The Legend of Johnny Hustle: Crown Me King (25 page)

              Red stepped up. “Sugar, you’re the man.  You never do the inside pocket, but today is your day.  Look for open jackets.  Find a way to trip into it.  Bounce off of one mark and then trip into the other, moving your hands too fast for them to feel it.  Just act like you’re pulling my panties off tonight, and I promise to make this a night you’ll remember.”

              I was set and ready to go.  Russ said, “Lame, here comes a crowd now.  I’ll save you the trouble and show you how it’s done,” and he rushed off.

              The afternoon crowd of commuters fled out of the terminal.  Russ walked directly into the crowd of luggage carriers.  He then turned his back to the oncoming crowd.  After the first person bumped into him, he spun.  As the crowd bounced him around, his hands moved up and down.  In and out of pockets they went.  Inside pockets, side pockets, back pockets, and in big bags.  He stuffed the wallets into his waist and inside pocket.  The crowd of hustlers looked on in amazement.  I felt like there was no way I could top him.

              Russ returned when the crowd from the train was gone.  He walked over to Brave Dave and dropped nineteen wallets.  The small crowd of hustlers exploded in praise while avoiding the uniformed officers that roamed the terminal.  I hung my head in defeat.  Red picked up on my fear and announced to the crowd, “I’ll go for him.”

              “You can’t go for him.  This is his challenge.  He know that he gotta go in the blind,” Russ argued.

              “If your corny ass students can go for you, then why can’t I go for him?  Let’s take a vote,” Red hopefully pleaded.

              “Let him be a man and hustle on his own,” someone shouted from the crowd and was met with cheers.

              The heckler was right.  It was my fight to fight.  And since I had made it that far, I knew what I had to do.

              “Go in the blind lame or just give me that half a mill now,” Russ bragged.

             
In the blind—in the blind.
  Money Russ’ words were ringing in my ear.  While the crowd argued my fate amongst themselves, I took fate into my own hands.

A familiar hustler from the Deuce was walking by with a pair of dark shades on.  He had a
Feed The Blind
sign hanging from around his neck.  I walked away from the crowd of hustlers, and handed the man a fifty dollar bill.  I borrowed his glasses, his walking stick, and his sign.  A hush fell over the crowd of hustlers.  The same heckler from the crowd yelled out, “What the hell are you doing?  You can’t panhandle to win.”

              The crowd erupted in laughter, getting the attention of a uniformed police officer.  As they all looked on, a group of passengers entered the tundra, coming up a row of escalators.  With no time to waste, I decided to go down the escalator as they were coming up.

              “Excuse me.  Sorry.  Pardon me.  Excuse me.  I’m blind and I just can’t see,” I yelled as I picked the pockets of every one I bumped into while descending the upward stairs.  The people on the escalator naturally turned to move out of my way.  The angles of their bodies made it easier to pull their wallets.  My pants were stuffed, and my inner pockets where bulging.  Unbeknownst to me, the officers’ in blue were watching my moves.

              Renee saw the officers heading for me, so she reacted.  She rushed down the escalators and jumped, sending my body down to the hard marble floor, and had the cuffs on me before I knew what happened.

              “I saw the whole thing.  Do you need any assistance?”  asked the officer in blue, speaking into his radio while his partner lusted off of Renee’s tight body.

              Renee took a deep breath, flashed her badge, and in an authoritative voice, said, “Yeah, buddy, this is my collar.  Straight from One Police Plaza.  We’ve been tracking this scumbag for weeks.”  She stopped short and said to the officers.  “What I need you to do, is stay right here in this spot.  Just in case any of the victims or his friends come back this way.  I’ll be down at the station.”

              “Sure, ma’am.  We’ll get the people moving,” the rookies said.

              Renee roughed me up while coming back up the escalators.  She did it so well that I didn’t know if she was real or faking.  When I passed the crowd of Money Russ and the crew, they had their mouths wide open.  I whispered, “Money Russ, you ain’t the only one that can use the police.  Twenty-three.  Twenty-three wallets.  That makes me the king of Times Square.”  I then winked at him and said, “Come to the square and see for yourself.”

              Red walked in front of Renee.  She told the crowd of spectators to move out of her way, as if she was Renee’s back up.  Renee walked in the middle of 42
nd
Street, flashed her badge at an on coming yellow cab and yelled, “Stop the car.”

They sandwiched me in the back of the taxi like they were an undercover team.   When the taxi pulled off, heading down 42
nd
Street, Renee said, “You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say or do can be held against you in a court of law.”  Tears ran down her gorgeous face.  “You have the right to an attorney—” She took a few breaths like she was really going to arrest me, and the she asked herself, “What the hell am I doing?”  She reached behind me and took off the cuffs.  I kissed her with all I had to offer and she accepted my appreciation.

              There it was; I was a natural born hustler.  We reached the square and waited for the crowd of hustlers to show up.  I had all the wallets stacked on the ground.  Once the tally was done and confirmed by the vets, I reached for the crown.

              “Lame ass petty hustler,” Money Russ complained.

The crowd applauded as Red slid the crown on my head.  I made it.  I was a winner, and the whole hustling world was there to see it.  That’s when Money Russ reminded me that I was a millionaire.

              “Come on lame, let me tell Proverb that you won.”

              With my crown in my hand, and my two ladies at my side.  I crossed Broadway and headed towards my big payday.  When we got closer to Proverb’s shop, I saw something that I never saw before.

              “What the fuck is this about?” Money Russ asked in frustration.

              Proverb’s store was closed.  While we were across town, someone removed the signs from his shop.  It looked like it was never there.

              “John-knee Hausel,” I heard an Asian man next to me ask.  He looked like he was a hundred years old.  He was holding a white envelope in his hands.

              “Yeah, that’s me,” I said with hesitation.

              He handed me the envelope.  I took it from him.  Then I heard Red say, “Oh yeah, a long con.”  Her eyes turned to slits.  “I should have thought of something like this.”

              I didn’t catch on, but I opened the envelope and it all came to me.

Foolio:

Trust no one.  There are seven elements to a con.  The main agenda is making the mark comfortable and allowing his own greed to get the best of him.  I told you before, men are important only in relation to other men, based on their usefulness in the service they provide.  Unless you understand that completely, you ain’t gone get nothing but one form of misery or another.  I need you to look beyond the obvious.  Never take things on face value.

I hustled you out of your half, and got a little get-back with Money Russ.  By the time you get this letter, me and Proverb will be in Japan pulling some stings.  Catch me if you can, but that half a mill you lost will be a priceless lesson to you.  Game recognize game.

From now on you must represent what the hustle is about.  In life, and in legitimate business, people have to know, that
you know
every aspect of what you doing from the bottom up.  This is the game, and in the game you don’t cross, you double cross!  That’s what separates the good from the greatest. Always expect the cross.  Know the game.  Don’t get mad, get even!

              I love you, cuz, and congratulations on being the King of Times Square.  I taught you well.

              Love always, Yoda.

              Shit! I was out hustled by my teacher.  I swear my blood pressure had gone up.  Red read the letter out loud, and I watched Money Russ come to tears.  That’s when she broke into hysterical laughter.

“What the fuck is so funny?” I yelled at her.

              Red smacked her lips against mine and laughed some more.  “Baby, this will make you a legend more than anything ever will.”

              “I just lost a million dollars, Red; what the fuck is funny about that?”

              “A million dollars?” Renee asked.

              Red laughed at me with her elegant charm.  “Baby, never count your money before you get it.  This is Mid, where the impossible is possible, you should know that.”  She kissed me again and then ran her hand through my hair.  “I guess we have to form a drag team and make that mill back.  Don’t worry, I won’t ask for a dime until I make you a million, if it’s that important to you.”

$$$

“Celebration time, come on!  Let’s celebrate…” Brave Dave yelled while popping champagne back at the suite.

              All of my hustling partners were there.  I took the million dollar loss in stride, and even hoped Yoda could have been there.  My eyes scanned the crowd for one of the people that made it all possible, but she wasn’t there.  A hollow feeling came over me and I asked Joy, “Hey, where’s Roxy?”

              “She’ll be here, gosh darn it.  She dropped me off and told me she was going down to the Ave to turn a few high price tricks, so they can come down to the house.  I reckon your girl was advertising, daddy.  You know she all excited about the baby.”

I convinced myself that Joy was right, and was proud that I had such a trooper like Roxy behind me.  I made up my mind that she was done in the streets.  We were about to be parents, so her life of crime had to come to an end.

The party was off the hook; Gloria and a few people from the hotel staff came up to celebrate; too.  I was drinking my second glass of the bubbly when there was a knock at the door.  I thought someone else wanted to join the party, so I opened it without caution.

Buffy and Tweety were standing in the hall with sullen looks on their sweet faces.  I invited the young women in, but they refused.  All of a sudden, Tweety sunk to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.  I could tell by Buffy’s demeanor that something was wrong, and she was trying her best to stay strong.

“Thirty Second on Eleventh.  You got to get Roxy.  She’s in trouble,” Buffy cried out.

              “Roxy?  What happen to my baby?”  Red yelled over the music in a panic.

              Buffy held Tweety and said, “Just go-just go-just go bring her back.”

              My shoes were flying out the door and my family was right behind me.  We stormed out of the hotel like a gang at war.  When we reached the pavement, everyone looked up and down the avenue for transportation.  Instantly, Renee jumped into action.  A limo pulled up at the side of the hotel.  She put her badge and gun into the driver’s face.  When he hesitated, she yelled, “Get the fuck out of the car.  Now!”  The chauffeur grew wings and the gang loaded in the car.

              Renee sped the limo down Seventh Avenue until we reached 32
nd
Street and Eleventh Avenue.  Traffic was at a standstill.  Urgently, we abandoned our ride and raced under the old train trestle, where the working ladies turned their tricks.  The police were everywhere.  From the distance, I could see Roxy’s Maxima with the back door wide open.  Officer’s Vance and Jackson were in front of the car, behind the black and yellow crime scene tape.

              “Roxy!”  Joy yelled and took off, busting through the tape.  Red was right behind her.  Brave Dave lost his first name that day, because he blended away in the opposite direction.

              After pushing through the uniformed officers, I walked up the middle of the street and stopped at the open car door.  Life left me.  No amount of cash, no long con or short con that I pulled off could have removed the pain that was seeping into my soul.  I was staring the biggest obstacle in my life right in the face.

              Roxy was laid out in the back seat with her back against the door.  Her bloody skirt was hiked up over her knees.  Blood drained down her leg from her crotch.  Her blonde hair was disheveled over her face.  Her chocolate throat that held the words that swore her dedication to me leaked royal blood from ear to ear.  The breast that had to give life to our child was shredded, hanging by its pieces.  In the back of her new car, Roxy was gone.

              “No-no-no-nooooo!” Joy cried out.  She ran to the car trying to save a body that couldn’t be saved.

Red sobbed uncontrollably while Renee’s conditioned soul of granite tried to hold us together.

Then I found peace.  The bloody ice pick Roxy held in her hands gave me solace, knowing that she evened up the score and that the beast that killed my lover and child would eventually be found.

              Detective Vance walked over.  He crushed his cigarette on the bloody pavement and then smiled at me.  “I guess you don’t know who this is either?”