Cartier Cartel (7 page)

"What are you doing?" Cartier asked. She was furious at her clumsy friend.
Cartier stood there in shock as she watched Lil Momma try to frantically
stuff the coat inside. Cartier took a few steps back and watched in horror as both sales associates noticed what was going on and rushed toward Lil
Momma. Cartier began to make a speedy exit as one woman firmly grabbed
Lil Momma's wrist and the other lady snatched the bag. A struggle ensued
as Lil Momma tried desperately to overpower the petite white woman. In
Lil Momma's head, she could upgrade from boosting to burglary. Surely, she
could whip both of these women asses and take what she wanted.

"H-h-help!" the sales associate screamed. "Let go of the coats!"

Lil Momma began to punch the lady in the face and head, while trying
desperately to get her to release the coats. In the chaos, Cartier thought about
going to jail if she didn't get out of there quickly. As she got closer to the door,
the other sales associate was locking them inside with keys.

"Let me out of here!" Cartier demanded.

"Not until I call the police!" the sales associate responded.

"You let me out of here. I don't have anything to do with this," Cartier
protested. "Or I will sue this damn store, the owner and your ass."

The sales associate didn't know what to do. To her knowledge, the
women were together. But what if they weren't? She'd only seen the other
woman trying to steal and the woman standing before her looked angry
and intimidating. The commotion got louder and when the female standing
before her reached out for the keys, she relented and let her out. Once she
locked up again, she ran to the telephone and called 911.

Outside, Cartier took off down the block. She ran until she reached the
subway station. She thought about calling Monya to see where they were, but
it was too hot. She needed to get to the safe haven of Brooklyn. Cartier took
the 4 train to the 3 train.

Meanwhile, Monya, Bam, and Shanine were starting to get nervous about
their other crew members. When they walked back on the block and saw a
New York City police car parked outside the store, they knew something had
gone down. They weren't sure, but chances were good that Cartier and Lil Momma were busted. Monya's heart stopped. She couldn't understand what
happened.

Immediately, she stepped up and took charge. She didn't say anything.
She just placed her hand in the air and flagged down a yellow cab. They had
three stolen coats in their possession, probably worth an estimated thirty
thousand dollars. If they were caught, they'd get in serious trouble.

"1475 Rockaway Boulevard, in Brooklyn," Monya rattled off.

The cab driver peered in the back seat through his mirror at the three
young black ladies. They looked clean enough and he could see that they'd
been shopping. Only he didn't like the Brooklyn address they were heading.
Too much violence in that area, and he didn't want to take the chance that he
would get stiffed for his cab fare.

"I don't go to Brooklyn," the driver said in his thick Albanian accent.

Monya wasn't in the mood to play musical cabs. She pulled out two
twenty dollar bills and handed it to the driver. "You do now!"

Now she was speaking his language. As he drove toward the FDR Drive,
Bam and Shanine began asking questions.

"What the fuck happened?" Bam asked. "It was so sweet in there."

"How should I know? I wasn't there," Monya snapped.

"I know they are stressed out right about now," Shanine stated. Although
Cartier was the head member in the crew, Shanine was most concerned
about Lil Momma.

"Wouldn't you be? I bet Lil Momma fucked up somehow." Monya ran
her hands through her hair.

"I'm just glad that we got our coats," Shanine added.

"Damn, like how you sound? Two members of our crew just got busted
and all you can think about is yourself." Monya wanted to slap the black off
Shanine. She couldn't wait to speak to Cartier and tell her what Shanine
had said.

The rest of the ride home was in silence. When the cab was approximately five minutes away from their destination, Monya's cell phone began ringing.
She looked down and was delighted to see that it was Cartier.

"Bitch, where you at?" Monya said.

"Yo, Lil Momma got knocked. It was crazy. I'm home. Where are you? Is
everyone safe?"

"Yeah, we straight. We're in a cab and should be on the block in five
minutes."

"Come straight to the compound."

When the girls arrived at Cartier's apartment, they were hyped to know
what happened. Trina showed them in and they walked back to Cartier's
room. She'd already taken off her conservative clothing and put on a pair of
sweatpants and T-shirt. Cartier and Monya warmly embraced, lingering in
each other's arms longer than Shanine or Barn cared to witness.

"Yo, shit was crazy today," Cartier began. "They got Lil Momma."

"How did they get on to you?" Monya asked.

"That stupid bitch, Lil Momma-"

"See. What the fuck did I tell y'all?" Monya interrupted. "I knew Cartier
was too good to get knocked on a humble when it was so sweet. What did
she do?"

Shanine was saddened Lil Momma was knocked. Lil Momma was her
best friend and she didn't like the way Cartier and Monya were talking shit
about her. Since Lil Momma was always taking up for Shanine, she decided
to do the same.

"Well, what did she do, because the last time I looked we all had our bags
packed and the only thing Lil Momma had to do was walk out. You telling me
she didn't know how to walk?"

Her sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.

"Her walking the fuck out wasn't the problem," Cartier said with attitude.
"The problem was that when I told her ass to walk, she refused."

"What sense does that make? Why would she want to hang around in a store with stolen merchandise in her bag? Was she afraid to leave?" Shanine
was giving Cartier the third degree. -

"She wasn't afraid of shit. She was stupid. I went to add a third coat to
the bag-"

"A third coat? Why? That wasn't the plan. And who was the coat for,
Cartier? There's only five members, not six."

"I can count, bitch!" Cartier had had enough of Shanine. "I safely put a
third coat in the bag, so we could sell the sixth coat and make money for the
crew. Once I successfully put the coat in the bag, Lil Momma went berserk
and got selfish. She wanted two coats for herself, while we all got one. When
I refused and told her to bounce, she began trying to stuff a fourth coat inside
that tiny little bag without paying attention. They peeped her and she got
knocked. I mean, it was crazy. They were fighting and shit. At first, they was
gonna take me down, too. But I wasn't having it."

"So you just left her?"

"What's the point in both of us getting knocked?"

"I can't believe that Lil Momma would want two coats for herself. That's
so unlike her," Shanine still refused to believe Cartier's version.

"Let me see the coats," Cartier began as she looked at the two garment
bags. Excitedly, the girls began pulling out beautiful mink coats with shiny
skins. There wasn't any way Cartier wasn't keeping a coat. She'd already
decided that on the train. As they lay on her bed, she began trying on each
coat until she found the one she wanted. With the coat still adorning her
shapely body, she tossed the next best one to Monya. "Monya, try this one
on.

As both girls modeled coats, Shanine and Bam began to get nervous.
Bam reached out and grabbed the last coat, which was the coat she'd picked
out. Shanine was left coatless.

"Cartier, let me try on my coat," Shanine began.

With a straight face, Cartier began to put a spin on things. "Your coat got knocked with Lil Momma."

"What?" Shanine raised her voice. "How my coat got knocked? That was
all you."

"You must be crazy. From jump I told Monya to pick out my coat and
put it in your bag. Lil Momma was picking out y'all coats and your bag got
knocked."

"That's a damn lie!" Shanine yelled.

"Monya, am I lying?"

"Cartier told me in the beginning to make sure I got her coat. And even
if she didn't, there's no way that the head of the Cartel is gonna walk around
without a mink coat. She and I set this whole operation up. If it weren't for us,
y'all wouldn't have half the shit y'all do."

Shanine looked to Bam for support, but Barn was just happy they didn't
try that bullshit with her. She had a coat and couldn't wait to walk home with
it.

Instantly, Shanine burst out into tears. "Y'all both know that shit is fucked
"

"What are you crying for? We can go back and get you and Lil Momma
coats." As Cartier spoke the words, she ran her fingers up and down the soft
hair of her coat.

"Yeah, right! You know it will be hotter than hell in there," Shanine
exclaimed and ran out of the room and headed home. It was an awkward
moment. Barn decided to pack up her coat and leave as well, leaving Monya
and Cartier alone.

"We shoulda took Bam's coat too and sold it for some dough," Monya
said. "We should be the only ones in the crew to have minks. We shoulda
never took them with us."

Cartier contemplated Monya's thoughts. "Nah, we could let Barn keep
her coat and make money some other way. I don't want them to think this is
a dictatorship. As boss lady, I gotta keep the crew happy or else it will draw dissention."

"Well, you ain't keeping Shanine happy."

"She'll get over it. Besides, her and Lil Momma are close. If Lil Momma
don't have a coat, neither should Shanine."

Monya tried to understand Cartier's logic and realized it wasn't logical.
Cartier said all those words trying to make a point, but the point was she
wanted a coat and took Shanine's. That's all, folks.

t was the first week of January when Lil Momma was released. She'd spent
thirty days in Spodford, an inmate facility for juveniles, only she was
seventeen. She lied about her date of birth in order to avoid being treated
as an adult. Sixteen and up is when they can send you to Riker's Island,
depending on the crime. Lil Momma and the Cartel had been lying about
their ages since the first day they started boosting. The judge remanded her
into custody because of her horrible record for shoplifting. When she looked
over her shoulder and saw the Cartel, she glared at Cartier. She was angry with
Cartier for not helping her fight the sales associates. She was the one who got
busted. And why? Because her illustrious leader got greedy. They both could
have had mink coats to keep them warm this cold winter. Lil Momma had
a lot of regrets, but when the judge said thirty days, she regretted being a
member of the Cartel.

Now that she was home, she was ready to make up for lost time. While
in lockdown, she met a few girls who had actually heard and looked up to the
Cartel. Lil Momma felt famous that the streets were telling her story. She had
second thoughts about her regrets. The Cartel had given her what she never
had before-a name and notoriety. She wasn't ready to give up the game. It
was a part of her. The itching inside her was desire.