The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [13]
He had been a bit paranoid from the events that had taken place the day before at the funeral, so he wanted to be as cautious as possible while he was in Miami. A nigga would never catch him slipping.
He looked through the peephole and eased up when he noticed the distorted image of his father’s right-hand man. Sliding the chain from the hotel door, he unlocked it and allowed Polo to enter the room.
Polo shook his head as he looked at Young Carter. It was still hard for him to get over the resemblance. Young Carter looked so much like his father, it was uncanny. It was a shame that the two men never got the chance to know one another. “Can we talk?” Polo asked, both hands tucked inside of his pants pockets.
“Yeah. come on in.” Carter set his pistol down. “You want a drink?”
Polo stepped inside. “Nah, I’m good.” He noticed how on point Carter was and thought to himself, like father, like son.
Carter walked over to his bed and pulled the bedspread over the stacks of money to conceal his business. He then sat down and motioned for Polo to take a seat in the chair across from him.
“I just came to see how long you were in town for?” Polo knew that the Diamond family needed Young Carter now more than ever.
“I’m ghost tomorrow. Ain’t nothing here for me.”
Polo had predicted this reaction from Young Carter. He didn’t expect him to feel any sense of responsibility to his family at first, but he knew that if he could convince Carter to stay around long enough, the attachment would eventually grow.
“I know this is a lot to put on your heart right now, but your family needs you.”
Carter was quick in his response. “They don’t even know me,” he stated with disdain. “That’s not my fam. I’ve only known one woman my whole life, and she the only family I need, nah mean?”
“Nah, I don’t know what you mean, Young Carter. I saw the look in your eyes today when that Haitian mu’fucka had your baby sister at gunpoint. Only a man who had love in his heart would get at them niggas the way you did. It was instinct for you to protect her. Whether you want to admit it or not, that is your family, and they need you, especially Breeze.”
“Ain’t nobody tried to protect me my entire life. I’ve been out for self from the time I was old enough to understand the rules of the game. I don’t have time to baby-sit. That’s not my responsibility.” Carter wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t trying to get to know the Diamond family, didn’t want to be around them.
Seeing their expensive house and luxury vehicles just made him resent his father even more. While he grew up in Flint, Michigan, a city that was known as the murder capital, the man that made him was taking care of the family that he had abandoned his first-born for. The pain of growing up without a father had left a bad taste in his mouth.
Polo stood and shook his head from side to side. “Everything isn’t always as it seems, Young Carter. Your father had his reasons for leaving you and your mother, and it wasn’t because he didn’t love you.”
“It really doesn’t matter now. That man is in the ground, and it doesn’t affect me. I just came to pay my respects. I didn’t come here for nothing more or nothing less. That man has never done a damn thing for me, so I’m not gon’ even hold you up and say that I feel obligated to step up and take care of his family. A better man might be able to, but that’s not me.”
“I understand you are frustrated Young Carter. You come here and see how happy your siblings are, and you feel cheated. I know you’re asking yourself why you didn’t have the same upbringing, but believe me, your father did the best he could under the circumstances,” Polo stated, defending his best friend.
When Carter didn’t reply he continued, “Your father—”
“I don’t have a father. The nigga got my mother pregnant and then left us for dead to come play house with another bitch.”
“Look, you need to watch your mouth.” Polo, enraged by Young Carter’s blasphemous statements, had to set the record straight. “I can’t just sit here and allow you to disrespect my man like