"Feds"

Sean Jackson, Clerow, Robert Foxworth and I sat outside the hotel..The sleazy hotel where the blind man worked at the front desk. Donald Smooth drove by and I gave the high sign. He nodded. Clerow and I walked in ,while Robert and Sean stayed in the car.

I rang the bell and I said to the Blind man...

"Hey buddy, remember me?"

"I remember the voice....You were here a few days ago..What do you want ? A room?" he asked.

"I want 'Sam Jones' " I said.

The blind man jumped...startled almost.

"I-I don't know him...I told you my son deals with the customers." he said.

Clerow pulled out his pistol...loaded it and cocked it and placed it to his temple...

"Okay, you can't see this, but you can smell it and you can feel it...it's a gun....now unless you want me to tell this gentlemen to pull the trigger ,you'll tell me what I need to know about Sam
Jones' " I said.

I heard the click of another gun and Clerow and I stood up staring into the face of a younger man. It was the blind man's son..Thomas.

''Leave my dad alone.. You guys made a big mistake." Thomas said.
There was yet another click of yet another gun....This gun being put to the younger man's head.

"You did too sonny." said Donald Smooth, who had him covered.

"Hey ,what is this?" asked Thomas.

"I'll ask the questions and you better answer them right Tommy boy ...I want Sam Jones...." I said.

"He's a cop....his name is Cole ....Cole Butler.....Look, we used to run prostitutes up in here. We don't no more, I swear..But Butler and some Vice guys rousted us..Butler and his partners told us that they'd shut this place down and lock me up if we didn't allow him to use it...All he did was set a tape recorder and some gadget in one of our rooms...That's all...We didn't know what he was doing...other than that...You guys Feds or something?" said the Blind man's son.

"Don't worry who we are." said Clerow.

"Come on...We are done here." I said to Clerow and Smooth. We got back in the car with Robert
Foxworth and Sean Jackson, who was at the wheel.

"It's the cop....Cole Butler...He shook them down so that he could use the room to send the calls to your sister. He electronically altered his voice and had the calls activated by a cell phone." I said.

''Wow, how careful is he?" said Robert.

"So none of this comes back to him?" said Donald Smooth.

"No....We need to find his partner to fill in the blanks." I said.

We found Cole Butler's partner ,Eugene coming out of a dusty apartment building in West Philadelphia....A half dressed woman was at the door smiling at him....

"So when you gon come back around and give mama some of that sugar, baby?" she smiled..

"Oh,ho,ho,ho.....as soon as I can find another creative excuse to give to mah wife..." he laughed..

"Well don't make it too long Eugene...mama gets lonely and cold.." she cooed...

"Ah won't baby." he said as he kissed her and she closed the door.

Donald Smooth walked up to him and applied a taser to his testicles! Clerow and I both winced as we saw him take the shock....a much lighter one than the one they gave me, but bad just the same!

"AHHHHHHHHHH, sweeet jesusssssssss!" he screamed as he fell into the wall and then hit the floor with a thud.... Clerow took his service revolver and cocked it and aimed it at his temple.

I walked over to him and leaned down...smiling all the while....

"How are you doing Gene...Remember me?" I said.

"Y-Y-You.....the guy who came in the h-h-h-house....Do-do-Do-Do you, do yall realize that I am
a c-cop?" he stuttured.

"A COP?? Oh gee...really Eugene? A cop that helped kidnapped a girl and a cop that almost killed me and left me on the side of the road for dead?" I snapped as Clerow and Smooth laughed.

"That-That-That- That-That wuz Cole...He tole me to do it..I didn't want to snatch the girl...I told him that this was crazy....I told him....Lawd have mercy......That was Cole that hit you with that taser and tole me to lay you on the road...I wanted to take you to the hospital...I'm so glad you didn't die....oh lawdd...lawd jesus...I don't want to go to jail..I don't want to lose my pension and for god sake...I don't want mah wife to find out.....What are you guys ,Feds?"he asked.

This was the second time tonight I had been asked this... I just smiled.

"I know...you're internal affairs right? Ah knew it ,That damn Cole, shakin people down ,bribin people, kidnapping girls, stalkin people....Look...It was Cole...all Cole....If you guys promise not to tell my wife I was down here at Big Mary's house...I'll give you Cole on a platter, I swear." he babbled. He had told us more than we really needed to know about Mister Cole Butler.

"Alright..we won't tell...Just do the right thing Eugene." I said looking at Clerow and Donald Smooth and winking...They played along.

"We are good friends with your boss, Lt.Sissy Van Buren." I said.

"What? Oh my God...Okay...Okay...I'll take care of this. You Feds aint got nothin to worry about and remember ,I turned in State's Evidence..I aint have nothin to do with this" said Eugene.

I motioned for Clerow to give him his service revolver back and we got back into our cars and pulled off. We laughed the entire ride back.

We all wound up at Josies ,where we told Gus of our night out and our adventures....

"Well ,I must admit....you all look pretty spiffy in those suits and those shoes....One look at you guys and I either think you're IRS or FBI...some kind of feds" laughed Gus.

It had been Robert Foxworth's idea for us to wear dark suits and wingtips....It had paid off in spades. Even a stone cold gangster like Donald Smooth looked like an FBI man...Clerow looked like an Undertaker, Sean looked smooth and debonair and Me? Well ,I've always looked good in a suit.

"Well Kevin, what do we do next?" asked Robert.

"We don't have to do anything.....I think all of the peices of this little puzzle are about to come together." I said as the five of us lifted our glasses and shared a toast!

(Conclusion Next..)

Hold Your Liquor Baby

I sat in Josie's bar a few nights later with Robert's Half sister,Monique. She was a stunner as far as women went. a Good looking woman who at 45 could still make a 25 year old turn his head and do a double take.

"So Tell me Monique...What do you remember about your abduction?" I said.

"Not much....but I can try to fill you in on a few things that started happening to me that led up to it." She said.

"Well maybe that can help me clear the cobwebs out of my head...and help me figure out who tried to kill me." I said as our drinks were delivered to the small table we shared. Reed Nelson and 88 and the band was really cooking tonight...I tapped my fingers and chewed on a hot wing as I nodded to Monique and waited for her to begin her story.

"Well Kevin...it began right here in Josie's. My husband of 20 years and I had just divorced and I was pretty depressed. I started coming here on a regular...drinking my sorrows away and then driving home alone and just crashing. It was then that I caught the attention of this cop....His name was Cole Butler....A tall handsome guy...Always dressed well. He dressed like a player...but I guess he wasn't...He's a Homicide detective. He started buying me drinks and giving me his seat everytime I came in. We would talk and he would walk me to my car....a true gentleman.

He is also, very,very married.....He's been married for almost as long as I have...18 years ,I think he told me. Still, he pursued me....He started taking me out for coffee after we left here
and then eventually breakfast at the diner, some after hour spots..etc, etc. One night, I got very drunk and he refused to let me drive home...He drove me to my house...He said that it was too late for him to drive home and that he had been drinking too and he was a cop...He said it wouldn't look good if he was caught driving home drunk this time of night. He asked if he could crash on my couch.. I said okay but I asked him about his wife. You know what he did? He called her ,told her that he and his partner caught a murder and that they were working on it...Then he called his partner and told him to cover for him....

I should've seen this coming, but like I said...I was plastered.....Cole acted like he was sleeping on my couch...but about an hour after I laid down...I heard him coming up my steps....He was nude and he was as erect as a tent....I looked up and I said-"Cole please...I can't....you're married...I don't do this." He said -"I need you so bad...I have to have you, you're all I've wanted since I first saw you..." He turned me over, slipped my panties down and entered me....

I didn't want to...but it had been so long and it felt so good, just having a man inside me.....He
felt good and we made love for hours right there in my bed....He was hollering and screaming like a woman while he was making love to me- 'Ohhh my god.....ohhh my god...this is soooo good, just like I imagined it...ohhhhh my god...." I wanted to giggle ,but I didn't...he did feel good.

The next morning...I felt so guilty, about what I'd done....I just wanted Cole to leave...I had never meant to go there with him, but I was drunk...I never could hold my liquor....It got to a point that every time I was in Josies...Cole would be there...He'd buy me anything and as much as I wanted ,get me drunk...drive me home and screw my brains out....I felt like a whore ,an adulterer...everything...Finnally, I started going to alcoholics anonymous and to Bible study....I stopped the bar hopping and the drinking ....For awhile at least and I told Cole that I didn't want to see him anymore. He said that he was in love with me...I told him to go home to his wife. I stopped taking his calls, his texts and his e-mails...He didn't take that too
well..but he backed off.

Then I met Isaiah Jordan....A good man....He was divorced, had two grown sons...(One is married) and his own place. He took me to a few movies, out for coffee and to a Sixers game.
Cole called me ,asked me who he was...I said that Isaiah was my friend...Cole was furious..He asked me if I had slept with him...I told him that that was none of his business...He said that I'd better not because I was "His"..I hung up on him.

One night Isaiah came by with some Absolute.....We drank the entire bottle....and I'm kind of ashamed of this...but we smoked a joint too....I was good and soused and the next thing I know, Isaiah had my blouse opened, my jeans off and my panties down and was on top of me going to town...right in my living room...on the couch....He was the best lover I'd ever had...He had me screaming....the way I'd had Cole screaming... I didn't feel guilty when I woke up the next morning....in fact...I wanted some more...and Isaiah glady obliged me...tee hee....

Then a few months later Cole started calling again and coming over and trying to stay all day...hoping to block Isaiah's plans. One time Cole came over,just as Isaiah and I were on our way out for a date. He followed us to the date and then back to my house and he sat outside the entire night. He called me and told me that he did a check up on Isaiah and that he discovered that Isaiah had 13 unpaid traffic tickets. The next day,Isaiah's car had a boot on it...Day after that, Isaiah's car got towed. It cost him $360.00 to get it out of the DMV.

I was

furious..I told Cole that I knew he was behind it and that I never wanted to see or hear from him again. He just laughed and said again that I belonged to him!

It was then the calls started and cars would drive by my house all times of day. Not the same
kind of car...a different car each time. The calls got stranger and stranger and more menacing..." she said.

That was quite a story I thought. Could it be? a cop was behind this? He would certainly know how to cover his tracks, so that none of this would get back to him... I sat there thinking...then I
asked Monique...

"This guy Cole Butler....you said he had a partner?" I asked.

"Yeah, a short stubby guy...Gene..Eugene or something or other.....Cole talked to him like a dog." she said.

"You didn't think that Cole might be behind all of this?" I asked.

"I asked him...and of course he denied it...He said that it was probably Isaiah, trying to make him look bad. I couldn't prove anything....I called 911 and tried to have the calls traced, but they refused...He's a cop Kevin...He can pull strings......The night I got kidnapped..All I remember was I was in Josie's drinking and I walked outside and passed out...That's all I remember..and Cole wasn't even there that night." she said.

"Okay, but how about his partner? Eugene?" I asked.

"No..I didn't see him." she said.

Of course , Cole could have gotten anybody to place a mickey in her drink....Josie's is usually packed on most nights, I reasoned. I was certain that these were the two guys responsible for the abduction and for my near murder....but I couldn't prove a thing...plus they were cops...I had to think of something..I couldn't let Cole get away with this.

"And your friend..Isaiah? What happened to him?" I asked.

"Oh he got spooked...He didn't want to get into it with any cops...so he just stopped calling and coming around. I've seen him...I think he's got another girlfriend now." said Monique sadly as she finished her drink. A Coke....Not anything alcoholic.

"I'm going home now Kevin." said Monique.

"A word of advice Monique.." I said as she got up to leave."

"What's that Kevin?" she asked.

"Learn to hold your liquor better baby." I said.

"I know ,right?" she said as she walked out.

Gus looked at me, winked and smiled as he continued taking orders...I got up and walked out of the bar...I saw a car with tinted windows sitting on the corner...I pulled my peice out and loaded
it and started walking towards the car....Naturally ,it pulled off......I smiled..I knew who it was...
Okay Cole...you win this round..Next round is mine.

(To Be Continued.)

From Here After To Almost Eternity

"Who is he?"

"Hell if I know...He came in here and ...."

"Yeah and saw who you were holding hostage.....If I hadn't of tasered him, we would all be on our way to jail, you stupid ignorant fool..I told you to lock that door and to keep her out of sight."

"Hey don't talk to me like that..ummmmmph...heyyyyyy...what you hit me for?"

"Shut up....Is she still sedated?"

"Yeah...man that hurt, what you hit me for.? I didn't think nobody would be nosin around this neighborhood."


" That's your problem Eugene, you don't think..You're an idiot,Return her back to her place before she wakes up...?"

"What about him?"

"Take him and drop him off on the side of the highway...then call the police..."

"You think he's a cop??"

"I don't recognize him...he might be a fed for all I know...drop him off by the side of the road like I told you...."

"Okay...I aint no idiot..I'm just as smart as the next man."

"Yeah, you're absolutely right...you damn fool. Now do like I told ya."


I could hear this conversation clearly...but I couldn't see either of the men talking....All I could see was a bright light......I felt very warm and very peaceful....I began walking towards the light..
I could see a very familiar face...the face of a man I had seen before....but not when he was living... It was Brett Jano!!!

"Kevin? Kevin Morris..is that you?" he said.

"Yeah....you....you're Brett Jano?" I said.

"Yeah man...Thanks for solving my murder.....I owe ya." he said.

"That's right...we never really did meet...When I saw you...you had a hole in your head.." I replied.

"Yeah Kev, that's right....I was good and dead by the time you saw me...Hey hows that gold brick
of a former room-mate of mine, Cock Robbins doing?" said Brett.

"Cock?? He's a reformed man....Got married, teaching school...a football coach.,imagine that? ...He's doing good. So Brett, If I'm standing here talking to you...and you're dead...that must mean that I'm....."

"Nah Kev...Not quite...you're something....uh let's say somewhere in between....It aint your time yet....I volunteered to tell you and escort you back!" said Brett Jano.

"What? Escort me back to where?" I said.

"Back to your existence......When it's your time..you'll know it....but right now....you got business to take care of....good luck..." said Brett as he walked me in the opposite direction toward a beautiful shore and a beautiful sunrise.

"Okay Kev...this is as far as I can go with you...Walk towards the sunrise.....and when you get home, Tell Cock Robbins that I said-"What's up, okay?" said Brett..

"Yeah man..sure..."

"Okay Kev...wake up baby..." said Brett...

"What?" I asked...

"Wake up baby" came his voice.....as he slowly started to fade away.....I heard the voice again...it sounded like a woman's voice....."Wake up baby..." I opened my eyes...I was laying in a hospital
bed.....with a cold towell on my head.... Sepia was sitting beside my bed, smiling and crying all at the same time....

"Oh Kevin...Kevin, you're alive...oh thank you Jesus." she said.

I looked around and in the room with her was Gus, Clerow,Corrie, Mabel, 88, Deacon Larry Weatherford, Victoria, Chance Howard, Anita, Paris,Blake, Chess, Chris Thompson,Fathead Newton, Donald Smooth, Cherry Johnson, Sean Jackson, Sheila, Cock Robbins, Vanessa Robbins, Conrad and Jill and Robert Foxworth....They were all very happy to see me..

"Man Kevin, you had us scared there for a minute." said Gus...

"You died for a half second boss and then they resussitated you.." said Clerow...

"What?" I said.

"The cops found you on the side of the road yesterday....and brought you to the hospital...." said Sean.

"Your wife had us all looking for you all day yesterday." said Chess.... with a laugh as Chris and Fathead smiled broadly.

"Wow....." was all I could say.

Sepia grabbed me and hugged me.....

"Kevin.....I found my sister....safe and sound....She was back in her house sleeping like a baby...Says she can't remember a thing...Thanks for your help." said Robert Foxworth.

"When can I get out of here?" I said.

Just then...a Doctor walked in....

"You can leave tomorrow Mr. Morris....Somebody hit you with a massive jolt of electricity....Probably from a taser....It knocked you out...almost killed you...you'd better be careful.." he said.

"Oh I certainly will Doc." I said.

"Boss, why didn't you take me or Robert for support? ,If we had of been there, that woulda never happened?" said Clerow..

"Yeah ,you're right....it won't happen again." I said weakly as I lie resting in my bed. I was happy to be back....Happy to be alive...but mad as hell...I'm glad Robert's sister was safe and sound...but somebody had tried to kill me and somebody was going to pay, and pay dearly.

(To Be Continued.....)

Shock And Awe

There was something very beautiful about seeing the sunrise at Penns Landing.Sepia was wearing a beautiful white fur leather jacket that I had bought her for Christmas. She looked beautiful in the early morning hours looking at the water...We had gone ice skating Christmas night and we had spent the night in one of the plush hotels along the landing...We had both awakened early and had dressed and had just stood on the waterfront watching the sunrise and the birds and the waves...

You have to imagine my surprise when I saw the attorney,Robert Foxworth along the waterfront and looking distraught. I poked Sepia and pointed towards Robert Foxworth. She smiled, looked at me and said-

"I suppose one of his women must have stood him up last night." she laughed.

"Yeah...let me walk over and see what's on his mind." I said. Sepia just shrugged her shoulders.
She knew that I was going to do that anyway...whether I had announced it or not.

"Hey Robert...Merry Christmas to you bruh...what's shakin?" I asked.

"Kev...I got a little bit of a problem..." He said.

"Women problems?" I asked ,amused at how on the money Sepia was. I looked at her and winked.

"Yeah, but not what you think....I think my sister is in a bit of trouble." he said.

"Sister?...you never mentioned having a sister before." I said.

"Half sister, but my blood just the same...I was supposed to meet her for dinner last night and she didn't show up." he said.

"So? Maybe she had a date...it was Christmas Robert." I said.

"You don't understand Kevin...She was in some kind of trouble...She told me that she thinks she may have had a stalker...that she had been getting mysterious calls and that the past few days she felt as if she had been followed." said Robert.

"Followed? Followed by who?" I asked.

"That's just it...she wasn't sure." He said.

"Was she seeing anybody?" I asked.

"Well, she had just started dating this new guy....Isaiah Jordan....He seemed like a solid dude..but I only met him once....and then there was this married dude named Cole Butler, who she was involved with a few years back...He kept calling, wanting to get back and then there was someone else she said..Someone who kept calling and hanging up ....Calling and hanging up..and breathing heavy....She was very afraid Kevin and she called me about it...I came over her house and stayed with her one night and sure enough the phone rang....I answered it and there was the
breathing...then there was this voice Kev...it didn't sound real...it sounded like those guys that have to use a voicebox because cancer has destroyed their larnyx...you know?" said Robert.

"I got'cha Robert....or they probably altered their voice electronically...." I said.

"I got Sean and Peeping Tom to put a trace on her phone....They did and we found a tape recorder in a hotel room across town that was electronically activated by the sound of a voice coming from a phone. The people in the hotel had no record of who was in the room or who had placed the phone there...but they obviously weren't calling from the hotel...they cleaned their tracks well." he said.

I had to admit..I was intrigued.

'When was the last time you talked to your sister?" I asked.

''Christmas Eve..We made arrangements to meet for dinner on Christmas Day...Only, she never showed up...I went to her house, let myself in and she was gone. I'm afraid she's met with foul
play Kev...I don't know what to do next..I don't like this." said Robert Foxworth.

"Alright...I tell you what.....If she doesn't show up by tomorrow...you give me a call and I'll look into it okay?" I said.

''Sure thing Kevin..thanks man." he said.

I walked back over to Sepia who looked at me and said -"Woman trouble right?" I smiled a little
bit and said-"Well yeah, not exactly what comes normal to him though" I said as we walked away...I looked behind me and Robert sat on the bench ,looking lost...I had never seen him like this before.

The next day Clerow and I got Robert and the three of us went to his sister's, (who was named Monique) house... Robert had a key and he let us in. The house was immaculate. There was no sign of a struggle or disarray. In fact, it didn't look like she had even been in it. If she was missing,I suspected it was because she wanted to be missing. I checked her messages on her phone. There were none...and no last phone numbers either. This was very odd.

Next , we drove to the sleazy hotel where the tape recorder had been found. Since Robert and crew hadn't confiscated it...I wasn't surprised to find it now gone also. We went to the front desk. There was an old White man sitting at the desk.

" Sir, Who was in room 216?" I asked.

" Some guy....He said his name was Sam Jones." he answered.

'' Sam Jones, that name ring a bell?" I said looking at Robert.

"No..she never mentioned a Sam Jones." said Robert.

It was probably a phony name ,I reasoned. I asked the guy what this Jones fella looked like.

"I wouldn't know...I'm blind." he said.

I took a look at him and to my surprise , he was indeed blind.

'How do you run this place ?....In your condition? " I asked.

"I run it with my son.....we take cash and I give em a key or my son gives em the key." he replied.

"Where is your son?" I asked...

"I don't know...he'll be in soon." he said.

I walked over to the other side of the front desk.....I looked in the ledger....I saw a "Sam Jones" registered...on December 15th...I also saw an address....Nobody that went to this much trouble to conceal themselves would be this sloppy...or would they? There was after all, no crime committed here...not yet.

"Robert, when would you say your sister started getting the calls? The middle of the month?"
I asked.

"Yeah, around then." he said.

"Hmmmm, right about the time this Jones fella took this room." I said. I made a mental note in my mind.

We left the hotel.. I was driving my car....I dropped Clerow and Robert off and then doubled back....I was going to check out this address myself. I suspected that it might be a phony address....

The house was at the end of the block . This was the type of street where every other house was
either occupied or abandoned...I had my peice on me, so I wasn't worried. I walked up the steps
to this house...It looked abandoned...I looked inside...To my surprise..I saw a woman, bound and gagged in a chair... I tried the door ....Another surprise...it opened...I crept in....I looked at the woman...It was Robert's sister...I recognized her from the photo...Before I could do anything...I felt a jolt of what felt like electricity.....My body began to jerk like crazy...I felt a sensation of heat all over me and then everything went black....I didn't feel myself falling, but I could see my body
hit the ground....and when it did...it seemed like the entire room shook....everything went black
and then I saw a white light ...a very bright light......in the horizon.......that's all I remember!!

(To Be Continued.....)

From Our Family To Yours...

Little Sister Sophia & The Booga Wooga

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we wanted to share our best wishes and prayers that GOD will continue to bless all of our family and friends. We hope that this will be the best Christmas ever for you and your loved ones. Peace and love to you all!

All I Want For Christmas Is You (Repost)

Here is a repost of a poem I wrote last year!

I don't need a fancy expensive watch by Movado...

Or any sweet smelling cologne

from some foreign country of which I may never go...

And I don't want a bottle of some fancy type of wine..

Or to go out dancing alone again...just wasting my time.

This Christmas ,I don't want anything expensive or new...

All I want for Christmas..

All I want for Christmas..

All I want for Christmas ..girl, is you.../

I don't need any tickets to a Christmas Eve Basketball game.

that the home team will more than likely lose...

I don't need coupons or a gift card from some chic new store

that sells products that I'll probably never use..

What I don't need is sit in this apartment alone..

crying about the love I let slip away from me and singing the blues...

When All I want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas...Girl is You.../

If I could just have you with me...

Oh How happy I would be...

because all I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas..

All I want for Christmas

baby..is you.../

Backwash

"Both of em gon have secrets to tell each other this December and aint neither one of em gon like it." said Clerow just two days before when talking about Carlton and Anita. I was thinking about what he said as I watched Anita pace the floor of her sister, Mabel's restaraunt.

"Waiting for someone?" I asked ,knowing full well that she was and who she was waiting for.

"Yeah, kind of sorta Mister Kevin." she said. "You waitin for someone too?" she asked, throwing it right back at me. I had to laugh....Even though I wasn't pacing the floor , I was sitting in that solem way that people sit when they are waiting for someone. I was waiting for Sean, Clerow, Tom and Lockpick Johnson...My crew...I needed information and I needed a plan of action to ward off Clinton Porter's real plan. A plan that had become apparent to me only recently.

Just then Carlton walked in...He smiled and pecked Anita on the cheek and pulled up a seat at the table directly across from mine. He waved at me and I nodded my head in recognition of him.

"So What is this about Carlton?" asked Anita.

"I got an extension with the Clippers for the rest of the season babe." he said.

"That's great...but that's not why you actually came here is it? " said Anita.

" Welllll, uhhh,er...ahhh.." said Carlton...

"That's not why you've been here for a week and I'm just seeing you now is it?" said Anita.

Carlton looked startled.....

"My girlfriend Freda said she saw you and Jess playing ball at the courts." she said.

"Oh" he responded.

"So why are you really here?" she said.

"Well Anita..there is no easy way to say this, but ...I've met someone....Out in Cali...I didn't mean to, but it just happened...I-I-I don't know how to explain it...it just happened...." he said.

"Well ,I'm glad you came here and told me." she said.

"I wanted to tell you a couple of months ago." He said.

"You goin out to Cali to stay?" she asked.

"Yeah....I'm gonna try and make a go at it..I'm leaving tomorrow." he said.

"You're not staying for Christmas?" she asked.

"Anita,it's better this way." he said..."You'll find somebody...you're a pretty girl...you'll find somebody in no time." he said...then quietly got up and walked out of the restaraunt.

I couldn't beleive that I had gotten that caught up in their drama...I walked over to Anita and put my arms around her....

"Of course you know that I know you're going to be just fine." I said.

"Sure am" she smiled at me..."But that's our little secret Mr. Kevin." she said.

"Oh and by the way..I hear Chance is at Josie's...If you hurry, you might catch him." I laughed.

She winked at me, put her coat on and walked out the door ,just as Sean and Clerow walked in.

"Bout time you guys got here..where are the other two?" I asked.

"They just sent a tape to the police...Anonymously like, you know.. And now they sittin on that apartment complex." said Clerow.

"What?" I asked. "What Tape?"

"We got you covered boss....We overheard him hiring some cat to kill that Meadows broad..Told him to put something , a glass you drank out and a pistol he fired..with your fingerprints on it in the house."said Sean....

"But How? " I asked.

"Peeping Tom called in a favor to some guy he knew in the intelligence community..They gave him some type of device that he aimed at the cell phone towers..It took him awhile, but he pulled your boy's cell phone number out from all of the many numbers he had...and he honed in on his conversations...We caught him hiring a hitter to ace that old broad." said Sean.

"How'd he get the number?" I asked.

"I ,uh kind of pick pocketed him yesterday and replaced his phone with one that we had. It was the same model and everything.. Tom had cloned it." said Clerow.

"What? You guys got that close to him?" I asked , amazed at what they did without my direction. Yet I knew it...I knew his plan was to do what I did to him, frame me for murder...I knew it. Just then, my phone went off ...It was Peeping Tom.

"Hello My friend....You can sleep well tonight...Lockpick and I were sitting across the street from that apartment....Some guy tried to break in that old broad's apartment...Turns out that old broad had a gun... Funny She would have a gun and be ready for him..ya know ? Hahahahahaha, She shot him and killed him...The cops are processing the scene now...You played this game well my friend...You totally out thought him.....He's done.." said Tom.

"Yeah ,how about that? You guys did fantastic work ." I said...not feeling that good. "You guys get out of there before someone sees you." I said.

''Way ahead of you my friend , I been doin this kind of stuff for a long time..I knew how to deal with Mister Porter....Take care and happy holidays." said Tom.

"You too Tom." I said.

"Well boys...looks like the case is over...Thanks again." I said , as I gave Sean and Clerow some dap and watched them walk away.

"Oh Clerow?" I said just as he walked out the door...

"Yeah Boss?" he said.

"You were right." I said..

"Right about what ?" he asked...

I just smiled.... Once they were gone..I got in my car....It would take the cops awhile to figure out where to find Clinton...I could find him first. When I got to Clinton's house, he was already putting his things in the trunk of his car, when I drove up on him..

"Going Somewhere?" I asked.

"I found the bugs you planted in my house.....I know that the cops are probably on their way here.... You played the game exceptionally well Mr. Morris...but I'll be back...This isn't the last you'll hear from me." he said.

"Well you'd better hurry up Clinton..I uh kind of called the cops on my way here...you know to kind of hurry the process along." I said.

"You're a smart ass Kevin, you know that?.....You know any good lawyers?" he joked.

"I know a few...but you wouldn't trust my references would you ?" I laughed.

He laughed- "Helll no." We both laughed.

I watched them handcuff Clinton and put him in the police car.....I don't know how long he'd stay in jail this time...and I was sure we would match wits again....but for now...for now, he was going back to the slams..

I hurried home ,I was missing my wife....Sepia was standing at the door with some mistletoe.....

''What's this? Christmas is a few days away." I laughed as I embraced her.

She kissed me.....

"Yeah I know, but you've been having a rough couple of days...so come here, stand under this mistletoe and kiss your wife." she said grinning. She was wearing a red plaid flanel robe. I kissed her...She whispered in my ear...

"I'm not wearing anything under this robe."

"Nothing? " I asked.

"Not a thing..I'm all yours." she laughed devilishly.

"Lead the way" I smiled.

I smiled....This wasn't a classic happy ending, but it was as close as I was going to get after this strange caper.

(For Simone)

Cover Yourself

One thing I had learned from Clinton Porter was to always have information on your man (or woman) and all of the people he or she had around them....Always stay a step ahead of your opponent. I trusted him to know all of my legitimate associates.....but I had some associates who were not so legit that I knew he didn't know about.

I had a whole day to plan before I decided to meet him. I did some snooping myself. From his parole officer and a contact in public records who owed me a favor..I found out that he was listed as living at two seperate addresses. If I knew right..One was a dummy address and the other was where he actually laid his head.

He knew me on sight...So I hired "Peeping Tom Constanoble and Lockpick Johnson" To check out his adresses. I called my friends, Chess and Chris and asked them if Fathead Newton had any guys who could do a scope of the addresses for me. He did..and since they had no link to me whatsoever....They were able to locate just where he was actually living in no time. They watched the place like a hawk and called Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson when he left. They broke into his place and wired it for sound and video..and then quietly left....He was watching me and I was watching him.

I sat in an unmarked van with Sean Jackson and Clerow....Sean snapped photos of him at my old apartment complex talking to Mrs. Meadows and Denise. If I knew right ,he was offering them money to testify against me or help him blackmail me....Hmmm, he hadn't changed a bit.

"I don't know if we'll get a lot on this guy Kevin...He's hardly ever at home." said Sean Jackson.

"Yeah, He's too slick to talk on his home phone...He'll most likely use a cell...." I thought, then I came up with another idea...We watched Denise's apartment and when she and her mother were out..Lockpick and Peeping Tom went in and wired their apartment. We could now listen to any conversation had in their apartment with him...Still we had to find a way to get his cell phone and clone it...That was the key to getting to him...but I was running out of time.

I'm sure he had operatives out looking for me too...It was almost time to meet with him. Another thing he taught me, was to "cover yourself" . I told my wife Sepia the entire story about me and Denise and Porter and Deadwyler.....I asked her to come to Josie's with me.

Peeping Tom was in a van outside my house... I walked up to the van..He pulled down the window.

''Evening Mr. Morris... We are bein watched, so just be cool" said the cool Italian man.

"He just read the riot act to that gentelmen across the street in the jeff cap and another guy at the end of the block, who is lighting a cigarette. They were supposed to be sitting on you and telling him your every move and they said they lost you at around 10:30..He was mad as hell.. it's on the tape." said Tom

"Good work....Okay Tom..keep me posted, just ease out of here." I said non-chalantly.

''Be Easy my friend." he laughed as he pulled off. I smiled.

Sepia and I got in my car and pulled off.....Two cars pulled off behind us...I continued to smile...

A car was behind them and at the corner of the next block..a car crashed right into one of their cars..

An "angry" Clerow got out and began raising hell....The two guys got out of their car,Only to see the imposing figure of Cock Robbins staring at them....and Donald "Smooth" thrown in for good measure in case things got rough. We continued to drive down the street....I had lost his two guys again....I was pretty sure that they would be out of jobs by morning...Porter didn't suffer fools lightly.

We walked into Josie's and sat at a small table. I ordered drinks for us. I saw a tall slender man with a touch of gray walk in , say a few words to Gus at the bar. Gus pointed to us at our table. The man looked surprised, but he walked over to me anyway.

"I told you to come alone." he said.

"Clinton....Clinton...what can I say...She loves me, I don't leave home without her, she's like American Express." I said.

"Still got that smart mouth huh? Do you think she'd love you if she knew what I know?" he sneered.

" Yeah,I think so." I said.

'You do ,do you?" he said.

"I'm positive." I said

"You told her didn't you?" He said.

"Yeah, it was before we met...what was to hide?" I said.

"Well, she is not my prime concern...The police might not be as forgiving...especially if her mother swears out a complaint." He said.

"Well ,you can try that angle if you like...but I beleive, Denise is what? Thirty seven years old now? Unemployed, a suspected stripper, who still lives with her alcoholic mother......That was years ago....A cop told me that the statute of limitations ran out on that.....So you can try that if you want to Clinton." I said.

"You covered yourself well....I see you learned from me, didn't you?" he laughed.

"Yeah...and you're boring me Clinton...it's over okay....you got nothin...you're a dinosaur....you've been locked up too long...the world has passed you by." I said.

"Yeah ,don't be so sure smart guy." he said as he stormed out of Josie's and into the night. "It was never about the statutory rape charge my friend...it goes deeper than that." he sneered as he walked out of Josie's.

Sepia looked at me and Gus walked over to the table we were sitting at-

'What's Up with him Kevin, he looked crazy?" asked Gus.

"You beat himKevin, you outsmarted him..." said Sepia...

"No..I didn't....I just realized, I was just playing into his hands..." I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Sepia as Gus stared at me.

"He's a smart guy..he didn't come here to blackmail me for a years old statutory rape case...Heknew he couldn't embarrass me or get me locked up for that....He wouldn't play his ace..No he's got something bigger planned.."I said.

"There is nothing else." said Sepia.

"Yeah , it is...somebody's gonna have to die....." I said.

Epilouge-

"Hello"

"Hello, Curt?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Clinton Porter....Remember that little job I wanted you to do?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, it's time to take care of it....I gave you two addresses...Stop by one and

pick up the hardware and an envelope with the address and half of your pay.

when the job is done....Call me and just say.....Completed..Then I'll contact you

and let you know where you can pick up the rest of your money."

"Okay, cool....I got the glass and the dummy pistol with his fingerprints on it.

I've fired it twice and it looks exactly like the one I'm gonna ...."

"Heyy...Hey...Not on the phone ...I told you the plan...you don't have to tell it

to me...just make it happen.."

(Conclusion Next)

Dirty Laundry

"Ohhhh Kevin.....wowwww...you were like...like a man about to go off to war tonight...that was so
intense.." gasped Sepia as I crawled from on top of her and lay on my side in the bed...sweat was running off of both of us...

I usually had a one liner or a joke or something to say after we made love, but tonight...I could think of nothing to say, so I just lie there ,staring at the ceiling. She rested her head in the crook of my chest..

"You seem like you're so far away Kevin?" she said. I didn't want to discuss what was on my mind and thankfully, she fell asleep right after she said that. I couldn't sleep...I just laid there.
Clinton Porter was out of jail and he was trying to blackmail me, again. He wanted to meet with me about god knows what and I know that while he would be asking for money...He wanted more than money..He wanted some revenge.

I had indeed framed him...Kind of sort of...I knew that he had killed Leonard Deadwyler....an associate of mine who he was investigating for cheating on his wife. Leonard was indeed cheating,
but instead of turning over the evidence to Mrs. Deadwyler, who was paying him, He decided to
blackmail Leonard for a bigger payday.

There was just one problem....The person Leonard was cheating on his wife with was Clinton Porter's mistress. I found the mistress and tried to work out a deal with Clinton to stop blackmailing my friend, but he refused. Leonard threatened to go to the police and to tell Mrs.
Porter about what was going on....It was then that Leonard turned up dead a few days later.

The cops had nothing, no eyewitness and no murder weapon. Clinton Porter found out about my involvement and dug up some dirt on me....Dirt that could still get me locked up if it were to be made public....To shut him up...I planted enough "evidence " in his car and in his house, to have the police find it...with the help of a few "anonymous" tips and send Clinton Porter away for
ten years. He was no innocent man..but I did use a rather unfair set of tactics to get him put away. I couldn't beleive he was out.

I drifted off to sleep and in my sleep ,I remembered her...my bad habit...and the thing that Clinton Porter had over me. I hadn't met Sepia or Cock Robbins or Jean Coakley or any of the folks who would inhabit my world and start me on my path of cracking cases. I was just a writer at Hype Magazine then...I had a blog and Sepia was just someone, whose blog I followed and who I would often comment on. She would comment back to me and I would e-mail her occassionally.

I thought Sepia had some pretty sexy photos...I never in my wildest dreams knew I would ever meet her one day, be involved in a case of multiple murders that involved her and her then lover,Cock Robbins and wind up marrying her and becoming his friend...No, this was long before that.....

Her name was Denise...Denise Meadows and she lived with her drunken mother a few apartments from where I was then staying...We used to talk...I'd see her on her way home and occassionally I'd give her a ride. I never saw her with any books ,so I never assumed that she was in school. She had a pair of hips on her that were something else...and a nice sized rack to match.. Had the cutest dimples and the sweetest smile. She would often come down to my apartment while I was writing. It was all very innocent...We would talk, She would read some of my blog posts before I published them, or proof read my columns before I sent them to the magazine.

Denise was very intelligent and very advanced for her age. I thought she was about 21, which would have made her about seven years younger than me at the time. She would stay and talk and I would order a Pizza or a Hoagie or a Cheesesteak for the both of us and we would eat, drink a beer maybe and then she would leave,go back to her apartment.

After about six months of this though...things changed...She would catch me looking at her and she would come down to my apartment with low rider jeans...which clearly showed her thong or the waistband of her Victoria's Secrets bikinis for me to see.. She would wear blouses that were so sheer, they left little to the imagination...and sometimes ,she would wear no bra at all..breasts just hanging out....To say ,that after she left I was more than a little hot and bothered is an understatement..Still,I didn't make a move.

One night, it was well after two in the morning...She knocked on my door....I was in my bathrobe and some boxers....She had on what the girls call "Booty shorts" and a blue denim blouse....It was open just enough for me to see that she wasn't wearing a bra. She must have put baby oil on her breasts because they were shining almost and sticking out. I was more than a little excited...and she knew it.

I should have told her that it was too late to hang out...but I didn't...I wanted her to stay just as much as she wanted to be there. We watched a movie she had rented...She stuck her hands into my shorts and grabbed my penis...she began stroking it lightly...I was getting hard...I moved her hand ...but she put it right back....Looked at me and smiled...I wanted to move her hand again, but I didn't...and soon we were kissing and stroking each other...I slipped her blouse open and began licking and squeezing her breasts...She let out soft moans...

She took me in her mouth like a pro, like this hadn't been the first time she had done this.. It felt so good and any thought of impropriety was completely out of my mind at the time.

I pried her out of her shorts.....She was wearing a pink lace thong, which I slipped off...In no time I had on a condom, I kept under the couch just in case of situations like this and was deep into her lusciousness..We made love slow and intensely on my couch for close to two hours...Then, I picked her up ,took her into my bedroom and finished what we had started...It was great. She made love to me like she owed me some money, very passionate, very intense.

When she came to my apartment after that..There was very little conversation, and a lot of lovemaking. I adored her. I kept what we were doing a secret or so I thought. During that time, I interceded for Leonard Deadwyler....I had no idea how good Clinton Porter was and how much information he had. Porter did his homework...Knew everything there was to know about Leonard and the people around him...Even knew that I was snooping around on his behalf..

When Leonard and I turned the tables on Porter, he had to find a way to knock me out of the game and he played his hand well.-

"Mr. Morris...I wouldn't be going to the police if I were you, not with what you're doing." He said.

"Me?, what am I doing?" I said.

'You're having sex with a 16 year old girl...consensual it may be...but still statuatory rape in my book and being that her mom is a drunk and will do anything for a buck...I won't find it hard to convince her to press charges against you." he sneered. "Always cover yourself Kevin, if you're going to be uncovering other people's misdeeds...Make sure your sheets aren't stained..heheheheheheheheheheh.." He laughed. I wanted to knock his head off.

He had photos, even tapes of our sessions...He was that good...I could've been jailed....I didn't know...I assumed she was twenty one..She wore make up and was far more developed than most girls that age..I didn't know...Everything went sour after that...I had to break it off with Denise...Which she didn't take too well..She or somebody busted the windows and flattened the tires of my car.. then Leonard went for himself and tried to blackmail Porter....Leonard turned up dead and I framed Porter and got him sent away for manslaughter to make what I did go away. It didn't. I had to move out of that apartment to get Denise out of my mind.

Clinton Porter was a blackmailer and a murderer to boot.....but I admit...I gave the cops an unfair advantage over him....He had had all of these years to sit in prison and plot his revenge...I feared the day he would get out....I had no idea what I was going to do now. What I wasn't going to do was lie down and let him

squeeze me dry...I would sleep now and plot my strategy...Morning was coming.

(To Be Continued...)

Some Secrets

"Kevin? ,Kevin...Wake up man..here he comes." said Clerow as he nudged me gently. We had been sitting on a bench at the airport waiting for Clerow's sister in law's boyfriend, Carlton to bound off of the airplane and find us in the lobby of the Airport. Carlton was six foot six or six foot seven...lean , yet muscular...He was a half way decent swingman- (forward -center) who couldn't seem to get a permanent spot on an NBA team...He would get short ten day contracts or wind up plaaying a lot of semi-pro ball most of the time. He reminded me a lot of Cock Robbins when I first met him, minus the ego and self centeredness. Carlton seemed to be a good kid.

"Hey Clerow, Hey Kevin...thanks for picking me up....." he said as he shook both of our hands.

He really should have thanked me. Clerow's car was in the shop and I was picking him up in my car as a favor to Clerow. We put his bags in the trunk and he got in the back seat, which his long legs took up completely. Clerow rode shotgun and I of course drove.

"How was it out in Cali?" asked Clerow as we drove.

"It was great....you know, beaches, women, great weather..constant sunshine..." said Carlton.

''Anita know you coming?" asked Clerow.

'Uh...ahhhhh...no...it's a surprise." he said kind of hesitantly.

"Well, she'll be surprised to see you." laughed Clerow.

"Uhhh, errr,ahh, that's the thing Clerow...I want you to keep my being here a secret........til Christmas Eve." he said.

"Christmas Eve?"said Clerow...

"Uh yeah....I want you to drop me off at my friend's house...until then...can you?" he asked.

"Okay..but a man been on the road for three months, comes home for Christmas...seems to me he'd want to get with his girl first thing...wouldn't you Kevin?" asked Clerow.

"Hey man...I'm not in this...I'm just driving." I said. I had seen Anita out with that kid named Chance and I know that Carlton hadn't been spending a lot of time here. I had cracked enough cases in my time to know when someone was being evasive too.....This kid obviously was hiding something...but it was not for me to decipher.

'So...man, what was playing for the Lakers like?" I asked ,trying to change the conversation.

"It was the Clippers man and that's part of the reason I come home....They gave me a contract extension for the rest of the season man." said Carlton.

"So that means you'll be home in April for good right?" said Clerow.

"April...man possibly June...If they let me start, and I get to show off my skills..we might be gointo the playoffs...I'm serious...We got a chance to go man." he said.

I looked at Clerow and he looked at me....He then turned to Carlton and asked him in all seriousness if he had been drinking. Carlton just laughed it off...We dropped him off at his friend's house and promised again not to say a word to Anita and we pulled off.

"Kevin....I think both of em is gon have surprises for each other this Christmas..surprises neither one of em gonna like." said Clerow.

"Aww man, we just saw Chance over there once." I said.

"Yeah..once..but he come around Mabel's spot to eat almost everyday and they laugh and giggle all the time and she talks about Chance to anyone who will listen. I aint as smart as you Kevin as far as crackin murder cases and all, but I do know this...Man aint around, woman gets lonely...sooner or later she get tired of being lonely and she make do with who is available..you feel me?" said Clerow.

"Okay....right.....but what is this to you?" I asked.

"Well, Anita and me is pretty tight..she's a good girl..I don't wanna see her hurt." said Clerow.

"You tight with all your wife's sisters aint you?"I joked.

"Anita is the only one of em I aint slept with...Maybe that's why we can be friends like we is." he laughed. I just shook my head as I dropped him off and headed toward home.

It was then that my cell phone rang...

"Hello."

'Well hello Mister Kevin Morris...it's been a long time aint it?" Came a voice I knew well, but hadn't heard in years. I was filled with a terror I hadn't known in ages.

"You!!!! How did you get my number?" I said.

"Getting your number is what I do...If you recall, I was just as good at getting things and finding out things as you now are Mister Kevin." came the voice.

"When did they let you out of jail?" I asked.

"Oh a few days ago....I was up, what ,ten years ...who's counting? I met a lot of people in the joint...a lot of people who you personally are responsible for locking up....heh,heh,heh..They'd all love to talk to you up close and personal....heh,heh,heh...."

"What do you want Porter?" I said.

"We, you and me have some unfinished business to clean up....I can't believe you are a licensced Private Investigator now huh? You know..that's what I used to be before I went to prison."

"How about a licensced professional blackmailer and creep?" I said.

"Well, you can call me what you will or may...but I know about your dirty little secret Kevin..and in addition to that..I think I can prove that you set me up, falsified evidence and sent me, an innocent man to prison on a phony manslaughter charge to keep me from revealing what I knew about you."

"You're off your nut." I said.

"Well, you can't chance that I'm wrong can you? Meet me at Josie's tomorrow at 7:00.

That is where you hang out at now isn't it? Oh and congrats on the marriage...That's some pretty wife you got there...Though I don't know what she sees in you...Congrats anyway...It would be a shame if she and all of the people who admire you were to find out what I know,wouldn't it?"

"Porter...Go near my wife and I'll kill you."I said.

"Good,then you can spend ten years or the rest of your life in stir with some of your favorite people...heheheheheheheheheheh..."

I was scared....I had to meet with him and find a way to silence him....without breaking the law..but how? This was going to be the greatest mystery!

(To Be Continued....)

Prelude to Something

Anita and I got back in my car and headed for home...It was a little after midnight..We played the radio and talked about everything and nothing the entire ride back home... We were on the Walt Whitman Bridge , around one thirty, quarter to two...I don't remember...

"Chance...I'm not tired...are you?" asked Anita.

"Nah...actually,I'm not..." I said.

"Josie's is probably closed ,but I know an after hours spot." she said with a devilish look in her eyes that made her look incredibly sexy to me at that moment. She had always been cute ,with a cute little figure...but now she was sexy.

"Well,look at this...aint been outta Louisiana for a minute and already, you know the after hours joints." I laughed.

"Yeah.This one is a nice clean place." she said.

It was. It looked like a regular row house. You had to walk up the steps and down a long hall.

Then you entered the back room ,which was actually a bar. It had beautifullly sanded and shiny wooden floors...A Black marble bar right in the middle of the floor and huge bean bags and lounge chairs surrounding the bar.

"What'cha drinkin?" I asked.

"I'll have a Margarita" she said.

"I'll have some cuevo." I said.

"That'll knock you out and I'll have to carry you home." she laughed.

"Would you? That's been my plan all afternoon." I laughed and winked. She shot me that devilish look again that I found so sexy...and then smiled. We got our drinks.

"Let's share this big old lounge chair." she drawled...sounding for the first time tonight like she was a daughter of the south. Anita, more than any of her sisters, Mabel, Cora-beth and Victoria sounded the least country when she talked.I sat down in the lounge chair, which seemed to sink right down into the floor and I began sipping my cuevo...Anita sat her plump rump right on my lap and began drinking her drink. I was getting a slight erection and I didn't want her to notice it. What, Was I twelve? A girl couldn't sit near me without me having that kind of reaction.

"Chance?" she said.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"This was sooo much fun...Goin to AC on a humbug, sitting on the beach, seeing that concert, coming here...This was more fun than I've had in a long time...I thought it was going to be another boring Friday night...but you made it wonderful.." she said.

"Well, when Carlton comes back home, I'm sure you won't be bored on Friday or any night." I said, knowing full well she had a man and taking any notion I might have had about doing anything out of my mind.

"Yeah...when he comes back...Last two times he was here, we spent the entire time in bed..didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything...then he was gone, just like that." she said.

"Oh, well uh..." came the words stumbling from my mouth..

"I don't want to talk about him tonight." said Anita.

This was good with me....I didn't want to talk about him either.....She felt my crotch...Looked at me and smiled...

"Wow." she said.

"Wow? what do you mean by that?" I asked...knowing full well what she meant. She playfully rubbed it..making my erection even harder and then leaned over and gave me the most soulful and loving kiss I had had in years...

"Come on...let's get out of here." she said, staring straight into my eyes. It was eerie, almost as if she could or was reading my mind. It was almost four in the morning. I hadn't stayed out this late since I had been a freshman in college. I had come to appreciate my sleep. I knew I would pay for this later..but right now ,I didn't care.

She had a nice little place...Very neat, very well kept. I parked and met her inside. I closed the door and embraced her slowly, kissing her and holding her. We stood there in the doorway and kissed like that for what seemed like an eternity...Finnally we stopped and came up for air.

''Come on, let's go upstairs" she said.

I followed her upstairs and into a nice neat little bedroom. I was used to dormitories and clothes being strewn all around.. This was not like that at all.... Anita stepped out of her shoes and wrestled those tight jeans off that had looked like they had been painted on...Revealing a very voluptuous and sexy body...She was wearing a pair of black lace bikini panties and a matching black lace bra...She looked up at me ,smiled and said...

"Chance...you just gonna stand there?"

I started coming out of my shirt ,trousers and shoes and immediately embraced her some more and continued kissing her.....I began sliding her panties down and lifted her up...She gasped as I did that and then I brought her down on me as I entered her slowly at first , but began picking up the speed...

"Ohh my Goddd..." I said as I entered her..."You are sooo soft, and you feel so gooood...ohhhhh." I said....

"Ouuuuuuuuu, Chance, baby...don't stop...don't stop..." she said as we continued like this until she became too heavy for me to hold.. I spread her across the bed face first and entered her from behind..thrusting with wild abandon....

"Ouuuuuuu...baby, don't....baby don't ...baby don't stopppppppppppppp..." she said. I loved the way she called me baby...it turned me on even more... I finnally turned her over and began to mount her missionary style.. We humped and kissed and licked each other until we both climaxed in a pool of sweat and exhaustion....

We walked into her shower and turned on the hot water...soaping each other down and holding each other...We started kissing again...which led to me picking her up and mounting her again..

The combonation of hot soapy water and screwing just turned me on even more...We came together again...just as the water was starting to get cold... We both let out -"OHHHHHHHHHH" sounds...

I towelled off and laid across her bed as she combed her hair and wrapped a towell around it... We got under the covers...She climbed on top of me and gave me a quick kiss... ''Oh my God....you're like a machine." she said..feeling my once again hard erection...and laughing. We both laughed and I flipped her over and mounted her for the third time ...This time we made love even longer and slower... We both climaxed again and fell asleep on top of each other..I was still inside of her. We woke up hours later...It was about nine thirty, Saturday Morning...

'Wow Anita...what a night.." I said....

"Yes indeed..." she said.

"You hungry?" I asked.

"You wanna buy me breakfast?" she said , her eyes lighting up.

"Well yeah." I said.

"I can't let you do that Chance..you've already done enough..You took me to Atlantic City, to a concert, to the lounge...and whatnot...No...I'll buy YOU breakfast...Mind if we eat at my sister's spot?" she said.

"No..Not at all." I said.

As luck would have it..everybody and their grandmother was at Mabels on Saturday Morning.. Kevin and Sepia, Sean and Sheila, Clerow and Corrie, Paris, Blake, their dates ,Chess and Rell, Chris Thompson and Fathead and even, Cock Robbins and his wife. Heads turned when they saw me and Anita walk in together, especially since I had on the same clothes I was wearing yesterday. Heads turned...a few people smiled..such was my reputation. Mabel gave me and her sister a playful side eye and then just chuckled. We had some of Mabel's famous Blueberry Pancakes, Country Sausage and Hash Browns, A couple of tumblers of coffee and some orange juice...We devoured the food...It appeared that after the initial shock of seeing us together..Everybody went back to minding their business.

"Chance....I really ,really like you.." said Anita.

"But...There is always a but.." I said.

"I gotta see how things play out when Carlton comes back home....I'm not asking you to wait for me...but if you do happen to be around and you'd want me....you know you're first in line to be my guy.....I-I-I guess that sounds a little presumptuous of me ,doesn't it?" said Anita.

"No...not at all...I've always liked you from afar." I said.

"You did?" she said seeming surprised..Then she looked at me and smiled..."Yeah, after last night, I beleive you....You acted like you might not get no more in life." she said smiling.

"Well, you never know.." I said, half kidding.

She rubbed my hands and smiled at me-

"For right now, for this moment...you are my guy." she said.

Story of my life, I thought as we continued to eat.

(For O.G.)

Strangers In The Night

I sat in Josies Bar. It was around 4:00 in the afternoon...Paris ,Blake and Sean had just left....They had dates....Kevin and his wife Sepia came in, conversed with Gus and newlywed's Chess and Rell and they left. My boss, Robert Foxworth was busy drinking and laughing with that lady funeral director he met awhile back... He said something about he was leaving to get some "Greif Counseling" or something or other. Me, I had a pocket full of money , a tank full of gas and nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to do anything with.

My name is Chance Howard....I just recently earned by J.D. , will be taking the state board soon and will be an Attorney in my own right. I thought about calling Sheena, but then thought better of it..We were better off apart. I pondered calling Cindy Waters....but changed my mind...after that last debacle , she probably would never speak to me again....

"I can't beleive you don't have a date tonight." came the voice from behind me. I turned and looked and it was Anita Jenkins. Anita worked at "Mabel's Soul Spot" - the hot new restaraunt that everybody was going to... Fine ass Mabel and Corabeth were her older sisters...The apple didn't fall too far from the tree...She was just as fine as they were. The Deacon's hot wife,Victoria
Weatherfood was her oldest sister...I could see where Anita got her good looks from.

"Yeah Anita, mark it on your calender." I said, laughing. Anita waited on me when I came in her
sister's spot to eat. We were about the same age and I we often joked and bantered with each other. She was attending community college during the day and working at night. She had caught me staring at her a few times..but I had never taken it further than that. I knew she had a man...A six foot seven Basketball player named Carlton...Only..I hadn't seen him around in months.

" You off tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah....and tomorrow..." she said.

"Where's your date?" I sneered good naturedly. We always teased each other.

"Who knows?" she said...not joking at all..."He used to rush back here after his contract with one of those Basketball teams was up..Now, I see less and less of Carlton...I haven't sen him since June." She said.

She and I both knew that he wasn't playing Basketball during the summer, anywhere..Pro or semi-pro.

"So where was he last?" I asked.

"Los Angelas." she said.

"Oh" I said. We both knew that L.A. was too tempting for a brother like Carlton to resist. Neither one of us wanted to think about what hey may or may not be doing out there in La La Land. I had a good idea...I'm sure Anita did too.

"Hey Anita...look...I don't have anything to do..and you don't have anything to do...How bout..we
go to AC tonight? " I said.

"Huh? You and me?" she said.

"Nah, you, me, my mama and some of my cousins....Of course you and me..I'm askin aint I?" I said.

"Nahhh, maybe some other time.." she said. I was about to give up, but I desperately didn't want to spend this gorgeous Friday Night in Mid Winter bored and alone..so I softly grabbed her arm and said..

"There is no other time ,better than this."

She smiled softly, hung her head down as if in deep thought, then just said-

"Okay, what the hell, it's not like I really had anything to do." she said.

We got in my car , which was right outside and drove off...I noticed Gus looking at me and giving me the side eye as we left...He almost looked like he was halfway smiling.

I tossed in Jay-z's Blueprint III CD as we hit the Walt Whitman Bridge and headed into New Jersey. Anita's head rocked to the beat as the second track -"Thank You" blared.

"Wow, you have an excellent car stereo....This sounds great" she said as we drove along..

I told her about my entire episode with Cindy Waters and my boss and how she was using me to get to my boss because they had a thing awhile ago. She told me about meeting Carlton on a bus trip this time last year. He was actually on the trip with Honey Brown, but he was flirting with her every chance he got...Finnally Honey Brown had had enough and clocked him but good. She had felt sorry for him and had given him an ice pack for his swollen face.. That and a kiss, which was how they got started....How different things were now..she said.

I told her about Sheena and her affair with the married man and later with some rough neck and how we kept breaking up and getting back together and breaking up...We agreed that relationships were crazy and off the chain now of days.

Two hours went by fast. Seemed like in no time...we were pulling up into Atlantic City......

"Chance are you hungry? I am." she said.

"Yeah...where would you like to eat?" I said.

" Anywhere that doesn't serve soul food....I'm around that stuff all week...I want something different." she said.

"There's a Seafood place...Wanna stop there?" I said.

"Sure....that's different." she said.

We stopped in...I ordered some cooked Crab legs and a hot steamy plate of rice to go along with
it , some corn on the cobb and a couple of Cokes... We devoured the food, laughing and talking the whole time. I was liking Anita..She was light and breezy...down to Earth, no drama....so different from the others. I think she was liking me too...At least she seemed comfortable.
After we ate,of course we went on the boardwalk..It was barely full...It was after all, December,
Not July. Most of the people were going in the Casinos...

"Hey Anita...I don't feel like gambling, but I do want to go on the beach." I said, knowing I sounded crazy.

"God....I was going to say the same thing, but I thought you would feel as though I was crazy".
she said. We both laughed....went into a store, purchased a couple of Coronas and a blanket and
went and sat on the beach...

Yes, of course it was cold...but we sat and drank and talked and watched the water all afternoon
long...It was peaceful and the most relaxed I had felt in a long time. By seven o'clock it was getting cold. We walked to the car, which was in a lot a few blocks from the boardwalk in a lot and put our blankets and what was left of the beers in the trunk. As we made our way back to the boardwalk we discovered a flyer...

"Tonight in concert at the Borgata- Jazmine Sullivan, Joe and Jon B." it read.

"Wow, I would love to see Jazmine in concert...but it's probably too late to do that.." said Anita.

"You never know...let's go over there." I said. We got in the car and drove over to the Borgata which was a few blocks away. It must've been my lucky night...I was able to score two tickets from a scalper for the show. I probably spent way more than they were worth..but it was cool and it was more than worth it.

We got in in time to hear the last part of Jon B's set. Then Joe came on and did his thing. Jazmine was next...We rocked to "Bust your windows", "Need You Bad" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears" all of her hits. She closed the show with -'I'm in love with another man" Which made both me and Anita kind of sad. I knew why I was sad, but hadn't a clue as to why she was sad.

The night held a lot of surprises.....Of this I was sure.....


(To Be Continued....)

Roses for the Living

"You've got a gorgeous wife Willie." said Jack.

Georgia Ray blushed and smiled sweetly at him.

"Why thank you kindly." she said.

I had taken Jack to our motel room and introduced him to my new bride...My third wife. He had promised to take me to the grave of my first wife....Thelma Louise....Which was why I had come to Smackwater anyway.

"Uh Georgia Ray...Pack our things....I have to go on a little run with Mister Jack here and when I come back, we leavin for Arlington and then the Airport, jus like I promised ." I said.

'Alright Willie...don't make me wait too long." I said.

"Ah won't baby." I said as I got in the car with Jack.

"Sweet Dick....what you come back here for? For real?" asked Jack.

"I had to see where she was buried....I been gone a long time...I never got to go to her funeral, Never got to pay my respects." I said.

"Sweet Dick....she dead..been dead about forty years now...sometimes you got to let dead things stay dead....You livin....what you need to come back here and rehash all them ole memories for?"he said as he drove through town..

'Jack, stop here." I said.

"It's a florist...what for?" he asked. I shot him a look and he dropped his head, almost in shame at being so insensitive and simply said-

"Oh."

I bought two dozen White and Orange Roses and then got back in Jack's car....

''Two dozen white and orange roses Willie?? For a woman that been dead forty years?" said Jack.

"What's your point Jack?" I asked.

"My point is, you got a fine woman that's alive back at that motel and you aint bought her jack shit Willie...You aint even talked about her much since you been here." he said.

"She's my future Jack...I come here to bury my past, so that I can move on." I said.

"Your past is buried Willie...it been buried...forty years...she's your here and now man...live in the now..let the dead rest." said Jack.

He was after all right. That's why I didn't say anything....I was quiet until we got to the cemetary. He led me up the hill , where her grave was...There was a nice headstone that read

Thelma Louise Jenkins

1949-1969

Rest in Eternal Peace

I thought that last line was a nice touch. I spread the flowers around the gravesite . In the short time I knew my first wife, I knew that she had a thing for roses...If she was watching, She'd love this. The grave had been kept up pretty well...It looked a lot better than I thought it would after all of this time.

"You shoulda nevah come back here Sweet Dick." came the voice.....

I turned around slowly to see an older , yet still honary version of Burt Curley standing a few feet away with a .45 trained at my head.

"Burt...it's been forty years....I don't have a gun on me...you don't have to do this." I said.

"I loved her too.....and I was making progress, until YOU came to town and took her from me." he snapped.

"Burt, she didn't love you....you was just spendin money on her that's all...She didn't like you like that and I think you know that...I think you've always known that." I said.

"You killed my brother." he shouted.

"Your brother killed her and tried to kill me...what was I spozed to do?" I said.

"Yeah....he did...crazy bastard...aint nobody ask him to do that.." said Burt, who began to weep like a child...

Just then, Jack crept up behind him , grabbed his arm and took the gun from him....

"Come on Burt...let's go....it's over." He said.

He walked Burt back to his car...

"He shouldn't have never come back here." said Burt as Jack walked him to his car...

"I know..I know...he's leaving..." said Jack.

I stood at the grave for a little while...saying nothing..then I got in the car. Jack was already in the car.

"You ready?" he said.

"Yeah man...Take me by that Florist again." I said.

We stopped at the florist and I bought a dozen Red Roses...for Georgia Ray. I also bought her a Moon Pie, cause she love em and a RC Cola. She love them too! I said nothing as Jack dropped me off at the motel...When I got out of the car I extended my hand to shake his...He just looked at me...

"Don't come back here Sweet Dick." was all he would say.

"I won't." I said and I watched as he drove off into the afternoon.

"What'cha got there Sweet Dick?" asked Georgia Ray.....

"Roses...For you" I said.. Her eyes got wide and she smiled....

"For me? Oh thank you Sweet Dick." she said..

'Ah bought you a moon pie too and a RC Cola.." I said with a smile.

"You really know how to impress a girl don't you Sweet Dick?" she said.

We loaded our belongings into my car and we headed for the highway......Georgia Ray who hadn't asked me before finnally asked me...

"So..why did you come back here?"

"I had some unfinished business I needed to take care of ...so I could move on..." I said.

"Unfinished business?" she said.

"Yeah, I had to lay something to rest." I said. I didn't offer any more of an exclamation than thatand she didn't ask....She just laid her head on my shoulder as I put my foot to the pedal and sped as far away from Smackwater as this car would take us.!

(For My wife)

To Love And Die In Smackwater ,Part 2

Thelma Louise and I got married in Las Vegas in the Spring of 1969....We were blissfully happy that first week....We hardly ever left our room....Making sweet love every day, every night...and in between.... Going out , only to eat, then going right back to our room..

Sad thing is...I didn't really get to know Thelma Louise outside of that....She wasn't destined to live long enough...That was the shame of it. She could play cards as good as any man though.. She would play craps at the casino sometimes and win big...Unlike a lot of guys...bigtime playas that I ran with and who I saw in action....Old girl knew when to fold em. By the end of the second week in Vegas...She had won us a pile of money.

"Sweet Dick....Why don't we go to Louisiana and buy us a nice little home?" she said.

"That sounds like a fine idea baby girl, but we gots to go back to Smackwater first." I said.

"Smackwater? You don't wanna go back to that town Sweet Dick...There's nothin there...Don't you wanna find some honest work?" she asked.

"Sure I do...but I gotta go back there and settle things with Jack. I owe him money...and we did kind of run off and leave him in the lurch...We'll go back, settle up with Jack and I promise...We'll be out of Smackwater forever baby." I said. In hindsight, I should have listened to Thelma Louise and have never of gone back to Smackwater.

We drove from Las Vegas back to Texas...Stopping to lie in cornfields and stare at the moon...Eating in little dives and spending a night or two in this motel or that motel. Her body was intoxicating...Seems like I couldn't get enough of her and likewise she couldn't get enough of me either. I loved her as much as I had ever loved anyone...Why didn't I listen to her? Why?

I arrived in Smackwater with a toothy grin on my face and my new bride to much fanfare...Guys were giving me dap and the ladies were cooing-

"Chille..you got him .." She got me? Will you listen to that?

"She got her ,her Sweet dick....hhahahahahaha"

'Go head gurlll...you better hold on to Sweet Dick..." said another.

One person who wasn't glad to see me was Jack....even though I paid him the money I owed him.

"Negro ,have you lost yo mind?" He said as I continued to smile, while my new bride sat down and ordered a marguarita.

'What? Is that anyway to treat a man that just put five g's in yo pocket?" I laughed.

"You don't understand do you? You beat up Burt Curley....He and his brother Ernest have been besides themselves with anger ,lookin for you man....They're killers..especially Ernest...He did a twelve year bid for manslaughter....You need to take that broad and get in your car and get the hell out of here man." said Jack.



It was too late! Ernest Curley walked into the bar. He whispered to a couple of guys. One of them pointed at me....He smiled, but didn't say anything..You could smell the tension in the air as people began to move , almost in slow motion out of the way...

My wife had on a beautiful white sun dress that just accentuated her honey brown skin...She had a white gardenia in her hair that kind of reminded me of Billie Holiday. She was wearing blood red high heels....She looked good. I'll always remember her that way..Turning towards me, smiling...then watching her eyes grow large and that smile turn to horror as Ernest Curley pulled out his forty five and fired at her!!!!

The shot sounded like a cannon!... The bullet struck her heart...blood splashed and splattered on the wall.....She slumped on to the table....

"Now , We even Mr. Sweet Dick.....How sweet it is.." he laughed like a maniac.....

"You shouldn't have done that." I said, an anger boiling up in me like never before.

"Well don't feel too bad Mister Sweet Dick....cause you next....Thought we forgot about you huh? , Well , I didn't." he said.

He aimed at me and fired...I dove to the floor, rolled and came up shooting....See ,I carried a pistol on me too in them days....I don't think Ernest figured on that... I fired two shots..One hit him in the hip and the other hit him in the chest.... He jerked as if he was doing a new dance....then he groaned as blood just poured out of him like a gusher.

" Well I'll be damned...I don't beleive it...I've been shot." he said. Those were his last words in this life because he fell to the ground as dead as a doorknob.... as dead as my new wife was... A crowd surrounded his body....I heard a man in the crowd say-

"This must be my lucky day....I owed that guy some money....hot damn....thanks a lot fella.....get on out of here..me and my boys will get rid of his body...and the girl's too if ya want."

"No....she's going to be buried properly....I don't care what you do with him." I said , as I reloaded my gun.

"Sweet Dick...what are you doin?" said Jack.

"Where's Burt?"I said.

"Aww come on now man....aint it been enough killin for one day? Let it go...get in yo car and get out of here..." said Jack.

"Where is he?" I said ,aiming the gun at Jack's head.

"You gonna put a gun on me Sweet Dick, you son of a bitch?" said Jack.

"Where is he?" I asked again.

"I'll take you to him." said Jack.

We got in his car and drove seven or eight blocks to Burt Curley's house. Burt must have heard what happened because he opened fire on the car the minute we pulled up...Jack ducked down and I climbed out of my seat and crawled behind a row of neatly stacked trash cans...
Burt Curley came running out into the street with his gun blazing and I mowed him down with two good shots...One hit him in the side and the other shot hit him in the shoulder. He spun around and fell to the ground.

"Okay Sweet Dick...you done killed both of em...Ya happy now bitch?" said a very disgusted Jack.

"Yeah...I'm happy." I said as I burst into tears....I cried like a baby and leaned over Jack's car....In all of this gunplay, not one cop showed up. Shootings in this part of town between Negroes on the weekend were common place..The cops didn't care about Black men shooting other Black men.

"Sweet Dick...I'm gon take you back to your car now....I want you to get in it and don't never come back, ya hear?" said Jack.
I shook my head in agreement.....I got in my car and I drove out of Smackwater and out of Texas period.

Burt Curley didn't die. He was taken to the hospital and bandaged up. They never found a trace of his brother Ernest's body...I can only guess that those guys burried him out in the desert. I sent money to Jack and he made sure that Thelma Louise had a proper funeral. I had heard that Burt Curley said he was coming to Louisiana to get me, but he never did...I suspect he had had a gut full of me...Pun intended.

I was never the same...I couldn't love any woman that came after Thelma Louise quite right...Not Victoria's Mother, who I lived with for two years...Not Mabel and Corabeth's mother who I actually married and stayed with a good many years and certainly not Anita's mother. All of my children's mothers were good women...I was the problem..I was a damaged man....Now here I was married again and back in this god forsaken town...If I was going to ever move forward, I had to finish some old business.







(Conclusion next....)