Cartier Cartel (29 page)

Finally, they were alone. Jason plopped down on the sofa, thinking
everything was sweet, when Cartier let him have it.

"You still fucking Monya?" she asked, as her nose flared and her eyes
shot fire.

"What are you talking about?"Jason asked innocently.

"I askedyou a simple question. In fact, it's so simple it canbe answeredwith
a simple yes or no. Are you still fucking Monya?" Cartier was persistent.

"Nah, I'm ain't fucking with her. I swear on Cee Cee," Jason lied.

"No!" Cartier screamed. "Not are you fucking with her, but are you
fucking her. Are you sticking your penis in Monya? I'm not talking about
dinner and a movie."

"You can use all the word semantics you like, but I already answered that
question. I said no. Now leave me alone with that bullshit and get out of my
face-"

Cartier hauled off and slapped Jason so hard and swift that he was visibly
stunned. He couldn't react like he would have expected himself to.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you talking to, but if I ever find
out that you're still fucking her after all this time, I promise you I'm taking
Christian and we're leaving for good."

"You ain't taking my baby nowhere!" Jason jumped up and got in
Cartier's face.

"You heard what the fuck I said. Let me find out that y'all two are still
fucking around and not only will I stomp a mud hole in that tramp, but I will
cut you!" Cartier threatened. And then I will still take Christian and leave
your trifling ass!"

She walked away, not saying shit else to him.

ason stood on the corner of his old stomping grounds, Marcy and
Nostrand Avenue, smoking a cigarette down to the butt. The sun was
scorching hot and it wasn't even noon. His man, Wonderful, stood next to
him, listening to him cry a river. Every couple of minutes, Wonderful would
nod his head in agreement and say, "True ... true." Whether the statement
was actually true or not was not relevant. Wonderful had been down the same
path so many times before and was glad it was someone else who would be
losing sleep tonight.

The white tee Jason had on was soaked in sweat. He took it off and
exposed a trail of soft baby hair that lay smoothly on top of his six-pack. The
ladies loved his body. He had bulging biceps and triceps, broad shoulders,
and muscular legs. Those attributes, coupled with his handsome face and fat
pockets, kept him on the top ten lists of all freaks.

"Yo, I feel like smashing my fist through her fucking face," he
complained.

"Then do that shit," Wonderful encouraged.

"Nah, I don't be hitting on any women, you know. I got a daughter and
that shit is foul. I wish a nigga would put his hands on my seed."

"True ... true..."

"I'm the stupidest motherfucker walking this earth to fall for the okey doke. `I'm on the pill,' that bitch said. Now why in the fuck would I believe a
trifling whore who I know want to break up what me and my wife got? Huh?
Because I'm a stupid motherfucker!" Jason's voice began to elevate higher
each time he called himself stupid.

"I hear you."

"But check it," Jason paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead, "when
she gets here I'm going to tell her straight up that if she has this baby, then it's
a fucking wrap between us. No more fucking. No more sneak trips. No more
Prada bags and Gucci shoes. It's a fucking wrap."

"Yo, dead her, son," Wonderful advised, "there plenty other bitches out
here. I don't know why you kept fucking with her."

"Because I liked fucking with her," Jason explained. "It's that simple:"

"True ... true ... I feel you."

"And not for nothing. This baby probably ain't even mines. This shit could
be Tupac fucking Shakur's for all I know," Jason joked, clowning himself. "You
know how she gets down!"

"Word, son, I wouldn't take shorty's word on that one. Her resume is
longer than my dick"

"I know. But remember I didn't want to believe that she was carrying my
son and I had her ass take a blood test and it came back that I was guilty as
charged! I don't even want it to get that far with blood tests and shit. I just
want her to straight up get rid of it."

Wonderful listened until he saw the white BMW pull up to the curb.
Monya had on a pair of sun shades and lip gloss, but Wonderful could see her
smile a mile away. Her hair was hanging straight, past her shoulders, and she
had an I-think-I'm-cute expression plastered on her face.

"Here this bitch finally go," Jason tossed his cigarette to the ground.
"A'ight, check you later. Let me go handle my business."

"Be easy, son. One."

"One."

Jason got in on the passenger's side, but not before he coughed up a wad
of saliva and spit it on the ground. That was exactly how Monya was making
him feel.

"Yo, turn down your music," he snapped. Monya had vintage Mary J.
Blige blaring in the car.

"Nigga, please," Monya began. "You better lose the attitude if you know
what's really good. Or shall I say what's really hood, 'cause I ain't the bitch to
be going for your bullshit."

"You sound so fucking corny with your little slogans and shit," Jason
responded. "Don't nobody got time for all of that. You ain't tough, Monya.
And the moment you realize that the better off you'll be."

"Ask your girl how fucking tough I am," she retorted.

"My wife. Ask my wife? Why? She know you soft like butter. Cartier ain't
gonna say nothing different."

"Oh, you think so, huh?"

"I know so and if I even mentioned your name in our household, she
would come and break your bony ass in half."

"You think I fear your bitch? You got me mixed up. I've been letting her
fake ass get wreck off the work I put in for years! Everyone in the hood all
shook like Cartier is a convicted murderer. That's only on paper. She ain't
murder shit. All she can kill is a roach"

"What the fuck you beefin"bout?"Jason asked. "If Cartier didn't handle
Donnie, then who did? You? Bam? Shanine? Lil Momma? Don't make me
laugh."

"I took that trick's life and motherfuckers better start recognizing!"
Monya shouted.

"Come again?"

"Nah, don't get stuck on stupid now," Monya replied. "You heard me.
That's my work, and that lying bitch took seven years of your life while you
were running up there to see her do time for a murder she ain't commit. And she locked you down with her lies. Your stupid ass is so dumb. You married
a fraud."

Jason took in what Monya was saying and he didn't like it one bit. But
not for the reasons Monya thought he would be angry. He was pissed at
himself for holding down a low-life, skeezer bitch like Monya. How could
he have been so stupid and hurt his wife the way he did by ever fucking with
her in the first place? In that instant, his love for Cartier tripled and he didn't
think he could love her more than he already did. Monya's mouth was still
running, praising herself for murdering Donnie and belittling Cartier. He
wanted to choke the life out of Monya for putting Cartier through all that she
had endured. And yet, he couldn't understand her gripe.

Why had she turned on Cartier? The only true friend she had. Then
he reversed the question and asked himself why had he turned on Cartier?
They were both losers. Jason wanted to tell Monya how he truly felt, but
her unexpected pregnancy was more important. That second baby would
threaten to tear their marriage apart if Cartier were to find out. Jason was
here to convince Monya to have an abortion and he didn't want to go off on
another tangent.

"Look, what went down with you and Donnie is between y'all. I'm here
to talk about this baby that I know ain't mine."

"You're a liar."

"Am I? How the fuck you get caught out there when you said you were
on birth control? You set me up."

"Ain't nobody set shit up."

"You need to get off my dick and go and find another scapegoat, because
I ain't the one."

"You don't do shit for your son-"

"OK, then why are you insisting on having this baby? Get an abortion
and we can continue to fuck around."

"Continue to fuck around? You really think you got a gold-plated dick, don't you? After this baby I'm done with you. It's over."

"After this baby?" The realization that Monya was going to keep the
baby, mixed with the fact that Cartier had held her down, put Jason in a foul
mood.

"Yes, I'm having my baby," Monya stated bluntly. "You know I don't
believe in abortions"

"Who the fuck you think you talking to? Tell a new nigga that bullshit.
You done flushed more seeds than the toilet bowl man. If you want to have
this baby, I'm telling you right now that you better erase my number. From
here on out, you as good as dead to me. I'ma treat you like a dog on the street.
I give you my word on that one."

"A dog, huh?" Monya pulled out her cell and began to dial numbers.
Immediately, Jason got nervous and reached for her phone, but she pulled
away. "Hello, Cartier-"

The knuckle slap was hard and swift. Monya's head snapped back and the
telephone went flying to the car floor. Although he hated to hit a girl, in his
eyes, Monya was the exception.

"You're too disrespectful! "Jason yelled. "Call mywife again and I promise
you, you'll get worse than that! I will beat the life out of you! Do you hear
me? You play too much."

"Fuck you! And fuck your bitch! I'm having this baby, motherfucker!"
Monya went ballistic. She was screaming uncontrollably. In her eyes, she'd
just gotten beat down over another broad, and she didn't like that one bit.
She didn't consider that her act had provoked the events. "Get the fuck out
my car!"

Jason obliged and slammed the car door. All he knew was Monya better
not call Cartier with the grim news. She'd better not follow through on her
threat.

By three that afternoon, Jason had already drunk four Corona beers and
ended up on 48 `h Street, the diamond district. He never did buy Cartier the wedding ring she deserved. He figured he had about seven months to make
his marriage bulletproof before Cartier found out about the new baby. And
there wasn't any time like the present to erase all his scandals.

The first thing he did was change his cell phone number. That would take
effect within twenty-four hours. Next was the purchase of a huge diamond
ring for Cartier. Lastly, he was going to take her on a romantic getaway, just
the two of them.

"How about this one?" Manny, his jeweler pulled out a five-carat, VVS
diamond setting that cost eighty-five thousand.

Not that Jason didn't have that amount of money, but he only wanted to
spend about half that amount-maybe fifty thousand tops. Besides, he still
had a lot of other things he wanted to do for Cartier. He wanted to continue
upgrading their house and buy her a new car. It wasn't fair that Monya was
parading around in a BMW and Cartier was riding American. Although
Monya had hustled to get her own ride, Cartier was married to a hustler, so
he needed to let motherfuckers know what time it was.