered Harry to kill Cusak, but Cusak disappeared.
The good news...Sonny is now the undisputed boss.
The bad news...Sonny doesn't know who killed Cusak, and what they'll want in return.

(I love this scene. It epitomizes how smart and cleaver Sonny is.
It also should have been the model for all writers after Claire Labine for how to write Sonny,
without having to struggle with the issue of him killing people off.
Here, Sonny lays out how to get people to cooperate with the organization.
The same logic could be used for how Sonny can retaliate nonviolently
against the "regular citizens" of Port Charles, who are always messing with him.)

Scene: Sonny's apartment above Luke's Club. Sonny and his right-hand man Harry Silver
meet with two of Phil Cusak's top men, Dutch Arnold and Bobby King.

(Sonny offers them cigars)

Sonny: They're cubanas, please.

Dutch: (takes a cigar) We both think Cusak was in over his head with that attack on your place Sonny.

Sonny: Not my place, Luke Spencer's. Yeah, yeah, Phil was out of place.

Bobby: We didn't approve. And now with Phil gone...

Sonny: Let's just say he's missing in action.

Dutch: We want you to know, we want to work with you.

Sonny: Good, good. That's nice. Ain't that nice Harry?

Harry: That's very nice.

Sonny: Yeah.

Bobby: But, if Phil should come back...

Harry: Quit fishing, just spit it out!

Sonny: They're curious about where Phil went. Right?

Bobby: More or less.

Sonny: Well, let me sincerely say, I wish I knew. I'd sleep better at night.

Dutch: Right.

Sonny: Let's assume for argument's sake, Phil won't be returning.
Why don't we just look into the future? It's a new day in Port Charles gentlemen.

Dutch: That's the word on the streets. But uh...we're just a little unclear about what that means, exactly.

Sonny: Port Charles is my town. It's where I live; it's where my friends live; and, it's where my girl lives.
I like it here. I want to take care of it. From now on, we conduct ourselves as businessmen.
In light of that, I'll let you have a good deal of autonomy in your specific areas of expertise.
The end result will be peace, harmony, and a comfortable living. Now, doesn't that sound refreshing?

Dutch: Almost too good to be true.

Harry: It could work.

Dutch: There's still some questions.

Sonny: Ask, it's what the meeting's for.

Dutch: Well, take me for example. I'm in the business of providing insurance.
Let's say, Joe Blow decides in his fancy restaurant that uh, he doesn't need the kind of insurance I sell.
How do I convince him, if I don't have the threat of a little muscle behind me?

Sonny: Your brain is muscle Dutch...use it!
Things can happen in the middle of the night when no one's around.
A health inspector can discover rats and cockroaches and shut the man down.
Water pipes can rupture and flood the place. Faulty equipment...
food can somehow not get delivered...that's just off the top of my head, but you get my drift.
I guarantee Joe Blow would rather pay your insurance, than have to deal with one expensive,
unnecessary crisis after another. And not one ounce of blood is shed in the process.

Bobby: This could work.

Sonny: No, it will work. As long as we're on the team, it'll work like a charm.
But that's the thing: The team, loyalty, and abiding by the rules.

Dutch: We want to be on the team.

Sonny: It's in all our best interest to make this happen. And just so we're not confused where my convictions lie...
if the rules are broken, it would make me very unhappy, and I would have to say all bet's are off.

(Dutch and Bobbie are impressed, and intimidated)

Harry: Does uh, anybody doubt that the boss means what he says?

Dutch: No, it's loud and clear.

Sonny: Then that's that. You boys go to work. My main man Harry will keep in touch.

(Dutch and Bobbie shake hands with Sonny and Harry, and leave)

Sonny: (cocky laugh) They'll spread the word. We won't have any trouble, at least for now.

Harry: It was a good meeting Sonny. You did good.

Sonny: We've still got one major problem though. There's one question we don't have the answer to.

(fade to black)

Sonny: (agitated, pours himself a drink) Uh...it's just...you know...it was a good meeting, right?

Harry: Naw, you were great! What's going on?

Sonny: It's just...I don't...we were extremely well-served by Phil's disappearance, right?

Harry:Yeah, yeah...the troops all shaken up...it was smart to turn it to your own advantage.
What's the problem?

Sonny: The problem is I still feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Harry:What shoe? Call me crazy, but I got the distinct feeling that Cusak is not coming back to town.

Sonny: Yeah, yeah, me too. And that's exactly the problem Harry.
We may have handled Cusak's people. What about the people who handled Cusak?
What do they want and when are they going to show themselves?
Until we have that answer, we know nothing. We are targets!

(End of scene)