Raw Like Sushi

Of course everything always starts with a murder.. Happy New Year...It's Philadelphia and once again...a dead body is lying on the street......Happy New Year....Welcome to Kiladelphia...as our fair city is nicknamed...

Me? My name is Kevin Morris...I'm a private investigator on my spare time and sometimes part time when I'm not running my multi-media business, Morris Communications, of which I had been running peacefully for the past month or so without a case....

Going home every night on time to my wife, Sepia and our daughter, Kimberly...

Life had been good....As I said, coming home every night on time, eating dinner, playing with our baby until she was fast asleep and then making sweet love to Sepia, into the wee hours of the morning and getting up, both of us going to work and doing it all over again...

Life has been good...Life is always good until it isn't....

I stood and watched the Crime Scene Investigators snapping photos of the dead man lying on the curb and his driver...also dead, in the car, behind the wheel...

I had met both of these men , briefly last month in an encounter that had almost turned deadly, but didn't...With the help of my friend, Walter "Kool Kat" Jones...

, the element of surprise and superior weaponry...We had talked gangster , Walter Becker and his aide...the man sitting behind the wheel of this car with two slugs in his head and a seat full of blood pouring out of his head...and lifeless eyes still staring into nothingness out of a pre-Christmas shootout...

We convinced them that my last client, Elwood Barnes was not responsible for having his whorehouse raided....They both walked away and not a shot was fired...

Not by us, at least....Here it was a few weeks into the new year and Walter Becker, reputed to have a package on the street (Heroin) that several drug organizations were buying from him as well as some girls on the corner lie on the pavement in a pool of blood, three shots to the chest and two to the head....

Lt. Sissy Van Buren, Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace, James "Jimmy" Barlow and Tyriq Pile were staring at his lifeless corpse, while Forensic Investigator, Dr. Hazel Baylor examined the body....

"Kevin, I called you because you had a recent case that involved this man.." said Sissy...

"I did...but I found him to be quite reasonable...We were able to work out our differences and walk away without uh any unpleasentries...I found him to be quite reasonable." I said.

Detective James "Jimmy Barlow laughed..."Walter Becker, reasonable??? I could think of a lot of adjectives for this guy , but reasonable isn't one.." he laughed..

''Well I knd of had him out numbered and out gunned and it was the Christmas Holidays and being that and all...He saw the folly of his argument and we uh shook hands on it and he and this poor fellow in the car here agreed and walked away..."I said.

Detective Tyriq Pile smiled...

"Yeah, that sounds more like it Kev." he said.

"He took three gunshots to the chest and two to the head.....He died almost instantly...He was coming out of that Wine and Spirits store when he got it." said Dr. Hazel Baylor....

Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace stood up....She had on latex gloves and had been observing the body...

"This was definitely a hit." she said...

"And your business with him was complete Kevin?" asked Sissy...

"Oh yeah...He thought my client was responsible for that old Hotel he had recently acquired being raided...I convinced him that my client was innocent...knew nothing about it."I said.

Sissy smiled...She didn't know all of the details, but she knew that I had put the police on to that Hotel as well as given them information on who had killed a man named Stephen Harkey, a crooked lawyer who had set up the deal with Becker...and aced this man out of the deal....

"So Becker owned that Hotel?" asked Sissy...

"Yeah....He kidnapped my client...Who also was somewhat involved , though not directly because he thought he gave the place up to the police...I convinced him that my client was innocent.."I said.

''Without of course telling him that it was you who put us on that house right Kev?" said Duke..who was laughing...

''Right...He had made his money and more off of it....So knowing that...and-" I said.

"AND IT BEING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS AND ALL!" said both Detective Angela Belton-Barlow and Sissy in unison, smiling at me...

"And like I said, Superior firepower and all...He called a truce and we all walked away....No Harm, No foul...I gave you guys the real murderer and case closed..." I said.

''Which brings us to today..."said Sissy ,staring down at his dead ,bullet riddled body..

"Word is..he had a package Siss, a hot package that 10-12 different drug organizations were buying off of him and he had women and a little juice on the streets...This looks like somebody made a move on him to me." I said..

"Hmmmm yes...I'm guessing you're right." said Sissy...

"We had been watching him for awhile now...we hadn't gathered enough intell to make a case just yet...Now ,I guess we don't have to." said Detective Sirena Pile...

"I'm going to put a team on the street cam and the ATM Cam across the street as well as the camera in the Wine and Spirits store...We may find something.." said Detective Tony Hopkins...

"I'm going to have some guys check these dumpsters and the sewers for the next few blocks and streets over." said Carlotta...

''We'll get some bloodhounds on it..."said Detective Tyriq Pile.

"I took some witness statements...They say it was two guys in jeans and sneakers...They were wearing hoodies...Nobody got a facial....

but were driving a tan sedan with tinted windows....Parked across that street." said Jimmy...

"They waited for Becker to come out and they popped him and his driver..."I said...It wasn't very difficult to figure that out...

"Which means there is a new playa in town....Guys, check all of your informants...Find out who is holding the package now..."said Sissy....Who then looked at me...

"Kevin...I sure wish you were one of my detectives...." she said.

"Siss, you got eight very capable people there....They'll get to the bottom of this..."I said.

''Well if you hear anything..." she said...

''Siss, don't I always?" I said and hugged her...Her body was so soft and so round and she smelled so good...I almost didn't want to let go...

She kissed me softly....

"I'll talk to you later friend..." she said..

"Of course...I'll see what I can dig up for you." I said.

"Hazel, release the body.." said Angie..

"Okay guys, let's wrap this up." said Hazel...

We all watched as the two bodies were picked up ,put in drab gray body bags and put on a stretcher...

I admit..Last month, I thought that one day I might be going up against Walter Becker again....Looks like I wouldn't be...I didn't know if that was good news or bad news... I wished my friends...Sissy and her detectives good luck..

II-

I was back at my office, attending to the business of Morris Communications...I might go and have a drink with Kool Kat or Pink and find out the latest happenings in the street tonight after work or maybe tomorrow, but the fate of a dead gangster wasn't my top priority now...

Sean Jackson , my ace and Chief of Staff here had won several awards for his documentary "Puddin and Panties" The William Crawley Jr. story....He and his wife Sheila were returning...My assistant Harry Charles and I were scheduled to visit the new recording studio we had just bought with Producer and studio head, Meek Rollins.....

I also had to check on the Digital Magazine and Newspaper sales....Our Podcasts and Blogs and our Music streaming service....

I was busy today...So when a well dressed man walked into my office unannounced...I had no choice but to look up...

He was thin and wore glasses.....

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I hope you can....I had to come see you directly...."he said and looked around.....

"Is this room secure?" he asked..

I got up and closed the door...

"Yes...you look troubled...What's going on?" I asked...

"I'm assistant Warden, Jonah Crump from.....Green Hill State Prison." he said.

"Green Hill? You're a long way from home pal.." I said.

Green Hill State Prison was called.."The Land of Hard Luck" It was a maximum security prison where the states most desperate and violent criminals were housed..It also is where the State's new Death Row was housed....Half of the inmates here were condemned men...Sentenced to die for murder...

"You're a Private Investigator...I need to hire you....I NEED your services.." he said.

"Really? For what? What can I help you with in that prison?" I asked..

"It's not in the prison,it's what is happening in the prison and outside!....There is an inmate there....Robert Thornton...You may have heard of him..." he said.

"Bob "Big Butt " Thornton...Yes, I know him, he's serving a life sentence..."I said..

"He has taken control of the prison...." said Jonah...

 "Control? What do you mean?" I said..

"I can't prove it...but word is that he's getting Heroin, High grade Herion, Oxi cotin, Cocaine ,Meth...Fenatoyl...You name it brought to him and he is selling it, distributing it throughout the prison...He has so much influence that he is now in a single cell...Has cable television, Internet capabilities and meals of his choosing brought in to him....at his whim,  He's got a group of inmates who guard him around the clock and even some of the guards are on the take.. We've had several overdoses in the past month and we don't know where the inmates are getting the drugs...Well, we can't prove where they're getting the drugs...We know!" he said...

"You need to go to the FBI about this or the State Police..."I said.

"I can't.....He's got people on the outside watching everything....My life is in danger just being here...I took three cabs and changed several times and then walked here to make sure I was safe..."he said.

"Why did you come to me?" I asked..

"You busted him when you were NCIS...and again, you help put him behind bars as a Private Detective...You know him the best...You're the only one who can tie a can to his tail and stop him..." he said..

''What about the Warden?" I asked..

"He's got something on the Warden....The Warden is either corrupt or scared to death...I don't know..I had a few days of vacation coming to me, so I took it...I came here..." he said..

He passed me an envelope...It had 5G's in it...

"This is for me?" I said.

"Yes....Help us..." he said.

"So you say he's running the prison...He's got a package huh?  You think that package is coming from here huh?" I said...

"I did a little snooping...His point man was a Philadelphia playa named Walter Becker...Becker is selling his package to a lot of dealers on the outside...and he was propping Bob "Big Butt" Thornton up in the prison...but Becker is dead and his new point man is a recently released inmate named "Dice Raw.." he said.

I smiled..

"Dice Raw?" I said..

''Don't laugh...He's a Psychopath named... Daryl Rawlins....His cousins are Raif Collins and Charlie Collins..Stone cold killer."he said..

"Oh yeah,I know them well...Raif Collins is dead....and Charlie Collins is in custody..."I said.

"No Charlie Collins is dead...He couldn't take all that time he got...He got hit with 25 years....He hung himself last year....This Dice Raw...he blames you for his cousins being in custody and being dead...He 's never met you,but he hates you with a passion..." said Crump....

''So what does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"I believe Dice Raw killed Becker and took over his package and is the new power on the streets here....He's Bob "Big Butt "Thornton's new point man on the outside...Thornton even has girls brought in to service him and his lieutenants...All of that was supplied by Becker...Now supplied by Dice Raw...I just couldn't watch it anymore..." he said.

"So you took a leave of absence and came to me huh?" I said.

"You're the common denominator....You put all these guys on ice...You're the only one who isn't afraid of them....Please help us...break the hold this Bob "Big Butt" Thornton has on the prison...please...." he said.

"Okay client...Where are you staying?" I asked..

"I'm staying at a hotel in South Philly...Under an assumed name..." he said..

"Okay...I'll call you a cab...Give me a number and an address where I can reach you...You won't go out from the front...There is back exit..."I said..

I called Clerow and Owen Todd....

An hour later, they pulled up in back of our building...

He looked around...

"Hey these aren't cab drivers?" he said..

"They work for me and they're armed...They'll take you where you want to go....Nobody will follow them and nobody will see you leaving out the back of this building....You can trust them....I'll be in touch.." I said..

"Thank you Mister Kevin...Thank you ." he said.

He was scared to death..He was shaking and looking around constantly....I didn't know who this Dice Raw person was...but I was going to get to know him!

III-

At that very moment, my good friend, the man known as Pink was having a drink in a downtown bar known as Roxy's.....

He was buying a drink for a big breasted woman...(The type he liked ) named Hilda..

"Ouuuu Pinkie baby...I likes a man like you....A man who aint afraid to spend money on a girl.." she said..

Pink smiled sheepishly...He was already imagining Hilda with no clothes on in his bed...

"Come on girl, let's get out of here and go do the funky chicken..."he said...

"Ummmmmmm okayyyy...I thought you'd never ask." she said..

"SOME OTHER TIME....BEAT IT!" came a voice...

Pink turned around....

"Heyyyyy What's up Dice?  You bein kinda rude there...." he said jokingly....

Dice Raw slapped him in the face , Pink went to get up, but Dice Raw punched him in the stomach and clocked him with a left right combonation that sent Pink to the floor..

Hilda leaped up...

"Pink, ughhh...I'll see you later..." she said and ran for all she was worth...Several people in the crowd  moved away.....

Dice Raw was about six foot three...Athletic build, Dark Skinned with a nicely shaved head and an earing in his left ear...He moved like a boxer...

Pink got up off the floor...His mouth was bleeding and so was his nose..His stomach hurt...

"Hey Dice..what's the idea? What I ever do to you? he asked...

"Gimme your phone.." Dice Raw demanded...

"What?" asked Pink..

Dice Raw slugged him so hard that he cracked a rib....He then knocked Pink back to the floor again..Now Pink's head was bleeding profusely and his nose was bleeding more..

Dice went in his pocket and took his phone and checked his last phone call...

"Uh Huh...So Kevin Morris is meeting you here huh?" he said.

Pink didn't answer...

Dice Ray kicked him again..

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed...in anguish...

"I hear that you run your mouth a lot...Not just to him, but to certain cops...I got a message for him...Tell Him Dice Raw is comin for him...He won't know when or how...but I'm comin for him " he said and pulled his gun out...He was going to shoot Dice Raw in the knee cap when he heard the click of a gun behind him...

It was the Bouncer...

"Both of you get the hell out of here...Or I'm callin the cops.." he yelled..

Dice Raw smiled...

"I'm goin...My business is done here " he said and tossed two twenties on the bar...

"That's for his drinks..." he said.  "You owe me forty bucks Pink ,ahahahahahahahahaha" he laughed Maniacally...and then smashed Pink's phone..

IV-

I arrived  just in time to see them loading a bloody Pink on the stretcher and toting him to the Ambulance..

"Pink man, what happened..?" I asked.

He could barely talk....He was breathing heavily....

"Kevin...ughhhhhhhhhhh, it's this guy ,Dice Raw....he broke my ribs and my nose man...He said to tell you ,ughhhhhhhhhh that he's coming for you...ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." he said..

"Okay...Okay Pink, don't say nothin.....be easy babe....I got your hospital bill man, don't even worry..." I said.

Pink was one of the coolest ,most likable playas in the game..Oh I was going to find this Dice Raw fella alright and make him pay....not just by putting him in jail, but by taking him down...hard....You could make bank on that!

(TO BE CONTINUED)