Johnny Wise was never known for his good manners. He was a rough and gruff man, who always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. Despite his less than charming demeanor, Johnny was a well-respected member of the Mafia...

He had worked his way up the ranks over the years, and was now one of the top enforcers for the New York branch of the organized crime syndicate...

However, Johnny had grown tired of the life of a gangster. The violence and deceit had taken a toll on him, and he longed for something more meaningful. So, he made the bold decision to quit the Mafia and become a private detective...

Johnny set up shop in the heart of the city and quickly made a name for himself. He was tough and relentless, and he always got the job done. But despite his success, Johnny remained a loner. He lived in a small house and spent most of his free time drinking and playing cards with his buddies at the local bar...

That all changed one summer day when Johnny was grilling in his backyard. He heard the sounds of laughter and chatter coming from the neighboring yard...

Meanwhile Rocky, his dog had gone over to the pond and seize one of their ducks and bought it back placing it at my feet...

Rocky looked at me, I honestly think that he wanted me to cook the duck for him...

He got that sweet, crazy, delightful odor of barbecue chicken and wanted some barbecue duck!

But,

I rescued the duck and returned it to my next door neighbor's pond,
but, really...

Quite honestly I did entertain the thought of some Mallard duck soup...

Heh, heh, heh!

Anyway, I gave Rocky several hotdogs off the grill...

"Mister!"

Hey mister, your vicious, ugly dog
just grabbed one of my ducks...

You better put a chain on him before I call the cops! I turned around and there she was. All five feet, three inches, golden brown eyes and voluptous curves of her...

"Calm down lady!"

I said, your duck's fine,
please just go away...

You bother me, can't you see that I am here trying to barbecue...

Now If you don't have nice or good things to say, just take a hike!

"What!"

She said, you're a rude jerk and I hope that your chicken burns, you probably
can't cook anyway...


Wait, darling, I said perhaps we just got off on the wrong foot, sweetheart...

What's your name?

Frowning, she said, well, it's Eva...

I said there's no point in my not being cordial.

Hey sweetheart, won't you please stay and have some marvelous chicken. Yeah, maybe I was a little rash, you're a sweet looking doll!

(Still frowning, she looked at Johnny and
hesitated but joined him)

It turned out that Eva was married to her
husband named Jim, they had moved from Miami a year ago and had few friends...

Over the next few weeks, they grew quite close, some would say that they became
almost inseparable...

They spend hours chatting, barbecuing together, and Johnny finally felt like he had found someone who understood him...

But when Eva's husband suddenly disappeared, Johnny knew he had to help her.

He threw himself into the case, determined to uncover the truth. He followed every lead, interviewed every witness, and pieced together every clue.

It turn out ironically
enough that he was actually a hitman in the mafia but the bosses at the top decided when he got busted by a narc, that he was a liability and had to go!

Eva was absolutely taken aback by this tragic news because she had absolutely no idea of her husband line of work inside the mafia...

Johnny and Eva became even closer after that tragic occurence and they soon grew very attached to each other...

Johnny started to change, he was kinder, gentler and even more patient than before...

He finally had the meaningful life he had been searching for, and he owed it all to Eva...

Years later, Johnny and Eva were still together. They had a family of their own and ran a very successful private detective agency...

As Johnny sat on their porch, sipping cold lemonade and silently watching their children play, he couldn't help but reflect on how far he had come...

From a rude and brutish gangster to a loving husband and father - it was a transformation he never could have imagined before...

But he was grateful for every step of his tough journey, for it had brought him to the place where he truly belonged,

by his wife Eva's loving side.





© Charles Kemp