ANOTHER KIND OF DIAMOND

by Gloria Obizu

  But do it anyways. There must be a payback day for those two somehow, Rita bellowed. We can’t let them continue. No! It’s got to be stop! If someone gets back at them hard enough may be they’ll probably learn to start acting right. Because of those two I’m gonna lose my earnings for one night but I won’t even mind. I wanna go into their room and take back all that they stole from us and I’m not gonna hide it from them. They will know I did it and discover the other kind of a thief. Oh yes they will! One who steals and shows up with her loot. Alright! We’ll see who will be laughing last!

  High me five babe! I know what you mean! But how are you gonna do that? Paula wanted to know.

  Wait and see! Rita said.

  You got to be careful though. I’m warning you because you don’t know what they are really like. If by any chance they catch you in their room, you are gone for good. They’ll call the cops on you and lie that the things they don’t even own are missing. They’ll even say they never seen you before, lie on how you broke into their room from the blues and stole their stuff and what are you gonna do? Deny it? The cops are not gonna believe you if they find you in their room.

  Don’t worry! I already had it all worked out, understand? Rita continued. Besides, I’ve got no choice but find a way of getting those things back otherwise I’m sunk. I‘ve been with one of my roommates for ten years and she is hurting so bad right now because of what these girls did and I don’t like that one bit. After so much coaxing, Paula agreed to play along. “Know what?” “I’m gonna let you into the house but first promise me you won’t tell anybody about this ‘cause I don’t want to get in any of those girls shit anymore, understand.” “I just want a clean break and never look back” Once she got the assurance from Rita, Paula was ready. When are you coming? She finally asked.

  You know what? The way I’m feeling right now, I wanna do it tonight if that is ok by you.

  That’s ok! But how are you gonna get into Daisy’s room ‘cause both of them always lock their doors. Always! You know that little thing about how thieves like to hide their own stuff, ha? She said. But Rita already had answer to that even before she asked. No worries at all Rita, said. Let’s be real here, there is a thief in every one of us and I’m gonna make good my stealing antics this time around. What time do you guys normally leave home? She asked.

  Somewhere around 6pm but because of you I’ll have a little change of plan tonight. I suggest you come to our place latter, say at about mid night. What I’ll do is go to the club at 6 as usual and then come back at about midnight to let you in and return to the club so they’ll see me like I was there all the time. You see, if I do it that way they are not gonna suspect anything, Paula said to seal the deal. And she did exactly as she promised. At about 11pm, she left her bit at the brothel where she and her roommates worked headed for home and fortunately she didn’t have to wait for too long before Rita showed up, she opened the door to let her into the house and soon after returned to the club.

  It took Rita long agonizing period to force the lock into Daisy’s room open, get in and began searching for the missing items. A particular area in the room caught her attention and she decided to look in that direction and discovered a pile of ten big boxes stacked on top each other, all of them without lock.

  The first, second and up to the eight boxes revealed nothing of interest. At the ninth, she saw another smaller box, took it out, opened and to her relief there they lay. Carefully stored in that box are Cindy’s bracelets and some of her jewelries which she recognized so well because she herself had worn them so many times. She could also see some items she understood belonged to Carissa and a few she could not recognize, so she simply carried the entire box and had it kept in a corner before she opened the tenth. Here laid all the clothes stolen from Cindy and Carissa and shoes too. She made sure she took every single item she could find in there that belonged to her roommates, packed everything in a bag she brought along and left.

  As soon as Daisy tried to get into her room she noticed. Something wasn’t right she thought before she quickly flung the half closed door open and stepped in. Stunned by what laid before her she called out, Jinni! Jinni, who could sense from the sound of her friend’s voice that something wasn’t right, rushed into Daisy’s room.

  Someone was in here! Daisy said.

  Yeah! You are right! Somebody with so much guts and boldness was in here, Jinni concord. I’m sure we’ll be missing some things in this room right now. We should have taken these boxes to Rogers’s place last night but you wanted to add some more stuff now see what happened. We are even lucky they didn’t take the whole thing or send the cops on us. Babe we can’t afford this kind of mistake you know! These things would have been shipped by tomorrow and I’m already imagining how pretty they will make our Asian shelves. Oh they would have sold out quickly. We really missed a lot! We learnt some lessons today anyways. Next time, as soon as we gather things, we ship. I need money and can’t afford this kind of error please, Jinni said.

  But how did someone get in here in the first place? That’s the issue we should be dealing with right now. The main door to the building was well secured and there is no way anybody could get in unless one of us was at home to buzz him in, so what happened? Daisy continued.

  It’s strange to me too! I can’t explain it. Jinni added

  I think I know how. One of us did it and I’m sure is not you ‘cause I was with you at the club all night long. Another thing I know is I didn’t do it and that leaves one person out. So she did it! Daisy said, pointing towards Paula’s room.

  No! I don’t think so! Jinni responded. She was also at the Club all through last night. You remember we saw her when we got there and remember she was at the coffee shop sited in the middle table at about 1: am this morning. She is not even home yet. But let’s check to see what and what are missing.

  And they began looking into the boxes and the more they searched, the more they are surprised with the fact that not really much was taken. Some jewelry, shoes, clothes and other stuff they traced to Rita’s place were the only things missing.

  For not losing so much we should be happy, but losing anything at all is not welcomed, Jinni said in conclusion. What do you think Daisy? Who must have done this?

  I have no clue but let’s go get some rest first. I’m sure to get at the bottom of this. It may take a while but I’ll find out what happened.

  At about 3pm, Daisy’s phone started ringing, she checked it out and found to her amazement that it was from Rita. Immediately she recalled the pattern in last night’s event in which all the stuff taken from her room came from Rita’s end and was beginning not to answer the phone but suddenly she thought it was a wrong idea. Why shut the girl out without the proof she took the items? And the only way to find out about that is relate with the girl as usual. So, in a voice she could hardly control she said hello.

  Hi! This is Rita! Are you guys at home?

  Yeah! What happened to you? You didn’t work last night, did you? Daisy continued.

  I worked last night! I wanna come see you guys, Rita said.

  When?

  Today! Is that okay? Rita continued.

  Rita, you know you are always welcomed here.

  Thank you! I’ll be on my way right away then!

  As soon as she hung up Daisy rushed to Jinni’s room. Guess who just called me? She asked.

  Who? Jinni asked.

  Rita!

  That kind of rings a bell to my ears! Jinni reacted

  She even said she is coming here, Daisy stressed.

  And what did you say?

  That she could come! Is better that way, get what I’m saying?

  I don’t know about that Daisy! If you ask me I’ll say this is not the right time ‘cause we got some issue on our hands, understand?

  I’ve my reasons for doing that, okay? Dai
sy continued. I wanna look into her eyes and watch how she will be acting, understand? By that I’ll come up with something. You know, you got to trust me on this one! They were still taking when her phone rang again. That must be her at the door; Daisy said and buzzed Rita in.

  Both girls were shocked by what stood before them the moment Rita walked into their room. She was dressed up in some of the stuff she took from Daisy’s room last night, head to toe. She wore Cindy’s pants, shoes, and bracelet and neck chains. Calais’s top, ear rings and a shawl capped up the deal. And all which Daisy and Jinni recognized as part of the stuff they stole from her apartment.

  Daisy and Jinni now focused all their attention on Rita but just like Paula said, both girls proved they were really tricky ‘cause they were quick to take control of the whole situation right away and managed the scene so well that no observer in the room would notice something was going on. Rita sucked the whole thing in and gasped in awe.

  Hey Rita! Look at you! Daisy said giggling. You look so good that I almost didn’t recognize you. Like a princess or something, wow! Are those new? Where did you get them?

  Yeah! Your jewelries are so fine. Jinni continued. Where did you get those?

  Paula was in her room listening to what was going on and laughing. Latter she came out, went into the kitchen and got busy.

  Well, well! I thought I should pay you girls a nice visit in my new costume and I’m happy you appreciate.

  Yeah! We always appreciate you Rita. You are one of our best friends, you know. Want some drink? Daisy offered.

  Oh no! You won’t want me soil my nice costume with some spill or something, would you? Rita asked showing off her outfit. All I need more is 200 dollars to make the whole thing complete and I need it soon. Bye girls. And she stormed out of the house, closed the door with a loud bang.

  As soon as Rita left, Jinni turned to look at Daisy, both eyes meet, and gazed at each other for a while but none said nothing, instead by some kind of understanding, both retreated into Daisy’s room.

  Did you see that? Daisy asked Jinni and immediately both began laughing and laughing out so loud that in disgust Paula packed up, went back to her room, closed her own door with such a loud bang that the entire apartment shook. Jinni and Daisy were not shaken.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The third baby for Gary and his wife Helena would be due in February and he thought it was time to search for a bigger place for his growing family especially now that he can afford a house to call his own. And it wasn’t too long before he found the kind of house he wanted and bought it.

  Gary has long gotten over Isabel and now well settled in his new life as a husband, father and officer of the law. There were few occasions when his mind would recall events of the past and Isabel would play a role in it but he didn’t meddle so much with such matter. But now, all that is going to change! It was the day the family was moving to their new home that something happened to bring back the whole issue of Isabel to occupy some part in Gary’s life once again.

  By his nature Gary is the kind of guy who loves to buy expensive fashion items every now and then and he has been like that since he was old enough to pass value judgment. Being expensive as they are, he never throws those materials away even when it becomes quite obvious he no longer needs them. So what he did was purchase a big box where he stores the items while waiting for opportunity for a big yard sale.

  Today, as things are being moved around, Gary stumbled on his special box that he rarely visits but which is now full of stuff and too heavy to be moved without much effort so he picked up some cartons and began separating his fancy cloths. In the process his hand felt something different. He panicked, pulled it out and a look at it confirmed his fears, it was a gun! At a glance, he didn’t know what to make of the discovery and couldn’t understand why this gun was placed in his special box since he didn’t recall having purchased any such item at any time. Even if he ever did, the most unlikely place to have it stored would have been in that box with his fancy cloths.

  It was an old sort of gun, so old that it was getting rusty due to lack of attention. Where ever it came from may be cloaked in mystery but apparently it hasn’t been fired in years. Now, ideas began to run through his mind. Could this be one of his duty guns he forgot to return back to the armory? But he quickly discarded that because every single gun taken from LAPD weaponry must be returned and well accounted for. It was also at that point his mind darted to Isabel. Is there any chance that what he has in his hands right now is the same gun that shot Teri? Did Isabel have it hidden in his apartment or something? Thinking about how to go about resolving this problem brought Carissa Stevens to the picture. If that gun belongs to Isabel, it is most likely Carissa had seen it on occasions and would still recognize it if she sees it today. So his best bet would be, go find this girl Carissa.

  Anyway, right now the issue at hand has to do with moving his family so any other matter has to wait. The gun kept away from all eyes, Gary focused on the present. It took almost a whole day to deal with moving into their new home but it was finally over and done with by dawn.

  The next day, Gary recalled the issue of the gun and Carissa came up once again and this time without much ado, he hit the internet. And now using all the tools at his disposal as a law enforcement officer made it easy for him to find what he was looking for in a short time.

  Carissa Stevens is well and alive somewhere. He was able to find her present phone number, even home address and put out a call to her right away.

  It took Carissa quite some time while Gary tried to refresh her memory before she remembered him. I would like to come see you, he told her at a point in the conversation. And she didn’t say no, so they chose the time and place to meet.

  The Carissa Gary met has changed over the years but he chose to pay her little complements. And they didn’t talk a long time about past times and lives over the years either before he went into what brought him there now. He was just about to say something when Carissa cut him short.

  This is about Isabel, ha?

  Yes! He responded. I’m wondering if by any chance you have heard any word from her since she left, Gary said.

  No! Nothing! Carissa responded.

  And you don’t know anyone who might have known something that you could have spoken to? Gary continued.

  I’ve thought about everything and everybody that I and Isabel used to be with including you and this other guy that came visiting one day and I have contacted those that I could, yet no body seem to know what happened to Isabel or where she at.

  Who is this other guy? Gary got real curious.

  He was just a friend of Isabel and like I said he came visiting only once.

  Do you know his name and where he lived at the time?

  What is all the questioning for? Carissa reacted.

  See, I’m trying to help both of us, understand? I believe we need to know what happened to our friend, Gary tried to reassure her but Carissa wasn’t really convinced. I mean it’s been many years this shit happened, get what I’m saying? She began. I’ve struggled so hard to get the whole thing behind me and now you suddenly showed up trying to take me back to all these. I don’t think this is cool!? If you really wanted to help, you should have done that a long time.

  How do you know I haven’t been doing something over the years eh? Babe I’ve been searching for Isabel a long time now, okay? It is just I didn’t know how to reach you. Gary added.

  When did you find out how to reach me and how did you find me? Carissa wanted to know.

  I went the internet to get to where we are right now.

  The internet? She reacted. There is no privacy anymore for anyone, ha? Carissa reacted.

  That’s how the world turned out and there is nothing none of us can do about it. Now seriously speaking, do you know why Isabel might want to disappear
on us like she did?

  I’ve no clue! Carissa continued. I’m actually surprised she did what she did, ‘cause I thought she was ok with the way we were living. I could be right, I could be wrong, I don’t know. My only hope is that she is ok wherever she is ‘cause sometimes I fear she might have gotten in harm’s way. You know, this whole thing is very much unlike her, understand? She never runs from anything or anybody, that’s why I think something horrible might have happened to her. And the fact that the Police are yet to come up with anything turns the whole thing into one hell of mystery.

  That’s also the reason I’m trying so hard to find out whatever it is that happened, understand? I believe she is well and alive. I also think of the possibility of a changed identity or her being with that guy, Gary continued.

  You mean Wallis?

  Yeah! I think they are together ‘cause there is no other way to explain that both of them disappeared at the same time, get what I’m saying?

  I’m not sure about that Gary! She did have some feelings for Wallis but nothing really serious. Anyways the Isabel I know is not the type to run off with anybody.

  What about this other guy you talked about, Gary asked.

  His name is Freddy but I don’t believe he is mixed up in any way with all this because like I said it was only one time he came to visit Isabel.

  You’ll be surprised how important that is in a case of this nature. Gary responded. Do you happen to know this Freddy’s address as at that time?

  We all got talking that day he came by and if I can still remember I think I heard him say he was living with his Mama on either 4181 or 4182 Baba Avenue in Culver City area. It’s been a long time now you know, Carissa said.

  Anyways, right now I’m here for something that has to do with a gun, Gary said.

  What gun? She asked, surprised.

  I was going through some old box of mine I rarely use when I found this, he said and took out the gun from a bag he carried with him and showed it to Carissa.