by K'wan
“You mean the little brown-skinned thing he’s been sniffing around is Big Stone’s kid?” Buda was shocked. He’d known something was up with that girl from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
“And now you understand why you find yourself ass naked and confused. See, with Diamonds seeing my niece, that kills any hopes I had on him going at my brother, at least so long as he’s leading the crew. And that fucks up everything I was planning.” He placed his gun next to Buda’s head. “The way I see it, I’m faced with two options: whack all you little muthafuckas for all the time and money I’ve already wasted”—he lowered the gun—“or me and you can come to some type of understanding.”
* * *
The sounds of WBLS hummed softly through the speakers of the SUV as Diamonds navigated his way south through Harlem. The quiet storm was jamming some of his favorite old-school cuts, and most of them all fit his mood.
The talk he’d had with Pearl had done wonders for his soul. He had known already who her father was, but he had no plans to tell her that. The fact that she had been up front with him about it said a lot about how she was built. His people might’ve felt like he was speeding by getting so caught up with her so quick, but Diamonds knew what he was doing. She was beautiful, intelligent, loyal, and connected. You didn’t leave a woman like that blowing in the wind; you made her yours.
By the time Diamonds pulled into the garage of his building, he was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. He had been going for days on little to no sleep, and couldn’t wait to get upstairs and crash on his featherbed mattress. As he was waiting for the elevator that would take him up to his floor, he remembered that he’d never turned his phone back on from when he’d left Pearl. As soon as he did, he was immediately bombarded with alerts. He had five voice mails and a few text messages, most from Goldie and Hank wondering where the hell he was. He’d follow up with them in the morning. He was just about to slip the phone back into his pocket when he saw a text message from Wolf pop up. They always spoke on the phone or in person, never via text message. Curious, Diamonds opened the message. It only contained six words: DON’T GO HOME UNTIL WE TALK.
“What the fuck?” Diamonds was still trying to make heads or tails of the message when the elevator door opened. When he looked up, he caught a flash of a two men wearing stocking caps over their faces, before something slammed into the back of his head and everything went black.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Vita’s eyelids felt like they had sandbags in them. Every so often they would try to droop and pull her into the ever tempting sleep she so badly needed, but she had to stay awake. She was coming across the George Washington bridge, so it would only be a short while longer before she was back at her apartment and in her bed.
Her night with Domo had proved to be far more eventful, and taxing, than she had anticipated. From the moment she had laid eyes on the quiet young man from Newark she knew there was something special about him. He was cute, but a little young for her tastes. Vita usually went for older guys. Seeing the way he had handled himself in the shootout made her look at him in a different light, and how he handled himself against Buda was the cherry on top.
Diamonds had peeped her openly flirting with Domo at the house and tried to act like it was no big deal, but she could tell it was eating him up. That’s what she had intended, to show him how it felt when the shoe was on the other foot. Jealous tactics aside, it did feel good to be wanted for once. When Diamonds looked at her, all he saw was a crime partner, and an occasional warm hole to take his frustrations out on, but it was different with Domo. He saw her for what she was, a woman.
She hadn’t meant to sleep with him, at least that night and especially not in the backseat of her car like some whore, but she couldn’t help herself. Between the liquor and all the sexual tension that had been built up throughout the night, Vita started feeling some type of way, and obviously the feeling was mutual for Domo. She tried being aggressive, hoping it would scare him off and bring her back to her senses, but he called her bluff and they ended up going at it like two jackrabbits at a truck stop off the New Jersey Turnpike. Domo might’ve been slight of build, but he was heavy of cock. God have given that boy a gift and he put it on Vita, over, and over all through the night and well into the morning. He was still somewhat inexperienced, more thrust than technique, but in time she would train him properly in the art of pleasing a woman. Diamonds had had been accurate when he kept referring to Domo as Vita’s boy-toy, because that’s exactly what she had planned on making him. She was sure that Diamonds wouldn’t be happy when he found out Vita and Domo were fucking, but she didn’t care. She’d waited for him to come around and claim her long enough, and not it was time she starting doing her.
“Fuck him,” Vita mumbled as she paid the toll and came across the bridge into New York.
* * *
The last thing Vita expected to see when she arrived at her apartment building was her whole crew huddled up on the front stoop. She saw the dark expressions on their faces and knew immediately that something was wrong. When she noticed that everyone was there except Diamonds a cold chill gripped her heart.
“What’s the hell is going on?” Vita asked jumping out of the car.
“Where you been, V? We been trying to hit you all night.” Hank told her.
“I was out and my phone was dead. What’s happened?” Vita looked over the sea of faces.
“What’s happened is, while your ass has been MIA our whole operation has been falling apart!” Buda snarled. His face was bruised and one of his arms was in a sling.
“Buda, what are you talking about? And what happened to your arm?” Vita was confused.
“Big Stone happened to my arm.” Buda replied. “Apparently he found out what we were up to and didn’t like it. A few of his boys came to pay a call on me in the wee hours. As you can see, I almost didn’t make it.” He pointed to the sling. “When you went missing we thought they might’ve come at you too.”
“Where’s Diamonds?” Vita asked. At the mention of his name everyone got quiet. “Somebody talk to me!” she demanded. When she looked at Goldie’s face, the tears dancing in his eyes told her all she need to know. “No.” her legs suddenly got weak, and she would’ve fallen to the ground had Hank not moved to steady her.
“Easy, baby girl. We don’t know if he’s dead, but we haven’t been able to reach him.” Hank told her.
“Seeing how Big Stone and his boys move, the chances of him still being alive are slim to none,” Buda said.
“Watch yo mouth, nigga! That’s still my brother,” Goldie warned.
“Goldie, you know I didn’t mean it like it sounded.” Buda’s voice softened. “Diamonds is my brother too and I’m just as worried as the rest of you. I’m just speaking facts. Everybody knows that if you wanna kill a monster, you cut off the head and the body will follow. Diamonds was our leader, so what better way to cripple us than to take him out?”
“I ain’t letting this shit ride,” Vita said, just above a whisper. She was so overcome with emotion that she could barely speak.
“None of us are. Diamonds has been there for me, for all of us, more times than I can count. Whoever is responsible for this is gonna feel us!” Buda promised. “I say we hit that nigga Big Stone and everyone close to him.”
“Calm your ass down Buda. We can’t go to war with an organization of that size without finding out all the facts first.” Hank told him.
“They touched our family, what the fuck else is there to know?” Buda shot back. “Look, I ain’t trying to throw my weight around or nothing, but Diamonds made me second in command because he knew if something ever happened to him, I’d step up and do what needed to be done. Now y’all can stand here and jaw about it like some bitches, or strap up and do what we do. With or without you, in a few hours the sun won’t be the only thing going down.” He stormed off.
“I’ll go talk to him.” Hank offered. “Goldie, you stay here with Vi
ta. I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be alone right now. I’ll hit you in a little while when I find out more about all this.”
“I got you, OG.” Goldie said.
“I still can’t believe he’s dead,” Vita said, after Hank and Buda had gone.
“Neither can I, nor will I until I see a body. Something ain’t right with this,” Goldie told her.
“What you saying, Goldie?”
“I’m saying this this whole situation stinks of something foul. My brother is way too paranoid to let an outsider get the drop on him, so I figure whoever did this had help from someone close. You love him too much to let anything happen to him unless it was by your own hand, so that leaves Hank and Buda.”
Vita frowned. “Hank loves Diamonds like kin, and Buda is a snake but I don’t think he’d stoop that low.”
“Maybe … maybe not, but I’m not willing to bet my brother’s life or mine on it.” Goldie said seriously. “My brother ain’t dead.”
“I don’t know, Goldie. Maybe we just don’t want to accept the obvious, so we’re holding onto hunches.”
“Ain’t no hunch, V. I’m telling you what I know,” Goldie said seriously. “I know sometimes its easier to turn a blind eye rather than to acknowledge the unexplainable, but I think you all know what Auntie was teaching my brother and me out in that swamp and it wasn’t our ABCs. Diamonds and me are tethered by more than genetics, and there’s no way he could’ve passed on without me knowing.”
Though Vita would never admit it, she knew there was truth to Goldie’s words. Diamonds trafficked in things that were better left undiscussed in public. “So if you’re right and Diamonds is still alive, where the hell is he?”
“I don’t know, but I think you and me owe it to him to find out.”
EPILOGUE
Diamonds was stirred by a sharp pain on his cheek. The fog was still heavily wrapped around his brain, but a second slap across the face woke him up fully. His hands were suspended over his head and cuffed around a metal pipe. He was hanging just high enough to where his bare toes could touch the ground but he couldn’t plant his feet. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room he was in, but when he was able to focus he realized he wasn’t alone. Standing in front of him was a light-skinned man wearing a New Orleans Saint’s cap. His cat-green eyes stared at Diamonds quizzically.
“Glad to see you’re awake. For a minute I thought I had hit you too hard with that pipe and put you in a coma.” The light-skinned man said with a smirk.
“Tariq, get your ass from over there and quit fucking with him. I don’t want you damaging the merchandise before we get paid.” A second man appeared. He was older than the first and sported a full beard. The black suit jacket he wore struggled to contain his mountain-like shoulders.
“Chill out Blue, I’m just having a little fun,” he said, and turned back to Diamonds. “You know, when I heard how much was offered up on his head I was expecting more. They talk about you like you’re some kind of monster, but you don’t look like much. Hardly worth fifty grand.” Tariq gave him a nudge and caused him to sway.
“Why don’t you come a little closer and I’ll see if I can change your mind.” Diamonds challenged. The one called Tariq looked like he was about to test his luck until the other man stepped in.
“I said knock it off.” Blue shoved Tariq away from Diamonds.
“Since you seem to be the man in charge, I’ll see if I can appeal to your sensibility,” Diamonds addressed Blue. “If you boys cut me loose now I’ll make it so there’s enough left of you for your mamas to have open casket funerals.”
Blue laughed. “I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate. Besides, I ain’t the one in charge. I’m just hired muscle.”
“Then why don’t you get whoever is running this circus out here so we can speak like bosses,” Diamonds said.
“A boss? Is that what you think you are now? You always did have an inflated sense of self-importance,” a familiar voice called from somewhere behind Diamonds.
Diamonds couldn’t turn to see who was speaking to him, but he could hear them approaching: clip-clop … clip-clop. It sounded like a limping horse, and was drawing ever nearer. When the speaker stepped from the shadows, Diamonds’s breath caught in his throat. He had seen a great many unexplainable things in his life, but never a resurrection. Standing there, leaning on a walking stick, in all his blubbery glory, was the last man Diamonds had ever expected to see again.
“Considering the money and dope you took from me helped to finance your new lifestyle, I’d have thought you’d be a little happier to see me.” Big Slim limped closer to Diamonds. He had lost some weight since Diamonds had tried to blow his head off, but he was still fat as hell. “I once told a friend of yours that I didn’t care how long it took, but I would track you down and settle our debt.” He pulled the walking stick apart and exposed the blade hidden inside. “It’s taken me some money and some years, but at long last I have come to collect.”
ALSO BY K’WAN
Street Dreams
Hoodlum
Hood Rat
Still Hood
Gutter
Section 8
Welfare Wifeys
Eviction Notice
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K’WAN is a multiple literary award winner and bestselling author of more than twenty titles, including Gangsta, Road Dawgz, Street Dreams, Hoodlum, Eve, Hood Rat, Blow, Still Hood, Gutter, Section 8, From Harlem with Love, The Leak, Welfare Wifeys, Eviction Notice, Love & Gunplay, Animal, The Life & Times of Slim Goodie, Purple Reign, Little Nikki Grind, Animal II, The Fix, Black Lotus, First & Fifteenth, Ghetto Bastard, Animal 3, The Fix 2, The Fix 3, and Animal 4. He is also the author of several dark fantasy novels written under a pseudonym.
K’wan currently resides in New Jersey, where he is working on his next novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Acknowledgments
Part I: When the Levees Broke
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Part II: Kingdom of Stone
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part III: A Swarm of Locusts
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Part IV: Damage Control
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Part V: Love and Consequences
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapt
er Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Epilogue
Also by K’wan
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DIAMONDS AND PEARL. Copyright © 2016 by K’Wan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs: woman © Beauty BlowFlow / Shutterstock; title type © Doctor Letters / Shutterstock; cityscape © Stuart Monk / Shutterstock; man © Susan Chiang / Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: K’wan, author.
Title: Diamonds and Pearl / K’wan.
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016021589 | ISBN 978-1-250-10261-4 (trade paperback) | ISBN 978-1-250-10262-1 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Man-woman relationships—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Street life—Fiction. | Urban fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / African American / Urban Life. | FICTION / Urban Life.
Classification: LCC PS3606.O96 D53 2016 | DDC 813/.6—dc23