I Saw It Coming, Part 15

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     I could barely see the Home Depot parking lot through the soupy mist as I watched Skinny make his way off to becoming a boss.  I had told him to take his time, that he should engage as many of the guys as it took to find four of them he felt he could trust to work with.  His head was high, his shoulders back.  I was pleased at my choice.

     Ned had fallen into the rhythm of things and was willing to oversee the remainder of the demolition of his old dreams and the construction of a new one.  It was what he needed to halt his descent into bitterness.  The sense of purpose would serve to make him ambitious and young again.

     I headed toward Market Street.  I had to put my attention back on the Vulture.  It was important to pull him out of the dirty water before he got himself in too dark and deep.  Guys like Two Fingers Kim didn’t let go easily.  I needed to find a way to get leverage on Kim or I’d have to orchestrate getting him arrested with the goods.

     It was a busy Saturday on Market Street even at 9:00 in the morning.  The fog was not a deterrent for the tourists, it was part of the ambiance of San Francisco.  I figured I’d catch up with Two fingers if I just parked myself somewhere inconspicuous and waited.  I chose the bus stop near Fourth, it was busy enough for camouflage and I could keep an eye on both sides of the street.

     I wasn’t disappointed, only twenty minutes had passed when Kim and the Vulture ambled by me without even a glance.  The kid looked out of it, he was either hung over or he had already indulged for his Saturday deliveries.  For the moment, the two of them were empty handed, so I figured they were headed up to the apartment building in the Tenderloin to fetch the dope.  I still didn’t have a plan, but I was hopeful of catching a flash of brilliance on my way to grabbing a doughnut and coffee at the Tin Man’s.

Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®

Wake’s Day

Wake's Day colored cover

QuickTurtle Book’s® Wake’s Day is now available in the iBook Store.  This is the first book in The QuickTurtle Fun and Learning Series for young readers.

Wake is a young QuickTurtle® with a busy day.  He has things to do and things to see.  Join him on his QuickTurtle® journey into help and play.

Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®.

I Saw It Coming, Part 14

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     It was 5:00 PM and we were knocking off.  The fog had slipped back to the ocean but now it was cascading back over the hills from Daly City.  The Mexicans had long given up for the day and were gone to wherever they go.

     “Why you doing this?” Skinny asked me.

     “The wood has a life and a purpose of its own,” I replied.

     “No, not that.  I mean me.  I tried to rob you.” Continue reading

I Saw It Coming, Part 13

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     Skinny could have cried foul and leaned on his cane, but he didn’t.  He followed my lead and was industrious.  He methodically went about dismantling his handy work board by board with a pry bar and a hammer, careful not to split the old wood.  I liked his quiet demeanor and finesse.

     I paused and looked across the property to the Home Depot, it was quit busy.

     “See those guys hanging out in the Home Depot parking lot?” I asked, pointing to a group of Mexicans milling about near the back entrance.

     Skinny looked up, nodded his head and went back to pulling on a stubborn nail.

     “You speak any Spanish?” I asked.

     “See, street talk.  I grew up in Oakland near Fruitvale.”

     “Good.  They work hard,” I said, “but most of them fake it when it comes to English.  If we hire a few of them you could speak your way around their jive, right?”

     “No problemo.”

     “Then that’s what we are going to do.  We have a whole work force right here on our doorstep.   I will pay you what I offered if you can get them to dismantle the rest of these buildings with the same care and finesse that you are using on your artwork.”

     The kid looked from me to the Mexicans, then back to me.  “Bossman?” he asked.

     “Bossman.”

     He grinned and dropped his hammer.

     Bossman was going to fit him like a shirt.

Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®

I Saw It coming, Part 12

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Skinny hobbled into the Tin Man’s at about 11:50.  He had ditched the crutches for a cane.  He gave me a little smile and a tip of the head.

I was delighted to see another small break in his armor.  I stood and gave him a knuckle tap.  “How’s the ankle?” I asked.

“Chillin,” he said.

“Skin,” I said, “this is my partner, Ned.  Ned, Skin.”

They guardedly shook hands.   Ned wasn’t a knuckle guy and Skin wasn’t a shaker; awkward.

“You up for a nice beefy hotdog down at the Costco?” I asked Skin.

Skinny looked around and seemingly finding he wasn’t the center of attention, he shrugged his shoulders and gestured.  “After you, old man,” he said. Continue reading

I Saw It coming, Part 11

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     Friday rolled down Market Street dripping heavy with fog.  I was a little reticent about the future after being sucked into the underworld of Two Fingers Kim.  I blew on my fingers and raised my collar as I hiked  up Market street to meet Ned and Skinny.

     I shook Ned’s hand out in front of Tin Man’s Doughnuts at 11:30 AM and it was still bone chilling and damp.  When we walked inside out of the cold Skinny was no where to be found, so Ned and I got a cup of coffee and sat at the table near the window where Two Fingers had met with the Vulture.  While we killed some time, I decided to fill Ned in on my little foray into detective work.

     “The heavyset kid is a runner for Two Fingers.” I said.

      “That Korean is bad news,” Ned voiced and took a sip of hot coffee.  He shook his head and pursed his lips in disgust.

      “I agree,” I said, “he’s seasoned, mean and smarter than I first thought.”

      “Smart wasn’t the adjective I had in mind,” Ned answered.

      “But he is.  He knows what he is doing.  He has some business savvy and he’s got it figured out so that others will take the fall when the heat shows up.”

      “The fat kid.  You have a talk with him?” Ned asked.

      “We have an ongoing relationship you might say.”

      “What the hell we getting ourselves into Sugar?” Ned asked with true concern.

      “Life,” I said, “we’re too darn young to just fold up or walk away.”

Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®

I Saw It Coming, Parts 1-10 for catch-up and new followers

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I Saw It Coming, Parts 1-10 for anyone that would like to catch up and read my series without searching through my archives. I hope this makes it easy to join me as the story progresses. The Author.
I Saw It Coming
by Richard Rensberry
1

I hike everyday.  It is energizing and allows my spirit to open up to my surroundings.  I am able to observe with the spirit’s eye and see universes beyond the physical reality of things.  I am delighted to take photographs and collect artifacts like feathers and wood for use in recreating what I have seen in my imagination. Continue reading

I Saw It Coming, Part 10

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     I soon discovered that the Vulture had been recruited as a delivery boy.  He was dispensing the goods and rather efficiently to Kim’s clients.

     I needed to get out ahead of him if I wanted to witness a transaction, so when the Vulture left Market St. to go down fifth, I moved on down Market and went into a t-shirt shop that Two Fingers had solicited when I had been tailing him.  I cruised down one of the aisles to the rear of the store near a set of stairs and parked myself behind a rack of Giant’s pullovers.  I pretended to browse with interest through the shirts. Continue reading

I Saw It Coming, Part 9

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     I was led into the Tenderloin District.  My boys entered an apartment building about a block from City Hall.  Before they entered, Two Fingers gave the Vulture a dressing down.  His head dropped and his hands disappeared into his pockets as he stood there like a sponge and soaked it up.  That’s how kids get molded into criminals, how terrorists become terrorists, they are weak and easily manipulated by the criminal mind. Continue reading

TBone Ditty, creator of the QuickTurtle® Band (continued)

Golfing Turtle

When the Buzz Cuts disbanded, TBone joined the golf team.  He quickly established himself as a scrappy competitor willing to take the risks to win.  He became less serious and more happy-go-lucky.  His performances on the golf course seemed to be a placebo for his need to entertain.  He was soon dubbed with the nickname, Turtle Woods.

Musically, TBone journeyed more into himself.  He wasn’t particularly in a funk, he was just very introspective after dealing with the difficulties of trying to hold together two bands at such an early age.  Yes, bands were fun, but they were all encompassing entities that were as fickle as the weather.  He had needed a break and golf afforded that outlet.

While working his way up the leaderboards, TBone spent his downtime focusing more on song writing.  He learned the piano.  He dabbled in the blues and had developed a special liking for punk music, but in the end his tendency was the down home feel and sound of folk.  His lyrics were oriented around the social issues of the day and the escapades of falling in and out of love.  He would often pull out his acoustic guitar and play a few ditties for the golf team while they were holed up in some cheap motel on the road.  It was his first foray into what it would be like to be out on tour in a touring band.

On senior ‘Skip Day’, TBone hauled his guitar and an old banjo down to the park.  He soon became the focal point for the more artistic crowd as he played some of the popular hits of the day.  He interspersed the hits with some of his own creations and got lots of compliments especially from the girls.  His song writing had matured along with his performance skills from the hours and hours he had seemingly spent in front of a mirror.  Having the attention of a rapt crowd rekindled the performance bug and his dire need for a band.  He didn’t have the makings of going it alone; he considered it just too lonely.

Fortunately for TBone, Robbie Slade had decided that he’d had enough of Algebra and skipped off to the park with the seniors.  It was a very brave thing to do as a sophomore, not only because he was going to get detention but also because he was traipsing into senior territory where no male sophomore had a right to go.  Robbie looked like a geek.  He was sarcastic and strong willed with a short fuse.

It was a blessing that TBone had everyone’s attention when Robbie showed up in the park because Robbie walked unscathed and ignored.  No one saw the need to confront him or chase him off as he slowly edged his way to the front.  He listened attentively to several songs before he latched onto one of TBone’s originals.  He had brought along his harmonica and boldly pulled it out.  He skillfully bent some notes and folded them subtly into the second verse of TBone’s; Too Fat Shuffle.

TBone was quite impressed.  He quickly taught Robbie another of his songs and once again Robbie wove the harmonica in superbly.  They intuitively began to play off of each other with skill and comfort.  They played for over an hour, egged on and applauded by the gathered crowd.

As the seniors finally wrapped up their ‘Skip Day’ in the park, TBone didn’t hesitate to invite Robbie over to his garage for a little jam session.  He was intrigued by the skinny sophomore and not only did they hit it off musically but they were also bonding as friends.

The seeds for the QuickTurtle Band sprouted that day in TBone’s heart.

Richard Rensberry, Author at QuickTurtle Books®