The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [66]
“I didn’t know you knew my brother.”
“I-I-” Miamor was at a loss for words, and her mind was unable to formulate a lie.
Robyn stepped up and said, “She doesn’t, I do. We were friends, and I’m just coming to pay my respects. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Carter peered at Miamor. “You okay?”
She nodded, still unable to speak.
“Look, I’ve got to get back to my family, but I’ll call you, ma.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before walking away.
Miamor turned to her friends. “I have to get out of here,” she whispered.
“Mia, what about the plan?” Robyn asked.
“Fall back. I can’t do this right now.”
“But, Miamor—” Aries interjected.
“I said fall the fuck back.” Miamor walked out of the church and almost ran to her car. When she got inside, her head fell to the steering wheel in defeat. “He’s his brother,” she said aloud. “He’s a part of The Cartel.”
Robyn and Aries exchanged glances. They knew that Miamor was feeling Carter. She had broken her number one rule and gotten emotionally involved.
“Miamor, fuck him. He’s one of them. Let’s go back in there and do what we came here to do,” Robyn stated.
Aries looked sympathetically at her friend, but kept quiet.
“I can’t, Robyn. It’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple. You gon’ choose him over Anisa? Somebody has to pay for what Mecca did to her.”
“Robyn, shut de fuck up, okay. That’s she sister you’re talking about,” Aries said in Miamor’s defense.
“I thought she forgot,” Robyn said smartly, her arms folded across her chest.
“Bitch, shut the fuck up talking! That’s your fucking problem—you talk too fucking much. I can’t even hear myself think. I know what the fuck I have to do. I was there, Robyn. I know, okay. I just can’t do this right now,” Miamor said as she started her car and drove away.
She dropped her girls off at the apartment that they shared. The car ride there was filled with silence and tension.
“We’re going to make that money, so don’t think this is over. It’s us versus them, Mia. He’s the enemy,” Robyn stated before she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
Aries looked back at her friend, who was staring straight ahead, looking at the road. “Do you love him, Mia?”
“No,” she quickly answered. Her heart fluttered when the word left her lips, letting her know that her body knew better. She closed her eyes, and Anisa’s face popped into her mind. She slowly opened them and breathed deep. “I’m gonna kill him and everybody he loves.”
Aries stepped out of the car and watched Miamor as she drove away. She looked up at Robyn, who was standing on the stairs to their building.
“Did you have to be so fucking rude? Give she a break, Robyn. Damn! You know she’s in a fucked-up situation,” Aries stated. “You lucky I not she, ’cuz I woulda beat your ass first and made up with you later.”
Aries and Robyn walked into their building arguing, both knowing that there would never be any real beef between them.
Miamor drove around the city for two hours trying to make sense out of her dilemma. Instinctively she found herself driving toward the cemetery. She had to talk to her sister. When she made it there, she saw the same crowd of people that she had seen at Money’s funeral. She knew that they were there to bury his body next to his father’s, the infamous Carter Diamond, founder of The Cartel. She didn’t care though. She still parked her car and walked over to her sister’s grave. She knelt down and cried.
“Anisa, he’s Mecca’s brother,” she said as she touched her sister’s headstone. She closed her eyes. “He’s the brother of the man who killed you. I miss you so much. I promise you that I’m not going to forget what he did to you. I’m gonna kill him. I swear on everything I love.” Thoughts