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  “That bitch-ass nigga, Mecca happened to her,” Robyn stated as she shook her head and wiped away a tear. She and Miamor hadn’t always seen eye to eye. They butted heads more than a little bit, but that’s what family does. Miamor was her sister. They had been through the fire together, and to see her so beat up enraged her.

  “That nigga, Carter let the shit happen to her. Mecca’s his brother. He wanted to be her man, so he should have been her man and made sure she wasn’t touched, nah mean?” Murder said. “He gonna feel it too.”

  Miamor heard the voices around her and slowly opened her eyes.

  “How are you feeling, mama?” Robyn asked.

  Miamor smiled slightly and shook her head from side to side. “I lost him!” she whispered.

  Aries and Robyn looked at one another, and then back down to Miamor. They couldn’t understand her love for Young Carter, and they were past the point of trying. They were just glad that they had gotten their friend out while she was still alive. They knew that Miamor no longer had the malice it took to kill, so they would handle it for her.

  She doesn’t even have to know, Robyn thought. Once Carter and Mecca are out of the picture, she will be able to move on with her life. She’ll be back to her old self in no time.

  “Chu have us, Mia,” Aries stated. “That’s all chu need.”

  “I’m so sorry for turning my back on y’all. You guys are all I have,” Miamor said.

  Robyn knew that Miamor wasn’t herself, because she had never apologized for anything. The new, emotional woman in front of her was not the same girl she had met years ago. She wasn’t the same chick who had cut off a nigga’s dick for money, or the same one who had taught her to shoot a gun properly. Miamor had changed. She was vulnerable. Love has really made her ass go soft, Robyn thought.

  “It’s okay, honey. We’re sisters. We’re always here for you. Me and Aries are going to let you get some rest, but there’s somebody else here for you,” Robyn said as she stood. She grabbed Aries’ hand and they exited the room.

  Miamor turned her head and smiled when she saw Murder posted by the door, with one foot resting against the wall. He scanned her from head to toe. Neither of them said a word, but they stared intently at each other. They were both surveying the changes they saw in one another.

  He finally walked over to Miamor and knelt beside the bed. He grabbed her hand and turned it over to see the tattoo on her wrist. “You still my li’l mama, huh?” he asked as he kissed the tattoo. He knew what the phrase “Murder Mama” meant. It meant that she was his, and she knew it too.

  “Always,” she replied as she touched his face, remembering the bond that they had once shared.

  “I missed you, Miamor. I thought about you every day while I was on the island,” he said.

  She wiped a lone tear away and gave him a half smile. She used to think about Murder all the time, before she met Carter. “I missed you too,” she responded.

  Murder looked at her, and the anger inside of him was evident. It radiated off of him, and because she knew him so well, she was able to read him like a book. His presence was exactly as she remembered it. He was still strong and commanding as he had always been. Prison had done him good. He was solid and strong, his swagger still the same . . . low key and mysterious.

  “I didn’t want this for you, Miamor. This wasn’t supposed to be your life,” Murder stated as he kissed her hand.

  “This is all I’ve ever known. Every time I find someone that I love, I realize that fate is playing a sick game with me. I can never have someone to call my own. You belonged to Anisa. Carter belongs to The Cartel. I wanted you both, but neither of you were meant for me,” she said miserably, the sorrow of her broken heart affecting her words.

  “I came to take you home,” Murder stated.

  “Ha!” Miamor laughed obnoxiously as she shook her head. “Home? I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those. I’ve never been in one place long enough to consider it home. I’ve never felt safe enough to be ‘at home’,” she said. “Where’s home for me, Murder?”

  “With me,” he stated simply.

  Miamor knew that because Anisa wasn’t around, things could be different between them. He loved her. He always had, but she wasn’t an eighteen-year-old girl anymore. She was a grown-ass woman who had evolved. With her emotions for Carter all over the place, she didn’t know how she felt. When she had come to Miami, she had put Murder out of her mind, but it was obvious to her that he had never forgotten about her. He had come for her after five long years, just as he had promised he would. He never broke his word to her. He would give her the world if he could. Can I offer him the same loyalty in return? she asked herself.

  “I don’t know if I can give you what you want from me right now, Murder. I’ve never lied to you, so I do not want to start now. My heart is with someone else,” she admitted sadly. It was something that she did not want to say, but something that he had to hear.

  Murder winced and released her hand. He hated Carter for locking down Miamor’s heart. The look in her eye when she spoke of Carter was the same look that used to be reserved for him years ago. “That nigga almost cost you your life, Mia,” he reminded.

  “He didn’t know what I was into . . .”

  Murder heard her as she tried to defend him, but he interrupted. “Aw, ma, don’t give me that. The nigga knew what he was into! That’s all that matters. If he’s a boss, then he protects those around him, especially his bitch. You know the game, ma. I know you know, cuz I taught you. You should have murked him, Miamor. Quick, and without a second thought, because that was the job you were paid to do. That was what you signed up for when you picked up that phone years ago. You’re my li’l mama. You’re Murder’s mama baby, girl. You know what it is between me and you. That’s why you got my name tatted on you.”

  Miamor turned up her lips and rolled her eyes as she sneered at him in denial. “We all got the same tattoo,” she defended.

  “Yeah, but it was your idea, and it meant the most to you,” he said, knowingly. He smiled and lifted her chin, forcing her to reveal the truth in a smile of her own. After all this time, he still knew her all too well. “Forget about him, Miamor. I’m back now. I cared for your sister, but she’s gone. Everything that stopped us before does not matter now. Nothing is in the way now. I came here for you, and another nigga will never hurt you while I’m around. Get some rest. We are leaving for New York in a couple days.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Cartel

  “We got to dead these niggas,” Murder whispered as he looked over his shoulder to make sure Miamor was still asleep. He, Robyn and Aries were huddled up, putting their game plan in motion. Murder wanted what was left of The Cartel dead. He planned on killing Carter first, and then making Mecca come to them. He was about to set a trap for The Cartel.

  Miamor was dead to the world, as she lightly snored in the bed just a couple of feet away from them. The painkillers that she had been taking had her drowsy, and for the past two days she had done nothing but sleep. She was still recovering from a coma, and also from a broken heart. It pained Murder to see her heartbroken over another man. He felt like Carter had stolen what was his. The Miamor he remembered was feisty and was never pressed over a dude. This Carter guy really has her heart, Murder thought as a small streak of resentment ran through his body. He glanced over at Miamor and admired her beauty. Even with the marks and scars on her face, she was beautiful to him. He focused back on Aries and Robyn and spoke.

  “We got to handle this dude,” Murder said as his trigger finger began to itch.

  “I know, but I cannot get to the nigga. Miamor is not going to help us murk him. She’s in love with him,” Robyn said, trying to explain to Murder how Miamor had changed.

  “It’s okay. We are going to make him come to us,” Murder said as he put his plan together in his mind. He felt obligated to kill Mecca and Carter because of all the pain they had caused the only women who he had ever let i
nto his life, Anisa and Miamor. He took the trespass against them personally, and he wasn’t leaving Miami until all scores were settled.

  “Grab Miamor’s phone,” he instructed Aries, as he had it all mapped out. Carter was about to die, and then Mecca soon after. He planned on using Miamor as bait.

  Robyn walked over to the night stand and sneakily removed Miamor’s cell phone. She walked back over to Murder and handed the phone to him. Murder quickly went into Miamor’s contact list and began to scroll down, looking for Carter’s name. He located it and quickly began to text him in hopes that Carter would think Miamor was texting him.

  “I’ma make this nigga come straight to us,” Murder said as he pushed the send button and began to patiently wait for Carter to take the bait. “Now, we just sit back and wait,” he said just before he got up and walked over to Miamor. He stood over her and bent down to kiss her on her forehead. “I’m taking you back home, Miamor. Everything’s going to be all right,” he whispered in her ear as she slept comfortably. “I love you.” Murder had never said that to anyone, besides Miamor. He had never trusted anyone enough to extend something so great, but as he looked down at her, he knew that he meant every word.

  “I love you too Carter,” Miamor whispered back, while still in her sleep. It was obvious that Murder was not the man in her dreams. Hearing those words were like daggers through his heart, but he understood. He was just ready to end The Cartel and move Miamor back to Brooklyn, where she belonged.

  * * *

  Carter watched as the movers moved all of the expensive décor and statues from the Diamond Estate. The immaculate mansion didn’t even look the same now that it was half empty. Carter’s Phoenix venture was all in place. His partners were just waiting on his arrival to get the ball rolling. The Cartel was about to go legit and leave the entire street business behind. Carter possessed all of the business savvy his father once had, but never knew how much he was like him. He felt his BlackBerry vibrate and quickly pulled it off of his waist and looked at it. It was a text from Miamor, asking him to meet her somewhere so they could make things right between them. He quickly dismissed it and shook his head. He missed her dearly, but he hated her at the same time. She had betrayed him to the fullest extent, and in the process she broke his heart, making him feel like a fool. He knew that he should have killed her on behalf of The Cartel, but he could not pull the trigger. There was a small part in him that still loved her, even though she was responsible for the fall of his family. Why can’t I let her go? Carter asked himself as he slowly paced the room with his hands behind his back. The clicking sounds of his Mauri gators echoed throughout the house as he thought deeply about Miamor. Zyir walked in, interrupting his thoughts. “I’m all packed up and ready to leave this mu’fucka for good,” he said and his Jordan sneaks scuffed the marble floor. “Phoenix is a good look,” he said as he approached Carter and slapped hands while embracing him. “About that,” Carter said as he stepped back. “I want you to fall back for a month or two. Go back to Flint and I’ll send for you,” he said as he looked into Zyir’s eyes.

  “Wha . . . What? Why you want me to go back home, Carter?” Zyir asked, totally confused about Carter’s sudden change of heart.

  “Zyir, it’s not what you’re thinking. I am doing this to protect you. You are the only one that I fully trust on this earth. Mecca’s my brother, but his head isn’t always in the right place. He’s impulsive, while you are a thinker. You plan every move before you make it. You are like a little brother to me, and I just want you to be safe. I want to check out the new turf first, and then I’ll send for you. I need you out of harm’s way for a while, just in case something happens to me. If that day comes, you will know what to do. I’ve already made arrangements just in case you have to step into my shoes,” Carter said, thinking two steps ahead.

  “I don’t get it, fam,” Zyir said with a confused look on his face.

  “I’m taking a lot of money up there to get washed, feel me? I don’t know if I am dealing with undercover agents or what. If anything goes down, I want you to be safe and I want to leave my business in the hands of someone I trust. You all I got left, Zy,” Carter said as he put his hand on the back of Zyir’s neck. Carter knew that Zyir would not like the news, but it was something that he had to do. Zyir was exactly like him. He had the same swagger, same morals, and same thought process as he did. Carter practically built Zyir from the ground up to be a real nigga. He would never be able to forgive himself if Zyir got caught up in some bullshit on his account. Carter kissed the top of Zyir’s head and pulled him close. That was his li’l man, and he had much love for him. He knew that Zyir was a boss in the making, but that was not the path he wanted for him. He had big plans for his little man that would introduce him to an entirely new world . . . the business world. All Zyir had to do was be patient. “Just trust me, family. Just trust me,” Carter said as he released Zyir.

  Zyir felt like his world had come crashing down. To not be with Carter was like taking his other half. Carter was his nigga, his father figure, and his only family. He wanted to protest, but Carter had yet to tell him anything wrong, so he nodded his head in agreement. “Okay,” he answered in reluctant agreement.

  “Cool. I got your plane tickets on the table in there. Your stuff will be sent to you when you get up there. You got your paper up, right?” Carter asked, referring to Zyir’s cash.

  “No doubt,” Zyir confirmed as he thought about the half million dollars he had stashed away in a foreign account. The proceeds from the Miami drug game had done him lovely, and he had enough to be comfortable at that point. He walked into the room to retrieve his one-way ticket to the murder capital of Flint, Michigan. He knew something was wrong with Carter, but could not place his finger on it. In Zyir’s eyes it was as if Carter was telling him good bye.

  Carter’s flight was scheduled for that next morning, and he was ready to leave everything behind. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get his mind off of Miamor. He felt his phone buzz again and he looked at the screen. It was Miamor again. “Just leave me alone, Mia! You’re killing me!” he said in a low whisper as he dismissed the text.

  Zyir returned back to the front with his plane ticket in his hand. He saw the look in Carter’s eyes, and there was no mistaking that something was wrong.

  The Final Chapter

  The Cartel

  Carter, please respond. I miss you. I know you’re upset, but I need to see you. Love Always, Miamor.

  Young Carter read the words twice before deleting the message, just as he had done all the others. It had been seven days since he’d put Miamor out of his hotel room, and she was constantly on his mind. Every message she sent reminded him of what they both had lost. He hoped the relocation would help give him a fresh start.

  The Cartel no longer ran Miami. They were out of the drug business and moving on to new heights in a new environment. All of the death, destruction, and deception would be left behind. Miamor would be left behind. He wished that things could be different, but the truth of the matter was she was untrustworthy. He had done her one last favor by keeping Mecca off of her ass. He felt that he owed her that much. Although she had lied to him, everything that he had told her was the truth. He had indeed fallen in love with her, and because of that, he allowed her to live. Now he could skip town and forget that he ever knew her.

  The sound of a door opening and closing indicated Mecca’s arrival. He walked into the house. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore a sad expression on his face. Carter had never seen Mecca so humble and serene.

  Melancholy filled the room as Mecca looked around at the nearly empty mansion. “I came up in this house,” he said. “I watched Poppa run his meetings out of this house. Me, Breeze and Money used to play in that backyard.” Mecca’s eyes had tears in them as he recalled the fond memories of his family, but he let none fall and kept his head held high, just as his father had taught him to do. He wished that he could rewind the clock to
happier times, but nothing could erase the hollow feeling he felt. “I’m the last one standing.”

  Carter didn’t respond. He had never known the infamous man who had fathered him, but he respected him all the same. He had grown to love Taryn as much as his own mother, and the deaths of his siblings had destroyed him because he had been robbed of his time with his newfound family.

  “It doesn’t feel right leaving all this behind,” Mecca stated.

  “We have to,” Carter stated. He extended his hand to Mecca, and they embraced briefly. Carter picked up his Louis luggage, and they both headed toward the door. All of the other contents of the house had already been shipped to Arizona. A new house would be set up and waiting when they arrived.

  “Where is Zyir?” Mecca asked.

  “He has a couple stops to make, but he’ll be flying back to Flint tonight. The arrangements are already made for him,” Carter explained.

  Carter’s BlackBerry rang out loud, and he saw that Miamor had text him again.

  Carter, if you ever really loved me, please text me back. I’m sorry for everything. I don’t want to lose you.

  Mecca watched Carter as he typed into his phone. I know this mu’fucka ain’t still in contact with that bitch, he thought. Mecca had a gut feeling that Carter was responding to Miamor, and although he had given his word to Carter that he wouldn’t touch her, he had lied. That was an itch that he was determined to scratch. He just couldn’t let his hatred for her go. He had a score to settle, and he had a good feeling that he was going to get a chance to do it before he left Miami. His brother was going to lead him right to her.

  Sorry’s not enough. I’m leaving town tonight. Good luck with your life, ma, Carter typed back.

  Within seconds, his phone was going off again with another message from Miamor.

  Carter, please do not leave me like this. At least give me a chance to say good-bye. Meet with me, Carter. Please. I won’t take up too much of your time. I just want to see you.