The Black Diamond Trilogy

by Brittani Williams

  “I’m sorry, Mica,” was all that he could say to me. There wasn’t anything that would make me feel better. I wanted to hear that this was all a big joke or a bad dream. I wished I could turn back the hands of time and he wouldn’t have been here in the first place.

  “I can’t believe this, Johnny. Does Mom know?”

  “Yeah, she knows, but I told her that I wanted to tell you myself.”

  “So she knew all this time and didn’t tell me?” I was furious. That was just like my mother to withhold information. I didn’t care if he’d told her not to tell me, how could she think it was okay not to tell me that my only brother was dying?

  “I’m sorry, Mica.”

  “Stop saying you’re sorry, it’s not your fault that you’re sick. I just wish you would have told me sooner. Here I was thinking that you just didn’t want to see me. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong but that’s how I felt. Horrible.”

  “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me from what? I was going to have to know eventually.” I didn’t care what the reason was. It didn’t matter if I found out now or six months ago, I would still be just as upset as I was.

  “So, enough about me, let’s talk about you. What’s happening in your life?”

  “Nothing that I want to talk about.” I was still stuck thinking about what he’d just told me.

  “Listen, Mica, you can’t let this get you down. You’re a soldier. I’m gonna be all right and think about it this way. At least I won’t be locked up anymore. Anywhere’s got to be better than here.”

  He was right, any place would be better than prison but that idea still wouldn’t make me feel better about the fact that he would be gone soon. Eventually, I opened up and was able to tell him a little bit of what was on with me before the visiting time was over. I told him that I had a new love in my life but conveniently left out the fact that he was a married man. I also left out all details concerning Diamond. I didn’t want to risk anything upsetting him. I had a lot to think about on the way back. I was glad that I’d finally got to see him and know that there wasn’t anything that I had done to make him upset with me, but I was still upset about losing him.

  I decided to go to Diamond’s to see if she felt like shopping. I called a cab, which arrived about a half hour later. If I’d had a choice I wouldn’t go with her but I didn’t have any friends. I know that’s pathetic but it was the truth. I was never able to form any close friendships especially after I fell out with Diamond. I got to the house and didn’t notice her car in the driveway. I still decided to knock just in case she had put it in the garage. I stood there for five minutes or so before I heard footsteps.

  “What’s up?” Kemp asked, standing shirtless. I almost melted right into their welcome mat. He smiled, probably noticing the trance that he’d put me in.

  “Is Diamond here?”

  “No, but you can come in; she won’t be here for a while.”

  “Are you sure, Kemp? I don’t want her to walk in here and catch me here with you.”

  “She’s not coming anytime soon, trust me.”

  I hesitated but decided to take the chance and go for it. Hell, I couldn’t resist him when he was fully clothed, so looking at him half naked was like a magnet. He closed the door as I walked toward the living room. Before I knew it he was hugging me from behind. I could smell his cologne as it tickled my nose. He must’ve taken a bath in it for his skin to smell as good as it did.

  “Kemp, what are you doing?”

  “What do you mean? You know what I’m doing.” His hands were steadily caressing me. I still tried to push him away. I was nervous. I had already had a bad day and I didn’t want to risk her coming in here flipping out. Each time we’d met it was at the apartment. I had never been so bold to come in their house to meet up with him. Kemp didn’t care one way or another since he was looking for a reason to leave her. I, on the other hand, wasn’t in a rush to get into a confrontation. The way I was feeling, I couldn’t stop him from making me feel good. I wanted it, I needed it, and I was sure that it was going to be worth it. He hadn’t let me down yet. Besides his money and looks, I knew firsthand why all the women fell for him and he did too.

  He used his instrument to his advantage and that advantage was to make you love him.

  He moved me toward the stairs as he continued to caress me and kiss my neck. I didn’t fight it, instead I let him guide me up the stairs to the bedroom. The bedroom. I thought I was finally going to get the chance to lie in the bed that I’d imagined. I remembered the first time I came in the room and wished that it were mine. I was closer to that dream than ever and nothing could make me see it any other way now.

  His lips were making a path down my back and sending chills all through my body. My panties were soaking wet, anticipating feeling him inside of me. I wanted to be with him, I wanted to love him. He moved me closer to the bed and bent me over before palming my ass. I held the position, ready for what he’d do next. He raised my dress and pulled my panties down. I assisted by stepping out of them and getting back in the doggy-style position. I didn’t even hear him dropping his pants, but I knew that he had once his dick was rubbing up and down my wet pussy. I almost came early but I held it in. He pushed me down on the bed and pulled my ass up a little then entered me from behind. His dick was thick and filled me up. I was moaning loudly; this was even better than I had imagined. Diamond didn’t deserve all of this. She wasn’t in love with him. I wanted to prove that she couldn’t love him like I could.

  Once he turned me over I took the initiative to push him on his back. A man loved when a woman took control, became aggressive. I straddled him and looked him in the eyes. I moved up and down then into slow circles, grinding my hips so that his dick could go deeper. He was moaning with me. At this point, I couldn’t hold in my eruption any longer. My juices began to run down the shaft of his dick, making it extremely wet. I was sweating, he was sweating, and I was going wild trying to reach another orgasm before he reached his.

  “Oh shit, oh shit, damn, I’m cumming, oh this pussy is so good!” he moaned.

  I felt myself reaching another orgasm; again, I came all over him. I was exhausted but satisfied. I stopped and looked at him. He smiled. I hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time we were together. I wanted this to last for a very long time. The problem with that was, it wasn’t up to me. God had his own plan. I head a click as if it were a gun pointed in my direction. I jumped off of Kemp and found Diamond standing at the door with the face of evil. I didn’t know what to say, how could I explain this?

  I almost went numb as Kemp tried to reason with her and calm her down. It didn’t matter, she had her mind made up. Now, instead of me being able to share in the wealth, she was going to kill me too. I had betrayed her, she trusted me. I should have thought about it more before I jumped into their bed. I should have planned this better. Maybe had I told him what she planned to do I wouldn’t be sitting here facing a gun. I couldn’t even move, I wanted to just close my eyes and imagine that it was all a dream.

  It wasn’t a dream and the two bullets that hit me confirmed that. All I felt was burning, then wetness, and then I felt dizzy. I couldn’t move, I felt my eyelids getting heavy and I couldn’t hold them open. I felt pain and then nothing . . .

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Diamond: HBIC

  Two months had passed since the night that I’d killed Mica and Kemp. For at least two weeks I couldn’t close my eyes without replaying the scene. I could still see the blood splattered all over the room. I was sick for days and even the help of Kiki and Black couldn’t get me through the funeral. If you’d been there you would have thought I deserved an Oscar, but honestly it wasn’t a performance. I couldn’t bear to see Kemp laid up in a casket. Not because I loved him and was sorry for what I’d done, but because I couldn’t get the scene of the murder out of my head. As for Mica, I didn’t go to her memorial because I felt that there wasn’t any need to act as
if I cared. It may sound cold, but that was just the way it was.

  I had inherited all of Kemp’s assets, including the two-million-dollar insurance policy that I had on him. His stores, his cars, his homes—everything he had was all mine and there wasn’t anyone who could take it from me. His drug empire—well, that was mine too and I know some would wonder how a woman could do a man’s job, especially a man with as much respect and power as Kemp. It was pretty simple—since they respected Kemp, they respected me. That may sound foolish because Kemp was dead, but it didn’t matter and just as they worked for him they now worked for me. Maintaining order was the easiest part, keeping my feelings for his best friend a secret was the hardest.

  Yes, I admit it, I’ve loved Black since the moment I saw him. I always believed that if this had been another lifetime, I would have been with him a long time ago. I didn’t really know how his workers would take to me starting a relationship with Kemp’s right-hand man, so I held off as long as I could. It didn’t take long before I couldn’t resist and his advances didn’t make it any easier.

  Black had stepped up, helping me run things. I would have never expected him to do that for me. Especially after I found out that he knew about the fact that I killed Kemp. Yeah, I was shocked when I found out too. I wondered how the hell he would know and I was also nervous because I believed that if he knew then that meant there could possibly be someone else that knew too.

  Going back to that night, I thought that I had covered everything but obviously I hadn’t. The night that he told me, I sat across from him still as a statue wondering how I could have been so stupid.

  “I saw you when you left the house with the trash bag in hand. You had on a sweat suit and I’ve known you long enough to know that you wouldn’t be caught dead in that getup. Plus your face looked strange, like you were upset. I was going to say something but I watched instead. Once you left, I went inside and saw the scene, then I knew what happened. I threw some stuff around to make it look like a robbery gone wrong and I bounced.”

  I continued to sit still. I thought for sure he would have reported me to the police. I mean, Kemp was his best friend.

  “Don’t think I’m going to turn you in because I’ve already incriminated myself. Shit, they’d lock my ass up with you. I don’t know what happened in that room and at this point, I don’t even want to know.”

  “So you put your freedom in jeopardy for me?”

  “Actually, I did it for us. I see opportunity here. What would you going to jail prove? That I’m a snitch? Naw, I’m far from being a snitch, I’m a businessman. I wanted you for a long time and what better time than now, to make that happen?”

  “Are you serious? What the hell would the workers say? They’d think we set the whole thing up.”

  “No they won’t, this makes perfect sense. Why go out searching for a good nigga when you have one right here in front of you?”

  Okay, I guess he was serious. What he said made sense. I probably wouldn’t find a man that could deal with my newfound wealth nor one that could hold it down for me. What was I supposed to do? I needed some help. Fuck it, I was going for it. I got up out of the chair and kissed him. He kissed me back. I was ready to tear his clothes off and fuck him right on top of the desk. It had been a few months since I’d had some. Our lips unlocked; he stared at me as if he was thinking what I was. I was about to walk to the door and lock it when I heard a knock. The door opened.

  “Girl, what’s up?” Kiki said, holding a bouquet of flowers. “These were outside on the step.”

  “Outside?” I asked. Black looked at me, just as confused as I was. Who the hell would leave flowers on my step? There was a card with a note. I smiled, thinking that I had a secret admirer. I took out the card, smelled the flowers, and laid them on the desk.

  “Read the card, girl!” Kiki yelled.

  “Okay!” I replied.

  I took the card out of the envelope and opened it. Once I did, I wished that I hadn’t. Tears began to form in my eyes. Kiki and Black were both looking at me, wondering what the hell was wrong. I put my hand over my mouth and began to cry. How could this have happened?

  “What’s wrong, what does it say?” Black asked, moving close to me.

  “It says, ‘I hope you enjoyed the last two months—get ready for a war. You should have checked my pulse to see if I was dead.’ ” The note was handwritten and resembled Kemp’s handwriting. I just knew this had to be a cruel joke.

  “What?” Kiki looked at me, shocked.

  Black snatched the note out of my hands and read it. He looked at me. I couldn’t believe it. This had to be a cruel joke. There was no way that Kemp was alive. My body began to shake. I had to sit down before I fell to the ground. I sat in the chair sobbing. What was I going to do now? If Kemp was alive I was as good as dead. Then I thought about Black. He had gone in the house after me. Shit! That meant Kemp saw him. Now, not only would he be after me, but Black as well. I dragged him into this. I was numb, I couldn’t think. Damn, why hadn’t I checked his pulse? Why was I so sure that he’d died? Kiki looked as scared as me. Black was pacing the floor as if he was trying to come up with a plan. I hoped that he could. After a few minutes of pacing, he stopped in front of me.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

  I looked up at him. I hoped that he could so that we could get on with our lives. I wanted things to go as planned. I wanted to continue being the head bitch in charge. I worked too hard for the title too lose it all.

  I instantly flashed back to that night and tried to figure out what I’d missed. Black went inside after me so he should have noticed. Did he see what I saw? I never really wanted to talk about it after that night but I just couldn’t understand how I’d been so careless. Yes, I was emotional, but this could be the end for me; this could be the end for both Black and me.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll take care of it?” I yelled.

  “That’s what I said, don’t worry about it.”

  “How the hell do you expect me to do that? There’s no way I can act like I didn’t just read that fucking note. How the hell could this happen, Black? What the hell are we going to do?”

  Kiki stood still as a statue; she couldn’t believe it either. She warned me about this, telling me that I needed to be careful and now look what happened. I wanted her to say something. I wanted someone to say anything that made sense at this point, because saying don’t worry just wasn’t going to get it. It just wasn’t possible at a time like this.

  “Didn’t you see him, Black? What did you see when you went inside the house?”

  “Diamond, I just told you what happened.”

  “Well, I need you to tell me again. Please tell me anything that would make this seem like a joke. This has to be a joke.”

  “I was sitting in the car when I saw you come out—I didn’t see anyone else around. No cars or anything. I was sitting there waiting for Kemp to call me—we were supposed to go make a drop. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on but I knew that something wasn’t right. I waited until you pulled off and used the spare key Kemp gave me to go inside. I called his name and when I didn’t get a response, I went upstairs and saw him lay out on the floor near the bed. I noticed that you tried to throw some things around but it looked staged so I hurried and ransacked the place a little more and then I left.”

  “He was on the floor?” I asked. From what I remembered he was on the bed, so how the hell did he get on the floor?

  “Yeah, he was on the floor. Why does that matter?”

  “Because when I shot him he was on the bed. How the hell could he have gotten on the floor unless he wasn’t dead?”

  Black stood there with a puzzled look on his face. I was still trying to figure this out, there had to be something that we were missing. Kiki still stood in the same spot, silent.

  “He has to be dead, Diamond, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know that it doesn’t make sense but I know that some
one knows something if they’re sending shit like this.”

  “There was no one else there, though, I sat outside and didn’t see anyone else.”

  “The note clearly says something different.” I was frustrated. This was something that I didn’t need to deal with—I couldn’t deal with it.

  “D, I’m kind of thinking Black’s right. I mean, if he went in and saw him dead then it can’t be him,” Kiki finally chimed in, though she wasn’t saying anything that I wanted to hear.

  This situation had me questioning everyone and everything. I wanted this to be over, I wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay but it didn’t appear that way. I took the note from Black’s hand and read it again—I still couldn’t believe my eyes. I grabbed my bag off of the chair and headed toward the door without saying a word. I heard footsteps behind me but I didn’t turn to look.

  “Diamond, wait,” Black yelled.

  “What, Black? I need to get home right now so talk to me when you get there.”

  “Why are you angry at me? I’m not the one that’s doing anything. Shit, you shot him—I just tried to help you cover it up.”

  I turned around and gave him the stare of death. “I didn’t ask for your fucking help, I didn’t ask you for anything.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Diamond. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at myself. I fucked up and now I could be killed. Look, I have to go. I’ll talk to you at home.”