Three Keys and the Mob

6 Years and a Day

By Ed Rogers

[Editor’s Note: In the 6 years and a day since we published this memoir of Ed Rogers, I still haven’t met anyone else who has known as colorful characters as he has.]

I have known some colorful characters in my life. I have written two novels based on some of them: Boystown: The Cocaine Highway and Boystown: The Return.
    The story below is all true, however. I have changed the names for reasons that should be apparent to everyone.

Being Shot [Part 2 – Final]

By Ed Rogers

The following account is a true story. I have used the real names of individuals who were with me during the time recounted. [Part 1 appeared on Saturday.]


Seven days later, I opened my eyes. A plastic oxygen tent covered the top half of my body. Through the plastic I saw my mother with two girls from my school that she was sneaking into my room because I wasn’t allowed to have visitors. I asked what she was doing there and she let out a holler for a nurse.
    I learned that I had been in a coma for seven days, and the doctor had told her I might never wake up. Two nurses came rushing in and started poking and prodding me. Then the pain hit. My entire mid-section cried out at once. I was given a shot of morphine and soon floated off on a cloud. The following week was like a dream. I got a shot of morphine every four hours but a shot’s effects wore off after three, and the fourth hour was hell.

As the World Turns: Whatever Happened to That Fairchild C-123 of the CIA?

By Ed Rogers

The country of Nicaragua has seen its share of war, and the CIA has been in the middle of it all. In my book Boystown: The Cocaine Highway, I tell of my characters flying guns into the mountains of Honduras and drugs back to the United States. That story took place in the mid-sixties and all with the knowledge of the CIA.

BODY COUNT books now available as a series on Amazon

By Moristotle

As the editor of Ed Rogers’ three BODY COUNT novels, I am pleased to announce that Amazon now accommodates series of books, and Ed has taken advantage of it by creating a series entry on Amazon. The graphic shown here is a composite of the series’ text description and its image.

As the World Turns: Just Another Saturday Night South of the Border

By Ed Rogers

Back in 1959, when I was sixteen and newly released from the hospital after being shot through the mid-section with a forty-five, I was with four friends and we were on our way back from Boystown, which is outside of Matamoras, Mexico. About three blocks from the international bridge we had a flat and there was no air in the spare. It was decided that, because of my condition, I would stay with the car along with one other of our friends. The other two headed off with the spare toward the bridge and the 24-hour gas station there that, at one in the morning, was all that was open.

Interview: Ed Rogers on his art of storymaking

In the flow

Interviewed by Moristotle

I’ve now edited Ed’s four self-published novels, his self-published collection of childhood stories, and dozens of his essays, poems, and fictional pieces for Moristotle & Co. And his fifth novel, which I’m editing now, is the best yet, I think. That is to say, I’ve had years now to admire his fluency in getting ideas and stories down in words. And, in the case of his novels, I’d go beyond saying I “admire” Ed’s ability to saying I “marvel” at it. For having tried my own hand at writing a novel (and not coming up with much), it’s beyond me to comprehend how Ed does it. How does he make up long, intricate, believable, satisfying stories?
    One way to find out, of course, is to ask Ed, hoping that he isn’t himself at a loss to know how he does it. My questions are in italics.

Fiction: Boystown: The Return (a novel)

Chapter 4. Pepe Espada

By edRogers

[Chapter 3 of Ed Rogers’s new novel appeared here on May 30. It is available in its entirety as a Kindle book.]

Boystown: The Return (a novel)

Chapter 3. El Rojo

By edRogers

[Chapter 2 of Ed Rogers’s new novel appeared here last month. It is available in its entirety as a Kindle book.]

Boystown: The Return (a novel)

Chapter 2. On the Hunt

By edRogers

[The foreword, prolog, and first chapter of Ed Rogers’s new novel appeared here last month. It is available in its entirety as a Kindle book.]

Boystown: The Return (a novel)

Foreword, Prolog, & Chapter 1

By edRogers

[Boystown: The Return is the sequel to Boystown[: The Cocaine Highway], chapters of which have been excerpted on Moristotle & Co. Both books are now available on Amazon.]

Three Keys and the Mob

Apropos some fiction

By Ed Rogers

I have known some colorful characters in my life. I have written two novels based on some of them: Boystown: The Cocaine Highway and Boystown: The Return [which we plan to start serializing in the coming weeks –The Editor].
    The story below is all true, however. I have changed the names for reasons that should be apparent to everyone.

Third Saturday Fiction

New cover, updated on Amazon this month
(Kindle price $0.99)

Chapter 24. 
Air-Am, from the novel Boystown: The Cocaine Highway

By edRogers

[In the previous chapter, published here on October 18, James Hamilton had enlisted in the US Army to get away from a Colombian drug cartel. But things became confused, and Chapter 23 ended with Hamilton sitting alone on his bunk attempting to sort out what had happened. “Two days ago, all I wanted was a place to hide. What was I doing in this outfit? Why promote me to a warrant officer?...I was sure there was a puppeteer pulling strings, and I was the puppet.”]

The next six weeks were hell. The fun times the crews had before my arrival stopped. We ate, slept, shit, and pissed in our planes. Moreover, when we weren’t flying, we were in one class after another. They pushed two years of training programs down our throats and made us chew each bite.

Third Saturday Fiction

Chapter 23. Fort Carson, from the novel Boystown: The Cocaine Highway

By edRogers

[Feeling the Colombian drug cartel's heat, James Hamilton has enlisted to get as far away from them as possible. Previous excerpt, "The High Country," published here on August 30.]

The NCO at the recruiting station promised me the moon and first shot at his daughter if I signed up right then. I got the feeling that even in the poor part of town, kids weren’t eager to fight in a war. The fact that I had dodged the draft and could trace all my troubles back to that decision hadn’t eluded my attention. I was fully prepared to go to jail for my beliefs, but that wasn’t what the Colombians had in mind. I explained to the Sergeant that I had been living outside of the U.S. and didn’t have a draft card. I told him I hadn’t been home in a few years and never received a letter from any draft board.

Sunday Review: Boystown: Ride the Cocaine Highway North (novel)

Now available as a Kindle book

By Morris Dean

You may not recognize the title as that of the novel from which three chapters have been published here and identified simply as from Boystown, but it's the same book, by the same writer – our contributing editor Ed Rogers. Another difference, besides the subtitle specially added for Kindle, is that Ed's first name isn't capitalized on the cover. Ed explains:

Third Saturday Fiction

Chapter 22. The High Country, from the novel Boystown: The Cocaine Highway

By edRogers

[James Hamilton has had to abandon his business and flee Mexico to avoid being killed by a Colombian drug cartel. Previous excerpt, "Santa Teresa," published here on August 30.]

Northern California is not like any other part of the state. I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge about six in the morning, a light fog hung over the water. As usual, there was a chill in the air, but fortunately, I wore my full leathers. Most of the traffic came across the bridge from the north at that time of day. The line of cars looked like ants as they broke from the darkness of the tunnel into the gray morning light. Each little soldier, sadly in search of a dream that required them to spend eight hours locked in an office. Then at the end of the day they would make the drive back across the bridge and start over tomorrow.

Fifth Saturday Fiction

Chapter 16. Santa Teresa, from the novel Boystown: The Cocaine Highway

By edRogers

[The first-person narrator is James Hamilton, a Vietnam draft dodger and entrepreneur. In this chapter he’s flying with his friend Jay, who sometimes flies for the C.I.A., to pick up product and distribute cash. Previous excerpt, "The Hippie Experience," published here on March 15.]

Behind us the demons wrought hell on earth, but once again the jaws of death hadn’t closed fast enough. The night sky was clear and beautiful. I looked at Jay—his shirt was black from the sweat. My own shirt clung to me and sweat ran down my back, and the top of my jeans felt wet. “I’ll bet we lost ten pounds fighting that damn storm.”

Third Saturday Fiction

Chapter 10. The Hippie Experience, from the novel Boystown: The Cocaine Highway

By edRogers

[The first-person narrator is James Hamilton, a 1960’s draft dodger and entrepreneur. In this chapter he’s checking out the market for a certain product in San Francisco.]

BUDDY stepped outside, turned his collar up, and headed for his bike parked at the curb. The wind blew across the city from the bay. The air was cold and damp and the chill ran up and down my spine. I shook badly as I turned to close the door, and the key fell from my hand. The last thing I thought I wound need when I left Texas for California was a coat.
    “What do you want me to do with the key?”