chicago swan song - a story in text
chapter 1.
she was a doll - a sexy sassy doll with looks that could kill and a voice to die for.
it was summer of 31 at sam's place that I first saw her and I knew then that she'd be nothing but trouble but I also knew we'd end up in trouble together the very first time our eyes met across the room.
chapter 2.
'jack on the rocks' I said to eddy, and 'who's the broad?'
'goes by the name of marcie' eddy told me as he served my drink.
marcie, now she didn't strike me as a marcie but hey what did I know, i'm just a crummy Chicago detective hanging about in an after hours club frequented by the kinda low lifes I spend my days putting behind bars.
I could probably be hauled in front of a jury just for thinking about this place yet alone stepping inside but still here I was and here she was.
chapter 3.
she was singing some jazzy number as I turned to face the stage and my heart felt like it would melt as she looked across the room and our eyes met for the first time.
and then a voice from beside me broke the moment. 'ain't she just the finest broad you ever seen billy?'.
it was Jimmy 'the musician' jones - fancied himself as bit of a music man but knew all the right people to get you into all the best joints in town for a few bucks here and there. he was also a handy source of information for a cop like me and the reason I was in sam's place that night.
chapter 4.
'so what you got for me Jimmy?' I asked.
'well a little bird says the broad is walking out with Danny 'the man' Towns and might know a thing or two about his business' came the reply.
Danny towns - number 1 on my most wanted list ever since he killed my partner - not that I could pin it on him but I knew it was him. if this broad was Danny's girl then I was right she was definitely trouble.
chapter 5.
‘that’s me done jimmy’ I said gulping down my jack and turning to leave, and there she was standing in front of me.
'buy a girl a drink?' she said.
'sure thing doll, hey eddy another jack and whatever the lady wants'.
'it's marcie, and thanks I'll take a glass of something bubbly'
so the doll goes for class I thought to myself as I caught eddy giving me a sly wink - what a wise guy!
chapter 6.
'so what's your story marcie?' I asked.
'nothin' much' she replied 'born and raised in the wrong part of town, been trying to escape ever since...'
'not sure I call this place or Danny Towns escaping' I commented.
'it ain't gonna be forever, I'm gonna get a little bit of money under my belt and get the hell outta here one day soon' and I knew she meant it too. 'anyway gotta get back up there and do another number - thanks for the drink handsome' and she was gone.
I dropped a couple of bucks on the bar for eddy, said my goodbyes and went back to the precinct with one thing - one broad on my mind.
chapter 7.
it was three says later when tomkins our lump of a desk sargent hollered across that some broad was here to see me.
and there she was - marcie. although this time sporting one hell of a shiner.
'you look like hell' I said.
'hell's got a lot to answer for and that's where that bastards going if I have anything to do with it' she spat with some venom. I could only assume she was talking about Danny - maybe this could be the chance to finally nail him.
chapter 8.
and spill the beans on Danny she did. however by the end of her story I knew that what we had wouldn't be enough to take him down.
and i told her so. and I told her that I was gonna need her to go back and help get me something more if Danny was ever going down.
chapter 9.
and back she went.
and if I knew now what I didn't then I'd have never let her go.
she went back and a few hours later the call came in. shots had been fired at sam's place, people had died and I was to get my arse down there and sort of out the mess.
I feared the worst but I arrived to see Marcie being cuffed and dumped into the back of a squad car. my heart skipped a beat.
turns out she'd gone back in there, got in an argument, grabbed Danny's gun and bang! he's dead.
chapter 10.
and another day ends in Chicago - it never ceases to amaze me how things turn out.
Danny was dead - not that the world would miss him. Marcie was locked up downstairs on a charge of murder 1 but hopefully the judge would go easy and I knew I would do my damnedest to make sure he did as something about that broad had stolen my heart.
and tonight I'll drink myself to sleep thinking about her and tomorrow, tomorrow will be just another day.
the end.
Well hello Chicago... - a prequel in between story in text
chapter 1.
I was young and a whole lot naive, with an idea in my head that I could sing and that if I could just get a break then it would be big time for a small town gal like me. I could see it right there 'Marcie' up in pink neon lights for all to see.
So I left small town no place and headed for the big city - a one way ticket to Chicago.
chapter 2.
Chicago. Wow. What a city and a whole lot different to small town no place.
But wide eyed awe soon turned sour as I realised that I was just another small town gal looking to make it big, and was feeling down on my luck when I stepped out of a doorway and into the path of Danny Towns.
'hey good lookin' were the first words outta his mouth, "let me buy you a coffee" followed and follow him I did.
chapter 3.
And we talked. And when he found out I was a singer and that I didn't really have anywhere to go, he said 'i gotta club, pretty doll like you', 'you could go places, we could go places, come with me'.
And that's how I met Danny Towns. And that's how I found myself at Sam's place.
And i sang. And people came just to see me. And for a while it was good. until the day Billy George walked in to Sam's place summer of '31 that is.
chapter 4.
He was standing over by the bar when I first saw him. I'd been singing some jazzy little number and I walked right up to him and he bought me a drink - champagne I think.
And I knew right then we'd be something.
And later that night, well let's just say that Danny didn't like it when I talked with other guys and that night he made it very clear with the back of his hand. And it weren't the first time and I knew it wouldn't be the last - I knew then that I had to get away.
chapter 5.
A couple of days later I found myself at the cop shop with Billy right there - Danny had gone too far this time. But Billy, he said he needed more to make sure Danny went away and so I found myself back at Sam's place...
as it turns out for the last time - no sooner had I walked thru the door than Danny started on me and something just flipped and I grabbed his gun, pulled the trigger and watched Danny go down. That certainly wiped the smile from his face.
chapter 6.
I saw billy that night as they put me in the cop car, and again at the trial where our eyes met for what I thought would be the last time as I got sent down to hellhole penitentiary, nowhere Alabama for what I'd done.
And I had no regrets about what I'd done to Danny, but billy, that was a different matter, I knew that one, and what I was going to miss out on, that one I would regret.
chapter 7.
And jail was everything you read in the papers. The guards looking to make or take whatever they could. Half the inmates trying to do the same to the other half.
But I kept my head down. Did my piece and did my time. Found a friend here and there. One in particular, lula - she helped me a lot. One day out in the yard she told me a story about an ex of hers who'd pulled a job few years back in Chicago and they'd never found the loot, a cool $250,000 bucks just sitting somewhere for the taking. Few weeks later she got into a fight and ended up on a slab and that was that but I never forgot her or her little tale.
chapter 8.
14 years, 136 days 15hrs and 23 mins had passed when they let me out. A lonely gal not sure what was what or where she fitted in the world anymore, but with one thing on her mind - Billy...
And so Chicago was where I was headed. And besides billy, there was the little question of 250,000 other reasons to go back.
chapter 9.
It took a few months to work my way there, but I made it back and first thing I did was look up billy and look up Sam's place.
As it turns out they were one and the same thing - as I walked in to Sam's place there he was looking a little older but just as handsome as ever "Hey handsome" I said to him.
chapter 10.
And we talked like there was no tomorrow and we talked like it was only yesterday and I told him my story and I told him lula's tale of loot and he told me how he'd left the force and as we talked I could tell the spark between us was still there just waiting...
Life this time would be different, this was one guy I wasn't going to let go of ever, whatever, no ifs, buts or maybes and for the first time in a long time I felt a smile inside.
As for the 250,000 little reasons to come back, well that's a different story.
the end.
continued in Stories collection four…
thespianCurious by invisibubble.com