Exodus In The Key of C.

ART: "Bluesman Extraordinaire" By Artisticsoul

My Name is Reed Nelson, I play the trumpet....I'm from North Jersey..I currently live in Philadelphia PA. when I'm not on the road with my band. We just got finished playing a cross country gig. I decided not to return to the east coast right away. I had some down time, so I decided to head to San-Francisco.

I've always loved that town...It's one of my favorite U.S. Cities.

I have a friend there..A guy named "Snake' that used to play the bass in one of my early bands. I was staying with him in Hunters Point...a rough mainly Black section of San-Francisco that could give West Philly a run for it's money on some days for being Volatile.

I sat in with Snake's little quartet a few nights when I first got in town..then I took a week off from playing music period. I took in the night life. Enjoyed the clubs, the bars and the action down near the Wharf area.. Walked around, bought souveniers, drank Saki...ate good Chinese food and took a trip over to Oakland one night. It was in Oakland that I fell into a little seedy blues joint called "The End of the world" That's what it looked like too. This old guy with a gravely voice was singing a song called -"Heartbroken" that I had written...I had my trumpet with me and I joined his band on the stage and sat in with them while he belted out the song....

The MC, a cat named "Symphonic Sam" regognized me and said -

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a treat tonight...tonight on trumpet ,all the way from Patterson,New Jersey by way of Philly is the composer of that song ,Mister Reed Nelson...Show ya love...."

The Crowd erupted into applause and the old Blues Singer smiled,tipped his hat and began singing another verse of my song as I played like I was in another galaxy. Everything was going great until I looked in the audience and saw her!! Cherry Johnson.....My lover from Philly, who had abandoned me without so much of a "Goodbye Dog" while I was on the road!! I hadn't seen her in months and there she was sitting in the audience. She wasn't alone either..she was with a man..A guy I had seen before back in Philly. I think his name was Bobby something or other....One of Kevin's friends...Didn't really know the man, but it looked as though Cherry had gotten to know him ,pretty good and had followed him out here to the West Coast...She had packed up her belongings and had moved and hadn't said a word to me...Not good bye dog,not nothing. It was the same thing she had done to Chess when he had been dating her.

The whole time I was playing, she couldn't look me in the eye. She was sitting down there in the front row as uncomfortable as hell. Good, she needed to be uncomfortable after what she did to
me. After my set was over, I walked down into the audience. I got a glance of her and her gentleman friend heading towards the door. She looked at me and waved breifly...weakly.

I sat at the bar and ordered some Hennesey on the rocks and knocked it back.

"Gee young fella, that gal must have really did a number on you." came the voice.

I looked around and it was the old Blues singer...

"Forks is the name..Sloppy Joe Forks." he said and offered his hand to be shook. I shook his hand.

"I'm Reed Nelson" I said.

"I know who you are, you the one that wrote that song I was singing tonight." I heard it playing on one of the Jazz stations out here and I had a partner of mine get me your CD...I been singing that song for months now..." he said.

"Gee,thanks...it's good to know you're a fan...what are you drinkin old school?" I said.

"I gave up drinkin liquor years ago..." He said. I busted out laughing-

"A Blues Singer that don't drink liquor....now there's something you don't see every day." I said.

"Don't need to drink it....I like to experience all of life and everything it has to offer sober." he said.

"Even the pain" I said.

"Especially the pain. Now take that old gal you was moonin over...I take it, you knew her from somewhere other than here." he said.

"Yeah, I knew her back in Philly." I said.

"I take it ,she up and left while you was on the road and now you find her in this god forsaken place with another guy and she feelin kind of bad about the way she left things and so she hightailed it outta here." he said.

"Damn, you sure know a lot for somebody that doesn't really know the story ." I said.

"I know human nature..I've studied people for years..how they look, how they move..body language....You learn more from people by what they don't say then by what they do." he said.

"Wow, that's a great skill to have." I said.

"Oh you'll get it....you live long enough...you'll definitely get it." he said.

I smiled, knocked back another shot of henny and just sat.

"Women come and go young fella...Nobody can have all de women in the world...always gonna be one you lose along the way....just worry about the one that stay...the one that want to be with you...everything else will work itself out." he said.

"Mr. Forks...You are a very wise man ." I said.

"And Mr. Nelson...you are a very drunk man...Ah caint let you drive home...I'll take you." he said.

"Oh no..I'm cool, my boy Snake is coming to get me." I said.

"Snake? Snake the bass player? Ah knows him...You Snake's boy huh..well ya must be alright."
he said as he slapped his knee.

I stared out the window of the club into the streets of West Oakland...I wondered where Cherry
was, I wondered if she was making love to that guy right now while I sat drunk in this club.

Just then Snake walked into the club...He saw us and he walked over....

"Heyyy Snake" said Sloppy Joe Forks.

'What's happenin old man?" laughed Snake.

"Just helpin your boy get over his broken heart." said Joe.

"Well thanks for watchin him fo me...Come on Reed, my car's outside." said Snake.

As we got up to leave...I glanced at Sloppy Joe Forks..

"Hey man, tell me something..why did you really stop drinking? It wasn't for enlightenment only
was it?" I asked.

"Who said anything about enlightenment.??.. I got drunk as hell and tore up the best car I evah owned...and then had to spend a night in jail...thas why ah stopped drinkin." said Joe.

I looked at him and smiled as Snake led me to his car.


(For SLC)

Hey Joe

I just happened to be up! It was a quarter to eleven on a Thursday Night...Rell and my son were already sleeping when I heard a knock on the door. If anyone was knocking on my door without calling , this time of night ...it could only mean trouble. Even Chris Thompson would call. I peeped out of my side window....It was the deacon from the church..That Church that my friend Kevin attends and that Chris has been going to ever since he returned to Philly, but has not joined yet...It was Deacon Larry Weatherford. My name is Chess..This is another of my stories.

"Evening Deacon...Isn't this a little late for you?" I asked as I opened the door.

" Yes, Mr. Chess..but I got a problem and it looks like you're the only one that can help me." he said.

"A problem huh?" I said as I let him in.

"Usually, when neighborhood folk got those kind of problems they go to my man Kevin Morris."
I said.

"Well ,Brother Kevin is good with what he do....but this matter calls for someone like you..someone connected to the streets." said Deacon Larry Weatherford.

"I'm a Businessman ,Deacon...I aint no gangster." I said.

He gave me a look that your father gives you, when you're trying to B.S. him and you both realize it. I looked at the good deacon and I sighed...

"What's this about?" I said.

"Joe.. Joe Parker...You know him?" he asked..knowing that I did indeed.

"Yeah,I know him...what about him?" I asked. Joe Parker was another form of Chris Thompson.
A well respected player. Like Chris Thompson...He had no police record....He sold drugs very quietly with no noise, just like Chris had once done...and except for those who really had their nose in the streets...nobody knew anything about him. What made him different from Chris is that Joe had killed before. He had killed at least three men and folks knew not to mess with him.
Fathead allowed him to operate independently within his territory and the two had a kind of an uneasy understanding..They didn't step on each other's toes. Joe Parker had been operating as long as Chris and Fathead and had had only three major beefs...With the three men he killed. This said a lot. Joe Didn't play.

"What about Joe Parker, Deacon?" I asked..I couldn't imagine what a church man and that man could possibly have in common.

"He's going to kill Pastor." said the Deacon.

"Pastor Struthers?" I asked.

"Yeah..He think Pastor Struthers was steppin out on his wife...and he sent word that when he see him, he's gonna kill him...it's a big mistake...Pastor wasn't runnin with his wife." said the Deacon.

"How do you know?" I asked , not wanting to get involved in this at all.

"Look, Pastor run with a lot of women..I know that, everybody know it.. hell, Pastor done slept with all the choir ladies...but Pastor aint stupid...He know not to mess with Lola Parker. " said the Deacon, who was himself, married to the Pastor's ex wife..Victoria Jenkins Struthers Weatherford. I never understood that whole arrangement.

I knew Pastor Struthers...He never saw a skirt that he wasn't tempted to chase..He very well could have been running with Lola Parker, a vivacious women who unlike her husband was a church goer...another thing I didn't understand. Rumor in the street was that Joe beat her from time to time and that he was very jealous..I didn't know, I didn't care..I kept my distance from the man and his wife. Chris respected Joe, but he had told me that he had never liked the man...and neither did Fathead, who often said..he was waiting for the right reason to take him out...This wasn't it!

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"You is a street dude...I know you and Chris is out the game and kind of legit, except fo that crap
game..but yall still tight with Fathead..yall know folks..folks that might could talk some sense into Joe fo he do something crazy." said the Deacon.

He was so desperate and looking so bad that I just could not refuse to help him... I called upstairs
and told Rell that I was going out and that I'd be back. I put on my kevlar vest with a trauma plate and I got both of my pistols, the one I concealed in the small of my back and the one I kept
tucked in my coat... Then I called Chris, told him to meet me outside of his girlfriend's spot and
gave him the lowdown on what we were up against.

The Deacon rode with me to Chris's girlfriend's house where I picked him up.

"You packin man?" asked Chris.

"Always" I said. "You need anything?" I asked.

"Nah,I'm straight..I got my .38 smokeless said Chris.

"You boys always travel with so much hardware?" asked the Deacon.

"Actually Deac, we don't...but Joe Parker is a much respected player...and not one to take lightly..when you meet him you come heavy....I know three guys who didn't..." said Chris.

"Oh and they called the game because of rain huh?" laughed the Deacon, trying to sound hip.

"No...They called the game cause of death.." said Chris without even a hint of a smile."

"Where would Joe be?" asked the Deacon.

"Sometimes he's up in Fathead's club...Ciros...Other times..he hangs out in a dive called " Smellys" I said.

"Smellys? I thought that joint closed years ago." said the Deacon.

"What do you know about "Smellys"? " both Chris and I laughed..

"I wasn't always a Deacon young men...I got around too!" he laughed.

We went to Ciro's..Nobody had seen Joe...We next went to "Smellys" ...He wasn't there either..
, then we went to Josies....where Gus had indeed seen him.

"Yeah..He come in here about an hour ago with his wife...She looked like somebody had gone a few rounds on her..They had a couple of drinks and then they left...He seemed like he was man handling her." said Gus.

"Let's Check on pastor..Make sure he's alright."asked The Deacon.

We drove to the block where Pastor John Struthers lived..It was here that we hit paydirt...
No sooner than my car parked down the street from his house..when we heard glass breaking and the sound of a woman screaming!

"Deacon, wait here in the car..we'll handle this." I said..

Chris went down the driveway toward the back, while I eased up the front steps....I looked in the
window and I saw Lola Parker, beaten and bruised sitting in a chair, while an Asian woman screamed...

"Why you do this? Whyyyyyy....what we do to you?" she said. That was met with a slap...

"Shut up..tell lover boy to come out the bathroom." said Joe Parker.

"Joe..I'm telling you, I wasn't doin nothing with the Pastor...He's innocent..He was here with his girlfriend..." said Lola, who was also slapped..

"Look at your boyfriend...too scared to come out the damn bathroom...this what ya want?" screamed Joe...

"STRUTHERS..COME ON OUT THAT BATHROOM AND DIE LIKE A MAN!!" screamed
Joe.

"Nigga you crazy..I aint got no clothes on...you aint shooting me naked .." said Pastor Struthers.

"Longer you take to come out, the more punishment these girls is gonna get." said Joe.

"No Joe...this is it..No more slappin around women." I said.

He turned and looked at me.

"Chess? Chess?? Is that you?? Hey man, it's been a minute baby...but this aint your affair,
stay out of this...I don't want to have to-"

"You don't want to have to what?" came the unmistakable voice of Chris Thompson.

"Chris???Chris Thompson??? You boys still run together huh.....Yall should really stay out of grown men's business." said Joe, no longer laughing. I knew that look...the look his three victims
probably saw before they died...I pulled my pistol and aimed it at his head and as if on cue..
Chris pulled his likewise.

"Awwww, so it's like that huh." said Joe.

"Can't let you kill a Pastor....Now he done said he was here with the chinese girl.....and your wife done said that she wasn't with him...so let's call it a day and nobody gets hurt okay?" said Chris.

"Yeah? You know better than that?" said Joe. In a split second his hand went for his gun...a shot zoomed through the window and hit him in the shoulder....another shot hit him in the side
and the final shot hit him in the back as he turned and fell up against the table..

"I don't believe it.....ughhhhhhh..I've been shot!" said Joe as he fell to the floor. Neither Chris ,nor I fired a shot...The shot had come from outside... We both ran outside..but nobody
was in sight. The neighborhood was eerily quiet.

Pastor Struthers, His Asian Girlfriend and Lola Parker all looked around..we looked at each other and shrugged...

"The cops are coming soon, what do we tell em? " asked Lola Parker.

"Tell them the truth..tell them somebody shot through the window." said Chris..

"Leave out the part that we were here." I said as Chris and I ran back to my car and pulled off.

The Deacon was surprisingly calm....

"I guess Pastor is alright huh?" he said.

"Yeah...he's fine...he won't have to worry about old Joe anymore...He's gone to meet his maker."
I said.

"Good....The streets don't need vermin like that." said the Deacon. Something about the way he
said it gave me the chills.

"Somebody shot through the window...did you see anybody Deac?" I asked.

"Nope..Didn't see nobody......" he said.

"You ever handle a gun Deac?" asked Chris.

"I did a lot of things in my day son...I wasn't always a Deacon" he said.

Both Chris and I looked at each other knowingly as we drove away...we didn't say anymore.

If You're Ever Free

ART: "Still I Rise" By Wak

I know you're kind of seeing someone
and I respect that!
but I've been checking you out for a long time...
and I can't forget that..
I had a chance to say something to you once before
and I blew it..
and then someone made a move on you..
before I knew it../

/but girl if you're ever free..
the things I'm gonna say to you...
if he ever tells you bye..bye..
then baby give me the eye..
because once I get you in the bed
it's all over..
all over but the shoutin...
because if you're ever free to be with me..
there will be no doubtin..

I'll make you a believer baby!/

I just broke up with someone
she just wasn't right for me..
and rumor has it that you're not havin much fun..
maybe it's time you took some emotional inventory
If your man hasn't been treatin you right..
here's my cell phone number, baby call me tonight../

because girl, girl, baby girl...
listen to me..
if you're ever free
the things I'm gonna do to you..
if your man ever says bye bye..
then just give me a wink of the eye...
because it'll be all over..
once I get you in my bed...
all over bout the shoutin ....
just remember what I said...
there will be no doubtin.../

I'm gonna make you a believer...
you're gonna believe in me...
Don't worry about what I'm sayin baby
Just believe what you're gonna see..
I'm gonna be so good for you
I'm gonna be so good to you...
If you're Ever Free baby...
If you're ever...

Free..../

Will You Ever Learn?

ART: "African Lillies" By Wak

You Said you made a major life decision
people have heard this from you many times before
lately it's become a source of much derision
but yet you're saying this once more../

You say you're through with him this time
and all of his womanizing and lies
but is that only for this week?
or until he comes up with a better alibi?/

you tell me
to just wait and see..
that this time it's the end of you and he..
but you never learn
girl
will you ever learn?
or just keep wasting your time..?/

He comes to your house drunk almost every night...
and iof you won't have sex with him,
then it's a fight...
a late night call to my cell phone
saying you need someplace to stay, because dude has
run you out of your own home..
You say that you're really done with him...
but two weeks later you say that you'll have just one more run
with him..../

while I'm left standing on the sidelines...
secretly wishing and hoping
that you were mine..
seems like you're not the only one
who is wasting their time./

You tell me
just wait and see
soon it'll be the end of you and he...
but girl you never learn
girl
will you ever learn??/

I don't wanna be wasting my time
if all you ever wanna be
is just a friend of mine...
and I don't wanna hear
that he's changed this time-
or
he promised me he'd get into therapy
because I
have been waiting here,hoping that
one day you'd see
that you oughta be
with a fly guy like me.../

but baby you never learn
baby
will you ever learn?/

You Gotta Be Who You're Gonna Be

Mabel had never been to Seattle, Washington before....She had never been to Philadelphia ,PA. before either, yet she had left her small town of Monroe,Louisiana to live there , following the heartbreak of catching her man, Clerow with her sister,Corabeth.. That seemed like ages ago now. She had rented a small house and had gotten a job at the Post Office, before she met Kevin Morris and he got her a job writing the food and lifestyles section of his magazine...Hype. She actually made more money and was eventually able to buy herself a car and a house. She liked Philly...She had even gotten used to it's cold ,cold winters. This was about as far as she been from her native Louisiana until last Wednesday when she got a letter from her boyfriend.."88", a Keyboard player in Trumpeter ,Reed Nelson's band. The band was doing a west coast stretch of gigs and had been gone most of the summer..."88' said that he had been missing Mabel something terrible and that he needed to see her. He wrote a romantic and lengthy letter and sent a round trip plane ticket and tickets to his concert in Seattle. Mabel had vacation time at the magazine...so she took a week and on Friday, she packed one suitcase and left Philly for Seattle... They must have been doing well, because they were booked in a nice hotel in downtown Seattle. When Mabel arrived, 88 had instructed the clerk to give her an electronic pass key to his room. She smiled and got on the elevator...On the way up to his room..she felt guilty...Here he had been working all summer and being true to her ,while she had slipped and had sex with her brother in law ,Clerow...It had just been the one time...but still she felt extremely guilty about what she had done. When she got to the room and turned on the light, she was mildly surprised to see "88" sitting there on the bed with just a silk bathrobe on...showing all of those beautiful pearly whites and that electric smile that she had fallen in love with back in Philly.. "Mabel, am I glad to see you....Aren't you a sight for sore eyes" he exclaimed..... "I'm glad to see you too 88" she said as she put her suitcase down and took her jacket off, hanging it on the chair. Mabel was wearing a Black Sheer top with a Black Bustier underneath and some very tight jeans and black high heels. (She knew that 88 liked her in things like this.) She kicked off her heels and sat with him... There wasn't much sitting...They kissed and made out like two kids in high school...It had been three months..(At least for him!) Then there was a knock on the door. 'Room Service" came a voice.... "I got a surprise for ya Mabel " he said as he got up... It was two plates of jumbo shrimps, seasoned to perfection...a bowl of white rice that they could share, a bottle of champaigne and a large tumbler of orange juice. "Oh my God, 88....you shouldn't have" she said with her mouth wide open....She felt even worse now ,knowing what she had done. They ate the food and killed both the bottle of champaigne and the orange juice...laughing and talking all the while...After clearing away the food, 88 pulled Mabel's top off , revealing her bustier... 'Wow baby, I like that..." he said... 'You do huh?" she laughed in that sexy southern drawl of hers... 88 got up and dimmed the lights...He unbuckled her pants and helped her slip them off..He kissed her some more and began to man handle her breasts... "Not so hard baby...easy...easy...." said Mabel ... "I'm sorry,it's just that I haven't seen them in a good while." he said... She felt his penis....through his bathrobe...As hard as granite....She wasn't surprised... He kissed her even more sensually than before....she was beginning to feel moist and weak all at the same time..She leaned down, placed his penis in her mouth and began deep throating it... it felt good and she could tell that 88 was enjoying it immensely...His eyes looked as if they were rolling in the back of his head... She feasted on it until he climaxed.....hard and strong...like a gusher....He really had missed her she reasoned with a smile....She waited for him to mount her and give her what she needed, but that was not to be...88 was fast asleep! She couldn't believe it!!!! She wiped her mouth and sat there looking at him with disgust!!! Asleep!!!! Calling hogs...She had come all the way to Seattle for this??? Now, she didn't feel guilty about what she had done with Clerow, after all!!! She got up slipped her panties back on and her blouse ...got her toothbrush out of her pocketbook and some toothpaste and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. While she was brushing..she happened to look over and there was a pair of pink string bikini panties lying across the tub and a matching pink bra. They weren't hers!!!! No wonder 88 conked out...He had been busy himself she reasoned!!! Then again...who was she to be mad at him..after what she had done... She finished brushing her teeth, when she felt something long and hard stab her in the backside.. It was 88 and in that short time, he had awakened and was back up....in more ways than one. 'Come here girl...I didn't send for you all the way from Philly to be done with you that soon." he said as he eased her back in the bed... "I should hope not." she said with a laugh..... He kissed her and licked her and wasted no time, sliding her panties down and mounting her. "Ouuuuuu...oh my goodddddd..." she moaned...as 88 entered her and began making the kind of love to her that she had come across the country to get....Now she felt just right...now she felt like it was worthwhile...and now just for the time being...she forgot all about Clerow.... After about two hours...Mabel lost count of how many times she came...but she felt as good as she had the week before when she had been with Clerow...in fact...she felt lucky...After three months with no action...she had had two good lovers in just two weeks... 88 came furiously and arched his back the way he did and made that funny face that would have made her laugh except for the fact that she was coming too!!!!! "You wanna order some room service?" he said, breathing heavy...obviously exhausted... 'Phewwww..after that.....nooooo, but you get down.....woww...that was ..that was....wwoooo,that was something else....you surprise me with your energy." said Mabel. "yeah?" he laughed... "How you can come three times in one night." she said. "Three times? Ohhhhh....ohhh...in the bathroom...look,I can explain about that Mabel." he said. "It's okay...it's okay love.....we aren't married...we aint even engaged.....I know it gets lonely on the road....it's been about three months...You did use protection didn't you?" she asked. "SURE...sure...there's a box of condums over there in the top drawer..." said 88. "Okay...just as long as you don't bring mama nothing home and aren't too much of a whore on this road." she said with a laugh. He kissed her, long and hard and crawled up on top of her again...... "Oh my God...you want more?? You've got that kind of energy?? What are you on Cialis or something?" she laughed as he entered her once again. The next night, Mabel was sitting down front as Reed Nelson took his trumpet and her guy, 88 played his heart out on the Fender Rhodes Piano at their gig....She would be going back to Philly soon and he would be headed to Chicago and then back to Philly for a long while...She hadn't been perfect and neither had he....he was , just like her, human and frail and weak and as her father, Willie "Sweet Dick" Jenkins always said- "You gotta be who you're gonna be." (For Caroline)

Aint it Though

ART: "Electric Tears" By Laurie Cooper

For every smile you smile,
there is going to be some tears
you have to cry...
Wise men say that heartbreak
only lasts for a little while...
but this man still asks why...
One day happiness
the next day lonliness
and love is some crazy
@3$&!/

And the poet said-
Aint it though?
Aint it funky how...
you thought she loved you
and you know you loved her too...
but now you find you hardly knew her...
and she acts like she never knew you...
Aint it funky now?
Aint it though?/

For every happy moment..
there is going to be some hurt to bare...
Wise men always say...
that your anger and frustration
just shows her you really care...
But wise men never fall in love...
so what do they really know?
Why do you hang on to a memory,
when it's high time that you should go?/

Because Love is some crazy @#!$%
And the poet said-
Aint it though?
Aint it funky how...
you thought she loved you
and you know you loved her too...
but now you find you hardly knew her...
and she acts like she never knew you...
Aint it funky now?
Aint it though?/

Maybe one day we'll get back together
,that's what you hope...
You ask her about it in a text...
and she sends back this reply..
"Nope"
So in anger you say -"I wish I never met you.."
Yet in the next breath you say -"I'll never forget you."
and love is some crazy %$&#@!/



And the poet said-
Aint it though?
Aint it funky how...
you thought she loved you
and you know you loved her too...
but now you find you hardly knew her...
and she acts like she never knew you...
Aint it funky now?
Aint it though?/