ROLL CALL ~ A Prison List (True Prison Story)

by Glenn Langohr

  The same thing happened with Vivid and Vixen. Ernie went home by himself and went straight to his room to his magazines.

  Vivid called L’il man and explained what Ernie had told her.

  Vixen called Ricky and explained what Ernie was saying.

  CHAPTER 97

  Ricky gunned the engine in his corvette and thought, “I should have had Tony whack Argenta before he went to New York!” Furious with himself at letting things get out of hand to this point, he parked in front of Argenta’s gate. He noticed Argenta’s black 1930’s era G ride was missing.

  “Argenta, what the fuck were you thinking? Ernie works for me, not you! I know how dumb he is so I don’t give him any real responsibility. I don’t give him the chance to ruin everything like you did. I was about to send him to Tennessee to keep an eye on Tiny while we’re in this drought with our speed production.”

  “Send him to Tennessee then. I don’t need him anymore.”

  “Argenta! Didn’t you hear what I said on the phone? Ernie told all of the strippers he’s working for the new mafia in this town! He also told them that all of the speed cooks were either going to cook dope for the new mafia or they were going to be removed from the program! Did you tell him to say all of that?”

  “Of course not! I didn’t know Ernie was that kind of idiot…”

  Ricky stared at Argenta and took some deep breaths to calm the rage bubbling inside trying to escape. He thought, I’ve always problem solved things others thought were impossible. I’ll do the same thing with this problem. I just have to visualize everything in minute detail…

  “Argenta, do you want me to get your 1930’s Al Capone car back for you?”

  CHAPTER 98

  At Bob’s house I was in no man’s land. The purple speed wasn’t allowing me to sleep and my problems weren’t allowing me a break from the purple speed. For two weeks I tried to analyze what to do and was continually overwhelmed. My mind constantly envisioned Natasha in jail fighting heavy charges and dying of cancer, Dennis in jail facing 25 to life and Mr. Dudley being cryptic on the phone about why my investment wasn’t selling. I couldn’t come up with any solutions. It was such a rough trade for me that when Bob asked me something simple like, “Do you want to go get something to eat?” I’d get stuck thinking about it like my life depended on making the right choice.

  I felt my control and influence slipping away and called Tom to see how he was doing. He sounded terrible. He was spun and mumbled the whole time. I listened intently and somehow made sense of what he was saying.

  “B.J. I’m glad you called. I haven’t slept in almost four weeks… I’ve been bunkered down with my troops and we’ve been waiting for your call. Communications have been down for weeks and we’ve been out of food, we’ve been rationing the water but we’re almost out of it. Headquarters hasn’t been getting back to us and I can’t keep the troops together. Morale is at an all time low. We need some more of that purple nurple to reorganize an exit strategy. Are you going to bring the helicopter and drop some rations any time soon?”

  After I hung up the phone I didn’t know if I should laugh at how baffling this life is, or cry about how sad it is. Did I really want to bring my friend any more speed?

  Bob broke into my reverie.

  “B.J., that gangster L’il man is coming over with his homeboy Hector. They asked if it was okay to give some strippers our address to come over. I gave it to them.”

  CHAPTER 99

  An Expedition pulled up and I watched three girls close the doors on it. The first two girls I looked at demanded my attention by the way they were dressed. I noticed they were both Latina. They were both dressed in six inch spiked stiletto heels, short skirts and tops that barely held on to enhanced breast. They both had a little too much make-up and looked like professional call girls. Then I noticed the other girl. She looked Irish, with beautiful long brown hair. I watched her walk through the gate wearing white Converse shoes, black stretch pants and a white T shirt that had a Mr. G.’s strip club emblem on it. Even the way she walked was erotic.

  We met the strippers and when I shook the Irish girl’s hand I got lost in her brownish green eyes and didn’t want to let her hand go. “Hi B.J. nice to meet ya, I’m Piper.”

  I watched Vivid put one of her C.D.’s in the stereo and the trance music started the party. I started throwing darts and felt the hypnotic music releasing my stress and opening the doors to my spirit.

  I felt Piper watching me throw darts and every time she stopped looking at me, I looked at her. It went back and forth a few times. Then I noticed her looking at her friend Vivid while she asked Bob, “Do you have any dope?”

  I laughed at how bold Vivid was and looked back at Piper laughing and our eyes locked. It felt like there was a magnet between us and we sat facing each other on the carpet. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her deep eyes and said, “You don’t look like you’re from around here, you look like you’re from the beach.”

  I saw a spark of excitement in Pipers eyes that she expressed through her face in a beautiful smile… “I was going to say the same thing to you. You look like you just got out of the ocean in Dana Point with your nylon board shorts without a shirt on. How do you stay so buff doing speed?”

  Piper punched my chest softly and I again felt my spirit pulled toward her like a magnet.

  “I work out a lot to process things and I drink ensure protein drinks and eat every other kind of protein bar I can get my hands on… How did you know I was from Dana Point?”

  I looked right into Piper’s eyes and realized we were leaning closer and closer to each other. She laughed, “I drink ensures, and eat protein bars too!”

  I needed to know more. “Piper… What’s your real name and where are you from?”

  I watched Piper pull away from me a little and saw the pain in her deep brown eyes. Then I saw her find comfort looking back into my eyes. “My name is Sarah. I’m from Dana Point too… Then I moved to Newport Beach… Then out here to the middle of nowhere. I don’t know what I’m doing out here.”

  I saw Vivid out of the corner of my eye trying to get Piper’s attention and succeed. “Why don’t you two get a room or something?”

  Piper slapped Vivid’s leg as she walked outside.

  Vivid said, “I’ll be right back, I have to make a phone call.”

  CHAPTER 100

  “L’il man, it’s Vivid. No, Bob doesn’t have that purple stuff. He’s got some he said he cooked himself. The shit is the bomb though. You should definitely have him cook for you… Alright, okay, I’ll keep my eye on things, are you going to get here before we have to go to work? Alright, bye.”

  CHAPTER 101

  I walked Sarah into Bob’s room and shut the door. She walked to the bed and sat down and I sat next to her and looked into her eyes again.

  I asked, “What happened to you? Why are you out here in the desert?”

  Sarah told me and tears flowed from her eyes. “I was drugged by a guy named Bob Prescott at a party. I think he put G.H.B. in my drink. He took me home and raped me all night. He hurt me… I started using speed right after and have been running from everything ever since.”

  I listened to Sarah’s story and couldn’t believe how closely the running part mirrored mine.

  “I got into stripping and still love how much power it gives me… But I still feel like the loneliest girl on the planet. I haven’t let anyone get close to me and haven’t had a boyfriend this whole time.”

  I told Sarah my story from the beginning, got to the part with Bob Prescott ratting us off and the speed roller coaster ride since, up to the current chaos in my life.

  Bob knocked on his bedroom door and I heard the trance music get turned down.

  I opened the door a few inches, “What’s up?”

  “B.J. my Hell’s Angel associates just pulled up. They’re out front and don’t want to meet anyone else. They have something to tell you.”

  I walked outside with Bob and sa
w two bikers parking their Harleys in front of Bob’s gate. I shook hands.

  “B.J., I’m Johnny Chamberlain and this is Chrome Jeff. It’s nice to meet you. We’ve heard a lot of good things about you from Bob. We went to the Harley Dealership in Irvine. I checked the two custom Harleys out that were being showcased on pedestals. When an employee came to help me I told them I wanted to buy the wide glide half chopper cash for the president of the Hell’s Angels for his birthday. The employee didn’t know what to do. He got the manager and we went over the same thing with him.”

  I could picture the employees at Mr. Dudley’s dealership in awe of the hulk in the Hell’s Angel jacket I was looking at. I had to make sure of something. “You tried to buy the Harley with the white paint job with the eagle on the gas tank.”

  “That’s the one. The manager explained that we couldn’t buy the two Harleys being showcased on pedestals for cash. They weren’t for sale like that. The manager explained that we could put a down payment on either one and it would get built within two months. I asked why we couldn’t just buy it cash right now so we could give it to the president of our Hell’s Angels chapter in time for his birthday in a couple days. He explained that those two custom Harleys were prototypes. He said they offer a chrome exchange program so customers can come in and see all the chrome parts on the prototypes and customize their Harley the same way. I asked the manager if he’d sold either Harley on an order yet and he got suspicious. I tried to fix it by telling him I wanted to know to see how long they had to wait for it to get built… Sorry B.J., but your investment is a sham.”

  I saw the Crown Victoria I’d seen the last time creeping toward us… We all watched it drive by.

  Bob said, “That’s L’il man. He wants to talk to B.J. and I.”

  I watched Johnny Chamberlain watch the Crown Victoria drive away and shake his head. “There is something else I’ve got to tell you. While we were in San Diego on business yesterday we got a call from our club headquarters. Two of our cooks got raided and one of the Devil’s Disciple cooks got raided. All three of the cooks talked to L’il man about getting the chemicals from him and refused. We aren’t jumping to any conclusions yet, even though it looks like the pieces fit. We’ve got sources checking on where the leak is coming from and will know what’s happening shortly. Be careful.”

  I watched Johnny Chamberlain and Chrome Jeff kick start their Harleys and ride away. I followed their path and read the back of their Hell’s Angels jackets signifying they were the San Berdoo chapter. I looked back at Bob’s front door and saw Sarah, Vivid and Vixen walking out.

  Sarah hugged me and said, “B.J., we have to go to work at Mr. G.’s. I’m going to pray a lot like you told me and I’ll pray for you. Please pray for me.”

  I watched the girls get in the Expedition and drive away and prayed, God help me, I’m a confused speed dealer and Sarah is a confused stripper, guide and protect us back toward your light so we can find our way through this darkness.

  As soon as my prayer was sent, I saw the Crown Victoria again. It parked for a second right in front of us and L’il man got out and the Crown Victoria drove away.

  CHAPTER 102

  Ricky accelerated through each gear of the Corvette taking the tach to the redline to feel the power surge, until he was in the same zone. Every turn he drove through, he pushed the Corvette as close to the point of no return as possible to sharpen his reflexes and mind. He got off the freeway and drove by the gang neighborhoods to the Boy’s and Girl’s club and turned toward the park. He parked and saw the tables he knew the gangs used at night to post up on to sell drugs and go over other crimes. He thought about what he’d heard, a gang member high up in the ranks who went by Puppet held down this park at night and left his blue bandana on the tables during the day to mark his spot. Ricky looked around, it was clear, nobody was watching. He picked up the blue bandana and a couple of cigarette butts and hustled back to the Corvette. Accelerating away he went over the rest of his plan visually. Vixen is going to smother Ernie with promises of love and get him to drink some Vodka with the sleeping pills in it at 10 P.M. By 10:30, Ernie should be passing out. Then Vixen is going to help the bouncer escort him to his car…

  Ricky pulled the Corvette into Mr.G.’s and looked at his watch. 10 P.M. He saw Argenta’s car and got into it and backed out and continued to drive backwards around the parking lot to the back to the employee parking. He found a spot for the car right next to the garbage dumpsters. He got out and looked around. It was dark and dank and nobody was watching. He breathed in the night air and the foulness of the dumpsters was almost too much. He felt his rage building, why do I have to deal with this shit? I always have to fix other people’s problems! Now I have to hide out behind these stinky dumpsters!

  Vixen watched Ernie slumping in the same seat he’d been in for the last two weeks. She whispered to Vivid, “I think he’s almost out of that dope anyway, but we better check.”

  Ernie watched Vixen whispering to Vivid and imagined her saying; he’s too ugly to have sex with. Ernie thought about the last two weeks. I haven’t slept since Argenta sent me on this mission and I’ve failed. I must not have enough charisma or brains to figure out how to be a kingpin. God, why am I such a loser? Why did you make me so ugly?

  Vixen pulled the pills out of her purse and opened them into the glass of Vodka and walked to Ernie.

  “Here honey, drink this and stop looking so sad… If I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’d go out with you.”

  Ernie looked into Vixen’s eyes and drank the Vodka. He set the cup down on the verge of crying and said, “Really? You’re not just saying that?”

  “No sweetie, I’m telling you the truth.”

  Vixen watched Ernie’s eyes struggle to stay open. Vivid whispered, “One of us should get his money and dope out of his pocket. I’ll go flirt with the bouncer to distract him.”

  Vixen reached into Ernie’s pockets and Ernie mumbled and slumped further into the table.

  “It’s okay honey, just go to sleep.”

  CHAPTER 103

  I studied L’il man while shaking his hand. He was only about 5’7 but I got the impression size didn’t matter with him. I guessed his age at 25. This time he was dressed like a street gangster in Nike Cortez shoes, black socks pulled up high enough that his long baggie blue shorts covered them below his knees with a white tank top. He had his neighborhood and his gang tattooed on his arms and shoulders. I saw a puckered knife scar on his forearm and a bullet wound on his shoulder. He had short cropped hair and brown eyes that I couldn’t look away from once I got there. I saw the innocence of a kid mixed with a lot of pain; and the rage of a man all mixed together in his deep brown eyes.

  Inside Bob’s, L’il man asked me, “What’s your specialty B.J.”

  I got the impression I was supposed to say I was Bob’s problem solver, or I was a speed and marijuana dealer. I didn’t say anything.

  L’il man said, “The reason I ask is to see if you’re the one I should be talking to about getting Bob on board cooking speed for me.”

  I stared at L’il man and Bob. As usual, Bob wasn’t talking, I offered, “Bob’s his own man.”

  Nobody said anything for a few minutes. I looked at Bob and knew he wasn’t going to put any of our business out there so I did carefully. I went on to explain how things had been, how he’d been getting niggard by Ricky and how I’d been trying to get him to come to Orange County to operate with me.”

  Bob said, “It hasn’t always been like that with Ricky… Not until he got involved with someone he shouldn’t have.”

  L’il man studied me to see if I had anything to say. I thought back to the timeshare in Oceanside and wondered if he was talking about Argenta. He’d never said much about it.

  Bob continued, “L’il man, I can’t take you up on your original offer. I don’t want to be beholden to anyone.”

  L’il man said, “What if I sell you the chemicals and you kick me down whatever you think
is righteous. If it works out, we’ll keep doing it that way.”

  Bob looked at me. I thought back to that night on Bob’s boat so long ago where I tried so hard to make what now looked possible, happen. Then I thought about the phone conversation I’d had with Tom and how bad he sounded. I explained how I felt about the speed business from my heart.

  “I don’t know if I want to stay in this business. Everyone I’m selling speed to is falling apart.”

  I elaborated further and included my own slide.

  L’il man responded, “That’s how it used to be with me. I used to let my conscience in too far. Then I saw my brother get run over by a car right in front of me. Now I look at it the way you’re supposed to, like a business. You just have to get yourself to the next level of the game. Stop selling to your friends. I only deal with convicts.”

  Bob looked at me and I could see he wanted me to buy the chemicals. “B.J. how does this sound. We set a goal to work as hard as we can for a year and get out if we want to at that point—well off enough, too.”

  L’il man said, “As far as your friends you said are spun out in Orange County; some of them will go get treatment and relapse again and buy dope from someone else if you don’t sell it to them, some will go to prison and get back out and get back into the life. Once you’re in, there’s almost no getting out. I only know a few people out of a hundred who have made another life after getting as far into this business as we have, and they got help from churches.”