The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [64]
“I haven’t forgotten, Robyn. He’s gon’ get it, believe that,” Miamor said, venom in her voice and tears in her eyes.
“Well, we think we found a way to get at him and bring down the Cartel too.” Robyn pointed her finger at the newspaper on the bed, causing Miamor to pay attention to it.
“Is this Mecca’s obituary?” Miamor picked up the paper and studied the face closely. Confusion swept over her face, and her forehead dropped in a deep frown. “Somebody got to him before we did?”
“Not Mecca, his twin brother Monroe,” Aries stated smugly.
Robyn added, “The funeral’s tomorrow, Mia. You know Mecca and the rest of The Cartel will be there. It’s our chance to catch ’em while they’re weak,”
Miamor lifted her eyes from the newspaper to meet Robyn’s gaze. “At his brother’s funeral?” she said with doubt. “I don’t know.”
“Bitch, you’s a Murder Mama! Ain’t nothing to think about. We don’t give a fuck where the coroner bag ’em. The nigga disrespected—” Robyn yelled.
“So he got to get it,” Aries chimed in, finishing her friend’s sentence. “Fuck them, Mia. Let’s get at these niggas.”
Miamor nodded her head in agreement, and in an instant the coldness in her heart settled back in. Fuck The Cartel. Fuck Mecca, his world, and everyone in it. Miamor was about to avenge her sister’s death and make Mecca’s mother feel what she had felt when she buried her sister. “I’m in.”
Mecca sat in the family room of the Diamond house. His insides were hollow, and he cried to himself, tears falling uncontrollably from his eyes. What did I do? Money, my baby, my blood, what the fuck did I do? he thought silently. His conscience was eating him alive. He had murdered his twin brother. They had come out of the womb together, and now that Money was gone, Mecca didn’t feel whole. He couldn’t believe that his rage had blinded him to this point, and he knew that if he hadn’t been so intoxicated from the drugs and booze that his temper would’ve never taken him so far. I’m so sorry, bro. I love you, baby. I love you, man. His mind was spinning, and his heart ached. “This is all my fault,” he cried.
“Mecca, this is not on you. Those Haitians are to blame for this, not you. Nobody saw this coming,” Polo stated as he paced back and forth.
Mecca knew that the lie he’d told would hold up. It was a convenient story that pointed the blame toward their beef with Ma’tee, but seeing the anguish that he had caused his family was more than he could take.
“Why is this happening to us?” Breeze asked. “First Poppa, now Money. They are tearing our family apart.” Her eyes were red and swollen as if she hadn’t gotten sleep for days. She looked to her mother for answers.
But Taryn was stricken beyond belief and couldn’t open her mouth to answer. She knew that if she spoke then, her tears would leak from their confinement. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Just as she had been the foundation that held her family up during her husband’s funeral, she had to be strong now and perform what was once her husband’s role and be the glue that held her family together.
The sound of the doorbell interrupted them, and Mecca went to answer it. When he opened the door, Carter stood before him. They slapped hands, and when Carter pulled him close, they fell into a hug as Mecca cried. Young Carter was the only brother he had left. The only other male in the Diamond family he could call on. He was family, and all they had was each other. “I’m sorry, fam,” Mecca sobbed.
Holding his brother and hearing him break down caused tears to come to Carter’s eyes. “It’s all right, fam. Let it out, baby, let it out,” Carter whispered as he pulled Mecca’s head into his chest as if he was his lil’ nigga.
Mecca was always so boisterous, so hard; now his spirit was half gone. He was getting ready to bury a part of himself, and he knew that when Money’s casket hit the dirt, his heart would too. His twin brother was gone, and Carter had no idea that Monroe’s death had been at the hands of Mecca himself.
Polo stepped into the foyer, but when he witnessed the two men united as brothers he paused.