Page 27 - The Jazzsipper Novel

26

THE JAZZ SIPPER

be the same. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Frank would come by the hospital every
day to check on him.

One day Uncle Frank showed up by himself, Vance and Uncle Frank had a
very long conversation. He found out all kinds of stuff about Uncle Frank he
never knew. He was surprise to find out that Uncle Frank had served five
years for manslaughter in Angola, The Louisiana State Penitentiary. Uncle
Frank told him it was self-defense; he said that back then, he had a heroin
addiction like many others returning from the war. Uncle Frank said that he
and a buddy of his named Caps had been in the French Quarters all night
running cons on drunken tourist around the different bar’s to make some
money to go and score some drugs. Uncle Frank said they came across a
guy who tried to rob them, and when they tried to disarm the guy, the guy’s
gun went off. The guy died instantly because the bullet hit him directly in the
heart. Uncle Frank said he and Caps began running and they got separated
from each other and he was caught about 30 minutes later leaving the French
Quarters. He said he never found out what happen to his friend Caps and that
was one of the strangest things that came out of that situation besides the guy
dying, not ever hearing anything about Caps. He knew Caps was from Harlem
and had moved to New Orleans from New York in the 60’s.

And that he use to follow the horses and worked at the Racetrack as a horse
groomer from time to time. Uncle Frank said, he had asked for repentance for
what had happened, the loss of someone’s life. But at the same time it could
have been him who was shot dead, the only reason he wasn’t charged with
murder was because his lawyer was able to prove through ballistics testing
that the guy shot himself in the struggle. Uncle Frank said that the incident