by Nicety
Pandora moved in closer giving Diamond a good shot without any illusions making it difficult for her to miss. She grabbed her hair swinging it back behind her and held her chin up waiting for her to pull the trigger.
“Pray for me for what, Diamond?”
“For your soul not to go straight to hell, you should stop by heaven to see everything you will be missing.”
“You don’t have the fucking balls to shoot me, bitch. You’re weak. You’re wretched. You’ve always been! That’s why I had to carry us because you were too weak to fucking do it your damn self and you are the oldest!” Pandora bellowed, “You’re so fucking bad then do it!”
“Shut up, Pandora!”
“What are you waiting for, just do it!”
Pandora rushed Diamond knocking her to her back, then jumps on top of her. The gun flew out of Diamond’s hand landing a few feet behind then. Pandora is sitting on top of Diamond’s torso pressing all of her weight on her to keep her down as she scratched and clawed at her face.
Diamond reached up grabbing her hands to keep her from attacking, but she was very fast and Diamond’s equilibrium was still off from the beating she had endured no less than an hour before. The bubble jacket Diamond adorned prevented her from being distracted from the feel of the wet, slushy snow and mud, but as Pandora yanked on it she began to wish she had left it in the car.
Pandora stood up planting her feet on each side of her head never releasing the coat for a second. She twisted it to no end making sure it was nice and tight before pulling it close to her neck strangling her to no end.
Diamond struggled and fought punching her arms, hoping to break her strength or at least distract her so that she would let up a little and focus on stopping her hands. Pandora was no fool. She continued to squeeze much like an Anaconda would its prey, yanking and pressing harder waiting for her to give up and pass out. It had begun to sink in that she was never going to get the money from Diamond, which meant she had to focus on the weaker sister, Lexi. Diamond held her breath for as long as she could while trying to fight the affects that made her head dizzy. She focused all of her energy on swinging her fists aiming for her face but was unable to reach it. Just as she was about to go down for the count a loud ringing engulfed her ears.
“Give up bitch! Give up!” Pandora gritted through her teeth as she squeezed with all of her might.
Pandora grinned viciously, allowing drool to fall from her mouth for the taste of Diamond’s blood. When she envisioned herself killing Diamond, she did not imagine that it would be that satisfying. It was a hunger that she longed for as she anticipated the moment her frail body went limp and she took her very last breath. But Diamond was a fighter and was determined to live. She was not going to go down without giving Pandora a run for her money. Her breathing slowed and she could see death in the distance but she was not ready to go. ‘Hold up, not just yet,’ she thought to herself as she reached up pulling down on Pandora’s arms to bring a little relief to her sore neck.
“Just die bitch! Let go!” Pandora taunted.
Her hands loosened their grip and dropped Diamond to the ground awkwardly. She turned around to see if she could see someone but there was no one there. Diamond coughed grasping her neck in relief trying to regain her strength and functioning as she peered out at the gun lying no less than a few feet from her. As she crawled towards it she witnessed Pandora fall to her knees screaming in pure agony. There was no time to focus on what happened to her as Diamond neared the gun grabbing it, cradling it like a helpless child.
“Not so bad now are you baby?” Oxy laughed walking up to assess the scene.
“Oxy! Why the fuck are you doing this to me?” Pandora shrieked in sheer pain as she clenched her right leg trying to stop the blood from spewing out.
“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to Pandora. You were supposed to be mine. You were supposed to remain pure and then you go and fuck Ivan,” Oxy hollered pointing to Ivan.
Ivan stood there pointing the gun towards Pandora. The darkness made it hard for him to gaze at her beauty, leaving no room for him to be distracted or feel remorseful. Tears flowed from Pandora’s eyes as thoughts scrolled through her head of not being ready to die yet. She felt there were so many other things she needed to do before she went. And then it hit her. That was the very thing Diamond was trying to implant in her head. She sighed coming to the notion that the old saying was definitely true. A hard head did make a soft ass.
“It wasn’t personal, baby. It was all business,” Pandora panted, smiling nervously.
“Just shut up! I loved you, talking all that shit about marriage. Did you think I was stupid?” Oxy scratched her head profusely nearly drawing blood. “You…Ivan…Did you think I was going to let you get away with that? HUH?”
“I…I…”
“You what?”
“I thought I imagined you standing there. I didn’t know you really did see us,” Pandora cried and begged, “Oxy please, I’m sorry baby.”
Pandora looked over at Diamond clenching the gun in her hands wondering who the fuck these people were and if they were going to kill her too just because she was a witness. Oxy paced the snow, kicking it in her ex-lover’s direction hoping to make her feel like the dirt she was.
“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t save you. It’s a shame too. Your pussy was very sweet,” Oxy confessed as she turned to sway away, disgusted by her face and spoke coolly, “Shoot her!”
Bang! Bang!
Ivan slugged two in her chest aiming for her heart. Oxy turned around watching as Pandora laid spread out on the ground finding it difficult to breathe. Diamond rose slowly from the ground, clenching the piece tightly, looking down in Pandora’s face. Pandora refused to look her in the face wanting the last thing she saw in this world to be the iridescent beauty of the pale moonlight. Her chest slowed and her fingers ceased to wiggle but Diamond could still hear her faint short breaths seeping from her young lips.
“Breathe dog, breathe,” Diamond encouraged.
Pandora took her final breath turning her eyes to Diamond at the last moment only able to catch a silhouette. Her body was affixed like something out of a horror movie as Diamond kissed her goodbye on her head.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” she muttered as she looked up into the shadows of Oxy and Ivan and slowly raised her gun releasing the safety, “Ay, I don’t want any motherfucking trouble.”
“Don’t you now,” Oxy replied crossing her arms.
“I never saw either of you and you didn’t see me. It’s dark out here anyway,” Diamond insisted knowing that even if she did not get both of them she would be happy with at least one.
Oxy smacked her lips, shaking her head at Diamond as she lightly caressed the side of Ivan’s arm, “Come on daddy. Let’s go.”
Diamond exhaled heavily like she had just been reborn. She lowered the gun keeping her finger on the trigger just until they were out of her sight. The entire time she had not felt the cold crusty air of the woods but at that moment an apocalyptic breeze seemed to be surrounding her. She slid the gun back into her pants securing the safety again. Her eyes took one last look at the person she once shared a mother, a face and thick blood with then gradually turned and headed back towards the car.
Chapter 17
“You got it right. Don’t be any man’s fool.”— Diamond
Diamond sat in the car looking around at the emptiness of the parking lot before revving up and pulling off. She did not want to be noticed by any cops on their late night beat, coming out of an already closed for the day forest preserve. She peeled slowly out of the lot headed North on Western Avenue, being sure to check her mirrors for any followers or the police. Her movements were erratic and her nerves were beyond a mess. She needed to calm down spotting a Citgo gas station on the corner coming ahead and pulled into it shutting off the ignition to breathe.
She exited the car and entered the mini mart sluggishly hoping to find something with so
me alcohol in it. It was the only thing she could think of to calm her nerves down. At the counter, the Pakistani young man looked as if he did not trust her. The odd way she walked through the store as she found her two Red Bulls and returned to the front seemed off.
“Yeah, take this and keep the change,” Diamond growled as she tossed him a twenty dollar bill then snatched her drinks off the counter and headed back outside.
Her weary legs slid back into the driver’s seat as she cracked one of the drinks open throwing it back like it was water. The wait for the rush was killing her as she tossed the can in the garbage can just outside the car. She was about to open the other can we the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey D, where you been? I’ve been calling you like crazy,” Lexi asked worriedly, relieved to hear her voice.
“Naw, yeah girl I’m good. I have just been through one hell of a night,” Diamond laughed trying not to scare her.
“Well I waited for you to come back to the hospital. I thought you were going to pick me up but you stood me up…again.”
“I’m so sorry lil’ sis, I don’t have an excuse for not being there for you either and you know what, starting today I’m going to strive to be a better big sister to you, okay?”
“Yes, Diamond, but you are already a great big sister. You’re tough but you keep me on my toes.”
“As do you, Hun,” Diamond smiled brightly no matter how badly it hurt.
“So, have you heard from Pandora yet?”
“Lex, don’t freak out when I say this. You gotta promise me you won’t cry or freak out, promise?” Diamond closed her eyes.
“Diamond, you’re scaring me. What’s going on and where are you? Are you okay?” Lexi rambled.
“See, I just asked you not to freak out.”
“Okay, I’m calm, tell me,” Lexi closed her eyes, took a deep breath and braced herself.
“I got a feeling that we won’t be hearing much from Pandora anytime soon.”
The phone went silent. Diamond waited to give her time to process the harsh information she just received. Lexi being a very emotional person felt for people even if she did not know them. She wanted to give her all the time she needed in order for her to begin the healing process and move on with her life but feared it may take more time than the phone call could provide. On the other end of the line, Lexi clenched her hand over her mouth so she did not blurt out any sudden gasps or cries. At the end of the day, she knew Pandora was like a flesh eating virus, once it spread all over you it claims your life.
“That’s a shame,” she replied remaining calm.
“Huh? You’re not going burst into tears or throw up or nothing?” Diamond asked beyond shocked by her response.
“I’m growing up, diva,” Lexi laughed, “I know she was a bad seed. Nothing or no one was going to change that. Once good girls go bad they’re gone forever.”
“Straight up,” Diamond agreed, “Well I’m so proud of you lil’ sis. Girl you’re gonna make me cry over here.”
“Well save your tears because I’ve got news too. Are you sitting down?” Lexi smiled.
“Yes but Alexis, if you tell me that Kojack proposed and you said yes, I’m gonna run this car off the side of the road and end it all. I fucking swear!” Diamond was joking but she hoped Lexi knew she meant it.
“Huh? Damn D, why you always gotta fuck some shit up? Can I finish my news please?”
“Okay, I’m sorry. You’re right. Whatever it is I support you and I’m happy for you. So…what is it?” Diamond bit her lip hoping she would not regret asking that question.
“I’m pregnant!” Lexi exclaimed looking around to see if Kojack was still in the bathroom.
“Oh my God! That’s great baby! I’m so happy for you,” Diamond lied, “So what does Kojack think about this?”
“He wants to be in the baby’s life and blah, blah, blah.”
“So what are you going to do for real, Lex?”
“I haven’t really decided yet. But I told him that I was getting an abortion. He hurt me bad D. and I don’t know if I can get over that. Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me twice and we’re done,” Lexi lowered her head trying not to cry.
“Sometimes niggas are gonna hurt you bad boo. But it’s up to you as a woman to know what you will stand for and what you won’t. They will only do to us what we allow them to do,” Diamond educated her sister, putting on her ‘big sister’ cap.
“I know, I know.”
“You got it right, don’t be any man’s fool,” Diamond lectured rubbing the stress off of her scalp.
The phone went silent as the knowledge sunk into Lexi’s brain. She needed that sisterly advice, a sort of kick in the ass so she did not keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Her hand grazed her belly hoping she would also make the right decision when it came down to the life inside of her. Her confusion bordered on the line of being a hypocrite by telling Diamond not to abort her baby when she was now thinking of doing that very thing.
“So anyway, have you given any thought to keeping your baby?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Lex. I’m not equipped to take care of a baby and I got this disease. I…I just don’t know.”
“But I will be there to help you. Hell, I don’t know what I’m doing either but we can help each other. That’s what sisters are for, right?” Lexi laughed as did Diamond, “People live long, happy lives with Aids, D.”
“I know but it’s not that. It’s the thought of knowing that one day, any day; I could die and leave that little kid on this earth without a mother or a father all alone. We know that feeling all too well and that’s something I couldn’t live with each day I am alive,” Diamond felt a large quantity of tears build up in the ducts of her eyes.
“But the baby won’t be alone Diamond because it will have me. I would never let you die no matter if you’re here in the flesh or in spirit. Don’t you know that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just can’t wrap my mind around the thought is all? You know momma left us and all we had was the Pastor and I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt the baby. I just need more time, Lex.”
Lexi could not understand why the decision was so hard for Diamond. She was not in the predicament that she had gotten herself into and would actually have preferred if she had no idea who her child’s father was. It would have made her decision a lot easier, keeping the baby and not having to worry about sharing it with someone who was only going to continue to break her heart. Her love for Kojack was real but it seemed his love was only convenient when it affected him.
“I understand,” Lexi lied, “But please while you’re thinking about it, can you at least go to the doctor in the morning and get the meds? You or the baby won’t survive without it regardless of your decision.”
“Ugh, if it will make you happy, little sis!” Diamond accentuated playfully rolling her eyes.
The two girls laughed like they used to back in the day when times were stressful but simpler. They fell into a conversation about their childhoods, reminiscing about how much fun they used to have sneaking out the windows and playing pranks on unsuspecting pedestrians from the roof. It warmed both of their hearts to be able to talk to each other and love each other as sisters were supposed to without all of the bickering, fighting, and backstabbing. It felt real and even though neither of them wanted to get all mushy over the phone they were both thinking the same thing at the same time, I love you.
“Alright sis, I’m going to get out of this damn gas station. The fucking foreign dude is looking at me funny through his bulletproof window,” Diamond joked and cackled. “Where are you right now?”
“I’m at Kojack’s office with him. He took me out to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and so we just made it to his office. He says he needs to talk to me about something but he needed to stop off and pick some papers up first,” Lexi replied curling her lips and turning up her nose as she watched him step out of the bathroom spraying air freshener
, “Well he’s done stinking up the bathroom, girl. I guess I gotta go too.”
Diamond frowned as she listened to Kojack’s movements in the background. She hated the way he was stringing her sister along with his wishy washy ways but did not know how to tell her to axe him without getting into a full-fledged argument like before. It was going to take for him to hurt her so bad that she never wanted to see his face again for Lexi to wake up and smell the coffee that love was never going to be enough for a man like Kojack. He would never truly love her the way she needed to be loved because of their differences, which was only going to lead to more heart break and sleepless nights down the line. How could she tell her sister to stay away when she was clearly blinded by the exact same thing that caught him in the first place, wild and crazy, spontaneous sex?
“Okay girl,” Diamond grimaced, “Are y’all going to his crib afterwards?”
“Yeah we’ll definitely be there,” Lexi confirmed.
“Okay cool. Well I’ll meet you guys there. I’m gonna run to this Mickey D’s up the street and hit the drive through hard and then I’ll be there.”
“That’s Wassup, alright then.”
“Hey Lex.”
“Love you too, sis,” she smiled as Diamond sent her love right back before disconnecting the call.
Diamond started the car as she looked back at the gas station attendant throwing him the most horrid stink face she could make as she pulled off. She broke a left heading back North on Western Avenue feeling her stomach growl as the bright yellow McDonald’s arches slowly came into view. It was none other than the baby inside forcing her to fill her body with sustenance rather than rip and run the streets all day. As the hunger pangs ripped a roaring earthquake in through to her back, she began to think rationally about the points Lexi made. It was easy for her to deny she was right and fight her logic since being difficult was in her nature. But the truth was she was overly devastated that she had even gotten pregnant and with the lifestyle she lived she did not want to bring into the world another life as wild as she. She knew Lexi would never be able to tame a beast like that.