Gotta Trust Somebody

As Roscoe drove towards the address I gave him....I loaded my .38 smokeless.....I had a .22 that I had taken off of the now deceased Eddie "Paycheck" Green...that was already loaded...Kool Kat had that big .44
magnum that he kept in his suit jacket's tailored inside pocket...I knew that his was loaded...and god only knows what or how much Roscoe was packing...

I was convinced I had the two most dangerous men in Philly at my back...So I wasn't the least bit worried about Joe Dixon...a man I had heard about but had never met...In my time I had dealt with some pretty heavy hitters myself, such as Tom Collins, Malik Lockjohn , Junkyard Doggie....No slouches....but something told me that this guy..This Joe Dixon.....This man with no flashy nickname was different!.

We parked the car three blocks away from the house...Then we set up...Just like we always did...Roscoe to the rear.....Kool Kat ahead of me and me in the middle...There was a light on in the Apartment complex and
Larry Devol's Jaguar was sitting in the driveway....but something was wrong....I could sense it....The neighborhood was eerily quiet!...

I was the only one who knew what Larry Devol looked like, so I decided to approach the house...I walked quietly towards the car....There was someone in the car....At the wheel!!! What? Was it Larry??? Why was he at the wheel of the car?? Was he waiting for Felicia?? Were they planning to run again??

I walked up to the car and there was Larry Devol!!!!  He had a nice neat hole in his forehead and a stream of warm blood running down his face....He was very ,very dead!!!!  I heard a scream from inside the apartment and the sound of glass breaking.....Just as I started to head for the door...I heard a voice...

"Easy....Easy....Drop that heater Kevin.......Drop it and you won't get hurt."  came the familiar voice...It was
Donald Otis....He was smiling and he had that toothy grin on his face...He was holding a .45 on me...

"What the hell?" I said.

"I'm sorry Kevin....Joe Dixon paid me more for information.......and well, when a guy like Joe Dixon asks you somethin...You don't refuse him..." he laughed...."Heh Heh heh..just charge it to the game baby..." he said..

Another guy , also with a gun drawn on me showed up....

"Payton...Take his heater off of him,," said Donald...

"You lousy creep..."I said.

''Hey Kev,I'm sorry...We are in a recession." said Donald Otis..."And I aint workin steady." he added.

"Hey man, this guy is a killer...You think he's gonna leave you around to tell that he killed Larry Devol?" I said.

"Oh He didn't kill Devol...I did that...That was a little payback." he laughed.

"That story you told me in Josies was a lie wasn't it?" I said.

"Kinda sorta...Larry owed me money for some work I done on his car..one of his cars..He got two...Can you believe that? Much money as he and that broad got?? He had been duckin me...He won't duck me no more." laughed Donald Otis.

"So you killed him over some money owed on a car?" I asked.

"Hey man, we in a recession...and I aint been workin steady." he said with a laugh.

"And so he's in there with the girl?" I asked.

"Yup!  My guy "Teaspoon" Jefferson is at her Mother and sister's house...got her brother there too...If she refuses to give up the dough...Well ,oh well..then they all get whacked." he laughed.

"And you think Joe Dixon is gonna break you and your boys off a piece of that 5 million? If that much is even left over?? You're nuts..He'll kill all of us...Donald...Don't be a fool." I pleaded.

"Well Kev...ya gotta trust somebody...now stop yakkin and drop that heater." he said, no longer laughing...

This wasn't going to go down like this...I spun around, dropped down and rolled behind another car and fired two times , point blank at Donald Otis...both of my shots hit him in his chest....He screamed-

"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I don't believe it....I BEEN SHOT!!! ARGGGGHHH!!!" and fired his gun up into the air two times and then fell to the ground...The man named Peyton fired at me...I dodged behind the car and returned his fire..He fired again...I fired again... I saw him run  and then I heard a loud bang!...Peyton pitched forward and fell to the ground....It was Kool Kat...he had dropped him with that big gun of his.....

Just then, I heard another scream and Felicia came to the door...A tall dark skinned man was with her..He looked like the personification of pure evil...It was none other than Joe Dixon....

"Sooooo, at last we meet...You must be Kevin......I've heard all about you....Heard you took down some heavy hitters over the years...Heard you were as good as me...Heh heh heh...I doubt that...If you were you would've found these two first." he laughed, holding the .45 to Felicia's head...

"Well you know Joe...You can't win them all , but I am pleased to make your acquaintance." I said sarcastically...

"Ohhh, a real smart alec eh?  I like that...When I kill you, it'll make me feel even better." he said chillingly.

"Oh, and you think I'm going to just let you kill me?" I asked with a cold smile.

"I'm not going to go back and forth with you on this.." he said ,suddenly getting serious.

"You might get surprised." I said.

"I don't get surprised too often." He bantered..He looked over and saw Kool Kat and smiled.


"Oh and I see you know Walter.....It's been a long time Kool Kat." he laughed.

"Not long enough." said Kool Kat staring at him menacingly.

"Felicia here is going to lead me to that money...She says...it's a little over four million and some change left...and if she doesn't...The man I have at her mother's house...will kill her mother and her sister and her brother...Isn't that right Felicia?" he laughed...

"Yessssss...Yessssss...Oh my Godddd...you killed Larrryy...You killled Laryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...Oh my gooddddddddddddd..." she cried...

"HUSH UP!" he snapped!

He slapped her with the gun butt...Blood trickled from her head...Her lip was already bleeding ...I lunged toward her , but Kool Kat grabbed me...

"Easy Kev...he'll kill us all." said the Big Man , who was uncharacteristically cautious...

"That's right Walter, tell him..You know me... I'm not like this cheap muscle I hired to watch the outside for the night....Heh-Heh-Heh, I'm the real thing." he laughed...

"You're a psychopath!" I spat.

"And you got a smart mouth...Real smart for a dead man." he laughed...

"Real sure of yourself aren't you?" I snapped.

"They say you gotta trust somebody...I don't trust much, but I trust my .45 over your  .38 smokeless tonight."he said.

My anger was rising and it was getting the best of my common sense..but I didn't dare draw my weapon...This guy was good and fast....

"Okay...drop your weapons, both of you and I'm not going to ask you twice...Drop em." he barked...

"If we drop our guns you'll just shoot us." I said.

"True...Guess you really are out of luck both ways huh?" he laughed.

Just then a rock sailed past his head and broke the window! Glass splattered everywhere...His gaze was momentarily aborted from us!!

"What the hell?" he said.. That was all the break I needed!!!

''Felicia...get low baby!" I screamed!...

She ducked and I unloaded my .38 smokeless into him..Kool Kat did likewise with his .44 magnum and Roscoe , the person who had thrown the rock unloaded his .45 into Joe Dixon's torso also...Joe Dixon jerked violently, tossed his gun into the air and spun around like a top before falling up against the front door.....Blood poured out of his torso and he began to cough up blood....

"Uggghhhhh....ohhhhhhh.ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ohhhhh LAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDD...You little bastard, you shot me...OHHHHHHHHHH
Well...Wellllllll WELL...oh lawddd! ...cough...cough...I'll be damned..ohhhhh...I don't believe it......I've been shott!...Ohhh lawdddd.. and it hurts like hell....ohhhhh good lawdd...ohhhhh...cough,cough! I've been shot...I've been shot...I'm alllll shot to hell...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" he said as he pitched forward face down and fell down the steps and on to the pavement... He , like Larry Devol, Donald Otis and Peyton King was quite dead....a pool of blood was running into the street... It seemed a little anti-climatic for someone with his reputation to be taken out so casually...

I stared at his dead body and I shook my head-

"Gee Joe...You're out of five million dollars and you're filled full of lead for your troubles....Not your night,eh?" I said and shook my head...His body twitched one last time, then was perfectly still...He was definitely dead!

"Ha..Ha....Kool Kat, we got that bastard! He had all that mouth, but we got him!" laughed Roscoe as he and Kool Kat high fived each other.. You would've thought they scored the winning touchdown in the Superbowl...I just looked at both of them and shook my head...I ran over to Felicia and held her in my arms....

"You alright baby?" I said...She was crying uncontrollably now...

"Who are you? " she asked as I held her...She was a very pretty woman with long hair and beautiful cocoa colored brown skin..I could see how Johnny Boy could fall so head over heels with her, Larry Devol too..She had a very warm and curvaceous figure.

 I'm a friend of Johnny Boy's.....Larry shot him the other night...I've been trying to find you."I said.  She held me tight and sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes.

"Larry killed Johnny?" she asked.

"No....He's alright...He's someplace safe....He was worried about you..he knew that these guys were coming after you." I said.

"My family is in danger.." she said.

"No , I'm going to take care of that.."I said.

"Good Old Johnny...He's the only one who ever really loved me...I've treated him so badly...."she said.

"Well you can talk to him about that....but right now...We gotta go save your family.." I said.

"Kev...It's four guys here dead...This gotta be cleaned up." said Kool Kat.

"Let the city clean it up and figure it out..." I said.

"Nah... We can't leave this many bodies around..I'm calling my guys...We got this Kev. They'll bring body bags and bleach and other things..We'll wash the streets down and dispose of this mess...I'm glad it's late at night and not too many people out...Plus ,this aint the type of neighborhood where folks run they mouth to the po-po anyway...Thank goodness for that." said Roscoe.

"Okay....Thanks ,I guess." I said...I didn't have time to argue...I figured Kool Kat and I could handle one guy...

"Don't mention it Kev...You alright with me...I got this...You and Kool go on and do ya thing...If it's just one dude..I know you two can handle that." he said..
The three of us, Felicia,Kool Kat and I took Roscoe's car...He would wait for his associates and ride back with them...Kool Kat would return his car the next day.

II-

Felicia led us to her mother's house....It was unfortunately in the middle of the block and in West Philly. I needed a diversion....I had Kool Kat call inside the house...While I went around the back driveway..I climbed up on the back porch and had a clear view of what was going on...Her Mother and her brother were in the living room on the couch, while the man, a tall thin man had a gun on Felicia's sister and was on the phone..

"Who is this?" asked the man.

"Yo...Who is this?" asked Kool Kat..

"We can't talk to you now?" said the man and hung up...

The phone rang again...The gunman now angrily barked to Felicia's sister-

"Whoever that is,,,Get them off the damn phone..I'm expectin a call...A call that determines whether you live or not.." he barked.. By now I had slid the window up and had slipped into the house...

"Drop it !" I said...

"Who are you?" he said...

"Don't worry about who I am, just drop your damn gun." I said..

He foolishly turned and aimed and fired at me...He missed...I didn't!
He fell to the floor...

"Awwwwww lawd...you shot me in my leg...aggggggggrrrrrrhhhh...it hurts, ohhhhhh it hurts...arrrrrrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhhh..." He screamed.


I opened the door and let Kool Kat in...Felicia ran to her family, they were all sobbing... I took his gun off of him...He was holding his leg and wimpering like a baby..

''Don't shoot me no more...I won't do nothin...Call an ambulance..arrrrrrrghhhhh, it hurts..ohhhhhhhhh..it hurts...I aint never been shot before..argggggggggggh.." he wailed.

Kool Kat looked at him with disdain and pure disgust, then he looked at me...only half joking..

"Kev, let me kill him, just so I don't have to listen to him wailing..." he said.

''Amen to that...If you won't ,give me the gun,I'll do it." said Felicia's brother, who like Kool Kat was disgusted by the wailing and carrying on of the would be gangsta.

Felicia hugged me and gave me a long sloppy kiss in the lips...

"Thank you...Whoever you are..Thank you, I owe you my life...." she said.

"No...you owe Johnny Boy your life...When you see him...Thank him." I said..

"Oh I will, I will.." she said with a sweet smile.

I walked outside into the cool night....

"Kool Kat...call the police.." I said.

"Way ahead of you Kev...They on they way." he exclaimed..

"I guess that's it." I said...

"We goin home bruh?" laughed Kool Kat...

"Yeah...We goin home..." I said.

The Big man smiled....

"Get in the car Kev." he said.

I got in the passenger side and Kool Kat drove me to my door..He had called Sepia ahead of time and she was waiting for me...She looked a bit concerned..Kool Kat sensed her concern....

"He'll be alright Sepia...He's had a longgg night. Be  Easy Kev." laughed the big man as Sepia helped me into my home.

He looked at me and smiled , Sepia smiled too and waved as Kool Kat started the car.

"Thanks Walter, Thanks for lookin after my honey." she said.

"He looks after me." he laughed and drove off into the Philadelphia night.

EPILOUGE:

I don't know and don't want to know what Roscoe's guys did , but nobody has ever found the bodies of Joe Dixon, Donald Otis ,Larry Devol and  Peyton King... and to my knowledge ...nobody misses them either! The guy I shot , Randy "Teaspoon" Jefferson, a local hood spilled his guts...He told more than he had to tell about the entire deal and this led to the FBI picking Little Ricky Monday up in Atlantic City for conspiracy to commit murder!  They had my film which shows Joe Dixon killing Eddie Green and Vinnie Carrol...but they can't find Joe Dixon...He's still wanted for murder!!....I doubt that they will ever find him to bring him to trial! He's being judged in a higher court!!!...

Felicia and Johnny Boy reconciled and he gave me 1.5 million dollars for my troubles ,which I divided amongst Kool Kat, Roscoe, Lockpick Johnson, Peeping Tom, Clerow ,Sean Jackson and Robert Foxworth.
We all made out pretty good.

Felicia and Johnny Boy got married eventually and they moved out of Philly with the rest of that money...and as for Little Ricky Monday...He's awaiting trial on a number of charges...Seems like he's charged with something new everyday...

Sepia and I lie in bed some time later just basking in each other and the quietness...

''Ummmm this feels nice."she says...

"Yes it does." I said.

"We should stay in bed all the time." she said.

"Ya think?" I said and arched my eyebrow...

"Yes...it's the only place where you can't run into anybody you know and get dragged into a caper." she said with a smile...

"I'll drink to that." I said with a smile.


(For Lux)