Cartier Cartel

by Nisa Santiago

  "Yeah, I'm good. I'm just waiting for him to count that paper. I should be out soon."

  "You want me to hold on the phone until you come out?"

  "Nah, I'm good. If I'm not out in ten minutes, then call back. Matter-offact, get in the driver's seat and be on alert. Anything funny, just jet and call 5-0. But don't get alarmed, I'm not feeling any static:'

  "OK, one:

  Monya continued to wait impatiently and suddenly just before she dosed off, Ryan appeared. He had a duffle bag and Monya was relieved. She was ready to get on the road and make her next stop. Ryan plopped on the sofa next to her and tossed her the bag.

  "This all me?" Monya questioned.

  "Count it."

  "Oh, no doubt. That's the first thing I always do. I ain't new to this"

  "Stop talking like you a gangsta," Ryan began. "If you were a real gangsta you wouldn't have walked into this:"

  Monya felt a strong nudge in her side as she opened the bag and realized it was filled with newspaper.

  "What the fuck is this?" her voice exuded fear as her hands trembled.

  "You already know what it is." Ryan's voice was icy cold and his demeanor had changed. "A, yo!"

  Ryan called and two more gunmen appeared, wearing black hoodie sweatshirts, jeans, and boots, brandishing weapons.

  "Ryan, you gonna play me like this?" Monya asked as her eyes pleaded with Ryan. He was unaffected. Monya didn't have any idea what they were going to do to her, but she hoped Shanine did as she was told and call back, be on alert, and hopefully, get away and call for help.

  "Bitch, shut the fuck up," Ryan shouted. "Get your silly ass up and if you make one sound, I'ma put a bullet in your head."

  As everyone surrounded her, Monya thought about her son. Was she really going to die? Would Ryan really go out like that? For all she cared, they could take the drugs and she'd handle Jesus when she got back. But even as she tried to rationalize her thoughts, she knew that there wasn't anyway they'd just take the drugs and leave them alive. Monya began to cry and plead.

  "Ryan, you don't even gotta go out like this," she pleaded. "You can take the whole car, just don't hurt us. I got a son that needs me."

  Ryan shook his head.

  "Damn, Monya. I ain't even like that. I'm mean, shit, we are gonna take your shit, but we ain't no murderers. Just don't go acting stupid and it's all good. Now get the fuck up."

  Monya was glad he was leading her out of the house. She thought that she would end up duct taped in the basement with a bullet in her head. Suddenly, she tried to be optimistic. The two gunmen fell back as Ryan and Monya walked toward the car. Just as planned Shanine was in the driver's seat. She looked at Monya with the duffle bag in her hand and exhaled. Had she looked deeper at her friend's expression, she would have seen her panic stricken eyes.

  Shanine rolled down the window. About time-"

  Ryan was quick and brief. He pulled out the burner and pointed it toward Shanine. She was about to scream when Ryan began barking orders.

  "Shut the fuck up or you're dead. Do you understand me?"

  "What's going on?" Shanine voiced weakly.

  Before the girls knew what was happening, they were being surrounded and hustled into the car. Shanine was instructed to slide over into the passenger's seat and Monya sat in the back, next to one armed dude she didn't know. The other dude hopped in a Toyota Camry and followed. Ryan took the wheel and began driving. For a while, no one said anything. The car was silent as wild thoughts ran rampant through each girl's head. Shanine began to pray silently as Monya thought of a way to get out of their situation. The only thing she could think of was compassion.

  "Ryan, you promised that you were going to let us go, right?" Monya asked with fear in her voice. "You know I'm only out here doing this so that I could feed my son."

  Ryan remained calm. He was making sure he obeyed all the traffic laws. As he drove to the remote location, both women began to cry louder. Their deep moans of agony didn't faze the men. Ryan figured women in the game should know the repercussions of the game. If they wanted to act like men, then they got handled like men. He heard about the Cartel running through the streets of New York, selling drugs, fighting, and even killing motherfuckers. He'd heard about how they did Donnie dirty and couldn't believe the hypocrisy.

  They could take a life and then beg for theirs? What about Donnie's kids? Ryan rationalized. Though he didn't give a fuck about Donnie; he didn't even know the motherfucker. He just couldn't believe that they actually thought the drug game was sweet. It was ruthless and he was a ruthless motherfucker. He'd been robbing and murdering niggas since he was seventeen and running up in stash houses on Riverside Drive. If they couldn't handle the heat, they should have stayed in the kitchen, baking cookies or some shit like that.

  Finally, he reached his location. He pulled over to the side and looked in his rearview mirror to see if Chopper, his man who was following, was close behind. He pulled over too.

  "Pop open the compartments," Ryan said to Shanine. With trembling hands, she opened the glove compartment and hit a switch. The trunk popped open and the secret compartment slowly opened.

  Chopper, who was now standing over the trunk, smiled. He then walked toward the driver's side and approached Ryan.

  "Damn, that shit look pretty," Chopper smiled and revealed a row of rotten gold teeth. "It looks like Christmas back there. They brought more than you ordered."

  "It's all good, motherfucker," Ryan said. "Start loading that shit in our car."

  "Yeah, no doubt," Chopper stated and began transferring the cocaine into their stash car.

  Shanine sat wringing her hands together. She was crying so hard she couldn't see past her tears. Snot had oozed down her nose and she didn't bother cleaning herself up. She knew her life was in someone else's hands and she didn't know whether Ryan had already decided their fate. When Chopper slammed the trunk closed, both women yelped.

  "You gonna let us go, right, Ryan?" Monya asked again.

  Ryan got out of the car and Mikey, the other passenger, did the same.

  Ryan leaned over into the car, "Close your eyes!" he commanded.

  "Ryan, no!" Shanine yelled, but the bullet piercing through her head had silenced her. Monya didn't have a chance to react before she was slumped over in the back passenger seat with a bullet lodged in her head.

  "Yo, let's be out!"

  he news hit Cartier like a Mack truck. Her whole body went limp as she collapsed into Jason's arms. He too was hurting inside. No matter what he and Monya went through, she didn't deserve to be done dirty that way. She was the mother of his only son.

  "What happened?" Cartier asked between tears.

  "Cartier, I don't know," Jason replied. "Her and Shanine were found both shot in the head in North Carolina. That's all I know. You gotta call your mother."

  Cartier was distraught, but managed to call Trina. "Ma," Cartier cried, "who could have done such a thing?"

  "The police don't know shit, but you better meet us at the airport. Janet and I are on the first plane flying out."

  "OK, I'm there"

  Cartier grabbed her family, and she and Jason drove to LaGuardia Airport, where they met Trina, Prada, Fendi, Janet, and Jason Junior. They all had a two hour wait until they boarded the next plane to Raleigh-Durham.

  Janet was a nervous wreck. "They tried to kill my baby," she kept repeating.

  "She's strong," Trina soothed. "She's gonna make it. She would have already let go. You know that chile is a fighter."

  Monya was shot in the head, but she didn't die on the scene. Shanine wasn't as lucky. Her body was being transported from North Carolina to New York, so her mother could give her a proper burial.

  As they sat in the airport, everyone had conspiracy theories on who murdered and tried to murder the girls. It wasn't a secret they'd gone to North Carolina on a drug transaction. Everyone up north knew that, but Janet didn't disclose that information to the police. She didn't want them writing
Monya off. She wanted the perpetrators caught. When they finally arrived at the hospital in Raleigh, the news was grave.

  "Ma'am, I'm afraid your daughter's brain dead," the doctor stated. "Critical levels of oxygen have stopped reaching her brain, rendering it useless. I'm recommending you let her go to be at peace"

  "You mean pull the plug?" Janet screamed frantically. "You want me to murder my baby?"

  "Ma'am, calm down, please," the doctor said in a soothing tone. "She's already dead."

  "No-o-o-ooooo!" Janet cried and all the children burst into tears. They were frightened at the loud commotion taking place. "I can't do it."

  Trina ran and embraced Janet, and rocked her back and forth in her arms as Jason cradled Cartier. Everyone was devastated. They all felt that they were in a bad dream.

  The police stood to the side, waiting to speak to the frazzled mother. The crime was so abhorrent that they wanted to see if the New Yorkers had any clues where they were going or who they were meeting.

  Unfortunately, no one knew a thing. They were clueless.

  n the morning of Shanine's funeral, Cartier couldn't pull herself out of bed. She didn't know if she could see her friend in a casket.

  "Ma, you gotta get up," Jason soothed as he rubbed her back. "You gotta be strong. Shanine is counting on you."

  When they pulled up in front of Baptista Funeral Home, Cartier could barely see the front entrance. It was jam-packed with family and friends. She was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't hold it in. Monya was still laying brain dead in a hospital with tubes running in and out of her nose and mouth, with a respirator breathing for her. Monya's skin was pasty and her hands were clammy. Cartier knew her friend wasn't inside that empty shell. She wished Janet would allow her friend to rest in peace, yet, she didn't know how she'd be able to she her in a grave.

  Jason was the strong one, giving Cartier all the support she needed. He helped her climb the stately steps of the funeral parlor and even helped her dress that dreaded morning.

  When it came time for family and friends to speak, Jason nudged Cartier. He knew she needed to say her piece. Cartier exhaled and stood up. She looked over at Barn and Lil Momma and gave them both a nod. Her legs wobbled as she approached the podium and cleared her throat. There was a sea of faces, some she knew, others she didn't.

  She began, "I've known Shanine almost all my life ... I can still remember the white and blue Pro-Ked sneakers she wore that were always untied when we were in the third grade." Cartier laughed slightly as tears streamed down her cheeks. "When we were little girls you couldn't see one of us without seeing the other four: Me, Monya, Bam, and Lil Momma. We were all once close as sisters and then something went wrong."

  Cartier shook her head wildly and began to sob uncontrollably. Someone called out, "Take your time...'

  Soon she regained her composure and continued. "I went wrong. Back then, I thought it all made sense ... I thought that together we could conquer the world. Most of y'all know us as the Cartier Cartel." Cartier snorted her disgust. "That was my first mistake. Back then, I thought the only important thing in life were labels. I had us running in and out of department stores, stealing their merchandise and actually thinking that society owed us something. When that didn't quench my thirst, I exposed my best friends to selling drugs."

  Cartier watched as a few people squirmed in their seats. They weren't ready to handle the truth.

  "It was all my idea," she stated. "Every negative action the Cartel did was all mines. These were good girls ... we were good girls and I don't know what turned me. And then, I turned them, and Shanine would be alive and Monya would be here too if it weren't for me," Cartier choked up and began to sob uncontrollably.

  Jason ran to the podium and walked her down. She collapsed in his hands and for a while was inconsolable.

  When the service was over, Barn and Lil Momma approached Cartier. They wanted Cartier to know that Shanine's death wasn't her burden to carry.

  "This ain't your fault," Barn said. "We all made our own decisions. You can't take the blame all by yourself."

  "We all wanted the same things you did," Lil Momma encouraged. "Shanine and Monya knew what they were getting themselves into. You didn't have anything to do with that."

  "Excuse me, Cartier."

  Cartier turned around as she heard a familiar voice and looked into eyes from the past.

  "Ryan ... what a surprise," Cartier stated.

  Ryan cleared his throat, leaned down, and gave Cartier a quick peck on her cheek. The last time she'd seen him, he'd promised to do her bid with her. Time had taken any animosity she might have had.

  "You're looking good," Ryan began. "I just came through to show my support.-

  "How nice ... I'm surprised you remembered Shanine

  "Yeah, I remembered her. That was your home girl. I remember everything," he stated. "That was some powerful shit you said up there."

  "I was just speaking my truth," Cartier said and peered over her shoulder. Jason was clocking her intensely from across the room. Cartier gave him a warm smile and he relaxed. "You remember Lil Momma and Bam, right?"

  "How y'all doing?" he asked.

  They both shook their heads. Even if Cartier wasn't holding a grudge, they still were. They didn't care for how he handled her.

  Ryan continued, "Do the police have any leads on what happened to them? I mean, I know that Monya is still alive, right? Is she talking?"

  Cartier shook her head wildly. "They don't know nothing. We call down their every day, and I don't even think they are working on the case:"

  "Those hillbilly-ass police don't know how to do their job," Ryan said.

  "Oh yeah, that's right. Don't you live down there now? I almost forgot."

  "Nah, not no more," Ryan lied. "I got out of there. I mean, I still got property down there, but I don't rest my head there."

  "That's good. I just wish ..." Cartier couldn't finish her sentence.

  Ryan wanted to continue where he left off. He needed to know Monya's status. "Can't the other girl help?"

  Cartier's tears began to flow again. "No, she can't. She's brain dead and they don't expect her to ever wake up."

  Cartier clutched her stomach and began to rock back and forth from pain. Jason ran over to her and decided to get her out of there. He purposely bumped into Ryan as he walked past him and purposely didn't pardon himself.

  Ryan just laughed that his presence could still intimate Jason. He didn't give two fucks about Cartier. He'd gotten what he'd come for.

  he next morning, the burial was just as sad. As Cartier and Jason walked toward their limousine, she began to reflect on her life.

  "Jason, I want a new beginning," Cartier said.

  He shook his head. "Me too, baby. Me too."

  "Then let's start over. Let's move away from New York."

  "We could put the house on the market and buy a house in Jersey or Philly," Jason responded.

  "No ... won't nothing be different in Jersey in Philly," Cartier replied. "We need a new lifestyle and leave the hood behind. How about we go far away, where nobody knows us? We could go to Venice Beach in Los Angeles and get a small apartment. The kids would love the weather."

  "Are you serious?" Jason retorted.

  "Jason, I'm more serious than I can express. I just need you to want to do this."

  "Well, I'm not leaving here without my son," Jason replied.

  "I already spoke to Janet about it and she said she's too old to take care of Monya's kid. She said Monya would love it if we raised Jason Junior. I told her I needed to speak to you first, but I had already made up my mind. I got to do this for Monya. We need to give her child a good, stable home. That's why she was out there hustling, to give her son a better life"

  he captain has turned on the `fasten your seatbelt' signs. We're preparing for landing," the flight attendant stated. Cartier looked down at Christian and then glanced over at Jason and Jason Junior. In a matter of minutes they'd be arrivin
g at LAX and beginning their new lives. Cartier was still torn up over Monya, who was still lying lifeless in a sterile hospital room. She knew her best friend wasn't ever going to wake up. She was as good as dead.

  She hated to leave her mother and siblings behind, but Trina wasn't ready to leave the hood. She used Janet as an excuse and Cartier had to accept her decision. Trina was a grown woman. Cartier felt in her gut that if they didn't leave New York and soon, she'd get that dreadful call one day that something had happened to Jason. She couldn't take any chances.

  When the plane finally landed, Jason scooped up his son, she grabbed Christian, and they exited the plane and walked hand in hand toward their future while leaving all the unhappy memories about the Cartier Cartel behind them.

  Once they were settled into their rent-a-car, Cartier clicked back on her cell phone. She had thirteen messages. As she listened to each disturbing message tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. Anger began to rise up and form a lump in her throat. She swallowed hard and tried to contain her composure. Cartier couldn't believe what she'd just heard. The reality of the situation seemed almost improbable, yet it all made sense. Her hands trembled as she closed her cell phone so she clasped them together to stop them from shaking.

  Jason glanced over and noticed that she was crying.

  "Yo, what happened now?" he asked in a panicked voice. He almost didn't want to hear the news.

  Cartier's voice was laced with malice and rage. "I just got several messages from Barn saying word out on the street is that Ryan's the one who rocked Monya and Shanine to sleep. She said that Big Mike told her that Monya and Shanine were going to meet up with his homeboy after they left Ryan. They never made it. On everything I love he gotta get it! He don't deserve to breathe the same air as me. Understand?"

  Jason nodded. "Don't even worry about it, ma. I'ma push that nigga's wig back. I put that on everything I love!"

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