by K'wan
“But Knowledge ain’t the problem here, Eddie. Diamonds is,” Blanco reminded him.
“What did your people say on the phone?”
“Our friend has been pretty busy. He just took a meeting with those Haitian smack dealers from Brooklyn. Looks like they’ve thrown in their lot with Diamonds.”
Though Eddie tried not to show it, this troubled him. Doodles was a big-time heroin importer, and if he had opened up his network to Diamonds to flood the streets of Harlem, it could cause a shift in power. He had underestimated Diamonds’s resourcefulness, and it was coming back to bite him. “That overly ambitious hillbilly is becoming more of a headache than he’s worth.”
“I told you from the beginning that I thought it was a bad idea to do business with anybody TJ brought to the table. He’s a piece of shit, and you know what they say about birds of a feather. The way Diamonds is moving, he’s going to end up drawing a lot of unwanted attention. Nobody can tie us to him or his bullshit right now, but who’s to say what’ll happen later? You see the way Knowledge came in here asking a bunch of questions, and I’m sure he’s not alone in this. All it’ll take is for Big Stone to start whispering in the right ears, and people are gonna start looking at us funny … real funny.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Eddie flopped back into his chair.
“Eddie.” Blanco sat in the chair across from him. “I hope I’m not being out of line, but I gotta be honest about this. Individually, I’ll go toe-to-toe with any of these muthafuckas in the streets and me and my boys will hold our own, but if these old-timers think we’re playing foul and decide to declare us the common enemy, we’re gonna have a serious problem on our hands. Under that kind of pressure, I doubt even think Michael will be able to do anything for us, short of going to war with the other bosses.”
“And we both know my uncle ain’t gonna do that. Michael loves his family, but he loves his money more. War is bad for business.”
“Here’s where the situation gets more interesting, though. After the Haitians left, Diamonds had another visitor. Care to take a guess who it was?”
“Blanco, do I look like I’m in the fucking mood to play guessing games?” Eddie snapped. “Spit it out.”
“Pearl Stone.”
“Who?” The name didn’t sound familiar to Eddie.
“Big Stone’s kid,” Blanco said, enlightening him.
“Now, that is interesting. I know for a fact that Big Stone keeps his kids away from anything street related, so this raises the question as to what the fuck Pearl Stone was doing slumming with a piece of shit like Diamonds?”
“Taking it up the ass maybe?” Blanco laughed.
Eddie ignored the tasteless joke and rolled the information over in his head. It now made sense where Knowledge had gotten the name from. He’d likely seen him sniffing around Pearl, but that still didn’t explain why he thought Eddie would know him. Maybe he was just fishing, or maybe he knew more than he let on. Either way, Big Stone’s people were getting too close to the truth, and that didn’t sit well with him. It was time to take drastic measures, and Pearl’s secret relationship with Diamonds might be the additional edge he needed.
“Maybe it’s time for us to cut our losses,” Blanco said as if he were reading Eddie’s mind. “The only ones who can tie us to any of this are Diamonds and his crew. I say we take them down and bury the secret with their corpses.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. Diamonds has definitely got to go, but it has to be done in a way where it doesn’t lead to us having to answer a whole bunch of uncomfortable questions. This is why the I took the liberty of looking into an insurance policy. When I set my plan in motion, this mess will clean itself up.”
“How do you mean?” Blanco asked.
“Let’s just say that there are people out there who want to see Diamonds dead worse than we do, and some of them are willing to pay big bucks for the pleasure. I expect that very shortly Diamonds won’t be our problem anymore.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Since Ruby lived in Hell’s Kitchen and Pearl lived uptown, they decided to take two separate cars. Goldie would take Ruby back to her place, and Diamonds would drop Pearl off. The brothers said it was for convenience, but it was really so each of them could spend some alone time with their respective ladies.
Pearl was still acting a little stiff after whatever exchange between her and Hank had occurred at the baby shower. Diamonds prodded her as to what had been said, but she remained tight-lipped about it. Diamonds, knowing Hank the way he did, figured he’d probably said something out of pocket, as he tended to do sometimes. He couldn’t figure out who was a bigger cock-blocker: Hank or Vita. He understood the OG’s concerns, considering who Pearl’s father was and what was at stake, but it was a calculated risk that Diamonds was willing to take. He genuinely believed that Pearl had come into his life for a reason, and in time his crew would all see it too.
Diamonds picked up his cell phone from the center console when he heard it vibrating against the plastic. He checked the caller ID and set it back down, only for it to ring again a few seconds later. Most were calls from different people he had working for him, but there was a number that had popped up three times already that he didn’t recognize. He started to answer it just out of curiosity, but decided against it. When time allowed, he would have to go and pick up a second cell phone, because taking business and personal calls all on the same line didn’t provide him much peace, nor was it the smartest thing for him to be doing.
“Does that thing ever stop ringing?” Pearl asked with an attitude.
“My bad.” He picked it up again and powered it off.
“Why’d you cut it off? Your girlfriend, Vita, blowing your line up?” Pearl asked sarcastically.
“I thought I told you that Vita wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend, fuck buddy, whatever you wanna call her.”
“What the hell is eating you? You’ve been acting funny since we left the baby shower.”
“I’m not acting funny. I’m good,” she said, and busied herself looking out the window.
“Pearl, if I did or said something to offend you, I apologize.”
“No, you’ve been a perfect gentleman. Sorry I can’t say the same for the rest of your friends,” Pearl said.
“What happened back there between you and Hank?” Diamonds asked.
“Nothing, we were just having a little chitchat about life and relationships. I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Don’t pay Hank’s sour ass no mind. He’s distrustful of new people and can be a bit overprotective when it comes to me.”
“Have you guys known each other a long time?” Pearl asked.
“Shit, me and Hank go back damn near as far as I can remember. Back in the day, he owned a grocery store in the little town I grew up outside. Back then I wasn’t this refined piece of man you see sitting next to you. I was a skinny, barefoot kid who didn’t speak a lot of English and had to either hunt or steal my for my supper. Whenever Hank would see me skulking about town, he’d bless me with food or whatever else I needed from his store. Some nights I would’ve probably starved to death if it hadn’t been for he mercies of that man. Hank is the closest thing to a daddy me and Goldie ever had. I’d kill or die for that man.”
“Have you?”
“Have I what?” Diamonds didn’t understand the question.
“Ever killed anyone,” she elaborated.
Diamonds cut her a look. “You wound me, Pearl. Do I strike you as the murderous type?”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
“Sweetie, don’t ask questions you really don’t want to know the answers to.”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.”
When Diamonds looked at her and saw the seriousness in her eyes, he pulled over. “What’s all this all about? You wired or something?”
“No, just trying to get a feel for who you really are,” Pearl told
him.
“I’ve already laid my cards on the table, which is why I’m trying to figure out what the Twenty Questions is about all of a sudden.”
“Truths,” she said flatly. “All bullshit aside, I know you’re in the life. I was raised by and around hustlers, so I know my own kind. I’m not judging you for it. I just want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes before I decide if I wanna crawl into it with you, feel me?”
“Okay, you want some truth? Fine. I came up a dirt poor kid in the sticks and promised myself that if I ever got out, I’d never know the taste of a fucking possum or rat ever again in my life. Am I a saint? Absolutely not, but I’m not no demon either. I do whatever I gotta do to feed me and my people and I make no apologies for it. That truthful enough for you?” he snapped.
“Diamonds, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Pearl said, picking up on his irritation.
“I’m not offended, Pearl, just confused. You know, one minute it’s like we’re on the same page and everything is good, and the next it’s like you’re pulling away. I’m feeling you and I thought you were feeling me, but maybe I was wrong.”
“The fact that I wore a five-hundred-dollar pair of heels to hang out with you in a backyard in the Bronx should tell you that the feeling is mutual.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I dunno,” she said hesitantly. “I guess I’m just afraid that our pasts could interfere with our futures.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Pearl looked into his eyes and saw pleading in them. Diamonds had bared his soul to her, and she hadn’t shown him the same courtesy. It wasn’t because she intentionally wanted to mislead him, but because she was afraid of it changing the dynamics of what was going on with them. Though their relationship was still very fresh, it felt so right, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin it. Hank’s warning played on repeat in her head. She really liked Diamonds and wanted to see where things would go, but what if the old man was right and they were courting disaster by being together? After some great debate, Pearl decided to lay all her cards on the table and let fate handle the rest. “Diamonds, there’s something I think you should know before we go any further.”
“I sure as hell hope this ain’t the part of the story where you tell me you were born a boy,” Diamonds joked.
“Could you just be serious for minute? I need to say something to you, and after I do, there’s a strong possibility you may feel differently about being with me.”
“How about you let me be the judge of that.”
Pearl was hesitant, but the longer she waited, the harder it would be. “Are you familiar with the name Big Stone?”
Diamonds shrugged. “Who isn’t? He’s one of the biggest dealers in the city.”
“He’s also my father.”
The car became deathly silent. Pearl watched in anticipation as Diamonds processed what she had just revealed to him. Her family name was both a gift and a curse, closing as many doors to her as it opened. When most guys found out who her father was, they either took off running or tried to get her to put them on. Either way, it always changed things. She had hoped Diamonds would be different.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked after a full minute had gone by without him responding.
“What’s there to say? Some kid’s daddies’ are garbagemen or doctors, and yours just happens to be a gangster,” he said as if it were that simple.
“Big Stone isn’t just a gangster; he’s the gangster,” Pearl corrected him.
Diamonds shrugged. “You know what I do for a living, so I’m hardly in any position to judge what the next man does to put food in his babies’ mouths. The dirt under your daddy’s fingernails ain’t got nothing to do with what’s going on between us.”
“So knowing who my father is and what he could do to you, you still want to see me?” She was surprised.
“Why wouldn’t I?” He took her hands in his and looked Pearl directly in the eyes. “Let me make something clear to you, doll. I wasn’t bullshitting you earlier when I said I had been waiting for you my entire life, and what you just told me lets me know I’m not crazy to feel that way. I know what you’re risking by sharing that, and I’m honored that it was me you chose to share it with. I know all too well how heavy secrets can get when you carry them long enough, and that’s why I don’t ever want anything but honesty between us. As long as you down for me, I’ll down for you, and that’s all we need to keep this thing strong.”
“You mean that?” Pearl’s eyes misted.
“On my life.” He leaned in and kissed her.
The moment Diamonds’s lips touched hers, Pearl felt that familiar spark again. This time she was prepared for it and embraced it. She grabbed a fistful of his long hair with one hand; she ran the other down the length of his body and traced a line over the top of his pants, tickling the hairs on his stomach. She slipped her hand in a little farther and felt the beginnings of his penis. It was thick and hard. Her hand continued its descent, tracing the vein along the shaft of his dick, and she was pleasantly surprised by how long it was. Her pussy throbbed, imagining him penetrating her. Throwing caution to the wind, she began trying to free his dick from his pants, but Diamonds stopped her.
“What’s wrong?” Pearl asked.
“Not like this,” Diamonds told her. “When I make love to you for the first time, it won’t be in the backseat of no ride. I got too much respect for you for that.”
“Now there’s something you don’t hear every day.” Pearl sat back in her seat, a disappointed look on her face.
“I keep trying to tell you: I’m not your average dude. Don’t fret over it, Pearl. I’m gonna hit you with this pipe soon enough, and when I do, I promise you it’ll be worth the wait.”
* * *
A few minutes later they were pulling up at the corner of Pearl’s block.
“You sure I can’t drop you off at your door? I feel kinda like a creep for kicking you out on the curb like this,” Diamonds said.
“Its all good. I gotta stop at the store anyhow. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay,” she assured him.
“A’ight, but you better make sure you call me as soon as you’re in the house. And remember what I said earlier: as long as you got me, I got you,” Diamonds promised before pulling away.
Pearl waited until Diamonds was out of sight before allowing a smile to creep across her face that was so big they could probably see it at the other end of the block. The talk she’d had with Diamonds had lifted a weight off her shoulders. Normally she didn’t care what guys thought about her or her family’s affiliation, but with Diamonds, it was different. She couldn’t quite understand why, but his opinion mattered to her.
When she got to the bodega she placed her order through the small window: two Philly Blunts and a bottle of water. When she went to pay for her purchases she realized that she had left her car purse in Diamonds’s truck. The money wasn’t a big deal because she knew the guy at the store and it was nothing for him to give her the items on the arm until she was able to swing back the following day, but she had also left her keys in the bag. This meant she would have to ring the doorbell instead of creeping in, which would lead to Sandra asking her a million questions as to where she had been. As she thought on it that might not have been such a bad thing because she needed to talk to her anyhow.
She knew when she broke the news to her father about the new guy she was seeing, he would likely be against it. No man would ever be good enough for his little girl, especially one cut from the same end of the cloth as he was. Even getting him to be open-minded about the idea of her seeing Diamonds would be a struggle, because Big Stone didn’t know what it felt like to love someone on the wrong side of the law. Fortunately for her, Sandra did. If she could get her to like Diamonds, it’d be easier to convince Big Stone to give him a chance. She felt good about the budding relationship between her and Diamonds. It was as if for once, the universe had finally
decided to send her a good man, even if he was a criminal.
As Pearl was walking towards her home she was so caught up in thoughts of teenage love that she hadn’t even realized someone was behind her until the street overhead street lamp cast an extra shadow on the ground. Her hand instinctively went for her purse, and the gun inside, then she remembered she didn’t have either. She was just about to breakout into a dead sprint when a familiar voice called out.
“Pearl, its me!”
Pearl turned and squinted against the darkness and was able to make out a man walking towards her with his hands up to show they were empty. When her eyes landed on his face her mood went from sugar to shit. “No the fuck this nigga didn’t.”
“Now hold on. Before you say anything, just let me explain.” Devonte pleaded.
“You ain’t got to explain shit but why your ass creeping on my block like some nut-ass stalker!” Pearl barked.
“Well you wouldn’t talk to me on the phone.” Devonte tried to reason.
“So you pop up in my hood?” Pearl looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
“I know I’m out of order, and I apologize for that but I needed to talk to you, baby.” Devonte said in an almost whining tone.
“Fuck outta here,” Pearl spat. “I said everything I had to say on the phone. What part of its over didn’t you understand?”
Devonte took a step forward and reached for her hand, but she jerked it back. “Don’t do me like that, Pearl. I know I fucked up, but I love you. Why can’t you just give me the chance to show you that?”
“I can do you one better. I’ll give you a chance to get your silly ass off this block before something bad happens to you.” Pearl capped and turned to walk away, but to much to her surprise Devonte grabbed her arm. When she looked into his eyes, she didn’t see the smooth talking young dude she had been fucking and bleeding for the last few month. She saw someone she had never met before and it made her nervous.
“See, I came over here to try and talk to you like an adult, but I see you wanna be a child about it. You want to make a nigga beg and shit!” Devonte rambled.
