The Hustler's Daughter {DC Bookdiva Publications} (20 page)

Mercedes
thought to herself and wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes. She
wondered where Cassandra might have gone-maybe she just needed to get away
after Chino died. Mercedes shrugged her shoulders, started up the car and
pulled off. She headed to the mall to do a little shopping.

xxxxxxxxxx

Maria
rolled over in their king-sized bed and Don was absent. She pulled back the
covers and slid her feet into her slippers. She left her bedroom and walked
down the hall to talk to Mercedes. 

“Mercedes
wake up Babe; we have to go to work.” Maria removed the blanket and Mercedes
wasn’t there. She walked over to the window and noticed her Benz wasn’t parked
out front. ‘Where did she go this early in the morning?’ Maria said to herself
and exited the room and entered hers. As she walked back into her room, she
heard the bathroom water running. Don was washing his face. She wrapped her
arms around him and kissed him softly on the neck. 

“Good
morning Baby.” Maria smiled as she stared in the mirror looking at Don.

“Good
morning Gorgeous.” Don said as he finished wiping off his face.

“Where’s
Mercedes?”

“She
went out shopping; I gave her a Black Card.”

“Aww
isn’t that sweet.” Maria cooed, “I know she’s happy to get out of this house.”

“Yeah,
well she’s still is my Baby Girl.” Don smiled as he turned around. He wrapped
his hands around her waist and kissed her on the lips. “What time are you
heading to the shop?”

“Well
I’m about to hop in the shower now, I told the girls today I would be opening
up the shop at ten. I needed to get my beauty sleep.” Maria smirked.

“Aww
please, with all that beauty sleep shit.” Don shook his head, “You don’t even
need beauty sleep Baby because you are beyond beautiful.” He caressed the tip
of her chin with his index finger and caused her to blush like the first time
she met him.

“Aww,
thank you Honey,” Maria cooed. She pinched his cheeks. “Well let me get ready.
My first client is coming exactly at ten o’clock.” Maria playfully shoved her
husband out of the bathroom and got ready for her day at the salon.

“Damn
you look good.” Don blurted out as she exited the bedroom ready to leave. Maria
was putting on her lip stick and stopped in her tracks and turned around. She
wore a smile on her face and shook her head.

“Thank
you Babe,” Maria turned around and looked in the mirror again before turning
away. She grabbed her bag and keys and was off to make her own money.

   “I’ll
see you later.”

   “Yeah,
you just might. I’ll probably be stopping by the shop for a line up.” Don said
as he brushed his waves on top of his head.

   “Boy
please, what happened to the barber you always go to?” She asked while watching
her husband walk over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled
her closer.

   “Well,
I heard my Baby is the best in town.” He winked, “I heard you gave my brother
Roy a fresh clean cut the other day.”

   “Yeah,
I did. I guess I’m aight.” Maria scrunched up her nose and smirked.

   “You
ain’t aight, you got skills.” Don said, “Well I won’t keep you any more, you
got to get to work.” Don kissed her on the forehead not wanting to mess up the
peach MAC lip stick she applied to her thick succulent lips, “Love you.”

   “I
love you too Mr. Carter.” Maria smiled.  She turned and walked down the spiral
staircase and headed straight out the front door. Getting into her car, she
dialed Mercedes on the car phone and began chatting with her before work.            

“Hey
Baby.” Maria said enthusiastically when Mercedes answered her cell phone.

   “Hey
Ma, what’s up?”

   “I’m
heading to the shop now, where are you?” Maria wondered.

“Oh,
I was out shopping buying stuff for my new condo.” Maria could tell there was
something wrong with Mercedes, she could hear it in her voice. She decided to
leave it alone until it was time “I was just wondering if you were coming to
work today.” Maria asked, “Because if you’re busy today you don’t have to come
in.”

“No
Ma, its fine. I’m on my way.” Mercedes said, “I’m only ten minutes away.”

“Alright
see you there.”

“Alright
Ma.” They both hung up in unison. Since she had some extra time, she stopped at
Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and donuts for breakfast. She then made her way to
the salon. As soon as she pulled up in front of her hair salon, she noticed
Mercedes pulling right in right beside her. She put the car in park and hopped
out the car. She waited for Mercedes to get out of her Benz. “Hey Ma.” Mercedes
and Maria both exchanged kisses on the cheek.

“Hey.”
Maria smiled, “Hold this for a second while I get the keys out of my bag.”
Maria handed Mercedes her stuff so she could get her keys. With her head buried
in her bag she didn’t notice the damage, but as soon as she did, she shrieked
in horror. “What the fuck?” Maria said surveying the damage. Mercedes never
heard her mother curse like that, so she knew she was pissed.

“What
happened?” Mercedes asked. She was in awe as she stepped into the salon behind
her mother. Tears began to fall from Maria’s eyes and her jaw dropped when she
looked around. Her perfect salon was trashed. She put all of her hard work into
it after Don purchased it for her. Everything in sight was ruined. Her walls
were spray painted and everything was knocked over. The windows were smudged
with red lipstick.

 Maria
walked in and carefully stepped over broken glass. All of the pink chairs were
knocked over. She glanced up and noticed something spray painted in big bold
letters on the wall. It read 1.15; Maria had no idea what it meant. She was
thinking that the kids were pretty cruel to do this to her store. She only
cared about how she was going to repair her shop. She and Mercedes put in
considerable effort in decorating her salon.

“Oh
my God!” Maria panicked and the tears poured down her face. She thought about
calling Don, but he never answered when he was working. She threw her phone
against the wall in anger, causing it to shatter. Mercedes jumped as the shards
flew all over the room.

 “Call
your father.” Maria demanded.

She
exhaled deeply. She didn’t know what to do next, but whatever she was going to
do needed to be done quickly. The Carters were all about action.

Mercedes
dialed her father and he answered on the first ring. Maria rolled her eyes. She
hated that he rarely picked up for her.

“Hey
Daddy…can you come to the shop…no now… someone broke into the shop and trashed
everything…ok…bye.” Mercedes hung up the phone and walked over to her mother
and rubbed her back, “It’s going to be alright Ma.”

“Who
would do such a thing?” Maria asked while looking around at her destroyed shop.

“I
don’t know; you don’t have any enemies Ma.” Mercedes shrugged her shoulders.

“A
bitch did this. Someone your father has beef with.” Maria eyed the damage,
specifically the lipstick and the spray paint. 

“Wait,
what are you trying to say Ma?”

“This
is the work of a woman scorned. Your father has another woman, I’m sure.” Maria
barked as tears engulfed her eyes again. She couldn’t believe what she was
seeing. She wished that she was in a dream and could wake up any second now.
Don walked into the salon minutes later and stopped in his tracks.

“What
the fuck happened in here?”

“You
tell me.” Maria stated nonchalantly. She stared her husband in the eye.

“Shit
I don’t know, I just came here and walked into a mess like you!”

“Stop
fucking lying to me!” Maria got up to walk away and Don grabbed her arm. She
snatched her arm back and rushed out of the door. She slammed the door causing
the remaining glass to fall to the ground.

“Daddy,
who did this?” Mercedes asked. Don stood frozen staring at the wall. The
numbers told him exactly what he needed to know. He knew who did this, but kept
it to himself.

“I
got to go handle something, tell your mother I’ll be home later.” Mercedes and
Don exited the salon. He hopped into his car and Mercedes decided to follow her
father. She followed him to Harlem. She watched him. He was like a man on a
mission. Mercedes saw him take his gun and cock it back. He was obviously
plotting revenge on someone, but Mercedes didn’t know who it was. 

She
sat patiently in the car watching, as her father entered a building. She was
curious because her friend Hazel lived in the same building. Just as she was
about to get out and go see where he went, Don came running out. He was angry,
and whatever it was that made him that way was inside this building.

Mercedes
drove around and tried to figure out who was exacting revenge on her family.
She finally went to her mother’s house to check on her. She decided to help her
prepare dinner and calm her down from the day’s events. Dinner was complete in
no time and they both sat to eat. Maria was clearly disturbed, but Mercedes was
more concerned that her mother and father were at odds.

“Aren’t
you going to wait for Daddy?” Mercedes carefully asked. She picked up her fork
and was eager to eat as well.

“No,
he knows what time dinner is every night.” Maria said as she calmly ate her
food. A few minutes later, they heard the front door unlock and Don walked in.
He entered the kitchen and kissed Mercedes on the forehead. He walked over to
Maria to do the same. He attempted to kiss her on the neck, but she quickly
moved away. In frustration, he took off his jacket and flung it onto the chair.
He angrily sat down to eat.

“Where’s
Claudia?” Don asked.

“She’s
in Puerto Rico for a family emergency.” Maria calmly stated.

“Oh,
well Honey, I apologize for the hair salon…”

“What
are you apologizing for? You didn’t do it.” Maria barked.

“I
know how much work you both put into it. When I find out who ruined your
dream….”

“Who
is she?” Maria said without looking up from her plate. Mercedes looked up and
watched as the room grew silent. She took that as her cue to exit the room
before things got messy. As if reading her mind, her mother asked her for
privacy. “Mercedes, can you excuse us please?”

“Sure
Ma, I have to go wait for my furniture to be delivered anyway.”

“At
this hour?” Maria questioned with an arched brow.

“Yes,
it’s a rush delivery so it can arrive anytime.” Mercedes said goodbye to her
parents and headed home.

“Again
Don, who is she?” Maria grabbed her cup of red wine and took slow sips. There
was silence in the kitchen. Don stopped eating his food to assess the
situation. His lack of response was pissing her off. Maria slammed her wine
glass on the table shattering it and creating a stain on the crisp white
tablecloth.

“I
know it’s one of your little hoes!” Maria yelled as she ran upstairs and
slammed the door behind her. Don followed and found Maria standing in the
mirror with her back to him. She was staring at her wedding ring and removed it
when she saw his face. To ease the mood, Don walked over and placed his arms
around her. He kissed her gently on the neck, but she refused to succumb to his
charm.

“Get
off of me.” Maria barked. She tried to wiggle out of his arms. She threw her wedding
ring at him and it bounced off of his chest and onto the floor.

 “You
can take this fucking ring back because it doesn’t mean shit…after eighteen
years…” Maria cried.

“Maria,
please calm down.” Don whispered in her ear. “I swear to you, I never cheated
on you a day in my fucking life. I may have fucked with them before, but not
since you told me you were pregnant with our child. I love you and only you. I
will never risk fucking with another female. I can’t lose the most important
two ladies in my life Ma, come on now.” Don sincerely said. Maria looked up in
the mirror and saw Don staring at her.

“You
really mean that?” Maria asked.

“Yes
Babe, I love you with all my heart. I never cheated on you and I never will.
The hair salon will be up and running in a couple of days, I called up my
people and they are on it. Don’t worry about who did it. Just know that I set
them straight and it won’t happen again.” Maria turned around, wrapped her arms
around his neck and cried.

“I
love you Mr. Carter…always and forever.” Maria hugged him tightly, as if it
were her last time that she would see him.

“I
love you too Mrs. Carter and when I’m gone I won’t ever stop loving you.”

Cuban Links

Within
the next few days, the damage done to Maria’s salon was repaired. Mercedes
finally got her condo furnished and decorated to her liking. She had an
exhausting day and lay in her bedroom after moving around in the condo. Her
friends had left an hour ago and Mercedes just wanted to relax.  She wanted to
talk to her father about what Emilio said to her at her party, but she couldn’t
even get in contact with him lately.

   Several
hours later, she was asleep and interrupted by the loud ringing of her
doorbell. She checked the clock and it was almost eleven o’clock.

“Who
the hell is this at my door this time of night?” Mercedes ran downstairs while
putting on her robe and looked through the peephole. It was her father. She
opened the door and felt the artic breeze rush into her home.

   “It’s
cold as fuck out there.” Don walked in still rubbing his hands together. “Got
your pops out there freezing and shit.” They both chuckled.

   “Sorry
Daddy, I was upstairs sleeping.” Mercedes smirked as she closed the front door
behind them and locked it.

   “The
place looks nice.” He looked around and nodded his head in approval. “I see you
have exquisite taste, just like your mother. You two and pink-boy I tell you.”
Don laughed.

   “I
know; it’s the Carter taste.” Mercedes smiled from ear to ear.

   “Yeah,
it’s in our blood.” Don smirked as he scratched his chin.

“You’ve
been busy all week Daddy; I’ve wanted to talk to you.”

“I
know Baby Girl, I apologize. I had a lot of shit on my plate. I was out of town
and just came back. Daddy’s a busy man.”

“Yeah,
I know.” Mercedes nonchalantly stated.

“So
what you wanna talk about?”

“Well…lately…I
don’t know Daddy, I’ve noticed Emilio’s been changing and I…” Mercedes was cut
off by the ringing of her father’s cell phone.

“Hold
on Baby, one second.” Don quickly answered his phone and walked into the
kitchen. Mercedes rolled her eyes at the rude interruption.

“What
up Bro? Nah I’m talking with Cedes right now…What? What the fuck you mean? Nah,
he can’t be dead…well we gotta handle this business first bro. Business first
no matter what, Vicente is waiting on us. I’ll see you in a few.”

Don
ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket. He had to leave immediately
and found Mercedes in the foyer.

“I’m
sorry Baby Girl, but something popped up and I gotta go.” Don walked over to
her and kissed her on the forehead. “We can talk in the morning.” He assured
her.

“It’s
really importa…” Mercedes words stopped as her father turned to walk away from
her. “Love you Baby.” Don Carter jumped in his Range Rover to fix the problem
he encountered on the phone.

 “I
love you too Daddy.” She was overcome with anxiety as she watched him drive
off. She had a feeling that something was about to go down, but was unsure of
what it was.

xxxxxxxxxx

   Don
drove to his brother’s house and thought about Mercedes. He hated leaving her
like he did, but he needed to handle business. He would make it up to her
later. Within a few minutes, he arrived and blew the horn for his brother to
come out of the house.

   “Whaddup,
Bro?” Roy said as he got in the car.

   “Just
left Cedes crib, but y’all interrupted us. “So what happened?” He nervously
asked. He wanted to know what the urgency was about.

   “Man,
I don’t know how this shit happened. Niggas is saying Frank was at one of the
spots and some nigga just ran up in there and shot him up. They took
everything-the drugs, the money and the guns.” Roy shook his head.

   “Was
he alone?”

   “Yeah,
I don’t know how this shit happened. It’s gotta be someone from the inside-a
set up. They told him to meet him at the spot and offed him. That shit’s fucked
up, he didn’t deserve to die.” Roy inhaled deeply. “Our team has been tight for
a long time bro; I know something just ain’t right.”

   “Yeah
you’re right.” Don responded. “Where’s Vicente?”

   “He
said meet him at the warehouse, the one in China Town. The same one we went to
for the last meeting.” Roy told him. “So what did Mercedes have to talk to you
about?” Roy asked.

“I’m
not sure; I told her we could talk in the morning.”

“You
sure it isn’t anything serious?” Roy looked at his brother and stared him in
the eyes.

“Yeah,
it can wait until the morning.” Don said. He was really hoping that it could.
Don and Roy drove in silence towards China Town. They pulled up in front of the
warehouse spotted Vicente and his workers. Don parked his car diagonally across
from them and put the car in park.

When
he got out of the car, he knew something wasn’t right. Emilio was there
standing right next to Vicente with a devilish smirk across his face. Roy and
Don already knew they were looking at the problem—a dirty rat.

“Mr.
Carter,” Vicente smiled.

“Mr.
Vicente,” Don looked at him dead in the eye.

“Do
you know why this meeting was called?” Vicente asked.

“Yeah,
it’s to discuss business so let’s do this.” Don looked at his brother and gave
him a nod to get the money out the car. Roy went to get the money and handed it
to Don. He threw it to Vicente. Emilio glared at Don with hate in his eyes.

“It
was nice doing business with you.” Vicente smirked. Don extended his hand to
Vicente. He grabbed his hand and held it tightly. He pulled Don in close and
spoke directly in his ear.

“You
think I had visions of you fucking my daughter and stealing her away from me?”
Don pulled back and quickly let go off Vicente’s hand. His heart quickly
dropped, he had no clue Vicente would have ever found out about Maria and him.

At
that moment, he knew Emilio was the snake creeping around and playing both
sides.

“You
betray me!” Don barked at Emilio. He knew Emilio had been sent by Vicente to
work for him. Don couldn’t believe that he slipped up; he fucked up, big time.

“Life
is a big gamble isn’t it?” Emilio sarcastically said.

Everyone
laughed, except for Don and Roy.

“I
let you in my home and I introduced you to my family!” Don gritted.

“It’s
all a game Don, and you should know that. I apologize for any
misunderstandings, but I had to do my job and I did it well.” Emilio retorted.

“Fuck
you, you will pay!” Don spat at him. Emilio walked up to him and punched him in
the face. Don pulled out his gun, but Vicente’s security guards surrounded him
with their heavy artillery pointed directly at Don and Roy.

 “Your
daughter is a very beautiful girl.” Emilio whispered in his ear. He didn’t want
Vicente finding out about Mercedes because he would kill her.

“Fuck
you, stay away from her!” Don spat as blood dripped down the side of his mouth.
“I swear to God if you lay your hands on either one of them, your dead son!” 
Don said in a low tone. He didn’t want Vicente to hear. Emilio started laughing
hysterically and walked away. Vicente slowly walked over.

“You
didn’t think I would find out huh?” Vicente laughed.

“You
don’t understand; I love your daughter.” Don sincerely spoke.

“Maria
doesn’t love you, she loves me! She wasn’t supposed to run off with a nigger
like you. She will never have love in her heart for you.” Vicente insisted.

 “She’s
the love of my life and no one will ever come in between that.” Don
courageously stated.

“You
stole my daughter from me. All these years you have been fucking her and buying
from me. You can’t have both even if you think you can.”

“So
what do you want, money? I can give you that? What do you want from me?” Don
yelled.

“I
don’t want your money, Mr. Carter. I have plenty. I want you dead.” 

“Let’s
do this then.” Don put his hands up. He knew his time had finally come.

“What
the fuck you doin’ Bro?” Roy asked.

“It’s
my time to go Bro.” Don simply replied.

“No,
it’s not your time to go. Not yet at least.” Roy shook his head knowing
whatever he said or tried to say wasn’t going to help. Vicente was a very
serious and powerful man. Whatever he said went and when he wanted something
done-it got done.

“If
you’re alive, tell Maria I love her Bro with all my heart, and tell Mercedes I
love her too. The Carter family never dies.” Don said before he turned away from
Roy.

“Get
down on your knees.” Vicente ordered with the gun pointed to his head.

“If
you’re going to kill me, kill me standing because I’m a strong man. I’d rather
go out on my feet like a man than on my knees like a punk.” Don spoke with
pride. He stared Vicente in his eyes to let him know that he was not scared.
Vicente laughed at his act of valor. He was actually kind of impressed.

“I
always liked that about you, you’re a very wise man Carter. But when you chose
the wrong man to fuck with, you have to pay. My daughter is my heart, she’s
everything to me.  You just took her from me like it was nothing.” Vicente
yelled as tears came to his eyes.

He
slowly backed up to put some distance between himself and Don. Don’s only
thoughts were of leaving his wife and daughter. He loved them with his entire
being. He didn’t know that they had just spent their final moments together.
The guards stood around Vicente. They had their guns pointed at Don and Roy,
ready to fire. Don knew that it was two against a group of them, but he decided
to put in work before he died. He lifted his gun and started shooting, with Roy
following suit. Bullets riddled him and ripped through his skin. He was
fighting for his life. He fell to his knees as he succumbed to his injuries. The
gun smoke cleared and Don’s body slowly dropped to the ground. He was filled
with multiple bullet wounds. Roy was on the ground as well, shot several times.

“Let’s
go.” Vicente said in his Cuban accent. He walked over to Don’s body. Don’s eyes
struggled to stay open as he noticed the dark figures standing above him. It
was Vicente and Emilio coming to finish him off.  Vicente held a 9 millimeter
and pointed it in his face. He released one more shot to the head. It dropped
Don’s head against the concrete. Vicente kneeled down and started laughing
hysterically.

“I
won motherfucker.” Vicente spit on him and got up and walked away. Emilio stood
there and raised his gun. He shot Don a couple more times in the chest. He
turned around and dashed to the car. He got in and left the scene with the
others.  Roy crawled over to his brother as blood oozed from his mouth. He
grabbed his phone and called for help before it was too late.

“Yes!
My brother has been shot…I need help, Downtown in China Town at a warehouse.”
Roy hung up the phone.

   “It’s
over now Roy.” Don said as he gasped between breaths. His body was riddled with
bullets and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe.

“Nah
Bro, hold on. The ambulance is coming for us Don, you can’t die.” Roy said as
he held the back of his brother’s head and stared him in his bloody eyes. He
thought that Don would have already been dead with all of the bullets he had
been hit with.

   “The
Carters…don’t die…” Don uttered. He forced a smile on his face. With that being
said, his eyes closed for good. Don Carter was gone. Roy let his brother go as
he heard a car’s tires screeching behind him. It was the same car that had just
left.

   “Shit!”
Roy mumbled as he tried to crawl away. Emilio had come back to finish the job.
He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Roy.

“No
witnesses,” he said as he shot Roy at point blank range.