Diamonds and Pearl Read Online Free

cold, and his eyes were now glazed over as if he were having trouble focusing.
    â€œYou hear that?” John-Boy asked. His voice now sounded flat and tired.
    â€œHear what?”
    â€œHooves … they say that death rides a horse. He’s coming for me, but I don’t wanna go.”
    â€œDon’t talk crazy. You ain’t going nowhere but to Florida with the rest of us. The Horseman is an old wives’ tale Auntie used to tell us to scare us. He ain’t real,” Diamonds assured him.
    â€œThen how do you explain that black steed marching alongside us?” John-Boy’s eyes drifted to something just beyond Diamonds.
    Diamonds looked in the direction of John-Boy’s gaze but saw nothing but the murky waves caused by their airboat and the drowned New Orleans streets. The loss of blood must’ve been making him delirious. “There’s nothing there,” he tried to tell him, but John-Boy continued to stare at whatever phantom he alone could see.
    John-Boy began to chuckle softly.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Diamonds asked, taking his hand in his. It was clammy.
    â€œI was just wondering how the Horseman plans to get me to hell, since he only brought one horse? My fat ass is liable to sink us both.” He pushed out one last giggle before going still. John-Boy had pulled his last caper.
    Buda leaned in and kissed John-Boy’s forehead before gently brushing his eyes closed. “Travel safe, little brother.”
    â€œI’m sorry, man,” Dip offered.
    Buda nodded but didn’t speak. He stood turned to Diamonds. “I don’t suppose Auntie’s got a tonic that can bring back the dead.” His tone was light, as if he were making a joke out of it, but there was a hint of desperation in his eyes.
    Diamonds gave him a sad look. “Even if she did, he wouldn’t be your brother anymore. Best to let the dead rest.”
    Buda nodded.
    â€œListen,” Diamonds continued, “we can put the move on hold if need be, to give you some time to grieve. My heart’s heavy over this too, so maybe we should all take a minute.”
    Buda shook his head. “Nah, we stick with the plan and get the fuck out of Dodge while we still can. We ain’t doing John-Boy’s memory no justice if we dead or in jail. All I ask is that we give him a proper send-off before we pull out. I’ll always carry my brother’s spirit with me, but Louisiana soil is welcome to his body.”
    Diamonds nodded. “So be it.”

 
    CHAPTER TWO
    It was well into the night by the time the rain had decided to show them a bit of mercy. It was still falling but had scaled back from a monsoon to a consistent spray. The floodwaters had stopped rising, but they hadn’t begun to recede yet either. The city was in bad shape, the rural areas ever worse, especially along the banks of the Mississippi. Diamonds could remember hot summer days when he and Goldie called a shack in the backwoods home, and they’d go for cooling afternoon swims in the murky waters. The storm had swollen the river to the point where it was nearly unapproachable, and it looked like they were going to have to break a time-honored tradition, but luckily they were able to find a high patch of land along the river that hadn’t been swallowed yet. It was little more than a patch of mud and rock, but it allowed them to get close enough to the river to do what they’d come for.
    A darkness lingered between Diamonds and his assembled team. He had just orchestrated and executed the biggest score of his life, and it should’ve been cause for celebration, but there was no joy in Diamonds’s heart, only twisting sadness. He had lost friends before, and even family members, but this was the first time he had lost a member of his crew and it hurt. Though Hank was the oldest of them, the entire team looked to Diamonds for guidance. He was their leader and supposed to be their