What the hell was she asking me that for? I didn’t know this girl from a can of paint so I wanted to know what the hell her motives were. “Yeah, why?” I asked with a straight face. I wanted her to know that I wasn’t one to play with.
“I just wanted to say that it’s fucked-up how he’s stuck in jail. I know how it is to have a man behind bars. My dude’s been in jail for three years,” she said in that ghetto tone that I hated. What the hell was she saying? I mean, I knew what she said but I wasn’t sure what her angle was. I didn’t trust females too much anyway, especially ones like her. I knew that I had a lot of haters out here and I had to always be on point no matter where I was.
“So what are you saying?” I asked honestly. She gave me a stare, like she thought that I was trying to play her in some way. Shit, I was just asking a question.
“I’m just saying, keep your head up when times get hard.”
“Times won’t get hard for me. I’m pretty well off on my own.”
“Oh, excuse me if I hit a soft spot. I was just making conversation. Shit, it’s hard being a single mom no matter how much dough you got.” She laughed as the other women at the other stations shook their heads, agreeing with her. This chick must have me confused.
“It’s not a soft spot, sweetie, and this ain’t no talk show so I’m not going to sit here and entertain you and the peanut gallery over there. I simply need my hair washed and a hot oil treatment. Thank you very much.”
She put her hand on her hip and sucked her teeth. I didn’t want to have to put her in her place like that but I didn’t have a choice. None of these bitches were on my level. “Matter fact, I’ll wait until Gia’s done so she can wash me,” I said, sitting up from the bowl. She looked at me one last time and rolled her eyes before going up to the front. I guess she didn’t know I could have her ass fired right then but like she said times were hard and I wasn’t trying to snatch food out of her baby’s mouth. Gia came back a few minutes later and laughed.
“You always start trouble when you come in here, girl. You lucky I love you!”
“No, they lucky I love you ’cause I’d be tearing this shop up!” I laughed. I was dead serious though. Back in the day I would have whipped her ass in here.
“So what’s up with Kiki? She ain’t been in here in a minute,” she asked as she pulled me back toward the sink and turned the water on.
“She’s good. She’s busy running that bar but you know Kiki she won’t be gone too long.”
“I know, girl, I missed you too. Your ass then got knocked and you don’t visit a bitch no more.”
“No, that ain’t it, I’ve just been super-busy. I got so much to catch you up on, girl. We’re going to have to go out to dinner or something one day.”
“Cool, because I got some shit to catch you up on too.”
“I bet you do.” I burst into laughter. Gia always keep up with the rumor mill. I could always come to her when I wanted to know what was going on in the streets. I was out of the shop about an hour later and on my way home. This baby kept me exhausted and I needed to take a power nap. It was hot as hell outside. It was mid-summer and I hated the heat. I was trying to hurry up and get in the house near the AC. My cell phone started to ring and I fished through my bag to grab it. The phone dropped on the floor of the passenger side. I went to grab it and before I could sit back up . . .
Boom! That was the last thing I heard before my body experienced a numbing pain. Glass was everywhere. I had been hit on the driver’s side so hard that the air bag deployed. I could feel blood running down from my head to the side of my face. I felt a sharp pain coming from my stomach and fluid running down my legs. I yelled out for help. The driver from the other car was now standing outside of my car window on the phone with a 911 operator. I kept yelling out that I was pregnant. I didn’t care about anything but the baby at the time and though I never had a baby before I knew that I was in labor. It was too early, I was two months away from my due date. I cried each time a contraction hit and the other driver kept saying how sorry he was and asking if I was okay.
The ambulance arrived and came to my car immediately. The female opened the door on the passenger side and put a brace around my neck. “How far are the contractions?” she asked.
“I don’t know, they’re really close, please don’t let me lose my baby,” I cried.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of here.”
Fire rescue had arrived as well and were on the driver’s side, trying to pry the door open. Each movement hurt as I continued to cry in agony. I kept crying over and over to save my baby. I’d done too much to have this baby and I’d changed so much from it. It couldn’t all be over now. It just couldn’t. They had me out of the car and into the ambulance faster than I’d expected. They placed an IV in my arm and checked all of my vital signs. I couldn’t hold in my tears, I was falling apart. I couldn’t even call Black to have him run to the hospital and be by my side. I begged for them to call my father. I needed him since I had no one else.
We reached the hospital and they immediately rushed me into the trauma room. There were hands everywhere. My clothes were being cut off from every angle. The whole room was in a commotion.
“Ma’am, what’s your name?”
“Diamond,” I replied.
“Do you know where you are?”
“At the hospital.”
“Do you know what year it is?” the doctor asked as he held open my eyes and waved a flashlight across them.
“It’s 2008.”
“How far along are you?” he asked, continuing the survey that was getting on my nerves. I wanted to know if my baby was okay.
“I’m thirty-two weeks, is my baby going to be okay?” I cried.
“We’re going to do everything that we can to make sure of that.” They were putting ultrasound gel on my stomach and wrapping the monitors around it. I could hear my baby’s heartbeat. That sound was music to my ears. “We’re going to try and hydrate you, this is just some fluid to hopefully stop the contractions,” he said as he hooked a bag of fluid up to the IV. “Where are you in pain?”
“My head hurts and my left knee, and besides the contractions my left side is really hurting.”
“If we can’t stop the contractions we’re going to have to take you in for an emergency cesarean. We’re giving you some steroids just in case. The steroids will help the baby’s lungs and breathing.”
Everything was a blur, I was in so much pain. I couldn’t really think straight. I just prayed that it would all be over soon. The contractions were slowing down, which I assumed was a good sign. The number of people that were in the room had been cut down drastically. There was someone cleaning out the gash on the side of my head and putting some sort of stitching in it. My leg was still throbbing in pain even with the pain medication they’d given me.
“Once she’s done we’re going to get you up to X-ray and take some pictures of your leg. We think your knee may have been shattered.”
“I just want my baby to be okay,” I replied. Even after all that had happened and all of the pain that I was in, I just wanted my baby. I couldn’t bear losing her.
“We’re doing our best, you just relax. We’re taking care of you now. Your parents are out in the waiting area. After we get your X-rays we’ll bring them in so you can see them for a brief moment.”
“Okay,” I replied with a sigh of relief.
I was taken up to X-ray a few minutes later and brought back down to the emergency room where the doctor confirmed that I’d need knee surgery. All of this because I went to pick up a damn phone. I didn’t even know who the hell had been calling. The pain medication was working wonders because I wasn’t feeling any pain. I was happy to still hear the fast heartbeat of my baby. I was going to go into surgery the same day but they called Pam and my dad in to see me before they took me to the operating room.
“Are you okay? I was so scared when I got that call,” my dad said, moving close to the
bed so he could kiss me on the forehead.
“I’m so glad you came. I’m okay but I’m going to have surgery on my knee.”
“Well, you can come stay with us when you come home. I’ll stay home to take care of you,” Pam said after reaching over to give me a hug.
“No, you don’t have to go through the trouble, I’ll be okay.”
“Knee surgery takes time to heal. You’re going to need help and it’s not any trouble; that’s the least I can do. I owe it to you,” she replied, rubbing her hand across mine.
“I’ll think about it, I promise.”
“Well, they won’t let us stay but we’ll be here waiting for you to come out of surgery.” My dad bent down to kiss me again.
“Okay, I love you . . . both,” I said with a smile. Pam looked back at me as if she wasn’t expecting to hear those words. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to say them but she’d grown on me and she was actually stepping up to the plate and making up for lost time.
They left the room and I was soon being prepped for surgery. The nurse came in and wheeled me up to the operating room. She gave me a few shots of something in my IV that had me on cloud nine.
“Think of going somewhere nice, like Aruba, that’s where I want to go,” she said as she pushed the gurney next to the operating table. It was ice-cold in the room and there were a few people with blue gowns and caps on their heads. I felt my eyelids getting heavier by the second. I listened to the nurse and tried to think of Aruba—shit, anywhere was better than that emergency room.
Chapter Forty-six
Diamond
A Piece of Me
I heard an unfamiliar sound and my throat felt like I’d swallowed sandpaper. I woke up and noticed that I was still in the hospital. The sound that I heard was the nurse pressing the buttons on the machine that was hooked up to the IV. I felt different, like something was missing. I didn’t hear the heat monitor. The sound that comforted me, which was my baby’s heartbeat, wasn’t there anymore. I rubbed my hands across my stomach, which was flat. My huge baby bump was gone. I panicked.
“Where’s my baby, what happened to my baby?” I cried, trying to sit up in bed.
“Calm down, Diamond, your baby’s fine, she’s in the newborn intensive-care unit. During the knee surgery you went into labor so the doctors had to do an emergency C-section. You’re baby’s fine, don’t worry. She’s premature but she’s a fighter.”
“I need to go see her, I need to see her,” I continued to cry.
“You can’t go right now, you have to keep that leg flat until tomorrow. But I knew you’d want to see her so I had the nurses over there take this picture for you.” She pulled a Polaroid photo out of her lab jacket pocket.
I held the photo in my hand. She was so small and beautiful. I rubbed my hands across the picture before picking it up and kissing it. “I love you, baby, I can’t wait to hold you in my arms. Thank you so much for this.”
“No problem, the number is written over there on the white board. You can call anytime to check on her and this red button here, you can press whenever you need anything.” She pointed to the cord that was wrapped around the arm of the bed.
“Okay, I’m really thirsty. Can I have something to drink?”
“You can eat these ice cubes. You’ll be able to drink in a few more hours. Call me if you need anything, I’ll be right out at the desk.” She began to walk away. “By the way, what’s the baby’s name?”
“Dior, her name is Dior.” I looked down at the picture once more.
“That’s beautiful,” she replied before leaving the room.
I put my head back against the pillow and thanked God that she was okay. I wished Black could be here to see her and be the support system that I needed. I felt comfortable resting; I believed that she was in good hands. I closed my eyes and was just about to drift off to sleep when I heard a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I yelled as loud as I could with all that I had been through. Kiki burst into the door with a huge smile on her face.
“Girl, I’m so glad to see you, I almost died when I heard about the accident. They were about to lock my ass up in the lobby because they wouldn’t let me up to see you. How are you feeling?” She was talking a mile a minute. I was happy that she came though she had my head spinning with all that she was saying.
“I’m okay, look at a picture of the baby.” I still held it in my hand. I didn’t want to let it go even for her to see.
“She’s beautiful, D, when are you going to get to see her?”
“Hopefully tomorrow, I just can’t believe all of this happened. I was reaching for the damn phone girl and that car smacked right into my door. I was in so much pain I just kept hoping the baby was okay.”
“I’m so glad you both are okay. I know we haven’t talked much lately but how’s things with Black, any news?”
“No, that bitch Mica is in a witness-protection program. I had JB trying to find her and he didn’t have any luck getting close to her. I’m so angry, girl, because it’s all my fault. Now shit’s falling apart with him gone, these niggas don’t respect me. Who respects a woman like a man and a pregnant one at that. I don’t know what to do but I can’t lose everything. I have to figure something out.”
“Well, right now you have to focus on getting better. You can’t be in here stressing about that shit. You have a little baby to worry about now. Black will take care of it, you know they can’t hold him on some shit they have no evidence on. They’re just buying time hoping that something will pop up. They have nothing and they won’t find anything, so don’t stress.”
“It’s easy to say that from the outside looking in—look what’s happened. Me and my baby could have died today while he’s in jail serving time for something that I did.” I began to get upset just thinking about it.
“Let’s change the subject because I need you to get some rest. I just had to see your face and tell you I love you. I’m here if you need anything,” she said, coming closer to me on the bed. “Everything will work out, trust me.” She smiled.
“Thanks Kiki, I love you too, girl.”
“All right I’m going to run, I have to get down to the bar, but make sure you call me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
She bent down, kissed me on the forehead, and headed out of the room. Eventually I couldn’t fight the pain medication and I was off to sleep. I woke up the next morning ready to get up to go over to the nursery. As soon as the morning nurse came in I asked what time I’d be able to go. She told me around lunchtime, which put a damper on my day. I was ready to go at that moment in pain and all but I listened. Lunchtime couldn’t have come fast enough and though it took me tons of tears and pain to get from the bed into a wheelchair I held it together long enough to be wheeled over. Once I got there and the nurse took her out of the warmer and put her in my arms I let go of the emotions. I could admit that in the beginning my plan to get pregnant may have been for the wrong reasons but as time went on I knew that it was meant for me. I was meant to be a mother and the mother of Black’s child. There wasn’t any other explanation for the joy that I felt as I looked down at the four-pound replica of him in my arms. Everything was going to be okay, I finally believed that. She was a piece of me and she turned me into the woman that I always hoped I’d be.
Chapter Forty-seven
Diamond
Back on my Feet
“I see nothing can hold you down, looking like a diva even in a hospital bed.” Money laughed as he walked through the door of the hospital room. He was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers and three get-well-soon balloons. I was still nervous around him and I still hadn’t been able to put my finger on what it was about him that bothered me.
“Thanks, Money,” I said with a smile.
He walked over and sat the flowers on the ledge of the window and let the balloons loose. He came over to the bed, grabbed my hand, and kissed the back of it. What the hell was he doing? I didn’t get th
is guy at all. I slowly pulled my hand away but not fast enough to let him know how much it bothered me.
“You look a hell of a lot better than I thought you would—you look just as beautiful as you always do.” He gave a devilish grin and sat down on the edge of my bed. There were four chairs in the small room and instead of sitting in one of them he had to sit up close and personal with me. I could admit that he was sexy but I couldn’t let that affect me. I’d gotten myself wrapped up before doing the same exact thing.
“So what’s going on out there, how’s business?” I quickly changed the subject.
“Everything’s good, everything’s falling into place.”
“That’s good to hear, I was worried.”
“I’m sure, but I ain’t come here to talk about work.”
“Well, what did you come here for?” I asked, both shocked and confused.
“I’m being straight up with you, your man’s going to be in jail for a very long time, if not forever. What do you plan to do, be celibate?”
“No, because my man will be home very soon, I’m sure of that.”
“What makes you so sure of that? They have his victim ready and willing to point him out. You live in a fairy tale if you think he can get off from that.”
“Maybe I like fairy tales.” I shot back. I was getting annoyed. I knew Black was coming home soon. I wasn’t going to let anyone rain on my parade.
“That’s cool too, but what about reality? I’m a nigga that can make you feel good all over. I can fuck you mentally and physically so good you’ll forget all about him. You haven’t had love the way I can give it.”
Was he serious? Niggas weren’t shit, they’d turn on their partners in a heartbeat. He didn’t crack a smile the entire time.
“I’ve been through this before—with Black, as a matter of fact. I can’t let temptation ruin what I have with him.”
“Temptation, huh? So I guess that means you’re tempted to get some of this reality?”
“I didn’t say that, I just said that I’ve been in a similar situation before.”
The Black Diamond Trilogy Page 31
