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"Alright, now Diamond, come over here and show me where my watch is, since you claim you didn't touch it and it was left here."
"Why do I have to come over there and show you anything?" Diamond asked.
"At this point, you're just wasting my time. Are you bored? Or are you just taking your frustrations out on me because your dick isn’t working anymore?"
"Watch your mouth, Diamond," I said from the doorway.
“Nah, let her talk. I’m about to penetrate her in a whole other way since she likes to be fucked so much.”
Pops glared at her, pulling his gun from under the desk like it was nothing.
"Yo, Pops, put that away. It's just a watch. If you don't trust her anymore, just don't associate with her. She'll miss the money."
"It isn't about the money. People think they can do anything to me, including disrespecting me, because my time on earth is limited. From your grandmother to everyone else around here. So, maybe I should start settling scores before I leave here. I don’t have to keep up that good businessman act any longer. I can show the world how much Victor Essex doesn’t give a fuck." He cocked the gun. Pops had a dangerous look in his eye; one I had seen several times before. Pops isn't who people thought he is, and I don’t think Caine even knows his grandfather dropped so many bodies.
"Fuck this, I'm leaving. I'm not about to stay here and let him lose his mind on me for no reason. Move, Duke."
Diamond turned around and walked toward the door before Pops suddenly fired two shots off into Diamond’s back. I jumped because the shit caught me off guard, and Diamond’s body fell forward into me.
"Yo, what the fuck, Pops?” Diamond’s body fell to the floor.
“You're losing your mind, man? You didn’t have to kill this girl over a watch!"
"I'm not losing my mind, Dukarii. I’ve always been this person, and you know that shit better than anyone. Now clean this mess up like you always do."
Pops started coughing uncontrollably this time, and I was too stuck to move. This I did not expect to happen today, or I would’ve ignored his call and stayed at home watching the fuckin stories. This shit went from daytime drama to an episode of Power real fuckin fast, but that's usually how it is with Victor Essex.
Diamond’s body was moved to the cremation room, and I’m not going to lie, the shit was fucking with me tough. I was never one to feel guilty about much, but she didn’t deserve that shit. Diamond was a lost soul out here trying to make it in a city her ass wasn’t even from. I was so fucked up about this shit, I stepped outside to get some air, and Yogi was standing near the dumpster in the back, smoking a cigarette.
“Yo, you got another one?”
“Cigarette?” He asked, confused because he knew I hated the smell of these shits.
“Yeah, man. I need something.” Yogi reached into his pocket and pulled out a blunt.
“Yeah, this is more my speed; it’s no cocaine or meth in it, is it?”
He looked at me and smacked his lips. Yogi and I had a great understanding because we spent a lot of time together picking up bodies and cleaning up Pops' mess.
We stood back by the trash can, putting smoke in the air, as I’m sure we both tried to get past shit that was on our minds. When my phone rang, it was a call from the care center my daughter was at, so I put the blunt out against the trash can and took a few steps off to answer it.
“Hi, I’m Georgia Franks. I’m the Senior Care Financial Account Advisor at Clear Creek Medical.”
“Yeah, I sent in the payment two days ago for this month. Did you not get it?”
“No, we received your payment, sir. Thank you for that. I am calling today, Mr. Essex. because I wanted to discuss the renewal for your daughter’s stay and the upgrade in pricing for her continued care.”
“I’m listening.”
I lifted the blunt and lit it again. I already knew where this conversation was going.
Georgia started going through everything.
Machine upgrades, additional nursing staff, new specialized equipment. One expense after another, each one explained in that calm, professional ass voice that people used when trying to ease over amounts like they were just numbers.
By the time she finished explaining everything, I already knew the number she was about to throw out was crazy.
“Based on the updated level of care, Mirical’s stay will be approximately four thousand dollars more per month for the next year.”