Most Likely To...
by
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Jay passed a parked car with two men sittting in the front seat. Then he heard the car doors open. Ahead and midway in the block, two men got out of a car that was parked across the street. They started walking toward him. In the streetlights, he caught the gleam of a gun that one of the men held at his side as they slowly moved forward right at him. A quick glance over his shoulder, Jay saw the two men that he just passed were now out of the car and walking behind him. Jay's heartbeat accelerated. This didn't look good. Am I about to be mugged? he thought, but then these guys didn't look like muggers. He had witnessed muggings in the streets of New York. They don't sit in cars and wait for victims. Are they policemen? Why? Are they looking for me? Are they expecting me? Who are these guys?
Jay's heart was racing and his mind was trying to keep up. Should he run? Can he make it to Sarah's apartment? Don't panic. Keep your cool. You are known for being cool under any circumstances.
His body and mind seemed to be moving in slow motion. And so did the people in the street and the men behind and in front of him. The man with the gun at his side, raised his arm and pointed the gun at Jay from about thirty feet away. People started running up the stoops and into apartment buildings. They knew something was about to go down and so did Jay.
Feeling an adrenaline rush, Jay dropped the wine he had purchased for Sarah and ran up the stoop of the apartment building to his immediate left. He heard a voice cry out , "Get him, get him."
Almost instantly, a shot rang out and a bullet piereced the door of the building. "Shit, they're shooting at me. What's going on?" Jay said out loud but talking to no one in particular. He stumbled as he raced into the lobby and ran up the stairs. He heard two more shots. Bullets shattered the glass in the door behind him. He could hear the men running after him. His heart was about to bust out of his body.
Jay ran the first flight of stairs two at a time. As he reached the landing, he heard them bust into the lobby.
Another shot hit the wall of the first floor landing. He was racing to the second floor. Stumbling as he ran , he reached the third floor. Where am I going? Why are they after me? Can I get out of this building? These question raced through Jay's head
as he raced up the stairs.
When he was near the fourth floor, Jay felt a sting to his leg, saw blood drip on the floor and realized he had been hit by one of the shots . He heard apartment doors open and close then locked. Will someone let me in if I knock on one of these doors? Do I know anyone in this building? Those thoughts came and went in an instant. Jay knew better. He also knew that he had never been in this building before. He lived on the block for over one year, had never been in the building and never met anyone who lived in it. Where am I going? was his dominating thought.
Not having an answer to his mind's questions, Jay kept running and falling up the steps. The men closely behind. His leg was starting to hurt now from the shot but he knew he would hurt more if he stopped and they got him.
He was now at the sixth floor and he would soon be on the roof.
Again his mind raced, Is this rooftop door locked? if it is, I'm a dead man. Is this how I'm going to die? shot to death and found in a pool of blood in a tenement stairway in Harlem
This just didn't seem right to Jay. He felt that he deserved a more dignified death.
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About the Book
“ New York Penn Station, next stop” The conductor announced as he moved through the train. All the passengers in Jay’s car began to stir because this is their destination. This is where the dream would begin. All of the Negro passengers on board are a part of the great migration movement from the South to Northern cities. They were seeking to escape the problems of racism and looking for better jobs and a better life.
That was the plans and dreams for all except one young man.
The year is 1961 and in Charelston S.C., Jayson Austin has just graduated from high school. Jay, an honor student, very popular and affable, is voted most likely to succeed by his classmates.
Before plans to enter college in the coming fall, Jay joins the great migration to New York City to work for the summer. Soon after his arrival, circumstances and unforeseen events changes his plans for college. What unfolds is, a tale of life in Harlem, as it existed in the sixties. Jay climbs the ladder of success. He builds a career on Wall Street at a time when Black men did not hold many jobs in the nation's heartbeat, which Wall Street was often called.
It is a tale of Jay the opportunist, who uses his charm, personality and smarts to get what he wants. He encounters many characters during his drive to succeed; most were women. While he always had the utmost respect for the opposite sex, Jay had no problem using the love and devotion of women to gain his success.
The reader will get a fundamental view of the workings of Wall Street intertwined with a story of love, guile, deceit and the will of a man destined most likely to succeed.
About the Author
Arnold Powell was born in Charleston, S.C. After attending Talladega College in Alabama, he moved to New York and began a career on Wall Street that lasted over 30 years. His writings then consisted of industry news letters, informational memorandum and investment compliance literature. This is his first novel and he is currently working on his second. Now retired, he lives with his family in Georgia.