Johnny's Boy

The police were removing a body from a building...Kool Kat and I were sitting outside in his SUV...There was blood everywhere....I would have stayed put except that I saw a familiar face...Homicide Detective, Carlotta Rodriguez!!

"Hey Carlotta! Happy New Years." I said smiling...

"Hola Kevin!" she said and gave me a light peck on the lips...

"What'cha got there?" I asked...even though I already knew.

"A pretty brutal one...a murder...the victims name is ..." she said.

"Frederick Pettijohn" I said.

"You know him?" she asked.

"Only of him...Low level drug dealer..works for Johnny Ringgold..." I said.

"Okayyyyy, so do you know who done this?" she asked.

"Well, just on a tip...on a humbug...I'd say Charlie Roach." I said.

"And you know this how?" she asked, laughing...

"I'm on a case....He and his boss have had some trouble out of Johnny Ringgold...It appears Mr. Ringgold hasn't paid the proper tribute he owes and is undercutting Mr. Diamond's prices....Charlie Roach paid him a visit just an hour ago...If you hurry, you might catch him." I said.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Carlotta? Have I ever lied to you?" I asked pretending to be hurt...

"No...you haven't...Okay..I'm going to pick him up...You know where he lays his head?" she asked.

I wrote down an address for her...she smiled...

"Wow...If I wasn't involved with Keith and you weren't married....I'd be all over you right now." she said.

"And I'd be a lucky man for it." I laughed..

I didn't realize it...but today was going to be my lucky day...For weeks I had been listening to everything that went on in that Barber shop and following certain figures...Today..I had not only gotten Charlie Roach off the street..even if it was just temporarily...but I believed I had one, located Jack Diamond's connect and warehouse and found a kink in his armor.

II-

From hours of listening to feverish phone calls made from the barbershop and from three of Jack Diamond's girlriend's homes..I learned that a conference was being called to dsicuss the state of business and that one Johnny Ringgold was also planning to attend... Naturally I found out the hotel they were meeting in and got there days ahead of time with Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom....

Sean Jackson set up across the street from the hotel and photographed each ghetto "dignatary" that graced the" board room."

Roger Martin, from West Philly.....Abel Benton from Southwest Philly,  Jules Castro from Fishtown and Northern Liberties, Juanita Townsend from North Philly, Joachim Slater from South Philly and Jessica Mendez from North Philly...of course...

Big Jimmy Knox...Another independent playa who had recently set up shop a few blocks from where I lived came in..., Richard Vermont, a slick player who claimed to be a legitimate businessman and civic figure, but also dabbled in Meth and Heroin on the side, paid his respect, Jimmy Richard, another cool charactor who dealt dope and coke and had recently split with Fathead Newton in West Philly..and Rafeal Garcia , a playa from North Philly who had broken with the Diaz Brothers..

Chairing the meeting was of course Jack Diamond...

At first , the meeting was like any other corporate meeting...They discussed growth opportunities, they discussed distribution...and they discussed short falls....If I didn't know that this was a major criminal conspiracy, I would have thought this was a meeting of General Motors or Chrysler..My own company meetings should run this smoothly....

Jack Diamond was their supplier....He didn't get his hands dirty...He supplied the product and these guys, the new generation of playas....All independents bought his product and sold it however they pleased...He got his cut and that was that....He was brilliant...He had really stepped up since his days of slinging to musicians on the road...

Then the fun began...depending on how you looked at it..

Johnny Ringgold and three goons from his crew barged in....

"Diamond...YOU GOT SOME EXPLAININ TO DO!" he yelled.

"If you just calm down ,I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this." said Jack, cool as a cucumber.

"My boy, Freddie Pettijohn was beat to death, beat so bad, they couldn't recognize him..." he yelled..

"John...John...You stopped buying from me awhile ago...You started doing your own thing and to make matters worse...You undercut the price all of us agreed on and you know that that is against the rules..We had this discussion." said Jack.

"So why didn't your punk ass enforcer come to ME??" he barked.

"John....do you really want an answer to that?  It's easy for you to say that with him in jail right now...but if he makes bail and I'm sure he will...Do you really want it to get around that you called him out?"asked Jack.

"Get around?? Get around??? You killed Freddie...That was my boy...We started out in this business together...GET AROUND?? That was my closest friend you prick....I'm not afraid of Charlie Roach or you...I'll kill him, you and anybody you got standin with you..You remember that....I already heard that some civilian cleaned his clock in the bar a few weeks back...I aint afraid of him....You or anybody in here, interferes with my business and you'll all get dead...DEAD!  You here me, DEAD!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry you feel that way John....I really am." said Jack.

Johnny Ringgold and his goons turned and walked out...

"Damn right you're sorry...that's what you are Diamond...a sorry ass punk that used to peddle dope to musicians....Now you think you're a big mann..." he said.

Peeping Tom, Sean Jackson ,Lockpick Johnson and I sat in the survielience van laughing out loud...

III-

Johnny Ringgold left the meeting and drove to a plush Condo that he was paying for.... Yes...I had been following him ever since I found out about the little rift between gangsters and I found out that he a woman named Elena Richardson living in this condo.....He was enthralled with her...

Of course we had the place wired for sound and video....I was paying Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom more for this case than any other case I had worked on...We were watching and listening and recording so much...I had to borrow some extra eyes from Chris ,Chess and Donald Smooth...Besides the guys they had watching my block and protecting my wife...I had guys listening to and watching tape and video...

Johnny walked into the apartment.... Elena had on only a black lace bra and black and pink panties...

"Hey Johnny....you want a drink?" she asked...

He slapped her on the behind...

"Nah baby...." he said.

"Owww...that hurt." she said.

He got on the phone..

"Hello"

"Yeah this is me, Johnny.."

"What's up Johnny boy?"

"I need some muscle...all the high priced muscle you got... I want Jack Diamond taken out and his boy,Charlie Roach...As soon as he walks out of that jail...bust his ass..."

"How soon Johnny?"

"As soon as possible." he barked.

"I'm on it babe."

The rats were getting ready to devour each other.

He grabbed Elena and kissed her...Hard and I guess for him passionate...

She was just as rough...Kissing him hard and rough and grunting....

He ripped her bra and panties off....The gentle type he was not...

With one fell swoop she ripped his trousers off...Then tore his boxers off....

All he had on now was his undershirt and socks and shoes....It didn't matter the way they were kissing and slobbering over each other...He tossed his hat off and marched her into the bedroom where he threw her to the bed with force and mounted her....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JOHNNNNY, OHHHHHHHHHHH..." she squealed as he thrusted for close to ten minutes before...

"Ouuuuuuu...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I'm about to explode....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh     Hottttttttt mommmmmmmmy....yowza!" he yelled....

He got up off of her....He was sweating profusely....She reached for him, but he moved her hands away...

"That's all for today baby....whewwwwwwwwww...I'm tired.." he said.

Peeping Tom looked at me...

"A marathon man he aint." he said.

Sean Jackson, Lockpick Johnson and I cracked up!

IV-

"Kev...Me and Owen followed Marvin Seville...He and another guy stop by this warehouse...He gives a huge envelope to a Spanish dude...The dude then brings a truck load around...My guess is..It's dope, coke, meth..what have you...and the dude with Marvin unloads whatever is in the truck in Marvin's van.....They then take it to the dudes people and unload and go on about their business..." said Clerow.

"Yeah Kev...Then Marvin makes a call....He drives to a diner where Charlie Roach takes an envelope and drives the truck away...Marvin Gets in his car and pulls off in another direction." said Owen..

"Yeah, only Charlie wasn't there today...He's in jail...Murder one...So Where did Marvin go?" I asked.

"He took about three people out to the warehouse today and afterwords...He drove the truck back, met with Jack Diamond and gave him an envelope and then got in his car." said Owen Todd.

"Good work guys." I said.

We had located the warehouse a week before..I did this by a combonation of listening and watching the tapes and by walking the streets talking to ,let's say...people in the know...

Once found...Clerow, Owen Todd, Sean Jackson and I hid and shot photos of all of the major players and their represenatives making pick ups of their deliveries...Apparently...The supplier was a Spanish Gangster named Ricardo Lopez...From checking with Interpol, I found out that he was a major narcotics importer who was under suspicion in Spain, Italy, England and Germany....He was a slippery figure who like Jack Diamond had managed to elude law enforcement...

Today was not his lucky day!

(Definitely to Be Continued...)