The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [10]
Just as he turned to leave, four men with long dreadlocks entered the room. They were the only ones wearing black. Carter frowned at their blatant disrespect. They bumped him violently as they walked past, but Carter let it ride as he turned his head and watched them continue down the aisle.
Mecca’s temper immediately flared. He reached in his waistline for a pistol that wasn’t there. “Fuck!” he whispered as he began to stand.
Polo grabbed his arm to halt him. “Wait a minute,” he stated. “This is a part of the game.” Polo didn’t expect the Haitians to make their presence felt at the funeral. He had underestimated their coldness.
The church was silent as everyone waited to see how things would play out. It was no secret that the Haitians were responsible for Carter’s death. The dreadheads walked up to the casket and stood silently with their heads down, as if they were in prayer.
Taryn gripped her sons’ hands and let out a sigh of relief.
“See,” Polo said, “they’re only here to represent the Haitians. They’re just showing respect for the deceased. We gon’ handle that, just not here.”
Before the words could reach Taryn’s ears, she was in an uproar as she watched the Haitians hawk up huge gobs of spit and release them on her husband’s body, defiling Carter’s corpse.
“Hawk . . . twah!”
“Hawk . . . twah!”
Breeze watched in disbelief as the Haitians raised their feet and forcefully kicked the casket off the table, causing the body to roll out onto the floor. Carter’s head hit the floor hard, causing a loud crack to pierce the air, and the attendees gasped in horror.
Polo, Mecca, and Monroe sprung into action, with the rest of The Cartel behind them.
“Poppa!” Breeze shouted as she rushed toward the front of the church to retrieve her father’s corpse from the floor.
Taryn yelled in alarm, “Breeze!” as she watched her daughter head toward the mayhem.
Suddenly, bullets from an AK echoed throughout the church, Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat!, little flashes of fire kissing the air, and was followed by the sound of people screaming and running for the exit.
Breeze didn’t care about the gunfire. She just wanted to get to her father. But before she could reach him, one of the Haitian gunmen snatched her up.
Taryn yelled, “Breeze!”
Carter looked in horror at the front of the church. He recognized the young girl from pictures that he had been sent when he was younger. She’s my sister, he thought as he pulled out his .45 without hesitation.
He stood up and scrambled to get between the screaming people as he aimed his gun and released one shot. His bullet hit its intended target, and the man holding Breeze dropped instantly.
Carter’s clip was quickly emptied as the gun battle continued. He was clearly outnumbered, but that didn’t stop him from reaching in his ankle holster and pulling out his 9 mm pistol as the three remaining Haitians shot recklessly, clearing a path to leave the church. Using his natural instinct for survival, he picked up the body of the dead Haitian and wrapped his arm around his neck, putting him in a chokehold from behind. The deadweight was heavy, but it was the only way for him to shield his body from the bullets being sent his way.
Carter yelled, “Y’all niggas wanna clap?” and shot his nine with one hand, while moving toward the Haitians, who were now headed for the door.
Carter’s gun spit hollow-points toward the Haitians as the dead body in front of him absorbed his enemy’s fire. POW! POW!
Just as he reached the exit door, one of the Haitians yelled, “Me going to kill you, muthafucka!” And the three remaining Haitians made a run for it.
Carter continued to shoot until he was sure they left the building. Once he was positive that everyone was safe, he dropped the dead Haitian to the floor and let off his last round into his skull. “Bitch nigga!” He hawked up a huge glob and spat directly in the dead man’s face, returning the favor on behalf of his dead father.
He rushed over to Breeze