Chapter 26
Legacy of the Cartel
I slept until 10:00 AM after having a good night with my woman.
It was my first night actually managing my club, and I can say that I am pleased with how it is being run.
I made a mental note to do something nice for my manager.
I might complain about her wearing her stripper attire, but that girl had all types of ladies there and a great DJ.
The club decor was also nice—my girl really did her thing.
I sat up on the bed; my baby was still asleep and looking beautiful.
I knew she wasn't about to act up and be disrespectful like she had been previously.
I grabbed my phone and saw I had five missed calls from Silk and seven from a number I didn't recognize.
I automatically thought something was wrong—not only did I have beef in the streets, but I was also beefing with my family.
I called Silk to make sure he was alright, as he was one of the only people who could really hurt me.
I had sent Rudy to Jersey with Trent's mom for a bit.
“Nigga, where you been?” Silk asked. “At the lake house. You good, nigga?”
“I left Mercedes, you know they evicted my spot. And I’m damn sure ain’t sleeping in your trap; those niggas might spin that bitch while I’m asleep.”
“Just come here, there's plenty of room.”
“Drop the dot. I slept in my Benz last night and a nigga's still tired.”
I sent him the location and started to doze off, but my phone rang again.
“Who is this?” “My son's dead and you don't pick up the phone to see how I'm doing?”
I looked at the phone like there were three of them because I had to be tripping.
“Cat got your tongue? I guess you just say fuck your abuelo.”
“This is Socorro?” “No, baby boy, it’s Santa Claus. I miss you boys. I need to have a face-to-face with you and Don. I'm going to send my jet at 3:00. Call this phone if you need me; I’ll text the location of the private airport.”
He ended the call. Any other time, I would have avoided a nigga giving me orders, but Socorro—my grandfather—ran a cartel and wasn’t to be fucked with. I got my ass out of bed and went to the living room. Donny and Junie were cuddled up on one couch, and Trent and Dream were on the other.
“Y’all motherfuckers couldn’t get in a bed? This is a six-bedroom house.”
“Yeah, it’s too much. I'm gonna give it back to mommy,” Donny said.
“She will just sell it. Just give it to me. This can be my vacation home for when I need peace.”
“I’m gonna sign it over to you then.” “Me, you, and Tammy are going out of town at 3:00. Take whoever you want,” I told him.
“What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere.”
He laughed like everything was a joke. “Socorro didn’t ask. The jet boards at 3:00,” I said.
Donny's eyes got big like he'd seen a ghost—I knew he'd heard one.
“Junie, go home and pack, we're going to Mexico.”
“Baby, you just want to get up and take me to Mexico? No. You must be trying to traffic me.”
I burst out laughing. She gave me mad eyes.
“Junie, even if we sold your ass, they’re gonna want their motherfucking money back.”
Her little ass got up like she was about to charge at me.
I pushed her gently onto the sofa and sat my big ass on her.
“Clo, move! What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m only 125 pounds,” she said.
“I got up. I’m sorry, I just want to remind you that you're little sis. I can’t be putting my hands on a woman, especially my sister.”
She snatched the cover off Donny and ran into the room with Golden. “Don’t be pissing my baby off. You don’t have to deal with her attitude,” Donny warned.
I looked up just as Silk walked in. The first thing he did was move Dream's hair out of her face and kiss her forehead.
He sat by me and Clo on the couch. “What are we doing today? I need to go whore scouting. I have no hoes. I just put down on an apartment I can move into next week,” he said.
“My baby would have beat your ass if she heard you,” Donny said.
“I’m not sweating Junie or her hoe-ass sister. I’m single and I’m gonna move like it.”
Donny had a crazy look on his face, but I knew better than to get into another grown man's business.
“Me, Donny, and the girls are going out of town for a few. Y’all can have the spot, just be sanitary. I’m gonna leave you the keys, but don’t come straight here. Make sure nobody is following you before you arrive.”
It was 2:00 PM, and we took our ladies shopping; they were all packed up.
Me and Donny were putting the bags in the truck—we had to call a black truck because the ladies didn’t know the first thing about light packing.
When we got to the airport, nobody there spoke a lick of English.
I didn't like that; I might look like those folks, but I was a nigga for real.
We got on the jet, which was beautiful. It even had the Hernandez family crest and everything—Socorro definitely did his thing. There was even a nice bedroom in the back and complimentary scotch. We buckled up, and of course, I sat next to Tammy, holding her hand the entire two-hour flight.
When we arrived, Puerto Vallarta was breathtaking. Socorro was waiting for us, looking good, though I still didn't like that he had called talking about his son—whose funeral he hadn't even attended. We got into his black truck while his men handled our bags.
We pulled up to a big hacienda-style mansion, and I was instantly in love.
When we got out of the car, he told the men to leave the bags because we weren't staying there; we were staying at his private villa instead.
Once inside, we went straight out to the patio where his personal chef was on the grill.
Junie and Gold sat together, looking nervous.
“Do you ladies like shisha?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied in unison.
Socorro picked up a phone and told someone to bring out a hookah. Then he told me and Donny to walk with him. We followed him out to a chessboard set up on the grounds.
“Do you all play?” he asked, looking at me and Donny.
“No, we never played,” I said, while Donny just shook his head silently, unable to find his words.
“Nietos, chess is like life. There are two sides to everything, and the goal is always to win. The pawns are like your men; they are all supposed to protect the king. You can lose your king and still play, but to me, if you lose your king, you've already lost.”
Me and Donny started playing while Socorro instructed us. “See, Ray was my precious boy, reminded me a lot of old Don right here. But when I’m done with Donny, he’s going to be much like me. Clover, you are me—the difference is I actually had the balls to kill my family myself,” he said.
I looked over to check on my baby; she and June were doing just fine.
“Papi, is there something you want to say?”
I asked, staring straight at Socorro. “I know everything about my family. I know you got two establishments. I know you got two rental properties. I know that you sent two boys to take the life of my worthless, coked-out grandson Mellow, whose mom told him to do you in—but he couldn't,
so he sent his brother. A brother I’m about to bring up here tomorrow to have a long talk with, because this shit ends here,” he said angrily.
“My apologies. I’m a man who will do anything to protect my family,” I replied.
“Then what the fuck are you apologizing for? Your mom killed my son, but I’m going to leave her alone. She gifted me someone that I see a lot of myself in. Ray was my son, but he was nothing like me; he had no drive and refused to work or get his hands dirty. I’m getting old,
and I need someone to leave this all to. And it should be you two. Your aunt and her bloodline were finished when she slept with a white cop. I don’t do cops, and I don’t do rules,” Socorro explained as we sat quietly and listened.
I ended up wiping the floor with Donny in chess, and we actually had a good time.
We ate carne asada tacos with corn, and the food was delicious.
The girls ate too, and Socorro brought out tequila with a snake inside.
We got drunk, and he took us down to the water where we sat drinking wine and Coronas.
I was chilling, enjoying the breeze and the view, while Junie and Gold were on the front throwing ass and making Instagram videos.
“I got to go to the U.S. and get me one of those,” Socorro joked. Me and Donny laughed and fist-bumped him.
“Long story short, I’m giving you 200 bricks. Clover, you’re in charge; teach your brother how to move the weight. And Don, don’t fuck up. Stay focused, and don’t let a motherfucker take a thing from you. You’re smarter than you think you are, you’re my blood,” he said, signing off.
“Bring me 25 percent and I’ll keep your water flowing.”
He pulled us up to a villa on the boat. “This is where y’all will be staying—my vacation home.”
When we got inside, the villa was gorgeous and sat right on the beach. “Well, all I want is to see y’all in church tomorrow,” Socorro said. “And yes, y’all got to come. I need y’all to put Christ in everything you do and ask the Father to forgive y’all sins.”
Socorro got back on his boat and left. I walked into the kitchen—there was plenty of fresh fruit, so I started cutting some up. “Tammy,” I called out.
She walked into the kitchen. I picked her up, sat her on the counter, and fed her a piece of pineapple. She moaned, I guess because it was that good, and I kissed her. She started kissing me back, and I moved my hand down to her ass, getting really into it.
“Mhmmm,” someone interrupted.
I looked over. Junie’s bratty ass was standing there with her arms folded. “The fuck you want?” I asked, highly irritated at being interrupted. “Gold, you said we were going to walk the beach. Why the fuck are you in here about to let this man get you pregnant?” she said, shaking her head.
Gold got up and left with Junie, acting like I wasn't standing right there with the fruit I had just cut up.
I put the fruit back in the fridge and yelled for Donny.
He ran into the living room. “What, nigga?”
he asked, still on the phone with Silk. “Let’s go to the beach.”
“Nah, Silk's got three Spanish vibes from the club. I’m trying to get to know them so we can chill when I get home.”
This nigga was dumb as fuck, so I had to remind him.
“We are on a beach with plenty of bad Spanish hoes. You'd rather get beat up at home than hang out in paradise?”
I said, smiling, knowing damn well Junie was going to kick his ass and max out his credit cards if he tried her.
Junie was a lot of things, but she wasn't stupid.
Me and Donny hit the beach, and it was packed.
We saw so many small businesses right on the sand—people selling food, drinks, and all types of things.
I spotted Junie first because she was loudly propositioning a lady who was making drinks.
She and Gold had a plate of grilled fish, rice, salad with avocado, and lime.
I sat by Golden, and she fed me a piece of her fish.
It was bussing, so I told the lady I wanted whatever they were having.
She fixed me a plate and handed the girls pi?a colada slushies spiked with tequila.
I just ate because I didn't want anything to do with coconut.
After we ate, we jumped on jet skis and had a great time before heading back to the villa to take shots, shower, and go to bed.