“This ain’t Flint town, baby. Money flows like water in Miami, and I got a crazy connect. I’m getting the birds straight off the boat…”
– Carter Jones
Taryn looked directly into Mecca’s eyes. A part of her was relieved that he was safe and sound, but another part of her ached at the fact that he could possibly be responsible for Money’s demise. She could never imagine him committing such an act of sin. Certainly the hands that had shed her son’s blood were not those of his brother. It couldn’t be.
“Mecca, I need to ask you a question. I will only ask you once, and I need to you to be honest,” she stated. Her voice cracked from emotion. She was losing everything that she and Carter had worked so hard to maintain. She composed herself, and once Mecca’s eyes met hers, she asked, “Is it true? Did you harm Monroe?”
Mecca fixed his lips to answer honestly. He wanted to be truthful with his mother, but the look in her eyes revealed her inability to forgive. Killing Monroe wasn’t a trespass that she could dismiss, and he loved his mother too much to give her a reason to hate him. He couldn’t change the fact Money was gone, but he was still breathing and needed his mother’s love like a newborn that hadn’t yet been removed from the womb, so he lied.
“No.”
The lie ripped through his heart like a hollow-point, and he couldn’t contain his emotions. He held onto his mother, trying to feel her heartbeat through their embrace while he wept on her shoulder, mourning the death of his brother and the loss of his sanity. Ever since he had killed Monroe, his head wasn’t the same.
“Everything is going to be all right, son. I love you. No matter what your grandfather says, I know in my heart that you would never do what you’ve been accused of. Monroe was your other half, and you are too selfish to hurt a part of yourself.” Taryn held Mecca’s face in both hands. The sight of him so weak and exposed reminded her of his childhood years, and she wished that she could turn back the hands of time. She wanted to go back to the days when her husband was their protector, but those days were lost, and now it was up to her to salvage what was left of her family.
Mecca had tears in his eyes as he sniffed loudly. He knew that his mother was unaware that he was responsible for Monroe’s murder, and the secret was eating out his insides.
“Now you are the only son I have left. Walk through these doors and you man the fuck up, do you hear me?”
Mecca knew that she was serious because swearing was something that his mother rarely did. He nodded his head in understanding.
“Your father isn’t here, Mecca. My baby Money is gone. I’m not losing you too.”
He hugged his mother tightly, and Breeze stepped up and wrapped her arms around him as well.
“Mecca, I love you,” Breeze whispered as they all embraced tenderly.
“I love you too, B,” he answered, holding on to her as if it were the last time he’d ever see her. He looked up at Carter, who stood next to his Uncle Polo, both hands tucked away in his Cavalli slacks. “Take care of them for me, man,” Mecca said in an almost pleading tone.
“You know it, fam. Get your head right, baby boy. I don’t know what’s going on inside you, fam, but we need you healthy, nah mean? Don’t worry about anything. I’m-a take care of everything,” Carter told him.
Mecca embraced Carter briefly and gave his Uncle Polo a nod before he turned around to walk through the double glass doors and into the therapeutic mental institution.
Breeze fell into Carter’s arms as soon as Mecca disappeared from sight, and her tears flowed freely down her golden face. “I don’t want to lose you, Carter. Everyone’s leaving me. All of my brothers are gone except you,” she whispered in a broken voice.
Polo and Taryn stood silently as they watched the youngest member of the Diamond family break down. They knew it had been a long time coming. Breeze was by far the most vulnerable member of their dynasty, and with nothing but misery around her, they were all waiting for her to crack.
“Shh,” Carter whispered. “That’s not happening, Breeze. I’m not going anywhere, and neither is Mecca. He’s going to get better, I promise you that. We’re going to rebuild this family, you hear me?”
She nodded and rested her head against his shoulder as he walked her to Polo’s Bentley.
“Get some rest, B. I’ll be by to check on you later, a’ight.”
“Okay,” she said as she stepped into the open car door. “Be careful, Carter. I don’t want to bury you too.”
“You won’t have to,” Carter replied as he closed the door. He turned to Taryn and Polo then said, “Taryn, can I speak with Polo for a second?” He rubbed his hands over his neatly trimmed goatee in frustration, the stress evident on his face.
Taryn nodded and then excused herself to the passenger seat of the car.
“Yo, what the fuck, fam? Shit is getting wild. Mecca got these mu’fuckas after him, got his mental all fucked up. My baby sis is breaking down, and Money…” His words broke off in his throat as he thought of his current circumstances. He had just become acquainted with his siblings, and he was already losing them. “I swear to God, fam, I’m ready to murder Ma’tee.”
Polo could see Carter was hurting, and he felt his pain. He had been a part of the Diamond family from the conception of the very first seed, and he too was feeling the burdens of the war with the Haitains. “Listen, son, we’ve got to stay smart… strategic. You said it yourself. We’ve got to think before we move. Right now, The Cartel’s taking a lot of losses. We need to be about the business, get our money up and our soldiers strong before we get back at Ma’tee. We need to sit down and promote some of our street lieutenants-”
Carter interrupted Polo, “Nah, fam, I can’t rock with them mu’fuckas, man. No offense, fam, I respect what The Cartel is and all that it stands for, but I don’t trust them niggas. I haven’t bled with them, fam. They don’t know my hustle. I need my own people down here. These Haitains is playing for keeps, and I’m gambling with my life, nah mean? I need niggas around me that I can trust.”
Polo nodded. “A’ight. Put your peoples on the first flight out, and let’s get this money so we can dead this beef and get back on track.” Polo walked toward his car and got in, leaving Carter standing on the curb alone.
Flipping up his cell phone, Carter called his right-hand man. “Yo, Ace, what’s good, baby? It’s about that time. I need you, fam.”
It was all that needed to be said. Ace knew what time it was. He agreed to gather Zyir and be on the next flight out to chop it up with his best friend.
The next night Carter waited patiently as he watched Ace and Zyir emerge through the airport doors. A sense of relief instantly washed over him when he saw the faces of his two most trusted associates. With his own squad in town, he could lay niggas down with no reservations because he had his right and left hand beside him. He greeted Ace first, slapping hands with the one person he had come up in the game with. They were thick as thieves and had taken over their hometown of Flint with relative ease. They were seasoned and thorough. They had been putting in work together for years, and he knew that the transition to Miami would be a smooth one.
“You good, fam? You had me worried on the phone. You ain’t sound right,” Ace commented as they embraced.
Carter nodded his head and greeted his protégé, “Lil’ Zyir, what’s good, baby? I’m glad you came down, fam.”
“My nigga call, I come running, fam. That’s how we do, nah mean? Besides, it’s warm than a mu’fucka down here. It’ll do ya boy some good getting away from that Arctic shit up north.”
Carter walked toward his Range, and they all packed their bags inside before pulling away from the curb, Jay-Z’s American Gangster CD immediately filling the leather interior.
Out of habit Ace punched in the code to Carter’s hidden compartment, revealing three chrome pistols. He removed two, tossing one in the backseat to Zyir.
Carter, Ace, and Zyir were the last of a dying breed and would never be caught without their heaters. Zyir and Ace had the exact hidden compartments in their own whips. The compartments always held three guns, one for each of them in case of emergencies.
“So what’s so important that we had to come all the way down here?” Ace asked, admiring the change of scenery that Miami offered. The palm trees and busy streets seemed worlds away from the dilapidated houses and potholes of his hometown. “It’s nice down here, fam,” he commented as he waited for Carter to reply.
“It’s the same game with a different face, fam. Don’t let this glamorous shit fool you. I’m-a be real honest about the shit that’s going on here. My father-”
“Your father?” Ace asked in astonishment, knowing that his best friend had never known his dad.
“Yeah. That’s how all this started. My father was the leader of a criminal enterprise called The Cartel. Basically they run all this shit down here. Drugs, real estate, politics, anything that happens here, The Cartel makes happen or is a part of in some way.”
“Yo, so these Cartel mu’fuckas on some real organized crime type shit, huh?” Zyir asked.
“Yeah, and business was good, up until my father was murdered by Ma’tee. Ma’tee runs little Haiti, and this nigga ain’t holding no punches. Since killing my father, he’s murdered one of my little brothers and sparked a war that is fucking with my money.”
“Your money?” Ace asked. “You a part of this Cartel shit?”
“I run The Cartel. It’s mine now, which is why I need the two of you here. Y’all know how I move. I trust both of you with my life,” Carter said seriously.
“You know we’re with you, fam, but how is the money down here? We were making at least a hunnid thou a month in Flint. You know how lovely the hustle was there. We had our blocks on smash,” Zyir said proudly.
“A hunnid thou?” Carter raised his eyebrows and looked at Zyir in the rearview mirror.
“Each,” Zyir bragged. “That’s good money, nah mean? Ya boy was eating.”
“Don’t worry about the cash, fam. You gon’ eat. You will make a hunnid thou easy,” Carter guaranteed.
Zyir nodded in approval, but he lost his mind when Carter added, “A week.”
“Nigga, you bullshitting!” Ace exclaimed.
Carter remained silent.
Ace looked back at Zyir and said, “Yo, this mu’fucka is really serious.”
“This ain’t Flint town, baby. Money flows like water in Miami, and I got a crazy connect. I’m getting the birds straight off the boat, ninety percent pure, but these Haitains is plugging up my leak, nah mean? They are taking out my soldiers, which is slowing up my money. We about to rebuild, and when we’re where we need to be, we’ll get rid of them mu’fuckas.”
Ace and Zyir trusted Carter and was with him before he even finished what he was saying.
Carter drove them to a luxury apartment community near the Diamond household. It was a 2,500-square-foot space with three bedrooms for them to share. They walked in through the attached two-car garage, a Hummer for each of them resting inside.
Carter removed two sets of keys and tossed one to each of his friends. “Y’all are all set up. This place is close to my family’s home. They live a few miles from here. I’ll take you through tomorrow to meet them and introduce you to your new workers.”
“A’ight, a’ight, fam. I know we down here on business and everything, but, nigga, this is Miami, and ya boy trying to see the city tonight. Let’s do it big tonight for ol’ times’ sake, and tomorrow we can be all about the business.” Zyir anxiously unlocked his new truck and hopped inside.
Ace and Carter laughed at Zyir’s excitement, but they knew that he was young. At 18 he still had the world to experience. They had seen and done so much more than him, and they both knew that he was only trying to follow in their footsteps.
“A’ight, fam. We can do it right. I’ll show y’all around town.”
Miamor pulled out her cell phone in the middle of the crowded club to see if Carter had called. He hadn’t tried to contact her in two days, and his sudden absence from her life was starting to bother her. She usually spoke with him at least twice a day, and he always made it a point to come and check for her. Now that he was doing disappearing acts, she didn’t know what to think.
Aries could see the discouraged look on her friend’s face. “You okay?” she shouted over the loud music.
Miamor looked up and realized that her two friends were staring at her, so she put her emotions at bay and replied, “Yeah, I’m good. I was just wondering what time it was.”
“Why hasn’t he called you?” Robyn asked, not buying Miamor’s lie.
“He’s going through a lot right now. His brother just died, and his family is having-”
“Do you hear yourself right now?” Robyn said to her. “Miamor, he is a mark. The Cartel is our mark. He runs The Cartel now. They killed Anisa.”
With each day that passed, it was becoming more difficult for Miamor to keep up the charade. Yes, it was true that she harbored ill feelings toward The Cartel and wanted to murder Mecca. But it was also true that she was falling in love with Carter. She knew it, and in a way she hated herself for it. She felt like a traitor. She wanted to be wifey, wanted to be a part of Carter’s life, but she knew that what she was building with him would eventually be torn down by a plot that she herself had devised. When the time came, she was going to kill him. She didn’t have a choice.
“Miamor, you have to get he to break de truce with Ma’tee. That is the only way we can get de bounty on de Cartel. Push him, Mia. Make he react,” Aries urged.
Miamor nodded.
“Are you sure you can handle this?” Aries asked.
“Yes,” she answered simply as she took a sip from her Long Island Iced Tea.
“Then handle it,” Robyn told her.
“Look, this is going to take some time. The Cartel is not like any of the other jobs. I have to be careful. Carter isn’t dumb. He’ll see straight through me if I’m too pushy. I have to do this my way. I have to play wifey so that he’ll trust me, but don’t worry, it’s gonna get done. I’m good, just trust me.”
“Fuck it. That’s not what we here for anyway. Let’s just have a good time,” Aries said.
The girls agreed, and Miamor leaned with her back against the bar as she swayed sexily to the music. She made sure that she could see every angle of the club, a habit that she had acquired over the years. She was always aware of her surroundings.
Miamor held the attention of many of the men in the club. Her black spaghetti strap Prada dress dipped low in the front, revealing her C-cup cleavage and her flat stomach, and silver Choo stilettos accented her shapely, athletic legs. Her healthy hair glistened under the strobe light and was cut in a long bob with Chinese bangs, while her MAC cosmetics complemented her almond-colored skin. The term “Shorty is the shit,” had to be meant for her, because her features always outshined every other chick in her vicinity, and that night was no different.
Miamor watched as most of the women in the club flocked toward the door. She squinted to see who had entered the club that deserved so much attention.
“Speak of the devil,” Robyn commented as she saw what the commotion was all about.
Carter and two other men walked into the club clad in Cavalli jeans and fresh kicks. Carter simply wore a gray Lacoste sweater with a white collared shirt underneath. He was simple, but his jewels stood apart from every other nigga in the club. He was wearing so many karats that he was almost hypnotic as the strobe lights played hide-and-seek with the diamonds around his neck.
Miamor watched as Carter and his friends selected three girls to take up to the VIP section with them.
“That’s why we can’t get shit poppin', Mia?” Robyn continued as if Carter didn’t impress her. “The nigga is playing you, Miamor. He has your fucking head gone. You sitting up in here turning down mad niggas, waiting on him to call, and he out courting these busted-ass bitches.”
Miamor could feel her temperature rising. She was hot as she watched Carter place his hand on the small of the girl’s back and guided her through the crowd. Is he for real?
“Just say the word and I all over that bitch,” Aries stated.
The sight before Miamor had her tight. She was so upset that she was seeing red, which usually meant blood was about to be shed, but she controlled herself and saved face in front of her girls. “Fuck him. He ain’t my man. The nigga is a job, nothing more and nothing less,” she stated coldly. I can’t believe I was feeling his lying ass, she thought to herself. She wanted to leave the club, because deep inside she knew that her heart was broken, but she stayed. She knew that if she left, she would be admitting that she was falling for him.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Carter was hers. At least, he was supposed to be, and she was jealous that his attention was focused on another woman. Carter was popping bottle after bottle of champagne and had his arm draped around the young woman as if he were proud to have her on his hip. This is bullshit, she thought silently as she inventoried her competition. The girl with Carter was pretty in the voice, but her twice-borrowed dress and Claire’s jewels were a disgrace. This shit is un-fucking-believable, she thought.
Her girls looked on in shock. They could tell that Miamor was beyond upset.
Carter was having a good time. His head had been fucked up since arriving in Miami, and it felt good to have his niggas by his side again. For a long time, Ace and Zyir had been the only “brothers” he’d known, and he trusted them whole-heartedly. His love for them ran deep, and they shared an unbreakable bond.
He looked around at the random chicks that Zyir had picked out of the crowd and had to admit he hadn’t been so carefree in a long time. Carter was what some women would call arrogant. He was very selective when it came to who he shared his time with, and it was very rare that he dealt with a lot of women at one time.
It was even rarer to see him in a nightclub, but Zyir and Ace had talked him into it, so he decided to let loose. He told himself that he deserved to relax after all that he had been through in the past couple of months.
Carter noticed that their drinks were getting low, so he leaned over and whispered for Zyir to go to the bar to get some more Moët. Zyir arose and made his way over to the bar. He slid into the empty space next to Robyn and placed his order.
Robyn automatically clocked his pockets when he pulled out a wad of cash. She had to admit, she was impressed, because he was working with all big faces. I should rob his young ass, she thought playfully to herself.
Zyir noticed her watching and smiled as he licked his full lips. “Ay, ma, why don’t you and your girls come and join me in VIP?” he stated.
His boyish charm was cute, and Robyn could tell that he was young from his approach. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Zyir,” he replied.
When the bartender brought his drinks, he grabbed the three bottles. “You coming, or you gon’ hug the bar and wait for one of these broke-ass niggas to come over and waste your time?”
Robyn leaned over and whispered in Miamor’s ear, “You wanna go?”
Miamor shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s whatever.”
“We don’t have to stay. Just let that nigga see that you see him. Maybe his guilt will get shit moving a little faster.” Robyn turned to Zyir and said, “Lead the way.”
Miamor took a deep breath and followed behind her girls as they approached Carter’s table. Her stomach was in knots as she continued to watch him closely. It seemed like the closer she got to him, the more her eyes began to fail her. Tears built up, and she was forced to blink them away before they could fall.
“Yo, my friend and her girls are going to join us,” Zyir stated as he sat the bottles of Moët down on the table.
The girl had Carter’s face turned toward hers, and she had his full attention as she whispered something in his ear, so he didn’t even notice Miamor.
“Yo, I didn’t get y’all names,” Zyir stated.
“I’m Robyn.”
“Aries.”
“Miamor.”
As soon as her voice blessed Carter’s ears, he turned his face and looked up at her in surprise. He could tell from the hurtful expression on her face that she had been there for a while, and he instantly knew that he had fucked up. He withdrew his arm from around the groupie and stood up.
“No, please don’t let us break up y’all little thing,” Robyn protested sarcastically to Carter.
Carter tried to make eye contact with Miamor, but she refused to look at him. She just shook her head in disgust before beginning to walk away.
Robyn turned to Zyir. “Thanks for inviting us over, but it looks like you all have enough company as it is. It’s a shame too, ‘cuz you had potential, young’un,” she said sweetly as she lightly kissed his cheek, and they walked away from the table.
Carter excused himself and followed behind Miamor. Grabbing her arm gently, he stopped her from leaving as he tried to explain. “Miamor, it’s not what it looks like,” he began.
Miamor snatched her arm from his grasp and shook her head in disbelief. She was pissed and hurt. She hated herself for caring so much when the man before her was simply supposed to be a means to an end. What is it about him? she asked herself silently.
“Come on, ma, say something.”
Miamor wanted to forget what she had just witnessed. A part of her wanted to leave the club with him, but she had never been a silly broad who believed lame excuses, and she wasn’t about to become one that night. I know what the fuck I saw. He was all in the bitch face a minute ago. If I hadn’t walked up, he would probably be taking the bitch home tonight. Fuck him.
“You know what, Carter? It doesn’t even matter. Now I know who you really are. You are just like every other nigga-a liar.”
Her words hit him like darts to the heart. When she turned to walk away, he reached for her hand. “Miamor.”
Just then the girl he had been with in VIP eased up behind him and wrapped her arms around him as she stared Miamor down. It was obvious she was trying to make her presence felt and stake her claim. Miamor shook her head and backpedaled toward the door.
Carter removed the girl’s arms from his body.
“You just made this so much easier for me. He’s all yours,” she said as she stormed away, her stilettos stabbing the floor to death with each step before she disappeared through the exit of the club.
The pain that was etched on her face was the last thing that Carter saw before she left. “Fuck,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong, daddy?” the girl asked.
Carter looked down at the girl, and all of a sudden she had become a nuisance. “Look, ma, I need some air,” he said. “I’m not trying to play you or nothing, but ain’t shit poppin’ off tonight, a’ight.” Then he walked away, leaving her dumbfounded in the middle of the dance floor.