The Hustler's Daughter {DC Bookdiva Publications} (19 page)

2 Years Later…

18th
Birthday

Mercedes
never felt more alive than on the morning of her 18th birthday. She woke up
with a smile on her face and thanked God that she made it this far. She thought
of Chino and her unborn child that were taken from her. During the last two years,
Mercedes coped with their deaths and became a responsible young woman. After
changing schools and graduating, most of her time was spent working at her
mother’s salon. She worked as the receptionist. The relationship between her
and her father strengthened over time. Reminiscing about the past few years,
Mercedes got up and walked over to her bureau and pulled out the dresser
drawer. She grabbed the sonogram picture of her unborn baby. Tears fell onto
her hands as she fingered her only photo of the baby. She regretted not telling
Chino about her pregnancy, but she wanted it to be a surprise.

Every
night they would enter her dreams and she would dream about life with them as a
family. Soon she would be awakened and reliving the moment she found out Chino
was dead. Her dreams would turn into a nightmare and she would break out into
sweats in the middle of the night. Sometimes she would start yelling out his
name and it only brought tears to her eyes.

Her
thoughts were soon disrupted by a knock at the door. She tossed the picture
back into her drawer and saw her mother entering the door with a birthday cake.

“Happy
Birthday Mercedes.” Maria sang.

“Thanks,
Ma.” Mercedes smiled as her mother held the cake in front of her singing the
birthday song.

 “Make
a wish.” Maria said. Mercedes closed her eyes to make her wish.

“Are
you excited? It’s your eighteenth birthday!”

“Yeah,
I know.” Mercedes smiled. “It feels good knowing that I’m alive and so is the
rest of the Carter family.”

“You
got that right.”

Don
walked in just in time to greet his daughter. He grinned with pride.

“Happy
Birthday, Baby Girl.”

“Thank
you Daddy.” Mercedes kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re
welcome. Make sure you’re ready for later. I’ll be home to give you your gift.
It’s a surprise.

 
“Aight, I got some business to handle so I’ll see you ladies later.”

Don
kissed his wife on the cheek and Mercedes on the forehead. He then disappeared
down the hall to begin his day.

“Alright
Mercedes, let’s get ready to go to the mall. Daddy left me the Black Card.” She
winked at Mercedes as she waved the card around in the air.

Later
that night, Mercedes was looking as beautiful as ever. She was getting dressed
for her night out with her parents to celebrate her birthday. As she entered
the white limo which her father left, she pondered where she was going. Her
mother was running late and her father was still handling business. She noticed
a dock as she looked out of the window with boats floating on water. Her father
stood dressed in a suit with a huge smile on his face. She had no clue what was
going on.

“What
the fuck is this?” She mumbled. The driver exited the car and walked around to
the passenger side door. He graciously opened the door for her.

“Hey,
Daddy.” Mercedes smiled, as she greeted her father with a hug.

“Happy
Birthday, Baby Girl.”

Don
hugged his daughter and gave a signal to one of the men at the dock. As soon as
he did, they removed a cloth revealing a huge yacht. “And it’s all yours.”
“What?” Mercedes blurted out with a baffled look on her face. “What do you mean
it’s all mine?” She was a little puzzled.

“That’s
your own private yacht.” Don assured her. “It’s yours; I brought it just for
you.”

“Oh
my God! Thank you Daddy.”

Don
took his daughter by the hand and walked her up the dock to her boat. They
stepped into the darkness; just then, the lights came on and Mercedes mouth
dropped again in shock.

“SURPRISE!”
The first people she noticed were her mother, Emilio and her high school best
friends. Everyone else in attendance was family and friends.

“Happy
birthday cuzzo.” Mercedes’ cousin Sean walked up and hugged her tightly.

“Hey
Sean!” Mercedes said as she hugged him back, “I haven’t seen you in awhile
boy.” Mercedes pulled back from the embrace as she stared at her cousin.  She was
grateful for the love from her family and friends. They were all she had.

The
night was more beautiful than ever, the skies were dark and the stars
glistened-illuminating the sky. Mercedes wanted to get some fresh air and went
out onto the deck to get a view the city. The tall beautiful buildings lit up
and reflected off the waters. It was the perfect skyline.

 Mercedes
stood on the deck of the yacht with her elbow rested on the bar. She held a
glass of Moet in her hand. She looked up the stars. They reminded her of Chino
and the day that they were at the beach and he talked about his father. A tear
crept out of her left eye and streamed down the side of her cheek as it tickled
her face.

“Beautiful
stars aren’t they?” Emilio walked up from behind her and stood next to her. 

“Yeah,
they are.” Mercedes replied as she wiped away the tear. “I was once told there
are plenty of stars in the sky, but there’s always one that catches your eye.
When it does you will never forget it, and always see that star. It will be in
your heart....scars are like…”

 “Stars…”
Emilio replied finishing her thought. His comment brought a chill down her
spine and she looked at him in amazement. Only Chino knew those words and
Mercedes found it really odd that Emilio did too. She shook the thoughts out of
her head as she continued looking up into the sky.

“Ohh,
it’s getting really chilly out here.” Her teeth began chattering.

“That’s
because I came out here.” Emilio smirked at her, causing Mercedes to crack a
smile.

   “Oh
boy please, you so silly.” Emilio took off his blazer and placed it around her
shoulders and slowly rubbed her arms.         

“Why
thank you, that’s really nice of you.” Mercedes said.

Emilio
looked deeply into her eyes and placed his hand on her chin. He then leaned in and
kissed her lips slowly and sensually. Mercedes didn’t fight and she kissed him
back. She felt something between them that was unexplainable.

They
both pulled away unaware of how to continue. He cleared his throat as he leaned
over the railing and looked out into the sky.

   “So
what made you come to New York? Did you want to start a new life here or what?”
Mercedes curiously asked.

   “Well
like I said before, I have family out here, but I also needed a new start. I am
here in New York for business.” 

“Really
and what kind of business is that?” Mercedes looked over at him with prying
eyes.

   Emilio
laughed, “Damn you ask a lot of questions.” Her eyes waited for an answer and
he sighed knowing that she wouldn’t let up.

“No,
I came here because I have to handle some business with your father.  I’m here
basically doing us all a favor.” Emilio responded and turned to Mercedes.

   “Yeah,
well my father doesn’t need any help. He is one of the top drug dealers in New
York City, he’s well respected. His mentality is so strong that it will never
die. It will always pass on and stay in the Carter family.”

   “And
what do you mean by that?” Emilio tilted his head to the side.

   “The
Carter family will never die.” Mercedes spoke with pride.

   “It’s
already dead.” Emilio winked at her as he walked away and disappeared into the
dining room. Inside, everyone was laughing, chatting and enjoying themselves.
Mercedes stood there frozen; her eyes were focused as she stared through the
glass watching Emilio talk to her father. She was thrown off by his comment and
didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

   “Mercedes?”
Maria called out.

   “Yes
Ma?” She responded as her mother invaded her thoughts.

   “Are
you alright?”

   “Yeah,
I’m fine.” She lied, as nervousness swept over her. Emilio’s words deeply
troubled her.

   “There’s
another surprise for you.”

“Close
your eyes.” Maria said guiding Mercedes to her next birthday surprise.

   “Alright
open your eyes.” Mercedes removed her hands from her eyes. She stood in front
of a big white truck that opened as her mother counted to three. Don came
driving a car off of the truck. Mercedes began jumping up and down in glee.

 It
was a black and pink 2010 Mercedes Benz E350 coupe, with Lamborghini doors.
Mercedes sprinted over to her father and hugged him to death. If her hugs could
kill, her father would have been strangled to death. He handed her keys to the
Benz and she screamed in excitement. She quickly hopped into the car. The fresh
aroma of the leather seats made her smile. She loved the view that the sunroof
gave of the city.  Mercedes sunk in the leather seats as she held her heart and
smiled. She couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Mercedes,
you need a place to park your new car.” Don handed her keys and she looked
puzzled.

“Daddy
what’s this?”

“Those
are the keys to your new fully furnished penthouse apartment. Enjoy Baby Girl.”
Mercedes couldn’t ask for a better birthday. If only she had Chino to share it
with.

xxxxxxxxxx

Mercedes
awoke to her father calling her name. She adjusted her eyes and saw him waving
his Black Card. It was time to go shopping. She quickly got dressed and grabbed
the keys to her car. She had to make a stop before she went shopping.

 She
decided to visit Chino’s grave and she placed a few flowers at the tombstone.
She thought about his mother and felt bad because she hadn’t visited her since
Chino’s funeral. A visit to her was long overdue, so she bought some roses to
give to her.

Driving
her new Benz through the streets of Harlem felt so good. She finally arrived,
parked and walked up the breezeway. The smell of urine attacked her nose as she
walked up the staircase. She took a deep breath and began to knock on the door.
She stopped when she felt someone watching her. She shrugged her shoulders and
started to knock again. As she raised her hand the door flung open. Mercedes
gulped hard when a black woman answered the door. She was smoking a blunt and
blew the smoke in her face.

Mercedes
coughed and waved the smoke from her face.

“Who
the hell are you?” The woman rudely asked.

“Um…I’m
looking for  Cassandra…this is where she lives.”

“No,
nobody by the name of Cassandra lives here.”

“That’s
impossible she lives…”

“Listen
honey, I’ve been living here in these Harlem projects for two years.” The lady
informed her, “Nobody by the name Cassandra lives here.” The woman slammed the
door in her face before she got a chance to say anything else. Mercedes turned
to walk away; she looked over and noticed a Spanish woman standing in the
doorway of her apartment. Just then her white fluffy cat ran outside startling
Mercedes. It rubbed its’ white fur on her pants.

“I’m
so sorry…so… so sorry.” The Spanish woman apologized repeatedly as she picked
up her cat and held it in her arms. “You need to stop running from me Kitty.”
The woman patted her cat, rubbing its soft white fur.

“It’s
okay.” Mercedes smirked while rubbing off the fur off of her skinny jeans.

“Are
you lost?” The woman questioned.

“No.”
Mercedes chuckled as she removed a piece of her hair from her face and placed
it behind her ear. “I was just looking for a woman named Cassandra who lives
right here across the hall from you.”

“Yeah,
well she doesn’t stay here anymore.” The woman said.

“Do
you know where she moved to?”

“No…”
the woman shook her head, “The last time I saw Cassandra was two years ago. She
was leaving one night in the middle of the night. She had her suit case and her
son with her.”

“Her
son?” Mercedes questioned. She cocked her head back with a mystified expression
across her face. “No…no that’s impossible.” Mercedes shook her head side to
side. “He passed away two years ago.”

“Well,
I don’t know.” The woman shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that she left
and said that she had to leave town and she left here with some guy. It was too
dark in the hall to see anything, these lights are always broken.” The woman
stated angrily.

   “Is
there anything that she said to you that could help me find her?”

   “No
I’m so sorry Honey, I don’t know anything.” The woman walked back in with her
cat and locked the door. Mercedes knew that the woman knew more than what she
was telling her, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She exited the projects
and got into her car. She sat there thinking before she turned the car on.
‘There’s no way that that guy was Chino. There’s no way he’s still alive. He
had a funeral and he was in the casket. There’s no way, he’s dead.’