Cartier Cartel (6 page)

Cartier bought her mother's pack of Newports and bought herself a
loose one. As she stood there puffing on her cigarette, she watched as a few
neighborhood boys she knew do hand-to-hand transactions. They all stood
huddled around talking smack, and when someone came through, one of the
boys would step off to the side to serve them. When she thought about it, one
of the boys, Kenny, had recently purchased a 1993 Honda Accord. As Cartier
walked home, the light bulb went on in her head. She figured that there was
a lot more money in selling drugs than in boosting. She also knew the risk
would be less. She reasoned with herself that those who bought drugs wanted
to get high. And everyone knew nothing could stop a fiend from getting high.
Additionally, she and the crew would be able to spot an undercover cop a
mile away. Hell, none of the boys on the block had ever been bum rushed by the cops. She knew what they could do, she and her crew could do ten times
better. She still needed to think her plan through, but for now, she couldn't
contain the excitement she felt in her stomach.

Diana Ross was belting out tunes from her Boss album, and Trina knew
all the words. When Cartier walked in, her mother had a pile of her stolen
clothes on her bed.

"Don't none of this shit fit me," Trina complained. Trina was pregnant
and starting to show. Both she and Cartier chose to play dumb.

Cartier was really disgusted Trina was pregnant in her old age. If her
mother chose to keep the child, Cartier would be sixteen years older than
her baby sibling. She thought that was ghetto as hell.

"Then maybe you should lose some weight," Cartier replied, playing into
her mother's deception.

"Maybe you should steal some shit that your momma could fit, perhaps
some maternity clothes."

Cartier didn't miss a beat. "What I look like? Your baby daddy?"

Trina rolled her eyes and then went and embraced her daughter.

"Ma, stoooooppp," Cartier said, whining.

"Give your momma some sugar."

"No!" Cartier screamed and then giggled. "So, I guess that means you're
keeping your baby?"

"How long did you know?"

"I'm not stupid. I know what pregnancy looks like."

"Well, you just better not come up in here pregnant."

"That will never happen."

"Well, let's not get carried away. I do want grandbabies. Just not until
you're married."

"Ma, you really want to do this? Have a baby when you don't have a job?
And what about the father? What's he saying?"

"You know he's all excited. This will be his first child."

"But what about you? Is that what you want?" Cartier wasn't crazy about
the situation. Recently, she was the one acting like the grownup. She could
only hope the father came through, but her experience in the hood told her
that was a long shot.

"Girl, stop sounding like the mother. I know what I'm doing and I want
my baby. You won't understand. I had you too young and I missed out on
a lot of things. I took a lot for granted and let your grandmother raise you.
I missed your first steps and that hurt. I've already forgotten the scent of a
baby that I loved so much. This time I want things to be different. I want to
enjoy motherhood and do better. You deserved better than I could give you,
Cartier. Hopefully, I can give to your little brother or sister what I couldn't
give you."

Cartier didn't know what to make out of her mother's admission about
not really being there for her. She felt something, and it could have been
a sting of jealousy, but she hoped it was mixed with the right amount of
eagerness about the prospect of having a little brother or sister.

"How far along are you?"

"six weeks," Trina replied as she dusted off one of her end tables.

"Hmmm, you still got time to do the do," Cartier said jokingly referring
to an abortion.

Trina tossed the dirty rag at her and they both chuckled at Cartier's dark
humor.

After they cleaned up the house, Cartier took a look around and decided
they needed towels and toiletries. She decided she would put that on her list
of things to get when they went boosting this afternoon. But for now, she
needed a nap.

s her mother's belly grew, so did Cartier. She grew up. She saved up
enough money to purchase herself a new five-piece bedroom set, one
that was made of real wood and sturdy. She also bought two gallons of paint and had the maintenance men paint her bedroom. Next came the new carpet
for the apartment. She felt really good about herself. With the summer ending
and school rolling back around, her days of going to bed hungry were long
gone. She and her crew now had the reputation that Shorty Dip once carried.
Her cell phone rang all day with the flyest chicks from each borough wanting
to be friends, but mostly wanting to go boosting with her and her crew. But
that was a no-go. There wasn't any way they would put another bitch on.

Each night from her window, Cartier watched Manny, Reggie, and
Kenny sell weed from their stoop. From what Cartier was told, they had some
good shit. She watched intently, studying them night and day, and paid close
attention to the hours they kept. Everything she saw fed into her method to
her madness. Their success became her hunger. She scoped the new clothes
and sneakers, the cars, the money, and even the cute chicks on their arm.
Besides the females, they had what she wanted-success.

For Cartier, selling drugs was the next logical step in the Cartel's
progression. If done properly, then she and the crew could make more money
than they'd ever dreamed of having. And yes, the money was appealing. She
was the breadwinner in the family now, and taking care of Trina and her new
sibling were her responsibility now.

Cartier shook her head as she thought about the baby's daddy bouncing
before the baby was even born. It was the way of the hood. Like Trina,
Cartier wanted the baby to have everything she never had. She and the
Cartel had already stolen four garbage bags worth of baby clothes, from
newborn to twenty-four months. The doctor said her mother was having a
girl and her mother chose the name Prada. They also began to steal a few
items from Babies "R" Us. Cartier didn't really care for the store. She had
gotten knocked twice trying to roll out a high chair in a shopping cart. Each
time she was fingerprinted, but let go because of her age. On her third try,
she got it. She caught the guard slipping and eased out without detection.
Within two months, the baby had enough shit to last two to three years. The only thing her mother would be responsible for was feeding the baby, which
the government would assist with. Between food stamps and WIC, Cartier
thought all should be fine.

y the time fall rolled around, each member of the crew had officially
dropped out of school. At sixteen, they all functioned as if they were
grown women. Cartier had men coming and going in and out of her small
bedroom and Trina said nothing. History was repeating itself. Trina was able
to have boys sleep over when she was Cartier's age, so it was perfectly natural
for her to allow her daughter to do the same, although truly Trina didn't like
it. It didn't feel right to her.

One part of Trina wanted to step up and be the parent Cartier never had
and start laying down rules and regulations. But the other part-the stronger
part-felt like Cartier was the sister she never had. By the time Cartier
reached twelve years-old, everyone mistook her for Trina's baby sister, and
when Trina would tell them that Cartier was in fact her daughter, they were
always surprised. Trina did look good for her age. Each day Trina promised
herself she would raise her new baby the right way. Her second child would
not only go to school each day, she would graduate and go all the way to
college. That was Trina's only wish.

Trina watched as her first born walked around the house cleaning up for
her impending company and was somewhat proud of her accomplishments.
Cartier had grown so much in the past year and a half, and although she wasn't
heading to college, Trina was still proud of the newfound independence
Cartier exuded.

"Who's coming over?"

Cartier stopped in her tracks to respond. "The Cartel. We have a few
things to discuss and they should be here shortly. I just wanted to clean up a
bit and get a few things out the way."

"OK, well y'all keep it down in here. I'm going to go in my room and get some rest."

Monya got a tip that there was a small boutique in midtown Manhattan
that was sweet for mink coats and ripe for the picking. In their realm, you
weren't considered fly until you owned a mink coat. It was a sign of opulence
and status.

"You know doofy Claudia came off the other day with two mink coats,"
Monya explained. "And you know if that clumsy bitch could catch two, we all
could finally get our coats."

All right, bet," Cartier agreed. "We gotta dress the part and work in pairs.
I'll work with Lil Momma; Monya, you work with Shanine; and Barn, you
can go in solo. Everyone wear their most expensive conservative outfit and
make sure your hair and nails are done. And we gotta wear lipstick and heels
to appear older. We can't fuck this up, because I want my coat."

It was Cartier's idea to go on a weekday, since the stores were always on
higher alert on the weekend. They dressed professionally as if they worked in
an office building or at some high-end job. They looked the part and easily
passed the businesswoman test. From across the street, the girls watched
the movements in the store. It was virtually dead, which was what they had
anticipated.

Each pair of girls and Barn filed into the small, quaint boutique and
overwhelmed the two sales associates. They all inundated the two women
with dozens of questions while making them go back and forth pulling
various styles of mink coats.

Lil Momma, Bam, and Shanine each had two garment bags draped over
their arms. The top garment bag was filled with a puffy coat and there was an
empty garment bag inconspicuously hidden from sight underneath the top
bag. With coats piled to the ceiling, working in teams, each girl began putting
mink coats inside an empty garment bag. Barn was the first to put one inside
her bag and then skillfully replace the already full bag on top.

"I'm oodgay," she said in pig Latin, meaning she was good. This got
everyone excited. There wasn't any way they were going to let Barn be the
only one to get a mink coat. Monya and Cartier looked at each other, eyeto-eye. As if reading each other's thoughts, they both grabbed two beautiful
swing mink coats and zipped them up inside their garment bags. This was
done quickly. Monya handed the full garment bag to Shanine and Cartier
handed the other full bag to Lil Momma.

The unsuspecting saleswomen continued to assist the women, hoping to
get a nice commission right before the holiday.

"Let's ogay," Monya stated, but Cartier had other plans. As Bam, Shanine,
and Monya began to exit the store, Cartier felt the situation was sweet enough
inside the store to get an additional coat for herself. She put her hand on Lil
Momma's arm and stopped her from leaving.

She whispered, "Wait. We can get more"

Lil Momma's eyes looked down at the one coat in Cartier's hand and
knew how it was about to go down. There wasn't any way she was walking
out with three not four coats. Greed had now taken over her as well. Cartier
tugged on the garment bag, but Lil Momma wouldn't release it.

"Get me another one, too," Lil Momma demanded in a hushed voice.
Cartier knew that four coats couldn't possibly fit inside the bag. Additionally, as
the leader of the crew, she felt she should be the only one afforded two coats.

A ight, just give me the bag and then I'll get yours."

Reluctantly, Lil Momma gave her the garment bag. Quickly, Cartier
stuffed the third coat inside the bag and as she was about to zip up the bag,
Lil Momma stopped her. Without observing her surroundings, Lil Momma
snatched the garment bag from Cartier and began shoving another coat for
herself inside the already tight space.