Chapter 6
“Domino”
The week went by fast… too damn fast.
Laughter still echoed in my head from Thanksgiving.
Cousins arguing over spades and Mama yelling at somebody to stop touching her pots.
The house was packed, loud, and alive. While I was there, I wasn’t Domino; I was just Damari.
Mama stood next to me with her arms folded, studying me the way she always did before I left, while I loaded my bag into the back of the black truck waiting to take me to the airstrip.
“You can’t stay one more day?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
I shook my head. “You know I can’t, Ma.”
She sighed. “This week felt normal.”
“Too normal if you ask me,” I said. “But you say that every time I get ready to leave.”
“Because every time it’s true. I enjoyed having you here, though. That Thanksgiving dinner was a mess, huh? Your uncle Ray-Ray still owes me a new damn chair.”
I laughed. “He ain’t break it on purpose. That man big, Ma.”
She laughed too, shaking her head. Then the smile slowly softened.
“Well, I know you gotta go. Bring it in.” Mama pulled me into a hug, squeezing tighter than usual. “You be careful out there,” she said, in a cautious, motherly tone.
“I always am.”
“Damari, you’re still my baby no matter how big and important you think you are.”
“I know.”
When we stepped back, she wiped the corner of her eye like she hadn’t almost gotten emotional.
“I gotta go, Ma. I’ll call you when I land.”
“You better. And don’t text me no ‘I made it’ either. I want to hear your voice.”
“I got you.”
She nodded. “Well, go on. Let me get in this house so I can cry, eat my butter pecan ice cream, and watch Snapped like a normal grieving mother.”
I chuckled. “Ma, stop it. I ain’t dead.”
“You’re leaving the country without me, that’s go ‘head before I change my mind and come with you.”
I gave her a kiss on her cheek. “I love you, Ma. I’ll talk to you soon.”
I closed the trunk, and right before I climbed in the SUV she shouted, “And when you come back, you better have some pretty girl on your arm… possibly pregnant!”
I shook my head and grinned. “I’ll see what I can do, Ma. But if I come back with a girl, and she run off after meeting you, that’s on you. And if she’s pregnant, you better not start acting brand new when the baby starts calling you the built-in babysitter.”
“Boy, ain’t nobody running from me. And if she does, she wasn’t strong enough for this family anyway. As for the baby? Don’t put me on babysitting duty like I ain’t got a life. I’ll be grandma, not daycare. Don’t get it twisted.”
I hopped into the back seat. “Aight, Ma. Now gon’ in the house. I’ll call you when I make it.”
As we pulled away, she was still standing there on the porch… watching.
I chuckled, then remembered I needed to call Marcos.
He answered on the second ring. “Yo! Yo! Yo!”
“You found a mule yet?” That was my greeting.
He switched to Spanish real quick. “Hola también para tu grosero trasero, hermano!” (Hello to your rude ass too, brother)
Then he went right back to English.
“Damn, bro. I ain’t talked to you in four days. I didn’t get a simple ‘I’m thankful for you, Marcos’ text for Thanksgiving or nan. After all I do.”
“Marcos…”
“Aight. Fine,” he laughed. “I’m thankful for yo’ ungrateful ass then, since you got too much pride to say it.”
I shook my head.
“But I was just about to call you about that issue.”
“Uh huh.”
“For real. I ain’t locked in an official one yet…”
My jaw tightened.
“But,” he added, “I might have a potential.”
That got my attention.
I leaned forward in my seat. “I’m listening.”
“So boom… I took this Uber last night. Driver was a female… a calm one, too. Most of ‘em talk too damn much or act nervous.”
“And she didn’t? “I questioned.
Because details mattered. In this business, small things told big stories.
“Nah. She was real collected. Check this. So, somebody almost ran her off the road—I’m talkin’ reckless driving, cutting her off…
the whole thing. Most folks would’ve been either screaming, shaking, pulling over, calling the police, crying…
something! I mean, she cussed once, but after that, she straightened the wheel and kept driving. I think she could be the one.”
“So you think she’s a good candidate because she got road rage with manners?” I asked dryly.
Marcos laughed. “Nah, nigga. What I’m trying to point out is that she stayed calm in a situation that would’ve had most people reacting off emotion. A mule who panics is a liability, but a good mule knows how to keep it together. That’s the kind of temperament we look for, right?”
“Facts… but being calm in traffic and calm when your freedom is on the line are two different things. I’m not looking to hire an Uber driver; I’m looking for somebody who can move weight and won’t fold the moment a cop asks questions.
If flashing lights make her start explaining herself, she’s useless to me.
So what other quality stood out to you that makes you think she could be the one?
‘Cause being calm once doesn’t automatically make you built for this life. ”
“Well, she did get this call from her friend, who was watching her little brother. The kid is clearly sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but whatever it is, it ain’t small. The way they were talking? It sounded serious.”
I tugged at my beard, pondering. “So you think she’s desperate.”
“I mean… she wasn’t driving the latest model car, and she was working on a holiday… voluntarily. Like, who the hell wakes up on Thanksgiving and says, ‘You know what sounds fun? Driving strangers around the city.”
That made me smirk.
“Still,” he added, “I wouldn’t call it sloppy desperate. More like… drowning quietly.”
That part piqued my interest because quiet desperation was the most useful kind.
I nodded slowly. “You get a name?”
“It was Jo; that’s all that showed on the app. I didn’t want to interrogate the girl and scare her too much. I did leave her with a card, though.”
I exhaled slowly. “How convinced are you that she’ll call?”
Marcos hesitated. “On some real shit… I’m not sure I convinced her enough,” he admitted. “I just mentioned making more money, and usually that’s all needed to be said.”
“And she didn’t question how much?”
“Nope.”
That made me smile a little.
If she didn’t ask how much, then it shows that she’s not greedy. Greedy people want numbers first.
“So basically, we’re relying on a phone call from some random Uber driver.”
“Pretty much.” He nodded.
“Depending on one girl to come through ain’t gon’ fly… at least not with Alejandro.”
Marcos didn’t argue with that.
“Look, I’m on the way back home now. When I get there, I’ll talk to Alejandro and let him know we might have somebody. Maybe he’ll give us a little more time to get her on board… well, yo’ ass to get her on board.”
Marcos chuckled. “That’s if she calls.”
I leaned back in my seat. “If she needs money bad enough… she’ll call.”
They always did.
“And if she doesn’t in a reasonable time,” I included, “we still got ways of getting in touch with people we need… or want.”
“Right.”
“In the meantime, keep scouting girls, “ I ordered.
“Already on it.”
“One.”
We hung up.
As the jet came into view ahead of us, I stared out the window.
Somewhere out there, a girl was deciding whether to make a call that would change her life… and she didn’t even know it yet.
***
The jet ride from Baltimore back to Mexico took a little over four hours, but by the time the car rolled through the gates of the estate, it felt longer.
Home.
The compound was quiet in that controlled way it always was.
When I stepped out of the car, two of the soldiers near the entrance gave me a nod. I returned it… no words needed.
Inside, the house was even quieter. Usually by that time of the morning, Alejandro would be in his office, cigar burning, papers spread across his desk like a general planning war, but when I passed the office door, the lights were off.
That was new.
I slowed down for a second before continuing down the hallway. When I reached his room, I knocked once.
From inside, his voice came through the door. “Come in, Domino.”
Of course, he knew it was me.
Alejandro had cameras everywhere, including one pointed straight at his door.
I opened it, stepped inside, and stopped in my tracks. Alejandro was in bed… in pajamas. That alone was strange. In all the years I’d known him, I could count on one hand how many times I’d seen him still in bed after six o’clock, and it was hitting on noon.
“Hey,” I said slowly. “Just letting you know I made it back.”
He pushed himself up a little against the headboard. “Glad you made it home safely… although I expected you to stay gone a full week.”
“Nah. I was just staying through Thanksgiving. You good, though? I ain’t used to seeing this.”
Alejandro smirked faintly. “Domino, a man my age is allowed a rest day every now and then. Even kings get tired.”
He picked up the glass of water beside him and took a sip.
I nodded, but something in my head didn’t fully buy it.
Alejandro didn’t rest… not like this.
Still, I didn’t press.
“Did you have a good Thanksgiving?” he asked.
“Yeah. House was packed. Mama cooked enough food to feed half the neighborhood.”
Alejandro chuckled. “How is she?”
“She’s good. She was happy to see me… as always. Still telling me I need to settle down and give her some grandkids. Speaking of that,” I pulled my phone from my coat pocket, “I gotta call her and let her know I landed.”
He nodded. “Good mothers deserve that.”
“Yeah. But I’ll do it in a minute. How was business while I was gone?”
He spread his hands slightly. “Well, if I’m in bed, I’d say things went pretty well.”
I laughed a little.
Then his face grew more serious. “I know you’ve been on vacation, but where are we with finding Iya’s replacement?”
“Marcos might’ve found someone in Charlotte.”
Alejandro’s brow rose. “Might’ve?”
“She’s not locked in yet. It’s some Uber driver he ran into. He said she didn’t panic under pressure and sounded like she got real problems at home.”
Alejandro studied me, then he coughed, and not a small throat-clear, but a deeper one.
It passed quick, but I noticed. I mentally stored it but didn’t say anything.
“Marcos gave her a card,” I continued. “We’re waiting to see if she reaches out.”
Alejandro pondered for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Our buyers are patient… until they’re not. The people waiting on our product aren’t breathing down my neck yet, but I also don’t like too many gaps in my operation, so you’ve got one week before patience runs out.”
His eyes met mine.
“One week, Domino… not two… not three. We can’t run that route empty for long.” His voice stayed calm, but the firmness in it was clear.
“We’ll have a girl by then,” I assured. “You have my word.”
He nodded once. “I trust that you will.”
I stepped back toward the door. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your 'resting day,'” I joked. “I’ll be around if you need me.”
Alejandro gave a small nod.
I closed the door behind me and walked back down the hallway. Once I reached the main corridor, I pulled my phone out and called my mama. We talked for a minute, then after, I shot Marcos a text.
Marcos: One week extension granted. So whatever you started with that Uber girl… finish it.
Because now? The clock was ticking.