The girls wore knee-length H & M raincoats with knee-high boots. Inside their coats they held “street sweepers.” They weren’t fools. They knew that they were outnumbered in bodies, but in bullets and ammunition, they were equal to anything that The Cartel could throw at them.
They exited their vehicle and walked into the church. There were hundreds of people inside the place as the girls made their way down the aisle, but they noticed that security was on point.
Miamor’s hand gripped the steel inside her coat, and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She could see the backs of the family’s heads as she walked. Mecca sat on the end. She knew it was him because of his long braids, and a slight smirk crossed her face. She could already taste his blood in her mouth as she bit down on the inside of her cheek, something she always did when she saw her unsuspecting prey. She was indeed a calculating killer.
Miamor stepped to the casket and looked down at Monroe. Robyn and Aries stood by her side. They all waited for her signal.
Miamor stood silently, and a single tear slid down her cheek. Monroe looked so peaceful, so gentle. He looked to be the exact opposite of his murderous twin brother Mecca. She exhaled and jumped slightly when she felt someone grip her arm. She turned around, ready to bust off on the first face she saw, but the man before her caused her to take a step back.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Her girls looked at her in confusion.
“What are you doing here?” Carter asked her.
Miamor’s eyes gazed over at Mecca. His face was in his hands. She scanned the entire pew and took in the faces of the Diamond family. Her eyes stopped when she noticed Breeze. Breeze is Carter’s sister. Breeze is Mecca’s sister. Carter is Mecca’s brother. He’s a part of the Cartel, she thought. The room felt like it was spinning as she looked up at Carter. This was the emergency, she thought, putting two and two together slowly in her head.
“I didn’t know you knew my brother.”
“I-I-” Miamor was at a loss for words, and her mind was unable to formulate a lie.
Robyn stepped up and said, “She doesn’t, I do. We were friends, and I’m just coming to pay my respects. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Carter peered at Miamor. “You okay?”
She nodded, still unable to speak.
“Look, I’ve got to get back to my family, but I’ll call you, ma.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before walking away.
Miamor turned to her friends. “I have to get out of here,” she whispered.
“Mia, what about the plan?” Robyn asked.
“Fall back. I can’t do this right now.”
“But, Miamor-” Aries interjected.
“I said fall the fuck back.” Miamor walked out of the church and almost ran to her car. When she got inside, her head fell to the steering wheel in defeat. “He’s his brother,” she said aloud. “He’s a part of The Cartel.”
Robyn and Aries exchanged glances. They knew that Miamor was feeling Carter. She had broken her number one rule and gotten emotionally involved.
“Miamor, fuck him. He’s one of them. Let’s go back in there and do what we came here to do,” Robyn stated.
Aries looked sympathetically at her friend, but kept quiet.
“I can’t, Robyn. It’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple. You gon’ choose him over Anisa? Somebody has to pay for what Mecca did to her.”
“Robyn, shut de fuck up, okay. That’s she sister you’re talking about,” Aries said in Miamor’s defense.
“I thought she forgot,” Robyn said smartly, her arms folded across her chest.
“Bitch, shut the fuck up talking! That’s your fucking problem-you talk too fucking much. I can’t even hear myself think. I know what the fuck I have to do. I was there, Robyn. I know, okay. I just can’t do this right now,” Miamor said as she started her car and drove away.
She dropped her girls off at the apartment that they shared. The car ride there was filled with silence and tension.
“We’re going to make that money, so don’t think this is over. It’s us versus them, Mia. He’s the enemy,” Robyn stated before she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
Aries looked back at her friend, who was staring straight ahead, looking at the road. “Do you love him, Mia?”
“No,” she quickly answered. Her heart fluttered when the word left her lips, letting her know that her body knew better. She closed her eyes, and Anisa’s face popped into her mind. She slowly opened them and breathed deep. “I’m gonna kill him and everybody he loves.”
Aries stepped out of the car and watched Miamor as she drove away. She looked up at Robyn, who was standing on the stairs to their building.
“Did you have to be so fucking rude? Give she a break, Robyn. Damn! You know she’s in a fucked-up situation,” Aries stated. “You lucky I not she, ‘cuz I woulda beat your ass first and made up with you later.”
Aries and Robyn walked into their building arguing, both knowing that there would never be any real beef between them.
Miamor drove around the city for two hours trying to make sense out of her dilemma. Instinctively she found herself driving toward the cemetery. She had to talk to her sister. When she made it there, she saw the same crowd of people that she had seen at Money’s funeral. She knew that they were there to bury his body next to his father’s, the infamous Carter Diamond, founder of The Cartel. She didn’t care though. She still parked her car and walked over to her sister’s grave. She knelt down and cried.
“Anisa, he’s Mecca’s brother,” she said as she touched her sister’s headstone. She closed her eyes. “He’s the brother of the man who killed you. I miss you so much. I promise you that I’m not going to forget what he did to you. I’m gonna kill him. I swear on everything I love.” Thoughts of Carter filled her head, but she quickly replaced them with her sister’s face. “Why is this so hard?”
“It just is,” a voice behind her said.
Startled, she stood to her feet and turned around.
Carter stood there in a black Sean John suit, his hands tucked away in his pockets, and his muscular physique hung his linens well. His eyes were red as they gazed down at her tear-stained face. “It’s always hard when you lose someone you love,” he said.
Miamor didn’t respond. She had so much hate for him and his family in her heart. Her sister was underneath her feet at this very moment because of what Carter stood for.
He reached for her, but she pulled away slightly. “Don’t,” she whispered.
He didn’t listen and stepped closer to her.
She wanted to run from him. He was the only person she had ever encountered who intimidated her, and she despised him because of it. He’s a part of The Cartel. I slept with this man. I kissed him and let him explore me. I opened up my mind and body to him. I was willing to give him my heart, and he’s Mecca’s brother, she thought painfully.
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her near, even though she still tried to resist. “I wish I could’ve met her,” he said as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears.
His touch was so gentle, so loving. He was so perfect.
“You love her so much. I can see it in your eyes that you’re hurting.”
“Don’t talk about her,” she replied in a whisper. She didn’t want him to speak Anisa’s name. He had no right to.
“I want to be here for you, Mia. I want you to be here for me. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through today, until I saw you at the church. Seeing your face did more for me than you know.”
Miamor looked up at him, and his words played funny tricks with her heart. Loving him would be wrong. Being with him would be wrong, but playing on his feelings toward her to inflict her revenge would be so right. Can I be around this man and not love him though? Can I do this? she asked herself. Yes, I’ll do it. It’s never been hard for me to murk a nigga before. I’m going to finish what I started.