Sepia was beside herself with grief...She called Fat Jack's next of kin...She identified the body and made a statement to the police and she accompanied Fat Jack's body back to West Orange ,New Jersey for the funeral. She had been gone for two days....I missed my wife, but we texted ,e-mailed and talked on the phone daily.
I was sitting in Josies with Gus , Clerow and Kool Kat drinking beer and discussing what had taken place.
"So you say , as soon as he left Bottom of the "C" and was gettin in his car, dude just came up and slumped him right?" said Kool Kat.
"Yeah man, that's about how it happened." I said.
"No conversation...No argument?" he asked as if he was a homicide detective. I smiled a little bit
and then I answered his question.
"They didn't talk....Fat Jack didn't even see the guy...He got out the car...walked up to him and shot him twice in the head." I said.
"Hmmm, so they were waiting for him....This was definitely a hit." said Kool Kat.
"Yeah, but something has got me thinkin.....He was gettin in Ralph Scallion's car.....Ralph and him had switched cars that night...but nobody knew that....What if ...these killers weren't looking for
Fat Jack? What if he wasn't the target?" I thought out loud.
"You mean...you think Ralph was the target?" asked Clerow.
"It aint like it's impossible...He tries to get in the panties of every woman he sees..regardless if they got a man or not...A guy like him makes a lot of enemies." said Gus.
"Didn't we just bail his dumb ass out awhile ago...Maybe we should let these guys get him Kev, he got it comin." laughed Kool Kat as Gus and Clerow joined in.
"Normally I would...but these jokers killed a friend of my wife...A nice guy too..He didn't deserve that." I said. All three men stopped laughing....Their moods got somber...I could tell that they agreed with me.
"You think they know they got the wrong guy?" asked Kevin.
"I'm sure if they've read the newspapers or seen the news they know."I said.
"Then all we gotta do is shadow Ralph and he'll lead us to em." said Clerow.
"Hmmm." I said.
Just then , Robert Foxworth , the attorney and his young protoge' Chance Howard walked into the bar....I signaled for Gus to get them two cold beers on me.
"Evening Counselor...what'cha got good for me?" I said as we sat at the bar.
"It's too good to be true Kevin....That licensce plate number you gave me was pure gold.. I gave it to my guy over at the DMV....That car is registered to a cat named Buster Williams...He's from West Philly....I got another friend at the Police department bureau of records....This guy, Williams is a stick up boy....Got a sheet on him a mile long...Runs with a guy named Collins, Raif Collins...Raif has no record of any kind.." said Robert Foxworth..
"Great...Now all we gotta do is find them." I said.
"Easier still" said Chance Howard. "I got adresses on both of them...in West Philly and I asked around...You'll never guess where they hang out at? Joe Neptune's joint..The Mermaid Club." he said.
"I gotta talk to Joe...every two bit gangster in Philadelphia hangs out at his joint...He's gonna have a bad reputation soon." laughed Gus. At that, we all laughed and had a couple more beers.
Later that night.... Kool Kat and I sat in his car outside of the address in West Philly where Buster Williams was said to live. Clerow was sitting outside of the Mermaid Club looking for signs of Raif Collins....We communicated by cell phone.
A quarter of twelve..We saw Buster Williams, drunk and stumbling towards his house.. Chance Howard, who came along with us gave Kool Kat and me the high sign...Then he started walking behind Buster...Buster, a street hardened ex-convict knew when someone was on him and he turned around and stared at Chance...
"What'cha want young boy?" He said.
"You got a light old head?" asked Chance.
"Nah...I quit when I was in the joint. Them things will kill ya." he said.
"A lot of things will kill you, like a needle to the arm in the state pen, when they strap you to the table." I said.
He turned around and Kool Kat and I had our pistols drawn on him.....
"What the hell is this?" he said , incredulously drawning his weapon....
"You really don't want to be doing that son...I might get nervous...and shoot you with my bigger
gun." Said Kool Kat who was carrying a .44 magnum.
"Man, you got it wrong....I robbed them drug boys...but I aint know they was connected to Fathead.." he said.
"Man, this aint about Fathead....This is about a murder....The other night...in the parkin lot at Bottom of the C." I said.
"Oh that....Well man, I just drove...I aint shoot the dude...My man just needed me to drive." he said non-chalantly."
"Your boy Raif Collins huh? He took a couple of shots at me." I said.
"Oh dat was you huh, tryin to be a hero huh?" he said.
''Yeah that was me...Where is your boy Raif?"I asked.
"Hell if I know,I aint seen him." he said.
"You're a liar, but it doesn't matter...I'll get him, eventually." I said.
"You think so huh?" he said with a laugh.
"I got you, didn't I?" I said.
''What you guys gonna do with me?"he asked.
Kool Kat looked at Chance and they both started laughing.........
I had been wired and the entire conversation had been caught on tape...It was enough to turn him in to the Police and for him to be held on Accessory to murder charges...As for Raif Collins, there was no sign of him at all...He never showed up at the Mermaid Club and never showed up at his house.... He'd show up sooner or later, I wasn't worried.
Sepia returned to Philadelphia the next day...I met her at the train station.
"Heyyy baby.." I said as I gave her a passionate kiss.
"Wow, somebody really missed me" she said.
"Guess what..Me and Kool Kat caught one of the killers last night." I said.
"You did? Wow!" she said.
"Yeah, the driver...not the actual shooter...and guess what? They shot your friend for nothing..It was dark...They thought they were shooting Ralph...He was getting in Ralph's car...Nobody except them knew that they had switched cars that night...They shot the wrong guy." I said.
"Oh my God...That damn dog, Ralph Scallion...what has he done now? Got an innocent man shot. I wished they'd have gotten him." said Sepia.
"Come on now...That's not right....Anyway...Let's go home...I'm tired." I said.
"Tired? It's 9:00 in the morning!" exclaimed Sepia.
"I'd think you'd be tired too." I said with a wink.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh...yeahhhhhhhh....got'cha." said Sepia with a smile..We kissed again and got in my car and pulled off.
(To Be Continued........)
I was sitting in Josies with Gus , Clerow and Kool Kat drinking beer and discussing what had taken place.
"So you say , as soon as he left Bottom of the "C" and was gettin in his car, dude just came up and slumped him right?" said Kool Kat.
"Yeah man, that's about how it happened." I said.
"No conversation...No argument?" he asked as if he was a homicide detective. I smiled a little bit
and then I answered his question.
"They didn't talk....Fat Jack didn't even see the guy...He got out the car...walked up to him and shot him twice in the head." I said.
"Hmmm, so they were waiting for him....This was definitely a hit." said Kool Kat.
"Yeah, but something has got me thinkin.....He was gettin in Ralph Scallion's car.....Ralph and him had switched cars that night...but nobody knew that....What if ...these killers weren't looking for
Fat Jack? What if he wasn't the target?" I thought out loud.
"You mean...you think Ralph was the target?" asked Clerow.
"It aint like it's impossible...He tries to get in the panties of every woman he sees..regardless if they got a man or not...A guy like him makes a lot of enemies." said Gus.
"Didn't we just bail his dumb ass out awhile ago...Maybe we should let these guys get him Kev, he got it comin." laughed Kool Kat as Gus and Clerow joined in.
"Normally I would...but these jokers killed a friend of my wife...A nice guy too..He didn't deserve that." I said. All three men stopped laughing....Their moods got somber...I could tell that they agreed with me.
"You think they know they got the wrong guy?" asked Kevin.
"I'm sure if they've read the newspapers or seen the news they know."I said.
"Then all we gotta do is shadow Ralph and he'll lead us to em." said Clerow.
"Hmmm." I said.
Just then , Robert Foxworth , the attorney and his young protoge' Chance Howard walked into the bar....I signaled for Gus to get them two cold beers on me.
"Evening Counselor...what'cha got good for me?" I said as we sat at the bar.
"It's too good to be true Kevin....That licensce plate number you gave me was pure gold.. I gave it to my guy over at the DMV....That car is registered to a cat named Buster Williams...He's from West Philly....I got another friend at the Police department bureau of records....This guy, Williams is a stick up boy....Got a sheet on him a mile long...Runs with a guy named Collins, Raif Collins...Raif has no record of any kind.." said Robert Foxworth..
"Great...Now all we gotta do is find them." I said.
"Easier still" said Chance Howard. "I got adresses on both of them...in West Philly and I asked around...You'll never guess where they hang out at? Joe Neptune's joint..The Mermaid Club." he said.
"I gotta talk to Joe...every two bit gangster in Philadelphia hangs out at his joint...He's gonna have a bad reputation soon." laughed Gus. At that, we all laughed and had a couple more beers.
Later that night.... Kool Kat and I sat in his car outside of the address in West Philly where Buster Williams was said to live. Clerow was sitting outside of the Mermaid Club looking for signs of Raif Collins....We communicated by cell phone.
A quarter of twelve..We saw Buster Williams, drunk and stumbling towards his house.. Chance Howard, who came along with us gave Kool Kat and me the high sign...Then he started walking behind Buster...Buster, a street hardened ex-convict knew when someone was on him and he turned around and stared at Chance...
"What'cha want young boy?" He said.
"You got a light old head?" asked Chance.
"Nah...I quit when I was in the joint. Them things will kill ya." he said.
"A lot of things will kill you, like a needle to the arm in the state pen, when they strap you to the table." I said.
He turned around and Kool Kat and I had our pistols drawn on him.....
"What the hell is this?" he said , incredulously drawning his weapon....
"You really don't want to be doing that son...I might get nervous...and shoot you with my bigger
gun." Said Kool Kat who was carrying a .44 magnum.
"Man, you got it wrong....I robbed them drug boys...but I aint know they was connected to Fathead.." he said.
"Man, this aint about Fathead....This is about a murder....The other night...in the parkin lot at Bottom of the C." I said.
"Oh that....Well man, I just drove...I aint shoot the dude...My man just needed me to drive." he said non-chalantly."
"Your boy Raif Collins huh? He took a couple of shots at me." I said.
"Oh dat was you huh, tryin to be a hero huh?" he said.
''Yeah that was me...Where is your boy Raif?"I asked.
"Hell if I know,I aint seen him." he said.
"You're a liar, but it doesn't matter...I'll get him, eventually." I said.
"You think so huh?" he said with a laugh.
"I got you, didn't I?" I said.
''What you guys gonna do with me?"he asked.
Kool Kat looked at Chance and they both started laughing.........
I had been wired and the entire conversation had been caught on tape...It was enough to turn him in to the Police and for him to be held on Accessory to murder charges...As for Raif Collins, there was no sign of him at all...He never showed up at the Mermaid Club and never showed up at his house.... He'd show up sooner or later, I wasn't worried.
Sepia returned to Philadelphia the next day...I met her at the train station.
"Heyyy baby.." I said as I gave her a passionate kiss.
"Wow, somebody really missed me" she said.
"Guess what..Me and Kool Kat caught one of the killers last night." I said.
"You did? Wow!" she said.
"Yeah, the driver...not the actual shooter...and guess what? They shot your friend for nothing..It was dark...They thought they were shooting Ralph...He was getting in Ralph's car...Nobody except them knew that they had switched cars that night...They shot the wrong guy." I said.
"Oh my God...That damn dog, Ralph Scallion...what has he done now? Got an innocent man shot. I wished they'd have gotten him." said Sepia.
"Come on now...That's not right....Anyway...Let's go home...I'm tired." I said.
"Tired? It's 9:00 in the morning!" exclaimed Sepia.
"I'd think you'd be tired too." I said with a wink.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh...yeahhhhhhhh....got'cha." said Sepia with a smile..We kissed again and got in my car and pulled off.
(To Be Continued........)
1 comment:
I love the relationship between Kevin and his wife.
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