Knuckle Up!

I was back at Curran-Fromhold Correctional center talking to Ricky Ransom.....a week later...

"Look Ricky...A man wants to know where that gun is..An important man with money to spend...You tell me where that gun is...It could work out in your favor..I could put some money on your books, put in a good word for you." I said.

"Oh yeah? How much money?" he said.

"It's negotiable." I said.

"Yeah? " he said sarcastically..

"Or, I could give you nothing and let you take your chances." I said, suddenly sorry that I had come up here at all!

I got up to leave, when he yelled out...

"It's at his Uncle's house man....His "Uncle Bill"...I'll give you his address!!!" he yelled..

Lockpick Johnson and I had broken into Sunshine's apartment and tossed the place from pillar to post and found nothing...Owen Todd, Clerow, Kool Kat and I had been to his two other girlfriend's homes and found nothing...We had talked to and rousted all of their known associates and found nothing...

We had searched every known pawn shop in Philadelphia and it hadn't turned up... This was finally just my last chance...It had been a gamble, but it had worked out.

Ricky gave me an address..a Home address and a phone number...He also gave me the secret address of a card game that this guy played in...He said that after the killing, Sunshine had given this gun to his uncle and told him not to get rid of it, just to hold it for safe keeping...

That wasn't all I had been doing for the past week....I had studied all police records and vicap records as well as talked to my contacts at the FBI, looking for any crimes that involved a gold plated .45 pistol....None matched... Not only that...I couldn't find any record of a  "Wallace Bell', No Birth certificates, No Drivers License, No home address that matched my client anywhere in PA., Deleware,New Jersey or New York.

The FBI had no record of anyone with that name...The "cell number" he gave me was traced to a Hotel room phone and tape recorder that was activated by the sound of a human voice... The room was rented to a woman ,Velma Davis ,they said.  Sean Jackson and Peeping Tom sat on the room for a few days and saw no man or woman...Apparently my client was smarter than most and doing a great job at not being seen.I had no idea who he was or what his game was...He just wanted that gun for some reason.

II-

I studied all of the gun purchases made for Sunshine and Ricky and cross referenced the dates of sales and the aliases used by whoever...I visited these gun places...All legal and was able to determine by their description of the buyer that he was the same man..
Big Steve Nelson...A six foot four, 240 pound white male of about 39 years of age who lived in Northeast Philadelphia...I even had an address on him...and a photo of him making a buy on one of the days the sale of the guns were made...All I had was Ricky's word that he purchased them and gave them to he and his partner...I decided to visit him....but first....I wanted that gun in my possession.

II-

I didn't find "Uncle Bill" at his house or at an illegal West Philly card game... I found him at a crab fest ...He was eating crabs and drinking beer with a group of guys... He wasn't hard to spot...He was the biggest guy there...His real name was William Weddington....He was muscle for a local loan shark named Greasy Reese...Greasy Reese was presently a guest of the state at Graterford State Correctional Institute for men..Serving a five year bid... ''Uncle Bill"was presently unemployed...at least as a leg breaker!

Here was another time I should have brought Kool Kat along, but I didn't...I mean I meant to...but I didn't have time to call him...So...I had to take my chances.

I walked over to Uncle Bill and immediately engaged him...

''Uncle Bill" I said , smiling gingerly..."Could I have a moment of your time?" I asked.

He was a big hulk of a man, but not in the best of shape...He walked over to me without a hint of a smile..

"First of all, I aint your uncle and you only gettin a moment champ...What do you want?" He asked..

"Look...I aint no cop...But you have something in your possession that I'm willing to buy off of you...A Gold plated .45....I got it on good word that you have it...I happen to know that it was used in a murder a few weeks ago and that your late nephew, I believe his name was "Sunshine" killed my friend and attempted to kill me..Since your nephew is deceased now...All I want is the gun...I'll pay you for it...No questions asked." I said.

"How I know you aint a cop?" he asked.

"Believe me..I'm no cop." I said. "If I was...I'd just arrest you and take the gun and charge you with being an accessory to murder....but I'm not...I just want the gun." I said.

"How I know you aint wired?" he asked..

"If I was, again...cops would be all over you right now!" I said.

"No they wouldn't..I aint said nothing...and my answer is NO!" he said.

"No?" I asked.

"DID I STUTTER NIGGA?..I aint givin you no gun and if you keep talkin, I'm gonna belt you one." he snapped.."Now I'm eatin crabs and drinkin brew...beat it." he said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you chief." I said... he looked at me like I was crazy and smiled...

He punched me and with one punch knocked me over the table full of crabs and on to the ground. The crowd of drunken men began to laugh and clap..As he headed towards me..


Uncle Bill was a huge , heavily muscled and bald headed black man who  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...I picked up an old wooden chair that was sitting in the corner and smashed him over his head... and down he went with a crash.. he didn't get back up! In fact...his head was bleeding profusely! he was breathing heavily....The crowd cheered... I grabbed his collar and pulled my .38 smokeless out and stuck it in his ribs...

"Now get that gun and hand it over...do you hear me?" I said. "DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF FAT BOY??" I screamed!!

"No....NO......" he mumbled...

''What?" I asked..

"Okay..Okay...it's in the trunk of my car." he said.

"You aint gettin it...Call one of your friends and tell them to go fetch it... Twitch and you'll be just as dead as that punk nephew of yours who tried to kill me the other night..." I said.

"He aint..he wasn't my nephew...we just said that." he mumbled.

''Ask me if I care."I said.

"Snuffy!  Snuffy..Here are my keys...Go in the trunk of my car and get that gat.." he said..

Snuffy was no fool...He had just seen what I'd done to Uncle Bill and he quicky opened the trunk and passed me the golden plated .45!!!

I passed "Uncle Bill" an envelope...It had one thousand dollars in twenties in it!

"There ,take it and buy yourself some bandages.." I said.

I took the gun and got in my car and pulled off....As I was pullin off I heard Snuffy say to "Uncle Bill"

"Damn man, why didn't you just give him the gun and take the money?...It wasn't worth gettin the snot kicked out of you."

Uncle Bill, still bleeding said-

"Yeah, that guy is probably mobbed up...fightin that good.."

I laughed my head off as I wrapped the gun up and tucked it away in the trunk of my car.

If Kool Kat had been with me...I wouldn't of had to have even of raised my voice...This guy would have taken one look at the big man and have given me that gun.

III-

I drove up to the Northeast...I was a little sore from that fight...but I felt good...I had an adrenulin rush like none other. I sat across the street from Big Steve's house..Thinking...Did I really want to confront this guy? He could be another guy hell bent on fighting.

Finally, I walked over to his house and rang the doorbell...

He was even more arrogant than Uncle Bill....

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

I decided to tell him the truth...

"I'm a private investigator....I want to know about two guns....a nickel plated .45 and a gold plated .45 that you sold to William Jones and Richard Ransom.....I need to know where you got them from...You're not in any trouble...I don't care what you do...William Jones is dead and Ransom is in custody....I just need to know where you got the guns from!" I said.

He punched me in the jaw.... I was stunned...He tried to come out on the porch and throw another haymaker, but I blocked his second punch and landed a hard punch to his jaw...He swung wildly again..I blocked this punch and tore his mid section up with a series of lefts and rights...

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..Why do these big fat guys always throw haymakers??..They practically telegraph their punches and they leave themselves open.

A crowd of his neighbors came outside..I guess they were wondering who was this black man that was beating the crap out of probably the most feared man in the neighborhood?

I dodged his wild swings  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... I quickly got to my feet...We were on his small front porch and there wasn't much room...It was kind of like being in a boxing ring.. I nailed him with several left and right jabs to his jaw...

He wasn't in good shape and was wheezing and blowing and my next punch sent him flying through the door and on to the floor of his living room...

Before he could get up...I put my .38 snub nose at his nose....He was still wheezing and blowing.

"Hey man...a word to the wise.. Salads! More salads and less carbs. I could pull the trigger and sleep well tonight hayseed...So I'm gonna ask you for the last time...where did YOU GET THOSE GUNS OPIE??...You got five seconds to answer!" I said.

"Okay...Okay...this babe...this nig...I mean...this black babe stole em and sold em to me..." he said wiping the blood from his nose and lips...

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"HER NAME !!!HUCKLEBERRY, HER NAME!!!!" I screamed...

"Velma!! Something or other..Velma Davis!!!" he said..."She lives in the projects out in West Philly...I swear...that's all I know man." he said, still breathing heavy.

"Now how easy was that Jim Bob?" I said. I left him laying down on his porch, coughing and wheezing and bleeding badly...Pretty good workout...

I walked away and got in my car.....I wasn't going to call my client just yet....I needed to know more about this Velma Davis person.. She was the same person, the hotel room was rented to..Same person the cell phone belonged to...  It was still early!

If Kool Kat had of been with me, there would have been no fight!!!...People just didn't try the big man's patience like that!

IV-

"Damn Kevin...Not one fight, but two fistfights in one day?" laughed Attorney Robert Foxworth...

"Well you know...one must keep in shape." I said with a laugh...

"You should've taken Walter...I'm bettin neither of those guys would have dared swing on him." said Robert.

"Well now...They won't raise on me either!" I stated as we both laughed.

I checked the public records of one Velma Davis.... Apparently she and I were the same age, born and raised in Philly...educated in Philadelphia public schools....and that's where the simularities ended.

She had a rap sheet as long as she was tall... Theft, safe -cracking, burglary, Car theft, prostitution, drug possession.

She had last been released from county jail in June of last year...Her work records showed that she was employed as a domestic for a Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Carter, who lived in near by Bensalem....A quick check on the Carters showed that Mrs. Carter had died from lung cancer a year before.... Mr. Carter, who had been in the Marines around the same time I was, Had been a marksmen in the Marines...and had won many
marksmenship contests both in and out of the military...Further checking showed that he was also a gun collector!! Interesting!

"Robert , you feel like taking a drive?" I asked.

"Only if you assure me there will be no fisticuffs." He joked.. I busted out laughing..

We drove back to the hotel where the phone and tape recorder  was occupied by a room...That seemingly had no visitors or occupants.

I asked the staff if they had ever seen a woman come to the room...No one could say that they did..They said that the transaction had been made over the phone by a man and that a credit card had been used to pay for the room... One person told me that he had seen a man enter the room with bags only once and had then seen the man leave and that that was the last time anyone other than myself had been to the room...but that the room was paid for up until the end of the month.

I took the credit card number down...Robert called Chance and Cole , gave them the  card and number over the phone and told them to check it out!! He called me back within the hour....The card belonged to Arthur Carter!!!No surprise there!

We next drove into the projects looking for Velma Davis.....No one had recalled seeing or hearing from her sense late July...It was now mid-October....I had noticed that there was no bank or credit card activity....
There was only one address for her....A rooming house not too far from where we were...

Robert and I drove there....No one had seen her since fourth of July weekend.....

I looked at Robert...

"I got a bad feeling about this counselor." I said.

"Yeah Kev...Me too!" he said.

(Conclusion Next)