Chapter 16
Duke walked into the trap house to reup on his work, he dapped a few of the guys up while others that didn’t know him gave a head nod.
There were always bitches and crackheads hanging around, so Duke never stayed long.
Those niggas were wild, they would fuck the fiends for favors, gamble, and almost anything else you could think of.
“Please, just give me one until later.”
Duke followed Sherry’s voice; he knew it because she copped from him long before he started fucking with Diamond.
“What you gon’ do for it? You gon’ suck this dick?”
“I will!”
“Let’s go,” the guy pointed to a closed door while laughing and grabbing his dick.
“Nah, she not doing that,” Duke finally spoke as Sherry quickly looked at him.
“Hey, Duke! You got something for me?”
He grabbed what he came to get and pulled Sherry out the door with him. She stood on the porch, hands shaking, eyes low and shamed.
“I can’t sell to you anymore.”
“Why?”
He looked at her with a straight face, “Because I care. Your kids care.”
She looked away, “My kids hate me.”
“Diamond would be crushed if she saw you in there like that.”
Sherry’s face cracked like he had broken something in her with his words. She wiped her face with her sleeve, shame settled heavily.
“Diamond really hates me, I put so much on my baby.”
“She loves you.”
She looked up at him with softened eyes, “You like my baby?”
“I care about her and part of caring about her is caring about you. You gotta shake this shit, Ms. Sherry, let me help you. I’ll pay for your treatments myself. I know a place.”
Duke hustled because it was in him, he didn’t have to.
His father left him and his mother set, the apartment he lived in was where he stayed when he didn’t want to take the hour drive to the big house.
Money wasn’t an issue, and he didn’t mind helping Sherry if she was ready to be helped, but he knew how addicts operated.
“When I’m ready, I’ll let you know. You’re a good guy, look out for my baby girl, she’s tough, but timid.”
“I got her, I promise. Let me take you home.”
She looked at him with tears still falling from her eyes and shook her head no.
Duke respected her decision, he still gave her a couple bags just so she wouldn’t double back, but he went back inside the house and made it clear that they were not to serve Sherry anymore and his word was bond.
He was going to help her one way or another, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Duke was in deep thought and whenever he got like that, he went home. He knew it was time for him to get out of the city and go to the big house for a few days. His mother was his peace, his pastor, the right to his wrong, and the one person that can calm his storm, she was real.
He took the ride and pulled up in the driveway with his music blasting, he knew his mother hated that. He laughed when he saw her walk on the porch with her hands on her hips.
“Turn that music down, boy! You not out west!”
No matter how much his mother was saved, the westside still popped out from time to time.
She used to be deep in the streets just like his father, after he was killed, she left the hood and never returned, not even to visit family.
She said it was cursed and she prayed for the day when Duke would follow suit.
“What’s up, old lady?” he laughed, making his way into her awaiting arms.
“Old? Boy, I’m thirty-nine and fine!”
“Yeah ok,” Duke shot back before kissing her cheek.
Sabrina was indeed one of those fine mothers that would give younger women a run for their money. She could easily be a stand in for Halle Berry in a movie.
“I’m glad you’re here, I need the living room changed around.”
“Ma, didn’t I just do that in May?”
“You sure did, but Fall is approaching, and I need a new look! Don’t complain, just do as I ask, boy. You hungry?”
“Nah, I’m good,” he fell back on the couch.
“Ok you’re not hungry…What’s wrong?”
He knew he couldn’t hide shit from his mother if he wanted to.
“I have a female that I fuck with, I mean mess with heavy, and her OG is an addict.”
“Ok.”
“Hold up, you mess with someone heavy, and I haven’t met her?” She felt his head with the back of her hand as he chuckled and dodged her touch.
“We not getting married, Ma, but she cool. Anyway, her OG is out there bad, and I want to help her.”
Sabrina nodded her head because she understood, “I know your heart, Son, but that’s a big task you’re trying to take on.”
“I already know and if it was anyone else, I wouldn’t care, but Ms. Sherry don’t belong in the streets, Ma. I can tell.”
“Sherry?” she repeated in a low tone.
“Yeah, Diamond’s mother.”
Sabrina slightly smiled at the sound of Diamond’s name, “Little Diamond.”
“You know her?”
“I know Sherry and she always said she was going to name her daughter Diamond. Sherry and I were tight back in the day until we got with rivals. Rich wasn’t really a rival of your father’s, but Stone was and you know how loyalty runs.”
She stared at the coffee table like she was holding a conversation with it instead of him.
“She was beautiful, I mean bad! Funny, smart, and could cook her ass off. Everyone loved her cooking.”
“What happened?”
“Life. But I swear I think that nigga Stone did it to her because he wanted her, he loved him some Sherry and she wanted Rich.”
Duke couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he knew it was some bullshit behind Sherry’s addiction. Hearing that made him hate Stone and everyone affiliated with him even more. That nigga thought he was God.
“I hate that nigga.”
“Nooo, get that hate out your heart. I don’t hate him, I feel sorry for him because if he was behind it, the way God gon’ knock him down is worse than any whooping man can put on him.”
Stone may not have pulled the trigger that killed his father, but he definitely knows who did.
Duke had heard so many different versions and stories about his father and his street ties.
His dad was a hood legend, and he would forever live through him.
His father’s death was still fresh to him even though it was four years ago.
“Pray for me because I hate him.”
She nodded and let Duke have his feeling, “Soooo…Diamond huh? She’s a couple years younger than you.”
“Crazy because she acts older than me.”
Sabrina giggled, “She got that old soul like Sherry. Baby, we used to sit in her living room and get tore down listening to old school music.”
“Tore down?” he quizzed and laughed a little.
“Boy, your momma was that girl back in the day. How you think I hooked your daddy and got you here?”
“Ma, chill.”
They laughed together for a second before Sabrina’s face softened, “Do me a favor, next time you run into Sherry, remind her of who she used to be.”
“I don’t know who she used to be,” Duke replied as Sabrina nodded at him.
“That bitch. Tell her that and she’ll know exactly who it came from.”