Cartier Cartel (8 page)

Her issue with Cartier was past news. Yes, she was disappointed Cartier had lied to the crew, but it was a dead issue. In her heart of hearts, she knew
Cartier wasn't stuffing a third coat to sell. But she also knew she couldn't
prove otherwise. Cartier didn't actually say that the coat was for her to keep.
Lil Momma deduced that from the look in Cartier's eyes. Nevertheless, it was
the past. It was time to move on.

"So you not going to say something about Cartier taking my coat?"
Shanine drilled Lil Momma.

"What I look like getting on her bad side right now when I'm fucked
up and starving? My cousins took all my shit while I was locked down. I
practically gotta start from scratch. If I start beefing about a damn coat, they
could kick me out of the Cartel. At this point, I got the worst record and
most of the Ds know my face. I'm hot as chicken grease and I need the Cartel.
You know that you, me, and Barn are the weakest links with this boosting
shit. You know that Cartier and Monya are far more skilled than all of us put
together. They got the most heart. Without them, we're going to be looking
bummy or being some old school bitch's vic like Shorty Dip. I don't know
about you, but that's not cool with me."

Shanine wasn't trying to hear this bullshit. She'd waited four weeks for
Lil Momma to come home and start beefing with Cartier over her coat. Lil
Momma was the most outspoken of the crew. She spoke her mind and wasn't
afraid of disagreeing with Cartier and Monya. Shanine didn't have the guts
Lil Momma possessed. But Shanine realized Lil Momma wasn't going to go
to bat over her coat, especially when she didn't have one.

Shanine sucked her teeth. "Whatever."

"Don't get mad with me," Lil Momma began. "You shouldn't have let her
take your shit. Be mad with yourself."

artier called a meeting in the compound, the name she called her
bedroom. It was time to disclose her plan. She had been putting
together this plan for over six months, and after the incident in the city and Lil Momma getting locked up, she figured it was now or never. She
had marinated this plan over and over in her mind. She admired that about
herself-how she was capable of formulating a plan and thinking it through
before she brought it to the Cartel.

Cartier waited until all members were present and then she closed her
bedroom door for complete privacy.

"After the little situation last month," Cartier began. 'And one of our
members going down for thirty days, I've come up with a plan that will
increase our profits and lessen our risks."

"Wow ... that's what I'm talking'bout," Barn screamed.

"Quiet, please!" Cartier snapped. "Let me tell you the plan before y'all
interrupt me. As I was saying, our profits will increase and our risk will lessen.
We're going to leave this boosting shit alone altogether and begin hugging
the block."

Cartier watched as everyone shifted in their seats. She knew they had
questions, but no way were they going to interrupt her again.

"I've already spoken to Jason and he's agreed to supply us with the weight
at one hundred dollars above wholesale value. So what that means is if we
start with an ounce, he'll only make one hundred dollars on us-"

"Why would he do that?" Lil Momma asked. "What's in it for him?"

"He thinks pussy," Cartier deduced. "Anyway, as I was saying, he's going
to give up the product for dirt cheap. Once we get it, we're going to start
hugging the block and make this paper. And as I said, we'll be making money
hand over fist and we won't be in any danger, because we'll all be lookouts for
each other."

Finally, the Cartel got to speak. Monya went first.

"I'm hearing everything you saying, but this shit sounds too risky. What
do we know about hugging the block? Niggas get shot over the drug game all
the time."

"Ain't nobody getting shot." Cartier couldn't take Monya and her scary ways.

"But she does have a point. We could get shot or stuck up or worse,
murdered," Barn added.

"Look, if y'all wanna keep boosting and eventually do serious jail time
for a bunch of labels, then go right ahead. But I'ma get out here and get this
paper. And while I'm driving in hot whips, y'all be hopping in and out of
cabs. While I'm blinged out, y'all be wearing Canal Street jewels. While I'm
shopping on Fifth Avenue, y'all be getting chased from Fifth Avenue. Night,
meeting over."

Cartier terminated the meeting and dismissed the crew, only they didn't
leave. They needed Cartier. Their lives revolved around their leader. They
sat around, thinking about going against the grain. She was their backbone.
Cartier was the one who got them in the game. She was the driver of the
ultimate ride they had taken the past few years. Boosting had been their
livelihood, an addictive habit, but now it was stale and played out. It was no
longer fun and now, because of their success, it was more dangerous. Storeemployed detectives and security guards were hot to catch them in the act.
And they knew the day they got caught, hard time in Riker's Island or Nassau
County was mandatory. A slap on the wrist wasn't even an option. The
only deal anyone could possibly cut for them included selling out the other
members of the Cartel. Jail time for shoplifting was stupid, yet they could
all see that that was where they were headed. They were now cavalier and
reckless in their antics. They knew Lil Momma was lucky getting only thirty
days, but like everything else, luck ran out.

Again Monya was the first to speak. "Well, if you got our backs, then I'm
down with you. You know you're my girl."

Cartier knew she could always depend on Monya to have her back.

"Yeah, I'm in too," Lil Momma added. "I need all the money I can get."

"Just tell me what to do and I'm in," Barn stated.

"Me too," Shanine said, completing the group.

"OK, good. Well, we're gonna start small. I need everyone to put in two
hundred dollars from their stash. Lil Momma, if you're tapped out, then I'll
cover you. But I'll need that paper today."

"No, I have it. I can go get my share now," Lil Momma volunteered. She
wanted to please Cartier and show her bygones were bygones.

"Good. A ight, then everybody go and get your paper and meet back here
in an hour."

artier leaned against the side of the cold concrete building as the frigid
air attempted to freeze her toes and fingertips. In the beginning, she
entertained herself by blowing smoke rings out of her mouth; now she stood
stone as her mind raced. In a few hours, she and the crew would call it a night
from hustling. She had contemplated alternating shifts, but for now, having
everyone on the street cut down the stress. Cartier reasoned that with all five
playing a significant role, it would play out better for the Cartel.

Bam held the product while Lil Momma took the money. Shanine then
walked the money to Bam and the process reversed. Bam gave the product to
Shanine, who walked it to Lil Momma, who completed the transaction with
the customer. Monya was the lookout while Cartier provided the muscle.

Cartier relished her role as the muscle. She knew they were susceptible
to all types of violence. Some of the boys in the hood didn't appreciate their
entrepreneurial spirit. She felt she was prepared to do damage with the knife
she kept tucked in her back pocket and the baseball bat she hid on the side
of the building. Since she started boosting, she had been playing with knives.
She now considered herself a self-taught expert with any blade.

In the first three weeks of selling hand-to-hand, the Cartel brought
home five hundred dollars each after buying their reup. Shanine, Bam, and
Lil Momma were ecstatic, but Monya and Cartier weren't so pleased. Monya already had plans for her money. She was saving up to buy diamond earrings,
and Cartier had her eyes on a ride.

Cartier wanted to stack paper like her male counterparts did. For her,
five hundred large wasn't stacking paper. That was chump change, little boys'
money. She wanted to move up the ladder and didn't have the patience to go
slow. By the third week, she figured she needed to call a meeting.

Everyone gathered in the compound, her newly furnished bedroom, as
she closed and locked the door behind them. With business first on her mind,
she didn't have time for Shanine and Barn's arguing over petty shit.

"Why don't you knock it off?" Cartier blasted as she took command of
the meeting.

"Then tell her to leave me alone," Shanine suggested.

Cartier disregarded Shanine's childishness. It was getting harder and
harder for her to tolerate Shanine and her petty ways. "OK, look, I got to say
something that I'm sure y'all aren't going to like, but just hear me out and see
my logic."

"But before you say what you gotta say, let me say this," Lil Momma
interrupted. "Everything is going great and I don't think we should switch up
our game plan, because that could be bad luck."

"Why the fuck you gotta go and jinx us?" Cartier snapped. "You know I
hate it when you start bringing up that voodoo shit"

"How's that voodoo?" Lil Momma snapped back. "If I'm saying we're on
the right path? We're all making money. We don't got Ds breathing down our
necks and we're all on our way to sitting on top of big money."

"That's exactly what I want to get at. Our paper, Yes, we're at a really good
start, but in order for us to come off and really get paid we'll need to do two
things. One, we need to stop selling weed and move up to dope-"

"Cartier! That's way too dangerous!" Lil Momma replied.

"Will you keep it down before you wake up my moms and then I gotta
hear her mouth all night about how hungry she is?"

"My bad, but you can't be serious."

"As a heart attack," Cartier continued. "Like I said, we need to flip the
switch and start selling dope. And not only that, our profit for this week
needs to be reinvested to buy our package."

"What? Now you done said the wrong thing fucking with my money,"
Monya stood up from the bed and placed her hands on her hips. "I was riding
with you for a moment, but now you're talking crazy."