The Cartel 2: Tale of the Murda Mamas (20 page)

“That’s our cue,” the girl said as she heard the screams inside the club. She ran out of the back door. One of Twin’s guards stopped her on her way out.

“Yo, ma, where you going? You straight? You got Twin’s money?”

“Yeah, I got it! Hurry up and get in there! Somebody’s shooting! You got to get Twin out of there!” she said in a panicked voice as she put the bookbag on her back.

“Wait outside while we clear this shit out,” the bodyguard replied as he pulled his gun and made his way into the club.

She ran to her car, popped her trunk and hurriedly placed the bookbag inside.

“What you doing, ma? Give me the bag,” Free said eagerly as he looked from left to right.

“Nigga, you ain’t gon’ get ghost on me. I’ll meet you at Junior’s tomorrow at noon. I’ll bring the money with me and we’ll split it up then. Now go, before Twin sees you.”

“Don’t fuck with me, shorty!” Free stated in a hushed tone as he grabbed her arm tightly.

“Look, I said I got you. Now go!”

Free reluctantly ran toward his car.

“Where’s the money?” Big Lou asked as soon as Free got in.

“The bitch got it,” Free replied. “She gon’ meet me tomorrow, and we gon’ split it up then.”

“How you know she gon’ show up?”

Free looked out of his window as he watched Twin run out to the girl. She instantly began to cry, and her act was so realistic that he had to let out a laugh. “She’ll show.”

The next day, Free waited anxiously in the back of the restaurant as he watched the girl approach. She was wearing an all white Versace sundress, and her hair was pulled back off of her face in a loose ponytail. The side of her face was swollen, and her lip was busted. She carried the book bag at her side as she limped toward him. Pain was written all over her face with each step that she took.

“Here’s the money,” she said.

“What happened to your face?” Free asked her as he watched her sit down tenderly, trying to avoid causing herself any further pain.

“I took an ass whooping for forty grand,” she replied in a nonchalant tone, as if it were no big deal.

Free couldn’t help but to laugh at the girl before him.

She was unlike any chick that he had ever encountered. He was intrigued by her arrogant swagger, and her beauty was comparable to none. “Let’s go, shorty,” he said as he stood up and took the bag from her hands.

“Go where? I got to get my cut so I can get back before Twin notices I’m gone,” she said.

“Fuck that nigga!” Free said as he stared down at her. “You rolling with me.”

“Excuse you? How you know I’m trying to fuck with you like that?” The girl replied with much attitude as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Don’t front, ma. You wouldn’t have let me get out of that club with your boy’s cash if you weren’t feeling a nigga.”

A smile involuntarily graced her lips as she put her Dior sunglasses on her face to hide her true feelings. “I don’t even know you,” she said sweetly, keeping up her hard exterior.

“I’m Free,” he replied as he held out his hand and turned to leave. “What’s your name, ma?”

“Six,” she hesitantly replied as she placed her hand in his and shook her head in doubt.

“Now you know me,” Free said as he led her to his car.

This is crazy,
she told herself as she reluctantly followed behind him. “Twin will come after me.”

“Listen, shorty. I’m not gon’ let nobody harm you. All you got to do is keep it real with me. If you hold me down, I’ll hold you down, a’ight?”

“Yeah, a’ight,” Six replied with a seductive smile. “But can we leave town?”

Free stopped walking and looked Six directly in her eyes. “This nigga got you shook?”

“No, it’s not that. I just want us to start fresh. A new city, a new beginning.”

“Okay, but my man, Big Lou is coming with us.”

Free wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and then playfully pulled her to the car. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know Six from the next chick on the street, he was a spontaneous person and blew wherever the wind took him. He chased the money, and as he walked toward his car, he chuckled, thinking that he may have just met his match. “Where to?” he asked as he started his car.

“Miami,” she replied.

When Free pulled away from the curb that day, they became partners; partners in crime, partners in life, partners in love. Everything was 50/50 with them. It was the beginning of the end.

*   *   *

Free opened his eyes when he felt the plane touchdown in Miami. He smiled as he thought about the first time that he had met Six. Just thinking about her made him love her more. As a man, he felt like he was getting ready to give up a part of himself by marrying Six. Although he loved her more than life, and he planned to be with her, there was something about putting a ring on her finger that scared him. He had been planning this for some time now. For seven years, he had been on his grind, trying to stack his chips so that he would be able to provide for himself and his woman.

Six was spoiled. She had been ever since he met her. Free had stolen her from Twin, who had never spared her of any material possession. Free wanted to be able to give her more than any other man ever could. He wanted to give her the world, and he was ready to make her his wife. There was no questioning the fact that Six loved Free more than anything. She had been loyal to him from the time she laid eyes on him. He couldn’t see his life without her, and it was time to make their relationship permanent.

Free stood slowly and followed Big Lou off of the aircraft

They made their way through the corridors of the airport, and walked toward the baggage claim area.

“Yo man, you serious about giving this shit up?” Big Lou asked.

Big Lou and Free had been pulling capers together since they were young, coming up in Brooklyn. They had quickly made a name for themselves in New York, but after they had robbed Twin, they both skipped town and relocated to Miami. They tried to stay low-key once they arrived in the M.I.A, but they soon discovered that their new city was wide open and prime for the taking. They quickly returned to their old ways, and they returned to the lifestyle that they knew best. Big Lou and Free were willing to get money by any means necessary, as long as the amount of money outweighed the risk.

“Yeah, dude, I’m done. This was my last hit. I’ve been stacking my paper for a minute now. Me and Six can kick back and just live, you know?” Free asked.

Yo, I don’t know anything about that. I ain’t gon’ never leave this game alone,” Big Lou replied.

“I hear you, fam,” Free said as they slapped hands and embraced briefly. “I’ma get at you.”

Free and Big Lou grabbed their luggage and went their separate ways.

Free located his silver Lexus Coupe and headed home. His hands were moist and his heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest as he thought about what he was about to do. He was nervous, and he was pushing 95 mph on the freeway, trying to get to Six. He knew that she would be surprised. He wasn’t due back in Miami for another couple days, but he decided to finish up in New York early and fly back to propose to her.

Is this the chick that I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with? Is she really down for a nigga, like I’m down for her? Will

I be the type of man that she needs me to be?
He knew that the answer to all of his questions was “yes". Six was the woman for him. They completed each other, and the closer to her he got, the more intense his feelings for her became. The potency of his love for her even surprised him. She was his rib, and without her he couldn’t breathe.

As he pulled his luxury vehicle onto his street, he was so nervous that it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. He could see her candy red, baby mama Benz gleaming as it sat perfectly in their driveway.
Good, she’s here,
he thought as his Lexus slid next to the curb in front of his house. He reached inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out the box that held the ring inside. He opened it and stared at the flawless cut of the diamond.
It’s all or nothing,
he thought as he snapped the box closed and exited the car. He went to the front door, walking slowly as he thought back on his life as a single man. He had always been with Six, but he had enjoyed many chicks on the side over the years.
Damn! It’s time to give all that up. It’s time to fly straight,
he thought to himself.

Free reached inside his jean pockets in search of his house keys. “Damn! Where those mu’fuckin’ keys at?” he muttered in frustration as he patted his pockets. He went back to his car to see if he had left the keys inside. He looked everywhere, but his hunt was fruitless.

He jogged back up to the house and rang the doorbell. He could hear the sound of R. Kelly’s “12 Play” crooning throughout the house. The music was drowning out the sound of the doorbell as he continued to ring, waiting for Six to answer. He grew impatient, and made his way around the back of the house. He lifted his hand and banged on the back door, knocking hard so Six could hear him. To his surprise, the door cracked slightly. The smell of incense greeted him as soon as he stepped inside the door. All of the curtains were pulled closed, and the only light came from candles that had been strategically placed all throughout the house.

“Six!” he yelled as he made his way through the house. He gripped the ring tightly as he rushed to find her. “Baby girl, where you at?” Free received no answer as he walked through the living room. The room was so dark that he lost his balance as he tripped over something that lay in the middle of the floor. “Damn!” he muttered as he reached to the wall and flicked the light switch. His eyes immediately focused on the odd pair of Timberland Boots that sat in the middle of his floor.
Fuck! This bitch done had a nigga in my house?
Free’s thoughts went from loving Six to being enraged with her in less than three seconds.

He darted up the steps that led to his bedroom, and heard moans coming from inside the room. He was squeezing the ring box so tightly that his knuckles hurt from the pressure. He walked to the bedroom door, and his suspicions were confirmed by the sight that he saw. His heart caught in his throat as he watched the love of his life blatantly betray him. Her moans of pleasure drowned his ear drums as another man drilled in and out of her.

Free didn’t know what happened next. He couldn’t control his emotions. All rational thought went out of the window. Red and black filled his tunnel of vision.

“Bitch, you fucking this nigga? You love this mu’fucka?” Free was so hurt that darkness clouded his vision. “You fucking this nigga?”

Pow! Pow! Pow!

“Bitch, you fucking this nigga?”

Nothing, but darkness and the sounds of the bullets entering flesh could be heard.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

So much red! Blood flowed freely from the bodies of

both victims. Blood on Free’s hands; blood on his shirt; his shoes; blood in his eyes. The sound of his heart breaking fell on deaf ears. No one was alive to hear him.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

One final bullet …