Pc Perk

Cotton Slim Episode 9

            Episode 9

Cotton looked through the billboard.  His scope and barrel fit perfectly through the holes he crafted.  Wilmen was in the back of the alley behind him watching for any pedestrian walking through.  Lawrence was on stage; Cotton had a clear view of him.  Cotton spoke on the headset.  “Okay fellas.  3,2,1.  Boom.” 

Lawrence flew from the stage towards Cotton, he was shooting the video from his mini camera he had strapped to his head.  He had it pointed towards the billboard.  They were using the camera to make sure you wouldn’t be able to see Cotton from the stage. 

Cotton quickly dis-assembled the gun.  It came apart in three pieces, and Cotton was able to disassemble it in six seconds.  He placed the barrel and butt in his bag, and quickly slid it over his back, then the scope he placed in his jacket.  He was off the billboard in ten seconds flat.  He jumped off the billboard and landed in the alley.  Lawrence who was flying towards the billboard, couldn’t see Cotton.  Cotton ran down the alley and turned left on Pecan St.  He then walked as if nothing was going on.    

            Lawrence got to the billboard and saw nothing.  “Good job man!”  Lawrence said over the headset.

            “I think you need to be a little faster off the billboard.”  Wilmen said, as Lawrence flew to him.

            Cotton stopped and turned back around.  He looked at his phone. It was one in the morning.  Cotton walked back towards the alley.  He looked at Wilmen.  “Yeah.  I think I can shave maybe two seconds.  But I think we are good.  I will work on taking that gun apart at the house.

            They started walking out of the alley.  Cotton looked at Lawrence.  “You heard anything from Samuel?”

            Lawrence shook his head, “Nah.”

            “You think he is alright?”  Wilmen asked as Lawrence landed on his shoulder.

            “Yeah.  If something happened, I have a few guys that would call me.”

            “And Clyde?”  Cotton asked.

            “I called him, but he hasn’t returned my call yet.  Thinking I will go see him today.”

            “Need me to cover your back?  We got two days until the hit.  I can’t afford to lose you.”

            “I will let you know.”  Lawrence said as he flew to the ground and lit a cigarette. 

            They crew stopped.  They were at an intersection, where Wilmen went left, down Aspen St.  Cotton went straight, down Pecan, and Lawrence went right, down Dogwood St., towards the bar.

            “So.  What are we doing about Loose?”  Wilmen asked before they all split apart as he looked down Aspen St.

            “We will have to handle that after the hit.”  Cotton paused. He bent over and reached for a cigarette from Lawrence.  Lawrence gave him his lighter and one butt.

            Cotton lit the smoke, then handed the lighter back to Lawrence.

            “I think we are safe for now, Loose ran away with his tail between his legs”  Cotton said as he ex-haled smoke.

“What did Lincoln say when you guys walked away?”  Wilmen asked.

            “Same shit.  Told me we would have that protection all the time, if we worked for his organization.”

            Wilmen shook his head.  “Alright.  We will meet up tomorrow night, last meeting before the hit?”

            “Yeah.  Lawrence send me the video.”  Cotton said as he started to walk across the street.

            “Yeah.  I will send it to both of you, once I get to the bar.”

            Wilmen started walking.  “Be careful.  Lock the bar when you get inside.”

            “Yup.  I will.”  Lawrence said as he took off and disappeared into the night. 

            Cotton headed into the darkness. He placed his hand on Goldy, and his other hand, he pulled his hood up over his ears.

            Cotton lay in bed.  The sun wasn’t up.  The cowl of the roosters hadn’t graced his ears yet.  He rolled over and grabbed his cell phone.  He clicked on the video that Lawrence had sent Sunday night.  He had went over it a million times already, but Cotton watched it again.  He looked on the internet and found another speech Rodrigo made in Europe.  He watched his movement; he watched his bodyguards.  He looked at his whole entourage.  He studied everything he could.  He wanted to do this job; he wanted to finish this connection with the panthers.  He didn’t trust them; he didn’t know them.  They were outsiders, and to Cotton, that felt dangerous.  They knew too much about him, and that made him nervous.  Cotton wasn’t sure what disturbed him so much, was it that he had a picture of life already, where he, Wilmen and Samuel couldn’t be touched, and were top dogs in their city, and meeting Lincoln, made him feel like they are small fish in a pond, and now the pond had sharks.  He knew these guys were the real deal.  He wasn’t scared of them; it just was a hard reality for him.  These guys were built different, organized and followed somebody who was big, worldly.  He reminded himself, no matter who you are, there is somebody tougher, smarter, and crazier than you.  He thought about the famous “Unseen Queen.”  He knew there had to be a connection with them.  Then, how many other species, humans, were with her, that were more dangerous than these panthers.  He shook his head.  He shook the insecure thoughts out.  One thing Cotton had was confidence.  “Fuck that!”  Cotton said as he let out a breath.  “I am not worried about any of them.”   He placed his phone down and stared at his ceiling.  His bed sheets were making him hot and he was ready to get up.   Cotton heard the rumbling from next door, then he heard the roosters from all over the building start up.  He took that as a cue to get up.  He moved out of bed and stood up.  He walked over to his kitchen and prepared his morning rituals.

            Lawrence’s phone rang.  He looked over at it.  His groggy eyes had to look twice at the name that was calling.  It was Clyde.  Lawrence quickly woke up.  He stared at the phone.  “What the hell is he calling me for so early?” 

            The phone stopped ringing.  Lawrence wasn’t sure what to do, should he call back?

            Clyde didn’t let him think.  The phone rang again.  Lawrence this time, without much thought, picked up the phone. 

            “Hello?”

            “Hey.  You asleep?”  Clyde asked.

            “Yeah, I was, what’s up?”

            “We need to talk?”  Clyde said, in a monotone voice.

            “When?  Now?”

            “Yeah.  I would rather do it when nobody is around.  I just want to roll some things off you, see what you think.”

            “Okay.  Shit. Uhm, I will be there in about an hour.”

            “I am at the factory.  Top floor.”  Clyde said as he hung up the phone.

            Lawrence looked at the time.  It was six-fifteen.  The sun was just coming up.  He looked at his phone.  He decided to call Cotton and let him know he was about to leave.

            Cotton answered his phone.  Lawrence told him he was about to meet Clyde at the abandoned bakery warehouse.  Cotton looked at the time.  “Man, you think that is a good idea today?”

            “No worries man.  I will be at the hit.”  Lawrence replied.

            “Man, I don’t trust him.  Let me grab a cab, and I will meet you there.”

            “No need Cotton.  I will be alright.  If I don’t make it, then kill him.”

            “I am going.  This Rodrigo hit is important.  I need you there.”

            Lawrence knew Cotton wasn’t going to change his mind.  “Okay look.  Met me out at the old coffee shop facing the bakery.  We will test out the earpieces in live action.”

            “Okay.  I will bring Raquel.”

            “Who?”

            “My rifle.  That is her name.”

            “Shit.  I forgot you named your guns.  Okay.  Be careful, you know how the southside is.”

            “Yeah, I got goldy too.”

            “Wh–.  Ga Dammit Cotton.”

            “Alright.  One hour.”  Cotton said as he hung up the phone.

            Samuel was tired, his mind had been racing since the incident at the farm.  It had been a mentally exhausting trip, and it was only half done.  His thoughts were erased as they came up to the concrete jungle.  Samuel or any of his birds had never seen a city this big.  There were buildings everywhere.  It was Porte City, five times.  Samuel felt smaller than he had ever felt.  He saw buildings that were as high as he was flying.  He saw more cars than he had ever seen in one place.  He had to remind himself he had to find Cesar.  He let out a low chirp, and his flock followed him to a roof top of a building.  Samuel landed and his birds followed.  Samuel watched all his bird’s land.  He could hear the chatter of the birds, amazed at how big this city was.  Samuel dialed Cesar. 

            Cesar answered.

            “Hey.  So where do we go?”

            “What do you see?”

            “Shit, buildings.  I am on a rooftop.”

            “Okay, you came up the same way we did.  So, you see three bridges to your south?”                    Samuel turned his body.  “Yeah, I do.”

            “Good.  Just head to the middle bridge.  We are underneath.”

            “Okay.”  Samuel hung up the phone.  He waited for a second.  He pulled out a cigarette.  He wanted his birds to soak the view in for a minute.  Samuel watched his birds.  He knew that there were going to be some decisions that would have to be made.  It was going to be a tough homecoming when they got back.  Samuel wanted to call Lawrence and see what was going on, but he decided to wait until the whole flock was together.  He threw his cigarette down.  He let out a low chirp, and his bids drew their attention to him.  “Okay.  We are heading to the Middle Bridge.  That is where Cesar and the flock are.  Samuel took off and his birds followed.  Samuel took one more long look at this enormous city, then set his eyes on the bridge. “Tourist time is over, it is time for business.”  Samuel thought, as his eyes narrowed on his path to the bridge.

            Cotton arrived at the southside.  His cab dropped him off down the street from the coffee shop.  He walked towards the coffee shop.  He scanned the area.  He gripped Goldy.  He saw some stray dogs, and some alley cats doing their thing, he saw a few homeless humans lying about.  He hadn’t spent too much time on the southside but knew it was a place to watch your step.  He came to the coffee shop.  The doors were boarded up, but all the windows were broken.  He walked up to one of the windows.  He stuck his head in.  The smell, it him like a sour punch to the nose.  It smelled like rotten death, he could pick up scents of urine, shit, and unwashed humans. 

            He heard the voice come from inside.  “Come in.  You get used to the smell.”

            Cotton shook his head.  “Damn Lawrence.  Could you of picked a nastier place?”  Cotton jumped through the window.  The dark coffee shop was in ruin.  Drywall was on the ground, broken boards and glass covered the floor.  Samuel handed Cotton a cigarette.  “Here this helps with the smell.” 

            Cotton put the cigarette in his mouth, and Lawrence handed him a lighter, he lit the butt and quickly blew out smoke. 

            “Okay.  He is expecting me.  If you look out the window you came in, we will be at the building across the street.  I will stay near the top window.”

            “Okay.  Turn your headset on.  If he ask why, you have it, just say you are expecting a call.”

            “Yah I got it.  Okay man.  Here we go.”  Lawrence flew out the window, and up to the top floor of the bakery.

            Cotton took out Raquel, and put Raquel together.  He then loaded his rifle and pushed his headset further in his ear. 

             Samuel and his flock landed under the bridge.  The rest of the flock that was there watched them land.  The feeling of interruption filled the air as they landed.  Cesar and his flock looked at Samuel and his flock like they were intruders.  Samuel looked behind him, his flock was landing and they were quiet.  They must have felt the awkwardness also.  Samuel walked up to the larger Cesar.  Samuel lit a cigarette.  He looked at Cesar.  “Everything good?

            Cesar looked down at Samuel.  “Yeah.  Why?”

            Samuel tilted his head.  “Just seemed like we were interrupting something, it wasn’t like we just showed up, you told us where you were, so you knew we were coming.”

            “Your mind is messing with you.”  Cesar said as he walked a few steps away from Samuel.

            “Okay.  Gather around.”

            Samuel got pissed.  Cesar just walked away from him like he was nothing.  Samuel wanted to challenge him right then and there.  He didn’t like that.  He took a deep drag of his butt, then let out the smoke, and walked over next to Cesar.  Where he always stood during his talks. 

            “Okay.  We are going to be here today and tomorrow.  We will leave Friday morning.   We are going to meet up with some pigeons.  They are going to take us to their place.  I have some sit downs and other things that I must take care of, so I will be in and out.  I want you guys to chill and relax.  I have been told they are going to treat us right.  There is future business that will be discussed, so I don’t want you to fight and tearing up shit.  If there is a problem with this, I don’t have any problem making an example.”

            Samuel almost laughed out loud.  “Isn’t that why he is so pissed at me.  For making an example?”     Samuel almost said it but decided to shut his beak.

            “We have already lost three.  I don’t want to go back with any more casualties.”

            Samuel almost went after him right then.  He shook his head noticeably.

            Cesar saw the movement out of the corner of his eyes.  He let it go.  “Everyone understand?”

            The flock shook their heads, and some said yes.  Samuel didn’t say a word.

            “Okay.  They will be here in about an hour.  So, chill and we will head out when they show up.”  Cesar turned around, and without looking at Samuel he started to walk away. 

            “Follow me.”  Cesar said,  walking away.

            Samuel threw his cigarette to the ground and followed the huge bird.

            They walked about thirty yards away from the flock.  Cesar turned around.  “You got something to say?”

            Samuel looked eye to eye with him.  “Does it matter?”

            “It matters when you shake your head in front of my flock and show disrespect.”

            Samuel laughed.  He looked past Cesar.  He looked at the bank of the river.  The dead trees of fall made the atmosphere colder.  He looked back at Cesar.  “Disrespect?  You lost all respect, brother.  You hood-winked me, you played me.  You acted like we were family.  Then you get nervous.  Thinking I want your position.”  Samuel paused he looked down.  “I don’t want your position.  I was just happy my “boy” was on top.  I had your back till the end brother.  But you got spies on me.  You say we need to talk.  About what?  I haven’t done shit wrong to you.”  Samuel looked back up at him.  The stress made him light another cigarette. 

            “You finished?”  Cesar asked as he moved closer to Samuel.

            Samuel laughed.  “That’s all you can say?”

            “All I can say?  Shit Samuel.  You put the flock second to your other gig.  Hell.  I even had Lawrence stay, so you can do your thing.  Then, on top of that, you get two of our birds killed.  Then you kill one!”  Cesar voice raised a bit.  “So yeah.  I do have questions to your loyalty!”

            “Nah.  Bull shit.  You have questions about your strength!  Nothing to do with me!”  Samuel moved closer.  “You had a snitch watching me.  Just like with the seconds in charge before.  You killed them all before they got too much power!  You’re scared.  The funny thing is you are scared of nothing!  I had your back!”

            Cesar stepped back.  He looked down at Samuel.  He swung his wing at him, but Samuel quickly moved back.  Samuel was just about to strike with his beak when he heard a loud warning chirp from the flock, that stopped both him and Cesar from advancing the fight further.

            Samuel turned around and saw about ten pigeons flying towards them.  Samuel quickly turned and looked at Cesar.  “Guess we will talk later.”

            Cesar nodded.  “Yeah we will.”

            Lawrence landed on the top floor.  He saw a few birds strutting around.  He said his hellos, then looked for Clyde.  He waited by the window, and he didn’t see any sign of the bird he came to see.  “I don’t see him.”  Lawrence said over the earpiece, as he lit a cigarette.

            Cotton was watching from the coffee shop window.  He saw a big bird flying towards the bakery warehouse.  “If that is Clyde coming, he is bigger than I thought.  Damn.  He looks like a flying baby!”  Cotton said as he followed the bird through his scope.

            “Yeah.  He is a big bastard.”  Lawrence said as he turned and looked at the window, as Clyde flew in. 

            Clyde landed.  He quickly looked around, and told the remaining birds that were hanging around, to go someplace else and chill, because he and Lawrence needed to talk.

            Lawrence wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he stayed close to the window, so Cotton could help if needed. 

            Clyde looked around.  “Thanks for meeting me, I know your busy with that work for Samuel.  This won’t take long.”

            “What’s up?”  Lawrence asked nervously.

            Clyde looked around.  His voice lowered.  “First.  Let me say.  Marcus was my cousin.  I loved him.  I am very upset for his mom, and his family, but we all know the risk when we do this shit.  I don’t blame Samuel.”  Clyde stopped.  He looked around the abandoned warehouse floor, he looked back at Lawrence.   “I know Natty was supposed to be watching.  That is what I hear from some of the birds.  I know Samuel is taking grief, but Samuel is a real bird, and a real leader.  I will deal with Natty when they get back, and I don’t give a shit what Cesar or anyone says.” 

            Cotton was hearing the whole conversation over the earpiece.  He was surprised.  This Clyde bird seemed like a real soul.  He liked what he was hearing.

            Lawrence decided he had better say something about Marcus.  “Yeah man I liked Marcus.  It is a shame he past.”

            “Thank you.”  Clyde then looked around again.  “There is some stuff I want to talk to you about.  This shit stays between us. You will probably want to talk to Samuel.”

            Lawrence looked at Clyde confused.  “What’s up?”

            Clyde took a breath.  “Cesar has some shit going on.”  He paused looking around again.  He nodded his head.  “Follow me.”  Clyde took off and flew out of the window.  He flew to a building that was directly across the street.  They landed on the roof. 

            Lawrence slyly looked towards the coffee shop.  He was still in view of Cotton.  He let out a little sigh of relief.  He looked at Clyde.

            “Sorry man.  I just don’t trust anyone in that fucking bakery.”

            “I feel ya.”  Lawrence replied as he threw his cigarette on the concrete roof of the building.

            The wind was picking up and it made Clyde’s black feathers dance with the same rhythm as the breeze.  “Okay.  I was saying.  Cesar has some of the Red Tips coming. “

            “Wait.  Red Tips?  That swamp flock?  Don’t they roll with the Croc’s?”

            Clyde shook his head.  “Yeah.”

            “What about J.B.?”  Lawrence asked confused.

            “He is making a change.  I am not down with that change.  You and I both know.  J.B. runs the swamps.  He is not one to cross.”

            “So, is he teaming us up with the Red Tips?”  Lawrence asked as he looked around the skyline of the south side.

            “Yeah.  Think about it.  He knows Samuel wouldn’t be down with that.  And from what I hear.  He is making changes at the top.  I guess his plan is to move Samuel out of number two.  He is planning to split up the flock, almost like having little crew bosses.  So, Samuel would run ten birds, that Cesar has them doing certain jobs, and then let’s say me, I would run ten birds, we do our thing, and so on and so forth.”  Clyde paused.  “At first when he told me.  I thought, it was cool.  Then he started with this meeting with the Red Tips, having me talk to a few of them, man he is dividing and conquering.”

            “So he is basically, going to be double dipping.  Working with the Crocs, and J.B.  Having us split up so we don’t know what the other is doing.”

            “Yup.”  Clyde said as he felt relief of somebody else knowing what was going on.

            Lawrence stood silent for a moment.  “Okay.  Well Samuel has already asked me to gather some guys who would be with him if shit went down.  So, I have a few guys-“

            Clyde interrupted him.  “I am down with you guys.  I have some birds that would be with me.”

            “Cool.  Okay.  I must get going.  Let’s play this like we are doing what he said to do.  Play it cool.  I will talk to Samuel.  You get whoever you can with you.  We will do the same.  We will hook up and figure out a game plan before the flock gets back.” 

            “Cool.  I will do my thing.  Let Samuel know I am down for him.  Whatever he wants to do.  I am with him.  He is a real bird.”

            Lawrence and Clyde tapped wings.  “I will call you.”  Lawrence said as he took off.

            Clyde headed back into the warehouse. 

            Lawrence, spoke on his earpiece to Cotton.  “Hey I will meet you down the street.  I don’t want Clyde to know I didn’t trust him.

            “Cool.  Cotton said as he packed up his gun, and headed out the back of the shop, hidden from the warehouse.

            Cotton arrived where Lawrence was waiting.  Lawrence was smoking a cigarette outside an old empty house.  Cotton walked up to him.  He looked down the street at all the empty row houses.  “Damn, I forget how desolate the part of town is.”

            “Don’t let it fool you.  At night.  This place is alive and kicking.  It’s just too early.  These abandoned buildings, houses, parks, are littered with homeless, and drugs man.  It’s a scary place bro.  So many lost souls and addicted species, and criminals here.”  Lawrence added as he took a drag of his smoke.

            “Police ever come down here?”

            “Hell nah.  They wouldn’t make it out or find who they are looking for.  There are so many hiding places here.  I assure you, if they ever did, these streets would be clear.  Everyone is a criminal here.”   

            “So, Red Tips?”

            “Yeah they are from the swamps.  They are a huge crew.  They have never really made it out here.  They stick to The Town of The Bay.”

            “Damn man.  Looks like you guys have a lot to deal with.”  Cotton added as he placed his hands in his pockets. 

            “Man yeah.  We are birds, we are used to drama, we will figure it out.  But Clyde showed me today.  We can trust him.”

            “Seems like it.  Call Samuel. Tell him what’s up.”

            “Yeah, I will when I get back to the bar.”  Lawrence paused.  “What time you heading over to the bar?”

            “Probably by ten.  Get ready, find out Wilmen’s plan for the hit.”

            Cool brother.”  Lawrence looked at Cotton.  “You ready for this shit?”

            Cotton looked at Lawrence.  “Always.”

            Lawrence laughed.  “Alright man be safe on the way home. The Southside isn’t a joke.”

            “Shit.  No worries.”

            Lawrence flew away.  Cotton looked around.  He gripped Goldy, and started to walk, to find a cab to get home.

            Cotton arrived at the bar.  He walked in and the main bar was empty.  He turned around and locked the door.  He walked into the backroom.  Wilmen and Lawrence were sitting at the table. The small flat panel T.V was on, and it was talking about the fashion show.   Wilmen looked up and nodded at Cotton.   Lawrence was watching the T.V. and he shook his head.

            “Damn man.  It is a shame we have to clip this guy.  He seems like he wants to make a difference.”

            Cotton placed his bag on the floor.  He sat down. 

            “Yeah.  That is our job.  We don’t know him.  He is probably an asshole.”  Wilmen said as he placed his loaded .45 caliber gun on the table. 

            “Yeah.  Probably.”  Lawrence said unsure.  Shit for the money they are paying, I will kill myself.”

Cotton and Wilmen laughed. 

            Cotton spoke up.  “So Wilmen.  What is the plan?”

            Wilmen stood up.  He walked over to his desk.  He picked up the two passes for the event.  He threw Cotton’s on the table and placed his around his neck.  He then turned back around and grabbed an oversized Fairmont Hotel uniform.  He grabbed a smaller one and handed it to Cotton.

            “Why do we need these?”  Cotton replied as he looked at the red and gold pant suit.

            “Well, I am going in the crowd.  I am going to stand near the stage.  I need a pass to get that close.  I will have our headset on and be able to talk without much suspicion.”

            “Why do I need it.  I don’t want to be seen.” 

            “Okay.  That is cool.  I got it just in case.  If you don’t want it, it is cool with me.”

            Cotton shook his head.  “So, you going to be carrying that .45?”

            “Yeah.  You never know.”

            “Okay.  So, it needs to happen at 3:11 P.M.  I will hang in the alley, until 3:00, 3:05.  Then as soon as I can get into the billboard, I will let you guys know.”

            Cotton looked at both men.  “Lawrence.  You need to be my eyes from above.  You need to watch my back in the alley.  When 3:10 hits, you have one minute to guide my escape.”

            Lawrence shook his head.  “I got you man.”

            “I should be cool.  I won’t have any issues.  So, don’t worry about me Lawrence. Just watch Cotton and everything around him.”

            “Once I pull the trigger and I see he is down.  I am taking my gun apart, and leaving towards Pecan St.  I will turn left, and head back here to the bar.”  Cotton paused.  If anything, and I mean anything goes wrong, separate, and we will meet back at the bar tonight at mid-night.  Cotton looked at Wilmen.  “If this hit goes bad.  Get your wife out of town.  You know these panthers will kill us and our families.”

            “She is already out of town.  “She will not come back until she hears from me.”

            “Good.”  Cotton looked at Lawrence.  Samuel knows the deal, so if he doesn’t hear from us, he will assume the worst.”

Lawrence shook his head in agreement.  “Okay.  So, we are all set.”

            The group became quiet.  They stood there for a second.  Wilmen stood up.  “Good luck fellas.  We do this right, and we will have a lot of money in our hands.”

            Lawrence prepared his headset.  He looked at Wilmen, and Cotton.  “Okay.  I will be in contact.  Let you guys know what is going on.”  Lawrence took off.  He headed towards the door.  Wilmen walked behind him, and Cotton followed.  Wilmen opened the door for Lawrence, and he flew away.  Wilmen looked back at Cotton.  “Easy money.”

            “Always.” 

            Wilmen held the door open.  Cotton walked out.  Wilmen watched his friend walk down the street and hail a taxi.  He then walked back inside, grabbed his clothes, and walked back out; he locked the door.  He turned and walked to the street’s edge, and raised his arm, the taxi stopped and then drove him to the Fairmont Hotel.