They Call Me Red
#author……https://buff.ly/2GJSDsG
21 June 2020
I sat on the sidewalk beside Shakes and in front of Joy, Little Jake and Debbie. Wolf had gone for a piss. I gave a used copy of the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, to Joy. It seemed appropriate since, on the front of her sweatshirt, there was an image of a wolf.” She thanked me and said, “Sorry I have to run, but I have an appointment with my landlady, to fix my toilet.”
I pulled out another book, Mob Rule, that I intended to give to Wolf. Shakes looked at it and asked, “Are you going to give this to Wolf?”
I said, “Yes.”
He said, “I like to read too, you know, especially since I don’t have television.”
I said, “You take it then, Shakes.”
Shortly after Wolf returned. He saw the book Shakes was holding. “That looks interesting. Mind if I read that after you’re finished?”
“Sure,” said Shakes.
I said, “It’s about Paul Volpe, the boss of the Toronto Mafia from the early 1960’s up to his death in 1983. It mentions his bootlegging days as a young man, to his initiation into the Mob, his stints in jail, and then the details of his death. Maybe you’ll recognize some of the names.”
Little Jake said, “We don’t remember names, we remember faces.”
I said, “There are pictures, too.”
Wolf reached into Shaggy’s cart and pulled out three books. One was by Danielle Steele, ‘We all know what this one’s about. This one’s by Catherine Cookson, I don’t know her. This last one is a murder mystery. It doesn’t look like there’s much shooting, but it’s more my style. Anyway, I got lots to read for the weekend. I’m going to Tim Horton’s, have a coffee, a couple of donuts and read my books.”
Debbie asked, “Dennis, how do you like my new summer haircut?”
“It looks very nice. It suits you.”
“Little Jake cut it. We were both stoned, but it came out alright, didn’t it.?”
I said, “It looks professional. Nobody would ever know that it wasn’t done at a salon.”
Little Jake said, “Yeah, it’s a lot better than the haircut that Jacques gave me.”
Wolf, whose white hair is almost to his shoulders said, “There’s no way that any of you guys are going to cut my hair.”
Matches asked me, “Dennis, are you going to the Rib Fest?”
“No, ” I said, “are you?”
“I’ve been two times already and I’m going again tonight. I should do pretty well I always go to the Blues Fest, the Jazz Fest and the Folk Fest. My favorite is Blues Fest. I can’t get past the gate, but people always give me booze and get me stoned.”
Shakes was wearing a pair of shorts. Debbie asked, “What’s that scar on your leg?
“Which one?”
“The one that runs from your knee to your hip?”
“That’s where I got shot. The bullet went in here.” pointing to a circular scar, “It broke my femur and came out here.” He lifted his leg to show the scar from the exit wound. They had to cut me open to put the rod in.
“I didn’t mean to be nosey,” said Debbie, “I was just wondering.”
“I got it at a house party. I knew there was going to be trouble, so I went to my street sister and asked for my nine millimeter. She didn’t want to give it to me. She said, ‘If I give you this gun, you’re going to get into trouble. I just know it.’ I said, ‘That’s why I need my gun.’ I was at the party, there was lots of booze, drugs, but I decided to leave. My bro asked for my gun. I took it out of my pocket, took the clip out, but forgot there was still a shell in the chamber. It had a hair-trigger, much too sensitive. When my bro took my gun, he accidentally shot me in the leg.
I asked, “Why did your friend want your gun?”
“ ‘Cause he wanted to shoot the guy.
“The last time I was in prison was in 1995. I was in Collins Bay for nearly five years.”
I asked, “What were you in for?”
“Bank robbery. I was just seventeen, selling drugs, robbing banks, boxing. That’s when I was sparring with George Chuvallo and Shawn O’Sullivan. I still got it.”
I said, “I guess it’s just like riding a bicycle. You never forget it.”
“I don’t get into fights anymore, but if I’m backed against a wall, watch out, the fists are going to fly.”
…
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