What You Won't Do For Love

ART: "Couple" By Laurie Cooper

Sepia turned on the IPOD in my car...Amy Winehouse's "Love is a losing game" was playing..She looked at me and smiled-
"Dag Kevin, you really like that song don't you?
It was playing at your house."

I said nothing..I followed Cock Robbins in his car as he headed towards City Avenue and the expressway. He was driving towards Roosevelt Blvd. He didn't drive like someone who was a stranger to this town..He drove like he knew his way around Philadelphia. Sepia sensed that I wanted answers and she gave them to me. She told me that Cockraine Robbins had been a top draft pick out of Lincoln University..that he was actually from Philadelphia. He worked out with the Eagles, but they passed on him..So did the Jets. Finnally the Giants picked him up and signed him to a one year contract. That's how she met him.

She told me that he was in a club in New York City, buying drinks for all of these women and they caught each others eyes...He called her over, asked her to dance and then after a couple of dances, bought her a few drinks and asked if he could see her again. She gave him her number and promptly forgot about him. A few weeks later..he gave her a call and came by in a brand new
Jaguar . He took her to a very nice restaraunt and then to a very exclusive club..From there they went to a private party of mostly athletes and rappers and strippers..Everybody was doing
lines of coke and drinking rum and pairing off...He took her in a small room and pulled his zipper
down, revealing what she said was "the largest weapon of mass destruction she had ever seen."
He eased her on the bed and eased her panties off just as quick and made love to her for close to an hour and a half...the fear of them possibly being caught and the sheer audaciousness of him made him intoxicating to her...She said that she had multiple orgasms that first night.

He drove her to East Orange and stayed the night at her place...He stayed the whole weekend and the next week and the week after that...It seemed like he had nowhere in particular to be.
She didn't care...she was in love.. They made love at night...she went to work, came home, they made love again...They watched a movie on cable, they made love, they ordered food, they made
more love...It was one big orgy for about a month...Then one day...He just left.

She said that she called his cell...it had been disconected, she called the friends he had that she knew and they said that they didn't know where he was...Then she traveled to New York City
and went to all of his old haunts..and still no sign of him...so she went to the New York Giants training facility in New Jersey and she was told that he had been cut from the team.

She'd resigned herself to the fact that she'd never see him again. The sex had been great, off the
chain...she had to tell someone about it..so she started a blog and began talking about "Semi-pro"
as she refferred to him. I loved her blog..it was so honest and raw...I always tried to be the first
commenter..and she always sent me back a nice sweet reply...Eventually we began e-mailing each other and I invited her to Philadelphia...How could I know that not only would I meet "Semi-pro", but that I would be embroiled in a full scale murder mystery involving him.
"So Sepia...what happened? How did you get involved with
him again?" I asked.

Sepia told me that a few months later, She and a girlfriend went to a Semi professional football
game in Newark and there he was...Playing for this local team. She went to wait for him near the
locker room after the game and there he was...but not alone...He was with Opal.. The girl who had been murdered here in Philly. He called her a few days later and apologized profusely and came to see her..Stayed a whole weekend..and then just like before, he vanished...Next time she saw him..He was once again with Opal. she didn't speak to him for six months and sure enough, right before Christmas...he came back into her life...He took her to New York, showered her with
presents and brought her back to East Orange. While he was showering , she happened to look in his cell phone at last number called.....It was someone named Gail (the woman who was murdered in East Orange) She called Gail and asked Gail if she was seeing Cock...Gail said that she was and that she had slept with him a few nights before.... She hung up..When Cock came out
of the shower, she threw his phone at him and told him to never come to her apartment again.

"Wow...that's some story." I said...

"That aint the half of it...a few nights
later, I get a call.....it's his WIFE.....
, she tells me to leave her man alone or
else...all this time he was screwing me
and Opal and Gail and he had a wife.." said Sepia.

"So, help me to understand something here
If he's been dogging you out all this time...
why are we trying to help him?? Why do you
care what happens to him? He sounds like a no
good dog to me." I said...

"I know, but deep down inside, he's a good man ,
I love him...I just can't see him harmed.." she said.

"When did the killing start?" I asked not caring to know why or how she could love a man that could treat her like this. Sepia told me that Cock eventually got cut from his semi pro team and that his wife , a real estate agent named Veronica Robbins had put him out. (At least she had some good sense, I reasoned.) That's when the threatening calls came. Opal got one, Gail got one and Sepia got one. At first she thought it was a joke, but then the caller left a comment on her blog threatening her life. She contacted Gail and Opal and found out that they had gotten them too. Within a week..Gail was dead...shot to death!!! She had come to Philly and now Opal was dead..strangled....and Cock's room mate ,Brett Jano was dead too. She knew that either she or Cock was next. I would never get involved with another blogger ,I swore. I stopped the car...Cock had found the destination.. The car was sitting in front of the house. It was the car the bystander has described to me on the street at Opal's murder scene.
There was a man in the car.

"That's Leon's car..he must be sleep" said Cock

I got out of my car and walked over to the car ...there was a man in the car alright..but he wasn't going to tell us anything ever again...he had a nice little hole in his temple....and blood was running down the side of his face...Leon was very, very dead.

(To be continued.......)

Josie's Bar

I pinned Sepia up against the wall and kissed her passionately, soulfully...she resisted at first, but then she slowly began to give in and we stood there for a long time just kissing...finnally she broke my embrace and looked up at me...

"I'd love to finish this,
but we can't..we've got
to find Cock...He's in trouble." she said.

"Sepia, why did you lie to me?" I said.

"Why did I lie? Lie to you about what?"
she asked almost innocently.

"At the train station when you took the
call, you said that it was your girlfriend
from East Orange who called you and told
you about the murder of Opal...How could it
have been? It wasn't even in the newspapers
...There wasn't a call from New Jersey..That
was Cock Robbins who called you wasn't it.?"

Sepia began kissing me again, but I broke her embrace...I looked at her long and hard..I didn't
know her, yet here I was , ready to possibly risk my life for someone who could be the murderer
herself.

"I'm sorry I lied...It was Cock...
I was just protecting him until I
knew whether I could trust you or not...
Now can we go to Josie's?" She asked.

"You still don't know if you can trust me,
but if you want any kind of help out of me
don't lie to me again.." I said.

"Okay....now can we go?" She asked.

Josie's Bar was about a ten minute drive from my house. It was a neighborhood bar...kind of like a Black version of Cheers. As I walked in I saw the very shapely and attraactive new woman who had just started working at the Magazine...named Mabel Jenkins..she was from Louisiana ..She was writing the Cooking column for us. Mabel was there with her man and her
equally attractive sister, Cora Beth, who had just got married to the other man sitting at the table, Clerow...Didn't know where the name Clerow came from...must be a southern thing..They
were all nice people. The Preacher's wife..Victoria Struthers was at another table with Deacon
Weatherford...I didn't know just what was going on with that..I had heard that she was Mabel's
half sister.

Sepia and I walked past them and sat in a booth...She ordered a Long Island Ice tea...A pretty strong drink considering what we had to do... From a Distance I saw Sean Jackson and his Attorney Conrad Young... Sean had been locked out of his house a few doors from me by a jealous co-worker who found a condom on the floor of his apartment..Sean was naked..he got arrested and was very lucky he had a lawyer like Conrad to get him out. In another corner, I saw those two crazy Kappas...Paris and Blake...they were always involved in some mad caper together.. and finnally sitting by himself at the far end of the bar was the man of the hour, Cockraine Robbins, semi professional Football player.

I could see what Sepia or any woman saw in him...He was a hulk of a man, Dark as Chocolate,
about Six foot four, 230 pounds, all of it well chisled muscle.. He didn't look like the type that would be scared, yet scared he was... Sepia ran to him-

"Cock..Cock...are you alright?
I heard about Brett..First Opal
now Brett." she said

"Sepia...somebody is trying to
kill me..I gotta have a place to stay..
They killed Gail in East Orange, then
they killed Opal and now Brett...I beleive
they mean to kill me next." he said.

"Who is they?"I asked.

Cock looked at Sepia questionly and said -

"Who is he?"

Meaning Me..Sepia looked at him, rubbed his shoulder and soothingly said-

"He's going to help us..
He's a writer."

'A writer? Sepia, my life is in danger
and you bring a writer." he said

"I can gladly go home and leave you both
here to settle this yourself." I said.

Gus, the good natured bartender saw us and recognizing only me said -

"Hey Kev, want a beer?"

"yeah, give me a Corona , with
a lime." I said

Gus winked and tossed me a bottle. The three of us sat at a table and I began to try to peice together a plan of attack.

"Okay Cock, Was Opal seeing someone
else? The reason I ask is because someone
in a very nice car came and picked her up
right after you left her...and he brought her
back...alive...Whoever killed her must've been
waiting for her...You got an idea who this guy
might of been?" I asked

Cock looked angry at first, then he pounded his hands..I could tell by the way he did that that he knew exactly who Opal's last visitor was.

"You gotta car writer?" He asked

"Yeah, it's outside and the name is
Kevin." I said.

"Follow me..I know who he is at least.."

The hunt was on.

(To be continued......)

The Passion of Sepia

ART: "The Skin I'm In" By Laurie Cooper

My perfect "date" with a fellow blogger had turned into something else. It was all out of control now . There was a murder. I am not a Detective, this is not The First 48 on A&E and I am under no obligation to solve it. Sepia was quiet as we drove to my place. I kept glancing over at her as I drove...God she looked good in those jeans..she really knew how to fill up a pair of jeans...Most Black women do..I chuckled to myself...and her hair was perfectly braided and long like I like. She had the most perfect dark skin..and the whitest teeth I had ever seen.. How could I not help a woman that looked this good. That was one part of my anatomy talking..My common sense told me to stay out of this...but who ever listens to their common sense?

"Sepia, who called you?"

"Huh?"

"Who called you and told you that
Opal was dead?"

"Cock"

"This Cock Robbins you talk about,
the semi pro football player??"

"Yes...He said that he and Opal had
a falling out and that he went back
to apologize to her and found her
dead."

"And you don't think he's the killer?"

"No, I told you, Cock aint no killer
He's a ladies man, but he aint violent
like that?"

"Did Opal have another man?"

"I don't know....you sound like a
cop ,Kevin."

"Well, we need to talk to this Cock
Robbins fellow. Where does he stay?"

"He stays up in West Oak Lane with
one of his buddies...a guy named Brett
Jano."

"Let's go..."

"No Kevin...We can see Brett some other
time...I did come here to see you..Let's go
to your place."

Now that's what I'm talking about...I could care less about trying to solve a murder of someone I didn't even know...I wanted her in my spot..right now. I took the expressway and got off of it and cut through the parkway and made a spirited drive through my old West Philly haunts until
I came to my little Housing development in the "Brewerytown section" It was really North Philly, but when White people started rehabing the homes and actually moving into the little streets on the other side of the zoo, it became "Brewerytown"Any Black person would tell you-"Thas jus North Philly."
I drove my car into the garage and we walked up the stairs into my house. She looked at the Afro centric art on my walls and my shiny wooden floors and at least seemed impressed to me.

"Nice place you got" she remarked...

"Want anything to drink?" I asked

"Got any Vodka?" she remarked.

I poured her some Cirroc and some Cranberry juice into a tumbler and I grabbed a Corona out of the refrigerator...I turned on my Ipod sound dock.... Amy Winehouse's "Love is a Hurting Game"
played softly as we drank and talked about everything except the murder.. I eased over next to her and began to slowly lift her top off of her..She was wearing a black bra...We began to kiss deeply..She unbottoned my shirt and began to dig her fingers into my back...I carressed her soft
petite body and began to kiss her along her neck...She began to breathe very heavily...She tugged at the zipper of my pants...and then...her cell phone rang!!!!!

"Hello...Cock..where are you?
Josie's Bar and Grill...What
Happened? Oh my God NOooooo."
She dropped the phone... I looked at her-

"What happened? Who was that?" I asked

"That was Cock...There's been another
murder...His room mate, the guy I told
you about..Brett Jano..He's been shot to
death."

What was going on? Two murders in the space of 12 hours? As bad as I wanted to get it on with Sepia..I was beginning to see that she could be more trouble than she was worth...She put her bra back on as well as her top...She looked at me and said-

"Cock is at someplace called Josie's
do you know where that is??
We've got to go there and find him
He's in trouble."

What did I care if he was in trouble??...He's the cause of my weekend being jacked up..I may have to drop her phone in the toilet next time she's over here. I fixed my clothes and got my keys...
We were off to Josie's.

(To be continued.........)

The Mystery of Sepia

ART: "Canvas Face Reality (Female)" By Laurie Cooper

We sat in my car outside of the house in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Sepia and I watched as they pulled the body of 28 year old Opal Jordan out of the house. The Medical Examiner's office had dispatched two black guys to handle the body. I watched as they carried what at first looked like a Hefty trash can bag out of the house. I realized that it was much thicker and that it had what once was a living breathing human being in it.

"Do you want to get out and at least go over there?" I asked

"Go over there for what...those cops aint gonna tell us nothing"
said Sepia ,who looked as pale as a ghost

"Come on.." I said.

I got out of the car...She was hesitant at first, but she followed me....I walked over to where the
police had the scene roped off and I stood next to a group of neighborhood people. I looked around for a talkative person..There always was one in the group. I saw a group of Black women
who looked like they were in their late 20's or 30's just milling around..I walked up to them and just began a casual conversation.

"Hey ,what happened?" I asked.

"You got a smoke?" asked one of the girls.

I went in my pocket and pulled out a pack of Newports...I had stopped smoking, but I still carried a pack just in case temptation hit me..I know, I really gotta stop. I gave the girl a cigarette and I lit it for her...She took a puff and she began her story.

"Well, she came home around nine with that
guy who play semi-professional Football that
she was goin with...they had some words...had
a big argument in front of the house and he got
in his Silver Benz and took off."

Another woman chimed in...

"Yeah, she was outside on her cell phone with someone
and he drove up in a white Nissann Z, mann dat car
was the shizzzat..and she drove off with him....He dropped
her off about two hours later and she went inside...
I didn't see her again. Now they say that somebody strangled
her."


"The person that dropped her off, he or she didn't go inside?"
I asked.

"Nah....they didn't even get out of the car." She said.

I walked over to Sepia and said -
"She had two visitors last night...One was some football
player."

Sepia cut me off -

"I know who HE is....that whore was still trying to get her
hooks into my man."

I looked puzzled and I could see that I had hit on a sore subject with Sepia. She went on-

"His name is Cockraine Robins, but everybody call him
'Cock' for short..He plays semi-pro football..He was trying
to get a position with the New York Giants. He and I used
to be engaged...but, he's a dog..He was sleeping with Opal
and two other girls.."

I was now wondering what I had gotten myself into-

"You think he did this?" I asked

"No..Nah man, Cock Robbins is a lover
not a killer.. There was another girl
he was involved with in East Orange
who ended up dead too...a few weeks
ago and another who was beaten to within
inches of her life...She never saw who her attacker was.
then I got a threatening call saying that I was next.
That's really why I was so eager to take you up on
your offer to come here." She said.

I just wanted a nice safe date...not to be thrown into a murder mystery. I looked at her and
said to her that I didn't think we could find out anymore information here and that we should go
and let the police do what they do. She agreed.

"Well Sepia, Can I take you somewhere
Until we sort this mess out?"

"Yes, take me to your place...
I'll be safe there." she said.

How come I didn't feel as though I would be safe all of a sudden?

(To be continued........)

The Blogger Who Loved Me

ART: "Canvas Face Reality (Male)" By Laurie Cooper

My name is Kevin Morris..I'm a writer and Blogger...This is my story. I write the Sports and Music reviews for a very popular and hip Philly magazine called HYPE. I make pretty decent money. I have two blogs..One is called "Kevin's Spot" in which I write my opinion on just about everything...then there is my other blog.."Ventures" in which I write poetry, short stories and showcase my photography. This is where she first caught my attention. She called herself "Sepia" She always sent me nice and encouraging comments on my posts...Whether it was fiction or my poems. I would always answer her back with a nice message or two, thanking her for her insight. She even began coming over to my other blog and mostly agreeing with my political analysis of whatever subject I chose to blog about. The photo on her profile told me that she was something special also.

You see, 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 to
get 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 Sadiki
in Mt. Airy we can go to later on for dinner and a club
called North by Northwest , near there where we can go
dancing."

"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.?"

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.."

"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..."

"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....

(To be continued-)

I Can't Help It

ART: "You Deserve The World" By Kolongi

I don't want to..
but girl I can't help it..
seems like everytime I'm near you
I just can't break away..
and I know you belong to another
man...
but baby you've just got to understand
that I've got it bad for you..
and I know it's not the right thing to say
but I can't help it I'm gonna say it anyway
I can't help it..
I can't help myself.../

/My Mother taught me to do unto others
as you would have them do unto yourself...
and if you were my woman
I'd be offended by this type of attention
coming from somebody else
and girl I'm so sorry...
I'm sorry baby
although I know that you belong to another man...
please try to understand
that I've got it real bad for you...
and I know it's not the right thing to do...
but I just can't help it baby...
I can't help it...
I can't help it girl...
I just can't help myself.../

/You see girl,
everybody around you knows
that you've got my nose
wide open...
and I, I just aint the kind of guy
who sits around wishin and hopin...
and all I'm askin is just a minute of your time..
so tell your girlfriends "bye bye"
I know that I aint right...
I'm not right baby...
but I'm so right ,right now girl..
I feel like I could give you the world...
I should turn around and walk away from you...
but I
Oh I...
I don't want to...
so hey baby...
I'm comin with my heart in my hands...
down on my knees
begging you please
please understand....
that I can't help it girl..
and maybe I'm really not sorry baby-
I can't help it...
I know it aint right...
but I can't help myself.../