No Way To Treat A Lady

I was in West Philadelphia on the Market-Frankford Elevated Train....known as "The El" to most Philadelphians....At 46th & Market, the person I was loking for got on the train as planned....

He was a thin, well dressed playa known as Sammy the Pimp...He knew me by what I was wearing, a Gray, Pin striped Brooks brothers suit...I was probably the most well dressed guy on this train at this time of day when most of the riders were school children or the elderly...

"You Kevin?" he asked.

"Yeah, you Sammy?" I asked.

"Yeah...Fathead Newton sent me...I got a scope on that guy you've been lookin for...Cold Hearted Stewart.." he said.

"That's what I'm here for..." I said.

"Here's an address and a phone number for him....As you can see, it's nowhere near here." he said.

I looked it over and shrugged...

"A er ruh client of mine just happened to run into him.....He's got muscle...cat named Ben Ali....He's in a rental house....Him and a babe..He rarely goes out..but the babe goes out on the regular....But mostly ,Ben Ali gets them what they need." he said.

"Ben Ali is risking the wrath of Fathead Newton, The Diaz Brothers and Lin Chou..."I mused.

"Ben Ali doesn't care about none of them...He does his own thing..His rep is pretty fierce.." said Sammy the Pimp.

"Well ,Whatever..thanks...I just needed an address for Cold Hearted Stewart." I said.

I peeled off a couple of bills and slipped it to Sammy..

"I appreciate your help Sammy." I said.

He took the money and looked at me.....

"Thanks....I figure this might be the last time I hear of you...You gotta be suicidal to wanna tangle with Ben Ali or Cold Hearted Stewart..So good bye.....oh and I'd appreciate it if you not mention that it was me what gave you the information...I don't want no trouble outta neither of them." he said.

"Heyyy Sammy, We never met...Do I know you?" I said.

"Hah Ha...Be easy man...and take care of yourself." he said.

"Always ." I said.

He got off the next stop....I rode two more stations and got off myself.

I met Kool Kat and Clerow at the Continental in Center City ,later on that day....

"Got it?" he asked...

"Yup...This time ...we can't make any mistakes...We go in fast...put the guns on em and
get the money and get out....No gunfire, if we can help it." I said.

"Kev...a guy like Cold Hearted Stewart isn't going to take something like this lyin down..You saw how he through down a few days ago... Not to mention , he's got Ben Ali protecting him....He's another tough nut to crack" said Kool Kat.

"Yeah...and a guy like him probably doesn't keep that kind of cash on him...You said it's well over 300 large right...He probably has it in a locker or a safe deposit box somewhere for safe keeping." said Clerow.

"Yeah , you're right.. So we wait and we watch...We get him out of there somehow and we get the girl to lead us to the money." I said.

"What about Ben Ali?" asked Kool Kat...

'We may have to take our chances with him." I said..."Once we find the house and get a good scope on it and the movemant of it's inhabitants..we'll get a better idea of what we are looking at." I said.

''Well ..the only thing to it..is to do it." said Kool Kat.

II-

Finding the house wasn't difficult at all....It was five miles outside of Northeast Philly actually...We watched the comings and goings for a day and a half..It was just like Sammy the Pimp had said..

Cold Hearted Stewart rarely left the house...but he did leave...Pony left almost twice daily, going to store, the malls and different girlfriends homes in the city..I had Sean Jackson follow her movemants...We had placed a GPS device on her car...So tracking her was relatively easy..

Ben Ali had two young toughs guarding the house... He usually stood on the porch or walked around the back...

On the day I decided to make my move ,I had Ralph Mole call him ,telling him that Fathead had arranged a sitdown between him and Eric Shark Dollars Redding...That perhaps they could strike up a deal...He balked...He wasn't interested in any deal and he was more interested in how they got the number..
He panicked like I hoped he would and started making plans to leave the home...

This time , he left in his car this particular morning with one of Ben Ali's stooges.....This left only Pony, Ben Ali and one of his men... Sean Jackson and Kool Kat followed Cold hearted Stewart in Sean's rental car with tinted windows. It was up to Clerow and I to take the house!!

The guard they left behind was no trouble at all....Clerow stuck a pistol in his ribs and he threw his hands up with a quickness...We bound and gagged him and dragged him to the back of the house.

"Watch him....I'm going in..In about three or four minutes, creep in and see about me." I said as I easily jimmied the lock and entered the house from the back...It was eerily quiet as I crept down the back hall....There was no sign of Ben Ali...

I had to ask!!!I never saw the punch or the huge hand that lifted me off of my feet and slammed me into the wall....I felt the excruitating pain....I didn't see the huge fist that landed in my mid-section knocked the wind out of me and sent me flying across the room either!

A Huge , heavily muscled and bald headed black man with a goatee who I knew was Ben Ali was about to stomp me....I grabbed his foot and twisted it and sent him falling to the floor...I managed to get to my feet ,but I was in extreme pain....He charged at me..I crouched and I landed about 12 good lefts and rights to his face.....I caught him with an uppercut that damn near ripped his head off and then clocked him in his jaw and sent him flying.... He quickly got to his feet and charged me again...throwing haymakers...I dodged them all and ripped his midsection with well placed lefts and rights and then cold cocked him in his jaw, sending him spinning around...I attempted a swift kick to his solar plexus , but he caught my foot , twisted my leg and sent me flying to the floor...

He lifted me up by my neck and put his massive hands around my neck..I kicked him as hard as I could in his privates and he let me go...I again punished his midsection with 10-12 lefts and rights and then planted more lefts and rights to his face...He fell to the floor.....I thought I had time to catch my breath....but he was up again and charging at me...

He swung, I grabbed his arm and put it behind his back and then grabbed his neck and slammed his head into the drywall so hard that it went through it!!! Ben Ali fell to the ground....out for the night...

I didn't have time to catch my breath before I felt cold steel on the back of my neck...

"Hold it right there cop....You sure picked the wrong place and the wrong time." said Pony as she held a gun on me....We both heard another click.....This time , a pistol muzzle was on HER temple...It was Clerow....and surprisingly...He wasn't laughing or smiling...   I took the pistol out of her hand and stared at her...She was drop dead gorgeous...in that streets kinda way...What you'd call "Thick".

"Okay Ma...You know what I'm here for....I want that money." I said.

"Some cop" she sneered.

"I'm not a cop....I'm here to take the money that your boyfriend stole off of the now departed Ghost Hawkins." I said.

"Shark Dollars send you?" she asked.

"If he had of..All of you would be dead right now......No, I work for someone else...for the moment...now enough with the questions... Take me to that money." I snapped.

"This aint no way to treat a lady." she snapped..

"I know baby...but I got a job to do." I said.

"The money isn't here." she said.

"I know that...but you're going to take me to it...Now I'm not going to ask you again.." I said.

We tied Ben Ali up and placed him next to his boy in the back of the house....

Clerow and I placed Pony in my car and we pulled off...   Clerow drove...I called Kool Kat...

"We got the girl Kools..We are headed for the loot now." I said.

"Good thing you are...because old boy is pissed..He's on his way back to his house now..  Where's Ben and the other guy?" asked Kool Kat.

"Sleeping...He gave me a little resistance...but I uh persuaded him otherwise." I said...

Kool Kat laughed.....

"Hey man..Go pick up Chance Howard and I'll call you and tell you where to meet us." I said.

"Got'cha Kev" he said .

III-

"He'll Kill you you know." she said.

"I don't think so." I said.

"Yeah? Well you oughta think so..." she snapped

"After the little brouhaha we had out in the street yesterday...do you really think I'm worried?" I asked.

She sucked her teeth....

"I don't have the key ." she said.

"Doesn't matter." I said.

I had called Lockpick Johnson and had asked him to meet me at the location she had given me.. He did...It took him a few minutes but he got the box open...

Kool Kat, Sean Jackson and Chance Howard showed up..... Clerow got a bag and I put 120 large in a bag and tied it up and gave it to Chance...

"Give this to Robert with my compliments." I said.

"Wow, thanks Kev...." said Chance....

"What about the rest of it?" she asked.

"I'm returning 200 large back to Shark Dollars as I promised..." I said...

"Which leaves about 3 large....That, little lady is yours... and a bus ticket to anywhere you wanna go...out of Philadelphia...." I said.

"Yeah and I suggest you give Atlantic City a rest too." said Kool Kat..

"Damn, you puttin a sistah on a bus..." she said.

"Yup..You're a smart woman..I'm sure you can start over anywhere." I said.

"This aint no way to treat a lady." she said....but she took the money and we drove her to the bus station and she bought a one way ticket to Baltimore....

I dropped Chance and Sean Jackson off and Clerow went home......

Kool Kat and I went to Josies....

"You know she's right.... Cold Hearted aint gonna take this lyin down..." said Kool Kat...

"I know " I said.

"I'm hoping he won't." I said.

''Just what are we going to do when he shows up Kev?" asked Kool Kat.

"Oh he'll be showing up shortly." I said.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Kool Kat..

"Because my friend, Sammy the Pimp told him where to find me." I said.

"What?" asked Kool Kat.

"Relax....let's get out of here...just follow my lead." I said.

After we finished our drinks, Kool Kat and I walked out into Josie's parking lot...As soon as I got to the car, I heard the familiar click of a gun and turned and saw a glock pointed at Kool Kat's head....I wasn't surprised.

"What took you so long?" I said dryly....

" No time for jokes...just hand over my money." said Ike "Cold Hearted" Stewart..

''Aren't you surprised that I'm not surprised that you're here?" I asked him

Kool Kat looked at me...He was certainly wondering what was up....

"I don't give a damn whether you're surprised or not...I want my dough.." he snapped.

"You got what you thought was an anonymous tip right?"I laughed...

Cold Hearted looked around....

''This is a set up?" he said.

''And you're the pigeon" came the voice of Eric "Shark Dollars" Redding who had a .45 pointed at Ike "Cold Blooded " Stewart's head...

Kool Kat disarmed him and laughed his head off.....

I walked calmly to my trunk and took a gym bag out and opened it...I showed it to Eric.

''There's two hundred large in there...I deducted my employers amount and I broke baby girl off a few bucks so she could get out of town...The rest is yours as promised ." I said.

"Why you lousy dog...When I get through with you...." he barked...

"You aint in no position to be makin no threats." snapped Kool Kat ,who now had his .44 mag aimed at Ike"Cold Hearted " Stewart.

" Damn right..Thank you Kool Kat...And now....the icing on the cake...To ice this guy." sneered Shark Dollars as he cocked his pistol...

"Whoa partner....Let's not do anything drastic." I said.

"What?" asked Eric "Shark Dollars" Redding.

"Shark Dollars...you got your money...the guy who originally owed you is dead....There's no need for anymore killing. People in AC don't know the particulars...You still got your respect..Your name is ringing out on all of the corners...Killing him won't add to that." I said.

Cold Heart Stewart was confused...We had tried to kill each other only hours before and here I was pleading for his life to be spared.

''What then do you suggest I do?"asked Shark Dollars sarcastically.

I walked over to Ike "Cold Hearted" Stewart.....

"You get to walk out of this with your life and baby, life is priceless sometimes....If I were you,I'd catch the fastest thing smoking out of Philadelphia and I wouldn't exactly be headed to Atlantic City or New York anytime soon either...Feel me?" I said.

"Okay...you win...keep the dough...I'm out..." he said.

He wasn't a stupid man by any stretch of the imagination....He knew that he was beaten......he grudgingly got in his car and pulled off...

Eric ''Shark Dollars" Redding took the gym bag full of cash....He looked at Kool Kat  who just smiled and shrugged his shoulders...Then he looked at me and smiled..

"I don't agree with all of your methods...but you do know your business and you do get the damn job done...I owe you Kev....If you and your wife are ever in AC....Check me out...I'll hook you up...Believe that! That goes for you too Walter..." he said.

I smiled and nodded... Eric got in his car and he drove off.....

Kool Kat and I stood in the parking lot....

''Wow...I can't believe that nobody got killed  or went to jail tonight."he said.

"Miracles occur everyday." I said. Kool Kat looked at me and smiled.

EPILOUGE:

Ike "Cold Hearted" Stewart turned up in Los Angelas... He wasn't there three months before he was indicted in an interstate drug smuggling scheme ,arrested, convicted and sentenced to 3-5 years in a federal pennitentiary.  Some people never learn!

 Pony Gardenor was found dead from a suspected drug overdose six months later in Baltimore...Her death has been ruled "suspicious". 

Eric ''Shark Dollars"Redding is still a major player in Atlantic City, last I heard.

Sepia and,I, Robert Foxworth and his wife, Bonita, Sean Jackson and his wife Sheila, Clerow and Corrie and .Harry Charles and his wife, Bernadette andKool Kat and Chelsea all went on short vacation to Aruba...a few weeks after this caper...We rented a couple of huts and joined each other on the beach for dinner and drinks every night...

"This is so nice...All of us spending a nice vacation  here in the islands like this." said Sepia as she put her arms
around me...

"Yes it is." I said as Robert, Sean and I drank cokes and watched Clerow ,Harry and Kool Kat crack crabs and pour butter on them....

"Big change from those streets huh?" asked Robert..

''Big change" chimed Kool Kat...

"Think the city will miss us?" asked Sepia...

"Who cares? I don't miss it right now." I said....

We all had a big laugh at that!