Some Secrets

"Kevin? ,Kevin...Wake up man..here he comes." said Clerow as he nudged me gently. We had been sitting on a bench at the airport waiting for Clerow's sister in law's boyfriend, Carlton to bound off of the airplane and find us in the lobby of the Airport. Carlton was six foot six or six foot seven...lean , yet muscular...He was a half way decent swingman- (forward -center) who couldn't seem to get a permanent spot on an NBA team...He would get short ten day contracts or wind up plaaying a lot of semi-pro ball most of the time. He reminded me a lot of Cock Robbins when I first met him, minus the ego and self centeredness. Carlton seemed to be a good kid.

"Hey Clerow, Hey Kevin...thanks for picking me up....." he said as he shook both of our hands.

He really should have thanked me. Clerow's car was in the shop and I was picking him up in my car as a favor to Clerow. We put his bags in the trunk and he got in the back seat, which his long legs took up completely. Clerow rode shotgun and I of course drove.

"How was it out in Cali?" asked Clerow as we drove.

"It was great....you know, beaches, women, great weather..constant sunshine..." said Carlton.

''Anita know you coming?" asked Clerow.

'Uh...ahhhhh...no...it's a surprise." he said kind of hesitantly.

"Well, she'll be surprised to see you." laughed Clerow.

"Uhhh, errr,ahh, that's the thing Clerow...I want you to keep my being here a secret........til Christmas Eve." he said.

"Christmas Eve?"said Clerow...

"Uh yeah....I want you to drop me off at my friend's house...until then...can you?" he asked.

"Okay..but a man been on the road for three months, comes home for Christmas...seems to me he'd want to get with his girl first thing...wouldn't you Kevin?" asked Clerow.

"Hey man...I'm not in this...I'm just driving." I said. I had seen Anita out with that kid named Chance and I know that Carlton hadn't been spending a lot of time here. I had cracked enough cases in my time to know when someone was being evasive too.....This kid obviously was hiding something...but it was not for me to decipher.

'So...man, what was playing for the Lakers like?" I asked ,trying to change the conversation.

"It was the Clippers man and that's part of the reason I come home....They gave me a contract extension for the rest of the season man." said Carlton.

"So that means you'll be home in April for good right?" said Clerow.

"April...man possibly June...If they let me start, and I get to show off my skills..we might be gointo the playoffs...I'm serious...We got a chance to go man." he said.

I looked at Clerow and he looked at me....He then turned to Carlton and asked him in all seriousness if he had been drinking. Carlton just laughed it off...We dropped him off at his friend's house and promised again not to say a word to Anita and we pulled off.

"Kevin....I think both of em is gon have surprises for each other this Christmas..surprises neither one of em gonna like." said Clerow.

"Aww man, we just saw Chance over there once." I said.

"Yeah..once..but he come around Mabel's spot to eat almost everyday and they laugh and giggle all the time and she talks about Chance to anyone who will listen. I aint as smart as you Kevin as far as crackin murder cases and all, but I do know this...Man aint around, woman gets lonely...sooner or later she get tired of being lonely and she make do with who is available..you feel me?" said Clerow.

"Okay....right.....but what is this to you?" I asked.

"Well, Anita and me is pretty tight..she's a good girl..I don't wanna see her hurt." said Clerow.

"You tight with all your wife's sisters aint you?"I joked.

"Anita is the only one of em I aint slept with...Maybe that's why we can be friends like we is." he laughed. I just shook my head as I dropped him off and headed toward home.

It was then that my cell phone rang...

"Hello."

'Well hello Mister Kevin Morris...it's been a long time aint it?" Came a voice I knew well, but hadn't heard in years. I was filled with a terror I hadn't known in ages.

"You!!!! How did you get my number?" I said.

"Getting your number is what I do...If you recall, I was just as good at getting things and finding out things as you now are Mister Kevin." came the voice.

"When did they let you out of jail?" I asked.

"Oh a few days ago....I was up, what ,ten years ...who's counting? I met a lot of people in the joint...a lot of people who you personally are responsible for locking up....heh,heh,heh..They'd all love to talk to you up close and personal....heh,heh,heh...."

"What do you want Porter?" I said.

"We, you and me have some unfinished business to clean up....I can't believe you are a licensced Private Investigator now huh? You know..that's what I used to be before I went to prison."

"How about a licensced professional blackmailer and creep?" I said.

"Well, you can call me what you will or may...but I know about your dirty little secret Kevin..and in addition to that..I think I can prove that you set me up, falsified evidence and sent me, an innocent man to prison on a phony manslaughter charge to keep me from revealing what I knew about you."

"You're off your nut." I said.

"Well, you can't chance that I'm wrong can you? Meet me at Josie's tomorrow at 7:00.

That is where you hang out at now isn't it? Oh and congrats on the marriage...That's some pretty wife you got there...Though I don't know what she sees in you...Congrats anyway...It would be a shame if she and all of the people who admire you were to find out what I know,wouldn't it?"

"Porter...Go near my wife and I'll kill you."I said.

"Good,then you can spend ten years or the rest of your life in stir with some of your favorite people...heheheheheheheheheheh..."

I was scared....I had to meet with him and find a way to silence him....without breaking the law..but how? This was going to be the greatest mystery!

(To Be Continued....)

Prelude to Something

Anita and I got back in my car and headed for home...It was a little after midnight..We played the radio and talked about everything and nothing the entire ride back home... We were on the Walt Whitman Bridge , around one thirty, quarter to two...I don't remember...

"Chance...I'm not tired...are you?" asked Anita.

"Nah...actually,I'm not..." I said.

"Josie's is probably closed ,but I know an after hours spot." she said with a devilish look in her eyes that made her look incredibly sexy to me at that moment. She had always been cute ,with a cute little figure...but now she was sexy.

"Well,look at this...aint been outta Louisiana for a minute and already, you know the after hours joints." I laughed.

"Yeah.This one is a nice clean place." she said.

It was. It looked like a regular row house. You had to walk up the steps and down a long hall.

Then you entered the back room ,which was actually a bar. It had beautifullly sanded and shiny wooden floors...A Black marble bar right in the middle of the floor and huge bean bags and lounge chairs surrounding the bar.

"What'cha drinkin?" I asked.

"I'll have a Margarita" she said.

"I'll have some cuevo." I said.

"That'll knock you out and I'll have to carry you home." she laughed.

"Would you? That's been my plan all afternoon." I laughed and winked. She shot me that devilish look again that I found so sexy...and then smiled. We got our drinks.

"Let's share this big old lounge chair." she drawled...sounding for the first time tonight like she was a daughter of the south. Anita, more than any of her sisters, Mabel, Cora-beth and Victoria sounded the least country when she talked.I sat down in the lounge chair, which seemed to sink right down into the floor and I began sipping my cuevo...Anita sat her plump rump right on my lap and began drinking her drink. I was getting a slight erection and I didn't want her to notice it. What, Was I twelve? A girl couldn't sit near me without me having that kind of reaction.

"Chance?" she said.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"This was sooo much fun...Goin to AC on a humbug, sitting on the beach, seeing that concert, coming here...This was more fun than I've had in a long time...I thought it was going to be another boring Friday night...but you made it wonderful.." she said.

"Well, when Carlton comes back home, I'm sure you won't be bored on Friday or any night." I said, knowing full well she had a man and taking any notion I might have had about doing anything out of my mind.

"Yeah...when he comes back...Last two times he was here, we spent the entire time in bed..didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything...then he was gone, just like that." she said.

"Oh, well uh..." came the words stumbling from my mouth..

"I don't want to talk about him tonight." said Anita.

This was good with me....I didn't want to talk about him either.....She felt my crotch...Looked at me and smiled...

"Wow." she said.

"Wow? what do you mean by that?" I asked...knowing full well what she meant. She playfully rubbed it..making my erection even harder and then leaned over and gave me the most soulful and loving kiss I had had in years...

"Come on...let's get out of here." she said, staring straight into my eyes. It was eerie, almost as if she could or was reading my mind. It was almost four in the morning. I hadn't stayed out this late since I had been a freshman in college. I had come to appreciate my sleep. I knew I would pay for this later..but right now ,I didn't care.

She had a nice little place...Very neat, very well kept. I parked and met her inside. I closed the door and embraced her slowly, kissing her and holding her. We stood there in the doorway and kissed like that for what seemed like an eternity...Finnally we stopped and came up for air.

''Come on, let's go upstairs" she said.

I followed her upstairs and into a nice neat little bedroom. I was used to dormitories and clothes being strewn all around.. This was not like that at all.... Anita stepped out of her shoes and wrestled those tight jeans off that had looked like they had been painted on...Revealing a very voluptuous and sexy body...She was wearing a pair of black lace bikini panties and a matching black lace bra...She looked up at me ,smiled and said...

"Chance...you just gonna stand there?"

I started coming out of my shirt ,trousers and shoes and immediately embraced her some more and continued kissing her.....I began sliding her panties down and lifted her up...She gasped as I did that and then I brought her down on me as I entered her slowly at first , but began picking up the speed...

"Ohh my Goddd..." I said as I entered her..."You are sooo soft, and you feel so gooood...ohhhhh." I said....

"Ouuuuuuuuu, Chance, baby...don't stop...don't stop..." she said as we continued like this until she became too heavy for me to hold.. I spread her across the bed face first and entered her from behind..thrusting with wild abandon....

"Ouuuuuuu...baby, don't....baby don't ...baby don't stopppppppppppppp..." she said. I loved the way she called me baby...it turned me on even more... I finnally turned her over and began to mount her missionary style.. We humped and kissed and licked each other until we both climaxed in a pool of sweat and exhaustion....

We walked into her shower and turned on the hot water...soaping each other down and holding each other...We started kissing again...which led to me picking her up and mounting her again..

The combonation of hot soapy water and screwing just turned me on even more...We came together again...just as the water was starting to get cold... We both let out -"OHHHHHHHHHH" sounds...

I towelled off and laid across her bed as she combed her hair and wrapped a towell around it... We got under the covers...She climbed on top of me and gave me a quick kiss... ''Oh my God....you're like a machine." she said..feeling my once again hard erection...and laughing. We both laughed and I flipped her over and mounted her for the third time ...This time we made love even longer and slower... We both climaxed again and fell asleep on top of each other..I was still inside of her. We woke up hours later...It was about nine thirty, Saturday Morning...

'Wow Anita...what a night.." I said....

"Yes indeed..." she said.

"You hungry?" I asked.

"You wanna buy me breakfast?" she said , her eyes lighting up.

"Well yeah." I said.

"I can't let you do that Chance..you've already done enough..You took me to Atlantic City, to a concert, to the lounge...and whatnot...No...I'll buy YOU breakfast...Mind if we eat at my sister's spot?" she said.

"No..Not at all." I said.

As luck would have it..everybody and their grandmother was at Mabels on Saturday Morning.. Kevin and Sepia, Sean and Sheila, Clerow and Corrie, Paris, Blake, their dates ,Chess and Rell, Chris Thompson and Fathead and even, Cock Robbins and his wife. Heads turned when they saw me and Anita walk in together, especially since I had on the same clothes I was wearing yesterday. Heads turned...a few people smiled..such was my reputation. Mabel gave me and her sister a playful side eye and then just chuckled. We had some of Mabel's famous Blueberry Pancakes, Country Sausage and Hash Browns, A couple of tumblers of coffee and some orange juice...We devoured the food...It appeared that after the initial shock of seeing us together..Everybody went back to minding their business.

"Chance....I really ,really like you.." said Anita.

"But...There is always a but.." I said.

"I gotta see how things play out when Carlton comes back home....I'm not asking you to wait for me...but if you do happen to be around and you'd want me....you know you're first in line to be my guy.....I-I-I guess that sounds a little presumptuous of me ,doesn't it?" said Anita.

"No...not at all...I've always liked you from afar." I said.

"You did?" she said seeming surprised..Then she looked at me and smiled..."Yeah, after last night, I beleive you....You acted like you might not get no more in life." she said smiling.

"Well, you never know.." I said, half kidding.

She rubbed my hands and smiled at me-

"For right now, for this moment...you are my guy." she said.

Story of my life, I thought as we continued to eat.

(For O.G.)

Strangers In The Night

I sat in Josies Bar. It was around 4:00 in the afternoon...Paris ,Blake and Sean had just left....They had dates....Kevin and his wife Sepia came in, conversed with Gus and newlywed's Chess and Rell and they left. My boss, Robert Foxworth was busy drinking and laughing with that lady funeral director he met awhile back... He said something about he was leaving to get some "Greif Counseling" or something or other. Me, I had a pocket full of money , a tank full of gas and nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to do anything with.

My name is Chance Howard....I just recently earned by J.D. , will be taking the state board soon and will be an Attorney in my own right. I thought about calling Sheena, but then thought better of it..We were better off apart. I pondered calling Cindy Waters....but changed my mind...after that last debacle , she probably would never speak to me again....

"I can't beleive you don't have a date tonight." came the voice from behind me. I turned and looked and it was Anita Jenkins. Anita worked at "Mabel's Soul Spot" - the hot new restaraunt that everybody was going to... Fine ass Mabel and Corabeth were her older sisters...The apple didn't fall too far from the tree...She was just as fine as they were. The Deacon's hot wife,Victoria
Weatherfood was her oldest sister...I could see where Anita got her good looks from.

"Yeah Anita, mark it on your calender." I said, laughing. Anita waited on me when I came in her
sister's spot to eat. We were about the same age and I we often joked and bantered with each other. She was attending community college during the day and working at night. She had caught me staring at her a few times..but I had never taken it further than that. I knew she had a man...A six foot seven Basketball player named Carlton...Only..I hadn't seen him around in months.

" You off tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah....and tomorrow..." she said.

"Where's your date?" I sneered good naturedly. We always teased each other.

"Who knows?" she said...not joking at all..."He used to rush back here after his contract with one of those Basketball teams was up..Now, I see less and less of Carlton...I haven't sen him since June." She said.

She and I both knew that he wasn't playing Basketball during the summer, anywhere..Pro or semi-pro.

"So where was he last?" I asked.

"Los Angelas." she said.

"Oh" I said. We both knew that L.A. was too tempting for a brother like Carlton to resist. Neither one of us wanted to think about what hey may or may not be doing out there in La La Land. I had a good idea...I'm sure Anita did too.

"Hey Anita...look...I don't have anything to do..and you don't have anything to do...How bout..we
go to AC tonight? " I said.

"Huh? You and me?" she said.

"Nah, you, me, my mama and some of my cousins....Of course you and me..I'm askin aint I?" I said.

"Nahhh, maybe some other time.." she said. I was about to give up, but I desperately didn't want to spend this gorgeous Friday Night in Mid Winter bored and alone..so I softly grabbed her arm and said..

"There is no other time ,better than this."

She smiled softly, hung her head down as if in deep thought, then just said-

"Okay, what the hell, it's not like I really had anything to do." she said.

We got in my car , which was right outside and drove off...I noticed Gus looking at me and giving me the side eye as we left...He almost looked like he was halfway smiling.

I tossed in Jay-z's Blueprint III CD as we hit the Walt Whitman Bridge and headed into New Jersey. Anita's head rocked to the beat as the second track -"Thank You" blared.

"Wow, you have an excellent car stereo....This sounds great" she said as we drove along..

I told her about my entire episode with Cindy Waters and my boss and how she was using me to get to my boss because they had a thing awhile ago. She told me about meeting Carlton on a bus trip this time last year. He was actually on the trip with Honey Brown, but he was flirting with her every chance he got...Finnally Honey Brown had had enough and clocked him but good. She had felt sorry for him and had given him an ice pack for his swollen face.. That and a kiss, which was how they got started....How different things were now..she said.

I told her about Sheena and her affair with the married man and later with some rough neck and how we kept breaking up and getting back together and breaking up...We agreed that relationships were crazy and off the chain now of days.

Two hours went by fast. Seemed like in no time...we were pulling up into Atlantic City......

"Chance are you hungry? I am." she said.

"Yeah...where would you like to eat?" I said.

" Anywhere that doesn't serve soul food....I'm around that stuff all week...I want something different." she said.

"There's a Seafood place...Wanna stop there?" I said.

"Sure....that's different." she said.

We stopped in...I ordered some cooked Crab legs and a hot steamy plate of rice to go along with
it , some corn on the cobb and a couple of Cokes... We devoured the food, laughing and talking the whole time. I was liking Anita..She was light and breezy...down to Earth, no drama....so different from the others. I think she was liking me too...At least she seemed comfortable.
After we ate,of course we went on the boardwalk..It was barely full...It was after all, December,
Not July. Most of the people were going in the Casinos...

"Hey Anita...I don't feel like gambling, but I do want to go on the beach." I said, knowing I sounded crazy.

"God....I was going to say the same thing, but I thought you would feel as though I was crazy".
she said. We both laughed....went into a store, purchased a couple of Coronas and a blanket and
went and sat on the beach...

Yes, of course it was cold...but we sat and drank and talked and watched the water all afternoon
long...It was peaceful and the most relaxed I had felt in a long time. By seven o'clock it was getting cold. We walked to the car, which was in a lot a few blocks from the boardwalk in a lot and put our blankets and what was left of the beers in the trunk. As we made our way back to the boardwalk we discovered a flyer...

"Tonight in concert at the Borgata- Jazmine Sullivan, Joe and Jon B." it read.

"Wow, I would love to see Jazmine in concert...but it's probably too late to do that.." said Anita.

"You never know...let's go over there." I said. We got in the car and drove over to the Borgata which was a few blocks away. It must've been my lucky night...I was able to score two tickets from a scalper for the show. I probably spent way more than they were worth..but it was cool and it was more than worth it.

We got in in time to hear the last part of Jon B's set. Then Joe came on and did his thing. Jazmine was next...We rocked to "Bust your windows", "Need You Bad" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears" all of her hits. She closed the show with -'I'm in love with another man" Which made both me and Anita kind of sad. I knew why I was sad, but hadn't a clue as to why she was sad.

The night held a lot of surprises.....Of this I was sure.....


(To Be Continued....)

Roses for the Living

"You've got a gorgeous wife Willie." said Jack.

Georgia Ray blushed and smiled sweetly at him.

"Why thank you kindly." she said.

I had taken Jack to our motel room and introduced him to my new bride...My third wife. He had promised to take me to the grave of my first wife....Thelma Louise....Which was why I had come to Smackwater anyway.

"Uh Georgia Ray...Pack our things....I have to go on a little run with Mister Jack here and when I come back, we leavin for Arlington and then the Airport, jus like I promised ." I said.

'Alright Willie...don't make me wait too long." I said.

"Ah won't baby." I said as I got in the car with Jack.

"Sweet Dick....what you come back here for? For real?" asked Jack.

"I had to see where she was buried....I been gone a long time...I never got to go to her funeral, Never got to pay my respects." I said.

"Sweet Dick....she dead..been dead about forty years now...sometimes you got to let dead things stay dead....You livin....what you need to come back here and rehash all them ole memories for?"he said as he drove through town..

'Jack, stop here." I said.

"It's a florist...what for?" he asked. I shot him a look and he dropped his head, almost in shame at being so insensitive and simply said-

"Oh."

I bought two dozen White and Orange Roses and then got back in Jack's car....

''Two dozen white and orange roses Willie?? For a woman that been dead forty years?" said Jack.

"What's your point Jack?" I asked.

"My point is, you got a fine woman that's alive back at that motel and you aint bought her jack shit Willie...You aint even talked about her much since you been here." he said.

"She's my future Jack...I come here to bury my past, so that I can move on." I said.

"Your past is buried Willie...it been buried...forty years...she's your here and now man...live in the now..let the dead rest." said Jack.

He was after all right. That's why I didn't say anything....I was quiet until we got to the cemetary. He led me up the hill , where her grave was...There was a nice headstone that read

Thelma Louise Jenkins

1949-1969

Rest in Eternal Peace

I thought that last line was a nice touch. I spread the flowers around the gravesite . In the short time I knew my first wife, I knew that she had a thing for roses...If she was watching, She'd love this. The grave had been kept up pretty well...It looked a lot better than I thought it would after all of this time.

"You shoulda nevah come back here Sweet Dick." came the voice.....

I turned around slowly to see an older , yet still honary version of Burt Curley standing a few feet away with a .45 trained at my head.

"Burt...it's been forty years....I don't have a gun on me...you don't have to do this." I said.

"I loved her too.....and I was making progress, until YOU came to town and took her from me." he snapped.

"Burt, she didn't love you....you was just spendin money on her that's all...She didn't like you like that and I think you know that...I think you've always known that." I said.

"You killed my brother." he shouted.

"Your brother killed her and tried to kill me...what was I spozed to do?" I said.

"Yeah....he did...crazy bastard...aint nobody ask him to do that.." said Burt, who began to weep like a child...

Just then, Jack crept up behind him , grabbed his arm and took the gun from him....

"Come on Burt...let's go....it's over." He said.

He walked Burt back to his car...

"He shouldn't have never come back here." said Burt as Jack walked him to his car...

"I know..I know...he's leaving..." said Jack.

I stood at the grave for a little while...saying nothing..then I got in the car. Jack was already in the car.

"You ready?" he said.

"Yeah man...Take me by that Florist again." I said.

We stopped at the florist and I bought a dozen Red Roses...for Georgia Ray. I also bought her a Moon Pie, cause she love em and a RC Cola. She love them too! I said nothing as Jack dropped me off at the motel...When I got out of the car I extended my hand to shake his...He just looked at me...

"Don't come back here Sweet Dick." was all he would say.

"I won't." I said and I watched as he drove off into the afternoon.

"What'cha got there Sweet Dick?" asked Georgia Ray.....

"Roses...For you" I said.. Her eyes got wide and she smiled....

"For me? Oh thank you Sweet Dick." she said..

'Ah bought you a moon pie too and a RC Cola.." I said with a smile.

"You really know how to impress a girl don't you Sweet Dick?" she said.

We loaded our belongings into my car and we headed for the highway......Georgia Ray who hadn't asked me before finnally asked me...

"So..why did you come back here?"

"I had some unfinished business I needed to take care of ...so I could move on..." I said.

"Unfinished business?" she said.

"Yeah, I had to lay something to rest." I said. I didn't offer any more of an exclamation than thatand she didn't ask....She just laid her head on my shoulder as I put my foot to the pedal and sped as far away from Smackwater as this car would take us.!

(For My wife)

To Love And Die In Smackwater ,Part 2

Thelma Louise and I got married in Las Vegas in the Spring of 1969....We were blissfully happy that first week....We hardly ever left our room....Making sweet love every day, every night...and in between.... Going out , only to eat, then going right back to our room..

Sad thing is...I didn't really get to know Thelma Louise outside of that....She wasn't destined to live long enough...That was the shame of it. She could play cards as good as any man though.. She would play craps at the casino sometimes and win big...Unlike a lot of guys...bigtime playas that I ran with and who I saw in action....Old girl knew when to fold em. By the end of the second week in Vegas...She had won us a pile of money.

"Sweet Dick....Why don't we go to Louisiana and buy us a nice little home?" she said.

"That sounds like a fine idea baby girl, but we gots to go back to Smackwater first." I said.

"Smackwater? You don't wanna go back to that town Sweet Dick...There's nothin there...Don't you wanna find some honest work?" she asked.

"Sure I do...but I gotta go back there and settle things with Jack. I owe him money...and we did kind of run off and leave him in the lurch...We'll go back, settle up with Jack and I promise...We'll be out of Smackwater forever baby." I said. In hindsight, I should have listened to Thelma Louise and have never of gone back to Smackwater.

We drove from Las Vegas back to Texas...Stopping to lie in cornfields and stare at the moon...Eating in little dives and spending a night or two in this motel or that motel. Her body was intoxicating...Seems like I couldn't get enough of her and likewise she couldn't get enough of me either. I loved her as much as I had ever loved anyone...Why didn't I listen to her? Why?

I arrived in Smackwater with a toothy grin on my face and my new bride to much fanfare...Guys were giving me dap and the ladies were cooing-

"Chille..you got him .." She got me? Will you listen to that?

"She got her ,her Sweet dick....hhahahahahaha"

'Go head gurlll...you better hold on to Sweet Dick..." said another.

One person who wasn't glad to see me was Jack....even though I paid him the money I owed him.

"Negro ,have you lost yo mind?" He said as I continued to smile, while my new bride sat down and ordered a marguarita.

'What? Is that anyway to treat a man that just put five g's in yo pocket?" I laughed.

"You don't understand do you? You beat up Burt Curley....He and his brother Ernest have been besides themselves with anger ,lookin for you man....They're killers..especially Ernest...He did a twelve year bid for manslaughter....You need to take that broad and get in your car and get the hell out of here man." said Jack.



It was too late! Ernest Curley walked into the bar. He whispered to a couple of guys. One of them pointed at me....He smiled, but didn't say anything..You could smell the tension in the air as people began to move , almost in slow motion out of the way...

My wife had on a beautiful white sun dress that just accentuated her honey brown skin...She had a white gardenia in her hair that kind of reminded me of Billie Holiday. She was wearing blood red high heels....She looked good. I'll always remember her that way..Turning towards me, smiling...then watching her eyes grow large and that smile turn to horror as Ernest Curley pulled out his forty five and fired at her!!!!

The shot sounded like a cannon!... The bullet struck her heart...blood splashed and splattered on the wall.....She slumped on to the table....

"Now , We even Mr. Sweet Dick.....How sweet it is.." he laughed like a maniac.....

"You shouldn't have done that." I said, an anger boiling up in me like never before.

"Well don't feel too bad Mister Sweet Dick....cause you next....Thought we forgot about you huh? , Well , I didn't." he said.

He aimed at me and fired...I dove to the floor, rolled and came up shooting....See ,I carried a pistol on me too in them days....I don't think Ernest figured on that... I fired two shots..One hit him in the hip and the other hit him in the chest.... He jerked as if he was doing a new dance....then he groaned as blood just poured out of him like a gusher.

" Well I'll be damned...I don't beleive it...I've been shot." he said. Those were his last words in this life because he fell to the ground as dead as a doorknob.... as dead as my new wife was... A crowd surrounded his body....I heard a man in the crowd say-

"This must be my lucky day....I owed that guy some money....hot damn....thanks a lot fella.....get on out of here..me and my boys will get rid of his body...and the girl's too if ya want."

"No....she's going to be buried properly....I don't care what you do with him." I said , as I reloaded my gun.

"Sweet Dick...what are you doin?" said Jack.

"Where's Burt?"I said.

"Aww come on now man....aint it been enough killin for one day? Let it go...get in yo car and get out of here..." said Jack.

"Where is he?" I said ,aiming the gun at Jack's head.

"You gonna put a gun on me Sweet Dick, you son of a bitch?" said Jack.

"Where is he?" I asked again.

"I'll take you to him." said Jack.

We got in his car and drove seven or eight blocks to Burt Curley's house. Burt must have heard what happened because he opened fire on the car the minute we pulled up...Jack ducked down and I climbed out of my seat and crawled behind a row of neatly stacked trash cans...
Burt Curley came running out into the street with his gun blazing and I mowed him down with two good shots...One hit him in the side and the other shot hit him in the shoulder. He spun around and fell to the ground.

"Okay Sweet Dick...you done killed both of em...Ya happy now bitch?" said a very disgusted Jack.

"Yeah...I'm happy." I said as I burst into tears....I cried like a baby and leaned over Jack's car....In all of this gunplay, not one cop showed up. Shootings in this part of town between Negroes on the weekend were common place..The cops didn't care about Black men shooting other Black men.

"Sweet Dick...I'm gon take you back to your car now....I want you to get in it and don't never come back, ya hear?" said Jack.
I shook my head in agreement.....I got in my car and I drove out of Smackwater and out of Texas period.

Burt Curley didn't die. He was taken to the hospital and bandaged up. They never found a trace of his brother Ernest's body...I can only guess that those guys burried him out in the desert. I sent money to Jack and he made sure that Thelma Louise had a proper funeral. I had heard that Burt Curley said he was coming to Louisiana to get me, but he never did...I suspect he had had a gut full of me...Pun intended.

I was never the same...I couldn't love any woman that came after Thelma Louise quite right...Not Victoria's Mother, who I lived with for two years...Not Mabel and Corabeth's mother who I actually married and stayed with a good many years and certainly not Anita's mother. All of my children's mothers were good women...I was the problem..I was a damaged man....Now here I was married again and back in this god forsaken town...If I was going to ever move forward, I had to finish some old business.







(Conclusion next....)

To Love And Die In Smackwater ,Part 1

It was the early spring of 1969....I was working in Smackwater. I ran numbers and I helped Jack run his floating crap game. It ran in the upstairs room over his bar, The Liberty Bell on the
corner of Karpis Avenue. I was making pretty good money , both for him and for myself. I had an aqua blue 1970 Cadillac seville. I was wearing a white linen suit, with a Panama Hat and white spats...I was sharp as a tack that spring.

I was downstairs in the bar this particular afternoon. I was sitting at the table with a pitcher of Ice Water, another Pitcher of lemonade and a bottle of Pineapple rum...Just minding my business, when she walked in...She was tan, had on a tight skirt and a body that filled that skirt up ,I tell you...Long pretty hair and a pair of legs to die for.. I watched her pull out a cigarette..and I immediately walked over to her and offered her a light.

"Wow...do you light all of the girl's cigarettes?" she laughed.

"Only the ones that look like you?" I said.

She laughed- "That was cute...best come on line I've heard in awhile....That was original."

"I'm an original." I said.

'What's your name?" she asked.

"William Jenkins." I answered.

"I'm Thelma Louise Stanton." she said.

"Please to make your acquaintance." I said.

She smiled very demurely. I offered her a seat and bought her a drink...A Martini..I sat there and just stared at her.

"Well? Aint you got nothin to say?" she asked.

"I got a lot to say, but I'm just mesmerized by your beauty..I just want to sit here and just stare at you for awhile ." I said.

She sucked her teeth....

"Men!...Where you from? You don't look or sound like a Texan." she said.

"I'm not..I'm from Monroe,Louisiana...I'm here workin wit Jack." I said.

"Oh the card game upstairs?" she said.

"You know about that?" I said.

"Yeah...I know a guy who plays in the game..and judgin from how you dressed..you don't buy
clothes like that tendin bar....I figured you was a playa." she said.

We sat there and drank and talked the rest of the evening and I told her my life story. I remember Jack tappin me on the shoulder and pulling me to the side.

"Hey Willie..a word of advice...I know you, I know what you're thinkin....don't even get your hopes up...She runs with a guy who plays in my game named Burt..Burt Curley....He right upstairs..You don't want his kind of trouble." he said.

"He married to her?" I asked.

"Nah, but he like her." said Jack.

"So, they aint married and they aint even a couple?" I asked

"Nah,but he been tryin to get at her..Been tryin hard." said Jack.

"Sheeeeet...He aint tried hard enough....get out of my way Jack." I said.

"Alright player, I'm just givin a word to the wise...but oh..I forgot who I was talkin to..."
said Jack as I returned to my table.

Within an hour...Thelma Louise and I had left the Liberty Bell, walking hand and hand and had
got in my car and driven to a motel, right outside of town.

I wasted no time getting her out of that dress... and throwing her up against the wall....She looked at my now massive erection and gasped...

"Oh my lawd willie, i'll bet that's some sweet dick..it sho is huge...did I do that?" She laughed..

"Yes indeed." I snickered.

I laid her on the bed and entered her and began stroking furiously...This was in the days before I mastered my "technique" you might say...We were at it for close to two hours....and I was still
going strong when she said...

"Oh Willie...you've got to get up off of mama...my coochie hurts..I can't beleive you haven't come
yet baby." she laughed...She guided me over to the sink and took a wash rag, ran some warm water on it and wiped my still hard and very erect penis down....Then she took me in her mouth
and moved up and down over every inch of me until I exploded with a passion , I had never felt
before in my life.....

"Oh Willie, you got a sweet dick...I knew you would have one..ohhhhhh Willie..I think I'm in love with you." she said...

The next day she must have told several women about her experience with me because when I enetered the bar, several women walked past me, smiled and said-

"ummmm, hmmmm, sweet dick willie huh?"

'Yesss lawd....Sweet Dick Jenkins..."

Even Jack got into the act-

"Ohhh Sweet Dick?" he laughed....

The nickname stuck...From then on, I was Willie "Sweet Dick" Jenkins...and I've carried the nickname ever since.

One guy who wasn't so pleased with me or my nickname was Burt Curley.. He too had heard that I had bedded Thelma Louise and he come lookin for me.

Well, not exactly...He waited until I walked out of the bar and he sucker punched me in the stomach...It hurt like hell and I fell to my knees..Then he kicked me in the face and damn near knocked me back through the door..

"Alright Louisiana...this is a warnin...stay away from Thelma Louise....ya hear?" he said.

I lay on the ground in pain....I was attempting to get up...I looked at him and said...

"You finished wit your speech hayseed? If so , can I hit you back?" I laughed...

He kicked me in my chest and then punched me in my jaw....I grabbed his leg and flipped him
over into the street..When he got up ,I hit him hard in his jaw and spun him around..then I hit him in his stomach,just as hard as he had hit me...I hit him in his face two more times and then caught him flush on his chin...

Burt Curley hit the ground and did not get back up....I had stretched him out!

I was standing , but I was in pain....My face was bleeding.... A crowd had gathered outside...Jack
was shaking his head...

"I told you to leave that gal alone Willie...Now you done gone and beat ut Burt Curley...He aint
gon take this lyin down....and he got a brother that he run with...named Ernest Curley..He's half
crazy....When he find out you beat up his brother..he gon be lookin for you...No gal is worth all that Willie." said Jack.

"He hit me first." was all I could say.

That night...Thelma Louise tending to my wounds in that same motel room and I tended to that body of hers...

"Ohhhhhhh myyy gawdddd...ohhhhh my goodness gracious....I aint never had no man that could
last as long as you, was as long as you...and could make my toes curl like you do...I aint lettin you go sweet dick...you gotta marry me...." she said.

"You serious girl?" I laughed...

"Hell yeah I am." she laughed...

So just like that...We got in my car and drove halfway across the country to Las Vegas....yes we
did...Didn't say a word to Jack or nobody ,drove from Texas to Nevada and got married.. I know
it was crazy....but that was what we did...We didn't even know each other..We were just two young and horny Black kids...

These would be the best days of our lives....Unfortunately..Burt Curley wasn't through with either one of us yet!

(To Be Continued....)