“The charges are A felonies, Ms. Baker,.I’m sure you are aware how dangerous that would be to allow him to remain free during trial preparation and trial.”
“Judge, my client is not a danger to society and we will prove that the charges against my client are bogus. The state claims to have one witness and no solid evidence.”
“Is this true, counsel?” the judge asked, turning toward the district attorney.
“We do have one witness, Your Honor—it’s actually one of the victims, Mica Thompson. We have her testimony that Mr. Keshawn Black shot both her and Lolan Kemp on the evening in question here. She’s actually present here today.”
My heart dropped to the floor. Black looked back at me and as I was looking around I spotted Mica off to the left side of the courtroom. She’d survived. Then I thought back to that day when I swore I saw her driving by me. How did this happen? Why would she accuse Black and not me? Black looked shocked as if he’d seen a ghost. She looked over at me with a look that could kill. We were staring each other down like we were about to go to war. Then she gave a devilish grin and sat back down.
“Ms. Baker, my decision stands, there will be no bail set at this time. We will revisit it later as we get closer to trial.”
“Thank you, Judge,” she said as she sat back down.
“So that’s it, I’m going to be stuck in jail?” Black said in anger as he turned to Ms. Baker. “I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“I know, Black, but there isn’t anything that we can do at this time. We will talk later, okay?”
Black was pissed and I could see the anger in his face as the officer grabbed him by the arm so he could stand and be escorted out of the courtroom. I silently cried as they took him away. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Ms. Baker and her assistant walked toward me and motioned for me to come with her.
“What is going on? He can’t stay in jail, I need him,” I said as soon as we were outside the door.
“I told you to trust me, he’s not going to be there very long. Just give me some time to straighten things out.”
“I can’t believe this. I . . .” I stopped in my tracks as Mica walked out of the courtroom. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t find the words to speak. She slowly walked toward Ms. Baker and me.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Ms. Diamond Diva. Long time no see, congrats on the baby. Too bad you’re going to be a single parent.”
“Don’t respond,” Ms. Baker jumped in.
“I’m not because she’s not worth it.”
“Tell that to your man when he gets locked away for the rest of his life!” She yelled.
“You know what, Mica, you’re going to get what you deserve, believe that.”
“Is that a threat? Because if it is, I’ll have you locked up right along with him.”
“Diamond, come on, let’s go.”
Mica laughed loudly as we headed toward the door. I turned to look back at her before making it through and she was still laughing. She took her hands as if she had a gun and pointed it at me while still laughing. I turned around and walked out of the door. I was furious. I got in my car and picked up my cell to dial Kiki. My hands were shaking and I felt like I was going to lose everything I had, including Black.
“Hello,” Kiki said in a low tone.
“Mica is alive,” I yelled.
“What?”
“She’s alive, she was in court today. She’s the witness that they have. Black is going to go to jail for what I did. What am I going to do, Kiki?”
“What do you mean, she’s alive? They had a funeral for her and everything.”
“It was a memorial. Damn, Kiki, how did this happen?”
“I don’t know D, do you think that she had something to do with all of the stuff that’s been happening to you and Black?”
“You know what, now it all makes sense—it has to be her. I knew I wasn’t crazy. Kemp is dead—it’s been her all the time. Someone has to be working with her, I can’t see her doing all of that on her own.”
“Who do you think would be helping her?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what I am going to figure out. I’m not going to just sit back and let Black rot in jail. If I have to kill that bitch, I will, and this time I won’t make the mistake of not checking her pulse,” I yelled in frustration. “I have to call JB and tell him what’s going on. I’ll call you back, Kiki.”
I hung up.
Instead of calling I decided to drive down to the warehouse. When I pulled up a few workers were standing outside. They all turned to look at me at the same time. Probably all anxious to see what was going on with Black.
“Hey D, how did everything go at court?” Tommy was the first one to speak.
“Not good, not good at all. Is JB here?”
“Yeah, he’s inside. Is there anything that you need us to do?” Money stepped up and asked. I didn’t even know him that well but I didn’t get a good vibe from him. I felt like he was up to something from the moment that Black introduced me to him.
“No, I’m fine,” I replied as I opened the door to go inside. JB was sitting in Black’s office on the phone. He was quite comfortable with his feet on the desk and his chair leaning back. He jumped up as soon as he noticed me and quickly ended his call. I didn’t know who to trust, but Black told me if anything ever happened, JB was the only one I should talk to.
“What happened down at court?” he asked as soon as he ended his call.
“They kept him and they wouldn’t give him a bail.”
“Why not?”
“Because Mica is alive and she’s saying that he’s the one that shot her and Kemp.”
“Wait a minute, she’s alive?”
“Yes, I think she has something to with all of the shit that happened. The fire, the car bomb, all of it.”
“Are you serious?”
I gave him a look that said it all. I wished that I wasn’t serious. I wished that it was all a dream that I would wake up from.
“Well, what do you need me to do? Whatever it is, I’ll handle it.”
“I need you to find out who’s helping her and I need her ass eliminated. Without her they have no case. If she’s dead they’ll have to let Black out.” I meant every word of that. I was going to do whatever I had to do for him. I had to because I knew that he’d stay there if it meant keeping me out. We not being together just wasn’t an option.
“Okay, don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of everything for you.”
“Thanks, JB, I really appreciate it. He’s gonna need you to continue taking care of things out here until he gets out.”
“No doubt, I got it.”
“Okay,” I said as I headed back out to the car. Money walked over to me just as I was about to get in.
“Hey Diamond, I’m sorry about Black. I just want you to know that if you need anything—I mean anything—I’m here for you.” He reached his hand out and touched mine. I quickly pulled my hand away.
“Thanks, Money, I’ll keep that in mind.” I tried not to be rude but I hoped that he wasn’t coming on to me.
“Okay, well, I won’t hold you. Here’s my number, make sure you use it.”
I didn’t even respond as he gave me a devilish grin and began to walk away. Black would kill him if he even thought he was looking at me too hard. That wasn’t the first time that he’d said or done something that I didn’t feel too comfortable with but I still hadn’t told Black. I was too focused on getting him out of jail. I got in the car and saw through the rearview mirror that he was still standing there as I drove away. The drive home seemed especially long because so much was going through my mind. I pulled up to the house probably in about twenty minutes but it felt like an hour. I parked, got out, and walked up to the door. Just as I turned the knob someone called my name.
“Diamond,” a female voice yelled.
I turned around to find Trice standing there with her and Black’s son holding her hand. W
hat the hell did she want? I thought.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Look, I know I don’t know you but since Black’s been locked up I’ve been struggling and since you’re his girl you have access to his money. I need some money for his son.”
“I’m sorry you’ve been struggling but I don’t have access to his money, so I can’t help you.”
“I’m trying to be nice here. You don’t know how hard it was for me to come here today. When I found out you were with him I was furious and then when I found out you were pregnant I hated you. Then I felt like an ass for it. I don’t know you but I know Black and regardless of the badass street persona he’s a good dude and if he loves you then I can’t hate you. I’m really just asking for some help—whatever you could do would help me.”
She was melting my heart. How could I not help her and the little boy who looked just like the man that I loved? This pregnancy was definitely changing me because if she’d said these same words to me before I was pregnant this conversation would have gone a whole lot different. If I turned her away I’d be the bitch that I used to be and the bitch that only cared about getting to the top and being in charge. I wasn’t that person anymore and I honestly liked this person a lot better. I stood there quiet, trying to take it all in. I must’ve stood for a minute too long because she turned around and began to walk away.
“Trice,” I called out to her. “Come in, let’s sit down and talk. Let me know what you need and I’ll make sure you get it.”
“Thank you so much,” she said, turning around and walking toward me. She followed me in to the house. I stood at the door for a second looking at the sky before I closed the door. Maybe this good deed would help things go right for me. At least that’s what I hoped anyway.
Chapter 18
Diamond
Emergency
Two months had passed since the day of Black’s arraignment and I still hadn’t heard any news of him getting out. JB had been unsuccessful in finding Mica because they’d obviously had her in a witness-protection program. I hadn’t seen her again since that day in the courtroom and honestly I wasn’t trying to. The next time I saw her I wanted it to be in a casket. I was just two months shy of giving birth to the baby and I couldn’t wait to get back to myself. Lately, Trice and I had become pretty cool. Kiki hated the idea but, shit, Kiki hated anybody she thought would take her spot as my best friend. I didn’t plan on being friends with her but shit happens. She was actually fun to hang around; I could see why Black cared about her. She reminded me of myself—well, the way I used to be.
I hadn’t been to Gia’s in two weeks and I was in desperate need of a touch-up. I didn’t have an appointment as usual but Gia would always bump me to the front of the line, pissing all the other girls in the salon off. I pulled up in my freshly cleaned BMW and parked right in front. There were a few random people standing outside on the corner and I could tell before I got inside that it was packed. I walked in and headed to the back.
“Hey girl,” Gia yelled as she normally did when she saw me. She immediately stopped curling the girl’s hair in her chair to give me a hug. “Look at you, all prego, I never thought I’d see the day,” she laughed.
“Yeah, tell me about it, girl, I can’t wait until this is all over so I can get back to normal.”
“What you getting done today?”
“The works, my hair is a damn mess.” I laughed, pointing to my head.
“Well, you can go head in the back to the shampoo girl, I’ll do you next.”
“Okay, cool.” I walked in the back where the shampoo bowls were. I sat down and waited for the girl to come over, which took a little too long but shit, I just jumped in front a bunch of chicks outside. I couldn’t be so impatient. She walked over to me with a smirk on her face. This was a new shampoo girl who I had never seen before. I wanted to know what the hell she was smiling about but then I remembered my ass was big and pregnant.
“You’re Black’s girl, right?” she asked.
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 co
ntraction 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?”
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