The Cartel 3: The Last Chapter (21 page)

“Who served her?” Zyir asked with an ice-grill expression on his face. He was extremely upset, and was about to show
the youngsters how The Cartel got down. “Who?” he asked again after not getting an immediate response. The hustlers on the stoop knew that Zyir meant business, so it did not take long for the finger pointing to begin. Zyir saw that everyone, including Scoot, pointed out the guy who had sold the dope to Breeze. Zyir instantly grabbed the dude by the neck and put the gun in his mouth.

“I want everybody to listen and listen close,” Zyir yelled, trying to get everyone’s attention. Everyone on the block looked at Zyir as he dragged the young hustler to the middle of the street. “Nobody serves Breeze. Do you fuckin’ hear me? The Cartel runs this city, not y’all. You work for us!” he yelled, something that he rarely did. “If I hear about anybody giving her dope, this is what’s going to happen.”

Boom! A single shot rang through the air as the young hustler’s brains were blown all over the pavement. His body instantly went limp and dropped. Zyir released his grip and let him fall.

The entire block was stunned. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Zyir had just shut down the whole block with a single shot. Zyir wiped the blood off of his face and looked around, giving every single hustler direct eye contact. He sent a message that would be embedded in each one of their hearts forever.

Zyir sat with Breeze twenty-four hours a day for weeks as she kicked her habit cold turkey. It was so painful for him to watch her body go through withdrawal, but he knew that it was for the best. By giving her tough love, he was saving her from herself. She had not asked to be introduced to addiction, but she was allowing it to eat her alive. He knew that she was strong enough to overcome the monkey on her back; all
he had to do was convince her of that. He had never thought he would see the day that she would be so strung out, and he had to remind himself daily that she did not choose this lifestyle; it had been forced upon her.

The more time he put in with Breeze, the more irritated Illiana became. Zyir didn’t have time to babysit her, however. His only focus was helping Breeze get better. He even missed out on money to be with her. Everything in his life was put on hold. Nothing mattered more than she did. This was not a battle that she could fight on her own, so he was going to walk with her and fight it for her every step of the way.

Nobody really understood the connection that he felt for her. All they saw was a black girl who had been lost to the game, but in her, Zyir saw so much more. He knew that the girl he loved was still somewhere inside of her. All he had to do was love her through her pain and help her get back to the beautiful young girl she used to be.

Breeze’s body went through hell and back. Zyir saw things come out of her that no man ever wanted to see, but he never turned his back on her. There were even days when she degraded herself. She had been so used to being used and abused that she offered to trade sex for drugs with Zyir. She had no clue how her words tore his heart out of his chest. All she knew was that she wanted her fix.

Zyir attributed everything to the heroin and took it all in, absorbing the pain every day in order to help her get better. Zyir did not care for many people, but for Breeze he would go to the end of the world and back. She had captured his heart and loyalty forever. He knew that she would never be the perfect girl. She was too jaded, too scarred to revert back
completely, but as long as she was able to get clean, she would be perfect for him. That’s all that he could ask of her, and he was doing all in his power to ensure that she made it through.

“I’m the only fucking professional out of the bunch.”

—Robyn

Carter sat at his dining table as he stared in disbelief at the information in front of him. After hiring a private investigator, he had found out Miamor’s true profession. The truth was staring him in the face, and he finally understood why Mecca’s hatred for Miamor ran so deep. A part of him wondered if what they had was even real.

He refused to believe that she was playing him just to get to The Cartel. He had gotten inside her head, he had explored the space between her legs, and had learned to control her heart. The way he had loved her was rare. He had never given himself to a woman the way he had with Miamor. To think that it was all a lie was unfathomable.

Before him were pictures of the Murder Mamas, newspaper clippings from the crimes they committed, and an address where they could be found now. Carter’s P.I. had tracked them down in California. As the evidence of Miamor’s ruthlessness haunted him, he felt an overwhelming urge to speak with the members of her crew who were still standing. He remembered meeting them once at the club, but had no idea how dangerous the ladies were at the time. As he found out about Miamor’s life as a murderer for hire, he developed a newfound attraction to her. She was the best at what she did.

She could’ve trusted me with this secret,
he thought.

The Murder Mamas’ track record was so brutal that he knew he was lucky to be alive. Even none of his own young gunners had the body count that Miamor and her crew had attained.

If I had known, I would have put her down with The Cartel,
he thought, impressed and intrigued all at the same time. Miamor had truly been one of a kind, and he did not know how much so until now.

Through all the anger and confusion he felt, the love he had for her was still present. Despite the fact that she had played a vital part in the demise of his family, the spell she had cast on him was still too potent for him to shake her loose. Her spirit was with him. He was in love with a killer—a Murder Mama.

They could have been the power couple sitting at the top if she had just been honest with him. Her hatred for his family could have been resolved, her ongoing beef with Mecca settled, if only she had told him the truth.

She was ruthless, but she had bitten off more than she could chew when she became Mecca’s opposition, and as much as he wanted to, he could not blame Mecca for the decision he had made to put her down.

Carter finally understood that he was not the only one involved in a love affair with Miamor. Mecca had had his own relationship with her as well, but instead of exchanging whispers and kisses in the night, Mecca and Miamor exchanged hollow points and warfare. They had been enemies of the worst kind.

Mecca was right. Would she have killed me next?
He had to know the answer, and the only way to find out was to talk to the people who had known her best.

He looked at the California address once more and hopped
up. He had to see Robyn and Aries. They were the ones who could give him the answers he so desperately sought.

Carter cocked his gun to load a single bullet in his semi-automatic and removed the safety as he placed it on his hip before getting out of the car. He carefully approached the front door to Robyn and Aries’ place. Their good looks concealed their malicious intent, but now that Carter knew how they got down, he would not be caught slipping. He didn’t come to play games; he simply wanted answers. A conversation was all he wanted, and he hoped that they could put aside their hatred for him for the moment.

He placed his hand near his waistline as he knocked on the door. When Aries pulled it open, she gasped in surprise. A mix of emotions filled her as she pulled her baby .380 without hesitation and pointed it directly in Carter’s face.

“Aries, who is it?” Robyn shouted from the kitchen.

As tears filled Aries’ eyes, she couldn’t move her mouth to answer.

Carter didn’t flinch as he stared at Aries sincerely. “I’m not here for all that. I come in peace. I just want to talk.”

Aries’ lip quivered as she thought of pulling the trigger on the man that Miamor had loved. “You let she die,” Aries whispered.

“Aries! Who is it?” Robyn asked as she walked up and pulled the door open fully. She stopped and stared Carter in the eyes. “Shoot him,” she said.

“Me friend is dead because of you,” Aries said again.

“I know. Please, I just need to know more. I know about everything, about her affiliation with the Murder Mamas, and I just really need to speak with the two of you. I have to know if anything she said to me was ever real. Was I just a target?” Carter asked.

Both Aries and Robyn could see the pain in his eyes. Aries lowered her gun and stepped to the side as Robyn relieved him of his weapon.

“Are you alone?” Robyn asked reluctantly.

“Nobody knows that I’m here,” he replied.

“Come in,” she said as she led him to the kitchen table, while Aries walked behind him with her gun still in her hand.

Carter took a seat across from Aries as Robyn went back into the kitchen.

She emerged with two plates of food. “We were about to eat. You might as well join us.” She placed the food in front of Aries and Carter before going to fix her own.

Once they were all comfortable at the table, Aries asked, “How did you find us?”

“If your money is long enough, anybody can be found,” he replied.

“Well, you didn’t come all the way out here for nothing, so what do you want to know?” Robyn asked.

“Was I just another target to Miamor?” Carter asked.

“Miamor wasn’t a dumb girl. She stayed in Miami to be with you, not get at you. She loved you even though we told her she was crossing the line,” Robyn admitted.

“Our target was The Cartel. Mia did not know chu were a part of it until she saw you at your brother’s funeral. We came to shoot up the entire front row, but she called it off when she saw chu. We tried to get she to stop seeing you, Carter, but she wouldn’t,” Aries revealed.

His relief could be felt around the table as he sighed deeply. He had flown three thousand miles just to hear those words.

“She’s dead because of you. If she had come here with us, she would still be alive. Her death is on you. I hope you know that,” Robyn stated sadly.

“I think about it every day,” he admitted.

“Thinking about it don’t bring she back, Carter. What are chu going to do about it?” Aries asked. “We know who did this to she. Chu didn’t know before, but now you can’t play dumb. Chu know everything. Something has to be done.”

Carter sat back in his chair. “He’s my brother,” Carter whispered in turmoil.

“Well, he isn’t ours,” Robyn stated harshly.

“No matter what happens from this point, she isn’t coming back,” Carter stated, heartbroken. “I loved Miamor. I had plans to have her in my life for a long time. I just want the two of you to know that. Nothing about what I felt for her was fake.” Carter stood and Robyn handed him his gun back. “Thank you for telling me what I needed to know,” he said.

“Chu are welcome,” Aries stated.

Robyn walked him to the door and came back to find Aries reaching for Carter’s plate of food.

Out of nowhere, she slapped the fork out of her hand, sending it flying clear across the room.

“Ow, bitch! What the fuck did chu do that for?” Aries asked, looking at Robyn as if she had lost her mind.

“Okay, go ahead and eat it. You know how I get down. I don’t give a fuck if the nigga came over here to pour out his love for Miamor. You know what I put in that. The nigga was just too smart for his own damn good. He didn’t even touch his plate,” Robyn replied with a smirk.

Aries burst out laughing as she pushed the plate away. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Robyn cracked up too and playfully answered, “With your friendly ass. I don’t know what it is about that pretty-ass nigga. All my girls turn to mush around his ass. First Mia, now you! I swear I’m the only fucking professional out of the bunch.”

“When the Mexicans come, they’ll come with the army of an entire country behind them.”

—Carter

Breeze was finally adjusting to being back home, and although weaning her body off of heroin was an everyday struggle, with the help of Zyir, she finally felt a sense of belonging again.

He was great for her in so many ways. Despite the time that had passed between them, they were able to pick up right where they left off. They were so close that it seemed as if they lived in a world by themselves. They rocked with one another and no one else. He was her best friend, and she loved him for not judging her.

She was still very rough around the edges. The glamour and prestige of the young, spoiled Breeze Diamond no longer existed. Now she was simple, timid, and trying to find her new identity as a young woman who had lived a rough life. She had seen too many bad things to go back to the naïve princess she had once been. Life had grown her up, and now Zyir was helping to stabilize her.

Most of her family was dead. The only people that she had left were her two brothers and Zyir. Those relationships meant everything to her. They were the only normalcy she knew, and everyone else was considered an outsider.

As she lay in bed, Zyir knocked on the door and peeked his head inside.

“You awake, ma?” he asked.

Breeze sat up against the headboard and smiled as she fixed her frazzled ponytail. She patted the bed beside her, motioning for him to sit next to her.

“Yeah, I’m up,” she replied as he crawled into her bed. He kissed her cheek.

“You good?” he asked. “You need anything?”

Breeze shook her head and replied, “Just you, Zyir. You’re so good to me. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You don’t have to think about that, Breeze. You will never have to be without me. I’ma always be here for you,” he whispered.

Breeze shook her head and replied, “How long do you think your little girlfriend is going to let me stick around? She don’t want me here, Zyir. You say you will be here now, but when she makes you choose …”

“I’ma choose you,” he replied. “You know me, ma. I’m not into knockoffs. I need the real thing, and now that you’re back, it’s a wrap for everyone else.”

Breeze blushed as she lowered her chin to her chest. “Compared to Illiana I’m the knockoff. She’s beautiful, Zyir. I can’t compete with that … not anymore.”