Beans and Cornbread

I sat down in Kool Kat's house...He had prepared a pot of Baked beans and Cornbread...The baked beans had cinnamon seasoning that made them especially tasty and sweet and the cornbread was so good,it practically was melting in my mouth...

''Damn Big Man, I didn't know you could cook." I said.

Kool Kat smiled...

''I can't...Chelsea came by here last night and fixed this for me..Girl can burn in the kitchen...aint so bad in the bedroom either if you know wha I mean?" he said and winked.

I smiled...

''Nice we wrapped up that Raif Collins business and put Philly Joe away." he said.

"Yeah..but I'm still scheduled to die within the next 24 hours ." I joked as I gulped down some more beans and buttered some corn bread...

"There's some lemonade in the  in the fridge if you need somethin to drink ...but before you do...let me tell you why I called you here.." he said.

I had wondered why...but I knew better than to rush Kool Kat.

''Okay..I figured it wasn't just to eat."I said.  Kool Kat laughed.

"I was talkin to Roscoe about what we've been through the past few days and I happened to mention one Clinton"Deadeye" Williams....He told me that back in Detroit....Deadeye killed the nephew of "Big Uncle." he said.

''Big Uncle ?? Who the hell is that?" I asked.

"He runs everything in a part of Detroit...Kind of Like Fathead in Philly ,but on a larger scale. There was a war for territory...Territory that this nephew was running...A playa named Yorkie contracted Deadeye to take the nephew out....and he did with efficiency...Shot him between the eyes from an apartment across the street from a diner where he and his wife were having a meal..Did it clean..Left no prints, no evidence behind or nothin..Even killed the guy on the desk...the only guy that saw him and registered under the name.."Ross Clark." aint that somethin?" said Kool Kat.

''Okay, so this guy is good...Your point is?" I asked....

"Big Uncle would be very grateful to whoever could put him next to "Deadeye" ya dig?" said Kool Kat.

"What?" I asked.

"He's still grieving the death of his nephew....He'd like nothing better than to pay the man back who killed him...If Big Uncle was to get an anonymous call and the location of "Deadeye"...He'd be very very grateful.." said Kool Kat.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh...I see." I said.

"Look Kev, you got nothin on him or Big Butt...not a thing!   Do you feel like waitin for this guy to make a move on you? We drop a dime to Big Uncle and he's out of your life forever." said Kool Kat.

"What about Big Butt?" I asked.

"We can deal with Big Butt on our own...." he said.

"You're right." I said.  "Make the call." I said.

"Roscoe already did...yesterday....Big Uncle has sent someone here to deal with Deadeye...Thing is...I don't know where he is...Do you?" he asked...

"I can find out a general direction." I said.

"Okay...well be careful Kev , watch your back...and hurry up..." he said.

"By the way, what ever happened to Yorkie?" I asked.

"Yorkie???....They  found him in an abandoned meat packing joint in  St. Louis....One shot in the left temple.....He had been dead for three weeks when they found him...In Motown, you don't mess with Big Uncle." said Kool Kat matter of factly as he continued to eat his food...

I finished my food  and thanked the Big man....

"Man...don't eat up all this good food..Tell Chelsea to make me another pot ." I joked.

"I hope you stay alive so that I can big homie....Be easy." said Kool Kat.


II-

The key was the cell phone number I had.... I did a little research and came up with the provider.....I called my friend at Telphone security and got him to call the provider and get them to hit the tower and determine where this number and this phone was operating...It wasn't an exact science...but they gave me the general area...

I researched the area and found but one hotel...He had to be holed up there!!! Clerow and I drove into the neighborhood and watched...Sure enough..I saw Clinton "Deadeye''Williams walking to the corner store to get cigarettes, coming out to get food from the local eatery and meeting with Bob "Big Butt " Thornton....I assumed they were planning my immediate demise...I had seen a mug shot from his vicap file days ago, so I knew what he looked like. He was light skinned, medium build, about five foot nine...with cold gray eyes...Coldest I'd ever seen...Was rumored to have killed about 27 men....for various gangsters in the midwest and the east coast...Big Butt really had to reach out to get a pro like him.

While Clerow was following Deadeye inside and while "Big Butt" was in the store...I had slipped a GPS tracking device on his car...It was just a matter of time for him too! I thought!

"That's him boss." said Clerow...."I followed him inside...He's in Room 412..Fourth floor, second room on the side facing the street." said Clerow...

"Good..Let's go home...." I said.

"What you got up your sleeve?" he asked , smiling that toothy grin of his...

''Not a thing."I said.

I called Kool Kat with the evidence we had gleaned....

"Okay boss...go home...be with your lady....but watch the 11:00 pm news.." he laughed.  "Got to call Roscoe." He laughed.

III-

That afternoon, Sepia and I relaxed at home....in our bed...laughing and talking....As I was later to find out...." Deadeye" took a hot shower, splashed on some cologne, put on a black linen shirt, black trousers, black shoes and black aviator shades...He picked up his violin case which held his M-16 with a laser site...I'll never know where he was on his way to or where he thought I was...

I theorize that somebody knocked on the door to his room. He was probably wondering who this could be....Only two people knew he was there...One person was in jail and "Big Butt" Thornton knew not to come back there....Still , he went on to answer the door......A young baby faced Black man...No more than 25 aimed a shotgun at his head and fired one time....The blast blew his face completely off!! He was dead before he hit the bedroom floor.

Someone remembered hearing the young man say- "Big Uncle sends his regards punk!" Nobody got a good look at the young man's face...He was wearing a bright red hoodie, Black trousers, Black shoes and sunglasses with a redish tint...He was in and out and gone into the night.....

Meanwhile, some miles away...Sepia and I laughed and talked and enjoyed the afternoon...without a care in the world....I didn't hear the news until the next morning.

IV-

The next morning...Kool Kat and I walked into Sam Mother's Diner... I had traced Bob Big Butt Thornton to the popular diner...

He was sitting at the counter eating scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and orange juice ...a hot tumbler of coffee was sitting next to him...

Can you imagine his utter surprise when I sat down next to him and Kool Kat sat on the other side of him...

"Don't stop eating on my account Big Butt." I said and smiled... Sam Mother looked  at us...He knew who Big Butt was and like most people in the know...He knew that Big Butt had been gunning for me... I looked at Sam with a look that assured him that there wasn't going to be any gun play or mayhem in his diner.

"Heard you wanted to see me." I said.

He looked up and then continued eating....

"Is that right?" he said.

"Thing to do...is when you want to see somebody, you dial a number on a phone...you send a text or an email..." I said....Kool Kat laughed....

"Why don't you cut the crap Kevin....You played the game well...You won this time...but next time..."he said.

"How bout...there won't be a next time?" I said.

"How bout you can't touch me?....You got nothin on me...not a shred of evidence and after I finish eating, I'm gonna pay my tab and walk right out of here and you may never see me again until or unless it's too late." he snarled....

He was right...I had nothing to pin on him...Nothing I could prove...and he knew that I wasn't going to harm him....For once, he was right....

"Well?  Where is your smart assed wisecrack now?   You're one lucky S.O.B.   But the next time maybe you won't be so lucky...Maybe I'll wait until your guard is down, til you think I've forgotten.....The hell will be, you'll never know...I might hit you ten years from now or maybe tomorrow..You just won't know." he said.

"Hopefully you'll find a hitman better than Deadeye...Somebody that doesn't have problems of his own...That was a shame what happened to him.Him losin his face and all." said Kool Kat.

For the first time Big Butt looked a little frightened.... Kool Kat cracked his knuckles and laughed a sinister grin that has made many men's blood curdle.

Just then, Lt.Sissy Van Buren and Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and six uniformed Philadelphia Policemen walked into the diner...I was surprised..I hadn't called them because I had nothing to give them.

"So This is Bob "Big Butt" Thornton?? Wow...I see where he gets the nickname....I could use some of his butt." said Carlotta...

"Yes, this is he Carlotta.." said Sissy Van Buren...

"This the best you can do Kevin? Lady Cops??  They got nothin...You got nothin  Charlie's Angels, Now get out of here and let me eat my breakfast." he said.

Sissy looked at Carlotta...They both smiled...Then Sissy leaned down and said to him....

"What I've got is a guy named Marion Joseph Jones....You Know him don't you Big Butt??Philly Joe!! He doesn't like the fact that some guy tried to stick a shiv in him yesterday in lock up.....He thinks that maybe you put a contract on him in the city jail...and you know what?...He started telling us a story about how you enlisted him to hire guys to kill my favorite private investigator here....as well as a sleazy private eye to set him up....He says that you gave him orders to kill all of them after their initial attempts to kill him failed...He says that you brought in a heavy hitter from Detroit , who unfortunately is no longer with us to do the job...He's going to testify to that in a court of law." she said...

Carlotta tossed a pair of handcuffs on the counter....

"Put em on Big Butt!!  It's tank time papi." she said.

They handcuffed Bob "Big Butt" Thornton......I looked at him......

He looked at me with white hot hatred....

"Bye Bye Big Butt...Have a good life." I said sarcastically.

''One day...one day, you'll get yours." he said.

"But not before you get yours." I said.

He again looked at me with a combonation of white hot hatred and frustration.

"Goodbye Big Butt and this time....I do mean goodbye." I said.

"Every now and then...We do our jobs."laughed Sissy.....

''Yes you do....Great job ladies..."I said.

Carlotta looked at me and winked as they hustled him out.....

Kool Kat and Sam Mother began clapping slowly!

For the first time....I laughed...a  big hearty laugh of relief!  The storm was over!

EPILOUGE:


Philly Joe talked long and hard about Bob "Big Butt "Thornton...His testimony got Big Butt a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder...six counts!  Philly Joe who admittedly killed five people was placed in protective custody in another state and sentenced to just ten years....

Charles Collins, Michael Tabor and Chester Riley were all sentenced to Life imprisonment for kidnapping Sepia and attempting to kill me....

To date, no one has claimed the body of Raif Collins....His remains are still in cold storage at the medical examiner's office.




Sepia and I, Sean Jackson and Sheila,Kool Kat, Clerow and Corrie ,Robert Foxworth and Bonita all sat down at a table in Kool Kat's living room as Chelsea served us all hot heaping portions of her Cinnamon Baked Beans and cornbread with butter...

"Ooou girl this is sooo good .." said Bonita...

"Girl you put your foot in this." said my wife Sepia...

"I'll say." added Clerow

Kool Kat placed some paper cups around us, added ice to each cup and poured us all some Kool Aid...

"Wow...it's been quite a week hasn't it folks?" the Big man said.

"Sure has.....Let's hope we don't have another one like it." said Robert Foxworth...

"I'll drink to that." I said...

"So will I" said Sean Jackson..

"Me too." said Clerow

"Me three" said Sepia as Bonita and I took turns hugging her!