The Black Diamond Trilogy

by Brittani Williams

  “Where is my husband?” she asked in a low tone.

  Without a response, he used the butt of the gun to hit her in the back of the head. The hard steel instantly sent her tumbling down the stairs. She hit almost every step before reaching the bottom, where she cried in agony. She couldn’t move but she could hear his footsteps nearing the spot where she was lying.

  “Learn how to follow directions! You’d think a fine bitch like you would have the brains for this, especially a bitch who likes to murder niggas.” He laughed.

  How the hell did he know that? she thought as she continued to lie in pain on the cold cherry-wood floor. She knew that he would have to know her personally to know what she’d done. She wished that she could rip off the mask that he wore to find out who he was, but out of fear she tried to relax.

  “Get the fuck up!” he yelled.

  She struggled to get up from the floor but every part of her body ached from the fall. After realizing that she might not be able to stand alone, he grabbed her by the arm tightly and pulled her up. They headed toward the dining room where Black was seated at the head of the table, tied up. There was duct tape across his mouth and blood running down both sides of his face.

  “Oh my God, baby, are you okay?” She tried to run over to him but the guy who had been leading her into the room wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her back to the other end of the table. He pushed her down into the chair as she rubbed her neck. It was at that point she realized that they really meant business. Not that she didn’t believe it when they pulled her out of bed, but deep down she hoped that it was all a dream. She knew now that it wasn’t and she was wide awake and in pain all over. She said a silent prayer for them to make it out of this alive. Black was sitting there with blood all over his face and shirt. They had really done a number on him. She wanted to just get it over with and give them whatever it was that they wanted so that she could get back to her life.

  “What did you do to him?” she asked as he forced her into the chair that was near where she was standing. The man hit her on the back of the head again. It was still throbbing in pain from the hit she’d received a few minutes back.

  “Yo, I’m going to kill this bitch in a minute. She won’t shut the fuck up!” he yelled to his partner as he began pacing back and forth behind her.

  “Calm down,” yelled the taller, leaner guy who stood near Black.

  Black sat there, looking at her, shaking his head. She figured he was most likely trying to tell her to obey their commands but she couldn’t. She couldn’t just sit there not knowing what the hell it was they wanted from her. If she was going to die she was at least going to know why. She’d never been one to go down without a fight and she wasn’t about to start now. Her mind was all over the place. She was looking around the room to see if there was any way that she could get them out of there.

  “Please tell me what you want,” she cried. They all began laughing as if she’d told a hilarious joke. She didn’t see what the hell was so funny.

  “Look, bitch, common sense would tell you we ain’t drop in to say hi. We know that you stashed up some money when you left the game and we’re here to collect.”

  “We don’t have a lot of money. Most of it is tied up in real estate.”

  “She just doesn’t get it, I see,” the taller one yelled before punching her on the right side of her face.

  She felt like he’d broken her jaw instantly. Blood was now running out of her mouth.

  “Now we’re going to try this shit again. We know you have that money. Y’all living in this big-ass house, driving these fly-ass cars, jewels and shit. Bitch, I wasn’t born yesterday. We want five hundred thousand dollars by Friday.”

  “Friday? You can’t be serious, there’s no way I can get that to you by Friday.”

  “Does it look like we’re laughing?” The armed guy behind her bent down and yelled into her ear, “Hell, those cars you drive, you might want get rid of those, that’s a start.”

  “And what if I can’t come up with it?” she asked.

  “You really wanna see how serious I am?” Without flinching, the man who was standing near Black raised his gun and shot Black in the head at point-blank range. Blood and brain matter covered the ivory-colored walls. Black’s body slumped over and blood poured from the gaping wound in his head.

  Diamond screamed so loud it echoed throughout the house and probably throughout the neighborhood. She pulled away from the grips of her captor, who didn’t try to hold on to her.

  He was shocked himself and currently yelling at the gunman for shooting Black. “What the fuck are you doing?” He stormed over toward the gunman, who raised the gun in his direction.

  “Yo, back the fuck up, nigga, and control this bitch before I shoot her ass too.”

  Diamond was kneeling next to Black’s lifeless body and cradling his face in her hands, which were both covered with blood.

  “Get that fucking gun out of my face.” The two men were now standing face to face as Diamond wept below them. The gunman backed down, then proceeded to pick Diamond up from the floor himself and pushed her across the room.

  She slammed into the wall, causing a loud thump. She immediately bounced off of the wall and fell to the floor. Her body was racked with pain and sorrow. After all that she’d done and all that she’d been through she never imagined that things would turn out this way. Though she’d done a lot of wrong to a lot of people she always hoped that the good that she’d done would somehow outweigh the bad. As she lay there with her face buried in the hardwood floor, tears seeped into the cracks. She was shaking uncontrollably as visions of Black’s brain being splattered across the room played in her mind.

  The other man was now standing near Diamond and looking across the room at the gunman who was visibly annoyed. He was frustrated, as the evening’s events weren’t going as planned and the gunman appeared to have plans of his own. Not only was he part of a robbery; he was now a part of murder.

  “Can we wrap this shit up?” he yelled, directing his speech at the gunman.

  “Certainly, get her ass up off the ground.” He pointed at Diamond.

  The taller masked man picked Diamond up off the ground and moved her over to the chair. She closed her eyes to avoid seeing Black. The gunman made his way over to the end of the table where she was seated and stood in front of her. He wanted to make sure that she was clear on what they needed and when then they needed it.

  “Now, what is it that we need and when do we need it?” he asked as he bent down in front of her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

  “Five hundred thousand dollars by Friday.”

  “Good girl,” he said, patting her on the top of her head with the tip of his gun. “Now just in case you’re thinking about doing something stupid, we have some insurance. Your little girl—”

  Diamond jumped out of her chair to attack him and was immediately knocked back down by the gun-toting masked man.

  “Don’t do it. If you ever want to see her again you’ll calm the fuck down.”

  Diamond sat in the chair, sobbing. She’d just lost her husband and now faced losing her only child as well. It was all too much to handle and she didn’t care about living without them.

  “Your little girl will be returned safely once we get our money.”

  “How will I find you?”

  “You won’t. We’ll find you, and if you have all of the money, we will return your daughter as promised.”

  “And what if I can’t get the money?” she asked honestly, as she didn’t know where or how she was going to get $500,000 on such short notice.

  “Well, then you can kiss your little girl good-bye. I’d hate to be a child killer so I know you’re going to do everything in your power to get the money to us.”

  “Can I just see her? Please, I just want to make sure that she’s okay. Where did you take her?”

  “She’s safe, don’t worry about that. I’d like to think I’
m a man of my word and I’d also like to think that you’re a woman of yours. So as long as those statements are true then neither of us has anything to worry about.”

  Diamond continued to plead with him to allow her to see Dior. Without Black, she was the most important thing in the world. Her mind was spinning and the physical pain that she’d felt before was now masked by adrenaline. She knew that she had to do whatever it took. Even if she had to rob, steal, or commit another murder she would if it meant she would get her daughter back in her arms. Her survival instincts kicked in and suddenly her tears dried up and tremors ceased. Without even the slightest tremble in her voice she spoke, “Okay, so what am I supposed to tell the cops about his body?”

  The masked men looked at her, then looked at each other before the leader of the pack spoke. “Tell them exactly what happened, three niggas broke in your house, shot him, whipped your ass, and kidnapped your daughter for ransom.”

  “And then what? If I tell them she’s been taken for ransom they’ll be on me like flies to shit. I’ll never be able to get the money together with them on my back.”

  “You’re a smart girl, Diamond, you got away with murder. I’m sure you can figure this shit out. This should be as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

  Diamond stood there deep in thought. He was right—she’d gotten away with murder before and if she made it through this shit alive she was damn sure going to try to get away with it again. There was no way that she was going to let them breathe after what they’d put her through. She kept a stone face as the other two men headed toward the door and the leader of the group looked her in the eye and gave her a smirk before extending his hand to shake hers. She looked down at his hand as if it were diseased, but she knew that she needed to play along to avoid pissing him off.

  “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said while firmly gripping her hand. He pulled her close enough to whisper in her ear. “Just remember what I said and you’ll be fine.” He released her hand and followed the other two men out of the door.

  As soon as the door shut she slid down to the floor and began to sob once more. She stared at Black and began to apologize to him. She blamed herself for everything, thinking that this was all somehow tied to Kemp’s murder. Again, she thought, it’s all coming back to bite me in the ass. The pain from all of the punches that she’d sustained was now coming back with a vengeance. Her body was stiffening as she attempted to get up from the floor to crawl over to the phone to call 911. She dreaded speaking to the police about the night’s events because she would have to twist the truth in an attempt to save her daughter’s life. She took a deep breath before dialing; within a few seconds the female operator’s voice came through the receiver.

  “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

  “I need an ambulance and the police, my husband’s been shot. I’ve been beaten and my daughter’s been kidnapped. Please send help, please hurry.” She dropped the phone to the floor. In the distance she could hear the operator through the receiver.

  “Ma’am, are you there? Ma’am, if you’re there please pick up the phone.”

  Diamond sat with her back against the wall with tears streaming down her face as she waited for the police and ambulance to arrive. As her husband lay dead less than four feet away from her, she watched the clock ticking on the wall, knowing that every minute counted. Every minute that passed was a minute wasted, and by the looks of things, she didn’t have any minutes to spare.

  The police were the first to arrive and the ambulance arrived moments later. Black was pronounced dead at the scene and Diamond refused medical treatment each time it was offered.

  “Ma’am, you really need medical treatment. Your jaw could possibly be broken and you could have internal bleeding from some of the blows that you sustained,” the male technician pleaded with Diamond, but his case was sadly falling on deaf ears.

  “What part of no don’t you understand? I already told you that I’m not going to the hospital. My child is missing and I need to do everything that I can to find her. Sitting up in a hospital just won’t do,” she yelled. “Now could you please hurry up and wrap up these cuts because I really need to get out and look for my child.”

  Black’s body had since been taken out of the house by the medical examiner and different sections of the house were now taped off with yellow police tape. It almost resembled something that you’d only see on TV. There was a large pool of blood on the floor under where Black had slumped off the chair and there were remnants of his brain matter splattered all over the walls and other surfaces. Her home was filled with detectives and other crime scene personnel.

  Outside, there was a huge crowd forming as the tenants of the high-class cul-de-sac weren’t used to such a large police presence, and they most definitely weren’t used to home invasions and children being taken for ransom. The news vans from channels three, six, ten, seventeen, and twenty-nine were parked outside of their house as well. The spectacle was all too much for Diamond as she was becoming more frustrated by the second, but she continued to try to hold it together to evade any suspicion.

  “How long is this going to take? I really need to make some calls.”

  “I’ll be done in a few minutes, please just bear with me,” the technician said as he shook his head and mumbled under his breath. He was a father so he knew that, put in her position, he’d probably feel the same way, but he also knew that there was a proper way to handle every situation and it was his opinion that she was going about things totally wrong.

  Diamond, on the other hand, believed that she was doing what was right and that there wasn’t any other way to handle a situation like this one.

  “Okay, all done. Now, make sure you come in to the hospital tomorrow to get these two stitched up. If not, you’ll risk infection and the scars will take a lot longer to heal.”

  “Okay, got it, now are you done?” she asked with sarcasm. Immediately she got up from the chair, grabbed her purse, and headed toward the door.

  “You can’t leave, Mrs. Black. You have to be around in case the kidnappers call,” the lead detective spoke, catching Diamond heading out of the door.

  “Last time I checked I wasn’t a child, you weren’t my mother, and I wasn’t under arrest. So unless you plan on shooting or arresting me, I’m leaving. I have to find my child.”

  “No, you’re not under arrest, yet, but you can be for obstruction of justice. We still need to go over the rest of the details of the events that led you here, and we also need to talk to you about any enemies your husband might have had, or anything that may be useful in our search for your daughter as well as your husband’s killer. I know it’s tough and I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but your husband would want you to do this right. I’m sure he wouldn’t want it any other way,” the female detective spoke, attempting to place her hand on Diamond’s shoulder.

  Diamond quickly snatched her arm away from her. “First off, you don’t know shit about my husband and you damn sure don’t know shit about me, so you can’t begin to tell me what he would’ve wanted. Now again, if I’m not under arrest I really have to go.” Diamond looked the detective up and down, waiting for her response.

  “Well, if you want to do this the hard way so be it. Officers, arrest her please for obstruction of justice.” She flagged the two uniformed officers in their direction.

  “What? No, you can’t do that,” Diamond yelled, causing a scene.

  The spectators outside of the house looked on in confusion.

  “Cuff her,” the detective instructed.

  “Please, you can’t do this,” Diamond screamed, trying to pull away from the officer’s grip.

  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you free of charge. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?” The female detective read her Miranda rights cle
arly and distinctively.

  “Please, my daughter will die if you do this. Please don’t arrest me.” Diamond began to cry as her temper had just written her a check that her ass couldn’t cash.

  “Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?” she repeated.

  “Yes, I understand, but please don’t take me to jail. I need to be home to find my baby.” She pleaded as tears were pouring from her eyes.

  The female detective stood looking at her, wanting to stop her from being taken away, but knowing that she had a duty to find out who was guilty of the bloodshed that had taken place that evening. She watched Diamond sob as the officers escorted her out of the house, placed her in the back of the car, and shut the door. She had no intention of keeping her in prison more than she needed to; however, if she refused to cooperate she wouldn’t have a choice. The detective looked over at her partner, who stood behind her just as confused as she was.

  Shaking his head he spoke, “There’s definitely more to this than meets the eye.”

  “Oh, I’m sure of that.”

  Both of them reentered the house to wrap up before heading down to the station.

  * * *

  Diamond rode in the back of the police car with many thoughts running through her mind. She silently prayed that things would work out for her. The sooner that she could be released from their custody, the better. How did things get so out of control? she thought. Just a few hours earlier she was looking forward to getting her relationship with Black back on track. Now as she rode in the back of the police cruiser it was evident that nothing in her life would be the same or even resemble anything from the past. The man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with had been stripped away. It was almost as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest and stomped into a million little pieces. Realizing that crying wouldn’t save her daughter, she knew what she had to do. After her last tear fell, she gently placed her head on the back of the seat and closed her eyes.