The Diamond Syndicate

“I dunno. Anything but this shit!” Trey stood, walked down two steps, and began to look up and down the street as if searching for someone.

“Well, you ain’t saying nothing, nigga,” Dante finally said. “All you doing is bitching right now.”

Unlike Dante, Trey and Al-Malik had siblings, so they were used to excitement, and spent most of their time sitting on Dante’s porch or in his room playing video games, trying to escape the chaos of their own homes.

“I’m saying, man, anything is better than this. Let’s just go take a walk or something,” Trey said, bored out of his mind.

The three of them continued to watch the group of teens at the other complex who seemed to be having a ball. They watched cars pull up to the curb in front of Building C. Then they watched the young dealers sell drugs to the occupants of the cars. At times it looked like a drive-thru at a White Castle, with cars waiting in line to get served.

But the three young men sitting on the steps of Building A had never wanted a part in that lifestyle. At least they pretended not to. Although they lived in a drug-infested neighborhood, they’d managed to avoid getting caught up. But on this day, with nothing to do and no money to go anywhere, Trey was getting restless, and a part of him wished he was part of the Building C crew.

“Where you wanna go, Trey?” Al-Malik asked. “We ain’t got no loot.”

“That’s the problem. I’m tired of not having no paper.”

“Trey, shut the hell up, man! You killing me!”

>

Trey scowled at Dante, not feeling like getting into another debate with him. They argued about everything. To the average person, it would seem as if they didn’t like each other very much, but that was just the way they were. They had nothing but love for each other and would have each other’s back in a heartbeat.

Dante was somewhat the leader of the trio. He tried to keep the other two from venturing into the belly of the beast. Dante had to get good grades in school or suffer the consequences at the hands of his mother. He knew the potential the other two had and made sure that Trey and Al-Malik did their homework and helped them with it if needed. He was the levelheaded one of the bunch. Trey always got into fights because he got picked on for his weight, and Dante always had his back, although Trey didn’t need any help, because he could handle his own.

The boys had made an agreement about their futures in junior high, and Dante made sure he reminded them of it, to keep them focused. Dante wanted to do something with his life, but it wasn’t easy. Sometimes he thought about selling drugs to get his own money, just like he knew Trey thought about it.

Trey was a handsome young man standing at six feet two inches tall. Although he was overweight for his height, he was quick on his feet. He weighed close to 360 pounds, but could play basketball just like the average-sized athlete. He was the oldest child in a household of six boys and two girls, all living in a small three-bedroom apartment. He shared a room with two of his brothers. The living quarters were cramped, and they didn’t have much.

The one important thing that Trey always lacked was adult guidance. His mother was too busy playing cards, drinking, and having babies to pay him any attention. In fact, she put the bulk of the responsibilities on Trey. Trey was stressed and felt overwhelmed at times. He had a good head on his shoulders and was a good kid, but his outbursts and temper came from the amount of weight and pressure he felt on his shoulders to be the man of the house. He was a time bomb waiting to explode.

Dante knew Trey was a good person underneath all his gruffness, and this was why he would never give up on Trey. Each and every time Trey hinted that he wanted to start selling drugs, Dante would reason with him until he relented.

Trey tossed his shoulder-length dreads out of his face and shoved his hands in the pockets of his size 46x30 jeans. The bottom of his jeans dragged on the ground as he walked down the steps and began to pace on the sidewalk.

After about another ten minutes of silence, while Trey paced, the front door to the building opened. The three young men looked up to see Diamond standing in the doorway.

“Fellas, what’s going on?” she asked in her smooth, hypnotizing voice.

Dante and Diamond lived alone in the two-bedroom Section 8 apartment. They were on welfare and didn’t have much, but what they did have Diamond kept neat and clean. She didn’t work and didn’t have the desire to answer to anyone. She relied on her looks and skills to overpower a man’s mind and get by. Diamond had never wanted for nothing, until the well finally ran dry and she had to turn to public assistance three years ago.

“How you doing, Ms. Reed?” Trey asked, smiling brightly with lust in his eyes.

“How you doing, Ms. Reed?” Al-Malik asked.

Diamond knew she had it going on, and she loved the attention her son’s friends gave her. She loved to play with their young minds. “How’s your mother, Malik?” she asked, running her hand through her shoulder-length hair.

“Uh . . . she’s a’ight,” Al-Malik stuttered, ready to nut in his pants. He secretly lusted over Diamond. In fact, all the young boys in the neighborhood wanted her.

“Dante, I’ll be back,” she said to her son. “You gonna be here?”

“I don’t know, Ma.”

“Well, I’ll see y’all later,” she said.

Trey and Al-Malik watched Diamond as she descended the steps, her hips rotating in a smooth, swaying motion as she walked away. She winked at Trey. Both boys stared awestruck at her ass while she walked up the street.

Diamond purposely added extra swing to her walk. She got off on teasing men, both young and old. But Diamond preferred a young man as opposed to someone her own age. Young boys were easier to train and didn’t lack stamina. At her age she needed a man who could go the distance. Diamond needed the young boys for her other agenda as well, and unbeknownst to them, her son and his friends were on her list.

“Damn, man, your moms got a fatty!” Trey exclaimed.