The Diamond Syndicate

Shakeeda was surprised,

because the last time she and Diamond had gone out was about three months ago, and things seemed to be all good with Diamond then.

“Yeah, really. You know I was thinking about a way we could both make some real cash.”

Shakeeda turned the bottle of beer up to her lips and took a swig. “How?” she asked, looking at the bottle to see how much she had left in it.

“It’s risky, but we can pull this off together, if you down.” Diamond watched a tipsy Shakeeda drain what was left of her beer.

“Damn! What you talking about? Robbing a bank?” Shakeeda burst into drunken laughter.

Diamond laughed right along with her. “No, girl. You want another beer?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“All right, I’ll order one when the waitress comes back around. So what do you think?”

“Think about what?”

Shakeeda clearly wasn’t listening to Diamond. That shot must have gone straight to her head.

Diamond was getting agitated. Her plan was to get Shakeeda drunk, but not too drunk where she wouldn’t remember their conversation. She decided not to order another beer. Instead she would continue to work on Shakeeda to get her to agree with her plan.

“Making some money,” Diamond said.

“Oh, yeah, the bank robbery.” Shakeeda giggled.

“No. Come on now, this is serious.”

“A’ight, I’m listening. What’s up?” Shakeeda tried to straighten up and focus.

“I figured, since you work for welfare, you got the inside connections to pull it off.”

Shakeeda didn’t say anything, so Diamond kept talking. She ran down the plan to Shakeeda, explaining how Shakeeda would be the key person to pull off the whole thing. She also told her that they would split everything down the middle.

“Wait a minute.” Shakeeda held up her hand to stop Diamond from talking. She closed her eyes, trying to get her head straight. “You want me to help create a couple false full-benefit welfare claims, and you gonna split it down the middle with me?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. I mean, just look at it.” Diamond moved in closer to make sure she had Shakeeda’s undivided attention. Plus, she didn’t want to talk over the music and risk someone overhearing her. “We could make a killing. You are the caseworker and have complete control over the amount of the benefits.”

“No, Diamond, I don’t have complete control, because my supervisor has to sign off on all my claims. He reviews them. The computer calculates benefit amounts. I don’t do that.”

“OK, I understand that, but the computer can only calculate what you put in.”

“Yeah, but you gotta have valid social security numbers, addresses, and all that.”

“You let me handle that. All you gotta do is put it in and let the checks start rolling in.”

Shakeeda stared at Diamond, trying to figure out if this was a joke, or at least if Diamond was drunk. But when she didn’t see a hint of laughter or drunkenness in Diamond’s eyes, she knew Diamond was dead-ass serious.

“Shakeeda, look, you can make about another thousand dollars a month,” Diamond said. “I know you could use the money. And let’s not forget the food stamps. With them kids you got, I know you rather get food stamps for at least five hundred dollars a month to buy some food, right?”

Shakeeda just sat there looking at her nails while Diamond spoke. She couldn’t afford the nail salon. It would be nice to be able to get my nails done, she thought.

She looked at Diamond. Diamond had it going on. If she got the extra money, then she would be able to ball out the same way. But she still wasn’t sure. She could lose everything if she got caught—her job, her house, her kids, and her freedom.

The two of them went back and forth discussing the logistics for more than an hour. Diamond was very persistent and controlling. She didn’t want to take no for an answer, but she finally gave up trying to convince Shakeeda in one night.

It would take a little more convincing and another night out on her dime to get Shakeeda on board. Diamond also needed to make sure that Shakeeda wouldn’t rat her out, and another night out showing Shakeeda what she could have would only help. Once the ball got rolling, and Shakeeda got a taste of the extra money that was going to be coming in every month, she would soon feel better about the situation.