Slezak's Blues

I sat in a room with Homicide Lt. Sissy Van Buren and FBI Special Agent in Charge,Frank Cotton and gave my statement concerning the shootout with now deceased hitman, Tom Collins.

"Kevin...this charactor was a real operator...He had a wife , two daughters and a son back in Patterson, New Jersey. They had no idea what he did for a living..They thought he was the manager of a waste management company...Can you believe that?" Laughed Agent Cotton.

"We went to his hotel room...Very fastidious..Very neat...We found several guns, ammo and a Laptop with the photos and names of people he was assigned to kill
,the names of people we think hired him and a record of pay offs dating all the way back to 1992. This guy was the most prolific killer I have ever seen." said Sissy Van Buren.

"Yeah...The word on the street is that he was very good." I said as I drank a tumbler of coffee...

"Guess what? We found Ramon's photo...It seems he was hired by a woman to kill him...." said Agent Cotton.

"A woman???" I said surprised...I expected it to be the lawyer...Roger Slezak..but then ,I thought about it...He's a lawyer...much too smart to place his name on anything...He used a middle man or in this case ,woman!

"Yeah...Her name is Filona Walker..She's a stripper and sometimes prostitute..We haven't been able to locate her..." said Sissy Van Buren.

"Your name and Photo was the last entry in his computer Kevin...and it's very interesting who paid him to kill you." said Agent Cotton...

"I know...the lawyer, Roger Slezak right?" I said.

"No...it was a West Oak Lane Playa named Harlan"Big Chicken" Platt...You know him?" asked Agent Cotton...

"I know him...and just wait until I see him.." I said angrily...

"No need Kevin...We picked him, Rollo Jones and three other persons up last night....They are all in custody." said Sissy Van Buren.

"I rousted them a few nights ago...I knew that Ramon was seeing Big Chicken's girls....I guess Big Chicken wasn't pleased with my manner of questioning." I said wryly...

"Guess not...but he's got problems of his own now that have nothing to do with this..." said Sissy Van Buren.

"By the way...That girl...Filona Walker...She's one of his girls...We can't find her,
Big Chicken says that he can't find her either...That she owes him money and he swears that he had nothing to do with Ramon's murder." said Agent Cotton.

"I believe him.....but I think I know who did...Give me 24 hours...I'll try and get something for you." I said.

"Kevin...I would tell you to be careful...but hell...maybe I should tell the bad guys to be careful." laughed Agent Cotton...Sissy Van Buren laughed too.. For some reason, I was in no mood to laugh.

II-

 
"This the address?" said Kool Kat as he looked at me.

"Yeah...this is him.." I said as Clerow cocked his gun and stood on the other side
of the door. It didn't take me long to get an address on the sleazy lawyer. We rousted a few ex-cons at the Mermaid Club hours before and they gave us his address with very little resistance.

We rung the bell for the third time and finally the door swung open....And there he was...The lawyer, Roger Slezak...a short portly white man with glasses. His dress shirt was out of his pants and his tie was untied...There were sweat stains in the underarm pits of his shirt. On the table in his living room was a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels....

"You with Big Chicken or Natividad?" he said.

"Neither" I said.

"You cops?" he asked.

"How bout I ask you some questions ?" I said as the three of us walked into his
house.

"It's okay...I'm going to hell anyway....I'll tell you what you want to know...You're from the Cuban Government right?" he asked.

Kool Kat and Clerow looked at me...I wanted to smile...but I didn't.

"Look...Natividad is Ramon's cousin...Natividad smuggled him out of Cuba, but that wasn't all he smuggled out of Cuba....He smuggled a high grade of Heroin, by way of Mexico through Cuba to the United States...He has all kinds of contacts.. I was his lawyer..His middle man...I come in Josie's a lot...I know a lot of the musicians and a few of the players..So I hooked up with Dollar Bill,Frankie Fingers ,Meek Rollins and Robby Brown and we got his cousin a place to stay and a place to play..It was all good..."

"Ramon paid us...paid for the girls..No problem...but he ran his mouth too much...He was tellin those whores too much about Natividad's Heroin smuggling ring...Natividad told me that his cousin was now a liability and that he was sorry he brought him here..I said "Tivi, baby..smack him around, tell him to shut his mouth...threaten to send him back to Cuba." But Natividad said No..he had to go...and to make it happen."

"Only gangster I knew was Big Chicken..and he doesn't have that much juice...but one of his main girls...had a customer...a Ken Jerkins, who knew of a real good hitter...I got in contact with the girl, Filona Walker and gave her some money to give to Jerkins, who brought in his man from Patterson, New Jersey.. a Tom something or other." said Roger Slezak.
"Tom Collins...He's no longer with us." I said. Kool Kat and Clerow burst into howls of laughter..slapping their sides...

"Yes ,I heard he caught a bullet last night." said Roger Slezak.

"He caught three bullets to be exact" said Clerow .....Kool Kat busted out laughing and slapped his sides.. I looked at them and just shook my head...Roger gave them the same look.

"Continue" I said, ignoring my two friends.


Roger Slezak frowned, then hung his head. He continued..

"Well anyway..Filona was there with Ramon in the bed that night.....The hitman came and knocked Ramon off and that was that...So I thought....Natividad decided that Filona knew too much too, so he hired Tom Collins to shoot her too. They dropped her body in the ocean...Don't even try to look for her.. I feel terrible about being a part of this....Natividad is a very evil man." he said.

"You willing to testify in court to what you told me?" I asked.

"Yeah...Yeah...I can't be a part of this anymore." he said and hung his head.

EPILOUGE:

Roger Slezak testified to a grand jury. Thanks to Him....The FBI, DEA and ATF were able to smash Natividad Hernandez's entire smuggling ring and their operatives...Natividad was arrested and convicted on so many charges ,including murder that I don't think he'll ever see the light of day again.

Thanks to the well kept records found in the late Tom Collins's Laptop, several
people in Philadelphia,New York City, Boston, New Haven, Washington D.C. and Detroit are on their way to jail....Close to one hundred murders, spanning decades have now been closed and cleared up...

Rather than face arrest and indictment, Ken Jerkins chose to take his own life...He was found shot to death in his hotel room!

Big Chicken was convicted only on unlawful solicitation and running an unlawful enterprise (Prostitution) He got six years...Rollo Jones and the others were released....

Roger Slezak and his family are in Federal Witness Protection, last I heard!

A few nights later...I was in Josies.....Reed Nelson was on stage playing a trumpet solo....The gambler,Stephen Bristol was sitting in the crowd enjoying the performance...I sat down next to him...

"Hello Bristol" I said.

"Kevin!!! Good to see you...No, really,it's good to see you." he said..

"Really Bristol?" I said.

"Oh yes....Thanks to you....I'm a very wealthy man..." he laughed as he crisped some dollars in his hands..

"OH? How is that?" I asked.

"I was kidding with you the other night...I didn't bet on Tom Collins I bet on you ...To survive..." he said.

"That why you gave me a heads up?" I asked...

"Yeah...Had to make it sporting.Other wise..it wouldn't have been any fun..He'd of run up on you and killed you...but I figured that if you had a heads up...At least you had a sportin chance." he laughed...

I shook my head...

"He still might have killed you Kevin..He was good... A playa in Detroit sent seven guys after Tom Collins once and he and all seven of those guys...heavy hitters all are in the cemetary.Tom Collins is no joke." said Bristol.

"Was no joke Bristol...Was no joke...He's dead now!" I said.

"He sure is...You're a frighteningly efficient man...Pretty dangerous yourself." said Bristol.

"What you drinkin?" I asked..

"Oh I'm fine....I'm drinking ice water with a lemon...How bout I buy you a drink? Corona right?" he laughed..

"Yeah.." I said.

"To...The survivor!" he said.

"Yeah"...I smiled.

For SLC

One of the Best

Another Friday Night in Josie's...Downtown Rob Brown and the All Star Band was in the house...
Rob Brown was playing that trumpet... 88 and Ivory Joe Peters were sharing duties on the Keyboards, Chris Combs was on Bass...Fred "Fried Fish" Collins was on Guitar, Nate "Snake"Howard was also on Guitar, Shady Grady Tate was on Drums, Ms. Brooke Taylor was in town on Guitar and Symphony Sam was on Saxophone..Reed Nelson was sitting in on Trumpet and Ms. Ingrid Rhodes was singing....The place was packed tight...Gus couldn't have been happier...

Earlier in the day, Kool Kat,Clerow, Albert ,Eddie, Gus and I had moved Frankie Fingers to Fathead Newton's safehouse with the help of Chess, Chris Thompson and Donald Smooth.....If a hitman this good was in town...He'd have a hard time finding Frankie.

I casually scanned the crowd.. Most of the people I knew or had at least seen....Nothing looked suspicious...I walked to the door and scanned the crowd... A familiar face walked up to me...It was the gambler known as Bristol...once an adversary...and now somewhat of an ally.

"Mr. Kevin...I have some information for you." he said.

"Oh really? Information from you always comes at a price." I said.

"Oh...I want nothing...but it is said that a word to the wise is sufficient." he replied.

"Okay Bristol..spill it!" I said.

"The man you are looking for is named Tom Collins.....He's from out of Patterson ,New Jersey...He was once in my employ...Once!!! Not now...He's very good at what he does.." said Bristol.

"That's the hitter that is after Frankie Fingers?"I said.

"No...No...No...The person who he's employed by doesn't care about a scared old man who can't get his facts straight.....They might however be nervous about a certain individual, who is not a cop that is going around asking questions..." said Bristol with a laugh.

"You mean they know about me?" I asked.

"They didn't until you rousted Big Chicken, Rollo and a couple of their goons a few days ago...They want to know...Why...some guy who is not a cop is going around asking questions about a dead illegal immigrant." said Bristol.

"That's my business." I said.

"I know and it's their business to stop you...Personally I find this all very sporting." laughed Bristol.

''Oh really? Why?" I said.

"When we were adversaries...I brought in some heavy hitters and you out gunned and outwitted
all of them...I mean , Yuri, the Russian hitman was the best money could buy....and you took him out...but this guy...Tom Collins is the best I have ever seen in my life...I'm just sorry I didn't know about him when I was having my problems with you...Story might have ended a little differently." he said.

"Bristol....Who hired this guy? " I asked.

"If you make it through the night....You might want to check out a sleazy lawyer named Roger Slezak...This is what I hear on the streets any way. " he said.

"You're a betting man Bristol....you got money on my survival?" I asked.

''Actually...my money is on Tom Collins"he said dryly...the little psychopath.

"But you gave me a heads up." I said.

"True...but I've never actually met him...An associate of mine hired him...He cleaned up some business for me you might say." laughed Bristol.

"Yeah, I heard...Those six players from DC and New York that bought it last year." I said.

"No...No...A guy named Jack Daniels took them out....but Tom Collins took him out!!!" said Bristol.

"I heard of Jack Daniels...He was one of the best....Wow this guy is good!" I said with a smile.

"Just recently ,he took out Johnny Boy and Tornado Jones and Spade...uhhhhh? Heavy hitters all." said Bristol.

"Looks like our boy is a busy man." I said with a wry smile.

"Be careful Kevin...I don't know if that is good enough advice or not." said Bristol...

I smiled at him and said nothing and walked out the door and into the night...I looked around...I saw no one...It was eerily quiet.....I checked under and inside my car...Nothing...Then I got in and started driving....It wasn't long before I realized that I was being followed....This guy was good..I didn't know at what point he had got on my tail , but there he was...Whoever he was..He was on me like a cheap suit....I took him for a drive around Philadelphia for close to an hour...I called Clerow and told him where to meet me...Told him to find Kool Kat...Then I drove out near the park and parked my car. I looked around...Whoever was following me was nowhere in sight..It was too quiet... I saw a figure moving slowly in the shadows and I ducked down quickly...A blast shattered my windshield!!! Another blast shattered the back window in my car...I was furious..I pushed the door open and looked up and into the eyes of Tom Collins!!!!!!..... He was about my height, slender, with a fade haircut..kind of like a marine...brown skinned, with an ear ring in his left ear...He had a saw offed shotgun...Not a hitman's usual weapon of choice. It was dark...He didn't see me pull out my .38 smokeless.......

He was laughing.... "Say Goodbye Kevin" he smirked... I fired one shot....It was all I needed..It hit him right over his heart...My next shot hit him in his side near his abdomen...and my third shot hit him in his shoulder...he dropped his shotgun... He was surprised!!! He fell down on one knee....

"Tom Collins is it?" I asked him.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I'VE BEEN SHOT!!! HOW DID YOU KNOW?? Ughhhhhhhhhh..." He looked like he was going for another gun...
He moaned...I fired one more shot...it went right between his eyes....Tom Collins fell backwards to the ground...surprisingly still alive....a bloody mess....

"Who hired you to kill Ramon?" I asked...

"Why do you want to know?" he asked...

"It was Slezak wasn't it? Or was it Big Chicken?" I asked.

"Damn...people run their mouths too much in this damn townnnnnn, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he wheezed and then he died.

Kool Kat and Clerow arrived shortly afterwords....

"Damn Kev...who is that?" asked Clerow ,looking at the body of the hitman named Tom Collins.

"This gentleman is Tom Collins...This is our shooter....One of the best." I laughed....

(Conclusion Next.)

Chicken's Delight

Harlon "Big Chicken" Platt was a pimp....His girls were not the type who stood on street corners. No, you had to make an appointment with someone....That someone was his main man on the streets...Rollo Jones. Rollo Jones wore very nice, very expensive suits, drove a Jaguar around town and spent most of his time in Bars or restaraunts... A person who wanted a girl usually contacted him...He had the person checked out and then with half down, given to him of course..He sent a girl to where-ever you were staying...He and a tough guy known as "Bolt" would of course come around and collect the rest of the money after the girls left. Rollo and Bolt took their cut, they paid the girl her cut and the rest was given to Big Chicken...

Big Chicken was never seen with the girls or exchanging any money...This was why he stayed out of jail....He had a small "office" of sorts in a run down building that also housed a check cashing joint,
a pawn shop and a Crown's Fried Chicken joint. How appropriate!

Finding Big Chicken was going to be difficult enough...Finding Rollo Jones would not be...He hung out in Ciro's....Fathead's nephew, Chick's place. I walked in Ciros and peered around...Most of the people were talking quietly and drinking...It was not a lively place like Josie's....The only time you heard music was if somebody played the jukebox.. There was four pool tables and several guys playing pool and laughing and talking..

Rollo Jones was sitting with three guys at a booth near the center of the bar...I walked over to him and tipped my pork pie hat...I had taken to wearing one with my trench coat once I saw how cool Reed Nelson, "88" and Downtown Rob Brown looked in one...Even Meek Rollins and Gus had taken to wearing the pork pie hat.

"Mr. Jones...Mr. Jones... May I have a minute of your time?" I asked. He looked at me like I was dirt and then said...

"My office hours is closed....and besides...all of my girls are booked..." he laughed.

I showed him a photo of Ramon Hernandez....He looked at it and then looked at me again as though I was dirt...

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" he asked.

"He was one of your clients...You remember him?" I asked.

"Am I supposed to? " he asked...He was a real sweetheart wasn't he?

"Well really...I need to talk to your boss, Big Chicken....Can you set up a meet?" I laughed.

"You a cop?" he asked.

"Do I look like a cop?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact...you don't....Jeff, Elmer, Thad...throw him the hell outta here." he said.

The three men sitting with him made moves toward me...I grabbed one and slammed his head hard on the table...I placed a nice swift kick to the groin of the second man...He went down fast..
The third man swung at me and missed..but I didn't...I put several lefts and rights to his mid-section..then cracked him in his jaw ...He went out like a light....By now, the man, who's head
I'd smashed into the table was up and he had run into me ...ramming me into the wall..I hit him
with several lefts and rights to his face until he finally fell to the floor and did not move...The man who I had kicked in the groin ran towards me...I ducked again and smashed him with an upper
cut and then a beautiful left right combonation dropped him on the floor for the night! The crowd watching this clapped....

Rollo Jones looked like he was going for a gun...but by now, I had my .38 smokeless next to his cheek bone...

"Not a good move Rollo baby...Now you've made two dumb moves already tonight....Let's talk turkey or in this case..Chicken." I said with a smile.

"Who-Who...Who are you?" he said...now with a look of pure fear in his eyes....

"Who I am is not important...What is important is that I want to see your boss?" I said.

"He-He -He don- don't meet with customers." said Rollo..

"Do I look like a customer to you?" I asked.... Rollo looked like he was about to either cry or defecate his pants...Then to make matters worse...Kool Kat and Clerow walked in and walked over with Chick, the owner and Fathead Newton's nephew...

"Everything good Kevin?" asked Chick.

"You know Chick?" asked Rollo.

"What's important is he knows ME." came the voice of Walter "Kool Kat" Jones...My friend, a six foot four, heavily muscled weapon of mass destruction. Rollo and his three henchmen were about ready to faint...

"The man wants to see a man...and you gone make that meetin happen.Can ya dig it?" said Kool Kat.

"Guess you wonderin where your boy "Bolt" is huh?" laughed Clerow...."He alright...When he wake up..he'll be even better..He's sleepin it off outside." laughed Clerow.

"Alright...I'll call him, tell him you guys are coming....I'll give you an address." said Rollo.

"See how easy that was Rollo baby?" I said... "Chick ,give these boys whatever they want to drink...They've had quite a work out." I said with a laugh as we left Ciros and got in my car. Chick looked at them, shook his head in mock disgust and then looked at Kool Kat, Clerow and Me and smiled...Then he looked at Rollo and his battered trio and calmly said-

"Okay boys, what will it be? Don't order no top shelf liquor neither."

II-

An hour later, we were parked two blocks from the office where Big Chicken was to meet us.
Clerow stayed a block back.....Kool Kat walked across the street and a little ways away from me.
I didn't want it to look like we were together...We all had on Kevlar vests under our clothes...I was certain that Big Chicken had a "reception" planned" I was right...Two guys in sneakers ,Leather Jackets and jeans began walking towards me....When they went for their guns, Kool Kat
knocked the hell out of both of them. Another guy that tried to run up on me felt the butt of Clerow's gun...We tied the three of them up and then preceded up the stairs and into "Big Chicken's office.

Big Chicken was a fat brown skinned and bald headed man about five foot, eleven..He was constantly sweating and as you can imagine was sweating even more when he saw me, Clerow and Kool Kat in his office.

"God, Good Help is hard to find now of days." he said ,obviously annoyed that the three of us had beat his security.

"Chicken look...I just want to ask you a few questions about him." I said tossing a glossy of Cuban Saxophone player Ramon Hernandez on the table.

"What about him? Frankie Fingers is who you oughta be talking to...He contacted Rollo about him, we supplied the girls and he paid the freight...That's it. I swear." said a now aggravated Big Chicken.

"So Ramon didn't owe you any money for your girls?" I asked.

"No...We collect up front..Half and once the girl calls us and tells us she's done...We immediately come collecting." said Big Chicken.

"Yeah...I've seen your collectors." I laughed.

"From what I heard...you wouldn't have had a problem." laughed Big Chicken.

We all laughed...Something about the moment that caught us, I suppose. For that moment we all forgot that we loathed each other...In laughter we were all just Black men caught up in life , trying to make it the best way we knew how.

"Big Chicken...it's been real babe...Maybe we can meet again under better circumstances." I said.

"Yeah maybe." said the gangster , Who I suspect was glad to see us leave.

III-

Finding Frankie Fingers was easier...He was in Josies...He was a Piano player, who played with a trio only on nights when all of the other acts were off or out of town...He was no longer as good as he used to be, but Gus had a soft spot for him, allowed him to work on slow nights.
Clerow ,Kool Kat and I had some drinks and some Peanuts and we sat by the bar and waited for him and his trio to finish their set...Then Gus motioned for him to come to the bar.

Frankie Fingers was a frail man who was roughly about 70 or 71 years old...He walked over and sat down and smiled at me...

''Kevin...Long time no see....You look just like your daddy....Lawd have mercy.....I know why you're here...Ohhhh lawd....I might be in trouble." he said.

"What kind of trouble Frankie?" I asked.

"Look...Two guys helped smuggle Ramon out of Cuba...One was his cousin, Natividad and the other was a sleazy lawyer named Roger Slezak...Natividad and Slezak eat at Dollar Bills joint all the time and I was there and they asked me if I could put Ramon up for awhile...I hooked up with Meek Rollins and he got him a place to stay and some gigs...Ramon was a little wild...He wanted girls..So I went to Rollo, Big Chicken's main man and got him girls.." said Frankie.

"Yeah, so what? Big Chicken said that you paid his expenses." I said.

"The lawyer, Slezak gave me money for his rent and money for the girls....When Ramon started working...He paid Meek himself and gave me money to pay Big Chicken and Rollo." said Frankie.

"So what was the problem?" I asked.

"Natividad and Ramon had a big falling out.....and I think...that's why Ramon wound up dead." said Frankie.

"About what?" I asked.

"What else do men fall out about Kevin...Women and Money....." said Frankie.

"Yeah you're right." I laughed...So did Clerow and Kool Kat.

"Kevin....I'm in trouble...They...them two don't trust me....They think I'll go to the cops...I'm scared of them.....I hear they brought in a hitter from out of Patterson, New Jersey...He's good..He's the one who took out Ramon...He's still in town....I'm scared." said Frankie.

"Well why are you here working, out in the open?" I said.

"Gus said he has a room here that I could hole up in until the heat is off." said Frankie..The hitter won't come in here, shoot me in front of witnesses." he continued. Gus's boys, Eddie and Albert said that they'd look after me while I was here" He continued.

"Never the less...I have some friends who have a safehouse, that's better...We'll put you up in there until the heat is off and I can make some sense of this." I said.

"Thank you Kevin." said Frankie.

"Kool Kat, call Chris and Chess....Ask em if we can use Fathead's safehouse." I said.

"I'm on it Kev."said Kool Kat.

I was no closer to solving this murder, I knew....but I had a feeling in my gut that something was going to happen.

(Definitely to be continued.....)

Killed Over Less

Sean Jackson and I looked at the photos I took of the murder scene in our photo lab at the offices of my job, Hype Magazine, where I served as Cheif Editor and staff writer.

Sean Jackson, my good friend was one of the best photographers I knew..We had been friends since high school...He started working here ,shortly after I did. We had often gone on assignments together. He also helped me out with my "other thing" moonlighting as a Private Detective.

"Well Kev...First thing I notice is that homeboys drawers are on backwards!" said Sean Jackson.

They were..We had blown the photo up to the size of a 27 inch television screen..We were looking very closely at the body....

"Yeah ,that's weird and there is cotton around his head...." I said.

"Look Kev...there's a sofa cushion in the corner." said Sean.

"Good Look...but two bullet holes...The killer didn't come to the door with a sofa
cusion... He more than likely led this guy to the living room and shot him , then put the sofa cushion over his head and shot him again, to cushion the sound..but why...He was probably already dead at the first shot?" I mused.

"Yeah...this is strange bruh!" mused Sean Jackson.

"Meek Rollins, Rob Brown and I walked around in there...His bed was unmade..
and it looked like he had company..." I said.

"I'll say...look in the corner of this photo you took of his bed room." said Sean..

There was a bra and a pair of bikini panties in the corner and a pair of stilletto heels strown about the bedroom. There was what appeared to be a huge stain in the middle of the bed.

"Okay, so he had company...question is..Where are they? Were they part of the hit? " I asked.

"Well, you aint gonna learn that from just looking at these photos." mused Sean.

"Yeah ,you're right...I'm due a visit from somebody." I said.

"Who?" asked Sean.

"Pimpin ass Meek Rollins." I laughed.

II-

I sat in Josies knocking back my third Corona...Reed Nelson and his band was playing...The crowd was pretty noisy, clapping their hands and snapping their fingers...Even Gus, the head bartender and owner was clapping his hands...I had to admit...Reed and 88 were pitching a bitch tonight...To my surprise...Downtown Rob Brown was sitting in with the band..

Someone tapped me on the shoulder...It was Meek Rollins, producer and the man at the center of this.

"Heyy Kev ,what's goin on man.?" he said in that Miles Davis like voice of his.

"Where you been Meek?" I asked.

"Talkin to the Po-Po." he said.

"Okay so talk to me...What's the deal Meek?" I said.

"Okay Kev..this is the deal...about two months ago...I approached Dollar Bill about doing a Jazz Brunch thing on the weekends at his spot..I said I'd could have Symphony Sam and his son D.J. and every now and then I'd try to pull in some live talent...We would do a 50 50 split on the profits..and I'd pay the talent out of my end...After awhile when the steady cash started coming in..He'd up my portion and give me some steady cash on the comeback right? So Dollar Bill says cool and in the meanwhile could I do him a solid? I says sure..What's up?

Dollar Bill tells me that this guy...Frankie Fingers had this Saxophone player that was really good from Cuba named Ramon that he wanted me to hear and hoped that maybe I could get him some steady gigs...both recording and live..
I said I'd go and listen to the cat....I did and he was good and so I through him a couple of bones... They told me that he had escaped from Cuba and that he wasn't plannin to go back...But it didn't seem like anybody cared or was lookin for him.....He wasn't exactly keepin a low profile you know?

"He was stayin at my place for a little while til he scored enough bread to get his own place...Only, guy was a wild man...Every night he had a different woman over the spot after a gig....I came over there one night..He had two women in the bed with him and one was nude and knocked out on the floor. It was a crazy scene man." He said.

"That's it?" I asked.

"That's it Kev, I swear...but I think he crossed somebody...Somebody important..
One of them girls....Maybe she was somebody's broad and they didn't like it." said Meek.

''So he's killed over a woman?"I asked.

"People been killed over less." said Meek.

"You know more than you're telling me Meek." I said.

"Look...Those were Chicken's girls." said Meek.

"Big Chicken? The pimp?" I said.

"Yeah man...I don't want no problem with him..." said Meek.

"I don't drop names.." I said.

"Okay...I think Ramon was in to Big Chicken for a sizable amount of cash, probably for the girls.." said Meek.

"That simple huh?" I laughed.

"Nothin is ever really simple man..not in this life." laughed Meek.

''Don't I know it babe?" I laughed..."What you drinkin man?" I asked.

"You know me...Henny on ice." laughed Meek Rollins..

I ordered a Henny on Ice for him and we sat there and drank...If Big Chicken was involved in anyway..this was heavy...I would need my friend, Kool Kat to have my back...Big Chicken was what Gus called -"A real nasty peice of business." and my guess was...He wasn't going to answer any of my questions without persuasion....

Tomorrow I was going to gently persuade him.

(To Be Continued...)

The Cuban

It was a rare Saturday Morning that found me sitting in "Bottom of the C.", Dollar Bill's joint of all places. They had started serving breakfast and had something called a "Jazz Brunch" Symphony Sam...a Saxophone player and somewhat of a promoter was now serving as a D.J. He was playing a little bit of Jazz and a small helping of old school R&B on "the wheels of steel". His son, Sam Jr. had a more sophisticated set up...A Laptop computer with thousands of songs downloaded already , hooked up to four large speakers...With the flick of a finger..He had hot jazz and r&b pumping throughout the place.

Together , they were both doing a great job....I felt kind of bad wearing a black T-shirt that read "Josie's Bar and Grill" and some khaki pants and some brown loafers....My wife, Sepia was wearing a matching black t-shirt that said the same thing...Hers was fitting her a little too tight. I was slightly annoyed at all of the repeat male traffic that kept waltzing by our table...They were obviously checking her out a bit too much.!

The food was incredible though... We had Potato Pancakes, Suasage...Hash Browns and Hot tumblers of coffee...

"Kevin , this food is delish...We should've invited Sean and Sheila, Maybe Bernadette and Harry Charles too." said Sepia.

"Yeah...If they do this next week...Maybe we will." I laughed.

"Ladies and gentleman....I have a treat for you this morning....A live performance by Downtown Rob Brown and his quartet...and a special treat...
Visiting Saxophonist, Ramon Hernandez..." said Symphony Sam...

The band was cooking...Everybody was snapping their fingers in between chewing the good food...Meek Rollins , the producer saw us and stopped by our table a minute..

"Kevin...Sepia...How you guys doin?" he said.

"It's all good." I said , shaking his hand.

"How yall like my boy Ramon?" he laughed.

"He's good." I said.

"He's cute" said Sepia.

"Yeah...He's from Cuba...He's been a fan of Reed Nelson and Downtown Rob Brown for a long time he said...and after following them on satelite radio all this time, he said he just had to meet them." said Meek.

"So what, Is he on tour or something?" I asked.

"Ahhhhhhh...it's kind of complicated." said Meek Rollins.

"How complicated?" I asked.

"Lets uhhhh say...he's out playing later than he should be...you dig?" said Meek.

I held my left palm up!

"Say no more friend."I said.

Meek and I both gave each other a knowing look and burst into laughter...

Sepia looked at us both and just shook her head...

"You men and your secrets." she said with a slight laugh.

What Meek Rollins meant was that this guy had defected from Cuba....I wanted no parts of that. Sepia and I just sat and enjoyed the music and great food. This felt like a Friday or Saturday Night...Not a Saturday Morning. I peered to my side..The owner.."Dollar" Bill was busy counting money...He was making a killing with this idea.

II-
Sepia and I paid our bill a few hours later and headed home....

"Wow, what a nice morning." she said.

"Aren't you glad I suggested this?" I said with a sly grin.

"Well uh...Yes, I am." she said.

I rubbed her thigh with my free hand...

"Well, uh doesn't that get me special brownie points?" I laughed.

"Don't you get tired of coming on to me? You act like we are just meeting or something..." she laughed.

"The fantasy keeps us hot baby." I laughed.

I stopped at the red light...Sepia leaned over and gave me a long sensual kiss....
When the light changed green....I looked to my left...A guy driving in the lane next to me gave me a thumbs up!

"What was that for?" I said.

"For keeping us hot.." she said.

We drove home laughing...

III-

A few hours later, there was a frantic knock on my door and then a frantic ringing of the doorbell. I was wearing my bathrobe and my boxer shorts when I came to the door....It was Meek Rollins and Downtown Rob Brown..They looked shell shocked...

"Hey guys..what's up?" I said.

"Kev...it's 5:30 in the afternoon...What you doin in your bathrobe?" asked Meek.
"Hey Meek, that aint what we come here for...and besides..have you taken a look at his wife? Hell, I'd be in my drawers too." said Downtown Rob Brown. I didn't know whether to thank him or not for his attempt to "defend" me.

"Kev..I hate to interrupt you, but could you get dressed and come with us...There's been a murder? " said Meek Rollins.

"A Murder??? Did you call the cops?" I said.

"Not yet man...Look just check this out for us." said Rob Brown. He looked serious...

"Alright , let me get dressed." I said.

Just then Sepia came downstairs...She was wearing a bathrobe, a bathrobe that could hardly conceal the white babydoll she was wearing under it...Both men looked and tried to act as if they weren't looking. I heard Rob say-

"I sure hate to interrupt Kevin from this....."

"Yeah man, I know....lawd have mercy." said Meek Rollins.

Sepia heard them...She smiled wryly..She halfway enjoyed their leers and compliments....She walked back up the stairs...They had had enough of a show for today..I supposed she reasoned.

I got dressed and I rode with them in Rob's car to a rental property that Meek owned. he explained to me that he kept this place for guests and to take some of his women to...Women he only wanted for one night...Women he didn't wish to become too close to.. He was allowing Ramon to stay there....

It was a beautiful home, well stocked....but once inside...the smell of death was everywhere....and laying on the floor in white boxer shorts with a hole the size of a quarter in his left temple was Cuban Jazz Saxophonist, Ramon Hernandez!!!
The pool of blood beneath him was getting dry and sticky....His body was still warm..He hadn't been dead long.

I instructed them not to touch anything...I took my Android out and snapped photos of the crime scene... I looked around for shells of any kind...There were none. There was also the smell of bleach....This place had been wiped down...The police weren't going to find any fingerprints either...This was a professional hit and it was a clean hit...The kind I hated the most... We walked into the bedroom and took more photos..There was a huge stain in the middle of the bed..It looked and smelled like semen...There was a bra,panties and stilletto heels in the corner... Who else had been here and where were they now? Had they been shot too?

"Gentlemen...I've got to call the cops and Meek, you're going to have to give a statement, you know that?" I said.

"Yeah Kev, I know..." he said.

"What do you want with me?" I asked.

"Kev...We want you to find out who did this...He'd been staying here for close to two months as my guest..I was doing this as a favor to a friend of Dollar Bill's..
Ramon did like the ladies...Maybe he messed with somebody's lady." said Meek.

"Naw...This looks like some covert government mess." I said.

''Nah Kev...Nobody cared about him leavin Cuba..Trust me...This is some local
mess..I can just feel it...I need you to look into it." said Meek.

"You sure huh?" I asked.

"Okay...After you tell the cops a lie....I want you to contact me and tell me the truth okay?" I said. Rob Brown laughed..

"Now, could you gentleman be so kind as to drop me back home?" I said.

"Oh..sure Kev" they both said in unison.

(To Be Continued.....)

Something Wonderful

There's Something Wonderful
wonderful about your smile..
There's something Beautiful
and peaceful in your eyes.../

I go to work almost everyday
never knowing what I'll find..
I didn't get that big pay raise
they said we are in a recession..
now I'm about to lose my mind..
The morgtage is due..
They cut my cable off..
and I forgot to pay my Visa bill..
but a smile from you just calms me down
and I chill.../

There's something wonderful
,wonderful about your smile..
Something that brings peace to..
peace to my troubled mind../

I left out of the house without my keys
there goes my allergies..making me sneeze
There's not any good news in the papers
today and I'm about to say...
Why even bother leaving my house today
Maybe I should just stay in bed...
and just when I'm about to turn around...
a vision of you floats through my head.../

There's Something Wonderful
wonderful about your smile..
There's something Beautiful
and peaceful in your eyes.../

There's something wonderful
,wonderful about your smile..
Something that brings peace to..
peace to my troubled mind../

There's something wonderful
,wonderful about your smile..
baby..
there's something beautiful
and peaceful in your eyes..
something that gives me peace...
peace in these troubled times../