Cartel Dreams 2: A Love Story

by Nicety

  “Hey sweet cheeks,” Frank rolled over slapping me on my tiny round ass. “Why don’t you go on in there and get big daddy some water, would you please?”

  “Yeah, sure thing big daddy,” I mocked as I flipped the sheet from off of my naked body and headed out the room for the kitchen.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about. And, while you’re in there why don’t you gon’ and make me a turkey sandwich would ya?” He called after.

  “You could stand to miss a few fucking sandwiches you fat motherfucka,” I mumbled softly rolling my eyes as I opened the stainless steel double door refrigerator, skimming through it before pulling out the salami and bread.

  My life was quickly spinning out of control and the one person who I thought gave a fuck about me was too wrapped up in her feelings for some nigga. I would've never ditched her completely for some random dude whom I wasn't even fucking. I mean sure I ditched her before but I always hit her later to make sure she was good about it. Daisy was just down right ignoring me for this motherfucka. It wasn't right and it broke the damn friend code.

  Slapping the sandwich together sloppily, I headed back into the room with the small round China plate and a foreign beer with a name I had never heard of nor could pronounce. Once I handed it to him he devoured it, inhaling it within a matter of seconds. It was down right grotesque, sitting there watching him scarf the sandwich down his throat. How I felt about him was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was that his bank account was fat and his dick was long. That was it.

  "Aye, can I borrow your car? I need to go check on my friend and make sure she's all good," I asked taking the empty plate from him when he shoved it towards me.

  "My car? I don't know if we've graduated to that shit yet. I mean we've only been seeing each other a few days and shit. You got that Birkin bag over there so it ain’t like you ain't get nothing out the deal. You feel me?" His breathing sounded like something out of a Darth Vader mask. "Other than that I can drive you where you need to go."

  "Nigga, this pussy is made of motherfucking platinum. You should be lucky to have hit this shit, okay? I did you a fucking favor." It was the perfect snap off seeing as though I didn't even get belligerent.

  "Me a favor? Naw boo. I'm gone upgrade you if you play your cards right. But you gots to crawl before you walk baby. I don't play the okeydokey for just no anybody. Know that." Frank spun out of bed allowing his rolls to jiggle on his way into the bathroom.

  Immediately I reached for my phone repeatedly dialing Daisy’s number becoming more and more pissed that it was going straight to the voicemail. This was bullshit. I needed a place to stay until I found a better sponsor cause this fat Stay Puft Marshmallow man looking motherfucker wasn’t gonna cut it. His thick Mexican accent was enough to intrigue me at the club when I met him but in broad daylight he looked like he had eaten one too many chorizos in his lifetime.

  “Aye, we gonna have to go and get you some new clothes if you’re gonna be staying here with me. I need a chick on my arm who’s gonna put the other chicks to shame. Ya know?” He exited the bathroom without washing his hands.

  “Clothes? That sounds nice.” I cringed as he stood in front of me twisting my nipples with his stubby fingers.

  “Yeah, we’re gonna get you some clothes and shoes and maybe even get that weave tightened up. What you think about that?” He asked placing his hand behind my head pushing my face towards his limp shrunken dick.

  Tears threatened to burst from my eyes. He was the vilest man I had ever dealt with. Mixing Paul Masson and Grey Goose the other night had lead me down this path. Deep inside I was frustrated with myself for getting involved with a man like him. I didn’t even know much about the nigga and actually I could care less. As long as I wasn’t sleeping on the fucking street, that’s all I gave a damn about.

  I snatched up his limp uncircumcised shit in my hands and wrapped my lips around the nigga’s dick and began attempting to suck the color off that motherfucka. Spit flew in every direction as I sucked harder and more vigorous with every bob. He moaned like it was the greatest feeling in the world to him. I, on the other hand, was trying to stifle my vomit. My jaws were locking up on me while my tongue threatened to go numb. I didn’t give a fuck.

  I possessed these particular sets of skills. Skills that would set me up for life if I put my mind to it. I wasn’t stopping until I had sucked that nigga straight to sleep. All I could think about was finding his wallet, snatching a few cards and whatever cash he had in it while he was down for the count. If I tossed his wallet in a trashcan behind his house, it would take his ass days before he figured out all the cards he had to cancel. By then I would have milked all I needed to from his ass and been long gone. Fuck him.

  …If you know me know this ain't my feng shui

  Certified everywhere, ain't gotta print my resume

  Talking crazy, I pull up andele

  R.I.P to Nate Dogg, I had to regulate

  Pocket rocket fire, watch him disintegrate

  It's a truckload coming on the interstate

  Sirloin steak all on my dinner plate

  Your main bitch say she wanna make a sex tape

  Rich nigga, I could never be a broke nigga (rich nigga)

  Broke niggas I can never get along with them!

  Always been hated since a little nigga (always)

  It's forever pussy nigga gotta deal with it (rich nigga!)

  Broke niggas stand to the left

  My rich niggas stand to the right…

  Chapter 3

  Thirty Minutes Later

  Quince

  “So we got a deal?”

  “Yeah, motherfucka. I’ll make you the richest motherfucka since Bill Gates nigga. Just do your damn job,” I scoffed at the bitch ass cop and all the rest of his lame ass crew.

  “Pleasure doing business with you Mr. McCarter.” His white cocaine soaked teeth nearly matched his pale skin as he grinned shaking up with the rest of his clan.

  My eyes peered out into the bright sunlight. All I could think about was the shit that took place the night before. The blood flowing through my veins boiled every time I thought about that stupid shit. Them bitch ass cops weren't on shit but searching for their next hand out. Everybody had his or her hands out these days. The shit was fucked up but I knew at the end of the day the shit was much needed and I would stand to gain so much more.

  They had an entire slew of motherfuckas on their team waiting for an extra side payday. I’m saying, they even had well known judges and politicians on that list. As if it wasn’t bold enough, them motherfuckas took me to the station just to try to scare me into thinking that would be my fate if I didn’t cooperate with their asses. The only reason why I agreed to their proposition was because I knew I would need law enforcement backup eventually. So I made a deal with a few devils to ensure the stabilization of my business for the long term.

  That was some shit Mata Amigos would have never agreed to. He hadn’t even blown my phone up like he usually did. It made me wonder if that nigga was the one that had me set up for this shit as a scare tactic to keep me in the game. He never came to the city unless he was on a mission. He wasn’t here for shit else. I just needed to find out what it was.

  By now my phone was dead as fuck. There was no one I could call to let them know that I was all right or even to come and swoop a nigga. Heading down 123rd street from the Cashmere Diner next door to the Alsip Police Station, I stopped a cab and hopped in quick. Using my arm to shield the glare of sunlight from the window, I leaned back against the seat thinking about shorty and how upset she was last night when those bitch ass niggas took me away.

  Her actions let me know that she was ready to be down for a nigga regardless of anything. It seemed like I had waited my entire life for a queen like her. I hadn’t even fucked her yet and she was riding for me like we had been together for a decade. That was the type of woman I needed on my team. She made me smile when there was no other reason to smile for. He
r heart was pure, a good girl through and through. I would make sure she was rewarded with love and respect for as long as there was breath in my body.

  “Fifteen seventy-five,” The cabby’s thick African accent echoed in the car while he pointed to the fare box tapping it hard as if he was angry at it.

  “Aight playa. Get that fucking bass out your voice. What you thought I wasn’t gonna pay your ass or something?”

  “I don’t know what you are on. But I just want my money thank you,” he said with a demanding inflection in his voice.

  “You got me fucked up bro. I keep money and since you so rude about the shit, you gets nothing extra. How about that?” I tossed sixteen dollars in the front seat not even handing it to his bitch ass as I exited the car slamming the door behind me.

  I exited noticing Montana posted on the porch buried in his phone. He was texting so hard that he hadn’t even seen me roll up out the cab. Closing in on him he finally looked up locking eyes with me. He stood as we shook up with solemn expressions on our faces. Some shit wasn’t right I could tell just by looking at him. He completed his text sliding his phone down his pocket then took a deep breath and stretched before shaking his head.

  “Man Joe. They snatched you up huh killa?” Montana joked with the solemn look remaining in his eyes.

  “Shit, they finally let a nigga go though. My phone is dead, so I couldn’t call nobody,” I replied taking a look over at Daisy’s house noticing the flowerpots on the porch knocked over and the screen door swinging open freely. “What’s up though?”

  “Phantom, man…”

  “What nigga? Spit it out.” My patience had run thin as I started to worry about what happened next door. “Is shawty good?”

  “Yeah man. She’s good. It’s just that…”

  “Montana, quit playing boi. Spit that shit out.”

  “Her moms got did this morning. She caught one in the chest. The ambulance came and got her and Daisy jumped in the back with her. They rushed her to Christ Hospital, Phantom.”

  I blew out a deep breath that I was holding in bracing myself for the news then darted towards my car without a second thought. Then it dawned on me. “Yo, how you know all this shit, nigga?”

  “Uh, man Phantom. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on with you. I didn’t know if you was gonna be locked down or what you feel me?” Montana rubbed his head roughly much like he did when he felt fucked up.

  “Get it out got damn it,” I growled.

  “I ordered the shit nigga.”

  “You did what? How the fuck are you gonna order some shit like that without hollering at me first?” All kinds of veins were popping out of my fucking forehead that’s how angry I was. “You don’t make no major moves like that period without coming to me first and you know this boi. What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “Man, I had to do something. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Officer Hoyt told me they had you locked down and that shit didn’t look good so I told her to dig deeper and tell me whom the fuck dry snitched on you and shit. She told me it was Daisy’s moms. That bitch was a fucking threat to our shit if she decided to testify against you, nigga. She had to go. Ya feel—“

  “Naw nigga. I don’t feel you. You’re too fucking hotheaded bruh. That’s the reason why you don’t run shit and I do. ‘Cause you can’t seem to keep your ass cool when shit go down. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “I’m…I’m sorry, g.” Montana lowered his voice shuffling through a few looks on his face before settling on confused.

  “What the fuck were you thinking nigga?”

  “Man, I’m sorry Phantom. I fucked up. I’ll admit I fucked up,” he sighed. “What the fuck you want me to do now? The bitch is wasted and ain’t no bringing her ass back.”

  “You say she at the hospital right?”

  “Right.” Montana shook his head.

  “Then she ain’t wasted yet. Man get your ass in the fucking car. Let’s go.” Heated wasn’t the word that could describe what I was feeling right then.

  Montana meant well and I knew it. But that nigga couldn’t hold shit down if in the event I went absent from his ass. All he knew how to do was shoot first and ask questions later. How the fuck could someone like that run the city and make money? He was almost as stubborn and relentless as Mata was when it came to that shit.

  That’s not the way I wanted to run my business. I wanted to conduct myself in an orderly fashion and get oh so ruthless only when it was necessary to make an example out of somebody. I had bigger and better plans than this hood shit that Montana just couldn’t see. We were bigger than this hood shit. But all he knew was the grimy streets. He would never leave.

  Chapter 4

  A Few Minutes Later

  Embry

  That nigga only had three hundred dollars in his damn wallet. I was back at square one if his fucking American Express card didn’t swipe good on this credit. Sitting on the Pace bus stop looking around at Oaklawn’s trendy suburban area, apart of me grew a little jealous at the beautiful two story houses with well kept lawns and colorful flowers out front. I wasn’t greedy. All I wanted was for someone to take care of me, allowing me to live comfortably on my ass. Was that so much to ask? Why the fuck should I be ashamed of that?

  Daddy didn’t understand my logic. I stared down at my phone wondering if I should call his ass and beg to come back home. I knew that meant getting my shit together by finding a real job and making something of myself. But I wondered if I could beg up on another month’s worth of time. Ugh.

  Disgusted, I gazed over at the oversized building across the street with large glass windows spread throughout it. My eyes glistened over wondering if I should’ve dealt with that fat ass dude for a little while longer until he gave in and fell in love, willing to let me control his dumb ass. The more I thought of his rolls, however, the sicker I felt to my stomach with vomit acid rising to the back of my throat. That was enough of that. Luckily, Kelly Roland blaring through my phone startled me up out of my daydream nightmare.

  …So boy just take your time, send chills down my spine

  You're one of a kind, that's why I gotta make you mine

  Boy you turn me on, got me feeling hot

  Now I'm really goin'

  I like, I like, I like my kisses down low

  Makes me arch my back

  When you gave it to me slow

  Baby just like that…

  “Hmph, now you wanna call a bitch huh? I don’t even wanna hear your lame ass excuses either. Know that we’re done. You hear me? Done bitch.” I went straight off as I answered my phone.

  “Bitch shut the fuck up for one second and listen to me. My momma. She’s in the hospital. She got shot in the chest this morning. She’s been in surgery for over an hour now. I’m so scared, Embry. I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do if I lose her,” Daisy cried through the phone.

  My eyes squinted in pure hatred. Something inside me told me to tell her to shove her tears up her ass. I wanted to go dead in on her bogus ass. It was okay for her to call me when it suited her but when I was in need, leaving her messages on her phone, and begging for her to call me back because I was in dire need of a place to stay she could care less about my phone call. Why should I feel any sympathy for her or her raggedy ass momma who never liked me from jump? Even as a kid in high school she didn’t like me. Why the fuck should I care if her old ass lived or died?

  “What happened, Daisy?” I asked coolly flipping my long newly sewn in brown weave that the fat dude had paid for.

  “I don’t know. I was just standing outside talking to one of Quince’s friends and they just started shooting. I don’t even know where they came from or why they were shooting. That kind of shit doesn’t really happen on our block. I just don’t understand,” Daisy rambled not letting me get a word in edgewise.

  “Whose friend?”

  “Quince. I forgot what his friend’s name was,” Daisy replied. “He programmed his number in
my phone before I got in the ambulance just in case I needed him but I hadn’t looked at it yet.”

  “Oh that’s his name huh? Quince?”

  “Yeah. He didn’t tell you that?” Daisy sounded sheepish.

  “Naw…but anyway, calm down first of all. I can tell you’re upset but there’s no need for you to be getting your panties in a bunch when you don’t know what the fuck could happen. Your momma could be just fine. Just be cool, Daisy.”

  “But Embry, you should’ve seen all the damn blood,” she paused sniffling hard. “I can’t lose my momma. I can’t. She’s all I’ve got.”

  All she’s got, she says. What about me? Huh? What about me, bitch? Nobody gives a fuck about poor little Embry. Naw, Embry has to fend for herself and make due without a helping hand. I can’t stand this hustling, struggling shit but no one understands that. No one understands me. Yet, I’m supposed to be the one in everyone else’s corner. Where’s the motherfuckas backing me up in my corner? Ain’t this a bitch?

  “Stop crying, Daisy. Listen, where are you?” I asked rolling my eyes hard as ever.

  “I’m at Christ Hospital in the emergency room waiting area. I can’t do this alone, Embry. Can you come and be with me please? Please?” She sniffled before breaking out into loud sobs.

  “Wait, that’s the hospital in the middle of Oaklawn, right?” I looked up staring at the big glass building in front of me again.

  “Yeah, right across the street from the car dealership.”

  “Well dear sweet Daisy. Today is your lucky day. I’m actually on the bus stop right across the street. I’ll be over there in a minute.”

  “Oh my gosh. I swear God told me to call you at the right time. I’m so glad you hadn’t gotten on the bus yet. Thank you sis. Thank you.” Daisy perked up a bit.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

  I hung up before slew footing it across the street towards the back of the hospital to the emergency room. She didn’t even give a fuck enough to ask me why was I on the bus stop waiting on a damn bus. Daisy was so wrapped up in her own shit that she didn’t even have time to ask me about what was going on with me. I felt offended as heartbreak plagued me.