Chapter 11 #2
They were both asleep. My parents didn't do separate bedrooms like most couples who’d been together nearly 30 years.
My father, Kadeem Carter had always said a man keeps his woman close at night, no matter how old you get.
My mother was on her side, back to the door.
My father was on his back, one arm draped across her waist even in sleep.
I walked over to my father's side of the bed and sat down on the edge of it the same way I'd done when I was younger and something important needed to be said that couldn’t wait.
It took him ten seconds to feel a presence in his room and jump straight into that mode. Instincts were a muthafucka.
His eyes came open alert like a nigga who had trained himself to go from sleep to ready in a heartbeat. He looked at me sitting on his bed in the dark and his whole body went tense.
"Something happened," he said. Not a question.
"Yeah," I said. "Something happened."
He started to sit up slow, trying not to disturb my mother. But her eyes were already opening. She'd heard his voice shift and that was all the warning she needed.
My mother, Zuri Carter's eyes snapped open and she went from sleep to fully awake in half a second. She sat up, looked at me, then looked at her husband, and I watched her run through every scenario in her head in the time it took her to blink.
"What?" she said. Just one word. But it carried everything.
I told them everything. Told them about the body at the gate.
Told them about Darius. Told them about the note.
Told them about pulling the footage and identifying Elijah Reeves.
Told them about going to Fort Worth at 2am.
Told them about what Elijah gave up before I handled him.
Told them about the shipment coming in four days with a drop location and time.
I watched my father's face while I talked. Watched him process every word. His expression didn't change much but his eyes did. Something moved behind them when I said Brick Boyz. Something that told me he already knew this shit would come. Already knew who was behind the car. Already knew why.
But my mother.
My mother's whole body went rigid the second I said we'd gone to Fort Worth.
"You went where?" she said, sitting straight up in bed, pulling the covers back. "You took your men where without telling us?"
"Ma, let me finish—"
"Finish? You took yo ass to Fort Worth, to a niggas home without authorization? Without a plan? Without backup that we coordinated? And this was to get back at South Dallas niggas.” Her voice wasn't loud but it was sharp as a knife. She was already reaching for the phone on the nightstand.
"Zuri," my father said quietly, but she waved him off.
"Don't 'Zuri' me, Kadeem. Our son just went to war without telling us." She was dialing now, her fingers moving fast. "Who do we need to call? Who needs to know about this right now?"
I watched her. Watched her shift into operation mode the way she always did. This was Zuri Carter in her element — calculating, decisive, dangerous. She was already making moves before I'd even finished talking.
"I got Mars securing the message," I said. "I got street soldiers spreading word about Elijah moving independent. By sunrise—"
"By sunrise won't matter if Brick Boyz retaliates before we're ready. We not talking about business men on our level! You talking about reckless niggas with nothing to lose!” she snapped.
She was already on the phone. "Get me everyone in the south end.
I want teams on every block Brick Boyz might move through.
If they come at us again, I want them met before they reach the gate. "
My father was watching her. Watching her run his operation like she had for over twenty years. Watching her move pieces on a board that wasn't hers to move anymore.
I stood up.
"Ma," I said.
She held up one finger. Still on the phone. "I don't care what you're doing right now, I need you at the warehouse in thirty minutes. Full inventory. I want to know what we have, what we can move, and what we're protecting."
"Ma."
"And get word to the Rivera’s—" she was still talking, still moving, still in complete control.
"MA."
She stopped. Looked at me. The phone was still at her ear but her eyes were on mine.
"Hang up the phone," I said. Firm and direct
My mother didn't hang up the phone. Zuri Carter didn't take orders from anybody, including her son. But something in the way I said it made her pause. She finished her thought with whoever was on the other end in three clipped sentences and hung up.
"What?" she said, and there was an edge in her voice that said she didn't appreciate being checked.
"I handled it," I said. "You don't need to make those calls right now. And no disrespect, but those are no longer your calls to make.”
My father sat up slowly, watching the two of us.
"We absolutely need to make those calls—" my mother started, but I cut her off.
"No," I said. "We don't. I went to Fort Worth.
I handled that issue. I've already got the message out through the streets.
I've already got Mars handling cleanup. I've already got the shipment location and time.
" I paused and let that sink in. "You taught me how to do this. So now I'm doing it. You mad because I moved without you, but you forgetting that a threat was sent to our front door! You would have done way worse than I just did. You are only mad because I didn’t let you make that call. You forcing this marriage and a kid on me just so I can prove I’m ready. Now, you gotta learn to sit back and let me show you that I am.”
My mother's jaw tightened. She looked at my father, then back at me.
"You're stepping into something that—"
"I know what I'm stepping into," I said.
And my voice was cold now. Cold in a way that made even my mother sit back slightly.
"You and Pops spent years preparing me for this.
For exactly this. For a situation like this.
So I'm not going to sit here and explain every move I made to you like I'm still a boy asking permission. "
Kadeem was watching me now. Really watching me. Like he was seeing something he'd been waiting to see.
"The shipment comes in four days," I continued. "I'm going to intercept it and handle whoever comes with it. Same way I handled Elijah. After that, I'm coming back here and we're going to talk about the next move. But I'm making the calls now. Not you. Not yet."
My mother opened her mouth. Closed it. The phone was still in her hand like she wanted to pick it back up.
"Zuri," my father said quietly. Just her name.
She looked at him. Something passed between them — years of understanding, of her running things, of knowing when to push and when to hold back.
She set the phone down on the nightstand.
"You need more men," she said finally. Not a question. A statement. "I can have twenty ready by sunrise."
"I got what I need," I said.
"You'll need backup for the intercept."
"I got Namier, Mars and the team Zaire put together. They solid, no question about it. That's all I need."
She didn't like it. I could see it all over her face. My mother didn't like not being in control. Didn't like being asked to step back. But she was smart enough to understand what was happening. Her son wasn't asking for her blessing anymore. He was telling her how it was going to be.
"What about Brick Boyz?" she asked. "What about retaliation? You a big boy, so you say. You ready for that? Or you gone need our saving?”
"Let them come," I said. "They already know who I am now. They already know I'm not playing. Let them show up on my compound again and the bloodshed gone flood the city. I don’t need saving, them niggas will though.”
My father nodded once. Just once.
My mother looked between us, and I watched her recalibrate. Watched her shift from being the one in charge to being the mother of the one that’s in charge now. I knew she didn’t like this shit. They wanted to retired, but didn’t know how to sit the hell down.
"Son. I want you to know that I trust your call and your judgment. This isn’t something I expect you to jump straight into though. This ain’t what I pictured as the start of you stepping into your position. If you got it, then I’ll stand down. Just let me know.” she asked.
"I know what I’m doing. If I don’t send a message and dead this with my name attached, that’ll make muthafuckas think new management is something to play with. I’m doing the complete opposite.”
She sat back against the headboard, her arms crossed. Her eyes were still sharp, still calculating, but the immediate need to control the situation had passed.
"Then handle it," she said. "And Kaseem? Don't come back here telling me about losses you could have prevented because you wanted to prove something."
"I'm not proving anything," I said. "I'm taking over."
She almost smiled at that. Almost.
I turned to my father. "Elijah said Brick Boyz moved into our territory intentionally. Said you shut down business with them months ago. He made it sound like there was more to that story than business not working out. They made it clear that now South Dallas is theirs and that’s why Darius got killed.
Them niggas ain’t taking nothing from us but bullets, and that’s on my life. "
Kadeem's expression didn't change. But his eyes did. That same something moved behind them.
"We'll talk about that tomorrow," he said. "After you handle the shipment and the smoke is clear, we’ll have a real sit down."
"Aight," I said.
I stood up and walked to the door.
"Kaseem," my mother said.
I stopped and looked back at her.
"Don't get killed over this," she said. And underneath the words was something else. Underneath was pride. She wanted to scare me into backing down but there was two things my mother had to do. Let go of the throne, and let her baby boy step into position and spread his wings.
"I won't," I said.
I left their room and walked back down the hallway toward the front door. Behind me I could hear my mother already whispering to my father, probably about what moves to make from her end, what to prepare for, how to handle things while I was handling things.
But she wasn't making calls.
And that meant she understood.
Her son had just claimed his place.
Through all of this, my mind kept falling on Tattiana and how she really come through with the quickness for a nigga. She was hiding something. I needed to know what it was. She wanted her privileges back too damn bad. Where would she go?