by Bobby Dennis
“That would be a lot of killin Bull.” said Oscar. “It could well draw unwanted attention.”
“Damn attention!” Bull shouted. “You ain’t felt a single blow, or had a fuckin noose around your neck and shitted yourself!”
“Aw Bull, come on now. Any of us would’ve probably done the same thing.” said Shel.
“I don’t give a fuck what y’all probably would have done!” Bull screamed hoarsely. “I felt it, I was damn near hung! I shitted, not y’all! How the hell can I hold my head up in this town? Them black fuckers saw my wife naked!
“What can we say Bull?” Oscar asked.
“What the hell!” Shel shouted, as the still day was shattered by the staccato chatter of automatic weapons.
“What the fuck is that?” asked Oscar jumping up from his chair.
The other two men rose as well and they hobbled to the door.
Wesley Pipes and Drew Caffy were at the intersection on main street, when a big sedan with four black men stopped at the corner. They raised their hand to the driver of the sedan, to stop him. As the men drew near the car, two men in the car swung up until they were sitting in the passenger side windows with their Sub Thompson’s on the roof.
“Holy shit!” Wesley screamed, as he saw the man in the back seat put his gun out of the window.
The two deputies, both went for their side arms. It was too little too late, as the men in the sedan opened fire. The deputies were riddled with automatic slugs. Their bodies danced a macabre jig, as blood, cloth and pulverized tissue sprayed mist like into the air. There were screams of horror, as the townspeople ran for cover.
“Get in!” Brooks shouted to Lonnie and Tim who sat in the windows. They hurried and slid back into the car.
Brooks pressed the gas peddle to the floor and the big car accelerated, the tires screaming as they burned rubber.
“Make sure you swing by the jail!” Tim said from the back seat.
Brooks nodded and swung the car in a tight right turn. Blake behind the driver, had his weapon pointed towards the sheriff’s office on their left. When Brooks drove by, Blake opened fire, spraying the front of the squat brick building.
Brooks did a u-turn, then Tim and Lonnie unleashed a hail of gunfire into the sheriff’s office. Then they raced away.
* “Son of a bitch!” Shel screamed as the automatic rounds punched thru the door and windows.
The three men scrambled to the floor and all tried to crawl behind the big desk. As sudden as the gunfire begin, it stopped. The silence was enveloping, as the men lay jumbled together with hands covering their heads.
“Go take a look.” Bull said, nudging Oscar.
“Fuck that!” Oscar said. “I ain’t about to go to that door!”
Bull looked at the door and saw that it was damn near shot off. It hung lopsided by one hinge. He struggled to his knees and winced, as the pain from his broken ribs lanced thru him. “I’ll go since you fucks are afraid.” he lisped thru his missing teeth angrily.
Cautiously he peered out of the shattered window and saw people on the street slowly climbing to their feet. He walked quickly to the door and looked out. Just then, one of the three patrol cars they had came careening around the corner and slid to a skidding halt in front of the jail.
Cad and Anton, leaped from the car with their pistols in hand. Bull looked at the two men and screamed. “It’s a day late and a dollar short for you two assholes to come racing to the rescue!”
The men holstered their weapons and looked at Bull sheepishly.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Bull asked angrily.
“Wes and Drew been killed!” Cad said.
“They been what?” Bull said incredulously.
"They were shot down!" said Anton. "The witnesses said, a big Sedan that they stopped, was filled with niggers that opened fire on them. They're tore the fuck up Bull. I mean they don't even resemble nothing that was once human!"
"So, you asshole's left them lying in the street I guess?" Bull asked.
"Con, and Archie Newsom are at the scene. They covered them up." Cad said. "We just got here fast as we could."
"Wasn't fast enough!" said Oscar walking outside, followed by Shel.
A battered and bruised, Wally Cronin rushed up to the scene. "Bull, we got to put a stop to our actions until we find out who these niggers are." Wally said fearfully. "How many more good men got to die, for you to see that we got to change our method? If we keep on at the rate we're going, the government is gonna step in and that means we'll have to shut down a lot more than harassing niggers!"
"Will you shut the fuck up!" Bull shouted. "If we let you have your way, the niggers would be running the whole damn town!"
"Now Bull, ain't no call for you to talk to me that way." said Wally, nervously eyeing the assembled men.
"I want y'all to get the word out that we're having a meeting tonight, as soon as the sun sets. We got to come up with something to put a halt to these renegade niggers!” Bull demanded.
* * * * Ransom sat with the elders and told them about the shooting. They all sat silently and listened at the report.
Raven looked at his brothers, then asked. "What do you think we should do next?"
"I think we should curb the killings for now and wait to see what their next move is." said Eagle.
"That's the way I see it too." said Hawk. "Them rednecks ain't that bright, but they ain't fools either. See, sooner or later they'll come up with a plan to counter the stuff like that. When they do, it could turn into a massacre!"
"Yeah you're right about that." Raven said. "Ran I want you to focus on what we set out to do. We stumbled into this with Klan, I believe we should get back to our objective, which was to run liquor. Ain't no telling how long this is gonna be contained in town. It could get out and bring real grief on our people and we don't want that. They ain't gonna do much right now I'd bet, because they're running scared, so we can get down to business.
Just then, there was a persistent knocking at the door. Ransom went to see who it was. It was Tyrus and he looked to be excited. Ransom let him in, then said, "Damn it Ty, you grinnin like the cat that ate the canary. What's going on?"
"They done called a meeting for sundown tonight." Tyrus said.
"They who?" Ransom asked.
"The Klan!" Tyrus said. "After what went down, they sent word out for the members to meet at the city hall near the Mayor's Office."
Ransom looked at the elders with a perverse gleam in his eyes, and Raven said. "No...!" He shook his head decisively. "We can't kill them all, or the federal government gonna step in. We don't want to get into a shooting war, that could endanger the entire clan!"
"We ain't got to kill them all, pa." Ransom said. "What we do is spread terror. We already done showed them they ain't safe in their homes, or the street. Now, we show them they ain't safe nowhere!"
"The boy has a good point." Falcon said. "If you attack them in mass, then they'll know that even in large numbers there is no safety."
Raven looked at the other elders and each nodded. "How do you know this isn't a set up? he asked.
"We don't know and it doesn't matter if it is. We ain't going in blind and we got the firepower to do more to them, than they can do to us. Besides, we'll be in our element. The dark!"
"Get your men ready then and we'll all meet here three hours before sundown. That should give us time to check the area out before we strike!” Raven said. "By the way, we're going too!"
"Hold on there pa." Ransom said. "Don't you think, y'all a little too old for that kind of stuff?"
"I could kick your ass now!" Raven said. "So could any of them. We're going and that's that!"
Ransom shook his head, as Tyrus laughed out loud.
* * * * Ransom and all of the Kane men. Along with Mace and his sons, met at the warehouse behind Raven's store. The men were silent, as Ransom stood in the center of the floor.
"The Klan are meeting in city hall at sundown and we're gon
na crash the meeting!" Ransom said.
There was a loud roar of approval from the assembled men. Ransom raised his hands for silence. The men all went silent.
"We'll go there, but there won't be any killing unless it's absolutely necessary. What we want to do, is put the fear of God into those ass holes. We'll bomb the Mayor's office and the outside of city hall, then disappear. After that, we'll get back to our agenda, which is to take over the bootlegging operation. I know we may eventually have to get back to the Klan, but after tonight we'll put them on the back burner, unless they ride, or continue to make their stops. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
All of the men remained silent, so Ransom dropped the bomb. “The old men want to take part. I told them no, but they out voted me."
"Pa are you serious?" asked Turk.
"Damn right we're serious!" Raven said. "How do you think we got in the position we're in today? Sure it was happenstance, but we got it done and we've been better off for it. There's not a man among you, that could beat us in combat right now. Sure, some of our physical skills have diminished, but what we lack in youth we make up for with wisdom and intelligence!"
"I guess that settles that then." said Lao.
"Mace, I know your operation is profitable, but I doubt it's successful enough to support all of you. I'd like to bring Drake and Lefty, in with us. We're family and it would do us all good to have a working relationship. They can still do what you need them to do, but we're gonna need them to be on our security detail."
Mace looked at Ransom, then to Raven, and said. "The choice is theirs to make, not mine."
"I know that." Ransom said. "But they won't, unless you give them the okay. They're loyal to family and that's why you've been so successful.”
Mace talked in a low voice, and said. "They’re the best of the bunch. Vern and Prescott are alright. Ford, I don't know, he's my first born, but damn if he doesn't act like the last. I could make do without them, but keep your eye on Lefty, cause he's a dangerous man. I'll give them the word, on the condition that I go with the others tonight."
"That was a given." Ransom said. "You're family and that's why you're here. You won't be losing two sons, you'll be gaining the strength of our clan!"
* CHAPTER # 20 *
That night at sundown, all of the members of the Klan were gathered at city hall. The Klan was worried about the recent turn of events. They were use to dishing out terror, not being on the receiving end.
"What are we gonna do about niggers that are going around killing decent white men?" one man asked from the back. "Next it'll be our women and children!"
Bull raised his hands to silence the men, who then started to talk at the same time.
"Listen up brothers." Bull said. "That's exactly why we're here, to address that problem. I been giving it a lot of thought and I can't seem to figure out why the niggers would act like this now. They've never given us any indication that they'd fight back, but now not only are they fighting back, they're striking at us first. I don't believe the ones responsible are from here, you never can tell though with niggers. I want all of you to keep your ears open and try to find out what gave the niggers the heart to strike at us."
"I'll tell you what gives them the heart!" Wally shouted. "It's the night riding and all of the rest. I done told you that you can only push them so far and they'd try to fight back. Give them time to calm down and we can go back to doing things like we always have."
"I don't think it will be that easy." Bubba said from the front of the room. “The way I see it, is like this. If we let the niggers get away with beating and killin white folks. They'll think, there's nothing they can't do!"
"Bubba's right," Percy Chambers said. "We got to find out who's behind this shit and put a stop to it. Now, we don't know how, when, or where they'll strike next, but we do know that if we ride so will they. All we've got to do is be ready for them next time!"
"That sounds good, but what if they don't ride the next time we do? Do we stay alert and for how long?" asked Simon.
"For as long as it takes!" Bull said forcefully. "Them niggers can't be as strong as we are, eventually them other niggers gonna get tired of us bashing their heads in. And then they'll tell us who's attacking us!"
* * * * Raven, Hawk, Falcon, Mace, Eagle, Cougar and Wolf had broken into the Mayor's office and were placing bundles of dynamite at the foundation and in each corner. They joined all of the fuses, and hurried out back where Prince, Lefty, Drake and Marcellus stood guard. Lonnie, Jose, Juan and Ed were in front. Raven looked at the others, then loudly made the call of a night bird. His voice echoed thru the silent night. It seemed no one was on the street. It was like they knew there was something in the air.
* Ransom, Pauly, Pat, Blake and Vern were all outside of city hall. Turk, Lao and Trace were covering their flanks. Each of the men had four grenades and were waiting on the show to begin.
*
Brooks, Tim, Ford, Preston and Tyrus were covering the front and back of the jail. They too awaited the signal.
* Raven depressed the plunger on the box that the fuses were wired to and seconds later there was a bright flash and loud explosion. The Mayor’s office seemed to swell outward, upward and come crashing down in a shower of brick, glass and wood debris.
"What the fuck!" shouted Lucas Blackstone, as the windows of the town hall exploded inward from the concussing force of the explosion and showered the men inside with glass shards.
Then suddenly there was the sound of multiple explosions outside of city hall, that rocked the building on it's foundation and caused several of the walls to collapse. You could hear the men crowded inside screaming and praying, as portions of the walls were flung into the crowd with devastating force. The men broke for the exits in mass, only to see the doors explode and hurdle huge wooden splinters like shrapnel.
When the Mayor's office exploded, Ransom and the others started lobbing the grenades at the building. Soon the night was torn apart, by the mini explosions.
Brooks and the others, opened fire on the jail to pin the men inside down.
The explosions and gunfire lasted less than two minutes, then the night was again silent except for the groaning, as what was once the Mayor's office settled.
* "What was that?" Prescott asked. "It sounded like an explosion!"
The women shrugged their shoulders, then came the small explosion and the distant popping of automatic weapon's fire.
"It's them again!" said Eula excited. "They some how found out about the meeting at city hall."
"Damn!" Prescott exclaimed. "I hope they haven't killed them all. If they have, then that's bad news for the blacks in the area."
"Why?" asked Eula. "I can only see good in it!"
"That's because you're not looking at the whole picture." Prescott said. "If they kill them all, then the government will get involved. And if you think it was rough before, then imagine hundreds of armed men just like the few that were killed.
"It couldn't be that bad Pres." said Beth. "The government will protect the people."
"I'd like to believe that Luv, but this country is not like that. They've been lynching blacks for years and the government has yet to step in and put a stop to it. Since we've been here they've hung at least 30, or 40 men and women for little or nothing and no voice has been raised in protest. Put the shoe on the other foot and they'll come charging in. That's just the way it is."
"Does it always have to be that way?" asked Eula.
"No Luv, it doesn't and in time it may well change, but for now that's how it is!" said Prescott.
The women dropped their heads, as he walked over to them. "Time has a way of changing things." he said softly. "I just pray that it does in this instance!"
* * * * The Klansmen stumbled from the smoking city hall coughing and gagging, as the dust choked them. They stumbled into the street gasping for breath. They drug the wounded men from the damaged building into the street. None were dead, but many were se
riously wounded. There were broken bones and various wounds from flying debris.
"They could have killed everyone of us." shouted Wally hysterically. "It's time we stopped. They sent us a message damn it!"
Randy Stanley pulled a pistol from his holster, pointed it at Wally and squeezed off a round. The bullet slammed into Wally's knee and shattered it.
Wally screamed out in pain. "Arrghh.....!" as he crashed to the ground.
Randy walked over to him and pointed the gun in his face. And Bubba shouted, "No... Randy don't shoot him!"
Randy looked in Wally's eyes and slowly lowered the hammer of his gun, then turned and walked over to his brother.
"You should've let him kill the son of a bitch!" Bull shouted.
"What purpose would it serve?" Bubba asked. "We need every man, even him!"
"Damn it, that asshole is planting seeds of cowardice in the men, and soon there'll be others expressing the same shit." Bull said emphatically.
"That may well be the truth." Bubba said. "We know one thing for sure though, asshole he might be, but he has a point. Wally sees this for what it is. If they had wanted to, they could've killed a lot of us, maybe all of us. I don't think they wanna keep on killing. They're up to something, they have an agenda and I'd stake my life on it. What it is I don't know, but I believe we'll find out soon!"
* * * * "Well, all we can do now is wait and see what the outcome is." Raven said. "Ran it's your show and you can get on the ball starting tomorrow. If I were in charge of this operation, the first thing I would do is hire some loyal foot soldiers to drive the merchandise, and use the family to protect the shipments. I'd put distance between us and the actual product. What I mean is, I'd get someone I could trust to be the front man. Trace can do all the contacts, as well as pay and collect profits. Let Drake go with him and always send at least three heavily armed men on their tail. I'd suggest Lao, Lefty and Turk. All of the others including you, would ride shotgun on the shipments. I wouldn't do a lot of small drops, I'd do them all at once and make sure I kept my ass covered all the way. We'll provide you with the necessary funds to get it off the ground, but keep a good account of the money, cause you'll be paying it back. Mace, I've got a proposition for you since we're talking business."
