Killer Diamonds (8 page)

Chapter 15

When Ace stopped by Mr. Dunlap’s pawnshop, a black Porsche just happened to be parked out front. He jumped out of his Silverado admiring the car. It gave him new ideas on what he was going to do with his part of the money. 

“
Damn that shit’s nice,” he said upon closer inspection of the car. He had to walk inside and see who owned it.

Inside, Mr. Dunlap was speaking to a man with Jewish traits. He had on a pair of
Cartier shades to conceal his eyes. The suit he wore probably had a price range of 10,000 dollars.  There was also another man in the pawnshop. From the way he stood close to the man in the expensive suit, Ace determined he was the man’s protection. 

“How are you Ace,”
Mr. Dunlap began. “I was just talking about you. This is the friend I’ve been telling you about.”

Ace stepped forward.

“How you doing?” Ace asked.

The
Jewish man simply crossed his arms. Ace now realized he was in the presence of a true businessman. Without any warning, the other man stepped forward and extended a hand. He was white and built like a body builder.  “I’m sorry, but my boss has no reason for small talk. He is here about the diamonds.”

“
Alright,” Ace said shaking the man’s hand. He was immediately intimidated by his strength.

“
Mr. Dunlap tells us, you can get the old lady’s diamonds.” Ace looked at Mr. Dunlap; he then looked back at the two strangers. He felt uncomfortable leaving his gun in the truck.

“
Yeah… me and my bro going to get them.”

“
When?” the Jewish man asked.

“
Thursday.” 

“
Are you certain?”

“
We got this.”

“So
the fee for bringing me the diamonds will be how much?”

Ace thought
quickly. Craig had said they were cutting Mr. Dunlap out of the deal. Craig had wanted to put Tony down. Ace didn’t care. “That’s what I came to see Mr. Dunlap about.”

“
Speak, if you don’t mind speaking freely.”

Ace looked at Mr. Dunlap. “
It’s like this, we have a problem. You see, there’s more people that want to bid on the stones.”

“Like who?” t
he Jewish man asked.

“
Tony.”

The
Jewish man removed his shades. “Tony?”

“
Yeah… he owns the strip club.”

“
What strip club?”

“Club D
elights.”

The
Jewish man looked to the bodyguard. Ace continued. “We were offered a better deal.”

“
What is better?”

“
My brother and I walked away with six mill each.”

The
Jewish man smiled. “I like the way you try to negotiate with no guarantees. But I respect your business skills. So are you saying you wish to cancel Mr. Dunlap’s proposition?”

“
I just want the best deal we can get.”

The Jewish man then turned to his bodyguard. With this motion
, the bodyguard pulled out a gun equipped with a silencer and dumped two rounds in Mr. Dunlap’s chest. Mr. Dunlap fell backwards clutching his chest. The man then looked back at Ace. “As you’d wish. Now I’m in a position to negotiate. I have a briefcase with one million dollars cash in it.” He turned to the bodyguard, “David, please show Ace the money.”

The
bodyguard walked behind the counter where Mr. Dunlap usually stood and returned with a briefcase. He smoothly opened it for Ace to view. “If you would like, we can finish this in the back. David close the shop while Mr. Ace and I finished business.

*****

“Yo. Nano! The supervisor wants you.”

“Me?”
Nano pointed to himself.

“
Yeah you.”

Nano set
the emergency brake and jumped off the forklift. He then headed to the main office, which was around the corner. When Nano made it, Mr. Yarbough indicated with a hand for Nano to enter. He walked in and took a seat facing him. “Is there a problem?”

Mr. Yarborough looked
fragile on the other side of the desk. He was a black man probably in his late sixties in need of a pair of glasses from the way his eyes continuously squinted.

“
I have reasons to believe you are under the influence.”

“
Under the influence?”

“Yes.
I received a phone call about you and your behavior. It’s irrelevant what you do when you are not here. But when you are, safety is the number one priority in this facility.”

“
I’m not under the influence.”

“
Nothing whatsoever?”

“
Nah…”

“
Do you mind taking a test?”

“No
I don’t mind,” Nano said casually. He’d taken the test numerous times in prison, what could be so hard now. “Where’s the cup?”

“
We don’t use urine samples here. The infirmary will retrieve a hair follicle from you. We do our test therally here Mr. Whatley. Now please go, we still have work to do.”

Nano nodded his head and walked out
of the office. The infirmary was located at the front entrance to the plant. It was the first door on your left. Nano headed out thinking about what would he tell Tip. He considered himself dead with the test. When he made it to the infirmary door, he continued walking until he was in the parking lot.   Nano slid in his Chevrolet Avalanche. Before he went home, he had to go tell Mr. Jones what had happened.

Chapter 16

Time was seriously considering about not going through with fucking over the group. The more he thought about it, the more he realized Skillz
was the only snake. It was him that had been doing the fucking all along. He turned into the driveway on the corner of Riverdale. It was the white house where he did the majority of his hustling. After Tuesday, his hustling days would be far behind him.  He would get his diamonds, and tell Nique and Skillz to get the fuck on. He jumped out of the Donk just as a black Cadillac Seville parked at the curb. He looked at his watch out of curiosity.

“
How’s it looking?” he asked when the man made his approach. “It’s looking good,” Twin said flashing a mouth full of various metals. His teeth were gold, rose gold, and platinum. Twin was his man on the streets. Anything he placed in his hands disappeared rapidly. “It’s been dry over here. I hope you straight.”

Time looked around and threw
him the keys. It was how they always made the deal.  Twin walked to the trunk. Once he opened it, he reached in and pulled out a bundle wrapped in plastic.  It was then that someone in a Mustang with 22-inch rims began taking pictures.

*****

Ace walked out of the pawnshop with the million dollars in the briefcase. On his way out, he had politely grabbed a diamond bracelet and a nickel-plated .38. They were two of the items he always wanted from the old man. He knew Mr. Dunlap wouldn’t miss them. He had made an agreement, that he could deliver the diamonds. If so, the Jewish man promised him another ten million. They agreed with a handshake.

In his white Silverado, Ace felt like he had hit the
lottery. He was an instant millionaire. Craig would be proud of him there was no doubt about it.  He was driving at a safe speed looking both ways. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over. He was kind of wishing he didn’t have such big rims on the truck. If he did get pulled over and the police found the money, they were going to categorize him as a kingpin. If not, they would probably kill him, take the money, and etcetera. He now had a .38 to go with the .380 he had gotten from Mr. Dunlap’s pawnshop. If he had to, he would probably make a go for Craig’s detail shop just to get the money into his hands.  Ace turned on Bethea Street. Usually he would have the system cranked up, but the two 12-inch woofers were still behind the seats. He needed to display common sense since he was downtown and police headquarters were downtown. He was passing by Club Delight when he spotted Cherry and two other strippers standing outside. They already had plans to go out. However, she didn’t know what type of vehicle he drove. “Why not impress her when the sun is out,” he thought. He turned into the parking lot that joined Club Delight with a Japanese restaurant. Slowly he pulled to where the girls stood with their eyes glued to the truck. Ace stopped right beside them and leaned out the window. “What’s up Cherry? he asked with the bracelet glistening in the sun.

*****

Nano walked into the red brick parole offices on Simpson Street disturbed. He told the receptionist it was important that he see Mr. Jones.

“Can you wait?” she asked.

“Not really.”

The receptionist picked up the phone and started to speak indistinctly into it. She then returned it to the base. “Go right ahead,” she stated. Nano walked to the door with the nameplate Tyrone Jones on it. He was just there two days ago. He knocked once. “Come in,” the voice said from inside. Nano stepped in. The first thing he noticed was the girl.

“What’s up Nano?” Jones asked.

“What’s up?
” Nano asked.

“Close the door,” Jones said smoothly. Nano softly pulled the door closed.

“Nano this is Tracy. Tracy this is my man Nano.”

“Hey Nano,” she said in a sultry way. Tracy had her hair dyed burgundy. It was short and stylish. She sat properly in a Fogel skirt and H&M pointy black boots. She looked like a girl from a video with her thick thighs and nose ring. 

“What’s the problem?” Jones asked. Nano was hesitant to speak in front of the girl. He didn’t know if Jones was cool with everyone or just him.

“It’s alright, Tracy is cool,” Nano nodded.

“Alright then, this is what happened. I got a call from my supervisor to take a drug test.”

“So
what happened?” Jones asked concealing his smirk.

“I
left. I can’t beat no drug test with the hair follicles.” Jones looked at Tracy suddenly, they both burst out laughing.

“He can’t beat one,” Jones said to Tracy.

“Nano I told you, you was good. You’re going to have to find you another job, that it. As a matter of fact, I might have you one.” Nano looked confused, nevertheless, he was smiling.

“You serious
? I’m not out here trying to kill no one. “

“Listen here, I was just about to step out. You want to roll with Tracy and me?
” Nano looked at Tracy who had winked at him.

“Tracy
is a sweetheart, tell him baby.” 

“Umm hmmm,” she smiled.

*****

When Tip turned into Hillcrest Elementary school, she found Dice in his usual spot with Dontae. A few girls had the two surrounded. Dice looked up to see the red BMW as he gave Dontae a pound and walked away
. Tip waved to the group and the girls appeared embarrassed. “Bye,” some of the girls said upon Dice leaving. Dice slid into the car and threw his book bag on the floorboard.

“Hey Ma“

“You didn’t tell the girls bye. “

“I did. I did like this.
” Dice nodded his head. Tip pulled away.

“That’s
not how you tell a lady good-bye.” Dice looked to his mom curious.

“With a lady, that will not work
. She will want you to be a gentleman. Look at your mom.” He looked at her questionably.

“Ain’t nobody get me by being cool. Not that they never tried. Ask your father. You didn’t come along because your father was cool. You came along because your father was himself. Cool ain’t what you do, it’s who you are. You understand?”

“Not really.”

Tip sighed
. “I’m going to let your father explain it to you.”

“So what you do have on your player? Can we ride out before we go home?”

“Ride out?”

“Yeah. We can turn the music up and ride out.”

“Ride where?”

“Through the hood.”

“We’re not going to turn the music up, but we’ll ride for a little while. I’ll show you where I came up.”

“That’s straight.
” Dice gave her the head nod he’d shown her earlier.

Chapter 17

Ace turned into Craig’s detail shop with Cherry and two other strippers. The employees there began to hoot and holler while Ace carried the briefcase and his entourage followed. Ace held the briefcase close to him as he was repeatedly complimented as being the man. When Ace walked into Craig’s office with the three strippers, Craig had held up a finger. He was more interested in why his little brother was being eccentric.

“What’s up?” Craig asked in a demanding way. Ace turned and began closing the blinds. He then came to the desk and sat the briefcase down.

“Check this out!” Ace released the clasp and turned the briefcase around so Craig could view it. Craig looked at the bundles of cash and brought a hand to the base of his neck.

“Can y’all excuse us ladies
? I need to talk to my brother.”

Ace turned to the girls. “Y’all go chill in the truck; I’ll be out in a second.” Cherry then approached Ace
. “Hurry up baby.” Cherry and her two co-workers then exited the office. When the door was closed, the instant sound of men hooting and hollering began again. 

“What’s this?” Craig asked, trying to restrain himself.

“That’s one million dollars bro.”

“What did you do Ace?”

“I was downtown chilling so I made a stop at Mr. Dunlap’s. You know, just checking on the old man. When I bust in his place, I see this funny looking cat with his bodyguard. Come to find out, this dude is the one that wants the diamonds.” Craig listened on while Ace recited the entire event.

“Are you crazy?”

“Nah, I’m not crazy. The funny looking man had a million dollars for a down payment, so I took it.”

“Yeah, you took our lives on it
. How about we don’t get the diamonds. Then what? You said the man was driving a Porsche with a bodyguard and he just gave you a million dollars, man shit!”

“Don’t worry about it Craig, we going to get them.” 

“The way I see it, we don’t have a choice now.” Craig knew the Sanco diamonds had just turned into the crown jewels.

*****

Jones and Nano was sitting in Tracy’s condo while she entertained them with some of her exotic dancing. She danced at Club Delight and her stage name was Luscious. Jones passed the blunt to Nano while Tracy continued to move to the sounds of D’Angelo. Nano had quickly put together Jones and Tracy’s relationship. Jones had looked the other way while she worked in an environment that went against the probation and parole services criteria. For doing this, Tracy had entertained Jones in the privacy of her own home.

“This is the foreplay here,” Jones said. “You know, she’s getting horny. About five more minutes, she’ll be ready to do some freaky shit. You won’t believe it.”

Nano looked at Jones curiously, as he held the thick smoke in his lungs. Jones had been cool, but he wasn’t about to get freaky with no other dude around. He thought about Tip. She trusted him without a doubt. He was lucky to have the baddest chick in all of Memphis, hands down. Now he was in a stripper’s condo smoking on something he couldn’t pronounce.

“You can go first when she gives us the signal.” 

Nano exhaled. “What’s the signal?”

Jones chuckled.
“You will know when you see it.” Nano took another pull of the blunt. He wanted to fuck Luscious. It wasn’t because she aroused him; it was because the moment called for it.