Sweet Things....

I was sitting in a midtown delicatessan with my fiance, Rell, my two year old son and Kevin and Sepia enjoying lunch....

"So Chess...You excited about getting married?" asked Sepia, as her husband,Kevin Morris groaned a uncomfortable smile..

"What? Did I say something wrong? He should be excited?" laughed Sepia as she playfully punched Kevin's arm.

I looked lovingly at Rell and said-

"Excited..I'm overjoyed..I can't wait to marry this woman."

Rell looked at me and smiled ,then looked at Sepia and said-

"He just wants some tonight that's all."

Sepia gave me and Kevin the side eye and said-"Ummmmm,hhhmmmm."

We all had a hearty laugh at that.

"Heyy Chess..Do you know a guy named Mongo?" asked Rell.

"Mongo? Yeah..question is how do you know him?" I asked.

Mongo was high priced muscle....He did most of his heavy work for the Diaz brothers..

"Sepia and I were in the dress shop looking at dresses for the bridesmaids today and this guy, Mongo..he was kind of checking us out..you know staring hard...We just ignored him and kind of kept shopping and then he came up to me and he asked me if I was your fiance. I told him I was and he looked at me like he was trying to look through my clothes and said that you had real nice tastes...and that to tell you that Valdez sends his regards." she said.

"Yeah..something about that guy was real creepy." added Sepia.

I guess they all saw the expression on my face...I couldn't hide the anger I felt, the red hot anger....

"Yeah..I uh know him....he's harmless..a nut....don't worry about him." I said. Kevin eyed me closely..he knew me all too well. I looked at my watch...

"Hey uh, Kevin...could you drop Rell off..I got some business to take care of."
I said.

I got up and walked towards the door...Kevin followed me and grabbed my arm.

"Yo Chess...I know what's goin on..Clerow told me about the card game and the shoot out...and you know that I know who Mongo really is...I know I can't talk you out of going after him...but at least let me go with you." he said.

Kevin had a heart of gold and more courage than half a dozen brothers..Hell he had taken out some heavy hitters like Malik Lockjohn, Barrington Covington, the junkyard doggie and Sonny Templeton...but I didn't want him getting mixed up in this mess..he was too good a person..Enough people were mixed up into this already.

"Nah Kev..I got this. Really..I got this." I said. He let go of my arm and just stood there as I got in my car...I loaded my .45 and my .38 and I got on the phone and called Chris Thompson, then I headed to Josie's for a talk with the one man who I knew would know where to find Mongo...Gus the bartender.
His ear was always to the streets.

"Well Chess...Mongo likes sweet things...women and pastries...He hangs up around that Bakery..You know..the one where that cute spanish broad works with the bodacious tatas.."laughed Gus.

I knew...I drove toward the Bakery..Known as "La La La's" I parked my car three blocks away and I walked around the block and entered from the opposite side of the street...I saw a Black expedition with shaded windows just sitting in front of the bakery....I couldn't beleive how amaterish this guy was... This was definitely a trap.

To my surprise..I saw Donald Smooth walk up to the side of the car and tap on the window with the butt of his silver plated .45. What was he doing here? Who told him?? They pulled the window down and he ordered the two guys out at gunpoint... There was a guy with him with rope and cloth who tied the two would be hitters up and loaded them in the back seat. Ralph Mole drove up and the other man got in his car... Donald Smooth looked in my direction and smiled-

"It's all clear Chess...He's all yours..." he said.

"How did you know?" I said....

"Kevin is my friend too..He called me....What's wrong with you? Trying to take these guys down by yourself? You shoulda called me." he said winking and getting in the Expedition and pulling off...

I walked into the Bakery where Mongo was talking to the girl...His eyes got as large as saucers when he saw me...Did he really think those amateur hitmen were going to take me out?

"Hi Mongo...How's tricks?" I said...

Before he could do anything..I slugged him in his stomach, hard...he let out a moan that sounded like a woman...He tried to swing, but I cold cocked him hard and knocked him through the pastry display....Then I took a doughnut roll
and stuffed it in his mouth....Out of the corner of my eye..I saw a guy coming towards me with a gun drawn and then saw him stop, stand up straight and toss his gun to the ground...

I looked up and there was Chris with his gun drawn on him....

"What's the matter with you Chess..you can't wait for your partner?You all
gangsta wild now." he said, pretending to be mad..but failing at showing how tickled pink he was..

"Mongo...wake up..wake up..tell your boy Valdez... that we coming.. and we coming with a thunder..he should have never had you come at my fiance...Tell
him it's on and crackin." I said.

Chris looked down at Mongo....

"Hey man..that doughnut looks good..how much is that?" he asked.

"A dollar twenty five." he said dryly...

"Hey baby....can I have two of them glazed doughnuts..like the ones in Mongo's
mouth....He 'll pay for it." said Chris...

We both kept our guns drawn and we backed out of the Bakery.....

Chris looked in, tipped his hat at the frightened customers and politely said-

"You good people have a great day now."

(To Be Continued..)

Another Brother

We met in small abandoned warehouse in a neutral part of Northeast Philadelphia. Fathead was there with Roscoe...his head of security and Chris and I was there with Donald Smooth. Fathead's main man ,Ralph Mole was there too... Still Fat,still short and still sporting a process hairstyle. He was wearing Sun glasses, despite the fact that we were inside a very badly lit Warehouse. I chuckled just looking at him.

Instead of being a Gangster, Ralph Mole should have been a caterer... To my knowledge, he had no criminal record and all I had ever seen him do was set up meetings for Fathead and arrange to have food or whatever the bossman needed. He had done the same thing for Chris, when he was in the game.. He was good people though and loyal and from what I heard...would and could handle a gun if called upon to do so...I chuckled..I just couldn't imagine that.

Ralph Mole had the table set for four people...Had four bottles of water neatly set in each place and four Hoagies situated next to the water and four bags of chips. The man was efficient if nothing else.

We sat around the table quietly talking and then...He showed up...Victor Diaz...
the other Diaz Brother...The brains of their operation..He was tall,slender, dressed immaculately, with his hair slicked back and a pencil thin mustache.
He wore a very nice, sweet smelling cologne that I would have to cop for myself
when I got the chance.

Victor Diaz...Had no criminal record whatsoever and was rumored to have an MBA. He ran the Diaz Brother's criminal operation from top to bottom like a business and ran it quietly..as quietly as he could with a brother like Valdez.

Valdez was the muscle...The street boss...The one who decided who got hit and by whom...and the one who had a record...A conviction for manslaughter that got tossed out when one witness vanished and the other had a sudden "loss of memory"...A cruel and callous man who could kill at the drop of a hat. The fear of him on the street made it much easier for Victor Diaz to get consessions without having to raise his voice much...He just mentioned his volatile older
brother.

He walked in , hugged Chris and hugged Fathead and sat down.

"Chris...how long has it been papi?" he said.

"Too long baby." replied Chris with a smile.

"Fathead...have you lost weight??? Don't answer..the answer is no.?" said
Victor...

Everybody, including Fathead laughed and slapped palms...high fived each other.

Then we got down to business....

"Gentlemen..We are here to discuss this very grave business.....My brother is an idiot...I know and my nephew ,I'm afraid was no better...I understad that he and that stupid Johnny Peppers robbed your card game...but my nephew..wrong or not was family and you understand...that my brother just can't let that slide..."

"Vic....Your nephew tried to kill me..He was pulling a gun on me." said Chris.

"Yes...and the woman who shot him was protecting your life..I understand."
said Victor.

"Woman? Who said anything about a woman?" said Chris.

"Some of the players at your card game told us that a woman...a cook..shot my nephew dead." said Victor.

"She worked for me...I'll take the weight." said Chris.

"No need for that...Just give us the woman and we'll call it even...It'll end there."
said Victor.

"Are you crazy? Valdez would harm a woman??....a woman???? behind this?"
said Chris.

"Like I said, my brother is an idiot...what more can I say..That's his terms." said
Victor.

I looked at Chris, then I looked at Fathead... Valdez's people had already killed two of Fathead's drivers and torched two of his warehouses and he didn't have anything to do with this...In the past week, two gunmen had taken shots at Chris.. Gunmen that would no longer take shots at anyone else thanks to Donald Smooth's accurate shot and quick trigger finger... and to top it off, one of Chris's girlfriend's cars had been torched... We had called this meeting with the
more even tempered brother to keep this little dispute from escalating any further.

Both Chris and Fathead said "No" in unison.

"I'm not giving up any woman to that creep Valdez...and you can tell him I said so." said Chris.

"If he wants revenge..tell him to come for me...but he's not harming any woman, especially since she aint in the game..she was a civilian...scared for her life, who was protecting me..She didn't know who those guys were..They were wearing masks." screamed Chris, now visibly angry.

Victor raised his palms outward...

"Relax Chris..I understand and I agree with you...I will go and talk to my brother..but I can only control him but so much.." said Victor.

"Make him understand Vic...Make him understand that we don't want a war..War is bad for business " said Fathead.

"I know..I know...but he ..he listens to rap records...he watches "The Godfather"
He thinks he's the Latin Godfather...what can I say?" said Victor.

"Vic..You and me come up together..Remember? Me, you, Fathead and Chess's
cousin..Little Pistol..We were all kids...coming up together...You owe us a large effort on this...be right on this Vic..Nobody wants to see your brother hurt.." said Chris.

"I know...I will talk to him my friends..I'll do the best I can.....Chris..look,I want to do as you have done...retire from this dirty business..I hear that you and Chess have a good thing going...Apartments,Gyms, Juice Bars...and it's all legit...Why do you hold on to this crap game?? It's illegal??" said Victor.

"I hold on to it Vic, because it makes me a ton of money and it's quiet..at least when people aint trying to stick it up." said Chris.

"I understand..but how much money can you spend in a lifetime.?..You made a lot of money..more than you can ever spend already...Isn't this card game a pain in the butt esse? You can't have one foot in the game and one out...When I do get out..it's going to be all the way out my friend." said Victor.

Chris sat thoughtful for a minute..He said nothing...Then we began eating the delicious hoagies..For a minute...the storm that was coming...had settled..just for a minute.

(To Be Continued....)

Valdez is Coming

I sat in our downtown office, near Penns Landing and looked out at the water...In the next month, I would be a married man... I'd add Husband to my list of things that described me..Father, Businessman....Owner of a Master's Degree and unknown to the general public...the secret partner in a lucrative and illegal, floating crap game that brought in as much money as my gymnasiums, apartment rentals, parking lots and juice bars combined. My name is Chess and this is another of my stories.

I had just got off of the phone with my fiance and mother of my son, Rell when my partner, Chris
Thompson walked into my office with the very sexy..Mabel Jenkins...I knew her from Josie's bar and grill. She was the Piano player..'88's girlfriend. All of us, Me, Chris,Fathead,Kevin, Sean, Reed Nelson thought 88 was the luckiest man in the world to have a girlfriend as sexy as Mabel and one who could cook such great food too. As far as I knew..She was currently employed at the
magazine, my friend, Kevin worked at as the food column writer.

'What's happenin buddy?" said Chris as he put his hat and coat in the closet and sat at his desk.

'Hey man...Hello Ms. Jenkins." I said.

"Come on Chess..you know you can call me Mabel." she said as she sat down.

"Well thank you..I just didn't want to be too forward." I said.

"The reason why I am here is because I would like to present you with my business plan." she said.

"Business plan?" asked Chris, a little bemused, while secretly checking Mabel's uh many assets
out.

"My sisters, Victoria, Anita and Corrie and I would like to start a restaraunt...but we are a little
short on funding. Gus from Josie's lent us some money and My brother in law Clerow lent us the
other part..but we find that we only have half of what we need. We tried to go to a couple of banks, but nobody would give us a loan. We'll pay you back Chess, Chris..honest...Our first profits will go back into your pockets with interest." she said.

"Let me see what you got?" I said.

She pulled out a portfolio with her plans....Her expected finances and what she would need. It was very well written and professionally put together. I was impressed. She was serious.

"Don't you work at the magazine with Kevin?" I asked.

"I do...and I enjoy writing my column..but cooking is what I really do..it was what I was born to do...I want to run a restaraunt." she said.

Chris looked at me and nodded.....I smiled at Mabel.

"You're in luck Ms. Jenkins.....I'm going to give you double what you're asking and you don't have to pay me back. Oh and here....give Gus and Clerow back the money you borrowed from them." I said tossing her a stack....Her eyes got as wide as saucers.

"Hold up.....You just gon give me twice what I asked and you don't want nothin back?" she said.
She was from Louisiana, but she wasn't dumb..Mabel was very street smart.

'Well, Chris and I wouldn't expect to ever have to pay for a meal when we came in to eat." I said.
Chris just smiled and patted his knee the way he did.

'That's it?" she said giving us both the side eye.

"That's it Ms. Mabel..We've had your cooking before and we know how good it is....When we put the word out..we expect your spot to get good business and make you a ton of dough...With Chess and I as your uh ruh.."silent partners" No shake down...just a cut of your profits." said
Chris.

"How much of a cut?" she said.

"Twenty Five percent, once you start making a profit." said Chris.

'Sounds Fair enough...." she said..We hugged and Mabel Jenkins signed on the dotted line.. She was in business that day.

We asked her if she and her sisters would cater our next card game and she gladly agreed. The guys were getting tired of cold cuts and Hoagies anyway.


Chris and I found an old warehouse and we got a crew of guys to clean it out and set up our slot machines and our card tables and we were in business. Mabel, Anita,Corrie, Victoria and Clerow
brought in steaming carriers of Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, Collard Greens,Mustard Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Potato Salad....Fresh Salad..String Beans Sweet Potato Pie, Peach Cobbler,etc.

The Players came and filled the house..They brought their girlfriends and the money and goodtimes flowed. Smooth had six of his best men on the doors on all sides, Armed to the teeth
and we had lookouts at least two blocks away to let us know if the police or anybody else was coming.

This was one of the rare times that Chris and I actually attended one of these crap games...We came for Mabel's food. It was great... Mabel and her sisters and Clerow were my friends..They were good people..I really didn't want them in this den of theives with these gangsters..so I came
to make sure they were alright.

Shortly after midnight...I noticed an eerie quietness... I walked down and checked the doors..Nobody was there...I checked the back...Nobody was there either....I walked down the street...I saw all six of our guys bound and gagged and laying face down on the sidewalk...I was getting ready to pull my gun when I felt cold steel on my neck....

"Don't do it Chess...I don't want to kill you...Let's just walk right back to your little card game..
Where is Chris?" said the voice.

'Man, do you know what you're doing?" I asked.

"Don't worry about what I'm doing...let's go." came the voice, which I recognized as Johnny Peppers, a low level playa who had farmed himself out as muscle for the Diaz Brothers.
Johnny had two other fellas with him. We walked back to the Warehouse where our card game was running... Smooth saw what was happening and went for his gun...

"Don't Do it Donnie boy....I wouldn't want to get nervous and kill Chess here....a few weeks before his wedding." said Johnny.

Donald Smooth tossed his Gun in the street as he was told and Johnny and his two gunmen marched us up the steps... His guys had done their homework, had gotten the drop on us and had taken our security down quickly and quietly..They were good. I found out when we got to
the main area...that they had another guy already inside named "Sunshine" with a shotgun ,already holding everubody up and demanding that the playas throw their money and their jewelry into a big bag....

"And hurry up" He barked.

I looked around...I didn't see Chris......I wondered where my partner was...I also feared what he might do. He was trying hard to change his ways...I didn't want him to slip back into the dark side.

Another gunmen , who I hadn't seen had Clerow, Corrie,Anita and Victoria in the corner with their hands up..There was no sign of Mabel.

"Hey Look, they're just cooks..don't hurt them..leave em be." I said.

"Shut Up Chess..We callin the shots here." said Johnny....

I saw a shapely figure in the shadows, bend down and pull a shiny object...a pistol from out of
what looked like...her dress!!! I heard a shot and saw the side of Sunshine's head seemingly burst
open...Blood poured down like a stream and the big man fell to the floor...dropping his shotgun...

The other two gunmen reached for their weapons, but the familiar sound of a bigger gun fired and both of these guys went down for the count...Standing there in the shadows, smiling that toothy grin was Chris.....

Johnny Peppers and the last surviving gunmen released me and Smooth and went for their guns, I saw the figure in the shadows...it was Mabel Jenkins...she pulled out her revolver and fired one more time...The gunmen with Johnny Peppers fell to the ground..dead...Johnny Peppers dashed out of the warehouse.....We heard six or seven shots in sucession....We knew he was as good as dead. Our security had somehow gotten themselves free and had come running
and shooting.

Chris smiled and kissed Mabel on the cheek...

"I love a woman that can cook and can handle a gat...You saved our lives baby." he laughed

".38 smokeless..don't leave home without it." she laughed.

We all had a big laugh about that!

There was no laughter the next morning at Breakfast in the West Philly Diner that Chris and I
ate in regularly with Fathead.

"Man...I heard that that punk ass Johnny Peppers tried to hold up your card game." said Fathead.

"Yeah..well he and nobody else will try that anytime soon." said Chris.

"Well look man...one of the guys you killed was Valdez Diaz Jr." said Fathead

"What?" I said.

"He's the son of Valdez Diaz..one of the Diaz brothers." said Chris.

"Yeah man, this could be bad....Valdez is the crazy one...He's going to want revenge..." said
Fathead.

"I aint scared of neither of the Diaz brothers...."said Chris.

'Chris..we aint in this anymore...We businessmen...let's not go there with them." I said

'So what we gonna do, tell em Mabel Jenkins killed his boy...No Chess..you aint in this...I'm just a
gangster I suppose." said Chris.

I knew I couldn't talk to him at this point...

"Valdez is coming huh?" asked Chris.

"Yup, just as sure as the sun is gonna rise tomorrow." said Fathead.

"Let him come." said Chris.

Chris looked at me, his buddy since we were kids...I didn't want this, but at the same time..I knew that I wasn't going to turn Mabel in...I knew that his punk kid shouldn't have been part of a stick up crew and if Valdez didn't understand that..well he was going to have to.

''I'm with you Chris..all the way." I said.

"That's what I'm talkin bout." said Chris.


(To Be Continued....)

Soft Notes

"Ohhhhhhhh goood loawdd Reeed...ohhhhhhhh..." screamed Debbie with pleasure.....I had her bent over her dining room table and was thrusting inside her with a passion...

"Ohhhhhhhhh....ohhhhhhhhhh Reeeeeed......no moreee...ouuuuuuuuu..."she wailed as I continued thrusting...

I held her around her waste as we both began to climax almost violently..... The weight of my body collapsed on hers as we both began to sweat heavily...

"Oh Reed....oh my god....that was...that was somethin mister..." said Debbie.

It had been a week since my encounter with Cherry...She had spent the night...but afterwords I had helped her pack and had driven her over to Chess and Chris's business office... ("C&C Brothers Inc.") and got her an apartment. She was not staying with me and we were not going to
be doing each other anymore...Our time had come and gone..As far as I was concerned, that was just one for the road.

I helped Debbie find her underwear and I slowly put my pants back on...We hadn't seen each other in two weeks and this was my way of making up...Guilt sex if you will....I was glad I had satisfied her.. No, I didn't tell her about Cherry..There was no need to...Not to my way of thinking.

That morning after we washed up...Debbie and I had a late brunch......I had my usual, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns...Coffee and Orange Juice....Debbie had a Spanish Omelet, Wheat Toast,Orange Juice and Coffee... We weren't at a fancy bistro...We were sitting on the roof of the condo Debbie was staying at....She was house sitting for a friend of hers..It was a nice place..I figured we should break it in.

"So Reed...What are we doing?" asked Debbie.

And there it was...That question even the most phenominal of women ask at some time or other.

"Are we just friends with benefits or are we an item?" asked Debbie.

"What do you want to do Deb..?" I asked.

"I don't want to be just a booty call...I mean , this has been good and I could se myself calling you
when I need a little maintenance..but I don't usually roll like that." she said.

"I understand.....You think you can be a musician's girl? I'm on the road a lot." I said.

"Long as you don't bring me anything back." she said.

'Well, another woman told me that and it turned out that she wasn't cut out for that." I said.

"I'm not Cherry." said Debbie.

"YOU KNOW ABOUT HER??" I asked.

"It's called survival...I asked around...I know what she did to you and what she did to Chess." said Debbie.

I smiled- "You're a smart woman.....If you'll have me....We can try somethin out." I said as I ate
my food.

"Try something out? Are we a couple or are we not?" she asked.

I smiled again...Smart woman...Sexy woman...I could do worse!


That night , we played a set at Josie's... I was playing a new number of mine called" soft notes"
The saxophone player and I traded off solos as "88" tickled the ivories with a beautiful counter
melody... Mabel Jenkins and Debbie sat together talking and to my surprise...Cherry sat at a table in the middle of the floor alone, sipping a drink..smiling...

I continued to play my solo gently....Gus stood at the bar ,tapping his fingers, smiling....It was a
good night.


(For SLC and Carlene)

Catching Up

ART: "Cherishing The Moment" By Fred Matthews

Cherry had some bags in her car...a former rental, which she managed to buy. I allowed her to shower, brush her teeth and freshen up....She put on one of my shirts and sat across my bed, combing her hair...

"You and me...we have a lot to catch up on." I said.

"Not now Reed..Not now." she said.

"Yes now." I said softly by firmly enough for her to know that I meant it.

" Like why did you just up and leave without a trace? I had to ask around like I was a private detective or something just to find out you'd left town."I continued.

"I thought it would be better that way...I don't do drama well Reed...break ups, confrontations,
discussions like this." she said.

"So that's why you left Chess stranded in Puerto Rico?" I said. She looked startled..then she hung her head low...

"He told you huh?" she said.

"We compared notes after you did your vanishing act on me." I said.

"He feel some kind of way about that still?" she asked..still trying to be evasive.

"How would I know? Answer my question." I said.

''It's just that you were gone a long time and I met Bobby and I was kind of feeling him and we kind of slept together and-" she said.

"So? Like you said ,I was gone a long time....I could have dealt with that..but you just up and left
without a word...Then I run into you in San-Francisco of all places." I said.

"I know right?" she laughed.

"I'm sorry Reed...I am...I'm just not cut out to be a musician's girlfriend." said Cherry.

"Who's girlfriend are you cut out to be?" I asked.

"I don't know...I'm still working on that." she said.

"So ,you just visiting?" I said tersely.

"No...You know...they say that you can never go home again....I went back to Oakland and to San-Francisco....and I just wasn't feelin it..I think I'm going to call this place home.." she said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'm going to ask Chess to rent me one of his apartments and I'm going to get a job...try to make a go of things." she said.

"That's good." I said.

Cherry walked over to me and kissed me...I pulled her towards me and returned the kiss...We stood there for minutes kissing passionately...I slipped my shirt off of her exposing her bare breasts ,which I hungrily devoured...I kissed her neck and behind her ears and she moaned silently as I lifted her up and sat her on my kitchen table and began to kiss her even more deeply....she unzippered my pants and I allowed them to drop as I stepped out of them.. I lifted her up and entered her, while holding her....She cooed softly , then let out a guttural sound....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...ummmmmph...ouuuuuuuuuu."

I carried her to the bed and laid her on it....I straddled her and entered her again...

"Ohhhhhhh my godddddddd..." she cooed as we began making love silently, slowly...hard!

I hadn't intended to go there with her...but I'm a musician...a pretty woman was alone with me in my bedroom...what was I supposed to do?

(Conclusion Next)

Maceo

I just finished my set at Josie's on Friday Night and I sat down at the bar with Kevin,Sean,Conrad, Robert Foxworth,Cock Robbins and "88" ..We were all talking gingerly when Gus came over to me...

"You know,I saw your girl in here the other night with some dude.."

"Who Debbie?" I said.

"Nah not her...the one you used to run with....who used to run with Fathead before you and Chess before him." said Gus.

I had to hand it Gus...didn't too much get by him...It was his bar...He knew most of the players as well as the played...

"You mean Cherry?" I said..knowing full well who he was talking about.

"Yeah, her." he said.

"Who was the guy?" I asked.

"His name is Maceo.....He runs with a rough crowd..I don't like him in here...He's beefing with Fathead...I think he come in here looking for Fathead." said Gus.

I could care less about who Fathead was beefing with, what I wanted to know was why was Cherry seeing a guy like that?

"There's Chess and Chris sitting over there...They might be able to tell you more about a guy like that than anybody at this bar ." said Gus.

As I got ready to walk towards Chess and Chris..Kevin grabbed my arm.

"Reed man....you're a musician...you got a nice girl...I seen her....why do you care? I mean, you can go over there and talk to Chess, and he'll probably tell you the same thing...I come up against this guy Maceo once...He's pretty nasty...He aint the type of guy you want to get yourself involved with..forget about her...She likes rough cats.." said Kevin.

"Thanks man...I just have an itch I gotta scratch." I said.

I walked over to the table where Chess and Chris Thompson were sitting and I sat down..

"Hey man...great set you just played....I really dug that last tune you played." said Chris.

"What's up Reed?" asked Chess.

"You guys know a guy named Maceo?" I said.

They looked at each other...then Chris spoke-

"Yeah..He recently tried to hold up one of the gentlemen who plays at my card game....and he

and his crew robbed Fathead's nephew, Chick Peter's joint. I got Donald "Smooth" hunting him

and I'm certain Fathead has his people looking for him....What about him?"

"Well Chris...it aint no gangsta stuff...I hear he's been runnin with Cherry." I said forgetting that

Chess used to go with her too.

Chris looked at Chess , who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Man,I don't care..I'm about to get married in a month...She's no thing to me." he said.

"Reed....you got a nice girl....That girl I seen you with in here a week ago.. I know you had a thing for Cherry..but she's kind of lost right now..and if she's runnin with a rough guy like Maceo,

all you're gonna do is get yourself hurt. Besides..he aint long for this world anyhow..I'm just bettin on who gets to him first..My man Donald "Smooth" or Fathead's boy Roscoe..." said Chris.

"Alright man...I'll take your advice." I said.

"88" and the boys returned to the podium and began playing a number I wrote out west..I grabbed my trumpet and began playing....

Just then Cherry walked in with....the guy we had been talking about...Maceo!! I might have thought that I had been hallucinating a few days ago.. but there she was in the flesh..Looking as stunningly beautiful as before. At least from a distance.

We ran through two more numbers and I watched as Maceo ordered drinks and brought them to the table..He pointed at Chris and Chess and openly laughed at them.. Neither of them movedbut I could tell by the way they looked at him that they wanted to kill him. Cherry looked right into my face as I played -"You are everything" by the Stylistics on my trumpet..It was then that I could see that her eye was swollen and that she was covering up by wearing a lot of make up.

We played our last number of the night and I walked off the podium as the light applause filled the room..Kevin,Sean, Conrad, Robert and Cock had left....I walked over to the bar and ordered a shot of Henny...Cherry looked right at me...

"What you starin at him for?" said Maceo.

"I wasn't staring...I-I know him." she said.

"Oh, so I'm a liar huh?" he said. He raised his hand to slap her and I ...well, I don't remember when I put my trumpet on the bar and ran towards their table. I don't remember grabbing his

arm....I do remember the pain I felt in my mid section when he hit me in my stomach....I remember my eyes watering and hearing him faintly say-

"Nigga , who you think you is...putting yo hands on me?"

The pain was blinding...I would have normally fallen to the ground any other time....it was like a dream... a slow motion dream...I hit him in his mid section...and then hit him in his jaw...not once but a couple of times...I hit him in his chest and then hit him two or three more times in his face..

I watched him fall to the ground..knocking over chairs and seeing drinks fall over and spill into his face...He rolled a bit and then quickly got to his feet...He was getting ready to pull a gun....of that I was certain..until I heard, what sounded like a terrific explosion....

He stopped in his tracks...He wasn't hit..he turned and stared at Gus...holding a sawed off shotgun.

"Get out of here Maceo..and don't ever come back." said Gus.

"You a crazy old man pullin a gun on me...I betta not see you on the street." he snarled.

"You think I'm scared of you...I've eaten punks like you for breakfast." said Gus....

"Okay..famous last words huh?" he laughed.. "Come on baby" he said to Cherry..but she pulledher arm away from him. "Get off of me...that's the last time you're ever touching me." she said.

"Oh ,it's like that huh? You gonna stay here with Trumpet man huh? " he said.. he lunged at me and I punched him again..laying him flat....

The crowd was cheering...but Gus was having none of it...Gus grabbed him by his Suit jacket and gave him the bum's rush out the door..

"And don't come back." he said.

Chris and Chess walked over to me, laughing.....

"Wow Reed..I didn't know you could fight like that."

"I'm from Patterson...we used to fight them Newark boys and them East Orange boys all the time." I said.

"Don't worry about Maceo...He won't bother you again." said Chris...I shot a text message to Roscoe.

'Roscoe?" said Chess.

"Yeah..he's more artistic about these matters." laughed Chris....

"You alright Cherry?" I said

"Yeah...sure am." she said.

"Reed, I need a place to stay for the night." she said in my ear.

"Sure baby...but just for tonight...We gotta talk..someplace other than here." I said.

The next morning the paper had a side story in it... one 29 year old Maceo Candles, a known stick up man and drug dealor was found hanging from a street lamp in Northern Liberties with a fish in his mouth... That was the guy in the bar....He had laughed at death and death had found him.. Fathead had had the last laugh after all...

(To be continued...)