Prosecutor Swartz threw daggers his way.
“May I please approach the bench?” he asked.
The judge waved his hand, giving Kyle permission, and Prosecutor Swartz jumped to her feet, trailing Kyle.
Judge Fritz leaned forward to hear what Kyle had to say.
“Your Honor, pardon my interruption,” Kyle whispered. “But I have no knowledge of this witness, not to mention, Prosecutor Swartz didn’t have this witness on her list of witnesses provided to me.”
Judge Fritz narrowed his eyes at Prosecutor Swartz.
Prosecutor Swartz feigned innocence, although she had purposely tried to surprise defense counsel. “I’m sorry, Your Honor. I failed to let the counselor know about this witness because she just contacted me, and there wasn’t enough time. But I’m happy to give the defense any information on the witness that he requires.”
Kyle looked disgusted, and his eyes showed it. “Your Honor,” he said, “I’d like to ask for time to complete my findings on this witness.”
Judge Fritz said, “Permission granted. Ms. Swartz, you make sure you cooperate and give the counselor any information he requests.”
Both attorneys returned to their respective seats.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the court, at this time court will be adjourned for further investigation,” Judge Fritz said. “We will proceed one week from today at eight am!” Judge Fritz banged his gavel against the sounding block.
Diamond and Dante both stood and awaited the two officers who would escort them back to jail. Diamond looked over her shoulder into the crowded room and locked eyes with Trey, who loved her more than her own son did at the moment, and would do anything for her. It was a look only the two of them understood, since they had a bond that made words unnecessary at times.
And, just like that, Trey knew what he had to do.
TWENTY-FIVE
2003
Diamond stood in line in jail waiting to use the payphone. She was getting a little frustrated because the girl had been on the phone longer than the time allotted. Each phone call was timed, and each inmate received the same amount of time to use the phone, unless someone else gave up their phone privilege time. Well, that was exactly what happened here. Two of this inmate’s friends allowed her to use their time.
Diamond wouldn’t have been so pissed if her phone call wasn’t urgent. Time wasn’t on her side, and she needed to act quickly. She huffed, showing her impatience. There were two women in front of her. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed again, trying to get her message across.
“OK, to hell with this,” Diamond said, leaving the line.
As she walked up on the girl, she could hear the girl wasn’t talking about anything Diamond felt was important. From what Diamond could tell, she may have been talking to a boyfriend. Diamond tapped her on the shoulder.
The girl turned around. “What?” she asked with much attitude.
Diamond was shocked by the small girl’s forwardness. The girl looked to be all of eighteen years old, was very short, and had a petite frame. The jumpsuit swallowed her whole. She had a bandana tied around her head, cornrows hanging out the back.
“Listen, little girl, there are other people who want to use the damn phone, so have some common courtesy and get off the phone so somebody else can use it,” Diamond said in a motherly way.
“Bitch, please! You better go wait in line like the rest of them.” She pointed to the others in line and turned her back on Diamond.
Diamond looked over at the two women leaning against the wall, watching events unfold before them. The two women simply shrugged.
Diamond tapped the young girl on her shoulder, interrupting her again.
“Hold on a minute!” the young girl said into the phone. She placed the handset on top of the telephone box and whipped around to face Diamond. She yelled, “Bitch, what is your problem? You can’t understand English?”
Diamond simply curled her lips into a sarcastic smile and planted a power fist into the bridge of the young girl’s nose. Blackness enveloped the young girl as her body dropped in slow motion to the floor, where she lay spread-eagled.
The other two women waiting in line stared, awestruck by what Diamond had done.
“Did you see that shit?” one woman asked.
“Damn! That bitch ain’t no joke! That punch must have lifted that chick two feet off the floor,” the other woman said.