Killer Diamonds (11 page)

Chapter 24

Nano peeked out the window when he heard a horn blare. In the driveway, was a Ford Explorer. A few seconds later, they came out in a hurry. Skillz couldn’t help but notice the way Tip’s uniform clung to her body. He quickly averted his eyes before they noticed what he was looking at. Nano jumped in the front seat while Tip climbed in the rear.

“What you think?” Tip asked pulling her hat on. Skillz looked in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Damn,” he thought. Tip’s beauty was captivating. With her gray
eyes, it was hard not to stare. He turned away. He took one last glance at her then pulled out of the driveway. “I grabbed y’all a few other things. They’re in the bag.”

Tip
looked inside the bag. “Champagne! What that for?”

“When we get the diamonds y’all can pop that.”

“You talk to Hitman?”

“I talked to him right after the first call.”

“Everybody good?” Tip asked.

“Everybody’s on schedule. Y’all know the drill?”

“Yeah, it’s just like Knoxville.”

“
Knoxville was hell,” Skillz said looking into the rearview mirror again.

*****

“Like I said, I’m sorry, and I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I believe you,” Mrs. Rogers replied. “I just can’t tell you how John will respond to this.”

“I’ll be gone before you know it Mrs. Rogers.”

“Please call me Karen if you have to be here. You’re making me feel old.” Time was glancing around the house when she spoke again. “You do this often?” she asked.

“No.”

“You wouldn’t be lying would you? You appear to be very calm considering what you’re doing.”

“It’s my first time.”

Mrs. Rogers sat properly on the sofa with her legs crossed and her back straight. “Well… if I’m not in danger, can I at least eat the pizza?”

“It’s all yours.”

Mrs. Rogers got up and walked to the kitchen. Once there, she grabbed a small plate and a spatula. When she turned around, Time was standing right behind her. “I’m not going anywhere,” she stated.

“I’m only making sure.”

“Can I ask what it is you’re after?” she inquired. Time remained quiet. “Is it money?”

“No. Your husband drives for Ms. Sanco. Ms. Sanco…”

“The diamonds,” she interrupted in a high voice. “I should have known.” Mrs. Rogers left the kitchen and headed back to the front room. “May I sit?” she asked Time.

“You can do as you would normally.”

She sat back down and crossed her legs again. She then opened the box and removed the
smallest slice. “I don’t know why I didn’t think this would happen. Silly me,” she scoffed. Mrs. Rogers took a small bite of pizza, and then looked up at Time. “Do you have a family?”

Time just gave a short laugh.

“I’m only asking young man. I think it would be considerate on your part to communicate if I have to sit here with you.”

“Yes, I have a daughter.”

Mrs. Rogers took another small bite of the pizza and wiped her mouth. “Are you and the child’s mother a couple?”

“Not anymore.”

Mrs. Rogers smiled trying to be optimistic. “Oh well… you can’t talk much but you can hold a lady against her will.” Time walked to the window and looked out before speaking. “Just the other day, I found out that her mother was…”

“Unfaithful,” Mrs. Rogers finished for him.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.”

“Who was the other man?”

Time walked to the pizza box and took a slice. “Fuck it,” he thought. Mrs. Rogers seemed cool even though he was an intruder in her home. “It was my best friend,” he told her.

“Oh dear!” The way Mrs. Rogers exclaimed made Time laugh. He took a seat adjacent to her in a high-backed chair.

“You are young,” she told him. “It’s one of the experiences you had to face in life. Would it be all right if I had some wine? Pizza and wine go great together.”

“Where is it?” he asked remembering he couldn’t trust her, even though she made him feel comfortable. Mrs. Rogers didn’t respond, she just stood and headed into the kitchen. Time followed right behind and a safe distance.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to call the police. Actually, I’m enjoying your company.” She opened the refrigerator and removed a bottle. “This is an 83. It was a good year to celebrate.” Mrs. Rogers grabbed two glasses from the wind rack, then turned and headed back into the front room again. “John should be here any minute. You should join me for a glass before he arrives.”

Time walked to the front window and looked out. “Does he drive a white Cadillac?”

“He sure does.”

“Well it just pulled up.”

“That’s the amazing John Rogers, but don’t worry about him. I’ll calm him down.”

Time glanced back at Mrs.
Rogers; if he didn’t know better he’d have sworn she was in on the heist with him. Keys jingled outside the door, and then the lock turned. Mr. Rogers stepped inside with his head down. When he looked up, he was in shock. “What the hell,” he shouted.

“Calm down John,” Mrs. Rogers said coming to her feet. “This young man will not hurt us. All you have to do is what he tells you you’re supposed to.”

“Do what I’m supposed to do?” he asked with wide eyes. “He has a gun and you’re sitting here drinking wine with him!”

Mr. Rogers was thinning on the top. He also looked as if he’d never missed a dessert with his stomach overlapping the waist of his pants.

“I’m not here to hurt you Mr. Rogers. All you have to do is drive to a location I give you, and nobody will get hurt.”

“This is
foolishness! I’m calling the cops.” Mr. Rogers began digging in his pockets. It was then that Time pulled on the action of the .9mm. “Please think about what you’re doing he warned him.

“John! Just do what he says for crying out loud!”

Chapter 25

Skillz was driving slowly scanning the house numbers on Fairmount. Finally, he stopped in front of a house with brown trim. “813,” he said out loud. “This is it here.” Nano looked in the yard to see a pink motor scooter. It was parked behind a blue Mazda 6.

“The Mazda is the girlfriend’s; the scooter is the daughter’s. I think,” Skillz added.

“I would hope so,” Tip said with a laugh.
She jumped out of the Explorer and began walking to the house. “Hey Tip!” She turned around to see Skillz waving at her. “What,” she whispered.

“You’re forgetting your hat!”

Feeling embarrassed, Tip returned and snatched the hat from him. She pulled it on and headed back towards the door. After she knocked multiple times, a tall woman around her age answered.

“Must be the girlfriend,” Nano whispered to Skillz while they hid from sight. Tip and the women talked briefly, then the women smiled and invited her in. “Must be the eyes,” Skillz said. Three minutes later, Tip was waving Nano to join her.

“Don’t forget the champagne,” Skillz told him. He watched until Nano disappeared inside. He then call Hitman and let him know everyone was in place.

*****

Kizzy was in the pick-up lane waiting on Dice. Suddenly, he appeared from the crowd with a flock of girls in tow. She smiled and tapped on the horn.

             
              “What’s up Kiz? Are you still going to watch me?”

             
              “I am, until your mom and dad get back.”

             
Dice slid into the white Maxima and like always, threw his book bag to the floor. Kizzy was looking at him waiting for him to get settled. “So, what are we going to do? You got any ideas?”

             
Sometimes me and my moms ride out.”

             
Kizzy started laughing. “Ride out? What you know about that?”

             
“We do it almost every day,” he lied. He pulled out his iPad. “Can I plug this in?”

             
Kizzy smiled curious. “Go ahead.” Dice went to work plugging the USB into the radio. She watched him impressed with the way his small hands worked with intelligence. After he had it connected, he skimmed through the tracks until he found one he thought Kizzy would like. He pressed play and waited. A second later 2pac’s “The End of Time,” came bumping through the car. He looked over to see how Kizzy would respond. She was smiling and nodding her head.

             
“Your mama lets you listen to 2pac?”

             
“She says there’s a message in every song.”

             
Kizzy studied Dice. “I told Tip you were going to be something special. I didn’t realize it had already started. If you were a teensy bit older I’d make you my boyfriend.” Kizzy pulled away from the curb. They rode for a block and half before either one of them said anything. When she turned on Lincoln, she realized that Dice was looking at her. “What’s up?” she asked, thinking how cute he was.

             
“How old do I got to be?”

             
She burst out laughing realizing he had a crush on her. “Well let me see. I’m 27, and you are…”

             
“7 years old.”

             
“Well I’m going to give you a chance when you get twenty.”

             
Dice fell quiet. “That’s thirteen more years!” Kizzy looked over to him still smiling. “I’ll tell you what, you mom said we could get pizza. When we get that pizza, I’ll think about being your girlfriend when you turn 18. But that’s the lowest I’m going.” That made Dice smile.

*****

              “Law offices of Stokes and Hudson. May I help you?”

“Step, I need to talk to you.”

“Something wrong Nique?” Step asked.

“Oh God, you’re not even going to believe this.”

“Try me,” Step remarked. She knew Monique was about to confess.

“Oh Step, he hates me!”

“Why is that?” Step looked up at the ceiling without any remorse for her former friend.

“I’ve been fucking around Step.

“No girl! I know you didn’t.” Step tried hard to sound surprised. “With who?” Step heard Monique sigh and knew she was gathering herself.

“With Skillz.”

“Nique! What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know what happened.”

Step waited until the sniffling stopped. “How long has this been going on?”

“Oh… I don’t know exactly.”

“With his best friend Nique!”

“Yeah Step.”

“But, I thought you were going to hook me up with Skillz.”

“This was already going on then.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were friends!” Step hated to admit it, but it felt good to degrade Monique. “Does Time know?”

“Yeah, he called me all kinds of names.”

“Ah Nique…”

“He hates me Step!”

“I mean, do you really blame him?” Step asked angrily. She thought Monique’s attitude was selfish. She seemed more concerned with her feelings than Time’s. “I don’t know what to say Nique. I’m sorry.”

“Can you talk to him for me? He’ll listen to you Step.”

“When I get off, I’ll call you. We’ll talk then. I’m really busy right now, sorry,” Step said then hung up.

*****

“Is that your boyfriend,” Juice asked. Juice was Mr. Davids’s daughter. Tip looked up from the table where they were playing Gin Rummy. Tip smiled, “Yes.”

Nano was watching TV with Mr. Davids and his girlfriend. Mr. Davids understood what he had to do. However, Cindy the girlfriend had a bad attitude. Respectfully, when Mr. Davids returned home with his daughter, the guns were kept from view.

“You want another beer?” Mr. Davids asked. “I’ll take one more,” Nano replied. Mr. Davids left the living room and headed to the kitchen. He returned with two cans of Coors Light. Nano accepted the beer gratefully. “We don’t mean any harm coming into your home, but it’s something we have to do,” he explained.

Mr. Davids nodded his head.
“Fuck you and that woman over there,” Cindy said loud enough for Nano and her husband to hear. “Calm down Cindy,” Mr. Davids tried to reason with her. “It’s not like they’re hurting us.”

“Look at them! They have guns! They will hurt you if you don’t drop the diamonds off. What then? They’ll hurt me and Juice!”

“I said I was going to drop the diamonds off, and they gave me their word. Isn’t that right,” Mr. Davids turned to Nano. “That’s right,” he assured. “How are you going to trust a couple of thieves?” Cindy asked with disgust. “I said I would do my part, now that’s enough,” Mr. Davids said sternly.

Cindy looked at Nano and then tip. “It’s always your own people that do you like this. When things don’t go their way, they’ll blame white people.” Nano looked at her realizing she made a strong point. Not only that, she looked familiar. “I’m sorry for holding you against your will, but this is something you will have to tolerate until the morning.”

Cindy stood up. “Is it alright if I go to bed?”

“You can do anything you want,” Nano replied. Cindy bowed in a sarcastic manner. She then walked down the hall and disappeared. Nano looked at Tip, then back to Mr. Davids. “I hope she doesn’t have any bad intentions.”