The Diamond Syndicate Read online

  The Diamond Syndicate

  Erica Hilton

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  The Diamond Syndicate. Copyright © 2010 by Melodrama Publishing. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Melodrama Publishing, P.O. Box 522, Bellport, NY 11713.

  www.melodramapublishing.com

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938153

  ISBN-13: 978-19341576-02

  ISBN-10: 1934157600

  EISBN: 978-1-6207801-07

  First Edition: January 2010

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Interior, ebook, and cover design: Candace K. Cottrell

  Cover photo of woman: Frank Antonio

  Also by Erica Hilton

  10 Crack Commandments

  Dirty Little Angel

  Wifey:From Mistress to Wifey

  Dirty Money Honey

  Part One

  ONE

  Diamonds in the Rough

  1956

  Diamond Reed was raised by her father Chester after her mother Betty walked out on them when Diamond was a child. After putting up with Chester’s cheating, manipulation, and physical and mental abuse, not to mention Diamond’s vindictive ways, Betty had finally had enough.

  Betty was raised in a household with fourteen brothers and sisters, and had to fight and work hard for anything she wanted, so she believed that people should work hard for what they want. In her eyes, Chester was raising Diamond all wrong, spoiling her and never making her take responsibility for her actions. When she tried to teach Diamond how to cook and clean, Chester simply objected and reprimanded her for trying to make a slave out of his only daughter.

  Diamond was a daddy’s girl, and nothing her father did would change the love she had for him. Chester gave her everything she ever wanted and worshipped the ground she walked on, and she, in turn, worshipped him.

  Diamond learned at an early age how to manipulate her parents, always going against her mother because she knew her father would give in to her. She became quite the little schemer at getting what she wanted. One time she asked her mother for a new doll she saw on television, but Betty said no.

  “But why can’t I have it, Mommy?”

  “Because, Diamond, you have a closet full of dolls and toys that you don’t even play with. Your father just bought you a brand-new dollhouse with two dolls two days ago. Go play with that,” Betty told her without taking her eyes off the television.

  Betty was a full figured woman, with unwanted extra weight that stayed with her after giving birth to Diamond. Her beautiful doll-like eyes sat perfectly behind her long eyelashes.

  “But, Mommy that is the best doll ever.” Diamond pleaded with the same baby-doll eyes as her mother. She wore two ponytail braids that reached her shoulders with ribbons tied to each end.

  “Diamond, please go somewhere and sit down. Let you tell it, every toy on TV is the best ever.” Betty wrinkled her wide nose, which sat over a pair of full lips. Her chin came to a point, making her cheekbones look high.

  Diamond stood there fuming, her bushy brows furrowed, and the little wheels in her head began to spin as she plotted a way to get the doll. The dimples deepened in her pecan-colored cheeks, and the nostrils in her button nose began to flare. She stomped off to her room and slammed the door.

  Betty simply ignored her temper tantrum.

  Not even twenty minutes later, Diamond reappeared in the living room with her Barbie suitcase in her hand. She’d decided to run away.

  Betty looked over at her, and a smile crept across her face. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m running away. Now give me some money to catch the bus,” Diamond demanded.

  Betty fell out in laughter so hard her D-cup breasts jiggled. “You’re kidding me, right? Where do you think your little butt is going? You aren’t old enough to do anything.”

  “I’m leaving because you don’t love me. You won’t buy me the doll.” Diamond stood there pouting and crying.

  “Diamond, get your behind back upstairs before I give you something to really cry about.” Betty folded her arms the best she could over her large breasts and refocused her attention on her stories.

  Diamond wasn’t satisfied with her mother’s reaction. She’d expected her mother to run to her crying and then buy the doll for her. Mad that her plan hadn’t worked, she stomped off to the kitchen.

  She whipped her head around and her shoulder length hair swung. “And you better stop all that stomping before I get up for real and whup your behind!”

  “No, you won’t!” a fresh Diamond sassed her.

  “What did you say?” Betty yelled narrowing her eyes.

  “I’m leaving because you don’t love me. Now give me some money!” Diamond continued to scream while standing in the middle of the kitchen floor.

  Betty appeared in the doorway with a belt, having heard enough, and began to give Diamond a spanking she would never forget. She snatched her up and dragged her kicking and screaming to the front door. In the other hand she held Diamond’s suitcase. “You want to run away, go right ahead, but I’m not giving you any money. You think you’re grown, then fend for yourself.” She put Diamond on the front porch. She was only going to leave her in the enclosed porch for a few minutes to teach her a lesson.

  Betty closed the front door and peeked out the window. Diamond sat on the floor crying. She then got up, sat on the porch sofa, and pouted. Happy with the results of her punishment, Betty sat down to catch up on her stories, knowing Diamond would be knocking on the door in due time.

  About an hour and a half later, Chester came walking through the door. “Hey, baby,” he greeted her. He stood at six feet three inches of pure gorgeousness. The soft black curls in his short afro fit his narrow head perfectly. He had German in his bloodline, from which he acquired his soft hair.

  Betty immediately became tense. She was so wrapped up in her stories, she’d forgotten to get Diamond off the porch before Chester came home. “Hi, honey, h-how was your day?” she asked.

  “I had a good day! Where’s my pumpkin? I want to take her to the store with me.” He looked around. His caramel complexion was even-toned, and he bore the same deep dimples as Diamond.

  Betty began to shake. Hadn’t he seen Diamond sitting on the porch when he came in? Maybe she was hiding, but where? She walked over to the door and stepped out onto the porch. She looked around, puzzled.

  Chester stood at the door watching her. “What are you looking for?” His bushy eyebrows now rose with suspicion.

  “Diamond,” she said, fearing the worst.

  “What do you mean, Diamond? Where is she, Betty?” His voice deepened. The muscles in his slim but muscular arms began to flex.

  “Well, she was sassing me earlier and told me she was running away. Chester, she was really being disrespectful, so I thought I would teach her a lesson and let her sit on the porch for a while.” Betty was more petrified of Chester beating her than of her own child going missing.

  “Wait a minute, you what? You put my daughter on the porch alone because of what?” he yelled, moving closer to her with his hands now balled into fists and his already deep dimples appearing like two drilled holes in his cheeks.

 
“She was right here, Chester.” Betty pointed toward the porch sofa in a panic as she backed up a little.

  His button nose had become red. “With all the child molesters and kidnappers in the world today, you hand a sick rapist my daughter on a platter!”

  Before Betty could react, she felt a blow on the side of her head. She immediately saw stars and couldn’t keep her balance. Falling to the floor hard, she curled up in a fetal position, waiting for the kicks she knew would come. But there were no kicks. Instead Chester grabbed her by her legs and dragged her across the shag carpet, giving her rug burns on her back and buttocks. Then he dragged her up the stairs, letting her head hit each step, causing her to become dizzy.

  He pulled her into the bathroom and made her stand. Betty didn’t know what Chester was going to do to her, but she was gonna fight him with all her strength. She tried to defend herself, but each time she fought against him, the next punch was even more brutal. She heard her nose crack, and then he punched her in the eye, and she heard the bones crack. She was barely conscious when he stripped off her clothes and tied her wrists to the showerhead in the bathtub, where she hung like a side of beef in a freezer.

  Chester turned on the shower, and Betty began to regain consciousness. Her head felt like it was going to explode from the broken nose and broken eye socket. With swollen eyes, she looked over at Chester and saw a look on his face that she’d never seen before. He turned off the water and left the bathroom. She wondered what he was going to do next, because she knew he wasn’t finished with her. She also wondered why he wasn’t out looking for Diamond, instead of torturing her to death.

  He reappeared in the bathroom carrying a thick all-weather extension cord he used for the hedge trimmer. He wrapped the cord around his hand and began to beat her with it. If there was anything worse than feeling the pain from being hit with the thick cord, Betty didn’t want to experience it.

  Every time Chester came down on her with the cord, excruciating pain shot through her body. He would hit her several times in a row, and then he let hot water run down her body. Betty was in so much pain, she could no longer scream. Her dark complexion didn’t show much sign of brutality, but the swelling was obvious.

  Sitting just outside the bathroom door listening and snickering was Diamond. She’d gone around the corner and waited for her father to come home. After he’d walked in the house, she followed him inside. Once the beating started, she revealed herself to Chester, but stayed hidden from Betty.

  That day Chester beat Betty far worse than he’d ever done in the past.

  After he was finished, he called for his daughter. “Come here, baby,” he said, reaching for her.

  Diamond ran into her father’s arms.

  “I’m gonna teach you how to be a real woman. I’m gonna show you how to have every man eating outta the palm of your hand. You are a diamond in the rough. Do you hear me?” He looked at her.

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  “Diamond, sweetheart, if anyone asks you what happened, you don’t know.”

  “I know, Daddy, just like before.”

  “Now go to your room and don’t come out. I’ll be up later.”

  “OK, Daddy.”

  With Betty bedridden and unable to move for several days, Diamond had the run of the house.

  ***

  Two weeks later Betty was released from the hospital after suffering a broken arm, a concussion, and several other broken bones on different body parts, all at the hands of Chester. She realized then that she was a prisoner in her own home. Chester and Diamond walked around the house in bliss, while she had a broken heart and no self-esteem, her spirit shattered. But what Chester and Diamond didn’t know was that Betty Reed vowed to herself that she would never receive a beating like that again.

  ***

  About two months after being released from the hospital, Betty got a call from the school to come get Diamond, who was being expelled for fighting. Betty assumed Diamond had a little scuffle with one of the little girls at school, but to her surprise, Diamond’s actions were far worse than she’d imagined. Diamond had actually kicked a little boy in his penis and then taken a pencil and stabbed him in the leg.

  On the ride home Betty looked over at Diamond and saw her serene face. “Diamond, why did you do that to the little boy?”

  “Because he wouldn’t give me his snack.”

  “Didn’t you get a snack?”

  “Yes.”

  “So why did you want his, if you had your own?”

  “Because I wanted his too, and Daddy said if I want something, then I have to go after it.” She looked over at Betty.

  “Diamond, he didn’t say fight for it. He didn’t mean it that way.” Betty was furious. She had always told Chester that Diamond was too young to understand his lectures. Now the little boy’s parents were pressing charges.

  “Mommy, I’m not gonna let nobody take anything from me, and Daddy showed me how to hurt a boy in his privates. He said that if I did that, the boy would give me anything I wanted.”

  “Well, that’s wrong, Diamond, and I don’t want you to ever do that again!”

  “I do what Daddy tells me, not you!” Diamond looked at her mother with pure evil in her eyes.

  When they got home, Betty beat the living hell out of Diamond, not caring about the repercussions when Chester got home.

  When Chester arrived home from work later that night, Betty was in the kitchen preparing dinner. She was hoping he was in a good mood since he had been out with one of his flings. It was later than his usual time to get home.

  As soon as Chester walked into the living room, Betty grabbed the dish towel from off of the counter to wipe her hands. She headed for the living room to greet Chester and tell him about the incident with Diamond in school and the young boy’s parents pressing charges on them.

  As Betty entered the living room, Diamond raced down the steps and jumped into her father’s arms. Betty was outdone. She had told Diamond to stay in her room until she was called.

  “Hey Pumpkin!” Chester planted kisses all over her cheeks.

  “Mommy beat me,” she pouted, looking deep into Chester’s brown eyes with anguish.

  Betty could see the thick vein begin to swell on the side of his neck and knew the rage was building.

  Betty was terrified. “Diamond! Now you tell your father why I beat you!”

  “Daddy, she beat me for no reason.” Her innocence continued to play on Chester’s heart.

  “No! Chester, your daughter has gotten in the worst trouble at school today. She’s caused charges to be pressed against us for striking another child.” Betty did the best she could to get the story out before Chester could react.

  She noticed that he was putting Diamond to the floor and she could see the scary, distant look in his eyes. It was as if he was staring right through her. She began to back away from him into the kitchen. Chester followed her slowly, not blinking once. He seemed like a trained robot out to kill.

  “Chester, please just think about what I said. She’s gotten us into a lot of trouble, and it’s gonna cost us money. The boy’s parents is gonna press charges! Are you listening to me?”

  But Chester never said a word. He continued to walk toward Betty with Diamond on his heels, peering around him at Betty.

  Betty backed herself up against the refrigerator and immediately covered her face, expecting the blows to begin. Chester stood in front of her and didn’t throw one punch. By now Betty was crying. She knew he was standing in front of her, but she didn’t know why he hadn’t struck her.

  When she lowered her arms some so that she could look at him, that’s when the hot oil and fried chicken from the skillet she’d just turned off came flying her way. She screamed in agony as the hot oil and fried chicken pieces singed her skin. Even Diamond had to
hide her face from the sight, and this was a first. Betty’s skin seemed to burn right off of her. The white meat underneath her dark skin became visible.

  Betty fell to the floor, kicking and screaming as her skin burned. Diamond covered her ears but continued to watch her mother squirm. Chester however, stood over her and watched her suffer in pain.

  Betty lay in the hospital for three weeks, healing from the burns and stewing about her mistreatment. She decided she had had enough of Chester and Diamond and their wicked ways. The day after she was released, after Diamond went to school and Chester went to work, Betty packed her bags and never returned.

  ***

  As Diamond grew, Chester continued to school her on how to get whatever she wanted.

  “Baby girl, you’re thirteen now, and I know these little niggas are gonna try to get in your drawers. I’m gonna give you something to help protect yourself with.” Chester walked into the dining room, reached into his coat pocket, and presented his daughter with a pearl-handled .22. “Only use this when necessary,” he told her.

  Diamond’s eyes bulged at the sight. “Thanks, Daddy!” She threw her arms around her father’s neck and hugged him tight.

  “I’m gonna show you how to use this.”

  “OK.” She smiled, examining the gun.

  “This is for them niggas that don’t take no for an answer. You haven’t let them get any of your coochie, have you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “No, Daddy. I know better than that. Can’t none of these boys do nothing for me that I can’t do for myself, so if you give nothing, you get nothing,” she said with attitude.

  “That’s my girl.” Chester smiled a proud smile. “Are those young punks tryna date you?”

  “Yeah, they tryna be with me, but I do my schoolwork and ignore them little boys.” She waved her hand in dismissal, still gawking at the gun she held in her hand.

  “Sit down, baby girl.” He patted the sofa. “Just because your mother walked out, I don’t want you to think she wasn’t a good mother. She was a damn good mother and wife. It’s just that, when it came to you, we didn’t agree on things. I don’t ever want you to think that it’s OK for a man to lay his hands on you. I know you saw me do that to your mother, but that ain’t cool, Diamond.” Chester looked deep into his daughter’s eyes. He was missing Betty so much, and looking into Diamond’s face reminded him of her.