Big Man on Mulberry Street

The Band was on fire tonight , "88" was playing out of his mind.....and I was blowing a trumpet solo that had people on their feet...In the crowd at Josie's..I could see Chris Thompson in his black shirt,black pants, black shoes and Black shades clapping his hands...His partner, Chess and his wife,Rell clapping also....My main man, Kevin and his wife Sepia, Cock Robbins and his wife, Vanessa, Clerow and his wife, Corrie, 88's girl, Mabel , Deacon Larry Weatherford and his wife,Victoria and Conrad Nelson were also in the crowd and on their feet cheering us on.

I peered the audience and saw my girl, Debbie ,looking as sexy as ever laughing and conversing with Gus the bartender/owner of Josie's. There was someone else in the crowd...A Heavy set ,light skinned Black man with freckles and reddish brown hair. He was wearing a White Linen suit and a straw hat....This was Papa Dock....A new playa on the Philadelphia scene.....I knew who he was...Everybody knew who he was and what he really did for a living. Like Most gangsters ,He hid behind a vaneer of respectability.....He owned one of the hottest new clubs in Philadelphia...Mulberry street....It had a roof top bar and concert area and was attracting a lot of top rate talent. It was said that he was gobbling up a lot of "real estate" and was Fathead Newton's top competition... The two hadn't gone to war...but there was no love lost between them.

We played our last set....I saw Conrad Nelson and his wife Jill conferring with Robert Foxworth and some woman he was with in the corner.. Robert's young understudy, Chance Howard and his
friends, Paris, Blake and their dates had just entered the club... Behind them was a dangerous man I knew from Patterson, New Jersey...His name was Basil....a stone cold killer, he was...he walked over to Papa Doc and passed him an envelope... I turned away from them and finished up
my solo....

After my number was over, I bowed to the gracious applause and walked over to the bar...Debbie gave me a kiss and passed me a drink she ordered for me....Gus patted me on the back..

"Nice work Reed....You packed em in tonight...." he said.

"Thanks Gus...that's what you pay me for." I laughed..

"Yes indeed." he laughed back.

Basil walked over to us...

"What's Happening Reed ? Long time huh?" he laughed.

"Not long enough Basil....What rat hole did you crawl out of ?" I asked.

"Aww Reed, is that anyway to talk to a homeboy? We both from Patterson.." he grinned.

"What do you want Basil?" I asked.

"The gentleman over there in the corner would like a minute of your time."he said ,pointing to Papa Dock.

"What's he want with me?" I asked.

"Go see...I'll keep your lady friend here company." he grinned.

"Uh, No thanks...I'm fine right here by myself." said Debbie without a hint of a smile.....I smiled then.

"Why don't you lead the way Basil?" I said.

He frowned and shrugged..

"You always did like those high brow type broads." he said.

I walked over to Papa Dock's table and sat down...

"What's up?" I asked.

"Reed Nelson....You guys were great....I loved you.....Listen...You know I've got a new club....
Mulberry Street dont'cha?" he said.

"Yeah,I heard of it." I said.

"Well...I'd like to book you guys for five nights....I'll double whatever Gus is paying you." he said.

"We got a five night booking at Ciro's next week.....I don't think we can make it." I said.

"Ciro's???...Fathead's joint? You aint heard?" laughed Basil.

"What?" I asked.

"It's closed....License and Inspections raided them last week.....They found the strip club on the top floor and they caught underage girls in there drinking.. They had surveilence photos and everything...Damn shame.....Fathead has got two or three lawyers fighting in court right now. He also got hit with a number of other violations....They gone be closed for a long time." said Basil.

I was no fool....I pretty much knew that Papa Dock's people put a bug in somebody's ear at L&I, but that that had nothing to do with me...That was between him and Fathead.

"You gone pay me double what Gus is paying me eh?" I asked.

"Yeah babe....You play for a week...You like it...We'll book you for more time." said Papa Dock.

My mother always said that when something seems too good to be true....it usually is. I didn't listen. Gus paid us good bread....but Papa Dock was offering double that....I'd be a fool to turn that down...So I booked a week at his spot......I felt like I had just sold my soul to the devil.

The day before we played our first gig, I sat in the diner with Chris and Chess....I told them about the gig and about my suspicions about Papa Dock.

"Hey Reed...I don't blame you for taking the gig....Fathead's joint is closed down...You guys wouldn't have gotten paid...Now you won't have to miss a weeks work. Don't worry about anything else...You just workin....It's business...Fathead will understand." said Chris.

"Yeah, but I don't want to be in the middle of anything." I said.

"You aint...Just play the trumpet....Anything else is none of your concern...That's between Papa Dock and Fathead." said Chris...Chess nodded in agreement.

The next few nights, We played on the rooftop bar....All of our friends from Josie's ,including Chris and Chess and Smooth were there.....On our next to last night, Even Gus came out...
After our set he came up to me...

"You big timin it kid....Can I book you for next Friday night?" he said.

''Sure Gus."I said.

"I gotta feelin you'll be needin the work." he said.

"Huh?" I said.

Gus patted me on the back...

"Keep your nose clean Reed and make sure that jamolk pays you." he said and walked away.

Our last night, we played to standing room only.... After our set...Papa Dock came over and paid us. He then took me to the side and peeled off a couple of more hundreds from a wad of cash he
had in his pocket.

" That's a little extra for you, Reed. You guys did great....can you come back next Friday?" He asked.

"Gotta gig next Friday." I said.

" Gus huh? I understand. Okay....well, let me know when you can come back.....They love you." said Papa Dock.

"Where's your boy, Basil?" I asked.

"I haven't seen him since Wednesday Night...probably chasing some bimbo." laughed Papa Dock
as he walked away laughing and whistling. Not a care in the world. He didn't seem like a bad guy,but I knew he was a killer.

A few days later, Debbie and I were enjoying breakfast at Mabel Jenkin's Soul Food joint...Kevin walked in and plopped a Daily News on the table... "You ought to find this development quite interesting Reed ." said Kevin as he sat down with his wife Sepia at a table across from us and placed his order with Anita Jenkins.

There was a photo of Basil on the front page....His bullet riddled body was found in the trunk of a car out by the airport.... Police were looking for Papa Dock for questioning....They found his car in front of his house with his wallet and his drivers license on the front seat and his straw hat and his avaiator shades.....but no sign of him. The paper said that he hadn't been seen for days.

His club was closed...It never opened again and to my knowledge, no one ever saw or heard from
Papa Dock again......I know that he didn't kill Basil and I know that he would have never left his wallet, full of cash and credit cards and his drivers license in the front seat of his car. The car keys were on the front seat of his car too, but no sign of him anywhere!

Fathead had gotten even!

That night, Debbie and I lay in bed, sweaty and spent after some heavy lovemaking....

"Reed, you think Papa Dock is ....is....dead?" she asked..

I gave Debbie a sweaty kiss on the lips.....

"Let's just say ....I'm glad he paid us..." I said with a wink...She smiled slyly and laid her head on my chest.


For SLC