Couples Night at Josie's was always a special night...One of the few times I could get Sepia to come out. We sat in a booth with Clerow and his wife ,Cora Beth and munched on Fried Chicken wings and french fries. Cock Robbins and his wife Vanessa sat at another booth chowing down on some shrimp...Paris and Blake were at the bar seemingly competing on who was going to take Honey Brown home..She was loving the attention. Gus the bartender and Skillet Johnson, an old man from West Philly who just started coming in were laughing and telling each other tall tales while Cora Beth's sister, Anita Jenkins and that semi-pro Basketball player, Carlton sat at still another booth. That boy Carlton could sure eat..He had two plates of Shrimp and Fried Chicken ,while Anita barely had a half plate of Fried Chicken wings herself.
My boy Sean Jackson and his lady, Sheila walked in...Behind him was a guy I hadn't seen in a long time, Ron January. Ron January was a real private investigator...He did what I only played at ,solved crimes and helped people out. From the corner of my eye, I saw Conrad and his wife,Jill coming in behind Sean,Sheila and Ron.
"88" was on the Piano with a new quintet playing up a storm, while his new girlfriend, Mabel Jenkins sat close to the stage watching him attentively. Ron sat at the bar by himself , yet he looked like his old happy go lucky self. He ordered a Coke. He didn't drink, but he liked hanging
around Josies to socialize...He would order a Soda just so it would appear that he was drinking
something.
Former Drug Kingpin...Chris Thompson and his half Black, Half Asian girlfriend entered the bar
and took a booth in the back, followed by his friend, Chess and his girlfriend, Rell. I had known Chess breifly in High school...a good dude, but mostly a loner, who like his namesake played Chess a lot.
Finnally Amongst the crowd...I saw Deacon Larry Weatherford and his wife Vanessa. The old deacon loved some good jazz..He loved Fried Chicken even more! I eyed the entire crowd, especially Ron since he was the only one here without a lady friend. Finnally, Ron saw me, raised
his glass towards me and walked toward our booth.
"What'cha know good Kevin?" he said..
"You tell me boy...workin on anything good?" I asked as we shook hands.
"I'm always workin on somethin good" said Ron, a tall honey brownskinned Black man who looked a lot younger than his 56 years betrayed.
"That's nice to hear." I said.
"I've been hearing about you Kevin...You've been dippin over into my line of work..just crackin all kinds of cases...Maybe I should set up a blog and dip into yours...hahahahahahaha." he chuckled.
"Imagine that!" I said as I returned his laughter.
"Check this out Kevin...I'm workin for this lawyer in West Philly name of Foxworth..Robert Foxworth." said Ron.
"I know him" added Clerow. 'Well,I know his ex-wife...She rents an apartment from me...ouuuu weeee, she's a fine litttle-"
Before he could continue, Cora Beth side eyed him....he smiled sheepishly-
"I'm just sayin ,I don't know how he messed that up.."
"I'll tell you how, He can't keep it in his pants...Did you know he was married to that Detective you was workin with Kev??, Sissy Van Buren...Cheated on her, messed that up." added Ron.
"Sissy was married? Wow, I never knew that." I said.
"Why did you need to?"added Sepia, pretending to be jealous. I just side eyed her and smirked.
Ron laughed and continued....
"Well anyhow...he is a brilliant lawyer..but he loves the ladies. His client, a guy named Samuel Hawkins thinks his wife is cheating on him and he is trying to use that as leverage in a huge divorce settlement. So Foxworth hired me to look into things. Hawkins has mad loot, if we do right..Me and lawyer Foxworth stand to make a fortune. He's gonna need it...he owes his landlord, Chess over there.. money to fix a hole he made in the damn ceiling in his building."
"The ceiling? " I asked.
"Yeah, he had a bed in his back office, got to screwing some big gal and they went through the ceiling into some poor guys kitchen." said Ron.
"WHAT????" I said as Sepia,Clerow and Cora beth broke out in gales of laughter... I was holding my sides myself... Ron was a great storyteller but I didn't know if I believed him.
"Look good peoples...this is couples night and as you can see, I aint got no lady friend...so to make it up for you folks allowing me to share a laugh with you...Tell Gus, your food and drinks is on me..matter of fact, I'll tell him as I leave." said Ron. His Blackberry had just went off.
"You leavin man? " I asked.
"Yeah, gotta run, somethin just came up involving my case." he said.
We all smiled and waved as Ron January got up and left. We all had a grand time at Josie's that
night..eating, drinking and just enjoying each other....
It was well after three o'clock when Sepia and I walked into our house. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket.
"Who is calling you at this time of night?" asked Sepia.
"Hmmm, who indeed? Oh..It's Ron." I said.
"Heyyy Ron, what's up?"
"ugghhhhh......ohhh, Kevin.....ugggggh.....say goodnight to the missus fer me and...and..kevin,
say good night to yourself..uggggghh...you were a good kid...uggggghhh.." said Ron.
Ron was obviously drunk...I would check on him in the morning.
"Is he alright?" asked Sepia.
'Yeah..he's drunk." I said.
As I lay in the bed that night , a thought crossed my mind. Ron doesn't drink....Ron never drinks! I've never seen Ron drunk in my life!!!!!!
The next morning,I got up good and early. I drove around to Ron's house with Sepia. Surprisingly..the door was ajar. We walked inside and the house looked very neat and immaculate. Nothing looked out of place. Yet, there was no sign of Ron at all. His car was parked out in front of the house. Yet, there was no keys, no wallet, no sign that Ron had even been here.
It was eerily quiet...Too quiet. What was Ron talking about last night and why was he drunk?
Or was he even drunk??
I had been down this road before....Something about this just wasn't right...I could feel it in my bones like never before.
(TO BE CONTINUED......)
My boy Sean Jackson and his lady, Sheila walked in...Behind him was a guy I hadn't seen in a long time, Ron January. Ron January was a real private investigator...He did what I only played at ,solved crimes and helped people out. From the corner of my eye, I saw Conrad and his wife,Jill coming in behind Sean,Sheila and Ron.
"88" was on the Piano with a new quintet playing up a storm, while his new girlfriend, Mabel Jenkins sat close to the stage watching him attentively. Ron sat at the bar by himself , yet he looked like his old happy go lucky self. He ordered a Coke. He didn't drink, but he liked hanging
around Josies to socialize...He would order a Soda just so it would appear that he was drinking
something.
Former Drug Kingpin...Chris Thompson and his half Black, Half Asian girlfriend entered the bar
and took a booth in the back, followed by his friend, Chess and his girlfriend, Rell. I had known Chess breifly in High school...a good dude, but mostly a loner, who like his namesake played Chess a lot.
Finnally Amongst the crowd...I saw Deacon Larry Weatherford and his wife Vanessa. The old deacon loved some good jazz..He loved Fried Chicken even more! I eyed the entire crowd, especially Ron since he was the only one here without a lady friend. Finnally, Ron saw me, raised
his glass towards me and walked toward our booth.
"What'cha know good Kevin?" he said..
"You tell me boy...workin on anything good?" I asked as we shook hands.
"I'm always workin on somethin good" said Ron, a tall honey brownskinned Black man who looked a lot younger than his 56 years betrayed.
"That's nice to hear." I said.
"I've been hearing about you Kevin...You've been dippin over into my line of work..just crackin all kinds of cases...Maybe I should set up a blog and dip into yours...hahahahahahaha." he chuckled.
"Imagine that!" I said as I returned his laughter.
"Check this out Kevin...I'm workin for this lawyer in West Philly name of Foxworth..Robert Foxworth." said Ron.
"I know him" added Clerow. 'Well,I know his ex-wife...She rents an apartment from me...ouuuu weeee, she's a fine litttle-"
Before he could continue, Cora Beth side eyed him....he smiled sheepishly-
"I'm just sayin ,I don't know how he messed that up.."
"I'll tell you how, He can't keep it in his pants...Did you know he was married to that Detective you was workin with Kev??, Sissy Van Buren...Cheated on her, messed that up." added Ron.
"Sissy was married? Wow, I never knew that." I said.
"Why did you need to?"added Sepia, pretending to be jealous. I just side eyed her and smirked.
Ron laughed and continued....
"Well anyhow...he is a brilliant lawyer..but he loves the ladies. His client, a guy named Samuel Hawkins thinks his wife is cheating on him and he is trying to use that as leverage in a huge divorce settlement. So Foxworth hired me to look into things. Hawkins has mad loot, if we do right..Me and lawyer Foxworth stand to make a fortune. He's gonna need it...he owes his landlord, Chess over there.. money to fix a hole he made in the damn ceiling in his building."
"The ceiling? " I asked.
"Yeah, he had a bed in his back office, got to screwing some big gal and they went through the ceiling into some poor guys kitchen." said Ron.
"WHAT????" I said as Sepia,Clerow and Cora beth broke out in gales of laughter... I was holding my sides myself... Ron was a great storyteller but I didn't know if I believed him.
"Look good peoples...this is couples night and as you can see, I aint got no lady friend...so to make it up for you folks allowing me to share a laugh with you...Tell Gus, your food and drinks is on me..matter of fact, I'll tell him as I leave." said Ron. His Blackberry had just went off.
"You leavin man? " I asked.
"Yeah, gotta run, somethin just came up involving my case." he said.
We all smiled and waved as Ron January got up and left. We all had a grand time at Josie's that
night..eating, drinking and just enjoying each other....
It was well after three o'clock when Sepia and I walked into our house. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket.
"Who is calling you at this time of night?" asked Sepia.
"Hmmm, who indeed? Oh..It's Ron." I said.
"Heyyy Ron, what's up?"
"ugghhhhh......ohhh, Kevin.....ugggggh.....say goodnight to the missus fer me and...and..kevin,
say good night to yourself..uggggghh...you were a good kid...uggggghhh.." said Ron.
Ron was obviously drunk...I would check on him in the morning.
"Is he alright?" asked Sepia.
'Yeah..he's drunk." I said.
As I lay in the bed that night , a thought crossed my mind. Ron doesn't drink....Ron never drinks! I've never seen Ron drunk in my life!!!!!!
The next morning,I got up good and early. I drove around to Ron's house with Sepia. Surprisingly..the door was ajar. We walked inside and the house looked very neat and immaculate. Nothing looked out of place. Yet, there was no sign of Ron at all. His car was parked out in front of the house. Yet, there was no keys, no wallet, no sign that Ron had even been here.
It was eerily quiet...Too quiet. What was Ron talking about last night and why was he drunk?
Or was he even drunk??
I had been down this road before....Something about this just wasn't right...I could feel it in my bones like never before.
(TO BE CONTINUED......)
20 comments:
Keith! How could you do this to me? *sniff* I thought we were cool like that *sniff* But you left me hanging *sniff* hanging I tell you *sniff*. More; I need more *sniff*.
Damn if that wasn't a hella good story. Between you, and Terry over at the Cheap Seats (he's on my blog roll), y'all have made my morning...thanks doll!
love to live; live to love!
".and..kevin,
say good night to yourself..uggggghh...you were a good kid"
Almost sounded like an ominous threat.
Another "Kevin" Mystery,Just what the doctor ordered.
Oh Oh...Another missing,probably dead person. I love the Kevin
mysteries.
Kevin is back on the case.
Guess I should just sit back and enjoy this ride ,huh Keith?lolol.
Kevin is back into some mess.. Wouldn't have it any other way.
Wow,you must have had every major charactor that has ever appeared on
the "Escapades" Blog in this story.
Loved it Keith.
Great Story Keith!
Man, You had everybody out in this one...Good story!
Loved this..Loved seeing everybody.
This looks like this is going to be good.
Good Story, Nice build up ..Can't wait to see how this plays out!
I loved this Keith...Just seing everybody was enough for me. The mystery was like icing on the cake.
You're doing the dayum thang over here Keith.
Oh my goodness,I fear that Ron is dead...Is Kevin and Robert Foxworth
going to hook up in this one? I notice he was the only charactor that was NOT in Josie's Bar in this story..yet he was mentioned?
This ought to be good!
Incredible story Keith with lots of great cameos. Can't wait to read the rest of it.
Man, you just get better and better
with each installment.
Loved it...Just loved it!
If Robert Foxworth is involved,I know he's probably banging his client's wife..I can't wait to read about that.
@Blu Jewel- There's more coming!
@SLC- That's actually a real quote
a famous celebrity made, hours before they died. Not saying Ron
January is dead..I'm just sayin..
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