“Talk to me!”
Mama moves her arm and runs her fingers through her short, dark, wavy hair. She grabs the coffee cup and takes a drink. She holds it and stares at me with sad eyes.
“Mija, si. Your Dad is alive. I left him because I didn’t want you exposed to that life. I worked hard to become a nurse, and your Dad respected my decision. He has always sent money, but I asked him to stop visiting when you turned three.
“What the hell! Are you serious? I have a Dad, and you kept him away from me,” I yell, pacing around the kitchen and running my fingers through my hair.
“Si, I did. I don’t regret it because you’ve been able to live a normal life.”
“Right. But now the Cartel wants me, for who knows what. The thug said that I’m the Cartel’s property! What the hell! This is a nightmare,” I hiss, closing my eyes, running my fingers through my hair, and pulling it back.
“Your Dad will resolve this. Mija, don’t worry.”
“Oh my god,” I yell.
Mama walks over and hugs me, crying. She buries her face on my shoulder. After a few minutes, Mama pulls away, scrubbing her face. She crosses her arms and looks at me.
“Mija, I’m so sorry. But you need to be careful because if that man said that the Cartel Boss wants you, it must be true. I’m going to call your Dad, and I promise that I’ll make him stop this nonsense.”
“Oh, Mama, I hope it works because I’m terrified of that man and the idea of the Cartel trying to own me.”
One
Anatoly
Days later.
“Anatoly, I need you to handle the Cartel; they want to meet up to explore the opportunity of doing business with them. They want us to sell their fucking Snow, and I don’t think that’s what I want to get involved with or the Cartel,” Pakhan says, tapping his fingers on the desk.
My gut turns, and I grind my molars. Fucking Fuentes's words run through my mind.
“Da, we don’t need to get involved with the fucking Cartel; they’re fucking crazy,” I hiss, shaking my head slowly.
“Da, I don’t like the idea, but I don’t want to snub the Cartel without looking into it and getting the specifics. That Capo Fuentes saved your life, so that means we have a contact that we can work with,” Pakhan says, grabbing the cigarettes from the table.
“Da, but we’re doing good with the Ecstasy, ammunition, gambling, and all of our other businesses,” Czar says, looking at his monitor.
Da, we buy the Ecstasy from Canada, so we don’t need to sell Snow. Most people don’t know that Canada is one of the top three world suppliers of the fucking Ecstasy and weed. Nobody fucking talks about that, only about the southern border.
“Da, I’ll look into the dark web and gather intel,” I hum, nodding.
“Great, you do that, and let me know. I have to meet Valentina at the doctor's. The babies are getting their vaccine injection,” Pakhan says, pushing off his chair.
“I’ll take care of it,” I say, typing on the keyboard.
“Brat, I’m going to help Mia so she can take an hour to relax, but I’ll be back,” Czar says, pulling on his suit jacket.
“Da,” I hum, not bothering to look at Czar.
Two
Georgina
I need to hurry, but there is no way I’m not asking Mama if she talked to my Dad. I can’t be living like this, looking over my shoulder for the boogie man. It’s surreal; the mafia, the Mexican mafia, wants me. That’s fucking bull shit, I’m not the Cartel’s property.
I grab my backpack and leave my room to talk to Mama.
“Mama?”
