The Hustler's Daughter {DC Bookdiva Publications} (22 page)

“Kill
this bitch.”

 “You
will pay!” Claudia said as she starred at the barrel of Emilio’s gun. “You’re
fucking with the Carters! You will pay!” Claudia closed her eyes and said a
quick prayer. They were her last words as Emilio cocked back the gun and
smiled.

 “It’s
too late to pray to God.”

He
pulled the trigger and put a bullet in the middle of her forehead. He watched
as she slumped over.  He stepped over her lifeless body to join the others.

Just to Get By

   Mercedes
hated that she had to wake up so early. Her eyes were red from crying through
the night. She looked at her mother’s eyes and they were identical- swollen and
bloodshot.

After
getting dressed for her father’s funeral, she slipped on her oversized Chanel
shades to hide her face. She felt and looked like a hot mess. Mercedes checked
herself out in the mirror and her mother watched her. 

   “Girl,
no one is going to see you.” Maria let out a chuckle, “You look fine.”

   “Please
Ma, you woke me up at seven.” Mercedes rolled her eyes, “I look like shit and
feel like shit.”

   “I
know Baby, we just have to remain strong.” Maria cracked a smile and rubbed
Mercedes shoulder. Mercedes drove up the path to the place that she once called
home. She parked in front of the house. They both exited the car and walked to
the front door. It was suspiciously ajar. Maria looked back at Mercedes,
“Someone was here.”

Their
suspicions were confirmed when they walked in and saw Claudia dead on the
floor. She was surrounded by blood and remnants of her brain.

   “Oh
my God! What’s going on Ma?” Mercedes screamed and fought the urge to release
the contents of her stomach. She was losing everyone close to her and it was
heartbreaking. She had never seen anything like this before and it made her
stomach turn. Mercedes turned around and she was standing next to Claudia. She
looked down at her with tears in her eyes.

   “She
was such a nice woman.” Maria recalled. “She didn’t deserve to die like this.
Call the ambulance please.”

   “She’s
like family Ma.”

“No,
she was family.” First Chino, then her dad, and now Claudia. For some odd
reason, she felt like she was going to be next.

   The
ambulance arrived within minutes, with the police shortly thereafter. Maria
watched as they brought Claudia out on a stretcher. Her body was covered in a
plastic bag. She was soon approached by detectives. They wanted to know more
about Claudia’s death.  

“Hi,
I’m Detective Morris and this is my partner Detective Hanks…”

“I
know who you are.” Maria shot back, cutting him off. Detective Hanks blew
cigarette the smoke in the air.

“Are
you Mrs. Carter?”

“You
know damn well who I am.” Maria cynically said. She rolled her eyes at the
detectives. She knew the two of them very well. They were often arresting Don,
but couldn’t keep him because the charges never stuck. They had to release him
every time. Maria was sure they were like giddy bitches when they found out he
was dead. They were also probably elated when they got the call for a murder at
his mansion.

“Can
we come in Mrs. Carter?” Detective Hanks politely asked. Although Maria hated
the cops, she knew Hanks was a nicer detective than Morris.

“Come
on in, but you can’t smoke that cigarette in my house.” Maria said with a
demanding tone. Detective Morris smiled and took a long last drag on his
cigarette before tossing it to the ground. They sat down and waited for someone
to speak.

“So,
do you know who may have killed your maid?” He flipped his note pad and glanced
at the paper, “Claudia Hernandez.”

“No,
I don’t know.” Maria nonchalantly, “I have no clue.”

“So
you’re telling me you have no clue who killed your maid?” Detective Morris
asked with a questionable brow. Maria shook her head from side to side.

“You’re
full of shit.” Detective Morris chuckled and placed the tiny notepad in his
shirt pocket. “Your husband was killed and his brother Roy is in critical
condition. Now your maid ends up dead and you have no clue who’s behind this?”

   “It’s
not like you give a fuck about my husband!” Maria barked. Mercedes walked in
and sat beside her mother; she was furious.

   “You’re
right! I don’t give two shits about your fucking drug dealer husband! You got
that right!” But something isn’t clicking; you probably know who it is. Maybe
someone is after you and you don’t want to admit it. You put your family in
jeopardy; I’m willing to bet this isn’t the last time I’ll see a body in a bag
in your presence.” The detective said before getting up and walking out of the
house.

 Maria
began to cry. She wondered if her father killed her husband and maid. He was
the only one who had a vendetta. He couldn’t be so heartless and ruthless,
could he?

   “Here’s
my card, if you have any questions or concerns.” Detective Hanks said while
handing Maria a card. She gently took it from his hand. “I’m so sorry for your
loss.” He walked toward the door. Maria looked down at his card and crumbled it
into her hand.

   “Ma,
what was that all about?” Mercedes inquired.

   “Nothing
Baby,” Maria lied as she got up. “I’ll be back, I’m going upstairs real quick
to get some clothes. I’ll be staying at your house for a couple of days. After
that, I’m going to contact your father’s sister Brenda to see if I can stay
there.”

   “You
can stay with me Ma.”

   “No,
I refuse to put you in jeopardy. No one must know you exist.” Mercedes was
astonished by her mother’s last comment. “What do you mean? People know who I
am.”

   “No
new people Mercedes,” Maria said. “Trust me, we’ll talk later.”

   Mercedes
took her mother’s word for it and decided to let the conversation end there.  

“Mami,
does this mean whoever killed Daddy and Claudia will come after us too?”
Mercedes was suddenly putting the pieces together and facing her fears head on.

“I
don’t know Baby.” Maria said with a shrug of her shoulders. “We’ll be fine
though.”

Mercedes
sat on the couch with her hand to her chin and pondered their next move. She
knew her mother knew something, but obviously she didn’t want her to know. She
could only trust her mother’s word that all would be well.

xxxxxxxxxx

Later
that afternoon, the funeral home was filled with dozens of roses and other
flowers, as well as hundreds of people. Maria made sure that they prepared the
best service for her husband. They had an exquisite, one of a kind, marble
casket. It had diamonds embedded on the sides of it. Maria knew her husband
wanted to go out in style; he left orders for burial in case of his demise. Don
was dressed in a black Giorgio Armani suit. His make-up was done, so it looked
more like him. He was almost unrecognizable when they saw him last.

   Mercedes
sat in the front row. She was decked out in her best gear-just as her father
would have wanted her to be. He only wanted the best for his Baby Girl. She
represented the Carter name well. Her hands were clasped with her mother’s for
support and encouragement as they walked up to the casket. Seeing her father in
such a catatonic state caused her to break down and weep.

Maria
stood next to her. She had to be helped up as she fell to her knees, overcome
with grief.

    “Why
did they have to take my husband? Why Lord, why?” Maria cried out. She placed
her hands on the side of the casket. Mercedes continued to cry and saw Emilio
through her tears. He was walking down the aisle toward her. She shot him an
icy glare and he stopped in his tracks. He walked up to Maria and rubbed her
back as he whispered something in her ear.

   “Thank
you Emilio.” Maria turned around and hugged him. She cried into his arms as he
rubbed her back. He stared into Mercedes’ eyes. Emilio escorted her mother back
to the seat and sat down next to Mercedes.

“If
I find out that you had anything to do with my father’s death, you will pay.”
Mercedes whispered in his ear with a soft voice.

Emilio
swallowed hard. Mercedes knew something was wrong. Where was he when her father
was murdered? Why didn’t he contact us to let us know that her father was
killed?  Those questions floated around in her mind and she gave him one last
look before she got up and walked over to her father’s casket. At that moment a
flood of emotion overtook her and she couldn’t take it anymore. She sobbed for
Chino, for Claudia, and most of all for her father. She bent over the casket
and kissed Don gently on the forehead. She said goodbye for the final time.

   “I
love you Daddy, and the Carters will never die.” Mercedes cried. “I will make
sure of that. The Carter family soul will always live on.” Mercedes gave her
father one last look before she walked away and said, “See you later.”

   After
the funeral service, Mercedes noticed her girlfriends sitting in the back of
the funeral home. They were always there for her when she needed them.

“We’re
so sorry about your father Cedes.” Candy said as she hugged her.

“Thank
you girls,” Mercedes cracked a smile. She sensed that her friend Hazel was as
overcome with grief as she was.

“Hey
Mercedes.” Hazel nervously said. She could feel Mercedes staring at her.

“What’s
up Hazel?” Mercedes asked.

“I’m
sorry about your father’s death.” Hazel hesitated to get the words out of her
mouth and her voice seemed cracked. “I have to go.” Hazel left in a hurry,
causing everyone to wonder about the awkwardness of her presence.

“What’s
wrong with her?” Mercedes wondered as she watched Hazel disappear from the
funeral home.

“I
don’t know; she’s been like this since she got here. We asked her, but she said
she didn’t want to talk about it.” Candy told her.

“Damn,
well I hope she’s alright.” Mercedes worried about her girl. Besides Candy, she
loved Hazel more than any of her girls.  She loved her like she was a part of
her family.

“She’ll
be good.” Candy smiled. “What about you? How are you holding up?”

“I’m
good for now, we’ll have to manage. I never imagined losing my dad.” A tear
crept down the side of her face.

“Thank
you girls for stopping by and showing my family some support, I really
appreciate it.” They all embraced and promised to keep in touch.

As
Mercedes was about to leave, she noticed Emilio outside smoking a cigarette.
She brushed past him and he tossed his cigarette and followed her.

   “Mercedes!”
He called out, but she ignored him. She was headed to the limousine that sat
waiting for her in front of the funeral home.

   “Please
Mercedes, can I talk to you for a minute.”

   “What
the hell can you possibly say to me?” Mercedes asked. “That you had something
to do with my father’s death?” She was extremely suspicious of Emilio.

   “Are
you going to hear me out?” Emilio asked as he genuinely looked into her
greenish puppy dog eyes. Mercedes titled her head to the side and folded her
arms across her breasts.

“You
have one minute.”

   “Alright,
thank you.” 

“You
don’t have time to thank me. Just talk.” Mercedes advised him.

“Well,
the other night at your birthday party, I wanted to apologize for saying what I
did.” Mercedes turned away; she didn’t want to hear his bullshit. He grabbed
her arm and made her look at him so she could see the sincerity.

“Mercedes,
please listen to me. I didn’t mean what I said. I was drinking and everything
was so overwhelming for me. My family has lost people too. My parents died and
my aunt is in the hospital. Having so many people close to me that are gone or
hurt had me feeling like fuck the world. I’m sorry. I truthfully apologize and
if you don’t accept, that’s fine.” Emilio was laying on the charm thick and
even threw in a few tears to make it authentic.  

   “Just
because you lost your mother doesn’t mean you should wish death upon my
family!” Mercedes retorted with tears in her eyes, “You got what you wished
for.”

She
walked away and climbed into the limousine slamming the door. Maria saw her
daughter was upset after talking to Emilio and wondered what happened. However,
she kept her concern to herself. The family had endured enough and she just
wanted some peace for once.

The
time had come for them to bury Don and they arrived at the cemetery. Mercedes
and Maria held each other as they cried together. It was hard to believe the
man they loved was being put to rest. They knew it could happen with the life
he led, but didn’t know it would be so soon.  Mercedes walked over and kneeled
down near the burial site as tears fell down her cheeks. She kissed her teddy
bear that he bought her as a child and placed it on the casket. She wiped away
her tears and embraced her mother.

“It’s
okay Ma, he’s in a better place now.” Mercedes whispered. All they could do was
believe that to be true and focus on carrying on the Carter name.