Cartier Cartel (19 page)

"Well, our snitch tells us differently," the lead detective explained. "And
it's up to you to prove that wrong. So if I were you, I'd be thinking of ways to
be back cozy with my former boss-"

"That bitch was never my boss!" Lil Momma exclaimed.

onya rolled into the interrogation room in a wheelchair. She was
lethargic and weak. She was on a hunger strike and scared out of
her wits. Most days she didn't know if she was coming or going. It didn't take
much to realize she was the weakest link.

The detectives decided to play the odds and see if they could break
Monya to turn on her best friend, Cartier. Unfortunately for Monya, she had
the same good for nothing attorney that Lil Momma had. The detectives
knew any other attorney would have prevented Monya from even being in
the room with them. Luck was on their side. Better yet, manipulation was
on their side. They had convinced someone they knew in the PD's office to
assign the young, dumb attorney Monya's case.

"We know you did it!" the lead detective yelled in Monya's face.

"I didn't do anything," she pleaded.

"You took a kitchen knife and plunged it into his back to take revenge for
your friend, Bam." The detective was relentless. "Just tell us and we'll reduce
the charges from first degree murder to manslaughter. You'll do seven to fifteen and be out in five years with good behavior."
"

I can't do five years in jail!" Monya shouted.

"Then tell us what happened," the second detective said in a low tone. He
was playing good cop to his partner's bad cop.

"Look, Monya, if you work with them they will help you," the young
attorney volunteered.

"You're my lawyer, bitch! You're supposed to be helping me!" Monya
looked at the young attorney with fire in her eyes.

"Tell us who fucking killed Donnie!" the lead detective yelled again.
"Save yourself, because Cartier is already saving herself."

"Cartier?" Monya said in a low tone. She was confused and on the edge.
What's going on? was her only thought.

"Yes, she's the smart one," the good cop chimed in.

"What did she tell you?" Monya asked. Just that quickly her demeanor
had changed from fighter to weakling.

"Way more than you're telling us," the good cop stated.

Monya looked down at her hands and realized they were shaking. She
wondered if Cartier could have betrayed her trust and told them who really
killed Donnie. Monya was so confused. Could Cartier really fold under
pressure and snitch Monya out after she had saved Cartier's life? Monya
figured if Cartier did snitch her out, then she would tell them that Cartier
helped. She wasn't going to take the rap by herself. Her head was pounding
and she felt faint. She hadn't eaten in days and was living off a couple cups of
water everyday. She barelyhad the strength to think properly. She weighed her
options on snitching out Cartier and giving herself up. Her better judgment
told her to wait until she spoke to Cartier to see what the real deal was. What
if these motherfuckers are playing mind games with me?

"I want to go back to the infirmary," was the next thing out of her mouth.

The two detectives tried their best to break Monya and it didn't work.
She wanted to talk to Cartier first. Her attorney even tried to weigh in and Monya told her to go to hell on a fast plane. After another thirty minutes, the
detectives gave up for now, but promised Monya they would be back and be
back soon.

he next morning, Monya was transferred back to her cell. She was dying
to speak to Cartier. When she was told Cartier had been released, she
passed out on the spot.

Cartier was happy to be released. She didn't know why and didn't give
a damn, as long as she was free. She ran to Monya's house, expecting Monya
to be home waiting on her. When Janet told her Monya hadn't called saying
she was being released, Cartier didn't understand what was happening. Had
Monya confessed to the crime? Had the police got into her psyche? Jason
warned her, but she couldn't get to Monya in the infirmary to brief her. Panic
sunk in. Cartier didn't know what to do. She called looking for Shanine and
Lil Momma, but they weren't home either. She definitely didn't get it now.

As the days passed by, the neighborhood began to call Cartier a snitch.
She heard the whispers, but chose to ignore them. She had to wait until
visiting hours to see what was up. Even Trina and Janet had words over what
was going on. It wasn't long before their thirty-something years of friendship
ended.

At the first opportunity, Cartier went to visit Monya. She needed to
speak to her friend face-to-face to see what was going on. She got there early
and when Monya came walking out, her naturally slim frame was almost
skeletal. Cartier was mortified. The glare, coupled with the hurt in Monya's
eyes, spoke volumes.

"Well, well, look who's here," Monya began. "How does freedom feel?"

"Monya, I don't know what's going on or why they turned me loose,"
Cartier leaned forward in her seat to explain. "'That's why I'm here ... people
are calling me a snitch."

"And I'm one of them," Monya said with venom in her voice.

"What?"

"You heard me, bitch," Monya stated. "I'm sitting in this jail rotting away!
Why did they let you go unless you told them what they wanted to hear?"

"I swear on my father's grave that I didn't tell them anything!" Cartier's
voice sounded desperate. She really didn't know what was going on and was
surprised her best friend thought she would sell her out.

"Liar!" Monya shouted.

"Why would I he to you? You're my best friend and I've done nothing
but try to protect you all my life. I wouldn't abandon you when you needed
me most."

"What do you call leaving me in jail on a murder case then? Donnie
wouldn't be dead if it weren't for you," Monya spat. "I took his life to save
yours!"

Cartier had to agree with her friend. Had Monya not took that butcher's
knife and plunged it deep into Donnie's back, there isn't a doubt in her mind
that he would have killed her that night in the alley.

"Monya I know you did but I didn't ask you to."

Monya was furious at Cartier's cavalier response. At this point she no
longer trusted her friend.

"I better not find out that you've crossed me!" Monya threatened. "There
isn't a reason good enough to explain why I'm in here and you're out there."

"They're playing us... I can't understand their logic, but they're playing
us"

Monya shook her head from side to side and then collapsed her face in
her hands on the table. She began sobbing hysterically. "I'm gonna kill myself !
I can't live like this ... I won't make it!"

The more Cartier had to comfort her, the more Monya screamed,
repeating the same line, "I'm gonna kill myself!" Their visit was cut short
and tears fell from Cartier's eyes as Monya was dragged away kicking and screaming. She watched helplessly as her best friend was carted off back to
the infirmary.

Cartier went home in a fit of nerves. The morning's event kept replaying in
her head. When a week went by and Shanine and Lil Momma were released,
Cartier heard Monya tried to commit suicide. The jailhouse nurse pumped
her stomach after she took a handful of antibiotics.

Janet was a nervous wreck. After that incident, she and Trina began
speaking again. Trina convinced her that the cops were playing the girls
against each other and Cartier hadn't snitched on Monya.

As each day passed, Cartier got the report that Monya was withering
away in jail. She reflected on recent events and how the Cartel ended up in
such bad shape. She was the leader, the most vocal one. She remembered
Lil Momma getting knocked, because she, as the leader, was the first one
to get greedy for an extra mink. Thoughts and past events beat Cartier up
throughout the day and night. She felt that she had failed badly as the leader
of the Cartel. But the thought that kept beating her up was, How can I lead
anyone into battle, when I should be standing on the front line?

Sleep was hard. She tossed and turned every night. She slept better in
jail. I abandoned the Cartel when they needed me most. Each fucked up decision,
from boosting to selling drugs, was my call. And what do we have to show for it?
Not a damn thing. The Cartel has dismantled and my best friend is locked up on
a murder beef

Cartier had heard similar stories of guys that got themselves in a fix like
this. But she thought they were smarter, younger and would always fly under
the radar. But how can you fly under the radar when you like the limelight?
And she did. She entered a world she was unfamiliar with, on a mission to
prove she and her girls could hang with the big boys. Just like Queen Latifah,
Jada Pinkett, and Vivica Fox did in the movie, Set It Off. But this isn't a movie,
is it? She realized that the only thing the Cartel and the girls in that movie had
in common was maybe an unhappy and empty ending.

When morning rolled around, Cartier got up early, kissed Prada on her
cheek, took a long look at her mother, and left.

She realized she was going to grow up overnight.

artier and her lawyer, Nicholas Aponte, walked into the 83rd Precinct
ready to make a deal if one was still on the table. She wanted to plead
guilty in exchange for Monya's freedom. Cartier reasoned she would be a
better candidate to do the jail time than her best friend.