Shelton Family Saga

Chapter 58

Alex Callie, 2021 - 74 yrs old

I found myself getting into more and more trouble. Juntas tried to steer me straight, but I had a mind of my own. I really enjoyed living the good life and although having cash money in my pocket had its own perks, the circle I was running in was just that, a circle! It led nowhere; just an endless whirl of a chase. Chasing money, girls, clothes, cars, jewelry, fine cuisine, world travel, mindless business ventures, you name it and I was probably into it. My sister Averie had been so upset with me the time I showed up at her place to see my niece, Shar, but I had to show up. I had promised Shar I would come see her and take her to get donuts from the local bakery, which was really just a small kitchen with some deep fryers in a corner tucked in the back of the towns only grocer store. There was a lady, Mrs. Violeta, back there who fried donuts all morning. She'd show up about five thirty in the morning and start frying donuts for everyone in town who would come in with their loose change and purchase whatever they could afford. Shar loved going there for donuts and chocolate milk, so I'd shown up at my sister Averie's place to make good on my promise to Shar. The only thing about it was the night before, I'd been down at a pool hall hustling everybody I came across out of their paycheck. It was a Friday and most of the fellas in the place had just gotten paid and was ready to party it all away. A couple of fellas in there, Jimmy and Tor, were new faces I'd never seen before and I could tell they weren't from around there. After briefly observing them, it seemed Jimmy had a bad gambling problem, which led me to believe he would gamble his own life away, if left up to him. I hit that on the head as Jimmy made a bet he couldn't pay for. That ordeal led to a scare for the pair, and they took off like a couple of scared rabbits, bailing with money that didn't belong to them. I knew Black Knight, the gangster dude they'd just stiffed, wasn't going to let it ride, and he'd go looking for them, but I beat him to the punch. I followed Tor out the back door by the restrooms and watched him Jimmy rig his car with the wires hanging from underneath the steering wheel. As soon as he got it started, he bolted out of the parking lot like lightening. I suppose he was suppose to double back and pick up Jimmy or had a waiting spot where he'd meet him, but I followed him and waited until Jimmy showed up. I had hidden in Tor's trunk when he'd gotten out of the car to take a leak. When Jimmy showed up, I surprise ambushed them, taking all their loot they'd jacked from Black Knight. I ran back to my own car and tried to speed off; but, Jimmy came running straight toward my car with a sledge hammer, busting out my whole front windshield. There was nothing I could do but haul ass to get out of there. Like I said, they were new faces so they didn't know me, so by the time Black Knight showed up to collect from then, I was long gone. Bright and early the next morning, I was at Averie's place with shattered glass all over the dashboard, seats, and floor. I had driven there sitting on shards of glass, and when I picked up Shar to take her for donuts, there was nowhere for her to sit, except on shattered glass pieces. I drove really slow going there and back to get the donuts so as not to cause the glass to fly around too much. I remember Shar laughing about how cool my new air conditioner was because of the frosty morning breeze coming straight in at us. When I pulled back into my sisters driveway, she was furious. I swear I saw smoke shoot out of both of her ears as she blew her top yelling at me about the dangerous predicament I'd put Shar into.