Money,Friends and Murder

I usually hang out at Josies.....You know that...but tonight, I was hanging out with Kool Kat and he wanted to go someplace different...We didn't want to be around the riff raff of the Mermaid club either..So we chose the Aqua Bar....Situated on the third floor of a non-disclosed building....With nicely buffed wooden floors and a wrap around bar that was also a large aquarium filled with all types of exotic fish and sea life.

With beautiful, voluptious barmaids taking orders and serving drinks and a large crowd of the hoi-poloi of Black Philadelphia...I'd been here once before ..on a case, shadowing a dirty cop...I admit I was impressed...but felt as though this spot was out of my  price range.

''This spot is sooo not you Kool Kat." I said with a laugh.

"No?  I think it is at times....I've come here a few times.. I like it...A nice place to talk , get your thoughts together.'" he said.

"Yeah and not be seen " I added with a laugh.

''Yeah, that too."he laughed.

Just then , a hand appeared on my shoulder....

"Kevin is that you? What are you doing here?" came the familiar voice....It was Jack Clemmons, an old friend of mine...

''Jack!!! Jack Clemmons.....I'm asking myself the same thing." I said and laughed and embraced him...We had lived on the same block as children ,had gone to school together  and then had gone our seperate ways...Me to the Military and later College and He to college...

"Walter.....This is my old friend...Jack Clemmons....We grew up together.....This is Walter ''Kool Kat"Jones.." I said.

They shook hands.....

''Glad to meet you....Hey listen,let me buy you guys some drinks." he said.

He ordered Kool Kat and I some drinks and we sat and began to talk...

''So Kev, after you got out of the service...what did you do?"he asked.

"I went to college on the G.I. Bill, got my degree and got a job as a writer first and now I'm the editor and cheif at Hype Magazine.." I said.

''Wow....I heard that you were in NCIS in the marines." he said.

"Yeah...I was an investigator....I was also the Marines middleweight boxing champ." I added...

''Wow..who woulda guessed..Now you're into running a magazine....I always thought you'd wind up being a cop." he said.

Kool kat looked at me and laughed.....

I smiled...."Well,I am a licensced private investigator....I do that on the side." I said.

"No kiddin?  I knew you'd be doing something like that...Snoopin is in your nature....You married?" he asked.

''Yes...I've been married for close to four years now." I said.

''Any kids?" he asked.

"No not yet...But here is my card...you gotta stop by my office...and you must come by my home and have dinner with us....By the way...What are you into now of days?" I asked.

"Me...I'm a top exec at an insurance company....Westinghouse Insurance...and get this...I just got appointed to the Southeast Pennsylvania Pension Fund board....I'm rubbing arms with heavyweights like Rollie Rollerson." he said.

"Really?...He's on the board of my magazine." I said.

"Small world." he laughed.

II-

"Hey bartender, can I order a shot of Jack...on da rocks." came another voice behind us...Kool Kat and I turned around.....It was another person who didn't look like they ought to be in here....Kenny "Silk" Wooten...a real nasty peice of business as Gus would have described him....

Kenny 'Silk" Wooten was the new kingpin in the area...Now that Joey Porter and his crew and most of the others were either incarcerated or dead...He walked in and took over the entire area...Very quietly....The independent drug dealers gave him no resistance....

He ,like all of us was a Philadelphia guy...He had no criminal record whatsoever...And he was never seen with or around any drugs or guns...He wore beautifully tailored suits, drove around in a Bentley and lived in a nice condo in another part of town....It was said that with the help of his ruthless lieutenant, ''Buck",he had forced all of the independents to buy product from him...Product that was fronted to him from the New York boys... But to look at him..you thought you were looking at a lawyer!

"Hey Kev...look who it is...the new king." joked Kool Kat.

"Yeah..I see." I said.

"Oh ,you know Kenny?  He's on the pension board with me...In fact, we just bought a business together." said my friend Jack...

"What?  With him?" asked Kool Kat.

"Yes...he's one of the cities top young african-amaerican entrepeneurs." said Jack...

"Jack...He's a drug dealer..." I said.

"Silk???Nah.....Me and my girl have been out to his condo...swam in his pool and been to Atlantic City with him....He's a good dude!" said Jack.

"Doesn't mean he's not a drug dealer...I know the guy." I said.

"Yeah...well a lot of people used to do bad things...People change...Look at Chris Thompson...I ran into him and Chess the other day...He used to own half of West and Southwest Philly...He gave it all up and is now a successful businessman..Look at Basil Robinson.....He used to sling throughout the tri-state area..He married now, taking classes, a deacon in the church and running a neighborhood outreach program." said Jack.

''And What is Silk doing?"I asked.

"He's a businessman...I told you, we bought a company recently." said Jack.

Kool Kat looked at me and laughed....

"You say that HE got you on the pension fund board?" I asked.

"Yes...and we bought a business together." laughed Jack.

'What kind of business?" I asked.

''A bottling company...Gottliebs." he said.

''We gonna have to agree to disagree on your boy...for now." I said.

"People change Kev." said Jack.

"Yeah...some people." I said.

Just then a very pretty young lady walked over....

"Heyyyy Jack..Who are your friends?" she asked.

"Hey baby." said Jack- "Kevin, Walter...This is my lady, Marilyn Scott....She's a lawyer and she's on the pension board with me..." he said.

"Pleased to make your acquaintence." I said.

She joined us...Jack bought us all drinks and we laughed and continued to enjoy the night...I watched Silk out of the corner of my eyes..He drank an entire bottle of Jack Daniels...Looked over at Jack and Marilyn and smiled and waved and then left quietly.....

I thought nothing more of it.

III-

Jack and Marilyn eventually left also, which left me and Kool Kat sitting and drinking alone at the bar...

"Kev...I know what's eatin you...cause it's eatin me too....Your boy is in over his head..He don't look like a player and anything that's got to do with Silk is definitely bad news." said Kool Kat.

"I know...but Silk isn't on the street....and right now he looks legit...but you and I both know that guys like him are never totally legit..." I said.

"So we gonna do a little snoopin?" asked Kool Kat...

"Maybe...." I said.

IV-

The next morning I slept late....When I woke up, Sepia was lying next to me...There was a hot steaming tumbler of coffee sitting on my night stand and a newspaper lying on the side of the bed...

"Hey..." I said as I woke up."

"Hey yourself...You and Walter really hung one on last night." She said.

"Yeah we did..." I laughed...I picked up the newspaper and there was an interesting headline...

"Police indentify body found in park last week as that of James W. Madison...Missing member of Southeastern Pennsylvania Pension Board."

Philadelphia Police , answering the frantic call of two teenagers who were playing in Fairmount Park last week who found human remains, Have  now positively identified the partially buried remains they found as those of James W. Madison...43, father of two... The insurance attorney was a board member of the Southeastern Pennsylvania employees pension board who vanished three months ago without a trace...He appears to have been shot twice in the head at close range....Police have no motive for his murder as yet!

Hmmm I thought as I read the paper....Very interesting!

(To Be Continued....)