I was careful not to touch anything in the apartment...I covered my nose...The smell of the decomposing body and the heat of the day was making me nauseous.....I did however look at Tanganika's arms...They weren't the pocked arms of a person that used a lot of needles...Her arms were clean and bruise free...Besides...I knew that most of the young girls who did use drugs preferred to snort...Be it Heroin or Coke...They didn't skin pop...so my thought was...This was a "hot shot" made to look like an overdose...I couldn't determine any of this until the police got here. I had called them nearly an hour ago...
I walked around the apartment...There was an unmade bed....panties and bras of assorted colors and style thrown all over the floor and a waste disposal basket with several used condoms... In her dresser drawer was a wad of cash...Close to $800.00 bucks.... On her dresser was another wad of bills....About $700.00....She wasn't hurting for cash.....If someone had killed her..They certainly weren't trying to rob her, that's for sure....An expensive Digital camera lay on the floor of her apartment...I took that....I wondered what it might have to show me..
I made sure that I hadn't touched anything else and I quietly left...The police would eventually come and they would be able to make more of this mess. I drove over to Peeping Tom's house and gave him the camera...I told him to pull whatever photos there was out of the camera and give me a call or email them to me..
I drove back to the Mermaid Club....but I stopped by and picked up my friend, Walter "Kool Kat" Jones. He was a big powerfully built man, who was good with his hands and a gun...The kind of guy you needed to watch your back. When we arrived, Joe Neptune pointed out a guy sitting in a booth drinking.
"Kev, that's Tony....That's the guy that was with Tanganika Friday night....Did she give you any new information?" he asked.
"Nah...She didn't have much to say...In fact, she didn't say nothin at all Joe...She's dead!" I said blandly.
"What? Dead?" he said.
"Yes.....I found her on the floor with a needle protruding from her arm.." I said.
"A needle? She was scared of needles...She didn't use that much...She snorted a little blow every now and then....but she wasn't no skin popper." said Joe.
"That's what I thought." I said.
"You think somebody gave her a hot shot?" asked Joe.
"The Cops will have to determine that...I don't know...but we are on the same page." I said.
I walked over and sat down with Tony...a local tough guy looking tom move up in the local underworld...
"Heyyy Man, My name is Kevin, can I have a word with you?" I asked.
"Nigger, get away from my table." he spat.
"If I was you, I'd answer the man's questions." said Kool Kat , who cracked his knuckles and smiled and pulled up a seat next to Tony.
"What-What...What is this...a shakedown...Look...I told "Roughhouse Jones" that I'd pay him on the comeback...I'll have his money Friday...I swear..." he said.
"I'm not here for Roughhouse Jones...This aint got nothin to do with him." I said.
"Huh? well who you with?" he asked, visibly frightened of Kool Kat and the .45 mag he could see in my shoulder holster.
"I just want toask you about a girl...Tanganika Jones and her girlfriend, April "Tiny" Allen....You was in here Friday, You seen both of em, just tell me what you know and we'll both be gone..It's as simple as that." I said.
"Yeah...Uh...Yeah...I was in here....Tangy said she wanted an 8ball of coke....I told her how much it was gonna cost her..She only had half..So I said she had to uh , you know ...make it up to me some other way, you know what I'm sayin? heheheheheheheh...So, we uh went outside to my car...I drove around the back, so we wouldn't be seen...and she uh...you know...made up the difference....She massaged my johnson like it was goin out of style...and that wasn't all..She let me hit that, you know...We was goin at it in the back seat of my jeep for close to two hours..."
he said.
"Okay..what about Tiny?" I asked.
"What about her? She had two dudes buyin her drinks....Brad was one and the other guy...uh, his name was Manny...Manny Coles....He had the dough...They was tryin to get her liquored up because, word had it...when she got drunk, she got very friendly and you know...She was the looker of the two....I asked Tanganika if she thought Tiny would give me some...And she said if she was drunk enough she'd do me and then some..We laughed about it..And I told her if she could get Tiny to come out to my car..I'd give her the 8ball for free...Somethin I never do..." said
Tony.
"So then what happened?" I asked.
"We came back inside the bar...it was around oh, quarter to one...almost closin time...but Tiny,Brad and Manny was gone...." he said.
"And you haven't seen them?" I asked.
"I seen Brad and Manny today, earlier today...I aint seen either of them broads since Friday night." he said.
"So what did you do next?" I asked..
"Well,I was still horny, so I drove Tangy back to her apartment and we wound up in bed, gettin it on....After we was done..We both did an eight ball of coke together and I left...This was around
four in the morning...She thanked me and she told me she'd hook up with me later, that was the absolute last time I saw her." said Tony.
"What color panties was she wearing?" I asked.
Kool Kat smiled and Tony looked at me, then at him...He merely folded his arms and gave him a baleful stare!
"What? What the hell kind of question is that?" he asked.
"Answer the man's questions." barked Kool Kat.
"They was Black...With a pink playboy bunny on the side...Matching Bra.." he said.
"Okay, that proves you were there...and unless you killed her, somebody else came over there after you left.." I said.
"Killed? Killed? She dead??? Oh now wait a minute...I aint killed nobody....Why would I do that?? That was some good coochie....I wouldn't have done that...Look, I gave her some coke and
we had sex..That's all I done..Honest! I saw a Black Ford Focus parked across the street when I left...but it didn't look like nobody was in it....It hadn't been there when I got there..but that's all I know...O n the real yo." said Tony.
"You know what Tony? I believe you...Thanks for your time....Let's go Kool Kat." I said and we left the bar.
"You really believe him Kev?" asked Kool Kat.
"Yeah.....He's just a horndog wanna be playa who got played." I said.
"Yeah? How so?" asked Kool Kat.
"She told him she didn't have enough money to buy any blow off of him....That was a lie..The babe had a grand on her at least....I found it in her apartment....She had sex with him and he wound up giving her the money back that she originally paid him and getting the drugs..That's why he's in the hole with Roughhouse Jones...He owes him money for his stash, which he gave away." I said.
"For someone who's not a playa, you sure know how the game works ." laughed Kool Kat.
"Do you know these two players, Manny and Brad?" I asked.
"Yeah....They aint tough guys....They just like Tony in there....Got a little bit of money and willing to waste it...Manny is a gambler....and Brad, he is just a hanger on....You're lucky..Chris and Chess are having their card game tonight....You'll probably find one or both of them there."said Kool Kat.
We drove to the Warehouse, Where Chess and Chris had their floating crap game....Donald Smooth saw us coming and immediately waved us in...We were friends.
"Kevin? This is a first for you." said Donald Smooth.
"I'm not here to gamble Smooth...We here to talk to two people in their playin." I said.
"Oh okay...Well talk to Chess or Chris...." he said as Kool Kat and I walked up the stairways into the ware house.
Inside there were several tables of guys...Most of them playas from around the tri state area..playing cards, smoking cigars and eating piping hot soul food...There was a DJ playing music and Chess, standing in the middle of the floor holding court while Chris Thompson worked the floor...I spoke to both of them and told them why I was here...In a matter of seconds..a big beefy bodyguard brought both men, Manny and Brad over to where Kool Kat and I were sitting.
I hadn't wanted to do that...but I had to admit..Chris and Chess made it easy on me...
"Hi guys...My name is Kevin and this is my associate, uh..Mister Kat...I want to ask you some questions about a girl....April....April "Tiny" Allen.....She's been missing a few days and her people want to know where she is." I asked.
" What? I aint seen her since Friday night." said Brad.
"Yeah man..Friday night." seconded Manny.
"Tell me what happened Friday night...after yall got her drunk and left with her." I said, letting them know that they couldn't b.s. me.
"We took her to Manny's place and she went down on both of us.....real good...and then she left..
That's all that happened...We aint seen her since." said Brad.
"That's it?" I asked.. There was silence.
"THAT'S IT?" asked Kool Kat.
They both looked like they were about to urinate on themselves...
"yeah man..."said Manny
"Yeah....she left around three in the morning....We gave her cab fare....but she went walkin on her own....I went to that all night joint, Lipton's Stop and Go to get some rollin papers and I seen
her gettin into a taxi.......and pullin off and that's the last I seen her...I swear!"
said Brad.
"Come on Kool ,let's go." I said and we left... I thanked Chess and Chris for their help and Kool Kat drove me home.
"Thanks for your help Walter." I said.
"Don't mention it man...You believe them cats Kev?" he asked.
"You sound like you don't." I said.
"I don't know...people lie for many reasons." he said.
"Yeah...but they seemed too scared to be lying." I said.
"Well, ya never know....Be easy Kev." he said as he drove off.
I went inside....Sepia made me a cup of tea..........
"You dig up anything?" she asked....
"No...Nothin...." I said.
Tomorrow was another day.
(To Be Continued....)
I walked around the apartment...There was an unmade bed....panties and bras of assorted colors and style thrown all over the floor and a waste disposal basket with several used condoms... In her dresser drawer was a wad of cash...Close to $800.00 bucks.... On her dresser was another wad of bills....About $700.00....She wasn't hurting for cash.....If someone had killed her..They certainly weren't trying to rob her, that's for sure....An expensive Digital camera lay on the floor of her apartment...I took that....I wondered what it might have to show me..
I made sure that I hadn't touched anything else and I quietly left...The police would eventually come and they would be able to make more of this mess. I drove over to Peeping Tom's house and gave him the camera...I told him to pull whatever photos there was out of the camera and give me a call or email them to me..
I drove back to the Mermaid Club....but I stopped by and picked up my friend, Walter "Kool Kat" Jones. He was a big powerfully built man, who was good with his hands and a gun...The kind of guy you needed to watch your back. When we arrived, Joe Neptune pointed out a guy sitting in a booth drinking.
"Kev, that's Tony....That's the guy that was with Tanganika Friday night....Did she give you any new information?" he asked.
"Nah...She didn't have much to say...In fact, she didn't say nothin at all Joe...She's dead!" I said blandly.
"What? Dead?" he said.
"Yes.....I found her on the floor with a needle protruding from her arm.." I said.
"A needle? She was scared of needles...She didn't use that much...She snorted a little blow every now and then....but she wasn't no skin popper." said Joe.
"That's what I thought." I said.
"You think somebody gave her a hot shot?" asked Joe.
"The Cops will have to determine that...I don't know...but we are on the same page." I said.
I walked over and sat down with Tony...a local tough guy looking tom move up in the local underworld...
"Heyyy Man, My name is Kevin, can I have a word with you?" I asked.
"Nigger, get away from my table." he spat.
"If I was you, I'd answer the man's questions." said Kool Kat , who cracked his knuckles and smiled and pulled up a seat next to Tony.
"What-What...What is this...a shakedown...Look...I told "Roughhouse Jones" that I'd pay him on the comeback...I'll have his money Friday...I swear..." he said.
"I'm not here for Roughhouse Jones...This aint got nothin to do with him." I said.
"Huh? well who you with?" he asked, visibly frightened of Kool Kat and the .45 mag he could see in my shoulder holster.
"I just want toask you about a girl...Tanganika Jones and her girlfriend, April "Tiny" Allen....You was in here Friday, You seen both of em, just tell me what you know and we'll both be gone..It's as simple as that." I said.
"Yeah...Uh...Yeah...I was in here....Tangy said she wanted an 8ball of coke....I told her how much it was gonna cost her..She only had half..So I said she had to uh , you know ...make it up to me some other way, you know what I'm sayin? heheheheheheheh...So, we uh went outside to my car...I drove around the back, so we wouldn't be seen...and she uh...you know...made up the difference....She massaged my johnson like it was goin out of style...and that wasn't all..She let me hit that, you know...We was goin at it in the back seat of my jeep for close to two hours..."
he said.
"Okay..what about Tiny?" I asked.
"What about her? She had two dudes buyin her drinks....Brad was one and the other guy...uh, his name was Manny...Manny Coles....He had the dough...They was tryin to get her liquored up because, word had it...when she got drunk, she got very friendly and you know...She was the looker of the two....I asked Tanganika if she thought Tiny would give me some...And she said if she was drunk enough she'd do me and then some..We laughed about it..And I told her if she could get Tiny to come out to my car..I'd give her the 8ball for free...Somethin I never do..." said
Tony.
"So then what happened?" I asked.
"We came back inside the bar...it was around oh, quarter to one...almost closin time...but Tiny,Brad and Manny was gone...." he said.
"And you haven't seen them?" I asked.
"I seen Brad and Manny today, earlier today...I aint seen either of them broads since Friday night." he said.
"So what did you do next?" I asked..
"Well,I was still horny, so I drove Tangy back to her apartment and we wound up in bed, gettin it on....After we was done..We both did an eight ball of coke together and I left...This was around
four in the morning...She thanked me and she told me she'd hook up with me later, that was the absolute last time I saw her." said Tony.
"What color panties was she wearing?" I asked.
Kool Kat smiled and Tony looked at me, then at him...He merely folded his arms and gave him a baleful stare!
"What? What the hell kind of question is that?" he asked.
"Answer the man's questions." barked Kool Kat.
"They was Black...With a pink playboy bunny on the side...Matching Bra.." he said.
"Okay, that proves you were there...and unless you killed her, somebody else came over there after you left.." I said.
"Killed? Killed? She dead??? Oh now wait a minute...I aint killed nobody....Why would I do that?? That was some good coochie....I wouldn't have done that...Look, I gave her some coke and
we had sex..That's all I done..Honest! I saw a Black Ford Focus parked across the street when I left...but it didn't look like nobody was in it....It hadn't been there when I got there..but that's all I know...O n the real yo." said Tony.
"You know what Tony? I believe you...Thanks for your time....Let's go Kool Kat." I said and we left the bar.
"You really believe him Kev?" asked Kool Kat.
"Yeah.....He's just a horndog wanna be playa who got played." I said.
"Yeah? How so?" asked Kool Kat.
"She told him she didn't have enough money to buy any blow off of him....That was a lie..The babe had a grand on her at least....I found it in her apartment....She had sex with him and he wound up giving her the money back that she originally paid him and getting the drugs..That's why he's in the hole with Roughhouse Jones...He owes him money for his stash, which he gave away." I said.
"For someone who's not a playa, you sure know how the game works ." laughed Kool Kat.
"Do you know these two players, Manny and Brad?" I asked.
"Yeah....They aint tough guys....They just like Tony in there....Got a little bit of money and willing to waste it...Manny is a gambler....and Brad, he is just a hanger on....You're lucky..Chris and Chess are having their card game tonight....You'll probably find one or both of them there."said Kool Kat.
We drove to the Warehouse, Where Chess and Chris had their floating crap game....Donald Smooth saw us coming and immediately waved us in...We were friends.
"Kevin? This is a first for you." said Donald Smooth.
"I'm not here to gamble Smooth...We here to talk to two people in their playin." I said.
"Oh okay...Well talk to Chess or Chris...." he said as Kool Kat and I walked up the stairways into the ware house.
Inside there were several tables of guys...Most of them playas from around the tri state area..playing cards, smoking cigars and eating piping hot soul food...There was a DJ playing music and Chess, standing in the middle of the floor holding court while Chris Thompson worked the floor...I spoke to both of them and told them why I was here...In a matter of seconds..a big beefy bodyguard brought both men, Manny and Brad over to where Kool Kat and I were sitting.
I hadn't wanted to do that...but I had to admit..Chris and Chess made it easy on me...
"Hi guys...My name is Kevin and this is my associate, uh..Mister Kat...I want to ask you some questions about a girl....April....April "Tiny" Allen.....She's been missing a few days and her people want to know where she is." I asked.
" What? I aint seen her since Friday night." said Brad.
"Yeah man..Friday night." seconded Manny.
"Tell me what happened Friday night...after yall got her drunk and left with her." I said, letting them know that they couldn't b.s. me.
"We took her to Manny's place and she went down on both of us.....real good...and then she left..
That's all that happened...We aint seen her since." said Brad.
"That's it?" I asked.. There was silence.
"THAT'S IT?" asked Kool Kat.
They both looked like they were about to urinate on themselves...
"yeah man..."said Manny
"Yeah....she left around three in the morning....We gave her cab fare....but she went walkin on her own....I went to that all night joint, Lipton's Stop and Go to get some rollin papers and I seen
her gettin into a taxi.......and pullin off and that's the last I seen her...I swear!"
said Brad.
"Come on Kool ,let's go." I said and we left... I thanked Chess and Chris for their help and Kool Kat drove me home.
"Thanks for your help Walter." I said.
"Don't mention it man...You believe them cats Kev?" he asked.
"You sound like you don't." I said.
"I don't know...people lie for many reasons." he said.
"Yeah...but they seemed too scared to be lying." I said.
"Well, ya never know....Be easy Kev." he said as he drove off.
I went inside....Sepia made me a cup of tea..........
"You dig up anything?" she asked....
"No...Nothin...." I said.
Tomorrow was another day.
(To Be Continued....)
1 comment:
I'm with Kool Kat. I don't believe those dudes either. They spent all that money liquoring up Tiny and were satisfied with just some head? I don't believe that.
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