Array Ashley: The Cartel

Money handed the cup back to his father and stood there with his chest out, as if he was trying to prove that he was a man. Mecca followed suit.

“Why were you two eavesdropping on Poppa?” Carter playfully hit both of his sons in the chest.

Money shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “I don’t know.”

Mecca looked around the table, seeing nothing but hustlers and killers. He then looked at his father, who sat at the forefront of them, and a smile spread across his face. “Poppa, I want to be just like you. I wanna be a gangster,” Mecca said as he stepped in front of his brother.

One of the hustlers at the table chuckled as he looked at Mecca. “Li’l man got hustle in him. That’s a gangster in the making right there,” the man said.

Carter shot a look at the man that said a thousand words. If looks could kill, the man would’ve been circled in chalk. “No, my son will never be that. Watch ya mouth, fam,” Carter stated firmly as he focused his attention back on Mecca. “Look, sons, you are better than this. This game chose us, we didn’t choose the game. You got the game twisted. I do this, so you don’t have to,” Carter said, as a somber feeling came over him. It hurt his heart to hear Mecca say that he wanted to be a gangster like him.

“Let me show you two something,” Carter said before he looked at his henchmen that sat at the long red oak table. “How many of you have lost someone close to you because of this drug game?

Slowly everyone at the table raised their hands, to help Carter prove a point.

“How many of you go to bed with a pistol under your pillow?” Carter asked. “And how many of you want to get out of the game?”

Mecca and Money looked at everyone in the room holding up their hands, and Carter’s point was proven.

“Do you two understand, this game… is not a game?”

Mecca and Money nodded their heads, understanding the lesson that their father had just sprinkled them with.

“Take another sip of this and head to bed.” Carter smiled and handed Money the cup. After the boys took a small sip of the drink, he grabbed both of their heads at the same time and kissed them on top of it. “Don’t tell your mother,” he whispered to them just before they exited the conference room.

Although Carter had explained to them the cons of the street life, the allure of the game was too powerful, and Mecca and Money wanted in. They just had to wait their turn.

Breeze stood at her balcony, totally astounded by the view, and stared into the stars. Her balcony hovered over their small lake and faced their gigantic backyard. The Diamond residence was immaculate. They had just moved there, and it was a big jump from the dilapidated projects of Dade County. Breeze’s 12-year-old eyes were lost in the stars as her mother stood behind her and brushed her long hair. This was a ritual they did every night, and Taryn used this time to bond with her daughter.

“Breeze, what’s wrong, baby? Lately you haven’t been saying much,” Taryn said as she continued to stroke her daughter’s hair.

Breeze took her time before she spoke. Her father had taught her to always think about what to say before saying it. “I just miss back home. I don’t like it out here. None of my friends are out here. I hate it in South Beach, Mommy.” Breeze’s eyes got teary.

“I know it’s hard to cope with the sudden change, Breeze, but your father is a very important man, and it wasn’t safe for us to stay in Dade. He did what was best for the family,” Taryn answered, knowing exactly how Breeze felt. She herself had been a daughter of a kingpin, so she knew what it was like to be sheltered because of a father’s notoriety.

“I just don’t get it. Everybody loved Poppa in the old neighborhood. Why would we have to move?”

When it came to his baby girl, Carter held back nothing. He answered any question she asked him truthfully, wanting to give her the game, so another boy couldn’t game her. She knew her father was a drug dealer, but in her eyes he was the greatest man to walk the earth. She saw how he treated her mother with respect at all times. She witnessed him put his family before himself countless times and admired that. She wanted her husband to be just like her daddy.

“I know exactly how you feel. You’re too young to understand right now, Breeze. Just be grateful that you have all of this. Most women will go through their whole life and never have the things you already have.”

I understand. I know what’s going on. I know Daddy is the dopeman. I know more than you think I know. Breeze went into her room and flopped down on her canopy-style bed. Tears rolled down her cheek as she curled up on her pillow. She missed her old home so badly. She just wanted to be a regular around-the-way girl.

Taryn, her white silk Dolce and Gabbana nightgown dragging on the floor as she went to her daughter’s side, slowly entered the room and saw that the sudden change really was bothering her only daughter. She sat on the bed and began to rub Breeze’s back. “I know exactly how you feel, Breeze. My father too was an important man. I remember when I was your age and was going through the same dilemma. My father, your grandfather, was an important man also. I had it much worse. It took the murder of your uncle for my father to move out the hood. Your father is just being cautious. If anything ever happened to you or your brothers, our hearts would break. He’s just protecting you.” Taryn reminisced about her deceased brother, who died when she was only ten. He was only 15 years old when he was kidnapped and killed while her father was in a drug war.

“I know that we have to live like this, but it’s just not fair. I feel like I don’t belong here. All the girls at school look at me funny because I’m mixed, and they whisper bad things about me. I try to ignore them, but it still hurts my feelings.”

“Girl, females are going to hate, regardless. That’s how you know you’re that bitch.” Taryn smiled and squinted her nose.

Breeze couldn’t help smiling at her mother’s comment. She looked at how beautiful her mother was, and her comment made her look at things differently. Maybe they do look at me enviously, she thought.

Before Breeze could say anything in response, Carter cleared his throat, startling them. He looked at how gorgeous the two main women in his life were. He suavely leaned against the doorway with his arms folded. “What are you guys smiling at?” He walked toward them.

“Nothing, baby.” Taryn smiled and winked at Breeze. “Just girl stuff.”

Carter bent over and kissed Taryn and then kissed Breeze on top of the head.

Taryn knew that Carter had come to tuck Breeze in, as he did every night, and decided to leave them alone. “I’ll be in bed,” she whispered to him. “Goodnight, baby,” she said to Breeze as she tapped her leg. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mommy.”

Taryn strolled out of the room, her stilettos clicking against the marble floor as she made her way out. Taryn would never get caught without her heels on. Nightgown and all, she always looked the part, playing her role as the queen of her husband’s empire. She was wifey, there was no doubt about that.

Carter stared at his wife as she walked away and then turned his attention back to Breeze. “Hey, baby girl.” He sat next to her.

“Hey, Poppa.” Breeze sat up and focused on her father.

“How was school today?” Carter asked as he rubbed her hair.

“It was okay, I guess.”

“Breeze, you know I know when you’re lying. Tell Poppa what’s going on.”

“I just miss my friends. The people at my school are so funny-acting. I wish we could move back home.” Breeze dropped her head.