“Yo, Dream,” he said while rubbing his hand up and down her stomach.
“Yes?”
“I need your opinion about something,” he admitted.
“Okay, wassup.”
Melo sighed before giving Dream the run down on everything that went down between him and Alexandria, and what went on between her and Caiden. He gave her every detail that surrounded them that led up to the day she showed up at his crib.
“So, what exactly do you want my opinion on Carmelo? Whether or not you should tell Caiden, whether you should get a DNA test done, or if you should allow Alexandria to see Summer?”
“Shit, all of that,” he said.
“Well, I really don’t know. I mean, as far as you being her father, you basically know that for a fact, since she says she was pregnant before she slept with your brother, but then again how valid is her claims since she been harboring this secret for sixteen years. If you do decide to do the test, just know that you and your brother’s relationship will change, completely. He’s going to feel betrayed because you never told him about you and Alexandria, which you should have the moment you found out that she was pregnant since you wondered if the baby was yours from jump. Then there is Summer. Every girl needs their mother. Yes, you and your brother have done a fine job with her, and I commend you both, but there is nothing like the relationship between a girl and her mother. It’s tough because I question Alexandria’s motives. Like, why show up after sixteen whole years demanding to see her? I really don’t understand that, but you have to think and take all that into consideration before you make a decision. Just know I got your back. I know that I want to see where things between us will go, so I’m going to stand in your corner,” she said.
Carmelo didn’t respond. Instead, he lay flat on his back and reflected on what Dream had said to him. She was right that it was a tough decision that he ultimately had to make. Melo really didn’t care how Caiden or Alexandria felt about anything. His one and only concern was how it would all affect Summer. He had enough shit on his plate and decided to place the Alexandria shit on the back burner for the time being. He still had niggas gunning for him and had to keep up a front like everything was all good. At least until after Summer’s party which was a few days away.
Chapter Seven
It was the night of Summer's birthday bash, the night that she had spent damn near six months planning. Carmelo and Caiden stopped at nothing to make sure the Sweet Sixteen was everything Summer had hoped for. From the venue, Stage 48, down to the minutest decoration, everything came together just as Summer wanted. Even though the party was supposed to be a majority of the kids that went to Summer’s school and some of the unit members’ kids, Carmelo had security everywhere. He wasn't taking any chances and he wanted her night to be perfect. Carmelo was chilling with Caiden and Shaq when he noticed Summer walking their way with Dream at her side. Carmelo's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Dream. She had on a strapless pink Tom Ford dress that fit her just right, with nude and gold Giuseppe Zanotti heels and her hair was in a neat bun.
"Uncle Melo, look who came!" Summer said excitedly.
"I see," he said as he pulled Dream into his arms.
Summer hadn’t had a clue that he and Dream had been kicking it a little heavier than either of them led on. Before they got the family involved in what they hoped would be a lasting relationship, they wanted to focus on each other. Summer would have been happy to know that they were basically an item. It was obvious by the way she was gleaming when Carmelo and Dream hugged. Summer winked at her uncle and excused herself from them as she went on to enjoy her party with her friends.
"Dream, this is my twin, Caiden, and you already know Shaquille," Carmelo introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Dream smiled as she shook Caiden's hand.
"It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. I've heard a lot about you," Caiden said as he looked over at Carmelo and gave his look of approval.
"All good things, I hope." Dream laughed.
"Of course, you are all Summer talks about...and Carmelo," Caiden snickered.
Carmelo choked on his drink before slapping his brother in the back of the head.
"Thank you for designing Summer’s dress. She looks beautiful in it," Caiden said, in an attempt to change the subject. He didn’t want to put his brother on the spot any more than he already had.
"No need to thank me. It was all her ideas; all I did was help her bring them to life." Dream blushed.
Everyone's attention turned towards the dance floor as they heard the crowd chanting 'Go Summer'. Summer was being her normal outgoing self as she danced in the middle of the circle.
"Always the life of the party," Shaquille said, while shaking his head.
"Always," Carmelo and Caiden said at the same time.
Dream and Summer had that in common. Dream was definitely the life of whatever event she found herself at. Carmelo didn’t know that until she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the middle of the dance floor where Summer was dancing with her girls. The song “Nae Nae” came blaring through the club’s speakers and Summer started going off. The dance was popular amongst her age group, well that’s what everyone thought until Dream joined Summer and started getting her Nae Nae on too. Clearly, it was popular amongst all age groups.
Melo looked on laughing and watching the most important girl in his life interact and tear up the dance floor with the chick he hoped would be his future. It meant a lot to him that Summer liked Dream. He knew for a fact he could never even think about being with a girl that Sum didn’t approve her.
Between the nonstop dancing, cutting the cake, and taking pictures, the party guests and the guest of honor were clearly having a blast. Summer had just returned Carmelo back to the VIP section after taking pictures with him in the photo booth. She grabbed Caiden and pulled him toward it, leaving Carmelo alone with Dream.
"This was such a beautiful party. I can tell she is enjoying herself," Dream said to Carmelo as they sat at the table talking.
"Yea, and that's all that matters to me." Carmelo smiled.
Their moment was interrupted by the rapid gunfire that erupted in the club.
TATT-TATT TATT-TATT!
Time stood still as gunshots rang out. Immediately Carmelo pulled Dream down under the table as he reached behind him to grab his gun out of the back of his pants. He looked in the direction of where Shaq was standing and saw he had his gun drawn also. Melo had one thing on his mind and that was to get to Summer. He started busting back in the direction he heard the gunfire coming from as he ran towards where Summer was last seen standing to find her. He was almost close to her when he was hit in his shoulder. Carmelo spun around and fired his gun, letting off a shot that went straight through the head of the nigga that shot him.
Not letting the wound deter him, he ran to where Summer was hiding and crying her eyes out.
"Uncle Melo!" Summer screamed.
"It's okay baby girl, I got you," he said as he covered her body with his.
The gunfire ceased and all that could be heard were the cries and screams of the innocent kids that had no clue what was going on. Summer was holding to her Uncle Carmelo for dear life. She was so confused as to what just happened. One minute she was having fun, then the next she was fearing for her life. Carmelo picked Summer up and carried her as she cried, despite the pain in his shoulder.
The only thing on his mind was getting her home safely. He saw Caiden and Shaq leading Dream out the back door so he followed behind them.
"Uncle Melo, you're bleeding." Summer panicked as she noticed his wound.
"I'm fine baby girl." He winced as he walked her to her father’s waiting truck. He snatched open the back door and put Summer in the seat.
"She good?" Caiden asked.
"Yes, she's straight, just a little shaken up," Carmelo answered.
"Imma stay here and answer any questions the police will have so this shit won't look suspicious."
"Daddy, Uncle Carmelo is shot. He needs to go to the hospital," Summer cried. She was so scared for not only herself, but also for her uncle.
"She's right Melo. I'll have Shaq take her home while I stay and talk to the police. You need to go holla at Doc and get stitched up," Caiden said.
“Where Dream?” Carmelo asked, looking around for her.
“She good bro. I got her to her and car and made sure she got up out of here,” Shaq said.
“Aight, good looking.”
Carmelo knew they wouldn't have much time before the police showed up, so he agreed to the arrangements. He took Summer to Shaq's car and hopped in his own car to go see Doc.
Doc was an old school cat who used to be a doctor back in the 80s but he had his license to practice revoked for writing prescriptions for drugs people didn't even need. Carmelo hired him to be the doctor for the unit in cases like this when they couldn't go to the hospital.
<><><><>
After getting the bullet removed and stitched up, Carmelo went back to Caiden's house where Caiden, Shaq and a few other members of the unit were waiting for him. He went straight up to Summer's room where he found her sitting up in her bed looking worried.
"What you still doing up girl?" he asked.
"Uncle Melo!" she said excitedly as she jumped off her bed and ran into his arms, trying to careful so she wouldn't bump his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked, examining his shoulder that now had stitches.
"I'm good baby girl. You know nothing can keep me down. I actually came up here to check on you."
"I'm good. Despite everything that happened, I had a good time. I'm just happy everyone is alright. I watched the news and they said it was only one body found at the crime scene and they’re saying he was one of the suspects," said Summer, referring to the man that Carmelo had shot.
“Don't worry about all that, baby girl. I just hate that your night had to end abruptly due to some bullshit,” Carmelo said, trying not to get pissed off about the whole situation.
“It wasn't all that bad, Uncle Melo. I had a very good time before everything went down. I'm just happy everyone is safe.” Summer smiled as she kissed her uncle on the cheek.
That brief moment he shared with Summer made him think about Alexandria and the news she dropped on him. He wanted badly to confess to Summer that he was her father, but a part of him felt that the news would do more harm than good. Why fix what’s not broken? The relationship he had with his niece definitely wasn’t, so for now he was laying the Alexandria drama to rest.
“Alright little one, I already know you’re not going to sleep so just stay up here and chill while I go downstairs so we can handle some grown folks’ business,” he said with a wink.
“I love you, Uncle Melo.”
“I love you, too, baby girl.”
As Carmelo left Summer’s room, he pulled out his phone to call Dream. He was hoping she was alright and wasn't too traumatized by all the bullshit that went down at the party. Her phone went straight to voicemail.
“What’s up, ma? I was just calling to make sure you were good. Call me whenever you get the chance.”
When he got downstairs, Shaq, Caiden, and two other members of the unit were waiting for him in silence. Everyone always left the talking and directing up to Carmelo; plus, nobody wanted to say anything right now because they knew he was pissed.
“Well, as you all know, that shit that went down tonight is not acceptable. Not only was my niece right in the middle of that, but other innocent children were also. I'm not surprised that Shondrell came at us, but I'm pissed that he chose tonight to do it. I don't play when it comes to Summer and everyone knows that. Ain't no way in hell I'm about to let that nigga get away with this, so I want word on the street that I want that nigga head,” Carmelo said as he looked each man in the eyes. “As a matter of fact, let the streets know he has a price on his head. Whoever can give me some info about his whereabouts will receive a nice reward.”
“Dead or alive and for how much?” Shaq asked, already typing away on his phone.
“Alive and fifty thousand dollars should do,” answered Carmelo.
Caiden let out a low whistle. “That much? You want him that bad?” his brother asked.
“Let me see. This nigga got at you and put lead in your body, shot up my niece’s birthday party. Yea, I want that nigga bad.”
Nobody said another word about the situation. They knew Carmelo was serious as hell about this. It was definitely going to be a war out in these streets until Carmelo could get his hands on Shondrell. You could only push Carmelo so far before he started to show a different side of him, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
Chapter Eight
Carmelo was down in his weight room working out to help relieve some of his frustrations. It had been a week since Summer’s party was shot up and he hadn’t received any information on the whereabouts of Shondrell and any of the niggas associated with him. Carmelo figured people would start running their mouths as soon as they heard money was involved. Maybe he needed to up the price.
The way Carmelo was starting feel scared even him. He was never one to involve kids and the elderly in his beef, but he was at the point where he was feeling like fuck ‘em all. Shondrell crossed the line one too many times. Maybe it was time for Melo to pay his mother and grandparents a visit. Maybe even take a ride out to SUNY Old Westbury, the college that his sister attended. Shondrell didn’t have the resources and the smarts to make sure his family was protected, so if Melo wanted to smoke him out, gunning for his family was the easiest way to do it. He hated that it had to come to that, but he wasn’t risking the lives of people he loved for lives of some people he didn’t give two fucks about.
“Hello?” he answered his ringing phone.
“Hello, handsome,” Dream said into the phone. Carmelo’s heart fluttered at the sound of her voice. He was a little caught off guard because that had never happened before.
“Ms. Dream, what a nice surprise. I didn't think I would hear from you ever again,” admitted Carmelo.
“Sorry it took me so long to call you back but I had to get a new phone since my other one got lost at the party. I really hope you don’t think I was avoiding you or anything.”
“It’s cool, ma, so what are you up to on this lovely day?”
“At work, working on some new designs that popped in my head. What are you up to?” retorted Dream.
“Just doing a little manly workout and getting sweaty.” Hearing that made Dream chuckle which caused Carmelo to smile. “What you laughing at, girl?”
“Did you just say a manly workout? Females workout too, you know,” Dream sassed.
“True, but not like men do. Women are too scared to get sweaty.”
“I don't know what type if females you have been around or with, but I love a good workout. The sweatier, the better,” Dream smiled.
“Aw, okay then. I guess I'll have to see what's up with all that cash money shit you talking then,” smiled Carmelo.
“You do that then. But I was just calling to see what was up with you, make sure you were still breathing and all.”
“About that, I really want to apologize for all that. I didn't know all that was going to happen. If I did I wouldn't have—“
“You don't have to apologize, Carmelo,” Dream cut him off. “I understand you didn’t expect for it to happen. I don't take you for the type of man that would intentionally put children in danger.”
“Yea, you are right, but I just hate that it happened.”
“You and me both but there is nothing you can do about it now. It's done and over with so you shouldn't dwell on it,” Dream said.
If only she knew that Carmelo was going to dwell on it until he made Shondrell maggot food. That would be the only reason for him to let it go.
“I hear you Ms. Dream, but you better get back to work. I'm pretty sure a little girl will be needing a new dress real soon.”
“You are probably right. So
, umm, I'll call you later?” Dream inquired.
“My line will be open.” Carmelo smiled as they hung up. He didn't know what it was and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about Dream that had him open.
After the conversation with Dream, Melo decided to cut his workout short and headed up to his room for a shower. Twenty minutes later, he found himself standing in front his closet, contemplating his next move. Whatever it was, it was going to have to be big. The cat and mouse game he and Shondrell were playing was getting old quick. Deciding that the only option he had left was to step to Drell’s mother, he walked over to his bed and snatched his phone. He didn’t need a team to make that move, just one loyal nigga who wouldn’t hesitate to bust his gun. He knew the perfect nigga for the job.
Shaq, where you at?
A few minutes passed before his cell phone vibrated, alerting him that he had a new message.
Was about to head to Kierra crib. What up though?
Come through. I need you to take a ride with me somewhere.
Aight I will be there in a minute.
Carmelo tossed his phone on the bed and continued to put on his clothes. The Ralph Lauren sweats he slipped into were fitting for the occasion. He matched the sweats with black on black constructions Tims and a black Polo pullover. Once he was dressed, he headed down to his living room to kick back and wait for Shaq. The entire time he went over his plan in his head, making sure it was what he wanted to do. Melo never had to doubt himself or second guess his decisions, but something about what he planned on doing was eating away at him. He had to remind himself that it was Shondrell and his family or him and his. It definitely wasn’t going to be the latter, which is why as soon as Shaq pulled up, they were headed to Bushwick to pay Ms. Mary, Shondrell’s mother, a visit.
<><><><>
“You sure this what you want to do?” Shaq asked as he killed the engine to his car in front of Ms. Mary’s apartment building.
A Gangster's Dream Page 5