Diamonds and Pearl (20 page)

“Is that little Pearl?” Zonnie asked, while continuing to give her the once-over. Seeing how nicely Pearl had filled out, she let a smile touch the corners of her mouth. “Well, I can't call you
little
anymore.” She glanced at Pearl's ass.

“Hey,” Pearl said dryly, tugging at her skirt to make sure her ass wasn't showing. The predatory look Zonnie was giving her made Pearl uncomfortable.

“I haven't seen you in years, and that's the greeting I get?” A look of fake hurt crossed Zonnie's face. “Shit, we was almost family—give me some love.” She damn near forced Pearl into an embrace. Zonnie stank of liquor, cigarettes, and a hint of sex.

“So what you doing here?” Pearl broke their embrace. “I heard you was living the life of the rich and famous on the West Coast.”

“California was good to me, but ain't no place like home. I got a crib in Jersey now, but my business brings me to New York from time to time,” Zonnie told her.

“And what kind of business is that?” Pearl asked suspiciously.

“As if you didn't know.” Zonnie gave her a wink. “I'm a little surprised to bump into you in a place like this, considering I'm pretty sure you ain't twenty-one yet.”

“I'm here with some friends for the birthday party,” Pearl told her.

Zonnie spared a glance over her shoulder. Doodles was leaning against a wall, whispering into Marisa's ear. “I've been knowing Doodles for a while. He's loads of fun, but that man has got a mean streak a mile long. That's some dangerous company you're keeping, suga. Watch yourself.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I think I'm more than capable of handling myself,” Pearl said confidently.

“I don't doubt that, considering who your daddy is,” Zonnie replied.

“No doubt. My father and
Sandra
made sure me and Stoney were built Ford tough,” Pearl shot back.

The words sliced Zonnie like a knife, and for the first time her confident smirk wavered. Pearl had struck a nerve. “How is he? How's my son doing?”

“You mean
my
brother?” Pearl corrected her. “Stoney is doing fine. He plays for the basketball team now and he's pretty damn good.”

“I've seen. I went to one of his games about a month ago and saw him play for the first time.”

“Really?” Pearl asked suspiciously. “That's funny, because me and Sandra go to all Stoney's games, and I don't remember ever seeing you at one.”

“It was the game they played against Brandeis. My baby hung thirty-two on them boys!” Zonnie beamed with pride.

Pearl remembered that game, so she knew Zonnie wasn't lying. Stoney had played like a man possessed and had led his team in a twenty-point rout over the rival school. “If you were there, why didn't you say anything?”

“I thought about it, even waited around until the end of the game, but then I saw your daddy pull up outside the school. You and I both know what his reaction would've been if he'd seen me anywhere near his little prince.”

Zonnie might've had a point. Just the mention of her name was enough to get Big Stone angry, so there was no telling how he would've reacted if he'd bumped into her at the game. Pearl saw the pained look in Zonnie's eyes as she spoke about Stoney, and for a second she almost felt sorry for her, but then she remembered how Zonnie had dropped baby Stoney off for what was supposed to be a few hours and then never came back. Pearl had never been able to wrap her mind around how a mother could abandon their child. Zonnie was foul, and Big Stone's justice was beyond fair.

“It was good seeing you, Zonnie, but I gotta make moves.” Pearl excused herself and got up.

“Hold on. I was hoping we could talk for a minute. Maybe we can grab a drink and you can tell me some more about Stoney?” Zonnie fell in step beside her.

Pearl stopped short and turned serious eyes to Zonnie. “Listen, if you were that worried about my brother, you'd have checked up on him over the years.”

“Wait a minute—that ain't fair. I wanted to be a better mother, but your father wouldn't let me. It was him who kept me out of Stoney's life,” Zonnie explained.

“My father is powerful, but he ain't God. I wanna feel sorry for you, Zonnie, but I can't. If you really wanted to see your kid, you'd have found a way.” Pearl tried to walk off again, but Zonnie grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“Little girl, how dare you try to stand here and judge me before you've walked a mile in my stilettoes. Now, I was wrong for leaving Stoney the way I did, but it's not like I left him with no damn stranger; I left him with his father! A father who could provide him with a life that I couldn't even dream of. I was a young dumb girl who thought letting a rich nigga get me pregnant would be my ticket out of the ghetto, and when the bottom fell out and reality set in, I did what was natural and ran away. For as fucked up as it looks on the outside, you can't tell me shit until you've been nineteen and pregnant with nothing to offer your child but the crumbs you get off somebody else's table.”

“Whatever.” Pearl folded her arms and rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for Zonnie's bullshit.

“Roll your eyes all you want, but this is some real shit I'm kicking to you. You in here looking at me like I'm less than a person because your family sitting on a few coins. Hmph, life can't be all that good in the kingdom of Stone if the princess is out here making herself available. Your daddy know you out here testing the waters or is this another one of them family secrets y'all keep so well hidden?”

“Fuck is you talking about?” Pearl was confused.

“I mean us being at this party for the same reasons.” Zonnie smiled slyly.

“What reasons? Look, I don't know what your ass is high on, but I ain't got time for this shit,” Pearl declared.

Zonnie studied Pearl's face to see if she was joking, and when she realized she wasn't, she doubled over laughing. “Didn't you read the fine print on your invitation? Did you think you and your young-ass friends got invited to a private party for one of the biggest gangsters in Brooklyn because you and that rat pack you run with are so damn popular? Little girl, you're either extremely naïve or further out of your league than I thought. Every bitch in here is on the clock. Shit, half of them work for me, and the half that don't probably will after they see all the bank Doodles is gonna shell out for their time. If you were down with me, I'd likely get you paid double.” She looked Pearl up and down. “Doodles is especially fond of young dumb bitches who think they got life figured out, and you certainly fit the bill. What do you say, Pearl? Let's make this a family business!”

It took Pearl a few seconds to process what Zonnie was implying, but when she did, the revelation hit her like a slap. She looked around the room, and it was like she was seeing it for the first time. People had begun to get loose, in some cases too loose. Some of the girls had even started to come out of their clothes while men threw money while freely placing hands and fingers in places where they didn't belong. She now understood why Doodles had referred to them as the
entertainment
earlier that night. Pearl's chest suddenly constricted, cutting off the air in her lungs, and she knew if she didn't get away from Zonnie, she would pass out or punch her in the face. As she moved through the crowd, she heard Zonnie's mocking voice calling after her. “Tell yo daddy I said hello!”

*   *   *

All Pearl could see was red as she plucked her way through the VIP in search of her friends. The lights had been dimmed, which made it hard for her to see more than a few feet ahead of her at a time. She searched high and low but couldn't find any signs of Marisa, or Doodles for that matter. It didn't take a rock scientist to figure out what that was about. If Marisa wanted to whore herself out, she was welcome to do so, but Pearl was out of there with or without her. While she couldn't find Marisa, Sheila was easy enough to spot. She was on her knees in the middle of the floor, popping her ass like she was auditioning for a 2 Live Crew video. She was clearly drunk out of her mind, but it didn't seem to bother the small crowd that had gathered to watch her little show. She danced and laughed as strange men slapped her on the ass and tossed crumpled dollar bills at her. She was playing herself and making them all look bad. Pearl was so mad that she was about to say fuck it and leave her to it when she saw two dudes try to lead Sheila off toward the bathroom. She was too twisted to even realize what they were doing, let alone stop it, so Pearl stepped in.

“I got it from here.” Pearl took Sheila by the arm, much to the displeasure of the two men.

“Easy, baby, you can join the party too if you want,” one of the men offered. He was an older dude wearing a velvet blazer and baggy jeans.

Pearl looked him up and down. “Not on my worse day.” She shoved Sheila ahead and out of the VIP.

“Where we going? I'm trying to party,” Sheila protested.

“Girl, shut your drunk ass up. You need some air and some water.” Pearl continued to shove her forward toward the exit. Sheila was so drunk that she almost fell twice before they even made it outside. No sooner than the night air hit her, Sheila threw up all over the sidewalk, barely missing Pearl's boots.

“Mama always told me about mixing my liquor.” Sheila laughed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

A few people who had seen it pointed and laughed. One of them even took out a camera phone and was trying to snap a picture. This all added to Pearl's already mounting frustration.

“I'm glad you find the fact that you're playing yourself out here funny,” Pearl said in an irritated tone.

“C'mon, Pearl. Stop acting like you ain't never been tipsy in public,” Sheila said as if it were no big deal.

“Sheila, tipsy I could understand, but you're fucking wasted!” Pearl pointed out.

“Nah, I'm good. Now that I've gotten rid of the old liquor, I can make room for the new.” Sheila started back toward the bar, but Pearl grabbed her arm.

“The last thing you need right now is more liquor. That shit has got you making poor decisions,” Pearl said.

“C'mon, Pearl, I know you ain't still mad about me throwing up. It happens sometimes.”

“Fuck you throwing up! Let's talk about why people think we're in there selling pussy!” Pearl snapped.

“Huh?” Sheila faked dumb.

The minute Pearl saw the dumb look on Sheila's face, she knew what Zonnie had said was true. “Aw, damn, Sheila!” Pearl threw her hands up in frustration.

“I'm sorry, Pearl. Don't be mad at me. Boom told me about these old heads he knew who liked to blow money just to be seen with pretty young girls, so I figured it was a way to pick up a few extra dollars. I never told them that any of y'all were going to do anything though,” Sheila explained.

Pearl looked at Sheila as if she had taken leave of her senses. “Yo, I don't know if I'm more pissed that you were dumb enough to let your so-called man talk you into renting your pussy out or the fact that you tried to drag me to the bottom of the barrel with you. Sheila, you know I'd never judge you for however you decide to chase paper, but my name carries too much weight in these streets to have mud on it behind some shit like this.”

Sheila snorted. “I don't even know why I'm surprised that you flipped this situation to make it about you.”

“How am I making it about me if I'm trying to put your silly ass up on game? Sheila, I know that even with both of your parents working, things can get tight, but there should never come a point when you're so hard up for money that you're whoring yourself out to second-rate hustlers in neighborhood bars. That's hood-booger shit, and I expect better from anybody I move around with.” Pearl hadn't meant to go so hard on her, but Sheila's attempt to justify the situation only made her angrier.

Sheila rolled her liquor-glazed eyes at Pearl and sucked her teeth. “Why it gotta be who you move around with, instead of us moving together? You always screaming that we're a team, but it's more like you call the plays and we get in where we fit in.”

“That's bullshit and you know it. We're a crew; everybody is the same.”

“Nah, we ain't all the same. Since we first met, you've always had everything handed to you. While the rest of us bust our asses to make it in the world,” Sheila spat.

“You act like we don't get money together. What about all the rackets we all see paper off in school?” Pearl reminded her.

“Yeah, but the difference is: we're hustling because we have to; you hustle because you want to. You and I both know that you really don't have to do shit but kick back and live off your family's money!” Sheila said emotionally. The liquor had ahold of her, and she was speaking from her secret place of envy.

“Sheila, you're drunk and talking out your ass so I'm gonna let you have that, but don't push me,” Peal warned. Sheila was one of her best friends, so to hear such sharp words come out of her mouth hurt, but Pearl wouldn't give her the satisfaction of showing it.

“There you go again, trying to tell me what to do!” Sheila yelled. She was causing a scene now, so people were looking.

“Sheila, you need to shut your mouth,” Pearl said through clenched teeth.

“And what if I don't? You gonna tell your daddy and have one of his flunkies come and kill me?”

Pearl wasn't clear on what happened, but at some point she must've snapped. By the time she caught herself, she had already viciously slapped Sheila across the face twice, busting her nose and knocking her to the ground. Sheila looked like she wanted to get up and fight, but she thought better of it and stayed down. “That's the second time tonight you've said some funny shit about my family, and there won't be a third, bitch!” Pearl spat before storming off, leaving Sheila on the ground to nurse her bloody nose.