Read Online Senile Squad: Adventures of the Old Blues by Chris LeGrow - Free Book Online

profanity-filled tirades flowed from the relative safety of each home. Only the younger—or the really stupid—ones got up in the cops’ faces. They, in turn, ended up tackled and face-planted on the ground. The derision continued.
    Clubba thoroughly enjoyed himself, satisfied that it was all for his benefit. That was the point. What good was power if you couldn’t make people do things just for you? Jutting his chin toward the melee, he laughed out loud.
    “Look at that,” he said. “Takes your army to handle my people. The next time you come to get me, though, you’ll bring more officers…and that’ll tip me off. I’ll spot you from seven blocks away. That’ll teach you to bust me on some bogus charges.”
    “Yeah, yeah, big man,” Charlie said and lifted Clubba’s upper arm higher. He stumbled forward and quickened his pace. “Move it.”
    The mass of people dissipated, which allowed Walker to lead Clubba down the sidewalk and to his patrol car. Clubba spotted two white-haired men across the street. One was extremely short—couldn’t have been over five feet four—and the other stood about six inches taller. Both appeared unaffected by the massive police presence around and the commotion that had preceded it. Standing by the curb twenty feet away, they wore matching ear-to-ear grins. A ring of familiarity tingled in the back of Clubba’s head. He’d seen them around the neighborhood but where? The park? The street corner? The grocery store? Where? Seemed like there were always old men in the hood these days.
    Officer Walker’s hand gripped Clubba’s head, and he got one last glance at the elderly men over the top of the cruiser. They stared at him. The short one nudged the other then pointed and laughed—at him. Clubba!
    White-hot rage shot through him. The officer tried to nudge him into the cruiser, but Clubba stiffened and jerked to the side, clipping his forehead as he was maneuvered into the backseat. “Ow. Watch it, you blue-eyed devil!”
    “Mind your head, Mr. Koak,” Officer Turley, the rear security guy, said with a fake smile, “and welcome to the cage.”
    One glance and Clubba knew where the name came from. The back windows were down but no one could escape. Bars covered all open areas so anyone placed in there wouldn’t get out, so having the windows down was no big deal. Clubba twisted, trying to find a more comfortable position. Soft cloth seats had been removed and a slick plastic bench inserted, which made it easier to clean and much more difficult to hide drugs in the cushions. Almost impossible actually. Clubba squirmed around and silently cursed the criminal justice game. Nothing here was for comfort; it was all about making things easy for the police.
    A dull pain throbbed where he’d banged his head. Blood trickled from the cut above his left eyebrow, and sweat stung his eyes. He shook his head and caught another shot of the two old guys. What was it that fixated him?
    Officer Walker slammed the caged door shut. Clubba scooted across the plastic seat to get a closer look through the bars. They stood in the same spot, mouths open wide with waves of laughter. The short one jerked his head in an odd way and Clubba watched as his dentures flopped out of his mouth. He fumbled around trying to grab them, but they slid through his fingers and all but bounced off the street, an incisor breaking off.
    Clubba grabbed his turn to laugh. “That’s what you get!” he bellowed at them. “Wait till I get back,” he muttered. “Just wait.”
    With a shrug, the little guy snatched up his choppers and slid them back into his mouth. His buddy stopped yucking it up for a moment and turned toward his friend as though checking to see if everything was okay.
    The smaller man waved and said something to his buddy. Clubba couldn’t make out the words but a loud whistle came from the hole where the front tooth used to be. The men exchanged a wide-eyed look of surprise only to start howling