The Hustler's Daughter {DC Bookdiva Publications}

by Pinky Dior

  “No, he knows what time dinner is every night.” Maria said as she calmly ate her food. A few minutes later, they heard the front door unlock and Don walked in. He entered the kitchen and kissed Mercedes on the forehead. He walked over to Maria to do the same. He attempted to kiss her on the neck, but she quickly moved away. In frustration, he took off his jacket and flung it onto the chair. He angrily sat down to eat.

  “Where’s Claudia?” Don asked.

  “She’s in Puerto Rico for a family emergency.” Maria calmly stated.

  “Oh, well Honey, I apologize for the hair salon…”

  “What are you apologizing for? You didn’t do it.” Maria barked.

  “I know how much work you both put into it. When I find out who ruined your dream….”

  “Who is she?” Maria said without looking up from her plate. Mercedes looked up and watched as the room grew silent. She took that as her cue to exit the room before things got messy. As if reading her mind, her mother asked her for privacy. “Mercedes, can you excuse us please?”

  “Sure Ma, I have to go wait for my furniture to be delivered anyway.”

  “At this hour?” Maria questioned with an arched brow.

  “Yes, it’s a rush delivery so it can arrive anytime.” Mercedes said goodbye to her parents and headed home.

  “Again Don, who is she?” Maria grabbed her cup of red wine and took slow sips. There was silence in the kitchen. Don stopped eating his food to assess the situation. His lack of response was pissing her off. Maria slammed her wine glass on the table shattering it and creating a stain on the crisp white tablecloth.

  “I know it’s one of your little hoes!” Maria yelled as she ran upstairs and slammed the door behind her. Don followed and found Maria standing in the mirror with her back to him. She was staring at her wedding ring and removed it when she saw his face. To ease the mood, Don walked over and placed his arms around her. He kissed her gently on the neck, but she refused to succumb to his charm.

  “Get off of me.” Maria barked. She tried to wiggle out of his arms. She threw her wedding ring at him and it bounced off of his chest and onto the floor.

  “You can take this fucking ring back because it doesn’t mean shit…after eighteen years…” Maria cried.

  “Maria, please calm down.” Don whispered in her ear. “I swear to you, I never cheated on you a day in my fucking life. I may have fucked with them before, but not since you told me you were pregnant with our child. I love you and only you. I will never risk fucking with another female. I can’t lose the most important two ladies in my life Ma, come on now.” Don sincerely said. Maria looked up in the mirror and saw Don staring at her.

  “You really mean that?” Maria asked.

  “Yes Babe, I love you with all my heart. I never cheated on you and I never will. The hair salon will be up and running in a couple of days, I called up my people and they are on it. Don’t worry about who did it. Just know that I set them straight and it won’t happen again.” Maria turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck and cried.

  “I love you Mr. Carter…always and forever.” Maria hugged him tightly, as if it were her last time that she would see him.

  “I love you too Mrs. Carter and when I’m gone I won’t ever stop loving you.”

  Cuban Links

  Within the next few days, the damage done to Maria’s salon was repaired. Mercedes finally got her condo furnished and decorated to her liking. She had an exhausting day and lay in her bedroom after moving around in the condo. Her friends had left an hour ago and Mercedes just wanted to relax. She wanted to talk to her father about what Emilio said to her at her party, but she couldn’t even get in contact with him lately.

  Several hours later, she was asleep and interrupted by the loud ringing of her doorbell. She checked the clock and it was almost eleven o’clock.

  “Who the hell is this at my door this time of night?” Mercedes ran downstairs while putting on her robe and looked through the peephole. It was her father. She opened the door and felt the artic breeze rush into her home.

  “It’s cold as fuck out there.” Don walked in still rubbing his hands together. “Got your pops out there freezing and shit.” They both chuckled.

  “Sorry Daddy, I was upstairs sleeping.” Mercedes smirked as she closed the front door behind them and locked it.

  “The place looks nice.” He looked around and nodded his head in approval. “I see you have exquisite taste, just like your mother. You two and pink-boy I tell you.” Don laughed.

  “I know; it’s the Carter taste.” Mercedes smiled from ear to ear.

  “Yeah, it’s in our blood.” Don smirked as he scratched his chin.

  “You’ve been busy all week Daddy; I’ve wanted to talk to you.”

  “I know Baby Girl, I apologize. I had a lot of shit on my plate. I was out of town and just came back. Daddy’s a busy man.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Mercedes nonchalantly stated.

  “So what you wanna talk about?”

  “Well…lately…I don’t know Daddy, I’ve noticed Emilio’s been changing and I…” Mercedes was cut off by the ringing of her father’s cell phone.

  “Hold on Baby, one second.” Don quickly answered his phone and walked into the kitchen. Mercedes rolled her eyes at the rude interruption.

  “What up Bro? Nah I’m talking with Cedes right now…What? What the fuck you mean? Nah, he can’t be dead…well we gotta handle this business first bro. Business first no matter what, Vicente is waiting on us. I’ll see you in a few.”

  Don ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket. He had to leave immediately and found Mercedes in the foyer.

  “I’m sorry Baby Girl, but something popped up and I gotta go.” Don walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. “We can talk in the morning.” He assured her.

  “It’s really importa…” Mercedes words stopped as her father turned to walk away from her. “Love you Baby.” Don Carter jumped in his Range Rover to fix the problem he encountered on the phone.

  “I love you too Daddy.” She was overcome with anxiety as she watched him drive off. She had a feeling that something was about to go down, but was unsure of what it was.

  xxxxxxxxxx

  Don drove to his brother’s house and thought about Mercedes. He hated leaving her like he did, but he needed to handle business. He would make it up to her later. Within a few minutes, he arrived and blew the horn for his brother to come out of the house.

  “Whaddup, Bro?” Roy said as he got in the car.

  “Just left Cedes crib, but y’all interrupted us. “So what happened?” He nervously asked. He wanted to know what the urgency was about.

  “Man, I don’t know how this shit happened. Niggas is saying Frank was at one of the spots and some nigga just ran up in there and shot him up. They took everything-the drugs, the money and the guns.” Roy shook his head.

  “Was he alone?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know how this shit happened. It’s gotta be someone from the inside-a set up. They told him to meet him at the spot and offed him. That shit’s fucked up, he didn’t deserve to die.” Roy inhaled deeply. “Our team has been tight for a long time bro; I know something just ain’t right.”

  “Yeah you’re right.” Don responded. “Where’s Vicente?”

  “He said meet him at the warehouse, the one in China Town. The same one we went to for the last meeting.” Roy told him. “So what did Mercedes have to talk to you about?” Roy asked.

  “I’m not sure; I told her we could talk in the morning.”

  “You sure it isn’t anything serious?” Roy looked at his brother and stared him in the eyes.

  “Yeah, it can wait until the morning.” Don said. He was really hoping that it could. Don and Roy drove in silence towards China Town. They pulled up in front of the warehouse spotted Vicente and his workers. Don parked his car diagonally across from them and put the car in park.

  When he got out of the car, he knew something
wasn’t right. Emilio was there standing right next to Vicente with a devilish smirk across his face. Roy and Don already knew they were looking at the problem—a dirty rat.

  “Mr. Carter,” Vicente smiled.

  “Mr. Vicente,” Don looked at him dead in the eye.

  “Do you know why this meeting was called?” Vicente asked.

  “Yeah, it’s to discuss business so let’s do this.” Don looked at his brother and gave him a nod to get the money out the car. Roy went to get the money and handed it to Don. He threw it to Vicente. Emilio glared at Don with hate in his eyes.

  “It was nice doing business with you.” Vicente smirked. Don extended his hand to Vicente. He grabbed his hand and held it tightly. He pulled Don in close and spoke directly in his ear.

  “You think I had visions of you fucking my daughter and stealing her away from me?” Don pulled back and quickly let go off Vicente’s hand. His heart quickly dropped, he had no clue Vicente would have ever found out about Maria and him.

  At that moment, he knew Emilio was the snake creeping around and playing both sides.

  “You betray me!” Don barked at Emilio. He knew Emilio had been sent by Vicente to work for him. Don couldn’t believe that he slipped up; he fucked up, big time.

  “Life is a big gamble isn’t it?” Emilio sarcastically said.

  Everyone laughed, except for Don and Roy.

  “I let you in my home and I introduced you to my family!” Don gritted.

  “It’s all a game Don, and you should know that. I apologize for any misunderstandings, but I had to do my job and I did it well.” Emilio retorted.

  “Fuck you, you will pay!” Don spat at him. Emilio walked up to him and punched him in the face. Don pulled out his gun, but Vicente’s security guards surrounded him with their heavy artillery pointed directly at Don and Roy.

  “Your daughter is a very beautiful girl.” Emilio whispered in his ear. He didn’t want Vicente finding out about Mercedes because he would kill her.

  “Fuck you, stay away from her!” Don spat as blood dripped down the side of his mouth. “I swear to God if you lay your hands on either one of them, your dead son!” Don said in a low tone. He didn’t want Vicente to hear. Emilio started laughing hysterically and walked away. Vicente slowly walked over.

  “You didn’t think I would find out huh?” Vicente laughed.

  “You don’t understand; I love your daughter.” Don sincerely spoke.

  “Maria doesn’t love you, she loves me! She wasn’t supposed to run off with a nigger like you. She will never have love in her heart for you.” Vicente insisted.

  “She’s the love of my life and no one will ever come in between that.” Don courageously stated.

  “You stole my daughter from me. All these years you have been fucking her and buying from me. You can’t have both even if you think you can.”

  “So what do you want, money? I can give you that? What do you want from me?” Don yelled.

  “I don’t want your money, Mr. Carter. I have plenty. I want you dead.”

  “Let’s do this then.” Don put his hands up. He knew his time had finally come.

  “What the fuck you doin’ Bro?” Roy asked.

  “It’s my time to go Bro.” Don simply replied.

  “No, it’s not your time to go. Not yet at least.” Roy shook his head knowing whatever he said or tried to say wasn’t going to help. Vicente was a very serious and powerful man. Whatever he said went and when he wanted something done-it got done.

  “If you’re alive, tell Maria I love her Bro with all my heart, and tell Mercedes I love her too. The Carter family never dies.” Don said before he turned away from Roy.

  “Get down on your knees.” Vicente ordered with the gun pointed to his head.

  “If you’re going to kill me, kill me standing because I’m a strong man. I’d rather go out on my feet like a man than on my knees like a punk.” Don spoke with pride. He stared Vicente in his eyes to let him know that he was not scared. Vicente laughed at his act of valor. He was actually kind of impressed.

  “I always liked that about you, you’re a very wise man Carter. But when you chose the wrong man to fuck with, you have to pay. My daughter is my heart, she’s everything to me. You just took her from me like it was nothing.” Vicente yelled as tears came to his eyes.

  He slowly backed up to put some distance between himself and Don. Don’s only thoughts were of leaving his wife and daughter. He loved them with his entire being. He didn’t know that they had just spent their final moments together. The guards stood around Vicente. They had their guns pointed at Don and Roy, ready to fire. Don knew that it was two against a group of them, but he decided to put in work before he died. He lifted his gun and started shooting, with Roy following suit. Bullets riddled him and ripped through his skin. He was fighting for his life. He fell to his knees as he succumbed to his injuries. The gun smoke cleared and Don’s body slowly dropped to the ground. He was filled with multiple bullet wounds. Roy was on the ground as well, shot several times.

  “Let’s go.” Vicente said in his Cuban accent. He walked over to Don’s body. Don’s eyes struggled to stay open as he noticed the dark figures standing above him. It was Vicente and Emilio coming to finish him off. Vicente held a 9 millimeter and pointed it in his face. He released one more shot to the head. It dropped Don’s head against the concrete. Vicente kneeled down and started laughing hysterically.

  “I won motherfucker.” Vicente spit on him and got up and walked away. Emilio stood there and raised his gun. He shot Don a couple more times in the chest. He turned around and dashed to the car. He got in and left the scene with the others. Roy crawled over to his brother as blood oozed from his mouth. He grabbed his phone and called for help before it was too late.

  “Yes! My brother has been shot…I need help, Downtown in China Town at a warehouse.” Roy hung up the phone.

  “It’s over now Roy.” Don said as he gasped between breaths. His body was riddled with bullets and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe.

  “Nah Bro, hold on. The ambulance is coming for us Don, you can’t die.” Roy said as he held the back of his brother’s head and stared him in his bloody eyes. He thought that Don would have already been dead with all of the bullets he had been hit with.

  “The Carters…don’t die…” Don uttered. He forced a smile on his face. With that being said, his eyes closed for good. Don Carter was gone. Roy let his brother go as he heard a car’s tires screeching behind him. It was the same car that had just left.

  “Shit!” Roy mumbled as he tried to crawl away. Emilio had come back to finish the job. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Roy.

  “No witnesses,” he said as he shot Roy at point blank range.

  I’ll Be Missing You

  Mercedes lay sound asleep in her bed. Her sleep was disturbed by her ringing phone.

  “Ugh!” Mercedes begrudgingly grabbed her phone to answer it.

  “Hello?” Mercedes whispered into the phone.

  “Mercedes?”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes Baby it’s me.” She could tell from the sound of her mother’s voice that she had been crying.

  “What’s wrong Ma?” Mercedes fretfully asked.

  “It’s your father…” The words exploded out of her mouth like fireworks.

  “What? Is he okay? Is he home? What happened?” Mercedes began to panic and paced back and forth trying to figure out what was wrong with her father.

  “He’s been shot!” She screamed. “He’s in the hospital!”

  “Calm down Ma.” Mercedes heart was beating faster than a cheetah could run. Her head started to spin.

  “I’m on my way over there now.” Mercedes hung up the phone and quickly got dressed to go to her mother’s house. Tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision as she sped to her parent’s home. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and arrived at her mother’s house within minutes. She saw her mother sitting on the s
teps sobbing uncontrollably. Mercedes quickly got out of the car and raced over to her. They both embraced as Maria released her bottled up feelings into her daughter’s arms.

  “Ma, he’ll be okay.” Mercedes assured her as she rubbed her mother’s back. “Let’s go.” Mercedes pulled back from the embrace and rushed to the car.

  “What hospital is he in?”

  “He’s in the New York Downtown Hospital.” Maria sniffled as she wiped away her tears with the Kleenex tissues.

  As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they parked and rushed from the car. They set their sights on the receptionist’s desk. They needed answers about Don Carter.

  “I…I’m looking for my husband D-Don Carter.” Maria stuttered. She had tears streaming down her face. Her demeanor, much like her clothing, was disheveled. “He’s in surgery right now Ma’am. You can’t go back there right now.” The receptionist advised, “You can take a seat in the waiting room.”

  “FUCK THAT!” Maria barked, “I need to see my husband.” She startled everyone in the waiting room and they suspiciously eyed her. Mercedes tried to calm her mother down and spoke to the receptionist on her behalf.

  “I’m sorry ma’am, but my father has been shot and we need to see him.”

  They eyed the double doors for patients and doctors only and took off to sneak in.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t go back there.” The receptionist said as they dodged doctors and searched the rooms for Don.

  “DON CARTER!” Maria cried out as she rushed down the hall looking in every room. A doctor rushed over to them and told them that they needed to leave.

  “Doctor please, my father has been shot and we need to know if he’s okay.” Mercedes’ voice cracked as the tears began to fall.

  “Are you Mrs. Carter, the woman I called just a little while ago?”

  “Yes, I’m Mrs. Carter. Is my husband okay?” Maria searched the doctor’s face for a glimmer of hope.

  “Well, he’s in critical condition and he has almost a dozen gunshot wounds. It’s a miracle he’s still alive, but he’s a fighter.” Mercedes and Maria both covered their mouths in horror. He was just fine the last time they saw him.