The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [4]
Carter shot a look at the man that said a thousand words. If looks could kill, the man would’ve been circled in chalk. “No, my son will never be that. Watch ya mouth, fam,” Carter stated firmly as he focused his attention back on Mecca. “Look, sons, you are better than this. This game chose us, we didn’t choose the game. You got the game twisted. I do this, so you don’t have to,” Carter said, as a somber feeling came over him. It hurt his heart to hear Mecca say that he wanted to be a gangster like him.
“Let me show you two something,” Carter said before he looked at his henchmen that sat at the long red oak table. “How many of you have lost someone close to you because of this drug game?
Slowly everyone at the table raised their hands, to help Carter prove a point.
“How many of you go to bed with a pistol under your pillow?” Carter asked. “And how many of you want to get out of the game?”
Mecca and Money looked at everyone in the room holding up their hands, and Carter’s point was proven.
“Do you two understand, this game . . . is not a game?”
Mecca and Money nodded their heads, understanding the lesson that their father had just sprinkled them with.
“Take another sip of this and head to bed.” Carter smiled and handed Money the cup. After the boys took a small sip of the drink, he grabbed both of their heads at the same time and kissed them on top of it. “Don’t tell your mother,” he whispered to them just before they exited the conference room.
Although Carter had explained to them the cons of the street life, the allure of the game was too powerful, and Mecca and Money wanted in. They just had to wait their turn.
Breeze stood at her balcony, totally astounded by the view, and stared into the stars. Her balcony hovered over their small lake and faced their gigantic backyard. The Diamond residence was immaculate. They had just moved there, and it was a big jump from the dilapidated projects of Dade County. Breeze’s 12-year-old eyes were lost in the stars as her mother stood behind her and brushed her long hair. This was a ritual they did every night, and Taryn used this time to bond with her daughter.
“Breeze, what’s wrong, baby? Lately you haven’t been saying much,” Taryn said as she continued to stroke her daughter’s hair.
Breeze took her time before she spoke. Her father had taught her to always think about what to say before saying it. “I just miss back home. I don’t like it out here. None of my friends are out here. I hate it in South Beach, Mommy.” Breeze’s eyes got teary.
“I know it’s hard to cope with the sudden change, Breeze, but your father is a very important man, and it wasn’t safe for us to stay in Dade. He did what was best for the family,” Taryn answered, knowing exactly how Breeze felt. She herself had been a daughter of a kingpin, so she knew what it was like to be sheltered because of a father’s notoriety.
“I just don’t get it. Everybody loved Poppa in the old neighborhood. Why would we have to move?”
When it came to his baby girl, Carter held back nothing. He answered any question she asked him truthfully, wanting to give her the game, so another boy couldn’t game her. She knew her father was a drug dealer, but in her eyes he was the greatest man to walk the earth. She saw how he treated her mother with respect at all times. She witnessed him put his family before himself countless times and admired that. She wanted her husband to be just like her daddy.
“I know exactly how you feel. You’re too young to understand right now, Breeze. Just be grateful that you have all of this. Most women will go through their whole life and never have the things you already have.”
I understand. I know what’s going on. I know Daddy is the dopeman. I know more than you think I know. Breeze went into her room and flopped down on her canopy-style bed. Tears rolled down her cheek as she curled up on her pillow. She missed her old home so badly. She just wanted to be a regular around-the-way girl.
Taryn, her white silk Dolce and Gabbana nightgown dragging on the floor