Chapter 5
Afew weeks later, everything changed, not too much, but enough to notice if you really knew the Hayes sisters.
Kayla had fresh Mike’s, Diamond’s hair was silk pressed by the salon, and Mia flashed her fifty dollars in singles like it was a thousand.
School was officially out for the summer and hustling quickly became their world.
The drugs they took the first time wasn’t enough, so they hit a few more spots successfully and it was on.
Kayla couldn’t stop smiling as they sat on their front porch, “We really doing this. We really making money,” she leaned into Diamond and whispered as she smiled.
“Nah, we doing what we gotta do, big difference.”
“Or maybe, this is our niche. Maybe we were born to hustle.”
Diamond looked at her in silence because even though the money felt good, even though it was solving their problems, she knew they were walking a tightrope with no safety net.
She knew it was only so long they could move the way they were moving.
But for now? Her sisters were smiling, they had food to eat, and for once, they felt like they belonged amongst their peers.
They looked up when their father came walking up from a long overnight shift plus overtime. He looked dog tired, smelling like drywall and struggle, shoulders heavy from a long day.
“What’s up, Champs?” he greeted his girls with a smile even when there was nothing to smile about.
“Hey, Daddy.” They spoke in unison.
He walked up the stairs slowly but stopped and turned around once he reached the top.
“Are those new shoes you all have on?”
“Yup! We came up at a church giveaway, and we got food from the pantries!” Kayla replied, very quick on her toes.
Like Diamond said, they were dangerous together. Their father forced a smiled before heading inside.
“We gotta lay low and stop wearing new shit. I think Daddy is catching on.”
“He should catch on with the extra hundreds he saved because we already paid the bills for next month.”
“We did?” Diamond asked, unaware of Kayla’s actions.
“Yup, I went down to the currency exchange and did it myself.”
Diamond smiled, but she meant what she said; if their father noticed their shoes, so did the hood, she was willing to bet.
“That’s what’s up, but listen, don’t tell nobody what we have going on, Kayla.”
“I’m not,” she replied, standing to her feet as Jatara and the rest of their little crew came walking up dressed like whores in too little clothes.
Diamond rolled her eyes, “I told you about hanging with that bitch.”
“Loosen up, Sister.”
“Nah, tighten up, Sister,” Diamond shot back as they reached their gate.
“Ok, Friend, I see the new Mike’s on yo feet! We outside tonighttttt!”
“I’m chilling with my sister tonight,” Kayla replied as Jatara slightly frowned without doing too much.
“Aw ok. I guess. Well, it’s a party on Christiana and everybody gon’ be there.”
“Who’s party?”
“Ryan and you know that’s yo boo.”
Kayla smiled, which threw Diamond because as much as they talked, she had no idea her sister was crushing on Cam’s friend. That right there let her know that she put too much trust in Jatara’s dusty, hotdog head ass.
As soon as they walked off Diamond looked at Kayla, “When you start liking Ryan?”
“I don’t, I just think he’s cute.”
“And too old for you, too. He’s eighteen.”
“So is Cam, so is he too old for you?”
“I’m sixteen, you’re fifteen. You’re a baby,” Diamond teased, standing up and stretching as Kayla put her hands in a boxing position.
“Show me I’m a baby, get the gloves.”
“Ohhh, you want some smoke, grasshopper,” Diamond asked, gloving up with a smile on her face. She was never against beating up on her lil sisters.
Before they knew it, they had an audience that enjoyed watching them and their father box whenever they did.
Diamond noticed Stone and some of the other heavyweights in the game watching them.
They were going blow for blow, showing their skills, but when Diamond noticed Cam had joined the guys, she really showed her skills.
They were both laughing and throwing jabs until their father came out and noticed Stone and the guys in the crowd.
“Y’all come eat.” he said in a stern voice that made everyone stop moving.
Stone looked at their father and turned away, Diamond caught the brief stare down. They made their way inside behind their father.
“I don’t want you all anywhere near Stone and those guys he was with! I mean it.”
“Stone is always nice to us,” Kayla replied as anger covered their father’s face.
“Nothing about him is nice, trust me!”
Diamond was still very much curious and she was never one to hold her tongue, “You gon’ tell us the story behind this?”
“There is no story, we used to be best friends, now we’re not. The end. Stay away from him and Cameron.”
“You know Cam?” Diamond asked with the same lost expression that covered Kayla’s face.
Their father took a seat at the table, “I was there when he was born. You know I’m very open with you girls.
I used to work with Stone, we came up together, but he let the money change him.
He became big headed and greedy, I walked away with nothing while he had everything. I was loyal to him, I loved him.”
Diamond’s heart sank because she could hear the hurt in her father’s voice, and she could only imagine how it felt to see Stone up while he was literally drowning.
“Maybe you two should talk,” Kayla suggested, snapping her father back to the reality of the conversation.
“There’s nothing to talk about, stay away from him and his family. They frown upon us.”
Diamond begged to differ, she couldn’t speak for Stone, but Cam was different.
“So, you about to be lame and stay in the house?” Kayla asked, getting dressed for the party that Jatara told her about.
They had been hustling all day and Diamond was tired as hell, she had no idea how Kayla had so much energy.
“I’m tired.”
“You act like an old ass lady.”
“So,” she giggled, turning her fan on and climbing in bed.
She watched Kayla as long as her eyes allowed her to before she dozed off and drifted into a deep sleep. It wasn’t until Mia busted in the room screaming for Diamond.
“They jumped us! Diamond, get up!”
She jumped to her feet and ran toward the front door in a sports bra and biker shorts.
“Who jumped y’all? Where the fuck is Kayla!?”
“She’s still around there on Christiana! Tiana and her sisters jumped us and those bitches, Jatara nem, watched!”
“Grab Momma’s bat from behind the door and come on,” Diamond demanded as Mia did as she was told.
Those bitches had to know the storm was coming and if they didn’t, they did when Diamond turned the corner.
“Awwww shit! It’s about to go the fuck down, Diamond here!”
“Tiana, watch out!” Someone else warned but it was too late, Diamond snatched the bat from Mia and started swinging.
“AHHHHH!” Tiana grabbed the back of her head as Kayla fought one sister and the other ran from Diamond.
You would’ve though Diamond ran in the Olympics the way she chased that girl down and beat her legs and body with that bat. The bitch had to literally be carried off the block by her sisters and they better be lucky Diamond let them limp away.
Kayla and Mia started walking toward the house, but Diamond wasn’t done; she scanned the crowd until she found Jatara.
She walked right up and slapped the shit out of her twice, “That’s for letting my sister get jumped, bitch! Stay the fuck away from her!” Diamond spat before walking through Cam and his homie’s circle unknowingly.
“Aye, Dime,” Cam called out, she stopped and looked at him. “You can’t beat the world up.”
“Show me my opponent, Cam,” she replied as he chuckled and nodded at her before she walked off.
“I can’t believe those bitches jumped me. Is my face messed up?” Kayla turned to Diamond and asked.
“Nope, a couple scratches, nothing major, still prettier than all those hoes. Mia, next time, don’t leave her, not even to come get me.”
“She made me.”
“I had those hoes by myself, but I’m not gon’ lie, one of those bitches kick me in my back so hard, I lost my breath.”
“It’s cool, it’s on sight for them all summer,” Diamond replied, meaning every word.
It was suicide to fuck with her sisters and Diamond knew she couldn’t beat the world for real, but behind them, she would die trying.