Just Like He Said

Carlotta and I sat on my bed, drenched in sweat...trying to catch our breath!...

"Oh My God Keith....I'm out of breath....This is soooo intense...Ay Dios Mio.." she sighed...

"Whew...that was something else..."I said, drinking a bottle of cold water I had in the small refrigerator in my room....I passed her a bottle, but she shook her head...

"No...I'm good.." she said.

We hadn't been together in two weeks and we made up for lost time in the bed...

"You know Keith...you didn't give me much time to say anything when I got here...You started pulling my clothes off and I forgot to tell you that I checked out Eddie C." she said.

I looked up now...My post coital high now completely gone!

"Oh?" I said.

"Yeah...He was born and raised here in Philly, went to Philly public schools...Turns out he and I went to the same Middle school...He was a year ahead of me....Graduated, did a four year stint in the Army...Came home....and for reasons unknown became a dealer of drugs...Marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine...Worked for an old playa, Indian Joe...now deceased...Branched out on his own...Seemed to have had a change of heart when both his neice and nephew died , a year apart of overdoses....And right around that time...He got pinched....By the feds...He wouldn't give up his partner or his connect, so he did three years and three months in the federal penitentary at Lompoc for his troubles...Lawyers believed that he could have gotten out in a year if he had given up his partners and his connects." she said.

"In the world he lived in, that could have been a death sentence...So he just did the time huh?" I asked.

"Yeah..Did every day his 39 month sentence and was released about six years ago..That remains his only conviction..." said Carlotta.

"So what happened next?" I asked.

"Well...He went to work at a used car dealership.....and went to school at night...Two years in Community College and two and a half years at Temple....Got his Bachelors degree in Public Administration just like he told Sissy and joined the local Baptist Church here....He managed to get a job with the city  just like he said and he does work with Deacon Basil Robinson in out reach....."she finished.

"Just like he said..." I said with a laugh..

"Yeah...Just like he said....He's kind of like a local legend....The young hoppers know that guys like him, Deacon Basil and Chris Thompson used to be in the game and that they got out.....They respect them...They talk to them and probably tell them things they won't tell us directly." she said.

"Just like he said..." I said sarcastically....

Carlotta punched me in the arm...

"Silly...Stop saying what I just said... I'm hoping he can produce either an eyeball witness or somebody willing to talk about this murder....I'd like to close this one quick...before a whole new rash of killings start." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her long and slow.....She moved in closer and kissed me ,slowly,passionately and sensually....

"I swear....you are the horniest guy I've ever met....I'm trying to talk seriously to you and you're just interested in....oh hell, forget it ..." she said as I straddled her across the bed, slowly and softly opened her legs and entered her once again....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." she gasped as I began to stroke her slowly and intensely....

She wrapped her legs around my back and I continued to enter her slowly, savoring every stroke, like a fine gourmet meal....

"Aye Dios Mio....Aye....Dios Miooooo, pappppppi...aggghhhhhhhhhhhh!" she moaned...

II-

Carlotta left in the morning before I woke up...That was probably just as well...It wouldn't have looked right for me to be driving her to work...

Detective Pile dropped by my office....

"Morning ADA?" he said and he passed me a tumbler of hot steaming coffee...Two creams and extra sugar...He was learning...

"Detective Pile!" I said.

"I uh checked out Eddie C. " he said.

"You did?" I said sounding surprized...

"Lieutenant is sprung over him...I just wanted to make sure he was on the up...and he appears to be...but he does have a sheet on him." he said.

"Let me guess...He did three years at Lompac, which might have been one if he had given up his partners and connect right?" I said.

Detective Pile seemed surprized and genuinely impressed.....

''Wow! That was fast." he said.

"You're not the only one concerned out your Lieutenant...I mean ,she's still one tough cookie...but she's human...Now I suggest this be you and I's little secret...I wouldn't want her to know that we were delving into her private life..." I said with a wink.

"But of course.." he said.

"Anything on that murder?" I asked.

"Well Duke Baylor and I talked to two girls....Two neighborhood girls...All they would tell us is that they heard that it wasn't over drugs or territory that it was something else...They wouldn't elaborate...We pulled an address...His grandmother...You might want to talk to her." he said.

"Where is his parents?" I asked.

"Mother is dead...AIDS...Father is in prison...serving 5-10 for Armed robbery....He was raised by his grandmother....Oh yeah...He's got a girlfriend and she's pregnant with his child....and has another small child by someone else...We called and made two attempts to talk to her....but we couldn't locate her." said Detective Pile..

"Okay...I'll have Detective Rodriguez look into that." I said.

"Way ahead of you boss...That's what she's doing now." he said.

"Damn...you guys are really good." I said.

"That's what Lieutenant Van Buren Said." laughed Detective Pile...

"Get out of here man." I said with a laugh....


III-

"I lost Tray to the streets a long time ago.." said Mrs. Sadie Mae Jones, Tray's Grandmother....

"His Mother dropped out of school when she became pregnant with him....The Father was a stick up man, about ten years older than her..That no-account knee-grow never did nothin for her or Tray....My daughter...I couldn't control her...She worked at fast food joints, stripped for awhile and went from man to man and then she come down with the bug..(AIDS) and died...Been about five years...  and Tray was gettin older and startin to hang with the wrong crowd...and before I knew it...He was out there slingin that poison.....I knew this was going to wind up happening." she said.

Carlotta, Sissy and I sat in her living room in North Philly and talked to her...

"I know you don't know about his business on the streets, Mrs. Jones...But we are hearing word from the street that this might not have been drug related..." said Sissy.

"He had a little ole girlfriend....She had one daughter by this guy named Fruit Loops...What the hell kind of name is that?  And from what I hear...She was pregnant with Tray's baby." she said.

"This guy "Fruit Loops"...You got his real name?" asked Carlotta.

"Nawww, I aint studyin them damn kids...That's all I know him as...He's dark skinned, old nappy headed boy...The kids know him...He sell drugs too...He got some of the corners around here..." she said.

"Thank you mam...We'll look into him and the girlffriend..." I said.

We all got up and left...As we were walking out...Sissy looked at Carlotta...

"Have  Duke  and Tyriq find this "Fruit Loops" charactor and bring him in...You go talk to the girlfriend." she said.

Sissy's phone rang....She took the call...Carlotta and I watched her ...She began to smile and her entire demeanor changed...

She looked at both of us and exclaimed..."It's Eddie C. He says he's got somebody for us to talk to." she said.

"Wow....that was quick wasn't it?" I exclaimed...

Carlotta began laughing...

I looked at her and smiled..."Don't say it." I said.

"Just like he said." she laughed....

"What are you two laughing about?" asked Sissy.

"Nothing Boss Lady, just a private joke between us." said Carlotta.

"Concerning Mr. Clarke huh?" she asked.

"No....Noooooooooooooooo.." said Carlotta , still laughing.

"You've been hanging around the ADA too long chica...You're becoming as bad a liar as he is." said Sissy and the three of us laughed....

(Conclusion Next)