The Black Diamond Trilogy

by Brittani Williams

  “Trice is on her way over, I called her.”

  “What? Why would you call her?”

  “Because your son wants to see you and Trice is cool. There won’t be any drama, trust me.”

  “Since when have you two become friends? I see I’ve missed a lot more than I thought I did. I would have never imagined that.”

  “Right after you went in, she came to me and let me know that she needed some help. I wasn’t going to turn her away, so I helped her and we’ve been cool ever since.”

  “You should have told me she was coming. I have to run out and meet Tommy back at the warehouse,” I lied. I wasn’t really ready to be in the same house with both of them. I thought of it as being a very uncomfortable situation.

  “Babe, you just got home. Just see him and then you can go.”

  Damn, I was going to have to deal with it sooner or later so I thought, fuck it, I might as well get it over with. It wasn’t long before she was ringing the bell. I opened the door and my son ran right to me, hugging my legs. Trice smiled and gave me a quick hug.

  “Good to see you, he missed you a lot,” she said, walking into the house. Diamond had come out of the kitchen and was standing in the hall.

  “I have to run, but I’m going to spend a lot of time with him this week, I promise. I just have to go take care of some things right now. I didn’t know that you were coming until a few minutes ago.”

  She looked disappointed. I wasn’t trying to upset anyone but I really did have some shit to handle. I needed to get back to the office to begin rebuilding.

  “It’s cool, I know you have to go work. We’ll hang out here for a little while but I’m going to hold you to that. He needs to be with you.”

  “And he will be.”

  I hugged him again and kissed Diamond before I left out of the house. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I grabbed my keys off the key rack and hopped into the car. I was on my way down to the office. I had so much on my mind. There was so much to do and now that Money, Mica, and JB were gone, there wasn’t anything to worry about. Everything should be smooth sailing from that point on. I was back at home where I needed to be and the sweet smell of success was flowing up my nose as I drove up the expressway with the windows down. A change was coming and I was going to embrace it.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Diamond

  Trust

  I was worried that Black would find out about Money and me. I enjoyed making love to him every night since he came home but it wasn’t the same. It was almost as if he knew but didn’t want to tell me. I wanted to just lay it out on the table but that most likely wasn’t the right thing to do. He hadn’t said anything about marrying me either. Maybe he changed his mind and decided that I wasn’t marriage material. I was driving myself crazy worrying about it. I felt like I had to come clean so that we could move on. I would have to accept whatever was thrown my way afterward but I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. He came home and I was sitting in the living room with the lights on but nothing else was on.

  “What’s wrong?” He could always tell when I was upset. I was beating myself up all day and I was probably about to make a huge mistake.

  “There’s something that I have to tell you. I have to be honest and I can’t move forward without telling you.” I could feel the tears forming in my eyes; it was going to kill me to hurt him but I didn’t see what other choice I had.

  “Look, Diamond, I just got back. There’s no need to go into all of that. Let’s enjoy this time that we have together.”

  “No, I have to tell you and I have to tell you now.” I was determined to get things off of my chest.

  “If it’s about Money and you, I already know and I don’t care.”

  I looked up at him, stunned. I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him right.

  “You don’t care?”

  “No, I don’t care and I want to forget about it.”

  “But how can we have trust after that?”

  “Diamond, I trust you and I’m not questioning you about it because I understand how that could have happened. I love you and I’m going to marry you. I don’t care what happened when I wasn’t here. I’m worried about what happens from this point on.”

  Was he serious? I’ve never found a man who could trust a woman after they’d cheated. I mean, I dealt with him even after I knew about all the women he chose to sleep with but that was different. That’s what I thought I was supposed to do.

  “Are you really going to marry me?”

  “I just said I was, why do you think I bought you that big-ass ring?” He laughed. He pulled me close to him. “Look, I’m not perfect and I know that I’ve done some things in the past. I’m not going to leave you for doing the same shit that I did. We are going to start fresh from this point on. Fuck the past.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I laughed as I hugged him.

  I was happy the way that things were turning out. They were actually going better than I could have imagined. I thought for sure once I told him about Money we would be over. Following that day things were good. Black and I planned to get married in the spring and things couldn’t have been better. The business was going great and I had even talked Black into making Tommy a partner. Tommy was strong and he’d saved my life. I had to find a way to pay him back. What better way to say thank you than running a major drug empire?

  I thought back to all of the things that I’d been through in my life. It was always good to reflect on your past to appreciate the things that you’ve learned along the way. We all make mistakes and every mistake teaches us something. Whether we learn from them or not is up to us. That night, I lay in bed thankful for my life and all that I had to look forward to. There had been a lot of bumps along the way and I’d still been able to succeed. There were times that I felt like I didn’t deserve to be here, but now, I knew that I did. I’d done a lot of wrong in my life but maybe that was also a part of the plan that was laid out for me. I believe all of it was even down to my teenage years. I closed my eyes with Black nestled next to me and reminisced.

  I thought about Johnny and how things could have been different for us. Maybe if I hadn’t pushed so hard he wouldn’t have spent the rest of his life in jail. Maybe Mica and I wouldn’t have fallen out either. At one time we were the best of friends. She never forgave me, even though the day I walked in the warehouse and found her tied up, I saved her life. I felt that once I saved her she’d forgive me for ruining her life but she never did.

  I thought about my mother and how I left her to fend for herself when I met Davey. I still believed that if I’d helped her get out of that neighborhood instead of only worrying about me maybe she would have still been alive. I missed her and I felt like I was cheated out of time with her. There could have been so much more to our relationship but we both let temptations on the outside keep us apart. I was lured by the money and she was lured by the drugs, two different things, but both highly addictive. I felt like I lost a part of me the day that I found out she was gone. I hadn’t even had a chance to say good-bye or kiss her one last time. Drugs robbed me of telling her I loved her.

  I thought about my Aunt Cicely and how evil she had been my entire life. I felt bad for the way I treated my grandmother because of things that she said or did to me. She couldn’t control the things that she did and it took me this long to realize that. She was the only grandmother that I’d known and she was always there for me when other people weren’t. I planned to make things better between us even though I was still angry that she didn’t tell me about the funeral, I still didn’t understand how they’d bury my mother and not think I needed to know. How anyone could be so cruel I’d never know. I knew that it wasn’t all her doing and I put most of the blame on Cicely but she didn’t try to reach out to me so that made her just as guilty. I still had to forgive and the situation with Black showed me that it was definitely possible.

  I thought about Davey and how my life took a turn for the wo
rse. I let him take advantage of me in ways that damaged me as a woman. I knew that I wouldn’t have made a lot of choices in my life if it weren’t for things that I allowed him to do to me. I loved him with all of my heart and he stomped on it every chance that he had. I was happy that I was finally able to move on and find love in myself.

  Kiki, my best friend, had always been there for me regardless of the dumb decisions that I made. I was lucky to have her in my life and she’d always be an important factor. There wasn’t any one like her and that’s what made her special.

  I thought of Kemp. He was one of the men that I didn’t give a chance to show his full potential. I went into that relationship in a bad state of mind. Maybe he wasn’t perfect but maybe things could have worked out differently had I given him the chance and loved him the way that he intended on loving me. I was sorry that I took him away from his family and his child. Now that I had my own child and faced death, I know how devastating that must have been. Maybe all of the things that I went through I deserved because of what I did and I’ve accepted that.

  I thought about Money and how I fell right into his trap. How could I have been so stupid believing that he really wanted to be with me? I’d been a fool more times than I could count on my hands but I could admit that being with him was one of the biggest mistakes I made in my life.

  Then there are my parents. I hated them for years because of what I assumed they should have done. Who’s to say that my life would have been any better if they’d kept me after all? Javan turned out okay but things could have been different for both of us if I would have been there. Maybe leaving me was best and I’d finally come to that conclusion and stopped hating them. I was finally accepting the way things were and loving them for who they are and not the people that they were in the past.

  Then there was Black, the man that I loved more than any man that I’d been with my entire life. I hadn’t found a man that loved me the way that he did. When I met him I never would have thought that we would be where we were at that point. We had evolved into a relationship that I’d always dreamed I’d be in but never thought I’d see.

  Dior, my beautiful baby girl who’d changed me from the moment she fluttered in my stomach. The old conniving Diamond was an object of the past and I’d matured into a woman and a mother. The path that I took to get where I am today was a long one and it was a rough one. Everyone that I’d encountered in my life had all added to the person that I’ve become. Looking back, if you’d ask me would I take any of it back and my answer would be no. I wouldn’t change a thing because changing one thing in the past would alter the future and my future was with Black and Dior.

  Chapter Fifty-four

  Black

  Our Way

  “So how does it feel?” Tommy asked, raising his glass to mine.

  “It feels good, man, it feels damn good.” I laughed. We were out celebrating because business was back on track. Money was flowing in and the soldiers were all in line. I never thought I’d be enjoying this moment with Tommy. Thinking back, all I could think of was Kemp and how he promised me that I was destined for greatness. I used to feel bad about being with Diamond but now I didn’t. I knew that this was the way that things were supposed to be. I remember sitting with Kemp when he made a million dollars. We were sitting in his living room and we had a bottle of champagne sitting on the table. We were both pretty drunk.

  “A million muthafucking dollars, do you believe that shit, nigga?”

  “I knew you’d do it, you always said that you would.”

  “I sure did and you’re getting to enjoy it with me. Being on top is a wonderful thing and you’ll be here one day.”

  “I feel you and I’m happy to witness this shit for real.”

  “I’m king of the world, nigga, ain’t that what they say!” He was standing on top of the sofa with a glass in his hand.

  “That’s what they say.” I was cracking up. This nigga was drunk as hell and spilling shit all over himself and me.

  “On some real shit though,” he said, sitting back down next to me. “When I’m dead and gone, you’re the only nigga that I’d want to have this shit. Even down to my bitch, you can have it all. I mean that shit man, I love you like a brother.”

  “I love you like a brother too.”

  “Let’s drink to that shit then,” he yelled as he grabbed the bottle off the table and instead of pouring it he toasted my glass with it and drank the rest of it. I laughed that night but I believed that what he said was true. If there was anyone that he wanted to have all that he accomplished when he was gone, that person was me. I felt good knowing that he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

  Now, I had it all. Everything that was his, even his woman was mine. Tommy looked at me and began waving his hands in front of my face to break my stare.

  “Yo’, what the hell are you thinking about, man?” He laughed as I turned to look at him.

  “I was just thinking about Kemp and something that he once said to me. He told me that I would have everything that was his when he was dead and gone.”

  “What the hell made you think about that?”

  “Because I used to feel bad about being here and I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”

  “Man, if anybody deserves it, you do. You deserve it all, even Diamond.”

  I looked at him and just nodded my head. At least there was someone on this earth who felt the way that I did. I looked back on my life and the way that things had turned out. I was satisfied with that and I was looking my future in the eye ready to take it head on. Now looking at Tommy and knowing what he’d done for me, I could see how Kemp felt the way that he did back then. I lifted my glass and turned it in Tommy’s direction.

  “In the words of Kemp, when I’m dead and gone there’s no one that I’d want to have everything that’s mine. Even my woman or bitch as he’d say,” I laughed. “On some real shit, Tommy, that person is you. When I’m not here it’s all yours and I mean that shit from the heart.” He looked at me as if there was something that he wanted to say. I wasn’t sure what the look was for but he sat silent for a minute or two before he raised his glass to mine, looked at me and said, “That’s real shit, and I’ll handle it with care!”

  Chapter Fifty-five

  Feels So Right

  September 2010

  “I can’t believe it’s been two years already,” Black said as he stood up, facing the many family members and friends who quietly sat at the surrounding tables that filled the first floor of the Park Avenue Banquet Hall. The room was darkened with a bright light shining directly on to Black and Diamond’s table, which sat in the front of the large room.

  Some of the attendees looked on and smiled in happiness, while some displayed evident looks of envy, wishing they could be as successful as the two guests of honor. Diamond and Black were celebrating their second wedding anniversary as well as their recent departure from the drug business. As planned, they’d invested in enough legal business to move on from the dangerous world that almost ripped them to shreds. They’d survived his imprisonment, her affair with Money, her near-fatal accident, as well as the attempt on both of their lives. After all that they’d been through, their relationship had blossomed into something much greater than anyone could have ever expected. They were the epitome of true love and, in current times, true love wasn’t easy to find. With his glass raised in the air, Black looked over to his right and smiled at Diamond as she sat in a daydream taking it all in.

  “I want to make a toast to the woman who has made this life worth living. Looking back I would’ve never thought that I’d be where I am today. I have a beautiful wife and a daughter I adore. I truly have everything that a man could dream of.” He smiled while holding his glass up, thinking back to the moment he’d first laid eyes on Diamond. That was also the moment he knew he had to make her his wife. Realizing that he was getting more sentimental than normal he picked his speech back up. “Now, I’m going to stop being so mushy up her
e so we can get this party started.” He laughed as the guests joined him, raising their glasses and toasting them with the others seated at their tables.

  After a few seconds of laughter, the DJ increased the volume on the music and gradually people began to get up from their seats and migrate to the dance floor. Black sat down next to Diamond and stared at her for a few moments before she leaned in and broke the silence.

  “That was beautiful, Black.” She smiled. Her body was completely filled with joy. She couldn’t remember another time in her life where she’d been this happy.

  “Well I meant every word. You know you mean the world to me,” he admitted while rubbing his hand across her cheek.

  “Can you believe what we’ve accomplished? I mean things could have been disastrous for us but look how things turned out.”

  “That’s because it was meant to be.” He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

  “Uhhh, ummm, sorry to break you two lovebirds up but would you mind if I stole the man of the hour for a dance?” Trice said as she grabbed Black by the hand.

  “Not at all, as long as you promise to return him safely,” Diamond replied, motioning with her hand and giggling.

  “Scout’s honor.” Trice laughed and tugged at Black to pull him from his seated position. Trice, the mother of Black’s son, had become one of Diamond’s best friends. A few years back Diamond would have been ready for a fight but Trice had since moved on and was happily married herself. For the sake of the children, they’d all maintained an alliance that closely resembled a family. As Diamond watched Black and Trice bopping on the floor Tommy slid into the barren chair next to her.

  “I know Mrs. Diamond isn’t being a wallflower at her own party now.” He laughed.

  “Not at all, I’m just taking it all in. Besides, you know I’m the truth on the dance floor. You know you don’t want to see me get busy.” She burst into laughter.