ANOTHER KIND OF DIAMOND (52 page)

There is a gun under her Pillow! Nurse Jaclyn whispered to the Officers waiting outside.

Are you sure about that? Gary asked.

I can’t be mistaking about a thing like that. I saw it with my two eyes,

Thanks for letting us know, continued Gary.

She is now ready for you. She said before she left to go discuss the issue with her managers.

The officers went back into the room and Gary began again. Miss Diamond how are you feeling?

Pretty much better than I thought!

Are you sure you are ready to do this?

Yeah!

Good! Let’s do it! First we’ll have to conduct that search I told you about before we start the interview, okay?

I’m ready!

Two Officers began searching the room. Not really in a very detailed manner, I mean in a hospital room, there is not much of stuff for a whole lot of searching so they did what they could. The move continued until they got to the bed. With her permission one of the Officers began sniffing until he got under the pillow. He felt it too and the trained hand was certain at the first touch it was a gun. No trained Officer will miss that.

There is something here! He announced and the other three Officers turned in his direction as he slowly pulled out a gun.

Miss Diamond we found this under your pillow, Officer Bruce said as he took the gun and put it where she could see it.

Isabel took one single look at the object and understood the meaning of it all. From the gun her eyes went in the direction of Gary yet she said nothing. Instead, like she has been doing since the men got into her room; she communicated a lot to him through her eyes. In that instant, the gun and the whole history it carries ran through her mind like a whodunit until she got to the part where she parted ways with it and her eyes returned again to him. Gary is here, so is the gun so she put one plus one together and it figured.

What do you have to say about this? Bruce’s voice forced her to shift focus? She continued In silence while the Offices waited in apprehension. You could take a look at it if you want, Bruce continued.

There is no need for that. The gun belongs to me! She said finally.

Are you sure about that? Gary asked in a mixture of relief and sense of betrayal?

As sure as every new day opens, she added.

With pictures of different angels of the gun taken, the officer marked it off exhibit A and stored it away.

Is there any other thing in your possession that might help with this case you want us to have? Gary asked.

Nothing! She said and began fiddling with her hair.

Alright! We get on with the interview then. Gary said, administered the oath before he added, be informed that whatever we are doing and saying here now is being recorded and could be used as evidence against you in the court of law. Do you accept?

I accept! Isabel answered without further thought.

Then the interview began after the officers switched on the tape recorder. The ball fell on Gary’s court as the leader of the team, so he was the man doing the talking while the other Officers listened attentively.

Miss Diamond you agreed to give this information on your own volition, that is without any treat or force whatsoever on your person.

Yes. I ‘m doing it because is what I want to do.

Do you know why you are being held in a hospital? Gary continued.

Yes. ‘Cause I’m very ill! I’m HIV positive and dying of AIDS that is why I’m here to get the help I can.

And you promise to tell the whole truth?

Don’t worry! You’ll get all the information you need from me. I’m probably gonna be dead before this whole thing is over, I don’t know. So I’m gonna say it exactly the way everything happened. Not because I care about what the judge and his jury guys or any person is gonna say but because is what I want to do. I’m not even looking forward to a sentence that I know has already been passed, all I care for now is where I’m gonna be when I die so get on with it.

I appreciate that!! Has your name always been Isabel Diamond? Gary started.

A lengthy pause before she began. No! I was not always Isabel Diamond as people know me ‘cause I was born Nicole Fishbump.

Ok! Why did you change your name to Isabel Diamond?

Another long pause followed. It’s all a very long story, she continued. Anyways, Nicole Fishbump was a girl who never knew her real father so a certain man by the name of Norman was dad to her.

Just Norman! No last name?

Yeah! Just Norman! That’s the way I know how to address him.

Interesting! Please continue!

It was probably at about the age of four or their after that I began to realize the influence of my dad on me and I tried relating with him like any regular kid would ‘cause the bonding was really strong since I was the only child of the house.

So, it was you, your mom and this guy Norman in the house?

Yeah! Just the three of us! We used to be four though but as I was told I lost my elder sister when I was about two. Another pause before she continued. Anyways, at some point, my dad or Norman was a very good dad who would do anything to please his daughter. He used to buy me whatever I wanted a dad could afford for his kid, took me out a lot to the parks to play with other kids and other places kids like to visit. Oh yes, we did a whole lot together in those days ‘cause there was nothing he would not do for me if he could help it and I loved him to death. Separating him from me at any time was never advisable ‘cause I’ll cry so much that I’ll definitely develop some sort of condition. My mother hated that part so much that she allowed us to be together as much as we could. Actually it was a serious stuff for me, ‘cause for some reasons I get really scared when he is not around me. If he leaves for more than a day then that’s a big problem ‘cause I will fall ill and my mom will have to take me to the doctor. At a point it even became a common talk among the doctors and nurses that each time it happened, they would make a joke of it with something like, ‘call Norman’! That is in a manner of speaking, call the doctor and everyone will laugh over that but I didn’t think it was funny at all. Oh no! Nobody realized how much he meant to me and that I was hurting real bad!

As for my mother, looking back from the eyes of a child, I don’t recall her having so much influence in my life except for the times Norman had to be away from home and she will be compelled to do things for me otherwise it was always dad and me. He even gave me my regular bath and dressed me in expensive clothing ‘cause my mom was always busy elsewhere and rarely at home. She worked as a bar attendant in a night club, and some days at a restaurant far away from home and for some reasons she just loved working nights. Sometimes when she leaves for work, I and Norman may not see her for a day or so and then she will return home one day and everything will be ok between him and dad for a while and they will start arguing a lot and she will leave again and it goes on and on like that.

At about age six, I began noticing some of the other sides of Norman that I thought weren’t so cool! After she said that she paused for another while and just to encourage her to continue Gary asked. What are these his other sides like?

Hummmm! She began. He was alcoholic and a very bad one at it. Sometimes, he got drunk, became violent and took it all on my mother and they’ll start fighting. At times he would hit her so hard that my mom will fall and pass out, but then he will help her get back on her feet again. Other times he would talk to her in a very mean way and mom will talk back at him and they would go like kids do and it never stopped. Many a times I heard my mother cry, sometimes I heard her plead with him to change his ways but Norman never cared. Is not like mother made matters better ‘cause whenever Norman went out of town, other men would be coming into the house to be with her. Sometimes too, when mother worked night, Norman would bring other girls to the house and do whatever he wanted with them. As for me I didn’t fancy any of these at all and was always scared about what they might do to each other. I mean, they could hurt themselves and I didn’t wanna lose either of them, you know what I mean? I didn’t know what might happen.

Mom was very careless with stuff too, and never cared to clean the house or keep things where they are supposed to be and Norman was always the one cleaning after her and doing house chores since he was home most times. I recall this one day he found a gift some gay gave to my mother and how he bit the shit out of her that she stayed home for one week and for someone like mom that was a very long week.

Did she dial 911 to report any of these happenings?

No! Mother never called the cops on Norman. Not for once. One time though, she did threaten him like that but I was crying and pleading with her ‘cause I didn’t want my dad go to jail and she dropped it.

Wow!

Yeah! I guess I know better now! Another pause before she continued. After my eight birth day, things began to appeal to me more and events around me began to clarify in more detailed ways. I began not to like mother so much but my feelings for Norman never changed. If anything it got even stronger because from the way my mother was going about stuff, I thought she didn’t really care about me. I mean she was never there, so I never felt that closeness of a mom I so desperately longed for. See, I’m one of those girls that matured real fast. At age eight I looked ten and did things like a ten years old would so I kind of had this idea in my head that I understood everything.

One time, my mother took a two week vacation and travelled to some country with some of her girlfriends . On that same night she went away something really strange happened. Norman opened the door to my room and walked in while I was lying on my bed and reading this very interesting novel on something about romance he bought for me. You know, is not like I saw anything unusual with him coming into my room ‘cause that wasn’t the first time that sort of thing happened, understand? So as usual, I thought he wanted to tell me some tale or ask for something as he did on occasions but today he acted kind of different forcing me to drop the book and began watching him. And all of a sudden, he sat down on my bed and began telling me how much he loved and cared about me and about all the good things he has in stock for me so I got excited, got up from my bed and sat by his side. I could smell alcohol all over him and the way he acted I knew he was soaked but I knew him to be like that sometimes so that didn’t really bother me. Then, without warning, he began touching me in certain ways he had never done before and I felt that was kind of embarrassing. What is he trying to do? I remembered thinking and my basic instinct kind of closed up my body and I held on so tight just to make him back off, but he kept on talking to me real nice and kind of saying really sweet things to me, so I didn’t know what to do or say. I wanted out so desperately but seeing there was no way that could happen, I thought it could be better to know precisely what he wanted, then I mellowed completely and at that point he had his way and did it to me.

What did he do to you?

That was the first night Norman slept with me.

What do you mean by that, he slept on you bed or what? Gary asked.

You know, what men and women do together. I’m so hurt by it all that I just can’t use the word even now as I’m speaking to you.

You mean he had sex with an under aged girl?

Yeah! Scans exchanged by the Officers, Gary took everyone back on track right away with the words, please continue Miss Diamond! What happened after?

I can’t remember what I was thinking at the time but he fell asleep by my side. And then I got up to go use the bathroom and noticed, blood trickling down my legs, all of a sudden I felt the pain and that scared the shit off me! I tried to wake him up and talk to him about it but he wouldn’t come full circle and that got me really upset. I was afraid the bleeding was never gonna stop and I might die but if I live through it all, my mom will definitely find out and I will be in trouble. So I really wanted him to get up and stop the bleeding ‘cause I thought he was capable of doing everything but he continued to act wacky. Not knowing what to do more, I just lied quietly beside him but couldn’t sleep ‘cause I was hurting so bad that at every single bit of my heart I thought I was gonna die. I actually felt I was beginning to stop breathing at a point and jumped out of bed, shock him so hard trying to wake him up, still he continued to act wacky. So I left him alone and rushed to the bath room to see how much I was bleeding but to my amazement it was not there anymore. I couldn’t believe my eyes but was thankful to God that it went away so I washed myself real clean and went back to lie down. Yet the pain persisted and thinking about the whole thing made me cry and I cried a long time. I was still crying when he woke up so suddenly drew me closer and held me tight to his body. I could still smell the drink and thought he was gonna do it to me again but he started talking to me real nice until I calmed down. I talked to him about the bleeding and the pain and he said he will give me something for the pain and that everything will be alright by morning. Then he went and got me two white tabs and a glass of water, I took those and eventually fell asleep.

And like your mom you probably didn’t call the cops? Gary asked.

I told you I loved the man, understand? That was my dad, okay? I was protecting him. I never wanted any harm come to him no matter what he did.