Cartel Wives

by Mia Flores

  CHAPTER 26

  Wives at War

  Olivia

  On August 20, 2009, the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, unsealed the indictments against Junior and Peter. But they weren’t alone; he also announced the charges against El Chapo, El Mayo, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, sixteen members of Junior and Peter’s Chicago-based crew, and assorted hitmen, lieutenants, and other cartel members. In a total of fifteen indictments, forty-six men—with nicknames like Skinny, Ron Ron, and Grandpa—were charged, all because of Peter and Junior.

  Mia

  While hauling in the US operatives was relatively easy, extraditing the Mexican cartel players was going to be harder. Extraditions require reams of paperwork, months and months of time, and the full cooperation of the Mexican government. The feds were hoping they could do it within a few years. After all, they didn’t just want to strangle the flow of narcotics into the United States; they also wanted to help Mexico end its cartel wars.

  Olivia

  So much was happening in our husbands’ cases and all over Mexico, but unfortunately, Mia and I weren’t talking to each other about any of it. By fall of 2009, we were waging our own war. Both of us were unhappy, and neither of us knew how to deal with our husbands not being with us. So we took it out on each other, and for the stupidest of reasons.

  I’d stayed friends with Peter’s ex, Angela, who was the mother of his older daughter, Sophia. Whenever I was in Chicago, I’d drop by her house, visit, and check on Sophia. Brandon was close to his cousin, and so was I. I’d been around her since she was born, and I looked at her like a daughter. Mia knew I still talked to Angela, and it was uncomfortable for her. She probably didn’t want Angela to know certain things, or she didn’t want me letting anyone else muddy the waters. Or maybe she imagined I was confiding in her, breaking our circle of trust.

  Mia

  In a lot of Latin families, you leave your exes in the past. That goes for your husband’s ex-girlfriend, too. We’re not accustomed to seeing blended families with exes, and bad feelings and harsh words are common, even expected. And when you break up with someone, your family is supposed to cut them off.

  That’s the way I was raised, and it’s the reason I was upset with Olivia. As a woman and a wife, I felt betrayed that she was still talking with Peter’s ex. When we made the decision to change our lives, we made it as a family, and I felt as if she abandoned me at my most vulnerable time. When I love someone, I love them hard, and I never turn my back on them. I worried that our sisterhood wasn’t good enough, and that we were going to have to live this crazy life without each other.

  Olivia

  At such a sensitive point in our lives, we should have been there for each other, like sisters. So I couldn’t understand why Mia was letting something like this come between us. I thought she was being so controlling.

  Junior and I would talk all the time about what was going on.

  “She’s younger than me, and she’s just being immature,” I’d say to him.

  “I just hope you work it out soon,” he’d answer.

  Junior had never had a hard time letting me know when I was wrong, and vice versa. That’s part of why we made such a good team. But since he’d been locked up, the last thing he wanted to do was fight with me. He stayed quiet and sided with me.

  It started coming between him and Peter. They’d always seen eye to eye, were always on the same page. But when it came to us, they’d do anything to make us happy.

  It got so bad that when Mia and I would visit our husbands in Kansas, we’d sit on opposite sides of the visiting area. The room was tiny, too, like ten feet by twelve feet, and we wouldn’t even say hi to each other. Benjamin would toddle over to Bella to try to play with her, but it still didn’t break the ice.

  Mia

  When I hold a grudge against someone, I hang on to it forever. People think I’m sweet and delicate because I’m so soft-spoken and reserved, but inside, I’m tough as nails. I usually have my guard up. The weekend before I was scheduled to deliver my baby, I don’t think I’ve ever been so defensive.

  I went to visit Peter on Sunday, like I always did. I’d decided to move to Kansas to be close to his prison. I wasn’t going back to Alabama if my life depended on it; I would have rather been on my own than be someplace where people were supposed to be helping me but weren’t. I was already feeling happier, but talking to Peter two days before having my baby, knowing he wouldn’t be there, set me back.

  “I’m just so sorry I can’t be there for you. That I can’t be there for my boy being born,” he said.

  I’d always wanted a boy and a girl, so the fact that I was having a son was pretty much everything I’d ever wished for. I prayed every night that he’d be healthy, and I told myself that even though Peter wasn’t going to be in the hospital with me, nothing was going take my happiness away. Still, with Peter sitting there apologizing, I felt completely alone. I needed him more than ever, but there was nothing he could do.

  “It’s okay, Peter,” I lied. “I’m not thinking of myself. I’ve got a baby at home and a baby on the way that need me. I’ll be fine.”

  We both started crying, and he kissed me goodbye.

  Then Olivia walked into the room with Brandon and Benjamin.

  Olivia

  When I saw Mia sitting in that little visiting room, I thought, What kind of person am I that I’m not going to be there for her? She’s having a baby alone, for God’s sake. I started to walk toward her, but she refused to look at me, and I backed off. We sat on opposite sides of the room all afternoon, the tension between us growing minute by minute.

  When I left and got in my car, I didn’t feel relieved to be away from such an uncomfortable situation. In fact, I felt guiltier than ever. So I picked up the phone and called her, and much to my surprise, she answered.

  “Mia,” I said. “I love you and I want to be there for you when you have the baby.”

  She didn’t say a thing.

  “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done or said, and if you want me there, I’d like to go to the hospital to be with you.”

  There was more silence. But I wasn’t giving up.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you during your pregnancy. I can’t imagine how hard this has been for you, and I’m truly sorry for everything you’re going through. I know Peter can’t be there for you, and I know that I’m the closest thing that you have to him, so I genuinely want to go.” I kept on. “I’d like to go to the hospital and be there for the birth of my nephew. Please let me. Please…”

  Mia must have been sick of the sound of my voice because she finally broke the silence. True to form, she was polite. I don’t think a day’s gone by when she hasn’t been sweet and courteous.

  “Thank you for calling,” she said. “It means a lot to me.” She paused. “But I’m going to have this baby alone.”

  Then she hung up the phone.

  Mia

  My mom, dad, and a few of my aunts flew in from Chicago to be with me for the birth of my baby boy, and the morning we walked into the hospital, I’d decided I wasn’t going to let the hardest time in my life consume my moment. Even with all the chaos in my life, being a mother kept me grounded, and watching my babies grow masked my sadness. So when I first saw Blake, with his curly blond hair and light eyes, it was the most beautiful experience of my life other than having Bella. He was perfect, such a good baby, with a smile that was absolutely beautiful. I was in love and finally felt complete, and I thought to myself, I was put on this earth to be their mom, so I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to do all the normal things that normal parents do, and I’m going to protect them, at all costs.

  I’d set up a nursery for Blake, and everything in it was perfectly in order for his arrival home. But in the middle of our first night out of the hospital, I dragged his crib into my room because I couldn’t bear to have him away from me. I realized right then I never wanted to leave Bella or Blake, not for one moment.

&
nbsp; When I went to see Peter the week after Blake was born, I walked in the visiting room with the baby in the car seat and Bella strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn. Peter was waiting by the door, and he had a look of disbelief on his face. He took Blake out of his baby seat and pressed his face against his.

  “I love you, baby boy.”

  From that moment on, they had a connection no one could break.

  Olivia

  I was feeling so guilty about Mia. I kept wishing I’d seen things her way and had honored her wishes. Not respecting Mia’s feelings had tarnished our sisterhood. Even though I hadn’t been trying to be malicious, I’d caused her heartache, and I regretted that.

  Worse, since Blake had been born, I hadn’t even spent time with him. I’d just seen him across the visiting room, bundled up in his little car seat like a tiny angel, melting all our hearts. I hated not picking him up, and I hated that I hadn’t even congratulated Mia. Just by her look alone, I knew she didn’t want me near her or my baby nephew. But I couldn’t stop thinking, She and I are going through something no one else in the world understands, yet we can’t work out our problems together? I was determined to make it right. Unfortunately, with her refusing to talk to me, I just didn’t know how.

  Then, in March 2010, something terrible happened that forced her to make the first move.

  Mia

  In the federal unit where Junior and Pete were housed, officials turned on the phones at six a.m. One morning in March, the sun wasn’t even up when my cell started ringing. It was Peter, and he was frantic.

  “They’ve taken Junior away,” he said.

  I’d been half asleep when I answered, but hearing Peter’s words made me jump out of bed. “Where?” I asked.

  “I have no idea. But they just took him and not both of us.”

  I wanted to calm him down, but I was scared shitless.

  Peter kept talking, his voice shaking. “We both woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of trucks. We could see them out our cell window, ten Suburbans with their brights on. This crowd of US Marshals came into our cell and just took him. I kept shouting at them, ‘Where are you taking him?’ But they wouldn’t say.”

  “Is he coming back?”

  “They acted like he would be, but I know he’s not.”

  Peter and Junior had rarely been apart since the day they were born. Especially in prison, they were each other’s support system, the only thing that made the days bearable. I was devastated, probably as much as he was, and I knew Olivia would be crushed.

  When I hung up with Peter, I called her immediately.

  Olivia

  It was good to hear Mia’s voice, and while it wasn’t too warm or friendly, it was clear she was about to tell me something important.

  “Peter told me they took Junior out of prison last night,” she said.

  I practically jumped out of my skin. “What do you mean? Where is he?” I panicked.

  “Peter doesn’t know where he’s gone. No one would tell him anything.”

  We talked for a few more minutes, then I hung up and tried to figure out what to do. I was totally torn into pieces not knowing what was going on with my husband, desperate for answers, and I lay down on the floor in a ball and cried my eyes out. I was so worried about Junior being alone. He and Peter had never really been apart, and they needed each other now more than ever.

  I found out a few days later the US Marshals had transferred Junior to the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center. They’d locked down the airport, placed him on a private plane, like the one in the movie Con Air, and when it landed, the feds shut down a tunnel into Manhattan so they could drive him solo to the MCC. I knew that given the money and manpower it took to move him, he’d be at the MCC for a long time.

  Mia

  The reason for the move was because of a mix-up.

  In Kansas, Peter had decided to show the whole world how much he loved me by putting up two enormous billboards near the highway exit we took on visiting days. In big, bold type, the first said, “Marrying you was a dream come true!” and the second read, “I love you today, tomorrow, and forever… your grateful husband.” They didn’t have any photos or my name on them, but Peter told me they were for me, and I thought it was just the cutest thing. It topped almost anything romantic he’d ever done.

  The feds didn’t feel the same. We’re not sure why they were so angry, but apparently that kind of gesture was against their rules. Unfortunately, they didn’t ask Peter or Junior; they just assumed that Junior was behind the billboards. They were furious and decided to transfer him. By the time they realized they’d punished the wrong brother, it was too late.

  The Bureau of Prisons was so upset by the mistake that they decided never again to house them together, and now, they even have a rule that identical twins can’t be in the same facility.

  Olivia

  The New York MCC wasn’t much better than the one in Chicago. Junior had no phone privileges, so for the few months I had to wait for an authorized visit, Junior and I had zero communication, and I fell into a depression.

  On our first visit, we were only allowed three hours together. That was the rule; no weekend all-day family sessions like we’d had in Kansas. When I laid eyes on Junior, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He’d dropped twenty pounds and looked sick and pale, like he was about to break into pieces. He told me he wasn’t eating the food because the kitchen staff were inmates who knew their floor housed snitches, so they urinated or put feces in it. Junior never complained, but he was at his lowest, his breaking point, and we both cried the entire visit.

  An hour into our visit, a guard came into the room.

  “Time’s up,” he said.

  “But we have three hours. It’s been an hour,” I said as calmly as I could.

  “We only have to give you an hour. Time to go.” The guard walked up to Junior and led him away before I’d even had a chance to kiss him goodbye.

  For the next six months, my boys and I flew to see Junior once a week, and half the time they cut our visits short. Once Junior looked out his cell window and saw me and the kids standing in the pouring rain, waiting for a cab after we’d left the building, and he broke down. He felt so guilty we were flying halfway across the country once a week and going through so much that he begged me to stop coming. I refused. After that, the first thing he’d always say when I came to visit was, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m putting you through this.” He constantly apologized that he’d missed seeing Benjamin for months, when he was still so small, and he hated that Brandon cried when he was led out of the room. But most of all, he missed his brother. Being separated from Peter was the hardest thing he’d ever experienced.

  Since Junior had no phone privileges, I wrote him every single day. I wanted him to feel close to us, but in reality, my letters helped me feel close to him. They were deep and intimate, and they made me remember things that made me miss him even more.

  When I wasn’t writing letters, I called Junior’s lawyers and the US Attorneys and begged them to do something for him. I even went to the extreme of hiring another attorney because I just needed to do something, anything, to help Junior. I had to fix his situation, so I became a total nuisance, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was for Junior to get out of that fucking place.

  I had no one to talk to, either. No one in the world understood what I was going through except for Mia, and she and I were still distant.

  Mia

  Holding a grudge against Olivia just wasn’t worth it to me anymore. I was too tired. I missed the family we had and the special bond we shared, and I hated that our fight had pulled Peter and Junior apart. Olivia and I had been through the very worst and the very best times together, and the fact that we’d let anything come between us was just stupid. I wanted my sister back. And when she called one day several months into Junior’s time at the New York MCC, I almost jumped for joy.

  Olivia

  She answered my call on the firs
t ring, and I started talking a mile a minute.

  “I was never trying to hurt you, but I know I did, and I’m sorry. Mia, I want to make things right. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. I realize that if I don’t give in to your feelings, things are never going to be okay. Okay? So please know I value our friendship more than anything. Not to mention that Junior and Peter need each other, and we’re the only ones that can keep them close. We all need each other…”

  “Stop. Stop,” Mia said. “I forgive you. Let’s put this behind us and move on. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much.”

  When we hung up the phone a few minutes later, we were both sobbing.

  Mia

  I just had to let it go. I did what I had to do, and for one of the first times in my life, I didn’t do it for Peter. I did it for myself and for Olivia.

  Olivia

  It took time, but we mended our friendship. Finally, I had my sister back, and thank God I did because things were about to get crazy for both of us again.

  CHAPTER 27

  Forfeiture

  Mia

  In the fall of 2010, almost two years after we’d left Mexico, Olivia and I definitely weren’t living the same way we had in Mexico, with maids and new jewelry every month and garages full of fancy cars. But we had money, and we didn’t realize there was anything wrong with that.