Chapter 4
Diamond was in awe when she and Kayla turned onto Cam’s block. It looked bigger than it did a couple weekends back, expensive cars were lined up, gold and black décor, and it liked a million people were present to see the show.
Farrah stood at the top of the stairs like she owned the moment, and she kinda did because everyone wanted to be on Cam’s arm for prom.
Everything about her screamed perfect and money, Diamond could only dream of living a small piece of their lives.
Farrah’s gold dress shined under the sun, diamonds covered her neck and wrists.
“Man, I can’t wait to go on prom!” Kayla boasted as excitement built up in her eyes.
“Why? We ain’t coming like this.”
“And why not?”
Diamond looked at her and shook her head, “Because this…cost money…real money, money that we will never have.”
“Bullshit, you can stay broke if you want to, but this…” she twirled her index finger in the air, “is possible.”
Diamond shifted her eyes back to the porch as the DJ announced Cam over the mic.
Proms in Chicago were very expensive and a big thing, the next best thing to a wedding to be exact.
Food, decorations, show cars, and plenty more came with the prom ticket and the parents didn’t mind paying it.
Well, the parents that could afford it, Diamond wasn’t even looking forward to hers.
Kayla thudded on her arm, “Come on, we got to get closer. I need to see this up close, that nigga is cleannnnn!”
Diamond sighed because she was fine right where she was standing, “You just wanna be nosey!”
“Nah, I just want him to see who he should’ve had on his arm,” Kayla grinned and pulled her toward the crowd.
Diamond rolled her eyes but followed anyway, they stood toward the DJ, watching as Farrah smiled and posed, eating up every flash. At first it was cute, but Farrah was overdoing it, grabbing and hugging on Cam. Diamond could see the irritation in his face as he forced a smile.
The crowd went wild when Stone pulled out a money gun and shot wads of big bills into the crowd. Both Diamond and Kayla dived for the money because they needed it in real life. They both jumped up and down when they noticed it was hundred-dollar bills that they were picking up.
“Bitch! I got four hundred dollars!” Kayla yelled, hugging Diamond as she separated the five she had picked up.
“I got five hundred!”
“That’s nine hundred dollarssssss!”
Diamond tapped her when she noticed Cam scanning the crowd, she didn’t want to seem thirsty, but she was happy as hell.
He whispered something to his guys, then stepped down off the bottom step.
He ignored Farrah’s confusion as he walked away from her and toward Diamond. Cameras followed him like a spotlight.
“Cam, where are you going?” Farrah called out, following him with her eyes.
Diamond froze as soon as he got close to her, she didn’t know why he made her feel nervous, but he did. In her eyes, Cam was regular, but she also knew better than that, he was Stone’s son and that spoke volumes within itself.
Cam kept walking and Farrah kept calling. He didn’t answer her, he just kept walking to where Diamond and Kayla stood. He walked up wearing the biggest smile, the boy cleaned up nice.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I told you I was coming. You look nice.”
“Fuck that! Bro, you look the fuck good!” Kayla boasted as him and Diamond laughed.
“Thanks, sis!” he replied before shifting back to Diamond.
“Come take a picture with me,” he held his hand out for her as mouths dropped and whispers started.
Diamond’s feet wouldn’t move so Kayla pushed her in the back.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cam,” she replied as Farrah made her way toward them with a mug on her made-up face.
Kayla got close to Diamond’s ear, “Girl, if you don’t…”
“Man, come on,” Cam continued pulling her deeper into the crowd.
Diamond sighed, stepped forward, and before she knew it, he had his arm around her waist. Her pulse was going wild as she tried her best to look normal. Cam’s grin was quiet, yet loud, he had everyone wondering and guessing who the girl was that he pulled from the crowd.
“Perfect! She’s gorgeous!” the photographer complimented.
When they stepped apart, Farrah was already standing there with her arms folded.
“Can I talk to you?” she said to Diamond through her spoiled teeth.
Diamond tilted her head. “I can hear you.”
“Privately.”
The crowd had pulled Cam away and she was left to face his fatal attraction, but Diamond wasn’t scared per usual. The only thing that scared Diamond was the fact that nothing and no one put fear in her heart.
She stepped to the side with Farrah as Kayla kept a close eye.
Farrah leaned in, “You think you’re funny, don’t you? Why are you here? Cam is with me, Diamond, I’m sure you know that already.”
Diamond’s eyes went cold, “Yeah, I know that Cam is with you, but he invited me here. So, you should be pulling him to the side, not me.”
“Excuse me?”
“If he’s yours like you say he is, you shouldn’t be worried about me.”
Farrah rolled her eyes deep in her head, “Stay out of his face, Diamond. That’s my first and final warning, I don’t want to cause a scene, but I will, and all of my family is here.”
Diamond giggled and shook her head, “I hear you, Farrah. Enjoy your night, Love.”
“Oh, I will, with Cam.”
“You sure? Because him and his friends are pulling off,” she pointed as Farrah hiked her dress up and took off while Diamond cracked up laughing on her way back over to Kayla.
“Come on. We’ve seen enough royalty for one day.”
As they walked off, Kayla laughed, “You fucked her up. Didn’t you?”
“Nah, I just humbled her a little.”
“Fuck all that, what we about to do with this money? We can’t tell Momma!”
“We not telling nobody except Mia. We getting new shoes and a few outfits for the summer.”
“Bet, what about Daddy?”
“Nope, he gon’ make us give it back, you know how he feels about Stone and anyone affiliated with him.”
“You right about that. Why he hate Stone though?”
“Because he sells the shit that’s controlling Momma.”
“Well, if that shit makes you rich like this,” Kayla held her money up, “I want in.”
Diamond stopped walking and looked at her sister.
“What about college?”
Kayla looked her sister dead in the eyes, “Look around, Diamond, we gotta survive this shit until we graduate high school. If we can make bread in the meantime that can possibly have us living like them, why the fuck not?”
“Look what that shit does to people.”
“So. If they supply our momma, we can supply theirs! I say we take their shit.” She pointed to the dope boys standing on the corner.
“Kayla, you know Duke is a hothead, he’ll shoot us for free if he catches us.”
“That’s why we’re not getting caught.”
Kayla always had a go-getter mentality; since she was a little girl, she loved money, and that hunger was growing right before Diamond’s eyes, and she couldn’t blame her.
That money could help take some of the weight off their father’s shoulders and maybe he could help their mother more.
Sherry stuck to her word, she hadn’t been out the bed since that night she promised to change, but that was probably because she didn’t have any money.
Either way, Diamond was glad she was resting.
“Where do we even start?”
“We start by taking their shit like I said,” she looked in the guys’ directions again. “We steal out of Walmart with ease, this should be easy,” Kayla replied.
Diamond’s eyes grew wide, “You ready to do it now? We have to scope them out.”
“Sister, he’s walked to the alley and back a hundred times. His jab is there, he can make his money tonight, but tomorrow, that shit is ours!”
“Bet.”
As soon as their father left out for work, they made their way outside.
It was warm so of course the streets were filled with hustlers, kids, hoes, and hypes.
Diamond and Kayla took the long way around to the other end of the alley and watched as the same nigga that played with their mother hid his jab.
The sun had already gone down so the alley was dark.
“Ok, he comes back every three minutes or so, so we have to move fast! Once we grab it, we cut through the gangway back to the front and walk home,” Kayla instructed as Diamond nodded.
Diamond’s adrenaline was pumping as they made their move, they timed themselves perfectly, took the jab, and followed the plan. By the time they made it to the front, they could hear commotion amongst the guys and a crowd forming because they were on the verge of fighting.
Kayla looked at Diamond and laughed, “And just like that, we in the game.” She looped her arm around Diamond’s, and they made their way home.
Something about that night felt different, it was something in Kayla’s eyes and something in Diamond’s heart. Together, they were a dangerous duo, and they were always together. It was Diamond and her sisters versus anybody.