Diamonds and Pearl (16 page)

Domo and LA exchanged nervous glances. It really wasn't a hard decision to make, considering the choices placed in front of them. Get rich or die.

“Fuck it. We wasn't that cool anyway,” LA said, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

Vita studied them both for a moment that felt like a lifetime before finally putting her gun away. “Glad we're on the same page. Welcome to the flock.”

And just like that, Domo and LA were recruited into Diamonds's pirate crew.

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Pana watched as the man with the diamond teeth stalked back in his direction, smoking gun in hand. With his crew gone and trapped, most men would've given up hope, but Pana wasn't most men. He was a survivor. Pana caught the taller of the masked men more focused on his partner than his quarry, and busted out a desperation move. He slammed the butt of his gun into his chin, stumbling him and creating a hole in the circle they'd formed around Pana. The opening was all the Mexican needed, and he took off like a bat out of hell. Pana had made it nearly to the corner before he heard the familiar retort of a gun being fired. He knew what would come next, but he still wasn't ready for the searing pain that exploded in the back of his thigh when the slug hit it. He was able to stumble a few more feet before pitching face first to the concrete. He wasn't even on the ground long enough to process the extent of the damage before a pair of powerful hands grabbed the back of his suit jacket and yanked him up.

“On your feet, bitch nigga!” The stranger from Bonita's pulled him off the ground. He and the taller masked man grabbed Pana by the arms and forced him against a wall.

Pana struggled against the men, but it was futile. Between being shot and the loss of blood, he was so dizzy that he had a hard time focusing. He watched helplessly as the masked man with the diamond teeth stalked toward him. He stopped just short of Pana, removing his ski mask and shaking his long dreadlocks loose. He was looking at Pana as if he were waiting for him to recognize him, but to Pana's recollection, he'd never seen him before.

“You know, I never expected to come out here and cause all this mess.” He holstered his gun. “I'd hoped the bomb could've ended things quickly. Maybe not clean, but quick.” His tone was almost apologetic.

“You know who the fuck I am? I'm Pana Suarez, muthafuckas! You and everybody you love are gonna die for this!” Pana threatened.

The taller masked man who was holding Pana hauled off and slapped him so hard that blood shot from his lips. “Watch your fucking mouth!”

“Ain't no need to be a brute about it,” said the man with the diamond teeth. “No need to kick him when he's already down. Now, we know who you are, but do you know who I am?”

Pana shrugged as if he didn't know or care.

“The name is Diamonds—maybe you've heard of me?”

It took a few seconds, but the name finally clicked in Pana's head and he remembered where he'd heard it. During one of his excursions to Miami, he had heard stories about a newcomer who was making major noise by single-handedly raising the murder rate in Florida. The street cats called him Diamonds, but the old-timers had another name for him:
el hombre de fuga
, “the vanishing man.” In hushed tones they told stories about men who ran afoul of him, vanishing from their homes in the night, as if by magic, never to be heard from again. The color drained from Pana's face.

“Noticing your sudden change in complexion, I'll take that as a yes,” Diamonds said with a smirk.

“Look, if it's money or drugs you want, I've got plenty of both. Just name your price, cut me loose, and we'll forget any of this ever happened.”

Diamonds patted him on the cheek playfully. “I thank you for your generosity, but we've got plenty of money, boss. As far as the drugs, several of my associates have already cleaned out your main stash house. I hear they made quite the mess, and for that, you have my sincere apologies. Robbery was never our intention, but it'd be a shame to have all them good drugs go to waste, seeing how you no longer have a need for them. What I want from you is worth more than anything you can give me, at least not willingly.”

“If you've already taken my money and my drugs, what the fuck do you want?” Pana asked nervously.

Diamonds reached into the back of his pants and produced a sleek black knife. Its handle was made from what looked like a human bone. “Your soul,” he told him before burying the blade into Pana's heart.

*   *   *

“You see the way my brother did that boy? Now that's how you murder a nigga!” Goldie said excitedly from the backseat. He, Diamonds, Hank, and Buda were in a dark-colored SUV, fleeing the crime scene.

“From the way he was shaking, I thought he'd die from a heart attack before anybody had a chance to shoot him,” Buda added. He was sitting next to Goldie, working on his second bottle of whiskey for the day.

“If all these niggas in New York are as easy to knock off as that Pana character, we're gonna be running this whole city before long,” Goldie said.

“Don't go getting ahead of yourself,” Hank said over his shoulder. He was behind the wheel of the SUV. “Pana was as tough as nails, and had we not had the element of surprise on our side, that whole situation could've played out differently. No matter how big or how small, never underestimate an enemy. Remember that, and you're likely to live to be as old as I am.”

“Listen to this old
Art of War
–ass nigga,” Goldie said, mocking him.

“Hank is right,” Diamonds spoke up. Until then he'd been riding silently in the passenger seat, staring out the window. “We got lucky with Pana, but that doesn't mean everybody else is going to fold that easy. We've got to be smart and careful.”

“Speaking of careful, what was that shit back there about?” Hank asked.

Diamonds turned to him. “What you mean?”

“You know what I mean, Diamonds. I'm talking about you walking into those bullets like you're the damn Terminator or something.”

“The bomb blast had that boy's brains so scrambled that he probably couldn't have hit me if I'd been standing right in front of him,” Diamonds said as if it were nothing.

“But what if he had?” Hank challenged.

Diamonds waved him off. “Stop talking to me about possibilities and let's look at the facts. We went in there to get rid of Pana and we did. That was our goal. I don't know why you in here stressing me like an old hen over shit that's not important.”

“Yeah, stop stressing, Hank,” Goldie added from the backseat.

“Goldie, shut the fuck when you hear grown folks talking,” Hank snapped. “Fuck, with you and your slipping ass, Pana almost got away. How many times do I have to tell you not to take your eye off the damn ball?”

Goldie was silent because he knew he had messed up by letting Pana steal off on him and run. Had Pana gotten away, they wouldn't have had a second chance to pull off the job.

“Diamonds,” Hank continued, “you ain't never been the most cautious guy, but it seems like ever since we buried John-Boy, you're becoming more and more reckless with your life. You act like you wanna die.”

Diamonds laughed at the statement. “OG, one thing you ain't never gotta question is my love of this world and the things in it. I got plenty more living to do before I die, and so long as I keep home close to my heart, it won't be a concern of mine anytime soon.” He ran his finger along the cord around his neck. It held the soil-filled pouch.

Hank cut his eyes at him. He knew the pouch and the story behind it. “You can bet your life on the word of that crazy swamp woman if you want, but I'd rather you just got the fuck out the way when niggas are shooting at you.”

“Man, I sure do miss that old bird,” Goldie said, thinking of Auntie. He and his brother had spent many a night sleeping in her hut when they had nowhere else to go. “Say, Diamonds, I was thinking now that we've got a little paper squirreled away, maybe we could send for her. How do you think Auntie would like New York?”

“Ain't no way we could ever get that lady to leave New Orleans. She's as much a part of the land as it is of her,” Diamonds told him, cutting dangerously close to the truth. Before he'd left New Orleans, he'd buried her body deep in the swamp.

“I guess you're right,” Goldie said, slightly disappointed. “Maybe once we handle our business up here, we can take a trip back home and visit her?”

“We'll see,” Diamonds said, and went back to staring out the window. He hated misleading his little brother, but he didn't have the heart to tell him that he had snuffed out the life of a woman who had treated them better than any of their biological family had. Goldie loved Auntie, and he'd never understand that her death was necessary for their survival. “Anybody hear from Vita?” Diamonds said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, she checked in a few minutes ago. Everything is cool,” Hank told him.

“That's my girl.” Diamonds smiled proudly. “So I guess things worked out with them kids from Jersey who TJ plugged her with, huh?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Hank answered. “She had to lay one of them to rest, but the other two stood tall.”

Diamonds shrugged. “There will be casualties in every war. On the upside, we only lost one out of three recruits.”

“Diamonds, I don't know how to feel about you bringing all these new niggas into our thing,” Buda spoke up. “TJ is your cousin, so I can dig it, but do we really need to be fucking with more outsiders?”

“I can appreciate your concern, Buda, but I think an infusion of fresh blood is a necessary evil at this point. Our troops are already spread thin between what we got going on in Texas and Florida. New York is a big city, and it's going to take more than just the six of us to hold on to what we're taking.”

Buda frowned. “I feel you, but I'm just feeling a little funny about all the new faces.”

“Rest easy, Buda. I trust Vita's judgment, but we ain't gonna give them the keys to the front door just yet. Every newcomer, including TJ, will have to earn their way into our inner circle,” Diamonds promised, which seemed to put Buda at ease for the moment. “I had a thought. We should go out tonight,” he suggested, catching everyone in the SUV by surprise.

“Am I hearing this correct? Mr.
All Business
is actually down to have some fun for once?” Goldie didn't try to hide his shock. They had been in New York for more than a month, and Diamonds had never once shown any interest in going out with them.

“I'm thinking I probably ain't been the easiest muthafucka to deal with as of late. I got a lot on my mind, and maybe I need a good night of drinking to even me out,” Diamonds told him.

“I don't really care what his reasons are, so long as I get to jump in some New York pussy tonight!” Buda downed the remainder of his bottle in one swig. At the mention of having a good time, his sour mood picked up. “Maybe me and you can even double down on something like we used to, Diamonds. It'll be just like old times, right?”

“Sho ya right, Buda. Just like old times.” Diamonds smiled, but inside he was frowning. Buda had been drinking heavily since John-Boy had been killed. Lately he was always drunk or on his way to being drunk, and it was starting to concern him. It would have to be addressed eventually, but this wasn't the night for it. “Hank, get TJ on the line and tell him to pass the word to his people that the deed is done. Goldie, I want you to raise Vita and tell her to go home and get pretty. I think it's high time that us country niggas see what this New York nightlife really be bout.”

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Pearl stood on the corner of 125th and Lenox, trying her best not to freeze her ass off. The short black leather miniskirt and thigh-high boots were cute to death but hardly appropriate for the weather. She looked like she was out there selling pussy, and she wanted desperately to get off that corner before she was either arrested or abducted.

It had been no easy task for her to slip out of the house dressed the way she was. After eating dinner, she had expected Sandra to do her usual and go to bed early, but as dumb luck would have it,
The Ten Commandments
was coming on television that night, and Sandra planned to stay awake to watch it. There was no way Pearl was going to wait three and a half hours until it was over, so she had to take matters into her own hands. She offered to make Sandra a cup of tea, and then spiked it with Benadryl. An hour into the movie, Sandra was fast asleep and Pearl was in the wind.

The plan was for Marisa and Sheila to swing by and pick her up in a cab, but it was fifteen minutes past their meet time and there was still no sign of the girls. This is why Pearl hated moving on other people's time. It was bad enough she only had about an hour or two to chill, and their being late was cutting into that. She would give them five more minutes and then she was taking her ass home.

Before she could make good on her threat, a red Jeep with big gold rims came bending around the corner. Reggae music blasted from the speakers, and even though all the tinted windows were rolled up, you could still smell the weed smoke seeping from it. When it stopped on the corner where Pearl was standing, she wisely backed away from the curb. Her father had always taught her never to get too close to a car if she couldn't see who was in it. With all the dirt her family was into, death or being kidnapped were constant threats. Her hand had just slid inside her purse when the passenger window rolled down and she saw Sheila's face smiling out at her.

“What's good, Pearl?” Sheila yelled louder than she needed to. She was tipsy already.

“Sheila, you know better than to be rolling up on me, all suspect. We almost had a situation out here.” Pearl patted her bag.