Hammer Head Frankie

by John Riley

I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT Hammer Head Frankie showed up from a respectable outfit back in the day when honour meant honour. But as sure as Slim Jim’s got a hole where the sun doesn’t shine, here’s a true story. You’ll understand where I’m coming from?

He’s known as a hitman who packs heat. I mean, one hell of a mean bean shooter. This shadow reached great heights within a respectable family taking over the patch. He’s upset a few people, it happens, but then it would when you realise the actions of a man thinking on equal terms with the Boss upstairs in the big house.

Some real big influential people had a meet, movers and shakers in our line of work, work wrongly spoken about as villainy by the pack. I find that word misrepresents what we’re about. You follow me?

Hammer Head Frankie is this high-roller hitman. I ain’t badmouthing the man, ’cause in the past, let’s not forget, he’s showed dedicated service to men of honour; respect due and all that.

Well, it’s like this. Hammer Head Frankie found that after touching the ground where Psychotic Psychic Pete fell, after taking a massive hit from a Chicago Typewriter, he found himself with powers. You know, like powers, weird stuff, magic like crazy stuff, you follow me? Well, no matter, you gotta realise this guy freaked people out.

Jeez! This guy could do stuff and use this magic, like do hits, all nice and clean. I said it was weird. You gotta wonder about the nature of things after seeing this fella at work. It messes with your mind.

Let me tell you this part.

This runner brings him a photograph of the intended hit, and Hammer Head Frankie stares at it. Just friggin stares at it. I mean, he’s friggin staring at it.

Know what? This guy can alter a man’s future by staring back at his past. Ain’t that something? You think about that. This ain’t some dame pulling Slim Jim’s wire – and he’s a Goddam liar! We wanna be packing him soon in the meat wagon.

I tell you, Hammer Head Frankie can do this weird hit. He plants some fateful intention at the time the photograph is taken. Stares at it. And you know what? It catches up with the present. The hits soon deep down six! Just drops dead without a slug fired. I mean? Is that not someone at the very height of their profession?

Dangerous like, a man like that could get carried away. My Boss is not happy. And when my Boss ain’t happy, I’m not so happy. You gotta think a man like Hammer Head Frankie is a liability the way we do things ’round here.

So I’ll tell you what’s Goddam funny. Hammer Head Frankie didn’t recognise a younger photograph of himself and went and did his stuff on it. I wonder how he came by the photo?

Didn’t take long after he ran into a little bad intention, you might say.

-end-