"The Naked Beat" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 75

The Naked Beat

Mr. Li's henchman lay sprawled out on the floor, bleeding from the side of his head worse than Blaze was bleeding from her mouth due to the blow he'd administered to her. Poetic justice.

I rubbed Buddha's belly and then went to help Blaze up. I felt like I'd cracked a baker's dozen worth of ribs when I hit the wall.

We started out the door and Jade Chen said, "Who are you? I want to know your name before I have you killed."

I went through the door with Blaze and then turned back.

"The name's Jake Randolph... Bitch!"

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 74

The Naked Beat

Jade Chen said something in Chinese and Mr. Li's henchman, the one from the back of the van, came through the front door. He backhanded Blaze to the ground. I punched him square in the jaw and thought I'd broken my knuckles.

He picked me up off the floor and threw me across the room. I slammed into the wall and slid to the floor. He started toward me.

With both hands I picked up the brass Buddha from the marble pedestal, and just as he reached me I gave Mr. Li's henchman a little enlightenment right upside his head...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 73

The Naked Beat

"Just where do you two think you're going?" Jade Chen asked in a huff.

I turned to face her. She looked like the den mother of a sorority house that just caught the quarterback of the football team sneaking out with one of her girls. Blaze, however, looked like a turtle that was trying to cross the road and saw an eighteen wheeler barreling toward her.

"There's way too much noise back there. We're going to find a place that's a little quieter," I said.

"I don't think so," Jade Chen said calmly and evenly.

And that didn't sound good...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 72

The Naked Beat

Once Blaze was dressed, in black slacks and a black and white striped T-shirt, I eased open the door again. Someone had just gone into the room next door. Jade Chen was nowhere to be seen.

Blaze and I slipped down the hall quietly. The cacophony of sounds emanating from the different rooms was quite interesting: giggles, moans, squeaking bedsprings, bangs, grunts and other assorted noises.

Once we were at the end of the hall I slowly opened the door to the main room. It was completely empty. We almost made it to the door.

And I stress almost...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 71

The Naked Beat

"Now," I said as I stood up and went to the door, "get dressed and do it fast."

I could hear the rooms all down the hall starting to fill up quickly. I opened the door just a crack and saw Jade Chen at the other end of the hall. No doubt she was admiring her handiwork.

My mind was still trying to work out how Blaze got hooked on heroin. But the fact that I had seen people in my café that I knew were hypes made me think the answer just might be right in my own backyard...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 70

The Naked Beat

"How'd you get hooked on heroin, Blaze?" I asked.

Another contrived look. "Heroin? I'm not on heroin."

I snatched the sheet down and grabbed her wrist, holding her arm up between us so we could both see the needle marks up and down it.

"No, I suppose you've been letting someone use your arm to play 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey!'"

I threw her arm back down. She started bawling. The sheet was down exposing half her naked body, but she didn't even notice this time.

"Blaze, I'll get you out of here and I'll get you some help."

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 69

The Naked Beat

I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. She had a range of emotions showing on her face all at once: anger, embarrassment, shame, hatred, sadness.

"Blaze, what's going on? Why are you doing this?"

She feigned a look of amusement.

"Because I want to, that's why," she said.

I shook my head, "You're not a good enough actress to pull that one off, Blaze. Now tell me why."

Her eyes welled up with tears as she took one arm out from under the covers to wipe her eyes. Then it all became clear...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 68

The Naked Beat

Blaze looked horrified. "Jake... what are you doing here?"

I leaned my back against the closed door. "Your father's looking for you."

She looked mortified. "My father? Is he here?" she asked in a panic.

I shook my head, "No, but he sent me to find you."

She kept the sheet pulled right up under her chin. "How did you find me, Jake?"

"I didn't always run a café for Beatniks, Blaze. I used to be a private detective."

She chuckled, "Great! Of all the coffee houses in the world I had to pick the one run by Sam Spade."

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 67

The Naked Beat

As I turned the knob on the door and opened it I finally found Blaze. She was sitting up in bed, her back leaning against the headboard. She had her arms above her head and was clutching the top. The sheet was up to her waist, and her small breasts, topped by puffy nipples, were on full display. She looked like a child. It sickened me. I didn't care if she was eighteen; she had no business being there.

"Hello, Blaze," I said, stepping in and closing the door.

"Jake!" she screamed, quickly snatching the sheet up to her chin...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 66

The Naked Beat

Jade Chen took my hand, leading me through the large room filled with loud music, horny men, and unscrupulous women. We exited through a door and down a hallway. There were rooms on both sides going all the way down, presumably where the real business was transacted.

We got down to the end of the hall and Jade Chen pointed to the last door on the right. "Here is what you seek."

I said thank you as she turned on her heel and headed back to the main room.

Would I find Blaze on the other side of that door?

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 65

The Naked Beat

I saw Jade Chen looking at me so I pretended like I couldn't make up my mind which girl I wanted. She glided across the room toward me almost as if she was wearing roller skates.

"See anything you like?" she asked.

I nodded, "I like them all. They're very beautiful."

She bowed, "Thank you."

I brought my hand up and rubbed my chin. "But, I had in mind something particular."

She tilted her head slightly. "Oh, and what is that?"

"I was looking..... for a redhead."

She smiled. "Then fortune has smiled upon you. I have just the girl."

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 64

The Naked Beat

Rock-n-roll was regurgitating out of the stereo speakers and bouncing off the walls. Some guy named Fabian was wailing about turning him loose. I wished they'd turn him off.

There were girls of every description milling around in various states of undress. Gibson sidled up to the Negro girl and started a quiet conversation. Nice to see he wasn't bigoted when it came to his prostitutes.

There were girls of every kind: Caucasian ones, Hispanic ones, Asian ones, Indian ones.

About the only girl I didn't spot was the redheaded Beatnik one that I went there to find...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 63

The Naked Beat

I started through the doorway and Gibson pushed past me to get inside. I think he wanted first crack at the ladies. That was fine with me. I was there to get Blaze, if she was even there, and then get the hell out.

The décor of the place was very Chinese: red paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling; those folding screens onto which the panels had birds and trees painted; a giant gong in one corner; in another corner a marble pedestal on which a brass Buddha sat that apparently turned a blind eye to the establishment's lurid events...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 62

The Naked Beat

She looked absolutely exquisite. Long black hair flowing down each side of her head and draping over her slender shoulders. She was wearing a white satin cheongsam that stopped just south of her knees. Her tiny feet were housed by two black stiletto high-heeled shoes. She looked like a living China doll.

"Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Jade Chen. Welcome to my humble establishment," she said with barely a trace of an accent. And certainly not with Mr. Li's handicap of mixing up L's and R's.

This woman definitely carried herself as if she had education and class...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 61

The Naked Beat

After riding for about fifteen minutes, which included a lot of left turns that made me think we were going around in circles, the van briefly came to a stop. I heard a garage door being raised and then the van went into motion again for a moment. Li's thug opened the van doors as the garage door came down. We all alit from the van single file as the henchman led us through a door and down a long hallway. Music could be heard emanating from behind a door at the end of the hall.

Then the door opened...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 60

The Naked Beat

"No, don't tell me, lemme guess," Gibson said with his slow Texas drawl. "Ladies' intimate apparel. Unmentionables, am I right?"

I nodded, "How'd you guess, Gibson?"

He grinned, which made him look utterly psychotic in the dim light. "It's a gift. I can look at any man, size him up, and determine his profession. And I'm never wrong, either."

You are this time, I thought.

"Didn't catch your name, friend," he said suspiciously.

"Didn't throw it. But it's Randolph."

"Glad to know ya. Yes sir, Mr. Randolph, we're heading for some good times now!"

Or a helluva lot of trouble...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 59

The Naked Beat

There were no windows in the back of the van, so when Mr. Li's mute thug climbed in and closed the door blackness flooded the confined space, broken only by a tiny light in the middle of the ceiling, giving an eerie glow to all the occupants.

The man next to me stuck his hand out toward me. As I grasped it he said, "The name's Gibson, from Texas. I'm in oil. That's Collins. He's in steel. What are you in, friend?"

As I looked at Li's henchman I thought, before this night's over I may be in hot water.

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 58

The Naked Beat

The back doors of the delivery van flew open and one of Mr. Li's large henchmen hopped out. He just stood there looking at me like a blind man in front of a television. I assumed he wanted me to get in the back of the van, so I went around to where he was standing. The back of the van looked like a salesman's convention, full of guys with plaid jackets and mismatched bow ties. They were all sitting there salivating so much the floor was slippery when I stepped in.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 57

The Naked Beat

I reached Pico at a quarter to nine. I parked my car in an alley behind a bowling alley, which seemed rather ironic, and eased my way down the street. I was hoping my powers of observation hadn't been diluted by the long years of being a rich, bloated waste of space.

I was confident no one was waiting in ambush so I made my way down to the corner where Alvarado crosses Pico. I stood there wondering what awaited me.

At 9 o'clock a black, unmarked delivery van pulled up driven by an extra from a Fu Manchu movie...

Jake Randolph in "The Naked Beat" Pt. 56

The Naked Beat

Mr. Li just sat there and stared at me from across his desk. I could tell that he knew I was not what I claimed, but I think he also instinctively knew that I was not a cop. And that intrigued him. He wanted to know my game and he was willing to gamble.

"Be at the corner of Pico and Alvarado tonight at 9 o'crock on the dot, Meester Landolph. You may find the path you are seeking."

I stood up and stuck my hand out to him. He bowed to me, so I bowed back.

When in Chinatown...