In Another City

Newark! Newark , New Jersey.....It's where my wife, Sepia was actually born....She grew up in West Orange and Jersey City...but she was a Newark girl...Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, United States, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 310,145,[2] making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S.

Newark is located in the heart of New Jersey's Gateway Region. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Manhattan (New York City). Its location near the Atlantic Ocean on Newark Bay has helped make its port facility, Port Newark, the major container shipping facility for the Port of New York and New Jersey and the largest on the East Coast. It is the home of Newark Liberty International Airport, one the first major, and now one of the busiest, airports in the United States. Newark is home to major corporations such as Prudential Financial and PSE&G, and well as several major universities such as Rutgers University, cultural institutions, and sports venues.

The ethnically diverse city is divided into five wards, and contains a variety of neighborhoods ranging in character from bustling urban districts to quiet suburban enclaves. With all of that said , Kool Kat and I found ourselves pulling into the train station early in the morning and awaiting a meeting with Big Al....Tulip's enforcer and number two man in his organization.

"I'm glad you brought me along on this Kev....From what you told me we gonna have to deal with these cats differently." said Kool Kat.

"Oh? How is that?" I asked ,at once bemused and curious about what the big man had said.

"Look, these aint the kinds of guys you're going to trick into saying something incriminating on no microphone...They don't work like that...They probably don't handle they business in no club or in no house if I know right...and the amount of people who know about this set up is minimal at best..." he said.

I was amazed at how a one time stone cold gangster like Kool Kat, who to my knowledge had just barely finished high school could be so analytical and so calculating and so dead on correct about nearly every situation he finds himself in.

When we got off the train...Big Al was waiting for us....

"Hello Big Al....You remember my friend Kool Kat Don't you?" I said.

Oh he remembered him....You always remember someone who puts a big .357 magnum to your temple and takes a shotgun from you!

"Oh Yeah...Big Negro, Bigger Gun." said Big Al. Kool Kat laughed and offered his hand....Big Al shook his hand..

"No Hard feelins Big man." he said.

''None taken...it's all part of the game."laughed Big Al.

We got in Big Al's car and drove to the hotel ,just outside of Newark where we were staying.

"Who knows we are here Big Al?" I asked.

"Nobody...Nobody in Tulip's group and nobody on the street...They aint seen me either...I been with relatives in Patterson...." he said.

"In Patterson?" I asked.

"I got people after me too! Little Anthony put a contract out on me and key figures in the organization...We all have gone to ground....He has terrorized all of the other low level playas in town...Right now...that little 18 or 19 year old punk holds all the cards...He's the King of Newark!" said Big Al in disgust.

"Wow...He must be fearsome!" I said half jokingly....I couldn't imagine an 18 year old having such sway..

"It aint him personally...it's the little psychopath and psychopath in training that works for him." said Big Al.

"It usually is the enforcer that scares the hell out of people." said Kool Kat.

"His enforcer is "Hell" said Big Al.

"Yeah I gathered that...but what's his name?" I asked.

"That is his name..."Hell"...His government name is Anton St. James....but people on the street refer to him as "Hell"...He's from Barbadoes...Tall guy, about six foot three...quiet, not talkative, about 21 years old....Carries a big gun....357 mag...and a glock sometimes... It's rumored that he's already killed about 12 people in and around Newark... He's got a protoge named Angel....He's kind of taken Angel under his wing....He just as deadly...Some New York boys was in Newark trying to set up some away from home action a few months ago...Hell and Angel killed all of em..and Little Anthony has about five Yankees Baseball caps as a souvenier of their handywork." said Big Al.

"You think "Hell" or "Angel" killed Snookie?" asked Kool Kat.

"I'm certain they did it...and if there really were any eye witnesses ,they are too scared to say they did it. The three so called eyewitnesses were told to say it was Tulip..." said Big Al.

"Well who are they? citizens or playas?" I asked.

"The main one is Jack "Pop" Tooley....The bartender....He sells drugs out of that bar...He used to sell for Snookie......" said Big Al.

"It happened in a bar?" I asked.

"Yeah on a Sunday morning...It was early, so hardly nobody was in there." said Big Al.

"Snookie was probably in there for the count right? The count of the nights proceeds, so it would have only of been him and this Pop Tooley right?" I asked.

"Yeah...but the guy who works in the grocery store across the street, Sonny Stein, claims he saw it too...He runs numbers for Snookie and has an illegal crap game that runs in the upstairs apartment of his storefront. The other dude is a druggie named Jupiter...Can't locate him." said Big Al.

"So wait...Both of these guys are players...and the other cat is a druggie with a rap sheet more than likely...They not the type that will voluntarily go running to the cops to talk about anything." said Kool Kat.

"That's right...they afraid of too much light shinin they way...now all of a sudden they snitchin to cops." spat Big Al.

"Hmmm you're right....I think tomorrow, we'll ride around and have a talk with these guys, get em to change their mind and their statement." I said.

"Talk? TALK? Man you can't talk to these guys...They aint gonna talk to you." said Big Al.

"Al! Al....Do you really think I came all this way from Philly not to be heard? and with him?" I said pointing to Kool Kat , who laid his .357 magnum, His .45 and a shotgun on the table...

"Plus...you're kind of imposing yourself....I'm sure you would want to be in on the conversation too wouldn't you?" I said.

Big Al smiled, Kool Kat smiled....and I just shook my head...

"Brotha...I like the way you talkin." said Big Al....

"That's my man..." laughed Kool Kat....

Tomorrow , we were going to take it to the streets!

(To Be Continued....)