Chapter Twenty-seven

Diamond

All night I had tossed and turned on the chair in the hospital lobby, and I awoke with a stiff neck. Ken had been rushed to surgery with several gunshot wounds to various parts of his body. Miraculously, I only sustained minor cuts and bruising. One of the bullets had pierced my arm, but other than a few stitches, I was fine.

“Miss, were you the one in the car with Mr. Tucker?” one of the two men who approached me asked.

Right off the bat, I knew they were detectives. Surprisingly, they hadn’t shown up to question me yesterday when it all happened. However, I knew it was coming sooner or later.

“Yes, my name is Diamond. Ken is my fiancé. Is he okay?” The hospital hadn’t divulged any information to me yet because I wasn’t immediate family.

“Unfortunately, we’re unable to give up details at this time.” The officer patted my shoulder before taking a seat beside me. His partner continued standing with notepad and pen in hand.

“I am his fucking fiancée. I deserve to know if he’s dead or alive.”

“Calm down, Ms. Diamond. I didn’t mean to upset you. Off the record, Mr. Tucker is alive.” The officer extended his card. “My name is Officer Kemp, and this is Officer Brown. We were assigned to your fiancé’s case. Can you recount yesterday for me?”

“I already told the cops on the scene I didn’t see shit.” I rolled my eyes.

“Ms. Diamond, I didn’t ask you what you saw. I simply asked you to recount the day’s events.” Officer Kemp calmly chewed on a piece of gum while staring me down. This wasn’t his first rodeo, but it wasn’t mine either.

“Ken had just picked me up, and we were heading home. I was looking at my phone when the car went airborne. I thought we had been in a car accident until the paramedics said otherwise.”

“What happened between the time of the crash until the paramedics arrived?” Officer Brown asked.

“I don’t know. I was unconscious after hitting my head on the dashboard.” Quickly, I pointed to my dome. There was a three-inch cut from a shard of glass on my forehead, but they didn’t know that, so I went with it. Truth was I was alert and very much conscious after the car finally landed on the roof. I even almost pissed on myself as one of Omar’s goons approached our car to finish the job. He would have succeeded if it weren’t for the fact that people were pulling over to offer help. Once he heard sirens, he disappeared.

“Do you know why someone would shoot at your fiancé’s car?” Brown continued.

“No, I don’t. Ken is well loved.” I shook my head.

“Maybe he wasn’t the one with enemies.” Officer Kemp didn’t bat an eyelash.

“What are you implying?” Now I was being defensive.

“A pretty little girl with a past meets the next Jordan and gets him to fall in love with her could warrant plenty of enemies, wouldn’t you say?”

“Sounds logical to me,” Brown added.

“Maybe one of your friends from the hood became jealous,” Officer Kemp continued.

I was about to dog check his ass, but that was when Ken’s mother came through the lobby, causing a scene.

“Is my baby okay?” She bum-rushed the front desk.

“I’m sorry. Who is your baby?” the receptionist asked.

“Ken Joseph Tucker.”

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to speak with my mother-in-law.” I stood without another word, then headed over to the small crowd of people behind her.

“May I go and see him please?” Mrs. Tucker begged the receptionist.

“Your son was in surgery all night, ma’am. As soon as he leaves the recovery area for his room in the intensive care unit, we will send you right up.” The receptionist smiled. “Have a seat right there, and I’ll come and get you as soon as Mr. Tucker is ready for visitors.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. Tucker and her family took a seat near the front desk, and I joined them.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Tucker. My name is Diamond. Ken is my boyfriend.” I spoke softly. At first she looked at me like she couldn’t care less, but then she smiled.

“How are you holding up, Diamond?”

“I’m okay, just a little shaken up.” I took the seat across from her.

“This is your fault.” A voice came from behind me. I looked up to see Ken’s sister. I recognized her from a photo on his wall. Ken told me she was currently in the police academy. “My brother is a good boy. He’s never done anything to anyone! You brought this trouble, didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?” I was appalled.

“Bitch. My fucking brother is a multimillionaire. You better believe I do my research on everybody he comes in contact with.”

“You got me twisted.” I stood to prepare myself in case she started swinging.

“Diamond, my brother may not have known he was trying to wife a stripper, but I planned on telling him at Mama’s birthday party.”

“What does my past have to do with Ken loving me?” I challenged her.

“It has a lot to do with it when you’re known for conning men for money,” the sister whose name I couldn’t remember barked back. I’m not going to lie. That one stung a lot. It was a grim reminder that I was who I was no matter how much I wanted to change.

“Diamond, I think it would be best for you to leave.” Mrs. Tucker stood.

“I can’t leave without Ken knowing I’m here.” I felt so hurt. Ken was the first man I loved in a very long time. It killed me to know his family was denying me access in his time of need.

“Bullshit,” the sister hollered.

“I’ll make sure he knows.” Mrs. Tucker took her seat and waited patiently for me to go.

With my head lowered, I nodded and walked away. I knew if Ken’s family kicked me out of the hospital, they would have no problem kicking me out of his house. I had nowhere to go, but I did have his blank check in my purse from the other day. I could use it to buy myself a new life and new identity. By the time he got out of the hospital and realized what I had done, I’d be long gone, never to be seen or heard from again.

Fuck Ken. Fuck California. Fuck Omar and Duck. It was time for me to get the fuck out of dodge. I no longer gave a shit about who I owed. I was tired of looking over my shoulder. With Ken’s money, I would be set for the rest of my life, no longer selling myself to men for money.

Anticipation and dollar signs had me dancing all the way home. Once I arrived, I began rummaging through Ken’s belongings like a woman on a mission. I was sure he had a hidden stash somewhere around the house, and my greed wouldn’t let me leave without it. However, when I heard the front door open, that was when I realized I had stayed a minute too long.

Quietly, I headed to the hallway and peered over the banister. Two gunmen were searching the downstairs. Their mouths were covered with blue bandanas, the same as the one the shooter wore yesterday. Therefore, I knew Omar had sent them. Slowly, I backed away and ran back into Ken’s bedroom. Subsequent to grabbing my purse, I headed over to the balcony and used it to escape. The drop was only one story, so I jumped it with ease. As soon as my feet hit the dirt, I flew back toward the front of the condo like a track star.

After checking to ensure the coast was clear, I sprinted toward my car, then jumped in. Pulling off on two wheels, I was sure I left skid marks. “Hell yeah.” I hit the steering wheel with excitement, completely finding it unbelievable that I had managed to get away with my life and the money.

I drove for nearly thirty minutes across town to the bank branch I used to frequent with Ken. Even though I wasn’t on his account, I’d gone with him so many times that I had a rapport with a few of the staff members. After pulling into the parking lot, I killed the engine and pulled the folded check from my purse. Nervously, I stared at the paper before pulling out a pen and completing the document, signature and all. Forgery was something I learned back in school. My grades weren’t too good, which meant I went home with a lot of papers for my mother to sign. When I got tired of punishments and ass whippings, I learned how to write her name perfectly. Over time, I learned other people’s as well. Ken’s signature was one of them, and it was relatively easy. It was the first letter in his first and last names, then one squiggly line following each one.

“Now you ain’t trying to ditch me without repaying your debt, are you?” Duck’s voice startled me. He’d been lying on the floor for the entire ride.

“Shit,” I hollered before looking into the rearview mirror. Duck had a gun pointed at the back of my seat. “I wasn’t trying to ditch no one. I got your money right here.” I waved the check. “I just need to go in there and cash it.”

“I’m going with you.”

“You can’t. I’ve never gone in there with anyone besides Ken. If I show up with you and a large check payable to me, they will know something is up.” I couldn’t believe I’d been so close to walking away scot-free. Duck showing up wasn’t going to stop my plan though.

“Fine. I’ll wait here, but don’t take long.” He nodded for me to get out, and I did.

With my head held high and strutting like a peacock, I swung the door open to First National and approached the teller.

“Hey, Diamond, where’s the big guy?” Lula, my favorite of all the tellers, asked.

“I don’t know if you heard, but we had a pretty bad accident yesterday.” I pointed to my head. “Ken had to have surgery. He’ll be down for a while.”

“Oh, my goodness. I’m sorry to hear that. This is news to me.” Lula shook her head. “Is he all right though?”

“It’s pretty bad.” I nodded before producing the check and laying it on the counter. “His family has come up from Alabama and taken over. They even had the nerve to kick me out of the hospital. Can you believe that?”

“I know how it is. The same thing happened to my sister when her boyfriend of fifteen years died from cancer. The family put her out of his house and told her she couldn’t help plan the funeral and to not even show up at the services.” Lula paused before picking up the check, then fixating on it.

“Ken didn’t want me to be without while he went through this fight for his life, so he gave me a little something to hold me down because he knew his mother wouldn’t.” I tried to look depressed for dramatic effect.

“Diamond, this is a lot of money. I have to speak with my manager first. Have a seat and I’ll be back, okay?” Lula smiled and backed away. Before I could even get comfortable on the sofa, she was back. “He said it’s a go. Give me time to get it ready, and then you’ll be good to go.”

“Really?” I caught myself and cleaned it up. “Good, I thought I would be in here all day.” Feeling a little more confident, I grabbed a magazine, sat back, and crossed my legs.

During the entire forty minutes I waited, I couldn’t stop the smile from displaying on my face. The thought of being a millionaire had me tickled pink. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I was oblivious to those around me. Life was about to change, and I couldn’t wait.

“She’s right there,” I heard Lula say, and then I looked up to see who she was talking to.

“Diamond Herrington, please stand. You’re under arrest for grand larceny.”