The Cartel

by Ashley

  Monroe pulled out a chair in the middle of the conference table. “Have a seat, Harper.” He gave the man time to sit down before he continued. “Now I can assure you that it is very similar to the way that my father did things, but I will not allow myself to be at a disadvantage in my own company. New leadership brings about new policy. If any of you think that it is time for you to move on to new ventures, I completely understand. I will accommodate you with severance pay, but I can guarantee that if you stay on board we will all see a substantial rise in profits. The way that I am going to expand Diamond Realty is going to be nothing short of remarkable, and I would love to have each of you on my team. What do you say?”

  Silence filled the room. Monroe wasn’t naïve and was sure that there were members who doubted him and even some that wanted to get up and leave, but they were cowards and would never speak up. He took their silence for submission and was satisfied with their fear of him. It was the same type of respect that his father had demanded, and the torch had just been passed down. He nodded his head, hung his suit jacket on the back of his chair, and then took his seat. “Since there are no objections, let’s get down to business.”

  “Are you almost done? This is taking all damn day.”

  Mecca looked over at the dark-skinned beauty sitting beside him. Her long legs glistened as she positioned them on his dashboard while painting her toe nails.

  “Look, Leena, don’t start popping that bullshit. I told you what I was doing today. You the one thought I was going to fuck with a bitch, so you tried to bring your happy ass with me. You know what time of the month it is, so just sit back and chill,” Mecca stated with a smirk as he eyed the woman beside him.

  Leena sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, but remained quiet. She folded her arms across her chest and, out of habit, began to pout.

  Mecca shook his head. He reached over to grab her hand. He knew that he was the one who had spoiled her, so he couldn’t be too upset with her. He had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Leena since they were young teenagers. She had witnessed his transformation from boy to man and knew of his involvement in his family’s business.

  “I’ll take you shopping after this, a’ight.”

  “Yeah, okay,” she replied as she tried to keep the smile from spreading across her face.

  In truth he would do anything to keep a smile on her face. Leena was the only woman to capture his heart, and he loved her more than she knew.

  Mecca drove up the avenue in his apple red F-150 pickup with chrome rims. He cruised slowly up the block so that his presence could be felt. It was the first of the month, which signified payday for The Cartel, and he was riding around like a landlord, collecting his rent. It was the first pickup since his father had died, and so far two of their many block lieutenants had come short, causing Mecca to have a short fuse.

  These mu’fuckas coming short on my money. It’s about to be a problem. Not a dime was missing when Poppa was alive. Now these fuck-ass niggas wanna step outta line. Mecca maneuvered his way to the two-story colonial-style house on the end of the block. He put his truck into park and pulled out his cell phone to call his worker inside the trap house.

  “I’m outside. I’m about to send a bitch to the back door. Give my money to her.”

  Leena looked at Mecca like he was crazy and shook her head no. “Nigga, you got me fucked up. I ain’t going up in there, and I don’t know who the fuck you calling a bitch,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

  Mecca ignored her and continued to speak into the phone. “Is my money right?” he paused again to let his worker respond and then hung up. “It better be,” he stated to himself. He then turned to Leena and said, “What the fuck I tell you about talking shit while I’m on the phone? Go get my shit, and don’t look in the bag either, with your nosy ass.”

  “Whatever, Mecca. I’m not new to money. I don’t have to take shit from you.” Leena hopped out of the truck and walked across the lawn.

  Mecca knew she wasn’t lying. She had the type of beauty that made niggas want to wife her. She was sophisticated, and her superior attitude made her appealing to most men. If she wasn’t on Mecca’s arm, there would be many men willing to extend theirs, and she knew it. She turned many heads as her voluptuous behind shook with each step she took.

  Out of respect for Mecca, the hustlers on the block didn’t try to get at her, but Mecca shook his head and laughed to himself as he watched them drool at the mouth.

  Thirsty-ass niggas, he thought as he watched Leena disappear down the long driveway. They’ll never get a taste of that. That’s all me.

  “Hey, Mecca,” a random hoodrat called out. She stepped close to his truck, while sucking on a red Blow Pop. In fact all of the groupie broads had come out of hiding as soon as they’d heard the beat from Mecca’s subwoofers turn onto the block. The old saying, out of sight, out of mind, must have been true because as soon as Leena stepped out of sight, the hot girls on the block flocked to him.

  Mecca looked up and down at the girl. She was attractive in a ghetto kind of way. Her skintight booty shorts left nothing to the imagination, and her sleeveless tube top hugged her ample breasts. What really got his attention was the way her tongue was pulling on that red sucker. It made his dick jump slightly. He scanned her quickly from top to bottom and was turned off by the re-washed Reebok classics that adorned her feet. Mecca knew his status and would never be caught dead entertaining a chick like the one before him. Every nigga this side of Dade done probably dug this bitch out, he thought in disgust. He even grew irritated that she had thought herself worthy of even stepping to him.

  “Come here,” he stated as he prepared to put the girl in her place.

  Her lips spread into a seductive smile as she sashayed across the street. She stepped close to his window, but Mecca frowned at the fact that her focus seemed to be behind him. He instantly noticed that her eyes seemed to look past him to his passenger window. He could almost smell the.380 pistol that was creeping up on him.

  Instinctively, Mecca’s sixth sense kicked in, and he pulled his twin Desert Eagles from underneath his seats. With one gun in each hand he reached out on both sides of him and fired hollow-points-Boom! Boom!-dropping the girl and the gunman at his passenger window instantly.

  Just then, a shotgun shell crashed through Mecca’s rear windshield. Glass flew everywhere as the deafening sound vibrated through the vehicle.

  Mecca ducked low as he reached for his door handle and scrambled out of the truck. What the fuck? He sent hollow-points flying across his truck hood in an attempt to keep the shooter on the other side at bay.

  Mecca stayed low against his car door to avoid the gunfire of his attacker. He could hear people screaming as they ran to get out of the crossfire. He looked underneath the car and put bullets into the legs of the gunman.

  “Aghh!”

  Once Mecca saw the gunman go down, he sprang into action and rushed to the other side of the car. “Nigga trying to murk me!” he yelled furiously as he kicked the shotgun out of the fallen soldier’s reach. He aimed his gun at the dude’s head.

  “Please, man, please don’t kill me,” the dude pleaded.

  Mecca snatched the ski mask off the gunman’s face. He had expected to see a dreadhead, due to The Cartel’s ongoing beef with the Haitians. To his surprise, it was one of his very own soldiers lying at his feet. What the fuck? My own camp plotting on me now? Mecca was astounded and didn’t know what to think.

  “Don’t bitch up now, mu’fucka! You had the balls to get at me!” Mecca screamed as he pistol-whipped the man. “Who sent you, huh?” Mecca’s brought the cold steel down across the man’s face with brutal force, causing blood to splatter onto his white t-shirt. “You trying to kill me?” He hit the man once again, baffled that he had to prove that he was the king of Miami’s concrete jungle.

  Leena came running out of the house with a duffle bag full of money in her hands. “Mecca!” she screamed in fright at the sight
before her.

  “Go back in the house!” Mecca yelled at her without even looking her way.

  The man groaned in pain as he bled on the hot pavement. Mecca pressed the gun to the middle of his forehead.

  “Nah, man! Nobody sent us, I swear. We were just gon’ rob you. My brother and his girlfriend, that’s it, man. We just wanted the money. Please don’t kill me.”

  “Niggas really think we slippin’ out here!” Mecca yelled as he stood up and addressed the crowd of hustlers and courageous spectators. “Y’all niggas really think we touchable now, huh?” Mecca was like a pit bull as he stood above the dude and looked every hood nigga in his eye, while they watched on in horror. “We don’t die, bitch! Diamonds are forever, mu’fuckas.” Seething through a clenched jaw, Mecca unloaded the rest of his clip into the man’s dome and then hopped into his truck, speeding away recklessly.

  * * *

  Mecca steadied his driving and eased off the gas pedal when he saw the Miami police cruisers coming his way. He hit the steering wheel repeatedly as he tried to gain composure of himself. His adrenaline was uncontrollable as he thought about what had just occurred. The song “Many Men” filled the interior of the truck as his cell phone continued to ring. He looked down at his caller ID and noticed that it was Leena. “Fuck!” he yelled aloud, realizing that he had left her there with a duffle bag full of drug money.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “What the fuck you mean, hello? Mecca! You left me here! Why would you just pull off on me like that?” Leena screamed.

  Mecca could tell that she was crying, and guilt immediately plagued him. He hadn’t even thought to retrieve her from the house when he pulled off. The only thing that was on his mind was fleeing the scene before the cops arrived.

  “Mecca!” Leena cried.

  “Leena, listen to me, all right. Calm down. You know I wouldn’t leave you for dead. You couldn’t ride with me, baby girl. You saw how I left that nigga leaking. I didn’t want you tied up in no murder, so I just pulled off. I’m gon’ send somebody through to pick you up, a’ight.”

  “Mecca, oh my God, the police just pulled up. Please come and get me,” Leena whispered, her tears flowing.

  “Leena, I’m-a send somebody through for you. Just sit tight. You didn’t see shit, and you don’t know shit, understand?”

  “Yeah, baby, I understand.”

  Mecca told her, “Hurry up and put Sheed on the phone.” When his block lieutenant came on, Mecca instructed him to hide the cash.

  “What you want me to do about ol’ girl?” Sheed asked. “Just let her stay there for an hour or so. I’ll send somebody to pick her and the money up when shit die down.”

  “Mr. Diamond, your brother Mecca is here to see you,” the receptionist called out over the interoffice intercom.

  Monroe hit the reply button on the intercom and picked up the phone so that the other members of the board couldn’t hear both ends of the conversation. “Porscha, can you tell him that I’m in a meeting right now.”

  “I know, sir. I’m sorry for interrupting, but Mecca says it’s an emergency.”

  “I’ll be right out.” Monroe turned to his business associates. “If you all will excuse me for a couple minutes… I have some business to tend to.” Monroe quickly exited the room, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw his brother covered in blood.

  “Umm, Porscha, can you tell the board members that this meeting is adjourned and find a time that works with them so that we can reschedule. Hold all calls too please.” Monroe nodded for Mecca to follow him.

  “Fuck happened to you?” Money asked as they entered another conference room.

  “I just bodied a nigga in front of Sheed spot.”

  “In front of Sheed’s spot? What were you thinking, bro? You supposed to be handling the street business and you making shit hot on one of our most lucrative blocks?”

  “I know but-”

  At that moment Money’s cell phone rang, interrupting Mecca. He checked his BlackBerry and noticed that it was Carter. He immediately picked up and put Young Carter on speakerphone.

  “What’s good, fam?” Carter greeted.

  “Man, we got problems this way.” Money knew that Carter could give them good advice on how to fix Mecca’s mess.

  “What up?” Carter asked. “Mecca caught a body.”

  “What?”

  “Man, Young Carter, it ain’t even how Money making it sound. I wasn’t on no hot shit or nothing. I send Leena into one of the spots to collect the cash, and these mu'-fuckas run up with they pistols blazing and shit, trying to rob ya boy.”

  “You had your bitch with you while you were picking up the money?” Carter asked.

  “I told yo’ ass about having Leena riding with you during business,” Money stated sternly in disbelief. “You need to keep her out of harm’s way, bro. Today is the perfect example.”

  “Look, the police came, so I hopped in the truck and sped off, but everything happened so fast, fam. I left Leena there with the money.”

  “You left her there?” Money askd.

  “With the money?”

  “Yeah, mu’fuckas, damn! I left her there with the money.”

  “That’s your brother,” Carter stated in amusement.

  “That’s your brother,” Money told him.

  “But on a serious note, Mecca, fall back for a couple days, just to let things settle, a’ight, fam.”

  “Yeah, I hear you,” Mecca replied hesitantly. He hated taking orders from his older brother, and still wasn’t used to there being more than Money, Breeze, and himself, but inside he knew that Carter was right.

  “A’ight, fam, I’ll be back in town in a couple days. I’ll be in touch,” Carter said before hanging up.

  Mecca pulled his bloody t-shirt over his head and slapped hands with his twin brother.

  “Go sit your ass down somewhere, bro. I’ll go pick up the cash and drop Leena off at home.” Money headed toward the door.

  “Yo, Money!” Mecca shouted.

  Money stopped and turned around to listen, raising his eyebrows to let his brother know that he had his attention.

  “I love her, fam. Make sure she’s okay for me, a’ight.” Money nodded and left the room.

  Money pulled up to Sheed’s spot. Sheed was one of their best workers, so he was positive that his street lieutenant would be able to handle the police. There were no squad cars in sight, but the block was live with residents sitting around discussing the events that had happened that day. Money stepped out of the car and all eyes seemed to be on him. He was slightly irritated at how much attention Mecca had brought to their block, but he understood that Mecca had to react. It was either kill or be killed, and Money knew that Mecca had made the best decision that he could have made under the circumstances.

  He knocked on the front door, and it opened instantly.

  “Fam, the police was asking everybody questions. I didn’t see shit, nah mean?” Sheed allowed Monroe to enter his living room.

  “You got that?” Money asked.

  Sheed pulled the duffle bag out of his coat closet and tossed it to Money. Opening the bag to make sure it was all there, Money tried to inventory the cash quickly by sight.

  “Come on, fam, don’t insult me,” Sheed said. “You know I’m one hunnid.”

  Money gave Sheed a look that spoke volumes. Sheed took the hint and shut up, while Money continued to thumb through the bag. Once he was satisfied, he took out five stacks and set it on Sheed’s table. “Thanks for keeping things quiet and looking out for Mecca’s chick. Where is she?”

  “She’s in the den. She’s been tripping ever since she saw dude body on the lawn. She’s spazzing, yo.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Money said as he walked toward Sheed’s den. “I’ll take care of it.” He walked into the room and saw Leena sitting on the couch, her face in her hands. “You all right?”

  His voice startled her, and she looked up in surprise. “Money? W
here’s Mecca?” she asked, tears in her eyes. “He just left me here for dead. The least he could’ve done was come back for me.”

  “Come on, Lee, let’s get out of here.” Money reached for her arm and pulled her from the couch.

  Money helped Leena into his 2009 pearl white Cadillac STS before getting into the car himself and speeding away. Leena was quiet, and it wasn’t until they arrived at her luxury ocean view apartment that she did speak.

  “There was blood everywhere,” Leena whispered. “You didn’t see it, Money. It was horrible.” She walked over to her window and looked out onto the ocean below her. “How can a city so beautiful harbor so many secrets?”

  Money didn’t know how to respond, so he remained silent. He knew that she would be shook up after witnessing Mecca kill someone. It was natural.

  “You know Mecca would never let anything happen to you, right?”

  Leena laughed lightly and shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about him right now,” she stated, still upset with Mecca for leaving her at the murder scene.

  Money walked toward her as she continued to stand in front of the window. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. “You know I would never let anything happen to you, ma.”

  Money’s touch sent shivers down her spine, and she closed her eyes and reveled in the moment.

  “I love you, Monroe,” she stated, guilt in her voice.

  Leena had never meant to fall for both brothers, but over the years as she dated Mecca, she began to see that Monroe possessed everything he was lacking. Mecca had cheated on her, whereas Monroe was faithful, even though she wasn’t rightfully his. Mecca had a temper, whereas Monroe was calm and always in control. Mecca loved the limelight, whereas Monroe played the back. Mecca was a hothead, spur-of-the-moment type of man, whereas Monroe was strategic and calculating. They were completely opposite, but Leena loved them both. But Money was the one that she wanted to be with.