"Ohhhhh,Look who it is...The married man!" laughed Chris Thompson as I walked into the diner.
He was sitting at the table with Donald Smooth and Fathead Newton...They both laughed and pounded me on the back as I joined them.
"Hey Chess, looks like our boy really enjoyed the sun and fun in Jamaica." laughed Fathead..
"Hey Chess, did you even make it to the beach?" Laughed Donald Smooth, who playfully punched me on the arm...
"Okay guys...let the man sit down.....breakfast is on me." said Chris as I sat down in my usual spot.
Rell and I were finnally husband and wife and after a month long honeymoon in Jamaica, we were finnally back in Philadelphia...I wouldn't admit it to the guys, but I didn't think about them or the streets not once while I had been away...I relaxed...enjoyed myself and my new bride.
"So...How's everything been since I left?" I asked.
"It's been quiet....Business has been good....Our little investment, Mable Jenkin's joint has been pullin in the dough and our other thing ....the card game has been making money hand over foot.
Victor Diaz hasn't gone to trial yet and we still up and running in one of his warehouses..Everything is good Chess." said Chris.
I noticed her out of the corner of my eye at first.....then soon ,I noticed her fully. She was a short
little thing...She had had an awesome body at one time and had been quite pretty...She still was somewhat of a looker...yet time ,bad men and drugs had robbed a lot of her beauty from her.
"Charlie? Charles Parker...Is that you?" she said. Nobody had called me by my given name since I'd been in school, grade school. Even my college professors called me "Chess" I knew this was someone from my past.
"Angie...Angelita Rose right? From Elementary school!!" I said.
"Oh my god....Chess, that is you...and is that Chris? Christopher Thompson?" she said. Chris cringed at hearing his government name...I supressed a smile just looking at him. He only nodded ,but he didn't speak. He knew who she was...
"I've been looking for you for awhile....I heard I could find you around here...." she said.
"Yeah...this is where I eat breakfast." I said.
"Heard you finished school, went to college and that now you married.....Wow, you really did well for yourself." she exclaimed.
"Wow, you've really been following me." I laughed, knowing that a pitch was going to be made for money at some point.
"So Angie, what have you been doin all these years?" I asked ,trying to avoid the inevitable.
She held her head down and then said...
"Me? I been having babies...I got four kids....Three of em are in foster homes....but this last one, this last one is special..I got her with me....That's what I come here for...I need a favor Chess...and you the only one from the old neighborhood who I could think of that might help me..
I know you got a good heart."
"How much you need Angie?" I said.
"Nah Chess..it aint like that...I don't need no money....well ah do..but that aint what I come here
for....I need you to do something for the Father of my youngest baby girl." she said.
"Huh, what? " I said.
"See,it's complicated...he dead and he needs to be put away proper ." she said.
"What are you talking about Angie?" said Chris uttering the first words from his mouth,since she had come in the diner.
"See,yall might know my baby daddy...he was one of yall...Ever hear of Sonny Templeton?" she
said.
Heads turned...Fathead,Donald Smooth, Chris and I all knew who he was. A high profile hitman at one time. An oldhead...who lost his edge and his skills behind drugs, booze and bad women...Who tried to redeem himself by going out on one last mission with that demon spawn,Malik Lockjohn. My boy Kevin Morris had ended his and Malik Lockjohn's careers several months ago.
"Sonny Templeton? That old bust out was old enough to be your father." I said.
"Old enough to be her grandfather." laughed Fathead.
"I know...I know....but I needed money and he needed a place to rest his head. It was my living room sofa at first and then it became my bed...and before long ,I was pregnant with his daughter. He was a bad man,I know....I know he killed a lot of people, but he was a human being too..he had feelings...He loved his daughter...She probably was the one person he loved above most." said Angie.
"How old is the girl?" I asked.
"She's three.....She loved her daddy....and beleive me ,he loved her. Long story short..He's laying up there in county....been laying in that morgue since August...I don't have money to bury him..It's December Chess...it's about to get cold...Man deserve a decent burial...He shouldn't be laying out in the cold." she said.
"Angie...I barely knew the guy and he wasn't my friend, beleive that....Don't he have any people?" I asked.
"He has a cousin from Georgia named John Templeton. I called him, told him that Sonny had been killed and he came up here on the train the next week. He stayed at my place, ate my food,
helped himself to me a couple of times and then went over to the morgue...When they told him how much a funeral would cost he said that he and Sonny weren't that close and he left..went on back to Georgia." She said.
Chris ,Donald and Fathead were laughing silently at her story...I could tell that none of them was about to help her...Still, she was a friend of mine from the old neighborhood and from as far back as elementary school...and this meant something to her and her daughter. I took her to the side.
"I got an office over at that Gym and Juice Bar a few blocks from here...Stop by at four thirty...
I'll see what I can do." I said. She hugged me....She smelled like cigarettes and stale beer...
"Thanks Chess...I knew I could count on you." she said.
After she left...Chris looked at me , then asked me-
"You gonna lend her money to bury that bust out?"
"It aint for Sonny...I could care less about him....it's for Angie and her daughter.....somehow I feel
like they both need something good, just one thing good to happen for them." I said.
"You're a good man Chess, you got a good heart." said Chris.
I met Angelita Rose and her adorable little three year old daughter, Chloe at My Gym and juice bar...We got in my car and drove over to the morgue...They sat in the car. I had called a funeral
director and was waiting for him to get there with a hearse....There to my horror was the nearly
mummified body of one Charles "Sonny" Templeton...Contract Killer...His head was a mangled
mess and his skin was now blue...I didn't recognize him.....It was a horrible sight. When the Funeral director, a white man named ironically, Sonny Stein got there and saw the body, even he jumped...
"Oh my God..." he said and ran ,grabbed a trash recepticle and vomited.....I shook my head ,wondering if I had made a mistake in contacting him.
"Don't worry Chess.....I-I-I can-can-can -handle-handle-handle this." he said.
A stuttering Funeral Director , who vomits at the sight of a dead body.....I couldn't beleive it!
A week later, Angelita ,Chloe and I stood in the cemetary with the casket bearing Sonny Templeton's remains... There was no way there could be an open casket funeral. Once it was discovered just who Sonny Templeton was...Every church in Philadelphia turned me down for having his funeral there. We were forced to have his "memorial service" in the cemetary.
Pastor John Struthers reluctantly agreed to say a few words over the casket before it was lowered into the ground.
"My brother and my sister..uh...er....Oh look,let's cut the crap...This man didn't come to church
a day in his life and was probably responsible for more funerals than a little bit and is very likely in hell right now, having a cup of coffee with the devil..." he said.
"PASTOR!!!!!!" yelled Deacon Larry Weatherford.
"Oh...oh..oh..yes...,er,uh..well....what I mean to say is that ,every man must meet his maker or someone on that day of reckoning...are you ready to meet yours? The doors of the church are now opened..."
"Pastor ,we aint in the church....we in the rain...it's starting to rain...." said the Deacon.
"Yes...it is.....May the grace of our lord and savior be with you, cause they sho wasn't with this fella..Come on Deacon,let's get the hell out of here." he said.
Deacon Weatherford shrugged his shoulders....I held my head down....in both shame and embarrassment. This was the best I could do.....Angelita Rose hugged me. She had cleaned up well...She had on a nice form fitting Black dress that hugged her curves. She had her hair done and some make up and she came close to resembling the looker she had once been. Little Chloe
was dressed exactly like her mother and held on to her mothers hand as I led them to my car.
"Thank You Chess....Thanks for everything." she said.
"Angelita,I wish I could have done.....well better." I said.
She put her hand to my cheek-
'It's okay...he wasn't the best man...but he was a good father to this little girl..He did love one human being in this life and I guess for that,he deserved to have just a little dignity...I didn't want to see him buried in a potters field or carved up by medical students." she said.
I said nothing....
"You still play chess?" she asked.
"Yes, I do." I said.
"I remember when we were kids how proud your dad was of you and how he dragged you to all of those tournaments..." she said.
She had a good memory.
"I play too." she said.
"For real?"
"Yeah....I learned from my second baby's daddy...and he learned when he was in the joint."she said.
"Oh." I said.
"Maybe we'll play sometime" she said....
"Yeah,maybe" I said as we got in my car and I drove out of the cemetary... I hadn't noticed that
it was raining....hadn't noticed that it was unseasonably warm for a December day either.
I did however notice the rainbow and the beautiful mid day sky as I drove out though.
(For Little Willie)
He was sitting at the table with Donald Smooth and Fathead Newton...They both laughed and pounded me on the back as I joined them.
"Hey Chess, looks like our boy really enjoyed the sun and fun in Jamaica." laughed Fathead..
"Hey Chess, did you even make it to the beach?" Laughed Donald Smooth, who playfully punched me on the arm...
"Okay guys...let the man sit down.....breakfast is on me." said Chris as I sat down in my usual spot.
Rell and I were finnally husband and wife and after a month long honeymoon in Jamaica, we were finnally back in Philadelphia...I wouldn't admit it to the guys, but I didn't think about them or the streets not once while I had been away...I relaxed...enjoyed myself and my new bride.
"So...How's everything been since I left?" I asked.
"It's been quiet....Business has been good....Our little investment, Mable Jenkin's joint has been pullin in the dough and our other thing ....the card game has been making money hand over foot.
Victor Diaz hasn't gone to trial yet and we still up and running in one of his warehouses..Everything is good Chess." said Chris.
I noticed her out of the corner of my eye at first.....then soon ,I noticed her fully. She was a short
little thing...She had had an awesome body at one time and had been quite pretty...She still was somewhat of a looker...yet time ,bad men and drugs had robbed a lot of her beauty from her.
"Charlie? Charles Parker...Is that you?" she said. Nobody had called me by my given name since I'd been in school, grade school. Even my college professors called me "Chess" I knew this was someone from my past.
"Angie...Angelita Rose right? From Elementary school!!" I said.
"Oh my god....Chess, that is you...and is that Chris? Christopher Thompson?" she said. Chris cringed at hearing his government name...I supressed a smile just looking at him. He only nodded ,but he didn't speak. He knew who she was...
"I've been looking for you for awhile....I heard I could find you around here...." she said.
"Yeah...this is where I eat breakfast." I said.
"Heard you finished school, went to college and that now you married.....Wow, you really did well for yourself." she exclaimed.
"Wow, you've really been following me." I laughed, knowing that a pitch was going to be made for money at some point.
"So Angie, what have you been doin all these years?" I asked ,trying to avoid the inevitable.
She held her head down and then said...
"Me? I been having babies...I got four kids....Three of em are in foster homes....but this last one, this last one is special..I got her with me....That's what I come here for...I need a favor Chess...and you the only one from the old neighborhood who I could think of that might help me..
I know you got a good heart."
"How much you need Angie?" I said.
"Nah Chess..it aint like that...I don't need no money....well ah do..but that aint what I come here
for....I need you to do something for the Father of my youngest baby girl." she said.
"Huh, what? " I said.
"See,it's complicated...he dead and he needs to be put away proper ." she said.
"What are you talking about Angie?" said Chris uttering the first words from his mouth,since she had come in the diner.
"See,yall might know my baby daddy...he was one of yall...Ever hear of Sonny Templeton?" she
said.
Heads turned...Fathead,Donald Smooth, Chris and I all knew who he was. A high profile hitman at one time. An oldhead...who lost his edge and his skills behind drugs, booze and bad women...Who tried to redeem himself by going out on one last mission with that demon spawn,Malik Lockjohn. My boy Kevin Morris had ended his and Malik Lockjohn's careers several months ago.
"Sonny Templeton? That old bust out was old enough to be your father." I said.
"Old enough to be her grandfather." laughed Fathead.
"I know...I know....but I needed money and he needed a place to rest his head. It was my living room sofa at first and then it became my bed...and before long ,I was pregnant with his daughter. He was a bad man,I know....I know he killed a lot of people, but he was a human being too..he had feelings...He loved his daughter...She probably was the one person he loved above most." said Angie.
"How old is the girl?" I asked.
"She's three.....She loved her daddy....and beleive me ,he loved her. Long story short..He's laying up there in county....been laying in that morgue since August...I don't have money to bury him..It's December Chess...it's about to get cold...Man deserve a decent burial...He shouldn't be laying out in the cold." she said.
"Angie...I barely knew the guy and he wasn't my friend, beleive that....Don't he have any people?" I asked.
"He has a cousin from Georgia named John Templeton. I called him, told him that Sonny had been killed and he came up here on the train the next week. He stayed at my place, ate my food,
helped himself to me a couple of times and then went over to the morgue...When they told him how much a funeral would cost he said that he and Sonny weren't that close and he left..went on back to Georgia." She said.
Chris ,Donald and Fathead were laughing silently at her story...I could tell that none of them was about to help her...Still, she was a friend of mine from the old neighborhood and from as far back as elementary school...and this meant something to her and her daughter. I took her to the side.
"I got an office over at that Gym and Juice Bar a few blocks from here...Stop by at four thirty...
I'll see what I can do." I said. She hugged me....She smelled like cigarettes and stale beer...
"Thanks Chess...I knew I could count on you." she said.
After she left...Chris looked at me , then asked me-
"You gonna lend her money to bury that bust out?"
"It aint for Sonny...I could care less about him....it's for Angie and her daughter.....somehow I feel
like they both need something good, just one thing good to happen for them." I said.
"You're a good man Chess, you got a good heart." said Chris.
I met Angelita Rose and her adorable little three year old daughter, Chloe at My Gym and juice bar...We got in my car and drove over to the morgue...They sat in the car. I had called a funeral
director and was waiting for him to get there with a hearse....There to my horror was the nearly
mummified body of one Charles "Sonny" Templeton...Contract Killer...His head was a mangled
mess and his skin was now blue...I didn't recognize him.....It was a horrible sight. When the Funeral director, a white man named ironically, Sonny Stein got there and saw the body, even he jumped...
"Oh my God..." he said and ran ,grabbed a trash recepticle and vomited.....I shook my head ,wondering if I had made a mistake in contacting him.
"Don't worry Chess.....I-I-I can-can-can -handle-handle-handle this." he said.
A stuttering Funeral Director , who vomits at the sight of a dead body.....I couldn't beleive it!
A week later, Angelita ,Chloe and I stood in the cemetary with the casket bearing Sonny Templeton's remains... There was no way there could be an open casket funeral. Once it was discovered just who Sonny Templeton was...Every church in Philadelphia turned me down for having his funeral there. We were forced to have his "memorial service" in the cemetary.
Pastor John Struthers reluctantly agreed to say a few words over the casket before it was lowered into the ground.
"My brother and my sister..uh...er....Oh look,let's cut the crap...This man didn't come to church
a day in his life and was probably responsible for more funerals than a little bit and is very likely in hell right now, having a cup of coffee with the devil..." he said.
"PASTOR!!!!!!" yelled Deacon Larry Weatherford.
"Oh...oh..oh..yes...,er,uh..well....what I mean to say is that ,every man must meet his maker or someone on that day of reckoning...are you ready to meet yours? The doors of the church are now opened..."
"Pastor ,we aint in the church....we in the rain...it's starting to rain...." said the Deacon.
"Yes...it is.....May the grace of our lord and savior be with you, cause they sho wasn't with this fella..Come on Deacon,let's get the hell out of here." he said.
Deacon Weatherford shrugged his shoulders....I held my head down....in both shame and embarrassment. This was the best I could do.....Angelita Rose hugged me. She had cleaned up well...She had on a nice form fitting Black dress that hugged her curves. She had her hair done and some make up and she came close to resembling the looker she had once been. Little Chloe
was dressed exactly like her mother and held on to her mothers hand as I led them to my car.
"Thank You Chess....Thanks for everything." she said.
"Angelita,I wish I could have done.....well better." I said.
She put her hand to my cheek-
'It's okay...he wasn't the best man...but he was a good father to this little girl..He did love one human being in this life and I guess for that,he deserved to have just a little dignity...I didn't want to see him buried in a potters field or carved up by medical students." she said.
I said nothing....
"You still play chess?" she asked.
"Yes, I do." I said.
"I remember when we were kids how proud your dad was of you and how he dragged you to all of those tournaments..." she said.
She had a good memory.
"I play too." she said.
"For real?"
"Yeah....I learned from my second baby's daddy...and he learned when he was in the joint."she said.
"Oh." I said.
"Maybe we'll play sometime" she said....
"Yeah,maybe" I said as we got in my car and I drove out of the cemetary... I hadn't noticed that
it was raining....hadn't noticed that it was unseasonably warm for a December day either.
I did however notice the rainbow and the beautiful mid day sky as I drove out though.
(For Little Willie)
19 comments:
This was a nice story. Chess didn't have to help her but he did. Shame real people aren't like that anymore.
Great story!
The stuttering Funeral Director,
Reverend John Stuthers (who ought to have his own storyline),The Deacon....Where do you get these charactors? So poignant,yet so real?
I feel like I know these people you write about..good stuff!
A touching slice of life Keith,Loved it.
Nice story fam...
I really didn't think Chess was going to help her..It was nice that he did though.
Funny little story man...One thing though...Kevin didn't kill Sonny..that other guy did.Kevin didn't even know Sonny was there.
I think he was already dead by the time Kevin got to the hotel. Remember Gus asked him how he got past him?
Good Looking out Swags but Chess was telling the story, he wasn't there...Only Kevin knows that Bobby
killed Sonny and Malik. Most folks think he did it.
Good story..it won't get no drawers tossed at you, but it was a good story just the same.
Nice story Keith!
When you gonna write a book or a screenplay or somethin?
Keith This was sweet!
This was a nice story!
You're writing up a storm on both of your blogs...but you're extra extra good on this blog.
I don't want to sound like "Anonymous" but I thought for a moment that Chess and Angie were
going to get into something.
This story was sweet and touching and kind of funny too...The Funeral
director,Sonny Stein and the always
entertaining Pastor Struthers.
Nice,Keith!
LOL @ Pastor Struthers for the having a cup of coffee in hell with the devil comment. He and the deacon remind me of Bert & Ernie, LOL! This is hilarious!!!
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