The sounds of bullets trying to shoot the lock off erupted, and they had to make their decision quick. The old Mecca would have never thought twice about shooting it out with the Mexicans and dying in the blaze of glory, but the new Mecca wanted to live. He thought about Leena and his nephew and the fact that he hadn’t gotten his redemption yet. That reason alone was enough for him to concede defeat and try to escape.
“Fuck it!” Mecca said as he hurried to the balcony and looked over. Without hesitation, he jumped feet first into the deep pool. Breeze, then Zyir, followed suit and jumped also. Carter was the last to jump. Just before Carter jumped, the door flew open and the sounds of the drums letting loose and releasing numerous bullets sounded. Bullets whizzed by Carter’s head and body, forcing him to jump prematurely. He landed into the water and they barely got away.
The Garza Cartel was too much for them to handle. Ruthless would have been an understatement.
Carter and Breeze were stationed outside of the warehouse, waiting for Zyir and Mecca to return. The plan was for them to retrieve all of their owed money out of the streets and flee the state. The long arm of the Garza Cartel was too much for Carter and The Cartel. Carter made an executive decision to leave town; he chose not to fight another war. He was smart enough to know when he could not win. The Cartel was not as strong as it once was, and this was the proof. The Mexicans had pushed them into a corner, and this was the last resort.
“Is everything going to be okay?” Breeze asked her big brother in her most innocent voice. Carter could sense the fear in her tone, and he calmly looked over at her and smiled.
“I got you, Breeze. Everything is going to be all right. Tonight is the last night we ever will step foot in Miami. This drug game has tore this family apart. I’m going to make sure that I put this family back together and start a new type of legacy, one built on love and not power. I got you, baby girl,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
Breeze felt warm inside, and for a brief second, she thought she was listening to her father. Young Carter resembled him so much, and he also had a way of letting her know that everything would be okay, just as her deceased father did when he was still alive. Breeze smiled and sat back in the seat, confident in his words.
“We just have to go in here, count the money, and wait for the sun to rise so we can head out to the airport,” Carter said. He felt safe at the warehouse, knowing it was a spot that the Mexicans would not think to look for them. His plans were to end The Cartel’s legacy that night and leave the drug game behind.
Mecca and Zyir pulled up with three duffel bags full of money. They had collected all of their funds out of the streets, and if blocks were short, they just took what they had and called it even. They needed cold, hard cash to relocate and start over.
Carter and Breeze saw Mecca’s car pull behind them, and they got out of the car to enter the warehouse. Soon, they would all be on a private jet to an unknown location. Well, at least that was their plan.
Members of the Garza Cartel were parked about a half-mile away from the warehouse, waiting for The Cartel to arrive, and just as they thought, they were there. They were waiting for them to enter so they could go in and ambush them and leave them all dead. They looked through binoculars, watching the whole scenario unfold. Little did they know, they weren’t the only eyes watching The Cartel on that night.
Murder waited patiently on the side of the building watching The Cartel walk in. He smiled as he thought about what was about to happen. He held a detonator in his lap. He was about to send all of them to hell, first class. Murder was doing this for Miamor, and it made him feel good inside.
He watched closely as they all entered the building just before he pulled away. He waited until he got far enough to be clear of the upcoming explosion.
“Fuck The Cartel,” he mumbled as he pushed the button and heard the loud boom of the explosives go off. He began to drive away as the debris flew into the air and a massive fireball formed fifty feet into the air. His mission was done and The Cartel was officially over.
“May they all burn in hell,” he said as he chuckled to himself, disappearing into the night.
The Last Chapter
“She probably is in hell, smoking a blunt. That’s a real bitch.”
“We are gathered here today to celebrate the lives of three of God’s children.”
The preacher stood before the many people who attended the funeral of street royalty. It was a sad day in Miami, and on this day, the streets were like a ghost town. It seemed as if the entire underworld had stopped to commemorate those they had lost. Everyone within the city limits felt this grief. The lives of three street legends had been destroyed, and grief overflowed in the ceremony as three silver-plated coffins sat side by side with an array of flower arrangements around them. It was a bright, sunny day, and it seemed as if God shone his light down from the heavens above to make that hard day seem a tad bit better for the mourning attendees. It was a triple funeral to bury the last of the Diamond family-Breeze, Carter, and Mecca.
The Cartel was no more, and it was the last chapter to what was to be named one of the biggest legacies in Miami’s underworld history. Their story was legendary, ruthless… and most of all, classic.
Many people were in attendance, but the most important guests were not there to pay their final respects, but to confirm that the last of The Cartel was deceased and about to be buried into the ground.
Robin and Aries were in attendance, draped in all black dresses with big shades on to keep a low profile. Murder also sat beside them. The demise of The Cartel was bittersweet for him, and he gritted his teeth tightly as he thought about Mecca and the missed opportunity to personally kill him on Miamor’s behalf. Nevertheless, Mecca was dead, and that would have to be enough for him.
Emilio Estes, Leena, and Monroe Jr. were also in attendance, mourning the loss. They were the only people left alive who could sit in the front pew reserved for family. Although far removed from the Diamond legacy, they were the last of a dying bloodline.
There was an eerie feeling in the air and everyone there could sense it. As the preacher held the Holy Bible tightly in his hand and read from the book of Psalms, a stretch limo with tinted windows rolled up slowly about fifty yards away from the service. Many people didn’t notice it, but the trained eyes were glued to the approaching vehicle.
Emilio Estes looked back and saw the limo pull up, and he watched as it came to a slow stop. Estes knew exactly who it was; it was the crew responsible for the very funeral he was at. Emilio, being in his mid-sixties and not willing to step back into the streets, conceded defeat and pulled his white handkerchief from the top pocket of his suit.
To many, it looked as if Emilio was just removing a hanky, but veterans of the street game knew what that small gesture meant. Emilio wanted the bloodshed to stop, and signaled that he would not retaliate. The war was finally over and The Cartel was no more. Literally, he was waving a white flag. It was officially The Cartel’s last chapter.
Breeze, Zyir, Mecca, and Carter were behind the tint of the stretch limo, watching their own funeral service. They had faked their own deaths, knowing that the Garza Cartel was too much for them. Carter knew that his suspicions about Murder were correct, and he had one of his goons trail Murder. He eventually found out that Murder had placed bombs at the warehouse. Carter then used that to his advantage. It was a risky plan, but it worked. As far as the Mexican beef, it was a war that they could never win so they outsmarted their enemy, rather than outshooting them. Carter came up with the plan to fake their deaths, and it worked like a charm.
Carter knew that the Garza Cartel would be watching them when they went to the warehouse, so he orchestrated a plan to sneak out of the back just before he blew the place up. He paid a coroner for four dead bodies that matched closely to himself, Zyir, Mecca, and Breeze, and placed them at the scene to be found by the authorities.
