led was slowly becoming harder to maintain. Everything had been so much easier when he had his family behind him. When his father, brother, mother, and sister were alive, he had something to go to war over. He had things to kill for. But now that they all were gone, Mecca felt empty.
“I’m not the person who can forgive you, Mecca. You have filled your life with so much bad that you have no room left for the good,” Leena whispered. “God is the only one who can take the burden away, the guilt. You need to talk to Him.”
Mecca nodded his head and gripped the bridge of his nose as he nodded toward his nephew. “Can I hold him?” he asked.
Reluctantly, Leena handed her son to his uncle. The Diamond familial connection was so strong that the little boy instantly took to Mecca. Her eyes filled as she watched her son wrap his arms around Mecca’s neck.
“What’s good, li’l man?” Mecca greeted as he hugged Monroe Jr. Everything about the little boy reminded him of his late twin. “I owe you the world,” he said as he kissed the little boy on the forehead and handed him over to Leena.
Memories of his childhood years with his brother flooded him. It was as if he were staring directly at the past when he looked at Leena’s son.
As he began to walk away, one more question nagged at him. He stopped and said, “One more thing. How long have you been living with Estes?”
“Since the day that you shot me,” she responded.
Tension filled the space between them as they both recalled that fateful day, and although Mecca had no right to ask, he had to get one more thing off of his chest.
“Are you fucking him?” His tone was not demanding or angry. It was just something he needed to know.
Leena wanted to tell Mecca that it was none of his business, that he was no longer entitled to know who she chose to become intimate with, but she did not. A part of her-the part that felt guilty for sleeping with Monroe, the part that felt guilty for having his brother’s child, the part of her that hated the sad look in Mecca’s eyes-this part of her allowed her to answer.
“No, Mecca. I’m not sleeping with Estes. He says that he loves me, but I don’t know if I can give it back,” Leena replied.
Relief washed over Mecca, and he said, “I want to see you again, and I want to get to know Money’s son. I know I have no right to ask, but-”
“Estes will kill you, Mecca. He isn’t making idle threats. If he even thinks you are around Money’s son…” Leena objected. Estes was not her only concern; simply the only one that she voiced.
“I don’t care. I have a lot to make up for, Leena. I don’t owe Estes shit, but I owe Monroe everything. If you don’t want me around, then I’ll leave without looking back, but nobody else will stop me from getting to know my brother’s son. I’m trying to make things right,” he stated sincerely.
“This is all too much for me right now. I love my son, Mecca, and I’m not going to lie; I don’t trust you.” Leena opened the back door to the bistro. “I’ll think about it. Just give me a little bit of time.”
Chapter Ten
“I’m not one of God’s children, because I’m too much like the devil.”
Carter embraced Garza and patted the old man on the back as they said their final good-byes. It was the inevitable day that they both had orchestrated, and now Carter was leaving with his freedom, while Garza would be left behind.
“Enjoy those cigarettes, old man,” Carter joked as he pointed to the boxes that Garza had stacked up in the corner, courtesy of Carter.
“Visit the priest for me. Make sure you give him what he has coming to him, and please ensure that my name is the last one he hears,” Garza replied in a low tone.
Carter nodded, letting Garza know that no further words needed to be spoken.
The tier of prisoners erupted in loud, boisterous cheers as Carter made his last walk down their halls. They were giving him praise for beating his case. Carter took it all in stride, never appearing arrogant, and simply making his exit.
Carter emerged from the prison gates with a luxury Lincoln town car awaiting him. Mecca emerged from the back of the car, and the usual tension that dwelled between the halfbrothers was non-existent in this moment. Mecca was genuinely happy to see Carter free, because he knew that Carter was the only one who could reorganize The Cartel. Things would be business as usual under Carter’s reign.
“Good to see you, boy,” Mecca stated.
Carter slapped hands with Mecca and then embraced him tightly. “It’s good to see you too, fam. Real good,” Carter replied as he stepped inside of the car.
Carter gave the driver Miamor’s address. Now that his freedom had been reestablished, hers was the only company he wanted to keep upon his first night home. Her absence from his life had been slowly driving him insane.
He had sent Zyir by her place a few times, only to be told that she never answered the door and was nowhere to be found. He wanted to find out for himself, because he knew Miamor well. It was not in her character to leave him on stuck when he needed her most.
With the Garza Cartel connection being secured by Zyir, he knew that all of the pieces of his life were about to realign. She was the only thing missing. The center of his puzzle was lost and he had to find it, because without her, everything would be for nothing.
Mecca rode silently as he looked out of the window.
“I had Zyir looking for Miamor while I was locked up. He said you told him she had skipped town,” Carter said as they pulled up to Miamor’s high-rise building.
“That’s what I heard. The bitch is bad news, bro. The way you were wife’n her before you went in, she should have been the one by your side through it all. She didn’t stand tall, my nigga. Before the ink on the indictment papers dried, she got ghost on you. Fuck her, fam. It ain’t worth the headache. You’re out, and it’s time to move forward.”
Mecca’s advice would have resounded loud and clear if had been any other woman besides Miamor, but she was like an infection of the heart. Letting go would not be so easy.
Knowing that Mecca was too callous to understand the connection he shared with Miamor, he changed the subject. “When Zyir arrives, it’s back to business. Until then, I’m going to lay low and get my mind right. I have a couple of loose ends to clip before the shipment arrives,” he said.
Mecca nodded. “Your car will be delivered tomorrow morning.”
Carter exited the car and made his way up to Miamor’s condo. Although he had a key to her place, he knocked politely, not wanting to intrude. When he didn’t get an answer, he opened the door anyway and stepped inside. He immediately knew that she had not been there lately. The smell of rotting food permeated through the condo, and she had twenty new messages on her answering machine. As he moved through the apartment, his suspicions arose.
But first, he had a message to deliver. Josiah Garza was about to reach out from behind the prison walls and seek vengeance for an unspeakable crime committed against him many years ago.
