by Pinky Dior
“Oh my God! Thank you Daddy.”
Don took his daughter by the hand and walked her up the dock to her boat. They stepped into the darkness; just then, the lights came on and Mercedes mouth dropped again in shock.
“SURPRISE!” The first people she noticed were her mother, Emilio and her high school best friends. Everyone else in attendance was family and friends.
“Happy birthday cuzzo.” Mercedes’ cousin Sean walked up and hugged her tightly.
“Hey Sean!” Mercedes said as she hugged him back, “I haven’t seen you in awhile boy.” Mercedes pulled back from the embrace as she stared at her cousin. She was grateful for the love from her family and friends. They were all she had.
The night was more beautiful than ever, the skies were dark and the stars glistened-illuminating the sky. Mercedes wanted to get some fresh air and went out onto the deck to get a view the city. The tall beautiful buildings lit up and reflected off the waters. It was the perfect skyline.
Mercedes stood on the deck of the yacht with her elbow rested on the bar. She held a glass of Moet in her hand. She looked up the stars. They reminded her of Chino and the day that they were at the beach and he talked about his father. A tear crept out of her left eye and streamed down the side of her cheek as it tickled her face.
“Beautiful stars aren’t they?” Emilio walked up from behind her and stood next to her.
“Yeah, they are.” Mercedes replied as she wiped away the tear. “I was once told there are plenty of stars in the sky, but there’s always one that catches your eye. When it does you will never forget it, and always see that star. It will be in your heart....scars are like…”
“Stars…” Emilio replied finishing her thought. His comment brought a chill down her spine and she looked at him in amazement. Only Chino knew those words and Mercedes found it really odd that Emilio did too. She shook the thoughts out of her head as she continued looking up into the sky.
“Ohh, it’s getting really chilly out here.” Her teeth began chattering.
“That’s because I came out here.” Emilio smirked at her, causing Mercedes to crack a smile.
“Oh boy please, you so silly.” Emilio took off his blazer and placed it around her shoulders and slowly rubbed her arms.
“Why thank you, that’s really nice of you.” Mercedes said.
Emilio looked deeply into her eyes and placed his hand on her chin. He then leaned in and kissed her lips slowly and sensually. Mercedes didn’t fight and she kissed him back. She felt something between them that was unexplainable.
They both pulled away unaware of how to continue. He cleared his throat as he leaned over the railing and looked out into the sky.
“So what made you come to New York? Did you want to start a new life here or what?” Mercedes curiously asked.
“Well like I said before, I have family out here, but I also needed a new start. I am here in New York for business.”
“Really and what kind of business is that?” Mercedes looked over at him with prying eyes.
Emilio laughed, “Damn you ask a lot of questions.” Her eyes waited for an answer and he sighed knowing that she wouldn’t let up.
“No, I came here because I have to handle some business with your father. I’m here basically doing us all a favor.” Emilio responded and turned to Mercedes.
“Yeah, well my father doesn’t need any help. He is one of the top drug dealers in New York City, he’s well respected. His mentality is so strong that it will never die. It will always pass on and stay in the Carter family.”
“And what do you mean by that?” Emilio tilted his head to the side.
“The Carter family will never die.” Mercedes spoke with pride.
“It’s already dead.” Emilio winked at her as he walked away and disappeared into the dining room. Inside, everyone was laughing, chatting and enjoying themselves. Mercedes stood there frozen; her eyes were focused as she stared through the glass watching Emilio talk to her father. She was thrown off by his comment and didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.
“Mercedes?” Maria called out.
“Yes Ma?” She responded as her mother invaded her thoughts.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She lied, as nervousness swept over her. Emilio’s words deeply troubled her.
“There’s another surprise for you.”
“Close your eyes.” Maria said guiding Mercedes to her next birthday surprise.
“Alright open your eyes.” Mercedes removed her hands from her eyes. She stood in front of a big white truck that opened as her mother counted to three. Don came driving a car off of the truck. Mercedes began jumping up and down in glee.
It was a black and pink 2010 Mercedes Benz E350 coupe, with Lamborghini doors. Mercedes sprinted over to her father and hugged him to death. If her hugs could kill, her father would have been strangled to death. He handed her keys to the Benz and she screamed in excitement. She quickly hopped into the car. The fresh aroma of the leather seats made her smile. She loved the view that the sunroof gave of the city. Mercedes sunk in the leather seats as she held her heart and smiled. She couldn’t ask for anything more.
“Mercedes, you need a place to park your new car.” Don handed her keys and she looked puzzled.
“Daddy what’s this?”
“Those are the keys to your new fully furnished penthouse apartment. Enjoy Baby Girl.” Mercedes couldn’t ask for a better birthday. If only she had Chino to share it with.
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Mercedes awoke to her father calling her name. She adjusted her eyes and saw him waving his Black Card. It was time to go shopping. She quickly got dressed and grabbed the keys to her car. She had to make a stop before she went shopping.
She decided to visit Chino’s grave and she placed a few flowers at the tombstone. She thought about his mother and felt bad because she hadn’t visited her since Chino’s funeral. A visit to her was long overdue, so she bought some roses to give to her.
Driving her new Benz through the streets of Harlem felt so good. She finally arrived, parked and walked up the breezeway. The smell of urine attacked her nose as she walked up the staircase. She took a deep breath and began to knock on the door. She stopped when she felt someone watching her. She shrugged her shoulders and started to knock again. As she raised her hand the door flung open. Mercedes gulped hard when a black woman answered the door. She was smoking a blunt and blew the smoke in her face.
Mercedes coughed and waved the smoke from her face.
“Who the hell are you?” The woman rudely asked.
“Um…I’m looking for Cassandra…this is where she lives.”
“No, nobody by the name of Cassandra lives here.”
“That’s impossible she lives…”
“Listen honey, I’ve been living here in these Harlem projects for two years.” The lady informed her, “Nobody by the name Cassandra lives here.” The woman slammed the door in her face before she got a chance to say anything else. Mercedes turned to walk away; she looked over and noticed a Spanish woman standing in the doorway of her apartment. Just then her white fluffy cat ran outside startling Mercedes. It rubbed its’ white fur on her pants.
“I’m so sorry…so… so sorry.” The Spanish woman apologized repeatedly as she picked up her cat and held it in her arms. “You need to stop running from me Kitty.” The woman patted her cat, rubbing its soft white fur.
“It’s okay.” Mercedes smirked while rubbing off the fur off of her skinny jeans.
“Are you lost?” The woman questioned.
“No.” Mercedes chuckled as she removed a piece of her hair from her face and placed it behind her ear. “I was just looking for a woman named Cassandra who lives right here across the hall from you.”
“Yeah, well she doesn’t stay here anymore.” The woman said.
“Do you know where she moved to?”
“No…” the woman shook her head, “The last time I saw Cassandra was two
years ago. She was leaving one night in the middle of the night. She had her suit case and her son with her.”
“Her son?” Mercedes questioned. She cocked her head back with a mystified expression across her face. “No…no that’s impossible.” Mercedes shook her head side to side. “He passed away two years ago.”
“Well, I don’t know.” The woman shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that she left and said that she had to leave town and she left here with some guy. It was too dark in the hall to see anything, these lights are always broken.” The woman stated angrily.
“Is there anything that she said to you that could help me find her?”
“No I’m so sorry Honey, I don’t know anything.” The woman walked back in with her cat and locked the door. Mercedes knew that the woman knew more than what she was telling her, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She exited the projects and got into her car. She sat there thinking before she turned the car on. ‘There’s no way that that guy was Chino. There’s no way he’s still alive. He had a funeral and he was in the casket. There’s no way, he’s dead.’
Mercedes thought to herself and wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes. She wondered where Cassandra might have gone-maybe she just needed to get away after Chino died. Mercedes shrugged her shoulders, started up the car and pulled off. She headed to the mall to do a little shopping.
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Maria rolled over in their king-sized bed and Don was absent. She pulled back the covers and slid her feet into her slippers. She left her bedroom and walked down the hall to talk to Mercedes.
“Mercedes wake up Babe; we have to go to work.” Maria removed the blanket and Mercedes wasn’t there. She walked over to the window and noticed her Benz wasn’t parked out front. ‘Where did she go this early in the morning?’ Maria said to herself and exited the room and entered hers. As she walked back into her room, she heard the bathroom water running. Don was washing his face. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly on the neck.
“Good morning Baby.” Maria smiled as she stared in the mirror looking at Don.
“Good morning Gorgeous.” Don said as he finished wiping off his face.
“Where’s Mercedes?”
“She went out shopping; I gave her a Black Card.”
“Aww isn’t that sweet.” Maria cooed, “I know she’s happy to get out of this house.”
“Yeah, well she’s still is my Baby Girl.” Don smiled as he turned around. He wrapped his hands around her waist and kissed her on the lips. “What time are you heading to the shop?”
“Well I’m about to hop in the shower now, I told the girls today I would be opening up the shop at ten. I needed to get my beauty sleep.” Maria smirked.
“Aww please, with all that beauty sleep shit.” Don shook his head, “You don’t even need beauty sleep Baby because you are beyond beautiful.” He caressed the tip of her chin with his index finger and caused her to blush like the first time she met him.
“Aww, thank you Honey,” Maria cooed. She pinched his cheeks. “Well let me get ready. My first client is coming exactly at ten o’clock.” Maria playfully shoved her husband out of the bathroom and got ready for her day at the salon.
“Damn you look good.” Don blurted out as she exited the bedroom ready to leave. Maria was putting on her lip stick and stopped in her tracks and turned around. She wore a smile on her face and shook her head.
“Thank you Babe,” Maria turned around and looked in the mirror again before turning away. She grabbed her bag and keys and was off to make her own money.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, you just might. I’ll probably be stopping by the shop for a line up.” Don said as he brushed his waves on top of his head.
“Boy please, what happened to the barber you always go to?” She asked while watching her husband walk over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Well, I heard my Baby is the best in town.” He winked, “I heard you gave my brother Roy a fresh clean cut the other day.”
“Yeah, I did. I guess I’m aight.” Maria scrunched up her nose and smirked.
“You ain’t aight, you got skills.” Don said, “Well I won’t keep you any more, you got to get to work.” Don kissed her on the forehead not wanting to mess up the peach MAC lip stick she applied to her thick succulent lips, “Love you.”
“I love you too Mr. Carter.” Maria smiled. She turned and walked down the spiral staircase and headed straight out the front door. Getting into her car, she dialed Mercedes on the car phone and began chatting with her before work.
“Hey Baby.” Maria said enthusiastically when Mercedes answered her cell phone.
“Hey Ma, what’s up?”
“I’m heading to the shop now, where are you?” Maria wondered.
“Oh, I was out shopping buying stuff for my new condo.” Maria could tell there was something wrong with Mercedes, she could hear it in her voice. She decided to leave it alone until it was time “I was just wondering if you were coming to work today.” Maria asked, “Because if you’re busy today you don’t have to come in.”
“No Ma, its fine. I’m on my way.” Mercedes said, “I’m only ten minutes away.”
“Alright see you there.”
“Alright Ma.” They both hung up in unison. Since she had some extra time, she stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and donuts for breakfast. She then made her way to the salon. As soon as she pulled up in front of her hair salon, she noticed Mercedes pulling right in right beside her. She put the car in park and hopped out the car. She waited for Mercedes to get out of her Benz. “Hey Ma.” Mercedes and Maria both exchanged kisses on the cheek.
“Hey.” Maria smiled, “Hold this for a second while I get the keys out of my bag.” Maria handed Mercedes her stuff so she could get her keys. With her head buried in her bag she didn’t notice the damage, but as soon as she did, she shrieked in horror. “What the fuck?” Maria said surveying the damage. Mercedes never heard her mother curse like that, so she knew she was pissed.
“What happened?” Mercedes asked. She was in awe as she stepped into the salon behind her mother. Tears began to fall from Maria’s eyes and her jaw dropped when she looked around. Her perfect salon was trashed. She put all of her hard work into it after Don purchased it for her. Everything in sight was ruined. Her walls were spray painted and everything was knocked over. The windows were smudged with red lipstick.
Maria walked in and carefully stepped over broken glass. All of the pink chairs were knocked over. She glanced up and noticed something spray painted in big bold letters on the wall. It read 1.15; Maria had no idea what it meant. She was thinking that the kids were pretty cruel to do this to her store. She only cared about how she was going to repair her shop. She and Mercedes put in considerable effort in decorating her salon.
“Oh my God!” Maria panicked and the tears poured down her face. She thought about calling Don, but he never answered when he was working. She threw her phone against the wall in anger, causing it to shatter. Mercedes jumped as the shards flew all over the room.
“Call your father.” Maria demanded.
She exhaled deeply. She didn’t know what to do next, but whatever she was going to do needed to be done quickly. The Carters were all about action.
Mercedes dialed her father and he answered on the first ring. Maria rolled her eyes. She hated that he rarely picked up for her.
“Hey Daddy…can you come to the shop…no now… someone broke into the shop and trashed everything…ok…bye.” Mercedes hung up the phone and walked over to her mother and rubbed her back, “It’s going to be alright Ma.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Maria asked while looking around at her destroyed shop.
“I don’t know; you don’t have any enemies Ma.” Mercedes shrugged her shoulders.
“A bitch did this. Someone your father has beef with.” Maria eyed the damage, specifically the lipstick and the spray pain
t.
“Wait, what are you trying to say Ma?”
“This is the work of a woman scorned. Your father has another woman, I’m sure.” Maria barked as tears engulfed her eyes again. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She wished that she was in a dream and could wake up any second now. Don walked into the salon minutes later and stopped in his tracks.
“What the fuck happened in here?”
“You tell me.” Maria stated nonchalantly. She stared her husband in the eye.
“Shit I don’t know, I just came here and walked into a mess like you!”
“Stop fucking lying to me!” Maria got up to walk away and Don grabbed her arm. She snatched her arm back and rushed out of the door. She slammed the door causing the remaining glass to fall to the ground.
“Daddy, who did this?” Mercedes asked. Don stood frozen staring at the wall. The numbers told him exactly what he needed to know. He knew who did this, but kept it to himself.
“I got to go handle something, tell your mother I’ll be home later.” Mercedes and Don exited the salon. He hopped into his car and Mercedes decided to follow her father. She followed him to Harlem. She watched him. He was like a man on a mission. Mercedes saw him take his gun and cock it back. He was obviously plotting revenge on someone, but Mercedes didn’t know who it was.
She sat patiently in the car watching, as her father entered a building. She was curious because her friend Hazel lived in the same building. Just as she was about to get out and go see where he went, Don came running out. He was angry, and whatever it was that made him that way was inside this building.
Mercedes drove around and tried to figure out who was exacting revenge on her family. She finally went to her mother’s house to check on her. She decided to help her prepare dinner and calm her down from the day’s events. Dinner was complete in no time and they both sat to eat. Maria was clearly disturbed, but Mercedes was more concerned that her mother and father were at odds.
“Aren’t you going to wait for Daddy?” Mercedes carefully asked. She picked up her fork and was eager to eat as well.
