|
...One morning, quite early, there came a knock on my door while I was
still in bed. At that time I was living in a small apartment so, to save space, my couch turned into my bed
every night. I got up, put on some pants and a shirt, and opened the door.
Jacques came in. “Sorry, I didn’t call first but I don’t have my telephone with me
and I was just up the street.” “That’s all right.” I said. “Don’t worry about it.” I set
about to packing up the bed and putting my pillows and covers away in the
trunk that functioned as my coffee table - again, to save space. I lit a
cigarette. “Where were you?” I asked. “I was at the cop shop. I’ve been in jail the last couple of
days.” “Holy shit,” I said. “What happened?” Naturally, a sinking
feeling came over me as I thought about how he had come directly from the
police station to my apartment. I didn’t need that sort of heat. “I’ll tell you in a minute. First, I want to smoke a joint. Can you
roll one?” “Sure,” I said and set about to do so. I am an old pro and it took
me very little time to prepare it. I lit the joint and passed it to Jacques.
He began to puff on it madly. “Would you like a cup of coffee or something to drink?” I asked.
“I’m sure it was unpleasant to be locked up.” “I’m used to it,” he said with a slight laugh. “Do you have any
orange juice?” “Sure. I’ll fix you one. What about some coffee?” “I don’t have time. I’ve been out of commission for a couple of
days so I have some people to call. Did you try calling me?” “No,” I said. “I’ve still got some. So what happened?” “I got in a fight,” he said. “I broke some prick arab’s nose.” “Really?” I exclaimed. “How did that happen?” “I was down at Dizzy’s in the market having a few beers. Do you know
that place?” “Sure.” “Anyway, in the past I have had problems with the manager of that shit
hole but my friend wanted to go there so I agreed. Luckily, I didn’t have
anything on me or I would’ve been in real shit.” “So what happened?” I was real curios now. “When that fucking asshole walked in and saw me he went over to one of
the bouncers and I saw them looking at me and talking. Then the fucking arab
started coming towards me. I didn’t take any chances and I jumped him as
soon as he got close enough. I put him on the ground and started pounding
him.” “Holy shit,” I said. “Then what happened.” “The pigs came and they put me in handcuffs but not before I told that
prick what I would do to him if he pressed charges. If I get charged with this
it could mean three years in jail. I don’t want that.” “Well, let’s hope that he doesn’t press charges.” “He won’t press charges. I let him know what the consequences would
be if he did before the police came. Remember, I would have his name if he
pressed charges. I also have friends even if I’m locked away in the pen.” He puffed madly on the joint as I thought about how tough and dangerous
a character like Jacques could be. Even the police could not protect you from
such a man and the connections he had in jail and out. I knew why the “arab”
had refused to press charges. The only way to deal with such a character is to
keep one’s distance. His threats were not idle ones and I knew that I could be
in big trouble if I got into his bad books. It was too late to maintain my
distance at any rate. When one dances with the devil there is always a price to
pay. I was certainly no longer in a position to just send him on his way. The joint was finished and as quickly as he had come, Jacques was again
on his way. I made arrangements to score something off him the following day. He
said to drop by sometime in the afternoon. Jacques was getting tired of going
out to do his deals and I became one of his customers to be served in his humble
abode. It meant more hassle for me but I was glad that he wouldn’t be showing
up on my doorstep each and every morning. I always used a cab when I went to see Jacques for using the public
transport system would mean taking more than two busses. Besides, I thought, I
was making more than enough in these deals to justify a cab bill of twenty
dollars - the cost it took to take a cab both ways. I always made sure to get
out of the cab a discreet distance from his abode for I knew that Jacques
wouldn’t be pleased to see a cab stopped and waiting before his door. Luckily
there was a taxi stand near by and I was able to do the deals and make my
getaway in a comfortable fashion. The next day came and I shoved an ounce of high quality dope into the
inside pocket of my leather jacket and made my way to the main road which was a
hundred meters from my apartment. It did not take long to hail a cab and soon I
was moving through the city. I had not bothered to call Jacques for the
arrangements had been made the day earlier. I was fully expecting him to answer
the door when I knocked on it. The cab pulled to a stop around the corner and I
got out and made my way to his house. I was surprised when no one answered the
door. I knocked a few times but the door did not open. I then began to walk in
the direction of the nearest telephone booth...
|