Mission To Patterson

ONE DAY BEFORE:

I was sitting in a coffee shop called "Village Coffee".  It was a new joint...They baked fresh doughnuts right on
the premises...You could smell them...That's what drew me to this place...Their coffee was out of this world..Best coffee I'd had in a long time...I got a dozen of their doughnuts fresh out of the oven and called my wife Sepia on my android and told her to swing by here...

While I waited on my doughnuts to come out of the oven...I sat at my table with my newspaper and a tall steamy tumbler of coffee....I don't think I'd taken two sips before a familiar figure sat down at my table...It was Ralph Scallion...the head cook at Bottom of The C...a popular eatery that I sometimes go to.  Ralph had one of their French Cruellers and a cup of coffee also..

.

"Hey Kev...I see you've discovered this place too." He laughed...

"Yeah...I 've driven past here many times...but I've  never come in before today.." I said.

"Ohhhhhh, that's because you didn't smell the bakery before?" he said with a laugh..

"Yeaaah man...gets you every time." I laughed...

"Well you see Kev....It's like this...I need a favor." he said.

"I uhhh figured you did." I said.

''Kev....As you know....I have a daughter." he said.

"Yeah...I saw her the other day...She works with you at Bottom of the C." I said.

"Yeah....well...I may have a son or a daughter by another woman." he said.

"WHAT?   Damn man...I need a scorecard to keep up with your lethal behind." I laughed..though I wasn't a bit surprised...It was a wonder Ralph didn't have more women claiming paternity, the way he was known to get around with the ladies.

"Well Kev  it was like this...about a year and a half ago...This woman came into Josies...She was from Patterson, New Jersey...She had come to claim the body of her husband..Some Gangster named Tom Collins ,who come down here and got himself shot..Anyway..she got the body and had him cremated and stopped in Josie's for a drink...One thing led to another and she wound up at my spot and well, you can imagine the rest... Some time later, she come back to philly and she's pregnant...She said it was mine...I thought about the months and the time...and I concluded that yeah..It might be mine..." said Ralph...

"What was her name Ralph?" I said now very interested..

"Lois Collins." he said.

I didn't know her...but I certainly knew her husband....He had tried to kill me, only I had killed him....He was a high priced hitman who had ended many lives...

.I pushed the door open and looked up and into the eyes of Tom Collins!!!!!!..... He was about my height, slender, with a fade haircut..kind of like a marine...brown skinned, with an ear ring in his left ear...He had a saw offed shotgun...Not a hitman's usual weapon of choice. It was dark...He didn't see me pull out my .38 smokeless.......




He was laughing.... "Say Goodbye Kevin" he smirked... I fired one shot....It was all I needed..It hit him right over his heart...My next shot hit him in his side near his abdomen...and my third shot hit him in his shoulder...he dropped his shotgun... He was surprised!!! He fell down on one knee....




"Tom Collins is it?" I asked him.


"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I'VE BEEN SHOT!!! HOW DID YOU KNOW?? Ughhhhhhhhhh..." He looked like he was going for another gun...


He moaned...I fired one more shot...it went right between his eyes....Tom Collins fell backwards to the ground...surprisingly still alive....a bloody mess....




"Who hired you to kill Ramon?" I asked...


"Why do you want to know?" he asked...




"It was Slezak wasn't it? Or was it Big Chicken?" I asked.




"Damn...people run their mouths too much in this damn townnnnnn, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he wheezed and then he died.




Kool Kat and Clerow arrived shortly afterwords....




"Damn Kev...who is that?" asked Clerow ,looking at the body of the hitman named Tom Collins.




"This gentleman is Tom Collins...This is our shooter....One of the best." I laughed...

Of course Ralph Scallion didn't know about any of this and I saw no need to tell him...but now, knowing that he may have fathered a child by this man's widow had now made me very curious.

"So Ralph, You want me to find out if you are the father of this woman's child,right?" I asked.

"No Kev...I'm pretty sure I am....it's a little more complicated than that...See...she's dropped out of sight...She must have had that child by now ,but she's dropped out of sight.....She gave me a cell phone number and a home number and both have been disconnected....I haven't heard a peep out of her in a little over six or seven months." he said.

''And you want me to find her for you?" I asked.

"Yeah man..and here is the kicker...We have to go to Patterson, New Jersey man." he said.

"Patterson, New Jersey?" I asked.

''Yeah..that's her last known address." He said.

"Okayyyyyyyyyy...." I mused.

Just then my wife ,Sepia came in.....and my dozen doughnuts were ready and delivered to our table...I ordered another coffee for Sepia...

"Ummmmmmm they smell gooood....Bonita brought some back to the office a few days ago.." she gushed..
"Oh Hi Ralph." she added.

"Hey Sepia...How would you like to go on a road trip?" I asked.

"Huh? where?" she asked ,understandably befuddled..Ralph smiled weakly and shrugged....He then passed me an envelope...

''That's 2G's Kev...That's all I got for now...I can get you more if you need it." he said.

''This is that important to you huh? Seems to me if a woman accused a guy of gettin her pregnant and didn't press him for money....I couldn't see the guy lookin for her....I've changed my opinion of you Ralphie." I said.

II-

So here we are on the highway ,headed to North Jersey....Me , my wife Sepia and Ralph Scallion....This is different huh?  I usually roll out on my capers with Clerow and Kool Kat....but there didn't seem to be an element of danger involved in this..

I mean...There were no playas or gangsters involved...and this was the type of case she might even be able to help me with...

"So Ralphie, you lookin for you other baby momma huh?" joked Sepia good naturedly at Ralph...Who said nothing, but smiled...

"Yeah...I want to know all of my children.." he said.

"Wow, that's nice...How many more of em has Kevin got to look for?" she joked.

"That's alright funny woman." laughed Ralph.

"And you want me to hook you up with my cousin, Mabel?  Hmmmmph...You seem to be sufficiently obligated mister." joked Sepia.

"If I had a shot at Mabel Jenkins...I'd marry her...and make my child support payments to whoever." said Ralph with complete seriousness.

"Yeah, if you had a shot...." laughed Sepia.

"Play nice children." I said as we crossed the Tacomy-Palmyra bridge from Philly to New Jersey.

''Ralph knows I love him." laughed Sepia.

"Yeah, If your wife didn't bust my stones Kev, I wouldn't think she liked me at all." he said from the back seat.  I just shook my head, smiled and continued driving. I could see that this was going to be an interesting trip.

(To Be Continued)