After discussing Rakim Washington on my last post of Behind the Book, I felt it was only right for the next post to feature his fraternal twin brother, Malik.

Malik is a character who played a rather small role in Diamonds in the Rough (DITR) in my opinion. To me, his presence grew in Diamonds are Forever (DAF) and remains relatively the same in The Ace of Diamonds (AOD- not yet released).

He is considered to be loyal friend because he was the main person who stayed in Jay’s corner ensuring that he had funds available whenever he was released from prison. He also kept watch over Jay’s business affairs, which eventually went sour due to the lack of income that was coming in and his inability to fund them (Sapphire remained open for a short period after Jay’s arrest, but was soon closed down in addition to the laundromats that he owned).

The sad part about of all Malik’s hard work is that he doesn’t have ownership in any of Jay’s establishments. He has just helped to bring them into fruition. His main sources of income come from his role in the Santiago cartel and Jay does pay him for his services when it comes to his businesses.

Aside from his work with Jay, Malik was instrumental in getting Carmen out of prison. Due to this, Malik became allies with Kane, thus putting him in the middle between him and Jay. This does cause some tension between them, but it is obvious that Malik treasures his friendship with Jay more than the one with Kane.

Moreover, it is also during Jay’s time in prison that Malik falls in love with Tiara. They date secretly for a total of ten years until their relationship is made public (they end up going to eat at the same restaurant as Carmen/ Jay and decide not to hide it any longer). This was bound to come out because Malik was looking to take their relationship to the next level. He felt that he had spent the majority of his life being godfather to Carmen’s kids (King and Kristian) and wanted children of his own. He also wanted to get married. Close to giving Tiara an ultimatum, she finally showed a change of heart and they were soon engaged. Within the same year, they were married and she became pregnant with their first child, a daughter named Robin Giselle Washington.

When it comes to Malik’s role in the rest of the series, I wanted to show some growth, which can be seen in AOD. Although he was the one who was trying to convince Jay to enter the drug trade to get his money back up, he is also the one who encourages him to stay away from the drama when things start crumbling with the cartel. Malik’s transition into a family man begins to rub off on Jay who soon follows in his footsteps.

Tidbits on Malik Washington

-He is godfather to all of Carmen’s children

-King lived with him for a short while in DAF

-He was named after the actor Malik Yoba from New York Undercover

-He graduated high school, but does not have a college degree