Seven Up

Part 2 – Memories

Two

When Lula finally decided that she was properly armed we made our way out to the car. Then she started to have a fit about having to ride around in the pimp-mobile. I was getting sick of her always having a problem with everything I did.

"Lula, these two guys we're going after are huge. There's no way that all four of us would fit into your Firebird. We're taking the Buick and that's that. Now stop acting like you're two years old and get into the car."

That got her to shut up which was a feat unto itself. Lula always had something to say, no matter what. She got into the car without anymore hassle and off we went.

I decided to make a quick stop by their house before we went to check out any bars. After all, if they were there it would be a waste of time to drive all over the city looking for them. There were some cars parked in their front yard and when I went around back, I saw that there were even more parked back there. It made me think that while they might be pretty good at acquiring the vehicles, they weren't so hot at getting rid of them. We went up and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. I was just about to ask Lula for my first lesson in B & E when a neighbor stuck her head out the window.

"You looking for those White boys?" The woman who asked was still in a housecoat and had curlers stuck in her hair. She was eighty if she was a day.

"Yes ma'am. Do you know where we could find them?" I asked her. I didn't mention that we were from their bonding company. Who says I don't learn from my mistakes?

"They're bums, both of 'em. They're usually out all the time. Only come home to sleep. And are they loud when they come home. Drunks, both of 'em," she yelled.

"Thank you for the information, ma'am," I called back. "Would you mind meeting me at your door? I'd like to give you my card."

She seemed to be thinking about it for a minute. From the distance we were standing I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like she was sliding around her dentures.

"Well, I guess I could do that," she finally answered. When we met up at the front door, I pulled out a card and told her what I was here for, why I was looking for the White brothers.

"Huh, I always knew those two were trouble. So what d'ya want me to do about it?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you would call me at one of those numbers if either or both of them come home."

She took another minute to think about it, and I was near enough to see that she was in fact shifting around her uppers. It reminded me of Grandma Mazur. She finally told me that she thought that she could do that for me. Then she wanted to know if she got a badge. I thanked her for her help and Lula and I took our leave.

When we got to the car, I looked at the list that Vinnie had given me. I had no idea where any of the bars were, so I gave it to Lula.

"Most o' these are either on Stark or Sloane. Just turn," she said. Well that's enlightening, Lula, I thought. I had to ask if she meant right or left.

"Left! Now!" she screeched.

"Lula," I said, irritated "I need just a little more warning than that."

The rest of the ride there was the same. Lula giving last second directions, and me yelling at her for it. I was beginning to think that she took turns so fast because she didn't remember until it was almost too late. And she drives a lot faster than I do.

Forty minutes and countless close calls later, we finally got to the bar the brothers were in. Luckily we got there in one piece. Of course, I had been driving Big Blue and nothing ever happens to that car, so I guess it wasn't like we were ever actually in danger from all the drivers I cut off in an effort to follow Lula's directions. I can't say the same for any innocent bystanders who got in the way.

I spotted them in a booth near the back with a pitcher of something in front of them. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed too drunk yet.

We made our way back and I asked them to come with us. The smaller one, and small was a relative term, started to protest. Then the bigger brother kicked him under the table. At least I thought that's what he did. I hadn't seen him, but the smaller dude made an "oomph" sound, followed by a rather colorful string of expletives. In the end, they both got up and came with us.

Just as we got outside they decided to make a run for it. Probably that's what the kick was about. Bastard men. Couldn't a man just once do what I wanted? Once. I watched their fat rolls flubber and bounce and thought that the answer was a resounding no. I was still trying to decide whether or not to run after them when Lula took off, rhino mode in full swing.

"Don't worry Steph, I got these mother fuckers," she called back to me. "There ain't no way they gettin' away from me!"

That decided me, I was definitely not going to chase after them. I was just going to walk calmly after them and watch to see what happened. And boy did it ever happen. Lula was making really good time and was right on their heels when she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. She was close enough that when she fell, she grabbed onto Larry, who grabbed onto Barry, and all three went down in a heap. Kinda like Dominoes. A really, really big game of dominoes. Personally, I'd never really liked that game. You would spend all that time setting the dominoes up, just to knock them down. I liked the knock them down part, it was just the tedious job of setting them all up that drove me nuts.

I thanked my luck star I didn't have anything to do with this dominos game. Lula went down screaming and cursing up a storm, but had somehow managed to hang onto her stun gun which, once she recovered from her momentary shock at falling over on her ass, she was quick to use. What she forgot was that all three of them were tangled up, so the shot she put into Barry, or maybe it was Larry, I couldn't tell them apart, knocked all three of them all out cold.

Wonderful.

I left them laying on the sidewalk and went back to get the Buick. When I was next to the passed out bodies of my partner and my skips, I looked up at the sign. No Parking, it said. Of course. I ignored it and parked right under the sign. By that point, I really didn't care. Somehow, the thought of a parking ticket didn't really bother me too much in the scheme of things. And besides, I could probably bribe Eddie into making it disappear if there was a cop with his stick up his ass enough to give me a ticket while I was loading three unconscious bodies into my car. When I thought about it some more, I wondered why a cop hadn't made his way over yet.

By the time I got out of the car and over to them, both Barry and Larry were starting to wake up.

"Hi boys." They looked at me with expressions of mistrust and disbelief on their faces.

"So you didn't like Lula too much, huh?" I asked. They shook their heads. All doubt about Connie's assessment of these two vanished. Neither Barry nor Larry were at all bright.

"Well then," I said. "I'll make a deal with you. If you get into the car right now, and promise that next time you two go FTA you'll come along with me without a hassle, then I promise not to let Lula get anywhere near you. Deal?"

They seemed to consider it for a moment before they both agreed. We shook hands to seal the deal and they quickly got into the car. Hearing Lula grunt might have had something to do with that.

"Steph? What happened?" she asked as I got out the wet naps for the second time that afternoon.

"I'll explain later," I told her. "Just get in the car, and don't even turn around to look at the Whites, ok?"

"Yeah, Steph. Sure," she said, still dazed but surprisingly compliant. I was guessing that this docile side of Lula was brought on only because she'd just been zapped with a few hundred volts. I'd have to keep that in mind.

We managed to get to the station without anymore hassle and I got the brothers deposited. I was just going to leave when a hush fell over the entire room. Like an idiot, I looked back to see what was going on. It was Morelli. I looked at him for a minute. He refused to even look at me, preferring to pretend I didn't exist. Funny, I thought, that I hadn't realized how much it would hurt to have Joe out of my life completely.

Refusing to cry, I fled from the station. One good thing about driving the Buick is that I never have to worry about Lula deserting me at the police station. She had an annoying tendency to steal my car and get out of range of the cop shop. And on that day of all days, I did not want to have to go back into the station to call for a ride. Probably I would have walked home first.

Once I'd started the car, Lula asked what had happened. It took me a minute to realize she was talking about her encounter with her own stun gun. She was not too thrilled with the story, but it got me laughing. It was nice to not be at the end of a bounty hunting mishap for once. I had the thought that I might have passed along some of my bad bounty hunting karma to her. It was a nice thought, and one that kept me smiling until we were almost to the office. Then I remembered about the dealer. And Blackwell.

I pulled into the parking lot and got out the file on the dealer.

"Shannon Lawrence, a.k.a. Cannon. You know him?" I asked Lula.

"Sure," she said. "Everybody knows him. He's one mean son of a bitch. That one's usually on a corner sellin' his wares. Especially if he be goin' to jail. Wantin' to get out all of his supply to his guys afore he goes into lock down. So he can still turn a dime while he's outta commission."

She told me what corner I'd find him at and then offered to come with me. I figured it would probably be better if she did. I didn't exactly fit in on Stark Street. I was the wrong color and gender for the street, and the inhabitants instinctively knew that I wasn't one of the hunters. And on Stark, if you're not a hunter, you're the hunted. I needed Lula with me to help me navigate the street.

Lula was a different brand all together. She wasn't a hunter, wasn't the hunted. She was a survivor. She'd lived the street and survived to get out of it

I found a parking space relatively close to where Lawrence's corner was and we went to find the man in question. I was surprised to find that he was actually quite nice when we got there.

"Lula!" he exclaimed when he saw her. I saw him give me the once over. Then I saw him dismiss me. He knew I wasn't buying what he was selling, he knew that I wasn't a threat to him, and he knew that he'd get more from Lula than from me. "What up girl? You be hanging with this white girl? That why you been dissin' all us up in here?"

"I ain't been dissin' you, man. You talk to her. Then you see why I be hanging with her. You see. She straight." She was reverting back to her street slang, heavily slurring some words and biting the ends off of others. I almost couldn't follow but somehow I managed.

"So, who you?" he asked me suddenly. I blinked.

"Stephanie."

"Stephanie? What kinda name is that?" he asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"Probably the same kind of name Shannon is," I shot back. Except I'm a girl, so my name fits, I added in my head. Lula blanched as much as a black woman could, and Shannon let out a bark of laughter.

"Damn, Lula, you right. She straight," he said before he turned to address me. "Now, nobody calls me Shannon, but I guess it be ok if I let you. So what you doing down here? You don't look like you from this area of town, if you know what I mean." Master of pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah," I said. "I figured that out a while ago. That's why I brought Lula."

"Don't sound like you from here neither," he continued.

"Guess I'm not multilingual," I said, remembering when Ranger had come to rescue me from a pair of handcuffs and a shower.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo!" He was honest to God hooting at me. What a comedienne I must be. No matter how funny he thought I was, though, I didn't think it would net me enough to quit my day job. When he was done hooting, he asked what I needed.

"I work for your bonding agent," I started. I never had a chance to finish.

"You mean you Bombshell?" Shannon asked as he turned to Lula. "Girl, why's it you didn't tell me that? You know we's wanting to know who's it we dealing with. And Bombshell, you needing to be telling people who's you be. It's not nice to be telling peoples you be one person when you be another." It seemed my reputation had proceeded me. I didn't know I had a name, though. Bombshell. It just figured, didn't it?

"Uh, sorry?" I said, confused. "I didn't know that I had a name other than Stephanie. I'll be sure not to make the same mistake twice." I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but Lula gave me an approving look so I guessed I was doing all right. Hot damn I was learning. Fumbling in the dark, as always, but learning.

"So I be guessing I missed my date with the law, huh?" Shannon asked.

"Sorry," I said, "but yeah."

"So I needs to be coming with you?" he wanted to know.

"I'd appreciate it," I told him. I was pretty sure Vinnie would die when I told him about this.

"Sure," Shannon said. "I guess I can do that. Lemme close up shop. Wouldn't want no more charges on my record."

I had been a little antsy about that, too, so I didn't argue. He came back maybe five minutes later, ready and willing to go. It was probably the easiest FTA I'd had in a long time. It was right before we got to the station that he said something very interesting that, at the time, I didn't really understand.

"Lula, you be sure to give the Bombshell my number. In case she ever be needing anything," he said.

"Um, Cannon, my girl ain't into that stuff. Sorry, man."

"No, no, girl. I knew that. That's my business, don't you think I can tell? I be meaning information, stuff like that. Give her that number. Not my work one. Got it?" Shannon asked. Somehow, it sounded more like an order than a request, but I didn't think that either Lula or I were going to contradict him.

"Yeah, sure, man," Lula said.

Once again I was in uncharted territory, unsure what exactly was going on, but somehow I felt a thanks was in order. He gave me a huge smile. Huh, guess I got brownie points.

The two of us went into the station and everything got quiet. Again. I looked around but thankfully Morelli was nowhere to be found. I assumed that meant the quiet was due to the man I walked in with. I could tell that the cops at check-in were nervous. They did that move, that little twist of their hip that assured them that their gun was where it was supposed to be. So Shannon was probably a little more dangerous than Lula had let on. And it had probably been something big that he had given me his non-work number.

Juniak was manning the desk when we walked over. As he was processing the paperwork, Shannon turned to me and tried to do one of those hand things. Tried was the operative word. He laughed and gave up, throwing an arm around me in a quick hug.

"Next time, Bombshell, I teach you how to do that. It'll be fun. You see," he said. I wasn't eager to argue with him.

"Uh, ok," I said as I grabbed the receipt. "See ya later."

"Bye Bombshell."

He turned to follow the waiting officers back to a cell. As soon as he got out of earshot, Juniak, Carl, Big Dog, and Eddie all descended on me asking me rapid-fire questions without giving me any time to answer. They went on for quite some time. I let them. After all, they had to run out of questions sooner or later, didn't they? They didn't. After what seemed like ten minutes of their barrage of questions, I quietly told them to shut up and walked out the door. I saw the look they gave me. Like I had two heads and neither one was where it was supposed to be. Guess they thought I'd always do everything they expected. That I'd always be a screw-up and a failure. I was going to show them. I'd show them all.

Since they were still stammering, unable to form a word much less get it out, I took the opportunity to get away from them and headed out to the car, waving and calling out a goodbye over my shoulder. I got in the car and noticed that Lula was looking at me like I had three eyes.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. First the guys at the station, then Lula.

"Girl, do you have any idea what just happened?" she demanded.

I really didn't. I only knew that for some reason, everyone was acting really strangely now.

"Uh…no?"

"Girl, that man is in charge of all distribution on Stark. And he hates being called Shannon, but he said you could do it. And he's been known to do some bodily harm to people who call him on his private line without an invitation, which he just extended to you. "

I guessed that it was a really big thing. Lula was working herself into a tizzy, and I gave a brief thought to my course of action should she pass out on me, but I was entirely unsympathetic.

"So he's high on the drug chain?" I asked to confirm. "And he's a very dangerous man, known to do serious bodily harm to people who piss him off?"

"You better believe it, Steph. And you got him practically eating outta your hand," she preened.

"Nevertheless, the only warning you thought to give me was to tell me that he's a 'mean son of a bitch'? If you had this information before we went down to his corner, why didn't you tell me? Did you think I didn't need to know for some reason? That I would be better off going into the situation blind?" I wanted answers, and I wanted them immediately. I was sick and tired of people holding out on me and I wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

"What's wrong?" she wanted to know. "It's not like nothing happened."

"But it could have. If you're riding with me again, I expect you to tell me everything you know about the skip we're going after. Understood?" I demanded.

"Fine," she humphed and crossed her arms. "But you don't have to go all huffy 'bout it."

"Apparently I do," was all I said.

We got to the office and went in, Lula flopping on the couch without saying another word to me. That was fine. She could be mad at me. So long as she didn't lead me into anymore potentially dangerous situations without telling me what she knew. I gave the body receipts to Connie and waited for my checks.

"Is Vinnie in?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said. "If you really wanna talk to him."

I just shrugged my shoulders and grabbed my checks.

"You mean you're gonna talk to him twice in one day?" she asked incredulously. "What happened?" I ignored her.

"Vinnie?" I called as I knocked on the door.

"Yeah," he yelled. Connie was right. I didn't want to go into Vinnie's office again. I was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't such a toad after all, but that didn't mean I wanted to be contaminated with Vinnie cooties.

I perched myself on the end of the chair across from Vinnie's desk and smiled.

"Well?" he asked me, giving me a look filled with suspicion and mistrust.

"I got him," I said.

"Who?" he asked intently. "Who'd you get?"

"Shannon," I said proudly. I figured I had at least a little room to gloat. After all, I did bring in the top man on the drug chain. If by bring in I meant drove to the police station.

"You got Cannon?" he said with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "How'd you manage to pull that off? And you'd better not let him catch you calling him Shannon. He's broken legs over that crap."

I gave him the whole story, from Lula's lack of information to the words exchanged at the station. When I was done, he smiled and shook his head.

"How do you do it?" he wanted to know. "You don't really know what you're doing out there, you go in with bad info, and you manage to get him to take a ride with you." He paused.

"Yeah," he said. "You're not gonna be so bad once I finish training you. Not bad at all."

Training me? I wasn't sure I wanted Vinnie training me for anything.

"Yeah," he said again, nodding and writing something down. "You can go to the gun range on your own, and you need to take some self defense classes. I'll set you up with my contacts all over the city. Now that you have Cannon's number, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Cannon's people called you and offered you their services. But the more contacts you have, the better it'll be. It never hurts to double check things. Here." He handed me the paper he'd been scribbling on.

"What's this?" I asked looking at the list of names.

"Those are the names of some self defense instructors and people who'll be able to help you with apprehension techniques. Call the first one tonight or tomorrow and set something up. After you've learned everything from him, go onto the next one and so on. And don't forget to go to the gun range."

I took that as a dismissal and got up to leave.

"Oh, and Steph?" He called. I turned back. "Good job."

That made me smile. "Thanks, Vinnie."

I made sure to shut the door behind me. Lula rushed over to me with a piece of paper.

"This is Cannon's number," she said as she handed it over with trembling fingers. "Be real careful when you use it."

"Don't worry. I only plan on using it if I'm desperate," I told her. And maybe not even then. I wasn't sure how I felt about having a drug dealer as a friend. But, I thought, I'd had mercenaries, hookers and mobsters on that list, so I wasn't so sure a drug dealer was really that big a deal.

"I'll call you tomorrow to see if there are any new skips for me," I said to the girls. Walking out the door, I saw that it was too late to go the bank to deposit my checks. But this was Jersey, and the stores didn't close with the banks. I decided to take Vinnie's advice and buy some file folders. I had accumulated enough slips of papers and numbers that things were going to get lost if I didn't. There weren't enough to justify a filing cabinet, yet, but there were enough that I needed some organization. And for the moment, I could just put the files into a drawer, or something.

When I got home with my files, I immediately started organizing. It didn't take me long before I had finished putting all of the papers into the files, and all of the files into an empty drawer in my desk. I felt like I'd had a very productive day. I'd brought in a bunch of skips. I was getting to be good at my job. I was organized. And, I'd received some praise. Any praise at all, even Vinnie's small praise, seemed to make it even sweeter. Our relationship had always consisted of witty repartee, threats and digs at each other, but I could see that it was changing. It even seemed like it could be a good thing.

I sat down on the couch to watch some tube as a reward for a good day's work and promptly fell asleep. Sometime later, I was jolted awake with that feeling that someone was in my space that didn't belong. I didn't know how much later it was, but I could tell by the light that it hadn't been very long. An hour at the most. Just as I was going to sit up, I felt something cover my nose and mouth while a strong arm held me down. Then I passed out.