"Damn man...Chris and Chess told me that you layed Charlie Roach out in Josies a few nights ago...I wish I had been there....Man....I miss all of the good stuff." said the Big Man..
"I thought he was so tough." I said.
"He is....I'd never turn my back on him....He beat some guy to death with a tire iron once....and he poured lighter fluid on another guy and set him on fire...and he beat a third guy to death with a shovel.." said Kool Kat.
"You're telling me he's killed at least three people?" I asked.
"At least three...and he beat Little Moe up so bad that he lost his hearing in one ear...He's no joke..But Chris and Chess tole me that you beat the piss out of him and knocked him flat...You keep this up and your street rep is going to be as fierce as mine." laughed Kool Kat.
I doubted that...There were playas who it is said still had nightmares just thinking about the big man paying them a visit...I'm glad he was my lifelong friend and ally.
"How long they been in there?" he asked pointing to Marvin Seville's Barbershop....
He was talking about Clerow, Owen Todd, Marco Gervay and Pakistani Sam....They were inside getting their haircut and scoping the action...
II-
For this neighborhood to be so poverty stricken, Marvin Seville's barbershop was very high tech and modern...It looked out of place amongst the urban squalor.
There were seven or eight barbers, there was a beautician and there were flat screen televisions everywhere...You could watch CNN, BET, HBO, ESPN and local news depending on where you were sitting, get barbered, shaved and or have your hair washed and dyed...
There was even a deli spread....Sandwiches, meat, cheese, bottled water, soda... No barbershop was this grand...The haircuts were professional and reasonably priced..... All of the major playas , ballers, shot callers went to Marvin Seville's barber shop to get their fresh cut...
Marvin Seville himself had once been a successful accountant....and privately, a bookkeeper for such playas as Big Daddy, Wally Gator and even Eric Slaughter...all old opponents of mine...all now dead or locked up!
His moonlighting had gotten him a lengthy prison stay....
Paroled now for close to six years, he had reinvented himself as a Barber and the owner of the hippest barbershop in the city...Even had television and radio commercials... I wondered who had set him up like this? It all apeared to be legitimate,
But Marvin Seville was still shady.. Shady as hell.
III-
Some hours later with Kool Kat driving...and me riding shotgun....I conversed with Clerow, Owen Todd, Marco Gervay and Pakistani Sam about what they had seen... They all loved their new hair cuts and I had to admit..The guys did look sharp with their fresh haircuts and all clean shaven...
"Kev...it's amazing how it works...Most people in there are totally legit...just gettin a shave or a haircut...but every now and then..a Playa comes in....Marvin...the big boss is the one who cuts their hair...apparently..they all have "appointments" with him....." said Owen.
"They come in, he cuts their hair or shave them or both...they pay him in cash...but they also pass him an envelope, which he gives to some babe...She walks in the back with the envelope and then comes out with an envelope for them..I imagine it's their cut...They smile and go on about they business." said Clerow.
"Oh wow...so that's where the cash goes and that's where the young hoppers get paid." I said.
"It's so smooth Kev that if you don't know what's goin on or who to look for...you aren't even aware of what's goin on." said Marco Gervay...
"See anybody you know?" I asked.
"Ohhh yeah." said Pakistani Sam...
"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." he continued...
Kool Kat laughed...
"Wow...Those are some heavy hitters...Roger and Abe used to work for Fathead Newton and they broke off and started their own organizations...Jules Castro and Juanita Townsend defected from The Diaz Brothers organization as did Jessica Mendez and Joachim Slater is a New Yorker , who recently moved down here and set up shop in Germantown and Mt. Airy and Oak Lane.."I said.
"Wow Kev, glad to know you keep abreast of what's goin down on the streets." joked Kool Kat as they all laughed.
"Any sign of Charlie Roach or Jack Diamond.?" I said.
"Not while we were there." said Owen Todd...
"So he is running a clearing house ....They all turn in their cut of the take at the barbershop and get paid there....Wonder where their supply comes from?" I mused.
IV-
So naturally...I had Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson break into the Barbershop after hours and wire it for sound and video....Sean Jackson and I went with them...We searched around and searched around and found their safe....but to our surprise..It was empty!! Apparently, the money left with Marvin Seville and went someplace else.
We cloned the phones in the shop just for good measure...I searched the office for books and found one..Ever the accountant..I found books that had the names and addresses of all of the dealers who did business with Marvin Seville and the payments...It was gold...Sean and I photographed the pages and then left.....
In the coming days... We not only watched the new generation of playas come and go with envelopes, but even more...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 , another playa from North Philly who had broken with the Diaz Brothers.. All of them came in got haircuts passed money to Marvin Seville and received money and quietly left...Not much conversation.
"Kev as usual man this is good...but not much I can do with it." said ADA Keith Wallace...
"Huh?" I said. "These guys are major narcotics dealers...They're turning in a percentage of their take and possibly putting in orders for more product right there in the barbershop." I continued.
"Yeah,I know that these are all dirty guys...I know every one of them....I know who and what they are...but all you have is them getting a haircut, passing money to Seville and a pretty girl passing them money...There isn't much conversation if any and no talk about drugs...You gotta get me proof that these people are dealing drugs and that they are drug pay offs....This copy of the payout book could be tips for a good hair cut for all I know." he said.
He was right...I really had nothing....and not a damn thing that linked Jack Diamond to him or any of them ,except that he came there once a week to get his haircut and also walked out with a huge shipment..
"You're losing your touch Kevin...you usually give us so much more." said Lt. Sissy Van Buren, who was also in the secret rooftop meeting with me.
"Don't worry..I'll be back with more." I said.
"I know you will." said Sissy confidently.
I knew that the key to cracking this case was to follow the Barber himself..... I put Clerow and Sean Jackson on Marvin Seville...
Kool Kat and I followed Jack Diamond.....
He had three girlfriends and he rotated nights with them....Never staying any one place more than three nights...I had Peeping Tom and Lockpick Jackson enter all three places when we were sure they were empty and wire them as well as clone the cell phones and phones in those places...
Jack was as cool as a cucumber.. He never talked business with the girls...No pillow talk..basically just sex and a speedy exit..
He ate his meals at a number of places ...Too many to try and bug and other than that, he hung out in Marvin Seville's barbershop....
I had to give it to him...He ran a tight organization...but there was a kink in his armor somewhere and I was determined to find it.
(To Be Continued...)
2 comments:
Lovin this gangsta stuff!
This is lookin pretty good!
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