by K'wan
“That was different. Goldie is trained; he could handle himself. But Buda is a killer and Domo is just a kid!” Vita argued. She had seen what Buda could do with those battering rams he called fists, and it wasn’t pretty.
“That kid became a man the minute he picked up that strap and decided to throw in with this bunch. You’re awful damn concerned for a nigga you ain’t known for a full forty-eight hours yet. What’s the matter, V? You think I’m gonna let Buda break your little boy toy?” He smirked.
Vita bristled. “No, just think it’d be a shame to waste a good soldier over some bullshit.”
“If all he is to you is a solider, then you should understand why this is baptism by fire.” Diamonds walked off to join the festivities.
Both men had stripped down to their bare chests. Buda’s thick chest and arms were covered in tattoos he had collected over the years, while Domo’s skin was still smooth and unblemished. Standing beside Buda, the wiry teen looked every bit the child he actually was. Still, child or not, he had wanted to play grown men’s games and was therefore subject to the rules.
“Diamonds, is this really necessary? I’ve got guests in the backyard for Christ’s sake!” TJ protested. He had not been happy when one of Teisha’s aunts had told him how some of his guests had decided to turn his front yard into a UFC arena.
Diamonds ignored him and continued toward the two men. “Okay, boys, you all know how we handle family disputes, and for those of you who don’t, here’s a quick rundown: first man on his back is the loser of the dispute. Simple.” He stepped back.
“Go easy on the boy, Buda,” Hank urged.
“Don’t you worry, Hank. I ain’t trying to hurt him. I’m just gonna rough him up. Y’all said he’s family, so I’m gonna treat him the same way Diamonds treats the rest of us,” Buda said slyly. He turned to Domo and extended his hand. “Don’t take this ass whipping personally.” When Domo went to shake his hand, Buda sucker-punched him.
Domo felt his whole jaw shift when Buda’s fist met it. The world swam in bright, beautiful colors, and Domo could feel himself drifting into a peaceful, worriless sleep, until Buda slugged him in the stomach, and he threw up the barbecue he’d eaten all over the front yard.
Buda danced around Domo, who was doubled over on his hands and knees, thumbing his nose mockingly. “Man, when this punk volunteered to take his man’s ass whipping, he might’ve been about something. Yo, LA, he got y’all Jersey niggas looking bad out here.”
“Fuck you!” LA spat while trying to will Domo with his mind to get up.
There was a feral growling coming from somewhere behind Buda. He turned just in time to see that not only had Domo gotten to his feet, but he was rushing at him like a speeding bullet. Buda instinctively covered his face, leaving his soft gut wide open. Domo’s hands moved like the wind as he fired punch after punch into Buda’s stomach. Buda threw a wild overhand, which Domo easily sidestepped and replied with a hook to the jaw. Much to everyone’s surprise, including Buda’s, it stumbled him.
The unexpected turn of the tide drew a round of ooohs from those who were watching, and this seemed to only infuriate Buda. He rushed Domo, swinging haymakers in an attempt to knock his head from his shoulders. Domo mounted a defense by raising his forearms so they took the brunt of the blows. Every time Buda struck him, he felt like a bone was fractured. One wayward blow managed to make it pass and clip Domo’s ear. Bells rang in his head, and the next thing he knew, he was down on one knee. Buda swooped in behind him and put Domo in a reverse chokehold, applying enough pressure to where Domo knew he intended to snap his neck. Things had gone from bad to worse.
“Stop it! He’s going to kill him!” Vita surged forward, but Diamonds snatched her back and grabbed her in a bear hug.
“Ah, ah … not until one of them is on their backs,” Diamonds whispered mockingly in her ear.
Domo clawed at Buda’s forearms, but he wouldn’t release his grip. Spots began to dance before him, and he could feel himself trying to go out. With hazy eyes, he looked around at the faces of his comrades. LA had to be restrained by Hank and Goldie to keep him from jumping in while Raheem stood there with a grim expression on his face. He knew what Domo’s brain refused to accept: that he was about to die. In desperation, Domo made one last-ditch attempt to save his life, and grabbed a handful of Buda’s nuts.
“Muthafucka!” Buda roared as his testicles were being crushed. He was in so much pain that he immediately released Domo’s neck, but the youngster maintained his grip on Buda’s balls. “Get that nigga off me!” he demanded. His face was now a deep shade of red.
“You know the rules; it ain’t over until someone is on his back!” Diamonds taunted from the sidelines. “You gonna concede or let this little nigga make you sterile?”
Buda turned his rage-filled eyes to Diamonds. “On my baby brother’s soul, if this little nigga don’t let me go, he better hold on to my dick forever, because when I do finally get loose, it’s over for him.”
Diamonds knew Buda well enough to tell that the joke was almost to the point of having gone too far, and there was a strong possibility that he would keep true to his word. “A’ight, that’s enough.” Diamonds gave Goldie and Hank the nod, and they pried the combatants apart. As soon as Buda had gotten his nuts free of Domo’s hand, he tried to rush him, but Diamonds stepped between them. “Don’t make this more than it is. Let it go,” he warned.
Buda locked eyes with Diamonds, still clearly mad as hell. “So you gonna side with these out-of-town niggas over your own kin?”
“Never that. I’m just siding with what’s right in this. Ain’t no need to take this to the next level. We’re all family here.”
“Family?” Buda snorted. “I’m starting to wonder how much weight that word still holds these days.”
“And what you mean by that, Buda?”
“Nothing. I don’t mean shit. I’m going for a walk.” Buda turned to leave, but Diamonds stopped him.
“Ain’t you forgetting something?” Diamonds extended his hand.
Buda gave Diamonds a stunned look. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Don’t be like that. The little nigga earned it.”
Buda looked like he was ready to blow a gasket, but he wisely held his tongue. “This is some bullshit, but I’m gonna let you have that, boss man.” He tossed a few bills onto the ground and stormed out of the front yard.
“You think it was wise to embarrass Buda like that in front of all these people?” Hank eased up beside Diamonds, who was kneeling down to pick up the bills Buda had dropped.
“Ain’t nothing but a case of bruised ego. Buda been on some other shit lately, and maybe this little spectacle will slow him down a taste.”
“Or make an already bad situation that much worse,” Hank retorted. “Diamonds, you can keep ignoring our little problem, but that ain’t gonna make it go away. Buda’s drunken antics are getting out of hand. I know you keep saying you’ll talk to him, but I think we may be past the point of talking. It’s time to take action.”
“I done already told you about that shit,” Diamonds reminded him.
“The boy is becoming a danger to himself and us, Diamonds, and we ain’t no real friends if we continue letting this go on. If not for the sake of all we got riding on this, but to save his own fool life, maybe we should bench him for a while … maybe even see about getting him some professional help. I know a place that’s right outside the city.”
Diamonds waved him off. “Man, that’s white people shit. I don’t care what Buda’s hang-ups are; he’s still our brother. Family takes care of family; they don’t turn them over to some muthafuckas in white coats, prodding us to tell them how fucked up our childhoods were. Whatever is ailing Buda, we’ll handle it as a family.”
“Well, what if we ain’t equipped to handle it?” Hank questioned.
“I said Buda is fine, and I’ll have no more talk about sending him away.” Diamonds walked off before Hank could protest.
>
It took Domo quite a few minutes before he could catch his breath. The fight between him and Buda had only lasted a minute or two, but it felt like he had gone for several rounds. When he was finally able to will his tired legs to move again, he began the task of collecting his hoodie and T-shirt from the front lawn, where he had tossed them before the fight. He used his T-shirt to blot his throbbing lip, and it came away bloody. He could only imagine what his face must’ve looked like. When he lifted his arms to slip his hoodie over his head, he winced in pain. He’d never had a broken rib, but he imagined that was what it must feel like. Nameless faces patted him on the back, congratulating him on his win, but he didn’t feel like a winner. He felt like a man who had just been hit by a tuck.
“That’s my boy! You showed that nigga!” Raheem said proudly, draping his arm around Domo’s shoulder.
“Fuck off me.” Domo shrugged him off.
“Damn, what’s your problem?” Raheem asked, as if he didn’t know why Domo was angry.
“What do you think my problem is?” Domo snapped. “You couldn’t just fall back and be quiet, could you? You just had to get us into some shit, like you always do! I brought you here to see about getting this money, not for you to join in some stupid-ass dice game that could’ve gotten both of us killed!”
“Domo, you saw what happened. He started it!” Raheem argued.
“Right, and I had to finish it! This shit is getting real old, real fast, Rah,” Domo fumed.
“So what you saying?”
“I’m saying, I’m getting tired of cleaning up your fucking messes,” Domo told him, and walked off.
“C’mon, don’t act like that! Your face don’t even look that bad!” Raheem called after him, but Domo never stopped.
“Where you off to in such a rush?” Diamonds fell into step beside Domo.
“I gotta get going,” Domo said in a clipped tone. He was angry and didn’t feel like talking, but Diamonds either didn’t get the hint or didn’t care.
“C’mon, shorty. Don’t be salty about that whole business with Buda. He gets into it with everybody. Slugging it out with that mean old bear at least once has become a rite of passage in this crew,” Diamonds joked, but it didn’t do anything to lighten Domo’s mood.
“If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder your numbers look so thin,” Domo said over his shoulder.
Diamonds stepped out in front of Domo and stopped his exit. “How about you hold your ass still for a second? I ain’t in the business of chasing niggas.” He waited until he made sure Domo understood his meaning before continuing. “I know my homeboy was on some bullshit, and I apologize for that. On the upside, you handled yourself like a G. Not too many can take a punch from Buda and still walk away on their own two feet. For that alone I think you’ve earned the respect of everyone who saw it. Here you go.” He attempted to hand him the bills he’d collected from Buda.
“What the fuck is that?” Domo eyed the money suspiciously.
“It’s what you bled for and what Buda owed,” Diamonds told him.
“If you think I did it for the money, then you’ve got a lot to learn about me.” Domo chuckled.
“So you just got the shit kicked out of you for free?” Diamonds cocked his head, trying to understand.
“Where I’m from, we protect those we call family—not bully them or make sport of them, beating the hell out of each other for other people’s amusement. Thanks for the food and the drinks, but I’m gone.” He brushed passed Diamonds, who was standing there, an amused smirk on his face.
“I’ll talk to him,” Vita offered, and went off after Domo. She caught up with him about a half block away. “Slow down, pretty boy.”
“My name is Domonique, or Domo if that’s too hard for you to remember,” he corrected her, but didn’t break his stride.
“Okay, Domonique. Slow your ass down.” Vita grabbed his arm and spun him around. Standing in the light, she could see clearly what Buda had done to him. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be. He had a bruise under his eye, and his bloody lip had doubled in size, but considering it had been Buda who hit him, she knew it could’ve been far worse. “You okay?”
“Does it look like I’m okay?” he snapped.
“No, it looks like you just got your ass whipped.” Vita laughed, but he didn’t. “Okay, maybe it was too soon for that,” she said, realizing her mistake. “Honestly, your face doesn’t even look that bad. A little ice, and the swelling will be down by morning. I’d say you got off lucky, considering what I’ve seen Buda do to other people with those jackhammers he calls fists.”
“He’s the lucky one, because I almost started to pull out and blast his ass.” Domo brandished his .22.
“First of all, I done already told you about pulling that starter pistol out. It’s embarrassing. I gotta get you a real gun. And second of all, had you drawn down on Buda, you and your whole little posse would’ve gotten wiped the fuck out, so I’m glad you exercised common sense. It’d have been a shame to waste you before we’ve had a chance to taste this money you’re about to make fucking with my crew.”
“And who says I still wanna fuck with your crew?” Domo challenged.
“You ain’t gotta say it, because I know you’re smart enough not to let a little scuffle get in the way of this paper,” she told him. “The worse of it is over. You tangled with Buda and lived to tell about it, and ain’t nobody in the crew gonna challenge you again. Diamonds will see to that.”
“Oh, so your boyfriend is gonna look out for me now?” Domo asked sarcastically.
“It ain’t about nobody needing to look out for you—you’ve already proven you can look out for yourself. And Diamonds isn’t my boyfriend; he’s just someone I have history with,” Vita explained.
“So you say, but from the way he was cuffing you, it seems like a little more than history. I’d say it looked pretty present.”
“Domonique, is that jealousy I smell coming off you?” She smiled. It had been a long time since a man had taken enough of an interest in her to get jealous.
“Shorty, you bugging. Ain’t nobody stunting what you got going on.” Domo turned his face so she couldn’t see him blush.
Vita realized she was embarrassing the young boy, so she didn’t press it. “You gonna come back to the house or keep standing out here, pouting? Though I can’t front, you’re kinda cute when you pout.”
“Ha, tell me anything.” He smiled at her. “Nah, I think I’ve had my fill of your people for the night. I’m going to the hood.”
“Well, give me a few minutes to grab my purse, and I’ll take you back to Jersey,” Vita offered.
“You don’t have to go through all that. I can get home the same way I got here: on public transportation.”
“I ain’t gonna let you do that. I brought you all the way out here for this bullshit to happen, so I kinda feel like it’s my fault. Giving you a ride home is the least I can do,” Vita said sincerely.
Domo wanted to stick to his guns and refuse the ride, but he couldn’t front like he was really up to taking the train back to Newark. He was tired, sore, and probably looked like shit after the fight. The confines of a car on his long journey would be far more comfortable than the PATH. “A’ight, I’ll take the ride back to New Jersey, but that don’t mean I’m fucking with you like that,” he told her.
“Whatever, nigga.” Vita smiled knowingly. “Wait right here while I get my keys and see if your people are ready to go.”
“Nah, I took this ass whipping by myself so I’ll take ride alone too. They’ll be okay.”
“Never took you for the petty type, but the color looks good on you, Domonique.” Vita winked and went off to fetch the car.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Looking at herself in the mirror, Pearl couldn’t help but smile at the young woman staring back at her. It was a far cry from that train wreck that had staggered out of Harlem Hospital a few hours prior.
Knowledge
was pissed for her running off like that, and made sure to let her know just how angry he was the entire walk back to the hospital. During his tirade, she had expected him to mention their run-in outside Pops’s bar, but surprisingly it never came up. He seemed more concerned about Diamonds and her relationship with him. Had it been just his usual badgering of her about staying away from older men, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but Knowledge seemed to have a special interest in him. He never said why, but from the way he was acting, Pearl deduced that Diamonds was either very important or very dangerous. Both possibilities intrigued Pearl and made her anticipate their date that night even more.
Diamonds had insisted that she didn’t have to get all dolled up for whatever it was he had planned for them, but there was no way Pearl was going to half step. It wasn’t her style. She didn’t have a lot of time to get ready, and there was no way she could get an appointment with her regular beautician on such short notice, so she took a gamble with a new spot that had opened up in the neighborhood called Rouge, which was a full-service salon. She remembered Sandra taking her there one day and introducing her to the owner, Elaine, who was a friend from the old neighborhood, as she put it.
Pearl was skeptical, but to their credit, they hooked her up. Elaine attended to her hair personally, while two of her most skilled technicians took care of her manicure and pedicure. Two hours later Pearl walked out looking like a million bucks. She tried to pay Elaine for the stellar job, but she wouldn’t take the money. All she asked in return was that Pearl spread the word about the shop to her friends and mention to her father that the girls at Rouge had looked out for her. It hardly seemed like a fair trade for the work they had put in, but she wasn’t about to argue. It was just another one of the perks that came with being a Stone.
“Somebody is getting awful snazzy for a night at the movies.” Sandra snapped Pearl out of her daze. She was leaning against the doorway of the bathroom, eyeing her suspiciously.
“A lady never steps out looking anything but her best. You taught me that.” Pearl smiled. “Looks like I’m not the only one getting dolled up.” She gave Sandra a once-over. She was wearing a nice green dress and high heels, her hair pulled into a tight bun.
