Two Gun didn’t speak. When he got to the box, he squinted. It wasn’t a box at all, nor was it a chest. It was a casket, his casket. As he shook his head in disappointment, Tommy’s Desert Eagle opened up the back of Two Gun’s head, dropping him face-first into the casket. Tommy lifted Two Gun’s legs over the lip and into the casket before closing it. “Good riddance to you, you old fart,” he said before strolling for the exit.

  Chapter 27

  THE SIT-DOWN

  When Diamond entered the restaurant, she found a nice spot in the back where she could see the entrance and everyone inside. It was an old trick her father used whenever they went out to eat as a family. She checked her watch: 2:58 PM. She pulled her mirror out and checked her appearance. She snapped the case shut as a white Mercedes limousine pulled up and five Russians got out and entered the restaurant, each monitoring an area outside. In came Semok, who spotted Diamond already seated and approached looking like a mobster from a movie. He was stocky, with broad shoulders and short, spiked hair. He stood 5’11” and was over 200 pounds of solid muscle.

  “Did you order yet?” he asked, while taking a seat across the booth from her.

  “No, I was gonna wait until you got here,” she replied.

  “Very good. I could eat a horse,” Semok said, opening his menu.

  Once he ordered his meal, he got down to business. “Okay, tell me what it is that would interest me.”

  Diamond removed her sunglasses and made direct eye contact with the Russian mob boss. “I mentioned over the phone that my boyfriend is dead. And from what I understand, you might need someone to replace him,” she began.

  “And you want his spot, I assume,” Semok said, eyeing her precariously.

  “Well, Mr. Budinov, that’s exactly what I want,” she said, gazing right at him.

  Semok grinned with admiration at this woman. She was brave and ambitious. Easing back into his seat, he replied, “I should remind you that JR moved more than 200 kilos for me a month. That’s a helluva lot of coke to handle, especially for a woman to handle all by herself. Pardon me for perhaps discriminating against you, but do you actually think you can handle a big shipment like that every month?”

  Diamond smiled with confidence. “No, I don’t think I can. I know I can. Look Mr. Budi--”

  “Semok,” he said, cutting her off. “Just call me Semok.”

  “Well, Semok, it’s like this: I’ve been around long enough to know how to handle myself. In fact, I know all of my boyfriend’s clients, who are currently on hold and awaiting my call. The game is in my blood, Semok. All I ask is for a chance to prove myself.”

  Semok’s amused grin turned into a full-blown smile. This female in front of him had not come to play games. “Well, Diamond, if you are serious, I’ll charge you the same price JR once had. Fifteen a key, but--”

  “Excuse me Semok,” Diamond interrupted, “but I’m well aware of the prices JR paid, and it’s not $15,000. Now, do you want to make money or not? Or do you want to keep playing games?” Diamond asked.

  “Playing hard ball, eh?” he grunted.

  “My father didn’t name me Diamond just because I was beautiful.”

  “Okay, Diamond, $7,000 a key. But I should warn you that taking your boyfriend’s place means assuming the debt he left behind,” Semok emphasized.

  “I understand. In fact, I stopped by his loft and collected the money before coming here. In the trunk of the burgundy Mercedes out front, you’ll find two duffle bags of cash. One is for what JR owed you, and the other is for the purchase,” she said as the food arrived.

  Semok Budinov was intrigued at how she stayed one step ahead of him. There was only one way to find out if she was as good as she said she was. “Okay, I see that you’re not one for playing games, so you will deal with me and no one else. But let me warn you. One chance is all you get and that’s it,” he said snapping his fingers for one of his men to come to the table.

  He whispered something into the man’s ear. The man grabbed Diamond’s car keys and went to remove the bags from her trunk while Semok made a business call to an associate about Diamond taking over JR’s old clientele.

  After he got off the phone, he said, “Okay Diamond, tomorrow morning, I want you to drive down to the Dockweller State Beach. There is a warehouse not far from the shipping docks. Make sure you bring help along with you, including something to transport the product in,” he said extending his hand. Diamond shook it, sealing the deal to start a new beginning.

  “Let me get another drink,” Whisky said after downing a triple shot of 151 Puerto Rican rum. This was his ninth shot since he’d been there. He was shitty drunk. He had taken Charles’s death harder than he had expected. Not only was Charles a good business man--loyal, respectful to his friends, and protective--but he was like family.

  Once the bartender disappeared in the back, Chavo and Shug’s cousin, Mike, entered the empty place, turning the Now Open sign around so it said, Sorry, we’re closed. He locked the doors and turned to look at Whisky, who was too drunk to notice that a metal wire had been wrapped about his neck. Chavo pulled on the wire from both ends while Mike grabbed Whisky by the ankles and pulled his feet out from under him.

  Whisky kicked and wiggled for his life, while struggling for air. The blood vessels in his eyes popped, and he saw nothing but a dark cloud. After a few more violent spasms, his body went limp. Whisky was dead. The bartender snuck back into the bar. Four of Clyde’s soldiers wrapped Whisky up inside a rug and took him out the back door, so they could take him out to sea and dump him in the ocean.

  Chapter 28

  THE MOVEMENT

  After emerging from the restaurant, Diamond took a five-hour drive out to a notorious housing project in Oakland, where her cousin, Butch, lived. Butch was a six-foot-three African-American who weighed over 250 pounds and was cut up like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. He had one of those chin strap beards with a bald head, and lived in jeans and a wife-beater. Over the years, Diamond had heard a lot of good things about her big cuz. One was that he ran the whole projects around his way and rocked out with a strong team that was completely loyal.

  When she pulled up in Butch’s neighborhood, she spotted him sitting on the porch of one of his trap houses with his right-hand man, 4-5, his homie Silk, and an oversized dude name Butta. Butch couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw his cousin step out of a big boy Benz and approach him.

  As he went to meet her halfway, everyone in the neighborhood stopped to look.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t the Snow White princess. Look at chu. All grown up. What the hell are you doing in this part of town? Don’t you know you’re a hot commodity? Give me some love,” he said, extending his arms for a hug.

  Diamond beamed as she walked up and disappeared inside his tree trunk arms. Butch’s three cohorts standing by the trap house watched with keen interest. It had been a long time since the guys had seen his little cousin. They remembered a pretty little girl who too often played the spoiled brat. Now she was back, and she looked awesome.

  “I heard about Uncle Charles, and I would have come to the funeral, but you know I don’t fuck with Clyde like that. You remember what happened, right?”

  “How can I forget? He slept with your girlfriend the night you came to visit for Christmas and you beat them both up,” Diamond chuckled.

  “He didn’t sleep with my girl; he threw salt in the game, along with some shit that wasn’t true. But fuck him. What’s good with you? What brings you to the Bay area?” Butch asked with folded arms.

  “Well, uz, I need your help. And I need it now. Something’s come up,” she said, removing her Dior shades. “I hear that you got yourself a nice little business down here, but I’m here to offer you something much bigger. I wanna know whether you want to make some real money.”

  Butch folded his arms. He curiously looks at his cousin and said, “Doing what?”

  “Let’s put it this way. By tomorrow, I’ll have over 200 keys, just waiting to be moved. The faster I move this shit, the more money we make. So, what do you say?”

  “When do you wanna start?” he replied eagerly.

  “Look, Butch, I’m not gonna tell you what to do because obviously you have been doing this longer than me. All I can tell you is to stay by my side, and I’ll take you straight to the top.”

  After establishing her ranks of loyal lieutenants and foot soldiers, Diamond called a meeting with all the men that she had put on stand-by on the phone before she met with Budinov. They all met up in an LA storm drain. The meeting included the new leader of the Crips, Lonnie, who was accompanied by two of his lieutenants, Bob and Bruce. Then there was Sunny Black, who controlled a few projects in Englewood, Tom-Tom, Buddy, and six other major drug dealers. Each man was used to buying at least five or more keys a week. Diamond knew she had her work cut out for her.

  When she spoke, she spoke with such confidence and passion, everyone around her paid close attention. That day, she made the group an offer they couldn’t refuse--15 a key.

  Sput raised his hand. “What about the Ape Gang?”

  Diamond clenched her teeth when she heard the name.

  “That’s a good question,” Tom-Tom- agreed. “If the Ape Gang killed JR, won’t they be looking to strike again?”

  Diamond addressed these worries. “Let me handle the Ape Gang. You guys only have to worry about making money. And Lonnie, I know JR was family, but don’t let his death cause you to lose your head and fuck up what you got going. I promise you by next week, you guys will have it your way,” she said, looking over at Butch.

  He already knew what she had in mind.

  “Oh, yes, fuck me, daddy!” Rachel moaned as she rode Buns’ dick like he was Seattle Slew. “C’mon, hit it harder, Ssss, oooh!” she screamed in bliss.

  Bun was a vicious sugar daddy. He loved to fuck young girls and had a fetish for fat asses. That’s how he got the nickname: Buns.

  As Rachel bounced up and down on his dick, there was a knock on the motel door. “I’m busy, come back later,” Buns grunted.

  The knocking got louder.

  “I said I’m fuckin’ bu--”

  Boom!

  A 12-gauge shotgun door buster shell blew the door open. Buns quickly pushed the broad off his dick. She fell to the floor, only to leave his chest wide open for the next shot.

  Click! Clack!

  Another shell got loaded in the chamber.

  “You can’t make it to your friend’s funeral, but you got time to fuck underage bitches, you pervert,” Reese Chubs said, pulling the trigger.

  Boom!

  Buns’ chest caught a slug like a pass from Michael Vick. He flipped off the bed onto the floor. Rachel looked up in mortal terror. Reese showed no emotion, but then smiled as his dick got hard. Shug’s cousin, Mike, walked in the room with Chavo. Mike pulled out his revolver just as Reese started to unzip his pants. He beat Reese to the punch and put a bullet in her skull.

  “What chu do that for?” Reese asked.

  “Bring ya freak ass on. Ain’t none of that shit goin’ down while I’m here,” Mike stated before he walked out the door.

  Reese looked at him and frowned, but Chavo just shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “He’s right.”

  Chavo got on his phone and called Clyde. “Yeah, the job is done.”

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. I tell you what. Let’s go out or something. I need a drink,” Clyde replied.

  Chapter 29

  KISS OF DEATH

  When Diamond got home the first thing she did was relax in her hot water jet spa. The past month had been crazy, so much death and loss. Her father, her lover, and best friend all gone with in a week. Diamond wanted to cry but why? Death is inevitable, regardless if you live a long life or short one . . . so why cry about it? Diamond laid her head back and stared at the ceiling. She would learn to channel her sadness into cold calculated revenge.

  Once she got out of the tub . . .

  “I’ll see you there.”

  Soon as she hung up there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in.” Diamond replied.

  Diamond’s maid came in carrying a phone.

  “I thought I said I didn’t want to be bothered.” When Diamond looked the young maid in the eyes her eyes she saw tears. “What’s wrong?”

  “I . . . I’m sor . . . sorry, Ms. White.”

  Diamond took the phone while staring at the maid, “Who is this?”

  “My name is Verningo Castor. We haven’t met yet but our lives are so closely woven together.”

  Diamond gritted, “What do you want?”

  “Well, I kind of already have what I want and that is your beautiful mother, Pearl.”

  Diamond tore out of her room and down the hall shouting her mother’s name.

  “Stop shouting my dear and you can also stop running. I assure you she is safe with me and no harm will come to her.”

  Diamond stopped running and began pacing back and forth.

  “I’ve been watching you from a distance. You’ve grown into quite the woman. I know how all of this can be confusing to you. This thing with me, your father and mother was before your time. It has nothing and everything to do with you at the same time.”

  “What do you want?” Diamond growled into the phone.

  “Ahh, straight to business like your father. Okay, the quickest way to get your mother back is to kill yourself.”

  CLICK!

  Soon as Verningo Castor hung up Diamond ran through the house looking for Clyde. She found him out front talking to Shug. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

  “Castor has my mother!”

  “What, now calm down.” Clyde looking down at his little sister. “How do you know Castor did it.”

  “He just called me and told me!”

  “How do you know it was him and how do you know he really got your mother? You’re jumping out there sis. Don’t tell me someone can call and say anything and you get all worked up.”

  “It’s my mother, Clyde!” Diamond grumbled, “and it was Castor. I could felt it in my bones.”

  “Look Diamond, this thing with Verningo and our father was ages ago. Nobody really knows what happened but it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

  Clyde could see it in Diamond’s eyes she was going to do something stupid, something could mess everything up.

  “Okay, listen. I’m going to make some calls. If what you say is true Carlton Butler should know something. But we can’t just go in guns blazing, Diamond. We got to be smart and put the business . . .” Before he could finish Diamond was storming off, “Diamond don’t do anything stupid!”

  Clyde walked back over to Shug shaking his head, “Maybe that wasn’t a good idea,” he mumbled.

  “What’s up with cuz, fam. She look a little upset. You need me to go see somebody?”

  “Nah, she’ll be good. But I do need you to handle what’s in front of you.”

  Just then Mickey pulled up. Mickey had to confer with Clyde about Charles’s business interests. As Mickey stepped out of his Lexus, Clyde said, “Mickey, I need you to ride with my men to pick up my stepmom.”

  Mickey frowned, “Where is she?” he asked.

  “She went shopping by herself. She keeps calling me to send someone to get her. My friend, Shug, here and his partner, Kev, will join you if that’s not a problem,” Clyde said.

  “No, not at all,” Mickey replied, then turned to walk back to the car.

  When Mickey got in the driver’s seat, Kev got into the back seat while Mickey drove all the way to a supermarket in Long Beach. He couldn’t understand why Pearl had gone so far to do food shopping. He knew she was undergoing a lot of stress, but this was ridiculous.

  Once he pulled into the parking lot and parked, Kev pulled out his .357 revolver and placed it at the back of Mickey’s head.

  Boom!

  Mickey’s brains were all over the front windshield and the dashboard. “Fuck, Kev. You almost got that shit on these Pradas,” Shug joked. “Next time let me know when you’re gonna shoot.”

  The two exited the car, walked out of the parking lot, and saw Polo and Cheeko Raw, sitting in a blue Buick Regal. As they got in, Polo asked, “Did y’all get him?”

  With a deep voice, Shug asked, “What’chu think?”

  In Compton, Diamond, Butch, 4-5, and Butta sat behind the tinted window of a white Chevy Suburban, watching Vicious, C-4 and Poke loitering out front at one of the Ape Gang’s main coke houses, surrounded by six other gang members.

  “Are you sure these are the guys?” Diamond asked, staring at Vicious and C-4, who were walking into the house.

  “Yeah, I told you Cuz, word on the street is that these dudes are vicious. They’re known for hitting Crips on their own turf,” Butch explained.

  “Alright, let’s see how they react when the tables are turned,” Diamond replied, cocking back her 50-shot Uzi.

  The team did the same. “You sure you ready for this Cuz? You know we can handle this from here,” Butch said, uneasy about putting his cousin in danger.

  “Save your worries, Butch. I’m not the little girl you think I am. Besides, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Right?” Diamond asked.

  She wrapped a white bandana around her face and tied another over her freshly-braided hair.

  The other three did the same before getting out. Diamond had already picked out Poke to be the first victim. Poke spotted them, but before his hand reached the handle of his gun, a hail of bullets took him down. Instantly, an enormous wave of bullets rained on the porch and steps. The loud crack of gunshots echoed through the neighborhood, ripping up chunks of wood. Mothers rushed outside of their homes to get their children back in the house. Crackheads stood close by, hoping to find a couple of dollars on a dead body, so that they could cop more drugs, while the LAPD turned in the opposite direction of the gunshots.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23