Cartel Dreams: A Love Story (14 page)

Tears rolled down my eyes abundantly. I couldn’t stop them as I slid down on the floor beating it with my fists trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want to lose Quince but it seemed either way I would end up doing so forever. The money in the drawer wasn’t nearly enough to get me out of the bind that I was in but it was for damn sure a start and might buy me some time. The safe, I would leave alone but the loose cash in the drawer… I reached my hand inside gradually pulling out one of the stacks gazing at it like it was everything I needed and more. I gazed at it like it was rightfully mine.

Chapter 15

Quince

Later that night

…A bitch gon' be a bitch

A hoe gon' be a hoe

A killer gon' be a killer

That's sumthin' you need to know

Ain't no way around it, ain't no way around it

A dealer gon' be a dealer

A player gon' be a player

My niggas, them my niggas, they just like blood

Ain't no way around it, ain't no way around it

I had a young, hot thang fucked my bro and gave 'em brain

And she expect for me to love her, I can never be a lame…

“Alright. That motherfucka’s in there, Phantom. I mean I don’t know where the fuck this nigga came from. He just said he knew about our operation and shit. Said he wanted payment, a fucking allowance every fucking month or else he was turning us into the feds. He’s the motherfucka that was working with Steelo, bro. The nigga said his names on too many occasions. So we’ve gotta deaden this motherfucka right here, right now.” Montana was hyped as he turned the Future CD down to speak.

“Nigga, he’s a police captain. You think we need that kind of heat on us right now? We just started this shit,” I huffed. “We’re gonna lose this shit before we even get this shit.”

“Man, I don’t know about you but I ain’t willing to give up twenty percent of shit. So it’s either we do this or we get ready to be his bitches, Phantom.”

Montana had a point. I looked back at the two goons sliding their black facemasks over the heads and realized this shit was now or never. We jumped out of the unmarked black van making sure our masks were secure over our faces and sliding the gloves over our hands. Montana nudged me as we shut the van back doors. We walked across the street checking our ammo and cocking our guns back on some equipped shit. One could never be too prepared on the type of mission that we were on.

The street was dark and empty as we slithered through the gangway headed for the back door. The captain’s family had gone to bed, as the house was dead fucking silent when we snuck in. The kitchen resembled something from a MTV Cribs episode. It was beautifully renovated with stainless steel appliances and imported countertops. This nigga was definitely scheming money from somewhere. There was no way he could afford any of that shit on a cop’s salary regardless as to how many years he had been there.

Now he was looking to cash in on my territories and I wasn’t going. As we moved through the house as quiet as mice, I began to realize that eventually I would need to put some cops and judges on the fucking payroll to keep them quiet as most motherfuckas did in my position. It was the only way to survive in this business. But we weren’t as big as he thought we were just yet and he was already trying to tax what we hadn’t earned yet. His death would serve as a message to the next asshole bold enough to come to my niggas with that handout bullshit.

I turned my attention away from the scenery of his house as Montana threw up hand signals to head upstairs quietly. My footsteps followed his as we crept quietly through the darkness, being sure not to cause a stir. At the top of the stairs, I leaned against one wall as he hit the other side. With the goons nearby, I creaked one door open feasting my eyes on two beautiful little girls, no more than five or six years old. They appeared to be fast asleep in their identical pink netted beds. After closing the door securely, I joined Montana on the other wall peering inside a room where two people were rolling around under a long navy blue blanket.

“Make sure you hit that shit one time for me my nigga?” I chortled, as we walked in the room casually with our pieces down to our sides.

“Oh my God. Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you doing here?” The Caucasian woman growled struggling to cover her naked tits as she reached for her cell phone.

“Bitch, don’t be stupid eh,” Montana cracked as my hand pointed the gun straight to the woman’s head.

“Who are you people?” The captain panicked.

“We them niggas,” I smiled aiming right for his fucking skull.

“What the hell do you want?” The captain scrambled to find his boxers.

The woman thought she was slick. Her small frame leaned gradually reaching to snatch her nightgown really fast keeping one eye locked on me. It was as if she was studying my mannerisms and hoping she could figure out who I was. The solemn look on her face begged for sympathy of which I had none for her. After she slipped on her gown she tried again to reach for her phone as if I wouldn’t notice. My eyes locked onto hers prompting her to back up from the phone and press her back against the wall.

“Move again and I’m going to splatter your fucking brains all on your silk teddy. You got that?” I bawled.

“Captain, you decided that you wanted to be compensated for some shit that didn’t belong to you in the first place. And, for that you must go my friend.” Montana’s eyes were cold and stressed. “On your knees motherfucka.”

“Honey, what’s he talking about?” His wife asked clenching her nightgown close to her body. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“No, no. I only wanted a small piece. Just a taste to get my lips wet. That’s all. I would never tax you all. I promise,” The captain pleaded as he kneeled.

“Naw, you said you were going to turn motherfuckas into the feds. You said you’d better get a percentage or else. Ain’t that what you said, captain?” I walked up to him placing the end of the gun square between his eyes. “Don’t even bother lying bitch. We already know what the deal is.”

“Baby,” the woman winced trembling in sheer horror, crying out as tears poured from her blood shot eyes.

“Wait, wait. I didn’t pull the trigger on that though. It was Steelo’s idea, Leon Steel. But listen, listen. He told me you would pay out the ass and we could both get this money together,” the captain repeated frantically while his pale skin turned bright red.

“Steelo, huh? Well you must ain’t heard then. Ya nigga Steelo, met with a few hollow points a few weeks back.” Montana turned to me. “You seen him lately?”

“Naw, I haven’t seen him.” I cut my eyes oddly, aiming my piece sideways towards the good captain’s wife. “I ain’t seen shit.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t worry so much about him, captain. He’s well taken care of,” Montana boasted. “Ya feel me?”

“No, no. He was a mere small obstacle in this equation. I can offer you the type of protection you need. I’ll even do it for free for an entire year if you want and then after that you pay me whatever you think is fair. I swear I won’t tell nobody shit. Please,” the captain pleaded. “Please.”

Montana could see me thinking about the information we had just received. I was contemplating as to whether or not we should give this lame as dude a chance before we blew his brains out. Any second thoughts seemed to prove too late but what he could offer would bring about a smooth operation should he keep his word. That son of a bitch deserved to die just for simply coming at my squad like that though. He was bold with his approach and I didn’t like that shit.

“Talk,” I demanded.

“Okay, Steelo put me up on your whole operation. How you go get the work and when. He didn’t know your connects name but he told me you make enough money to put me on payroll. He told me all I had to do was talk to you and you would do it. All he asked for was a small piece of the cut.”

“Shit went wrong,” I interjected.

“I never meant any disrespect. I swear,” the captain continued. “But he came to me with the shit because he said you would never do it if you didn’t think your back was against the wall and you could go to jail. I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks but I searched for you anyway to put the plan in motion.”

“And, it was so disrespectful captain. Believe that,” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.

“No, no! I never said a word to anyone and I never will. I swear. I swear it.” Captain White covered his face with his hands, shielding it from the bullet he knew would be his. “Please man, I was just trying to feed my family. You can understand that right?”

“So you say you don’t know shit and won’t say shit huh?”

“Uh, uh…um.”

“Don’t stutter now motherfucka. What’s it gonna be?” I rocked him across the face with the butt of my gun.

“No, I’ll never say not one damn thing to anyone. Just give me one year and I promise you’ll be so pleased with my work you’ll be happy to throw me a little something. I can have the entire city sowed up for you. I swear it.”

That sounded like a sure fire thing, something that I was interested in pursuing but I wasn’t sure he was the one that would be able to deliver. I walked over to Montana as he rubbed his head for comfort while still keeping my aim on the wife. We spoke with our eyes trying to ensure we were doing the right thing. I had to make sure that he was okay with the offer we had just received but he was colder than a witch’s tit. I knew that shade all too well even though it wasn’t directed towards me.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Montana responded, his voice throaty.

“Please, I’m begging you.” Captain White interlocked his fingers, begging me for their lives as tears cascaded down his cheeks. “Don’t hurt us. Don’t kill us, please God. I’ve got little girls”

“Yeah I took a look at your little girls. Precious aren’t they?” I responded as I paced the floor slowly realizing our time was winding down. We couldn’t post up in here too much longer.

“Please don’t kill us. For Christ’s sake,” his wife mumbled.

“Man, let’s just drop their asses and get the fuck up out of here,” Montana moved in my line of motion forcing me to stare him in the eye.

“Naw, we’re gonna let these motherfuckas breathe. If he fucks us, it’ll be nothing to drop their asses,” I woofed back at him.

“Then, I’ll do it. I can do it and you can go wait outside.” Montana rose his gun pointing it right for the wife’s eyes.

“No!” I slapped his hand down. “We aren’t doing this. We’re gonna take the good captain up on his offer.”

I had grown a soft spot for women and children. It was the only thing that saved them. He was squeezing my arm so tightly that I thought it would pop the fuck off. I snatched away from the captain, never taking my eyes off of him for one second. It was understood about my softness for the woman and kids but I couldn’t help but feel that leaving them alive would certainly seal our fate in the worst way.

We were lucky, damned lucky to have gotten as far as we did so apart of me felt like he would undoubtedly betray me as soon as he got the chance. I could see the treachery hiding behind the cop’s dark eyes. I was anything but going soft from my murderous rage. But I couldn’t see myself leaving with that type of shit on my conscious.

“Trust me. Everything is going to be fine,” I whispered in Montana’s right ear instructing the goons to head out the room.

“Fuck,” Montana snapped.

“I’m not going to kill your family.” I turned back towards the captain at the door.

“Awe, bless you son. Bless you,” Captain White repeated shutting his eyes before opening them again staring into his wife’s eyes. “I love you. You do know that don’t you?”

“Yes, baby. I love you too,” his wife chimed in with tears on deck.

“I love you.” The captain shook his head.

He was breathing so hard that it looked as if he would have a seizure right there on the floor. The captain’s hyperventilating did nothing to deter my thoughts of making him pay for his role in trying to extort me in my business. There was no sympathy for him only for his wife and children. No, his retribution would be swift and if God had any mercy on him, painless. I stood there stiff for a second, before raising my piece, releasing two hollow points through the silencer into his dome as he raised his hands hoping to block them. He was unsuccessful.

The crew looked in on the scene confused. They thought I was going to let them all go and accept the captain’s offer. But after reconsidering at the last minute, I realized that wouldn’t be the right move for business. They stood watch as the wife cowered in the corner hoping she wasn’t next in line. The captain dropped to the floor from landing on the nightstand dead from his wounds. He lay there motionless as the weeping in the background from his thin wife filled the room.

My eyes connected with his wife’s locking on like a missile. She shook her head begging for her life and reminding me that her girls were fast asleep in the next room. She buried her face in her hands, which was her best bet as I raised the banger again sending two to her dome as well. I felt sorry for the girls having to be raised without parents but truthfully they were better off without them motherfuckas anyway. In hindsight, I did them both a favor. Life insurance would take care of them for the rest of their lives.