Recover And Remember

I lie in hospital room...with intravenous needles in my arms...I didn't know it was going to be like this..I thought I would drink something...and that would be it..

But that's television...

 Doc Gibbons had gotten the antidote even faster than Hazel's which was still hours away...The Buttermilk had sustained me and now I was resting peacefully as the fluids were going into my veins...

Hazel and Doc Gibbons were in the room with the Doctors the whole time...I was given an anesthetic that put me into the most peaceful sleep I'd had in ages..

Kool Kat, my buddy since childhood...Was there, with Sepia. and my daughter..

This Big scary gangster, who had and still could put the fear of god into many a man with just a look was sitting there with tears coming from his eyes..

''Come on Kev, you gotta make it man...Who will I run the streets with? Who will I have as much fun and laughs with..?Come on man..." he said..

Gus, the bartender and owner of Josie's..My Father's best friend, who had been like a father to me, walked in and sat down...He put his arm around Sepia..

''Don't you worry none...He's gonna be fine...He's a tough kid...Always has been.." said Gus..

Honey Brown came in...She didn't say a word...She sat with Gus and Sepia and Kool Kat...trying hard to hold back tears...

II-

Sepia sat quietly...She rocked Kimberly back and forth...Tears were streaming down her eyes too..

As I slept, I dreamed about our first meeting...

Sepia also had a blog...It was called "Sexalicious" and she blogged about her sexual exploits and her lovelife quite a bit.I would often leave a humorous comment on her posts.
She and I began e-mailing each other aside from the blogs and that led to text messaging and actual conversations on the phone. She lived in Jersey and I invited her to come to Philly, so we
could actually meet and she agreed. This was to be the beginning of a bizzarre series of events
in my life.

I waited at 30th Street station for what seemed like forever that Saturday...Sepia's train was late...I walked over to Auntie Annie's and got myself a Pretzel and some lemonade...I browsed around in the Bookstore and looked at the latest magazines and newspapers. There was my Magazine- HYPE, with my cover story on Kanye West....I bought a copy...It would be something to talk about.

There she was... A vision of lovlinesss...She was about five foot three, built very well and wearing some jeans that looked like they had been painted on her...she filled those jeans up quite
well. She was wearing a nice print top and I could see that she had just recently had her hair braided. She had on some black stilletto heels that made her appear a little taller than she actually was.

"So you're Kevin..." she said.

"And you must be Sepia?" I countered.

"JoAnne is my government name, but "Sepia" is the name I blog with."
she said in a dead pan way that didn't even resemble a smile.

I asked her if she was hungry and she said not particularly, but she could use a bit to eat..which
meant to my way of thinking that she was hungry. Why do people always front on first dates?
I had my magazine's Visa card on me, So we walked a little ways to a new eatery called RAE's
that was located near the train station.

 She had Baked Salmon and white rice with String Beans, while I treated myself to a New York Strip Steak and a Baked potato.

"Are there any record stores nearby..I'd like to pick up some CD's...that girl Jazmine Sullivan is hot and I want Raphael Saddiq and Eric Benet.." she said.

"Wow , you have good musical tastes..I see we are going toget along just fine. There is a FYE downtown....I can take you there..My car is in the lot."

"Okay,that'll be great, then you and I can just kick it...we can go wherever you want to go." she said..

"That'll be just great..I know a nice spot called Sadikiin Mt. Airy we can go to later on for dinner and a club
called North by Northwest , near there where we can go dancing."I said..

"Hold on Player, that sounds great for tomorrow...but I've been riding the train from East Orange and I'd like to go someplace quiet tonight and just chill...you know any places like that player.?"she said..She was so street back then...She still kind of is..

A broad smile crossed my face, this was my kind of girl...I didn't really feel like dancing...I wanted to chill..I am the king of chill.. Then her phone rang....

 She was getting a text message. She read it and her face went blank...

"Is something wrong?" I asked.....

"I just got a call from my girlfriend in East Orange.."she said.

"Anything wrong?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, a girl we both know named Opal was found dead.....I think I'm in a lot of trouble..."she said..Whatever trouble she was in...I knew I wanted to help her..

"What kind of trouble?" I asked......

"I think the killer is after me ." she said.

"That happened in East Orange...You're safe here ." I said.

"Her body was found here...The killer has followed me to Philly." she said.

I was stunned...and didn't exactly know what to say or do....

And that was it...That was the beginning...where all this Private Investigator stuff began....For me, with her..

III-

Walter "Kool Kat " Jones...My Ace, My Buddy since childhood..We had always had each other's backs..I called him in when things called for his expertise..He was a big six foot four and imposing man who carried a big gun....A great guy to have at your side ,when you needed to make a point..

Walter "Kool Kat" Jones was at least six foot four or five, heavily muscled and bald as cue ball..he wore dark shades at all times and dressed to the nines. At one time, he was a driver and an enforcer for a Big time playa named Ernie Lubbers...He collected for him and if needed, silenced the opposition.
Ernie and his people began to think that maybe "Kool Kat" was talking to the police. He wasn't..but in that world ,all it takes is for someone to think you're snitching and you could be gone. Ernie's Second in command...A guy named Lumbly called Kool Kat into his office for a meeting one night. Another guy named Jack "No pants" Lake was also there. While Kool Kat and Lumbly were talking...Jack Lake excused himself...walked into the bathroom and came out with a .22 caliber handgun. He shot Kool Kat in the head two times...
To everyone's astonishment, Kool Kat didn't die...He hit the floor, then got up...grabbed Jack Lake...took the gun from him and threw it across the room and then ripped his pants off completely and tossed him across the room like he was a peice of paper in the wind. He then turned to Lumbly who was so frightened..he pulled out his own gun, put it to his head and killed himself.
Then, bleeding profusely..Kool Kat caught the bus and rode to the hospital where he collapsed.
He survived and once out of the hospital..he went hunting for Ernie Lubbers....Ernie Lubbers wisely caught the fastest thing smoking out of Philadelphia and that was that. Kool Kat got out of the game after that....I didn't know what he did for a living, but he was always dressed nice and always had a nice car and a nice lady on his arm.

"Kevin.....I done come into some money." he said to me.

"Money? You? What kind of money Kool Kat?" I said.

"Aint you heard? I hit the lotto last week for 12 mill..." he said.

Sean's eyes popped open....I looked at Kool Kat in disbelief......

"Yeah man...12 million after taxes.." he laughed.

"And you drinkin in this joint?" asked Sean.

"Well..Where am I supposed to drink? You drink in a place you know." he said.

I looked at Sean and shook my head in agreement.

"Well man....I'm happy for you...but you oughta keep that quiet..you shouldn't be telling everybody." I said.

"Kev, who got the balls to try and rob me?" he said.

It was a true statement, he was big and he was tough and he had survived two bullets to the dome....Nobody I knew wanted to tangle with Kool Kat.

"Well ,what you gonna do? With all that cash, I mean?" I asked.

"Well, I was talking to Chris Thompson and his boy Chess the other day...and I'm thinkin bout retiring to Puerto Rico...gettin away from all this." he said.

"That's a good idea Kool Kat." I said.


But he didn't retire..He stayed in Philly and he came to work for me..After I bailed him out of some big trouble..


When I got to the West Philly housing projects where Beverly lived...I could already hear the bed squeaking and lots of loud noises coming from her room...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH gooood lawwwwdddd, you puttin it on me daddy,ohhhhhhhhh."

"Ohhhhhh come on woman, give me more...give me morrrreeee...ummmmmph..."

"Ouuuuuuu....Kooooool Kattttttt...ohhhhhhh give mama some mo ..oohhhhhhhh tell mama where you got all of that money stashed baby..ohhhhhhhhh...oohhhhh I'm losing my mind in here...ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness...ouuuuuuuuuu..."

Just as I was going to set up..I saw two young guys in jeans, t-shirts and hooded jackets...loading
pistols and heading toward the building where Kool Kat and Beverly were consumating their " love." I was getting ready to head across the street when I felt cold steel on my neck.

"Uh,Uh,Uh...Don't move anymore....I might get nervous...might shoot you." came the voice that I had come to know so well...It was Fiddler...I was a fool for not bringing along at least one person to watch my back.

"So you're the one who's been watching over Kool Kat eh? You must be pretty good...Took down my men and took down Domingo....I figured you might wind up here...I don't know how or where you been gettin your information....but that comes to an end...Now march....I'm gon let you watch my boys kill Kool Kat...then unfortunately I'm gone kill you...but don't worry, it'll be quick
and painless...I respect you...you're good...This aint personal kid..it's just business." he laughed.

We heard a woman screaming ...then we heard a succession of shots....Poor Kool Kat...his luck had
finnally run out I thought. I had to find a way to bluff this guy and get away somehow...but how.
I heard the sound of things being broken, then saw one of the guys come sailing through the window....The door came off the hinges and the other hitman came flying through the doorway.

Fiddler and I had our mouths wide open...We couldn't believe it.....Then I heard a gunshot!

''Arggggggggh.....I don't beleive it....I've been shot."said Fiddler as he fell to the ground behind me.

I looked behind me and Fathead's chief enforcer, Roscoe looked at me and smiled..."What's shakin Kev?" he said as he tossed his gun into the sewer and got in his car and pulled off.
The two would be hitters had gotten up, brushed themselves off and ran for all they were worth.

Kool Kat came to the door in his Boxers and a stocking cap. He saw me and he saw the dead body of his cheif rival, Fiddler lying behind me...He laughed and shook his head...

"Damn Kev...you are one lethal SOB...."

I didn't crack a smile....Kool Kat went back in the room and emerged a few minutes later in his clothes...Beverly came to the door in her white sheer nightgown cooing at Kool Kat...

 "Baby don't leave...don't leave me like this....Fiddler dead, they gone....now we can really get down to business in peace." she cooed.

"Yeah...maybe some other time." He said as walked with me to my car.

" Take this key and go to the bus station tomorrow and go to this post office box...I left
you something for your troubles...Hahahahahahaha, you come through for a brother....I owe you
big time man." He said as we embraced.

 He had left me close to one million dollars..To start a business , to buy a new house..Whatever..I kept it until I was ready to buy the company I presently own...some years later...by that time the interest alone had almost doubled it...Kool Kat has been my main man ever since..

IV-

While Sepia and Kimmie sat in the lobby....A very familiar face walked in...It was Lt. Sissy Van Buren, the top cop on the block as I called her..

"How is he?" she said, hugging Sepia and kissing Kimberly...

"You knew?" asked Sepia..

"Your husband used to say that the only things in this city I didn't know about was the things he didn't tell me yet.." she said and laughed...

''Crazy guy...He should have told me he was in trouble..All the guys are pulling for him." she said..

Hazel and Doc Gibbons walked out...

"He's going to be fine..That Buttermilk we gave him nullified the effects and now that the antidote is in him , we expect a full recovery....He's going to be weak for awhile..but I imagine in the next twenty four hours..He'll be his old self again..." said Hazel.

"I just talked to the doctors Mrs. Morris..Your husband will be as good as new in a day or so...Tell him to take it easy and watch what he eats and drinks....or rather ,who he eats and drinks with." said Doc Gibbons with a smile..

"I certainly will..."said Sepia..

"I'm just glad he's alright..." said Sissy...

She and I had been through so much together...More than even Kool Kat..She had always had my back..

Sissy smiled , remembering a time, when we first worked together..

"Hi....I'm Lt.Sissy Van Buren....You probably remember me from that business with Rollie Rollerson." she said.

"Yes..Uh...I remember you, but ah , what are you doing here?" I asked.

"You called the police...You said that you had information on Charles Butcher....the drug kingpin..." she said.

"Yeah!  You guys should have gotten a package...a package with video and audio tape of him and his dealers not only doing business, but talking about drug deals." I said.

"We got it...We arrested 25 of his dealers and we got the warehouse...picked up 14 people there and enough dope and coke to juice the city....I don't want to guess at how you got that information, but it was good information....The new Assistant D.A. ..a guy named Keith Wallace...says it was the bust of the century...He's prosecuting the whole gang." she said.

"Yeah...Well Butcher and his main man, His connect, Ali Hassan are supposed to meet here...I called Lt. Tragg...Why isn't he here?" I asked.

"Uh...let me put this mildly Kevin...Lt. Tragg doesn't exactly like you that much...He doesn't like most P.I.'s and people like you who are un-licensced who kind of do this for a hobby....He really doesn't like." she said.

"But You...You do like me right?" I said with a smile. I was kind of checking her out...She looked too good to be a cop...She looked like she should be a model or an actress or something...

"Let's not go that far...." she said.

"I gave you guys good information." I protested.

''You did...That's why I'm here..You know....I checked you out...You were a NCIS Investigator when you were in the military...Cracked all kinds of cases,Drugs, Murder, Rape,assaults...You were pretty good..You left the military, used the G.I. Bill to go to college and now you write and edit that magazine....You should be on the force..I could use a good detective....You're smart, you seem to know your business." she said.

"It's a thought....I don't know...Anything could happen." I said.

"Well, at best...Get your P.I. licensce....Then when we talk to each other...At least it will be somewhat legitimate..." she said and smiled for the first time.  I noticed how pretty she actually was when she smiled.

''Look...If Lt. Tragg doesn't like me that's fine....He aint exactly my favorite person in the world either with his smelly cigars and his attitude....but you Lieutenant?? You and I could work well together...Why don't you give me your number?" I said.

" Hold on player, I know that you live with somebody....The young lady, whose mother was convicted for that string of murders." she said.

"I didn't mean it like that...I mean, I want a direct line to you....In the line of work I do, I hear things....From time to time,I'll give you a line on drug dealers, stick up crews, fences....all of the playas...and I'll send stuff to you...Help you out...You in turn help me out....Show me how to get that P.I. License....Deal?" I said.

"Deal." she said.  "How come you want to work with me?  I wasn't very nice to you during that Olivia Rockland/Rollie Rollerson case." she said.

"I'm willing to let by gones be by gones if you are....Plus I sense we are kindrid spirits....of a kind...You want a good collar and you realize that since the bad guys don't play fair...sometimes we good guys have to bend the law a bit too ,for the greater good." I said...She smiled warmly again...

"For the greater good...." she said.  "We have a deal Mr. Kevin...Stop by my office tomorrow...Bring me coffee..I like two creams, four sugars.." she said. 

"Two creams....four sugars....got it." I said.

"Sooooo, tell me about this young lady you live with....How did  that come about?" she asked.

"Her name is Jo-Anne...she goes by the name Sepia...We had corresponded for years and we finally met and it seemed like every time we had a chance to be together ,bodies kept falling...That was kind of like my first case....It was her mother!!!....Her mother found out that she and her daughter were sleeping with the same guy and her mother systematically wiped out all of this guy's girlfriends...He was next before I intervened. It's complicated." I said.

''Wow...So you cracked the case....And daughter still decides to live with you, despite the fact you put her mom away for life?  That's something!" said Sissy.

"Yeah....I'm something....but I'd been talking to this woman for a few years...I kind of felt like I knew her,like she was a kindred spirit." I said.

"You Love her?" asked Sissy.

"I do." I said.

"She know it?"

"I think she does....She's from North Jersey....She had no job, all her friends are dead....So I told her she could stay with me until she found a job, got on her feet." I said. 

"That was a year ago....She working?" asked Sissy.

"Yeah." I said.

"But she's still with you" she said.

"I told her she could stay if she wanted to..." I said.

"You wanted her to stay." said Sissy.

''Yeah,I did..." I confessed

"True Love huh?" laughed Sissy.

"It is what it is." I said.

"Is there a future?" asked Sissy.

''I'm thinkin of asking her to marry me soon." I said.

''I like that.....That you admit you love her...I'm starting to think of you differently...You're actually a real good guy Mr. Kevin." said Sissy, who smiled again very sweetly....

"You're not bad yourself Lieutenant." I said.

"You can call me Sissy....My friends do." she said.

 "So am I your, uh friend?"...I asked.

"Well...uh, I don't really know you that well yet, but you're in the running...how's that?" she asked.

"That's fair enough..Uh oh...Look...There's Butcher!" I said.

Charles Butcher , a major Drug Kingpin, whose estranged and battered wife had hired me to find out if he was cheating on  her  had arrived...My investigation into him turned up a lot of nasty stuff he was into....I turned my findings over to Lt. Tragg...Who more or less blew me off and sent the new Lieutenant, Sissy Van Buren over to look into my findings...His loss...She was about to make a huge bust....

"Ali baby...What's shakin partner?" he said as he approached his supplier, A major supplier from New York , who supplied Philly,New Jersey and Deleware...

"Don't what's shakin partner me...The cops popped all of my people last night and damn near put me out of business....Since it's you they want...It's you they 're gonna get...Just not alive!!!" he said.

"Hold up man...they got my guys too....Somebody is snitching...on both of us." he said.

"Who? Everybody is in jail.." said Ali..

"Well hell, it aint me, it aint you??" said Charles...

"Don't matter...with you not around....They won't be lookin for me." said Ali, who pulled out a long gun with a silencer.... "Say goodbye Charlie Boy" he said.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...Nooo...put that away...Come onnnn mannnnnnnnnn." screamed Charlie Butcher.

Before either of us could make a move....Ali Hassan gunned down Charles Butcher right in front of us!

Sissy grabbed her phone...

"EVERYBODY MOVE NOW!!" she yelled..

She pulled her glock and she and about 20 uniformed policemen  and tactical squad officers

converged on Ali Hassan!!!

"Heyyyy...I didn't do nutttin...I didn't do nuttin..." he yelled as he was handcuffed. 


A little while later Sissy walked over to me...

"Thanks Kevin...We just took down a huge drug organization thanks to you,,," she said.

 ''And my client...The widow of the  recently deceased will be happy to know that she won't have to worry about getting anymore beatings from him or him cheating on her with other women...If you can believe she was concerned about that...It's a win -win." I said.

Sissy shook my hand...

"Kevin...I'll see you tomorrow...I think you and I are going to have a very nice partnership." she said.

Sissy  smiled remembering those early days when we first got to know each other and learned to trust each other!

A nurse came out..."You can all go in to see him now." she said.

I woke up , to my surprise I saw Sepia and Kimmie..

Sepia gave me a big kiss.

"Baby I'm so glad you're okay." she said.


And Sissy, Hazel and Doc Gibbons..Gus,Honey Brown and Kool Kat...

 "Hey Crazy guy, Take it easy okay...We have coffees to drink!" said Sissy with a smile and a few tears..

 ''It was a close call Kevin...and guess what? My Antidote got here today also.." said Hazel, smiling..

"Boyyyy the angels were talking to you...."laughed Doc Gibbons..

"I'm sure glad they were...I won't have to drink that god awful Buttermilk anymore..huh?" I said..

"No sir...you're as good as gold now Kevin."said Doc Gibbons..

''Well Thank you all..Thank you so much!" I said..

"Wow Buddy, you had me worried there for a minute.."said Kool Kat..

"I told you I was going to make it...We've got more adventures to have,out there on those streets  and plus..We gotta checkmate one Mr. Cyrus Tickle.." I said.

"Oh Most definitely ...Him!" said Kool Kat...Smiling ruefully!

(CONCLUSION NEXT!)