John From Cincinatti

I don't know what it was about rooftop bistros now of days...but in the past few months..My  wife Sepia, A Realtor  and I,Kevin Morris...Entreprenuer and sometimes Private Investigator,

seemed to be eating at quite a few of them...Mulberry Street of course for good jazz and good southern cusine..(Soul Food) if you will....Stephen Bristol's joint..Skybox...Smooth Jazz and Acid Jazz and Hip Hop...(They actually contracted with my music streaming service)..Then there was Rollie Rollerson's rooftop joint a few months back when he had that disasterous pre- wedding party...In which his fiance ,later turned out to be a transgendered woman, who had been born a man...and wound up getting herself blackmailed as well as murdered...in my last caper.. and now this place...

A new rooftop bistro called the Stratosphere..That my friend and my one time client...Jean Stevens had told us about and invited us to...

Jean Stevens had been in the middle of a case I had investigated almost four years ago...She had become a friend since then,like most of my clients.. Jean Stevens was a very attractive young woman...I was pleasently surprised when I visited her that first time...I expected a spinster....She was anything but that.....A divorcee, with a grown son and daughter in college...She lived alone...

At the time of my initial investigation...Jean Stevens had been educated in Philadelphia public schools, had gotten a bachelors at Drexel University, majoring in Chemistry and had then gotten a Masters at Howard University....She was married and lived in D.C. where she gave birth to a son, then 22, now 26 attending Howard ..He has since graduated and is married and living somewhere in this area. and a daughter, 25 ,attending Morgan State...She too is now a graduate and living close by..Married ,and expecting her first child I believe jean told us...

Jean divorced her kids father about twelve years ago and returned to Philadelphia when her mother died...Her father moved in with her... Her father retired from his government job with a pretty decent pension and had been lucky with the stock market and came into some more money....I investigated his murder, which was how I met Jean in the first place....Her fathers killers were living in the sub-basement of a property my wife and her partner,Bonita Foxworth were preparing for sale.It was one of my more memorable cases...I worked on it with Sissy and her detectives.

Jean, who worked for a Pharmecutical company was making a modest salary..She had gotten involved with another former client of mine, Millionaire Playboy ,Rollie Rollerson.. after the case...Not the best move for her...but...That was none of my business.

Her relationship with Rollie Rollerson had come to an abrupt end..after  a rather public break up in Josie's about two years ago.....The skirt chasing Millionaire had been caught with a young girl in a rather uncompromising position and Jean had splashed him with champaigne...Shipped his clothes back to him and told him not to try and contact her ever again...

Rollie had been carrying a torch for Jean ever since...We always want what we can't have...He had gotten involved with Genviere Payton...who fooled him and everybody,including me.. They were days away from marriage when Genviere was murdered ,ironically by her/his wife in another lifetime,Salima Payton.. and her fingerprints revealed that she had been born John Payton and had had a sex change about 12 years before.

Rollie had been in deep therapy since then...

Tonight in this fabulous place...Rollie Rollerson was the last thing on anybody's mind...

"Jean this place is fabulous.." said Sepia..

"Yeah,I gotta hand it to you..How did you find this place?" I asked.

"My man is a partner in this enterprise.." she said beaming with pride as she looked at the slender ,well dressed man sitting with us...

He was about a little older than me, but still younger than Jean...Brown skinned, well dressed and polished and wearing a nice fresh, sweet smelling fragrance..

"I'm John Good from Cincinatti...Pleased to meet you Kevin and your lovely wife, Sepia.."he said..

"Pleased to meet you John..."I said.

''Same here.."said Sepia.

"So Kevin...I hear you're a  ,uhh Media Mogul huh?" he said..

"I wouldn't call myself a mogul...but my company published about five magazines....both hard copy and digitally and I have a radio station, a television station and a music streaming service..."I said.

"Oh Kevin, you are too modest...I heard from Jean that you recently bought a Recording Studio and is now a partner in a small record label.."said John...

"Yeah...Uh that was to help a friend of mine, Meek Rollins....A producer..kind of stay afloat..He produces a lot of local talent around here.."I said.

"You're my kind of man Kevin... We need to get together and talk business sometimes.." he said smiling a killowatt grin...A grin that seemed phony to me...

"So you're a partner in this establishment huh?" I said.

"Uh Ruh Yes...I just recently acquired it.." he said..

Why was it..I didn't believe him? I didn't say anything though....

We had easily drank well over $150 dollars worth of Beer and Liquor between the four of us...

II-

Jean was such a nice person...I was just hoping that she wasn't being taken in by yet another bad man...

"Excuse me....After all of this drinking...The little girl's room calls."said Jean ,smiling...

 "Yeah, I think the little boys room is calling me too...Excuse me folks."I said as I got up...

What Sepia would tell me later confirmed the uneasiness I had about this John from Cincinatti...

He sat there with Sepia and smiled..Almost salaciously..

"Soooooooooooooo you and uh Kevin..Married huh?" he asked.

"Yes.." she said.

"How long?" he asked.

"Five years..." she said.,

She said she felt as if he were checking her out..

''Any kids?" he asked.

''Yes..We have a daughter...She's 14 months.."said Sepia..

"Hmmmm, I know Kevin enjoyed making that baby with you." he said.....

It seemed an odd thing to say....Sepia felt a little uncomfortable.

"You're in uh Real Estate too huh?" he asked...

"Yes.. I sold Jean her present house.."said Sepia..

"And a nice house it is.... I live there with Jean you know.." he said.

"Yes..She told us..." said Sepia..

"Perhaps...I can see you if I'm uh ready to buy a place of my  own..."he said..

"Perhaps...." she said.

"You know...Jean is going to uh be out of town next Saturday...On a day trip...Business...I'm not going..uh perhaps you might want to stop by for a few minutes..." he said.

"Oh to uh show you our portfolio...Some houses we have for sale?" said Sepia..

"Well we can do that for starters.....then uh maybe we can uh get a little cozier...You feel me?" he said looking at her salaciously.

''What are you talking about?" asked Sepia..

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." he said.

"Why would I want to do that?" asked Sepia...

"Come on, you're a big girl..You know how these things work..I can be discreet...."he said.

"I'm married..Happily married..And aren't you Jean's man?" asked Sepia..

"I am..but uh I'm not married or engaged..." he said laughing..

"BUT I AM...AND YOU KNOW THAT!!!"said Sepia.

"Look..I-I'm sorry if I said anything untowards...If you're not with it...It's cool...I meant no harm..uh let's just forget about it okay? Let's just forget about it... Waiter!  Another drink for the lady..Anything she wants.." he said, smiling that kilowat smile of his..

III-

Jean and I returned around the same time...

John smiled...

"Hmmm..Both of you back at the same time...Was something going on between you two?" he laughed...

I looked at him like he was crazy, but said nothing..Why would he say something like that? I wondered.

Sepia looked a little agitated...She glared at John as if she wanted to choke him...She sat in my lap and put her arms around my neck and her head in my chest...

John smirked....

''Ahhhh somebody has had enough...I don't blame you girl...My head is a little woozy too." said Jean..

"I'm a little tired Kevin Honey.."said Sepia...

I looked at my watch , it was a little after 11:00 pm..

Just then a familiar figure walked over to our table..It was Rollie Rollerson..

''Kevin...Sepia..Hello Jean..."It was Rollie Rollerson..

 "Hello Rollie, how are you doing?" said Jean..Surprisingly, there was no rancor in her voice..She had forgiven him...She like everybody else had heard about him almost marrying the Transgender Genviere Payton, who was murdered before the secret of who she actually was got out..While a lot of people were laughing, Jean actually felt sorry for Rollie.

"I'm doing well.." he said.

"Hey Rollie...You look good man.." I said.

"Heyyy Rollie..How you doin?" said Sepia..

"Rollerson eh?  Aren't you Jean's ex? The one that almost married a he/she?"said John, guffawing....

Nobody laughed...Soon he realized he was the only one laughing and he stopped...

Jean was embarrassed by what John had said..

I looked at Sepia...

She looked enraged ,like she wanted to strangle John...This was strange.....Something must have happened....

"Rollie, this is uh my friend, John Good, a businessman from Cincinatti....Don't mind him...He's been drinking a lot and the alcohol has relieved him of his senses a bit." she said ,cutting John an angry look..

"No problem...Well...I won't bother you folks...I was just out tonight and I read in the papers that this is the hot spot in town...Should of known you'd be here Jean...You know all of the hot spots.."said Rollie.

"Yeah...she knows a man from a woman and vice versa."said John ,laughing at his own joke...

On that note....I said..

''Well...We are going to be leaving...This is a beautiful place...We'll have to come back...Thank you Jean for inviting us."I said.

''Yes...Thank you Jean..."said Sepia, glaring angrilly at John, who now looked a little uncomfortable..

''Oh Anytime...Anytime..Kevin,Sepia.."said Jean...

No one said anything to John..

IV-

Sepia and I walked toward the parking lot...To our surprise...We saw Rollie.

 "Hey Morris's..." said Rollie..

"Hey Rollie man...I'm sorry about that guy...Like Jean said...He's been drinking...and in some people it causes them to run off at the mouth a bit." I said.

"I'm not worried about that clown...I am worried about Jean though..."said Rollie.

"I am too Rollie...Kevin honey..I didn't want to say anything inside or in front of Jean....but that Joker tried to hit on me...While you two were gone.." said Sepia..

''WHAT? Really?" I said..

"Yeah, he asked me how long we were married ,if we had any kids...then he told me that Jean would be away for a day trip and that he wasn't going and that if I'd like I should stop by for an hour or two...I handled it...Don't worry about him."said Sepia...

''I'll be damned." I said.

"Jean doesn't need a guy like that...She can't get up to go to the ladies room without him making a move oh her guest....I mean,I know I'm not perfect...I've chased a skirt or two...but not like that...not right in her face...She deserves better than that crumb..."said Rollie..

"Like you huh Rollie?" I said and smiled..

"You still love her don't you Rollie?? Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.."said Sepia.

"I've never stopped thinking about her....Especially after I messed up..."he said..."I feel like a drink...but I can't drink in there with that clown John....Where is he from anyway?" asked Rollie.

"Cincinatti....He lives here now...with Jean.." said Sepia.

''And he owns this joint." I said.

''What? ...Nooooooooooooo.. I know the owner...Jay Robinson....A friend of mine..."said Rollie.

''Well, he claims he's a partner in this business..."I said.

''Criminny...I won't be drinkin in there anymore."said Rollie...

''That makes two of us Rollie."said Sepia.

"Come on..Let's go home.."I said..As we all walked to our cars....

John from Cincinatti had made an impression on us...It wasn't a good one....I worried about Jean too!

(TO BE CONTINUED)