by Curtis Bunn
“So, how are you, really, Diamond?” she asked her niece. “You look great. But I know this is a different experience for you. How do you like it?”
Diamond was the daughter of Venita’s brother, Raheem, who had one year left on an eight-year sentence for armed robbery. Raheem was not always a criminal. He, in fact, was once a hard-working mechanic who doted on his little girl. He named her Diamond, he said, “because I like the phrase ‘Diamond in the rough.’ There will be some rough times, I’m pretty sure. But my baby will always shine.”
He was right. He had lost his job behind an insatiable desire for vodka, developed when he couldn’t handle learning that his love, wife Saundra, had been diagnosed with the debilitating multiple sclerosis. Diamond was almost thirteen, with a father in prison and her mom becoming less and less able to get around as the disease took over.
At that vulnerable age, the family worried Diamond would crack. And for a minute, she did. She was distraught watching her mother’s health deteriorate and dismayed that her “Papa” was incarcerated—he had held up a suburban Washington, D.C., liquor store in an attempt to get money for Diamond to enroll in a summer camp in Maine.
Her attitude changed; she became petulant, which was opposite her sunny nature. She skipped school and sought the attention of boys who walked like ducks because their pants hug below their hips—another dramatic change.
It was not until she finally visited her father in prison that she returned to the Diamond that was the shining light of the family.
Her dad’s words were piercing. “Diamond,” he said, sitting across the table from her, “do you know why I named you what your name is? Because a diamond sparkles. It can get covered in mud, but when you brush it off, it shines again. It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. I couldn’t handle your mom getting sick and it got me here. I’m sorry for one reason: I can’t be out there with you and your mother. You two are all that matter to me. But since I’m in here, I can’t be what I need your mom needs me to be. So, baby, it’s up to you. You have to shine now. You have to be the beautiful Diamond we know you are.”
Tears rolled down her face as her father spoke. And his, too. They hugged a long hug and all the nonsense that enveloped her life for several months was discarded. With Venita and other family members helping, Diamond went on to graduate from Crossland High in Suitland, Maryland with honors and attended William & Mary.
After a year at the Williamsburg, Virginia college, she decided to transfer to Norfolk State after a friend at rival Hampton University took her to NSU for a basketball game.
“I’m doing great, auntie,” she said to Venita. “William and Mary had its place for me. It served a purpose for me—it let me know I needed to be somewhere else.”
They laughed. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added. “I enjoyed the people and the campus is beautiful. But it didn’t feel like home. I was away, my daddy was away, and my mom was far away from who she was.
“So I needed to be somewhere where I could feel some love. You know how it is over here; we aren’t as organized as we should be. But the administration cares. It’s not about getting the money or you go home. It’s about figuring out how to keep you in school to get that degree. So, it’s been a great change.”
“I’m so happy to hear that,” Venita said. “It’s definitely a shame that there are still long lines at registration and the financial aid office and even housing. I guess we’ll never get that right. But the plusses outweigh the minuses because, above all, you feel like a family. Everyone might not get along—like in a traditional family—but there’s a feeling of love and caring that you cannot get at a non-HBCU school.”
“Having been to a non-HBCU, as you put it, I know clearly the differences,” Diamond said. “It works for some people. But it wasn’t for me overall.”
“Yeah, well, you listed all your reasons for loving Norfolk State,” Venita said, “but I ain’t heard you say nothing about boys and parties. I know that’s a big part of why you’re so happy.”
Diamond smiled a smile that revealed something. Venita wanted to know what.
“Well,” her niece said, “I have been dating this guy. He’s great, wonderful, treats me well. I want you to meet him.”
“Yeah, well, I want to meet him, too, so we have to make sure that happens,” Venita said, sounding like an overprotective parent.
“Auntie, I’m twenty, I’ll be twenty-one pretty soon,” she said. “You don’t have to treat me like some sheltered little girl. Those days are over.”
Venita looked over her young niece, who was gorgeous. Diamond was five-foot-seven with curves like a street in San Francisco and flowing mid-length hair, sparkly eyes and a toothy smile. In the vernacular of her peers, she was a “dime piece.” But there was so much more to her. The fact that she bypassed the step show and homecoming parties to dine with her aunt said a lot about her.
“I worry about you because you are so cute and innocent,” Venita said. “And if you’re not ready, college can grow you up in a hurry.”
“I know, Aunt Venita,” Diamond said. “I’m dealing with . . . well, something pretty crazy right now myself.”
“Really?” Venita asked. “What is it?”
“I don’t know if I should say,” Diamond said.
“Girl, you better tell your auntie what’s going on,” Venita demanded as delicately as possible.
“Auntie,” she said, her voice low. The expression on her face changed, alarming Venita.
She reached over and grabbed her niece’s hands. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, it will be okay,” Venita said.
Diamond lowered her head and shook it side-to-side. “Well, I’m dealing with a pregnancy issue,” she said.
“What?” Venita said loudly, pulling her hands away from Diamond’s.
“Diamond, we should have been talking about this all along,” Venita added. “Girl, you are just twenty years old with your whole future in front on you. I wasn’t naïve enough to think you’re a virgin. But how in the world could you get pregnant in this day and age?”
Diamond quickly raised her head.
“Auntie,” she said. “I’m not pregnant. How did you get that?”
“How did I get that? You said you have a ‘pregnancy issue,’” Venita said. “That sure as hell sounds like you’re pregnant to me.”
“No, my roommate, Janea, is pregnant,” Diamond said. “Pregnant? Me? No way.”
“Oh, don’t act like it can’t happen. It definitely can,” Venita said.
“Well, one day I would like to have children. Maybe. But I can’t think about that now,” Diamond said. “Not for a long time.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Venita said. “I thought my heart was about to jump out of my chest.”
Diamond laughed, but quickly turned serious. “I’m worried about Janea,” she said. “She’s a great person. Her family is great and has been good to me. She actually wants to have this baby. But she also knows this is not the time for it, too. So, she’s totally torn. And it’s driving her crazy.”
“Well, how far along is she?” Venita asked.
“Almost two months,” Diamond answered.
“Who is she talking to for counseling?”
“No one. Well, me.”
“No offense, niece, but that’s not the best route,” Venita said. “She hasn’t talked to her parents?”
“No way,” Diamond said. “They are nice people. They are in town now for homecoming, in fact. They all are out at dinner. But her father would lose his mind. And her mother, too. Her father is in politics, a city councilman in Fairfax or something. Her mom is the Dean of Women at a small school up there in Northern Virginia. So, appearances matter.”
“Well, that might be true to them, but the reality is that she’s their daughter and she should feel free enough to talk to them about something so serious,” Venita said. “Has she spoken to any adult at all about this?”
“As far as I know, she’s only told me about
it,” Diamond said.
“Well, I’m here, Diamond,” Venita said. “I don’t know what I would tell her, but she needs to speak to someone older than you to get some perspective. I would be glad to sit down with her and at least encourage her to speak to her parents about it. They might surprise her.
“And what about her boyfriend? Does he know?”
“She hasn’t told him yet because she wants to be clear about what she should do,” Diamond said. “She thinks he’d want her to have an abortion. She wants to figure it all out first.”
“That’s a lot to figure and maybe he could help her come to a decision,” Venita said. “But I’ll tell her that when—or if—I get to talk to her.”
“Well, I’ll suggest that she talk to you,” Diamond said. “I won’t tell her that I already told you. I’ll tell her that you are a cool old person and that maybe she should talk to you.”
“You really think I’m ‘cool’?”
“I do,” Diamond said. “But that’s a little off-subject, don’t you think?”
“Wait. Did you say ‘cool old person’?”
“Auntie,” Diamond whined.
The women laughed.
“I would like to be there with Sky if you talk to her, okay?” Diamond said.
Venita took a deep breath. “Sure. Okay. That’s fine.”
When they got into the car, Venita hit Diamond with some surprising news.
“I was going to wait to tell you this tomorrow, at breakfast,” Venita said. “I don’t know why I picked breakfast over dinner. I think it was because you learn something like this at the start of the day, you have the rest of your day to digest it and by the time you’re ready for bed, you can sleep.
“And also—”
“Aunt Venita,” Diamond interrupted, exasperated. “What is it?”
“Well, I got a call two days ago from your dad,” she said.
“And?”
“And he’s getting out early on good behavior,” Venita said.
“What? When?” Diamond wanted to know.
“Well, it looks like he’ll be coming home next Thursday,” Venita told her. Tears immediately welled up in Diamond’s eyes.
“I know,” Venita said, and then she started crying. “It’s been a long time. He’s so proud of you. You and your mom are his world.”
“I don’t know what to think, auntie,” Diamond said. “I have seen my friends have their parents visit them and be able to go home for breaks and spend time with them. I haven’t had that and sometimes I’m sad about it and sometimes I’m mad about it.
“Mommy is amazing. She stays positive, even as the disease has taken away her ability to walk and, really, take care of herself. Still, she’s my biggest cheerleader. I think she stays so positive to keep me up. But she doesn’t know that when I’m home and go to my room, I always cry my eyes out. I hate seeing my mother like that. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“It is horrible,” Venita said. “Your mom and I get along like sisters and when this started to happen—what?—nine, ten years ago, I couldn’t believe M.S. was so awful. Your mom is a fighter, very competitive. Did you know she played basketball in high school? And could have played in college if she wanted to?
“I knew she was going to fight it. When I read up on M.S., I got so scared. There really is nothing that can be done to stop what it does to the muscle functions. Ultimately, it just takes over.”
“I couldn’t be my mother,” Diamond said. “I’m not as strong as she is. I would have given up. It’s too much.”
“You wait until you have kids,” Venita said. “You’re the reason she continues to fight. She wants to see you blossom like that Diamond in the rough they talked about when they named you ‘Diamond.’ That’s what keeps her going. And I think, too, that she wants to see my brother come home and feel him hug her. I know people who say they don’t believe in love at first sight or even in everlasting love.
“All I do when I hear that is point to your mom and dad. They met at a Prince concert—have you heard the story?”
“Only a hundred times,” Diamond said. “But I love it every time.”
“Me, too, because it was real. They both had on purple,” Venita recalled. “It rained that night. Your dad’s shirt was a deep purple and so was your mom’s top. Most people wore a lighter purple, including me. When they saw each other, my brother said—I was standing right there—‘that’s a nice shade of purple on you.’
“Saundra looked him up and down. ‘You, too,’ she said. Raheem then said to her, ‘We should be together.’ Your mom said, ‘Excuse me?’ But she was smiling. I was with Raheem and she was with a girlfriend. I ended up giving her my seat and they watched Prince together.
“I got the raw end of that deal big time. She watched Prince with him about twenty rows from the front—and found the love of her life. I sat with her mean, smelly girlfriend on the second deck. But the way it turned out, I didn’t mind. I got a great sister-in-law. I never saw Raheem taken by a woman like that. I am a huge Prince fan—but I had to help out my brother. I knew he was in love.”
Diamond smiled at the story—again.
“Diamond,” Venita said, her voice turning serious, “have you gotten over your dad being locked up and away from you for the last seven years?”
“I’m glad he’s getting out,” she said. “I wish it didn’t happen. I thought I knew my father.”
“You did know him, honey,” Venita said. “But he loves your mom so much, he couldn’t handle watching her get more and more sick. He turned to drinking. And when he couldn’t provide for you, for you to go to that prestigious camp, well, he felt he had to do something.”
“When I think about that, it makes me feel like it’s my fault that he turned to robbing someone just for me,” Diamond said. “I really wanted to go to that camp and I kept talking about it and talking about it. It made him feel like he had to get that money for me.”
“He’s my brother and I love him to death,” Venita said, “but that was no one’s fault but his own. He wasn’t raised to take from others. He took an extreme turn—his heart might have been in the right place, but his head was way out of bounds—and he had to pay for it. That’s why he didn’t even go to trial. He faced up to his crime and it helped his sentence. He had a gun, which means he could have gotten twelve to fifteen years if found guilty in a trial.”
“It’s been hard for me because people ask, ‘What do your parents do?’ and I have a hard time answering,” Diamond said. “It’s been very awkward. I have told them, ‘My dad fixes cars.’ That’s what I remember, what I hold on to—seeing him slide from under a car, all sweaty and greasy, but still wanting me to hug and kiss him. He would say, ‘This dirt has nothing to do with your sugar.’ What’s life going to be like for him? He’s a felon. He can’t get a job.”
“Life is going to be much better because he’ll be able to spend time with you, come visit you here next homecoming,” Venita said. “And he’ll be able to be with Saundra. That’s what matters most. But he’ll have a job waiting for him. Two of his buddies who learned everything they knew from him opened shops. They’re actually competing to get him to work at their place. So, he will be able to step back in and earn a living, which is really important to someone who has been away for seven years. He’s going to have to go to school to catch up, but he’s so determined that won’t be a problem.
“But how you respond to him will be critical, Diamond. You are the second love of his life. He’s going to need you to embrace him as your dad. If your mom could, she would. So it’s just you who can really be that person to hold him up as he gets adjusted. Knowing his daughter loves him and is not bitter will make everything go so much better.”
“Well, Aunt Venita, I love my daddy. Nothing can change that,” Diamond said. “I was worried at first because he wouldn’t let me come to visit him—just that one time. He writes me and I write him back and send him photos. But he wouldn’t let me visit him or send me pictur
es. He said he didn’t want me to have images of him in there.”
She wiped her face and took a deep breath.
“I’m getting my daddy back,” she said. She looked out of the car window in no direction in particular. And then the tears flowed, like a waterfall. And Venita hugged her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A WILD NIGHT
Mary and Rodney, Kwame and Tranise
By the time they finished off another round of drinks at The Broadway, Mary and Rodney were back in college mode.
“Tranise, we’re going to leave and get something to eat,” Mary said.
“Yeah, I bet something to eat,” Tranise said sarcastically. “Have fun. I’ll leave with Charlene.”
“Actually, I was hoping we could go do something private,” Kwame said.
“Something like what?” Tranise wanted to know.
“I haven’t figured it out yet,” he said. “Maybe we could go down to the Waterside Mall and sit outside by the water. Maybe we could go back to my place—I live in Ghent Village—and listen to some music.”
Tranise laughed. “See, this is where your age shows up,” she said. “Listen to some music? That’s the oldest—and weakest—line in the book.”
Before Kwame could respond, Rodney jumped in.
“We’re going to be seeing you fine people later,” he said. He hugged Tranise and shook Kwame’s hand. “Good luck, partner,” he said, and they were gone.
“I’m with Charlene, so even if I wanted to do something, I couldn’t leave her,” Tranise said.
“You women are funny,” Kwame said. “Charlene is over there having a ball. You think she’s worried about where you go?”
“Uh, yes, I do,” Tranise said.
“Listen, if you don’t want to go, just say that,” Kwame said. He was smiling but he was serious. “You don’t have to use your girl as an excuse.”
“Look, she’s coming over here now,” Tranise said. “Watch . . . ‘Charlene, you ready to go?’”
“Well, can I talk to you for a minute?” Charlene said. She had been dancing with Tyrell Mingus, a former football player who looked like he gave up the game for burgers. He, like Charlene, could have stood to lose a few dozen pounds. But he was a handsome guy who always had a thing for Charlene in college.
