The Gentleman's Name is Lockjohn

On this particularly sunny day...I washed my car and flipped in a Buddy Miles CD...I hopped in my ride and drove to West Philly...Sepia and Sean's girlfriend, Sheila had gone to the King of Prussia mall and so not wanting to eat alone,I decided to see what my friends out west, Chess, Chris Thompson and possibly Fathead were doing. It was a sunny day, warm winds were blowing and it was a great day to head to the beach...I had no idea of the storm that was coming my way.

Once in the diner, I saw Chris, Chess and Fathead sitting in their usual spot...I saw them and waived...They waived back. Chess motioned to me to come over and sit with them.

"Hey Kevin, come on over..sit down...your money is no good here...order what you want." said Chess.

"Thanks man" I said. 'What up Chris..What up Fathead?" I said.

"Hey Kev..." said Chris.

"Hey man...heard you put tht serial killer ,Culpepper behind bars...you becoming quite the sleuth..I could use a man with your talent to gather some information for me." laughed Fathead.

"Stear clear of him Kev" laughed Chris.

I ordered a Hamburger, Fries and a Coke...The same thing all of them was eating...and was enjoying my burger when a guy I hadn't seen in awhile walked in...Jordy...

"Kevin....I'm so glad you're here..I need your help...but I was kind of looking for all of you man..
I got a big problem.." said Jordy..I had never seen him this animated or this afraid.

'Whoa hoss..slow your roll....what are you talking about?" said Chris.

"Man, I got this chick I used to see right..and she say she seen Lockjohn kill Loverman Jones and
she needs protection...hiding...Yall is the only ones who can help her." he said.

Lockjohn!!! The mention of his name brought a hush to the table. I knew that Chris Thompson had been a big time drug kingpin at one time....even though he kept it quiet..but he had always been cool and collect...never afraid.....but now for the first time I saw fear in his eyes...I saw a look of fear in Chess's eyes and a look of pure panic on Fathead Newton's face.

"Lockjohn?? Aint that fool in jail?" said Chess.

"Nah, he out....I knew it was gonna come to this" said Fathead.

"You know somethin about Lockjohn Fathead???...Don't just sit there...spill it." snapped Chris Thompson.

"Papa Doc and Loverman Jones was beefin over territory right...I tried to be like a mediator..but you know how Papa is..he old, he won't listen to nobody..He start talkin to some slick lawyer..and throwin around money and he got Lockjohn out of jail and told him to whack Loverman Jones and everybody in the top spots of his organization and then his people would work with whoever was left. I begged him to keep Lockjohn out of it..but he wouldn't listen...I tried to talk some sense in Loverman Jones's head but he just as stubborn..His crew took out Papa Doc and all of his guys..but not before Lockjohn collected his money and took the Loverman and six of his top
guys out." said Fathead.

"Okay, so the job is done..he's paid and he's out...what's the problem?" I asked.

"Problem is Kev...this babe seen him do Loverman...She was kind of like Loverman's girlfriend.. and she think he after her...I got her outside in the car." said Jordy.

"YOU WHAT??" said Chess, Chris and Fathead in unison.

"Man, get that broad away from here....take her to the bus station, train station ,airport..I don't care...you get her away from here and don't even mention that you even talked to either of us ." said Fathead as he and Chris Thompson both got up paid their bills and left the diner.

I stared at Chess and I asked him-

"Who is this Lockjohn, that's got everybody so scared?"

Jordy looked at Chess ,Chess looked at me, shook his head..

"Tell him Chess...You know who he is?" he said.

"His name is Malik Lockjohn....He's as bad as they come Kevin...He's killed more people than they know about...He's a contract killer..but he aint like most...He kills because he likes it..he enjoys it...He's been killing since he was in elementary school they say...He was in the Marine core for awhile but got kicked out of there.. He came back to Philly and offered his services and the body's started dropping..He's very cold ,very efficient and except for a manslaughter beef.. He never got caught....Kevin , I can't tell you what to do...but if I was you..I'd let Jordy handle this himself...You don't want to get involved with Lockjohn...I'm just saying." said Chess as he paid his bill and left.

Malik Lockjohn.....I was curious and I always liked a challenge. Chris Thompson, Fathead Newton and even Chess for that matter were tough guys..hardened by the streets of Philadelphia. I had never known them to be afraid of anybody...yet the mention of this man's name..Malik Lockjohn...brought fear in them....but not in me...Maybe I was too stupid to know that I should be afraid of him.

"Let me talk to the girl Jordy." I said as I turned to him...

"Okay ,come on ,let's go to the car." He said.

We walked to the car....The girl was slumped over on the seat.

"Damn, she must have been up all night...she's asleep!" said Jordy as he opened the door of his car....

Blood spilled down the side of the seat and I noticed a nice neat hole in his passenger side window. A small hole was in the side of the girl's head and she was very,very dead......A note was next to the girl...it was typewritten.

"I know who you are and I know where you live....Keep your mouth shut and forget all about this girl. She's dead and if you don't wish to join her in death...you'll not disregard this warning. Nobody will help you..Nobody can help you."

A rage built up in me...A rage I didn't know I had in me...Who did this guy think he was? I meant to find this Lockjohn and put an end to his career..That is if he didn't find me and kill me first.

"Kev...look...he done kilt her...it's over..I'm gonna pack some clothes and get outta here for awhile...thanks for being willing to help..but forget about it...Be glad that fool don't know you...just thank God..." said Jordy as he stood by his car. A police siren wailed and a crowd gathered outside...Of course nobody saw anything. I didn't see anything or hear anything..I suspect it was done with a silencer.. I gotta hand it to Lockjohn..He was good. Jordy took everything out of the car pretaining to him and left..He ran down the street and jumped in a cab.

Now I stood on the street alone...

(To Be Continued...)