The Cajun

A hitman story

  You've seen that show where everyone hunts alligators and they all live back in the swamp? That TV show approached Catfish Conway with an offer but he turned them down. The name alone would have guaranteed ratings. It just wasn't his thing. His MawMaw was a huge Conway Twitty fan, Catfish's Dad grew up listening to Conway records every day. So when he had a boy, it just seemed natural to name him Conway. The catfish part was added years later when he met his wife-to-be. They called her Noodelin' Nancy. Her name wasn't Nancy, it was actually Cristal, but she did a lot of noodeling and Noodelin' Nancy rhymed, and it stuck. You know noodeling, where you stick your arm underwater and feel for holes in the bank. You reach up in there and hopefully pull out a massive catfish! Well, you never really outgrow a nickname in the south. When the two of them were dating someone asked where she met him and someone else said she probably stuck her arm up in a mud hole and pulled him out. So he became known as Catfish Conway, Catfish to most.

Catfish's best friend in the entire world was this black guy they called T-Bone. They were partners in a little business catching gulf shrimp and they had a bait shop in town. T-Bone's Granddad was a freed slave. He made a good living catching gators back before gator hunting was banned. He taught T-Bone's Dad and he taught him. T-Bone's Dad and Granddad cleaned the gators themselves and preserved the hides to sell to the people who make purses and belts and boots. Catfish always went along with T-Bone and helped him out during gator season. You don't need 2 people, but they catch more gators as a team than they ever could alone. They're both really big boys, they throw more gators in their boat every year than anyone else could wish to.

Catfish had about 32 cousins and 3 brothers that were always hanging around his place. Jake, Matt, Skunk, Little T, and Johnny were the main one who always hung around. They helped out with chores and odd jobs. They did most of the cooking when they had crab boils. They picked the night crawlers for the bait shop. They'd run crawfish traps at night. They did all the busy work around the place. Jake and T-Bone were in a Zydeco band that played in bars and restaurants, parties now and then. Mostly just around their own Parrish. It was a good way to meet girls. Every time they fired up the boilers out back for a crab boil or a crawfish boil or shrimp boil, even if they were making a huge pot of gumbo the boys would come over and play all night. Catfish had a big shelter with a roof and at least a dozen picnic tables under there. There was always a huge crowd! They would eat up them crawfish and shrimp, sing and dance all night. Once it got dark they always made a huge bonfire. It helps to keep the skeeters away! Or so they say.

Storms pop up every afternoon on the Gulf, it's just part of life. One day there was a particularly bad one that came through. Cristal, Noodelin' Nancy, had gone out on her cousin's fishing boat to help out. It was getting late and they hadn't come back yet. Catfish went down to the dock to wait. The Sheriff pulled up and gave him the news. The Coast Guard got a distress call and went out, but by the time they got there the boat was gone. They recovered a couple people but Cristal was never seen again. There were at least a thousand people at the funeral. Conway decided to enlist in the Coast Guard. He thought it might be a good way to help another family not have to go through what he was going through. He did a few years but didn't reenlist. The military lifestyle didn't suit him but he liked being on the sea, he signed on with the Merchant Marines and ran cargo across the Atlantic. When it was gator season he would make his way back home and help T-Bone. His cousins took over the bait shop but the parties aren't the same since he left. Catfish was enjoying his new life going to Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon, England, Ireland, Columbia, Brazil, he's been all over the world.

One day he was sitting in a bar in Columbia when it happened. He saw a big fight in the street. He wasn't one to mind his own business or to stand by as someone is getting their ass beat 5 on 1. He jumped up and ran over to help. The people beating up the one guy pulled out some guns and started shooting. Catfish ran to the only place he knew, the ship. They went down below and he asked the guy, "You're American aren't you?" "Yeah, thanks for that back there. Name's Bill." Bill needed a way out of Columbia, shit went south on a hit and he was running for his life. He needed to get back to New York so he could come up with a new plan. "New York? I've never met anyone from New York before. What's it like?" "It's worse than you've heard." It was going to be few weeks before they got back to The States. The two struck up a friendship right away. Bill told him about being a hitman, "You'd be perfect! You're tough, you already wrestle gators and you know how to use a gun. You're self sufficient; you've been around the world. Why not come down to the bar and talk about it?" Kill people for a living? Sounds interesting! "Just think about it as getting rid of bad guys." Bill took him back to Jimmy's Place to talk it over with the boys. They agreed to let him in. He accompanied Bill on a few jobs, learning about the pawn shops and everything. They became really good friends. "You showed me all around New York, you're going to have to come down to Louisiana pretty soon and I'll return the favor."