In Motion

"WHAT?" I said upon hearing so called former hood Bobby Staircase tell me that he put a contract on himself ,while sitting in his apartment...

"Kev,I'm sorry...I thought this guy was serious."said Clerow...

"No..No...Wait guys I am serious...Let me explain." said the dapper ex-gangster...

He tossed me an envelope...I opened it..It was filled with 3G's...

"That's payment in advance Kev."he said.

"Okay, give me your story man." I said.

"Okay..check it out...As you well know...I was moving a lot of Heroin and Coke for Malik Clarke up this end after Fathead Newton retired and sold his connects off...I was like a middle manager...I had a crew of my own and I was gettin points off of the packages...I was living good for awhile...Then..Then man I met this chick....In church of all places.."he said.

"YOU GO TO CHURCH??" said Clerow and I in unison...

"Well man, look...My mom saw me out on the street one morning and she asked me to come to church with her...I'm sure she knew what I was doing, but she never said nothin...I went to church with her and man,I felt pretty good..I know that don't sound like me...but I did and I met this chick...a good girl...square..She didn't know who I was or what I did for a living...I started seeing her....You know me...Of course I wanted to just hit it and quit it...but she was different man...Different from all these other girls out here...She had a nice place of her own...A straight job, a nice family and all...Nice friends....I wanted to be part of that...I took her to nice places and all and began to really get into her....I imagined a life man, another life different from bein out on these streets..."he said.

"So what happened?" I asked..

"Slowly,I began to distance myself from the guys...I told Malik Clarke that I wanted out..He didn't care as long as I paid my debt off, which I did...and I had plenty of money to tide me over...I moved in with my girl and we got engaged...Soon after she became pregnant!!!....Life was good for a minute...but then, the money ran out!! We did live high on the hog man, Trips to Vegas, Miami,L.A.. Spending sprees..the whole deal... I couldn't find a job and my girl was struggling...I took out a million dollar life insurance policy and then in desperation I did something stupid...I went to "Gumby" Peterson and gave him some money and put a contract on myself...!!! My girl and my baby would be taken care of in the case of my death..."he said.

"And there in lies your problem...Gumby Peterson has a contract out on you...Wow! You really are stupid...He hires top line talent for all of the big guys...When he gets someone on your tail...you're as good as dead..."I said.

"I know...Thing is...In the meanwhile...Malik Clarke and his entire organization got knocked and they all went to prison..."he said.

"So they couldn't help you."said Clerow..

"Right!!  And I found a job...A good paying job....Chris and Chess and Donald Smooth got me a job with one of the many businesses that rent space in their shopping center and they rented me and my girl a nice apartment..."said Bobby..

''So?, What's the problem?" I said.."You have money, you have a job..You're not desperate.."I said.

"Right...But Gumby still has the contract on me..." he said.

"You want me to speak to Gumby, tell him to take the papers off of you right?  You want to work out a financial settlement ,correct?" I said.

"If it were that easy,I'd do it myself Kev...Gumby got clipped last week...and I fear he already contracted and paid the hitman....The whole deal is now still in motion...I want you to try and stop it." he said.

Clerow looked at me..

"Kev, you just had a baby man, you aint got to do this...I'll see if there is another way."said Clerow..

"Relax...I'm in it now!  He just paid me...Okay Bobby...Where is your girl?"I asked.

"She's at our apartment...I'm holing up here so that she isn't in any danger.." he said.

I looked at Clerow...

"Call Chris, Chess,Donald Smooth and your boy ,Owen Todd...Tell them to keep eyes on that apartment and that girl and that baby as a favor to me..."I said.

"I'm on it Kev."said Clerow..

"Anybody know you're here?" I asked..

"No..and I've been here for two weeks...Clerow brings my groceries and whatever else I need and I stay off the streets...I only call my girl," said Bobby....

"Don't make anymore calls, not til you hear from me..Stay inside.."I said.

"Thanks Kev." he said...

Clerow and I drove back home....

"What are you going to do next?" asked Clerow...

"Time to call the big man!" I said.

II-

Clerow and I stopped by Walter"Kool Kat" Jones house.....We were greeted by his sexy girlfriend, Chelsea...

"Hey Chelsy."I said upon entering.

"Heyyy Kevin...Congratulations on the new edition." she said kissing me on the cheek..

'Heyyy Clerow."she said.

"Hey Girl."he said, smiling with that toothy grin of his..

"He's in the basement.."she said.

We entered Kool Kat's basement...

The big man was cleaning his array of weaponry...A .357 magnum...A .45 glock and
an assault rifle..

I smiled upon seeing him...

"Damn man, aint you the lethal one.."I said.

He smiled upon seeing Clerow and Me...

"Heyyyy Big Daddy!"he said laughing and hugging me..."What's goin on Clerow?" he said.

"Wait til I tell you." I said.

III-

Kool Kat laughed his head off and slapped his thigh the same way Chris Thompson did when something tickled his fancy...

"So let me get this straight...Bobby Staircase  has gone straight first off right?" he said.

"Straight crazy."said Clerow..

"He put a contract on himself with Gumby Peterson of all people..." said Kool Kat..

"Yeah and now he needs to call it off, only Gumby got clipped a few weeks ago.."I said

"And the contract is still in motion.." said Kool Kat.

"Yeah man." I said.

"Damn, you get all of the interesting cases don't you boy?" said Kool Kat...

"Well, let's go to the scene of the crime...The Mermaid Club...Talk to Joe Neptune.."said Kool Kat...

"When?" I asked...

"No better time then the present.." said Kool Kat...

Clerow smiled..

"After you guys.."I said.

IV-

It was mid -day...Kool Kat drove while Clerow and I rode in his SUV....The Mermaid Club was open and it was a perfect time to go in and talk to Joe Neptune..The usual afternoon and night crowd wasn't around...ie-No gangsters or connected guys...Just regular patrons...

Joe Neptune saw the three of us and had three beers sereved up immediately...

"What's goin on Clerow, Walter...Kev?  Oh yeah Kev...Heard you're a daddy now?" he said...

I smiled...

"Yeah man...She's two months old now...just gettin fat as anything.."I said.

"Best time of life Kev."he said.  Then he looked at us.."You guys didn't come in here this time of day to show me baby pictures or just to drink...What's up guys?" he asked..

Joe Neptune, like Gus over at Josies was as street smart as the next guy..He knew us...

"Joe...Gumby Peterson..." I said.

"What about him? He's dead!"said Joe...

"You know anything about it?" I asked..

"He got shot outside of here...I don't know who did it...Except that the guy who dropped him dropped a Yellow Dahlia on his body...Like some kind of calling card or something...Nobody that I know...And the way I hear rumors...I don't even know what it was about ."he said..

"A Yellow Dahlia?" I asked...looking at Joe sheepishly..

"Yeah Kev...Flowers is my hobby....You didn't know that did you?" he said.

Kool Kat and I smiled...

"And the Pretty Puerto Rican Detective that you're friends with said the same thing to her partner, Rico...That it was a Yellow Dahlia that someone dropped."he said.

I looked at Kool Kat...

"I got nothing Kev....I don't know anybody that does that...But I'm sure somebody does...." he said.

"That pretty Puerto Rican cop that you be with and Rico Pile..They come around here..I told em the same thing...I don't know what it's about." he said.

"Here's the thing Joe...He died having an open contract out on a uh ruh friend of mine..a contract that there is no need to fill now...You know any guys he might hire?" I asked...

Joe looked around ,then whispered in my ear...

"A guy named Clip....He's from out of New York City...He come in here two or three times looking for Bobby Staircase...but he seems to have dropped out of sight...Aint nobody seen Bobby in weeks."said Joe...

I smiled..

"Keep that under your hat Joe...Thanks for your help."I said.

"What? I didn't tell you nuttin." said Joe Neptune...

Kool Kat tapped him on the back and smiled..

"That's right Joe..you didn't." he said.

The three of us walked out into the afternoon...Tomorrow would be another day!

I headed home....Our baby was sleeping soundly in our bedroom, Sepia was waiting for me with a cup of tea.. We relaxed in our bedroom...

"A new case? " she asked..

"Yeah." I said...and I handed her an envelope with three thousand dollars in it.. Sepia looked at it ..

"You want me to put this in the safe?" she asked...

"Nahh, it's yours...You haven't been to work in a minute...Buy yourself something nice." I said.

"Awwwwwwww...Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."she said and kissed me passionately...

I ran my hands under her night shirt....She smiled at me...

"The baby is in here." she whispered, giggling...

"She's asleep."I said looking at her sheepishly....

"You are sooo fresh."she said laughing.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)