The Demise by Ashley & JaQuavis

and for your son … for Money’s son, too. You know I wouldn’t have made that type of move had I known what was up. But giving yourself up was the wrong play, ma. Men like Baraka don’t hand out pardons. He lost his daughter. Your blood ain’t enough. He wants Carter to feel the loss of his legacy. He would have killed your son whether he had you or not. I wasn’t about to sit on the sidelines and let anything happen to you. It ain’t in me,” Fly Boogie said. His face was so close to hers that when she spoke, their lips touched.
    â€œWhy are you here with Murder?” Miamor asked.
    â€œShit is complicated,” Fly Boogie said.
    â€œUncomplicate it,” she shot back.
    Fly Boogie swept a hand over his face. “I met Murder years ago in Miami. He paid me to infiltrate The Cartel,” he admitted. He left out the part about knocking off Carter. “I got sucked in. I got close to Carter and then Carter went away and I got close to you. I left Miami and said, ‘Fuck Murder.’ I didn’t look back. He showed up here a few days ago. I helped him snatch you.”
    Miamor shook her head in disgust. “So all this time you were just his bitch? You were his spy? His flunky? Reporting my every move to him? What was the endgame? Huh, Fly? Were you going to kill me? Or was bringing me back to him the plan the entire time?” she asked.
    â€œHell no, I wasn’t going to kill you, ma!” Fly Boogie defended himself. “I wanted you for myself. I started feeling you. You know that. The shit between me and you got heavy. I would have never—”
    â€œYeah whatever,” she said, cutting him off. “I just need to go back. I need Carter,” she whispered.
    â€œIt always goes back to him,” Fly Boogie scoffed as he stepped back. “You literally have niggas waiting in line for you, ma. Niggas that will go to war for you … and you keep crawling back to the one who fucked you over. You’re worth more than that, but whatever, ma. It’s your world.”
    He stepped back, giving her space, and smashed his finger into the elevator button to allow them to descend. In her heart she knew it was too late to save her son, but until she heard the words fall off Carter’s lips, she would hold on to the little hope she had left. God please just give me a miracle. Please let Baraka spare my baby, she thought. As if Fly Boogie could read her mind, he said, “Your son is gone, Miamor. I’m not saying that to hurt you. I just want you to be prepared for what you’re going back to. I don’t want anyone else to see your breakdown. So process it now … feel it now so that when you walk into the church, they won’t witness you fall apart. You’re a queen, ma. Can’t let that crown fall.”
    *   *   *
    The cemetery was peaceful on that day. The birds chirped, and a faint breeze blew over them as Carter, Monroe, Breeze, and Zyir gathered in front of Leena’s solid gold casket. Three framed pictures sat behind it. Carter couldn’t even bring himself to look at them. Leena’s smiling face along with C.J.’s and Mo’s were lined up next to one another. Only Leena’s body had been recovered. Baraka had never had the courtesy of burying his daughter, so he didn’t extend the opportunity to Carter and Monroe. They were forced to memorialize their children instead. Carter kept hoping this was a nightmare that he would eventually wake up from. The finality of his reality was too much to deal with. His son was gone. His nephew gone. Leena gone. Their deaths marked a change in him. He was gone. His soul was so damaged that it felt as if he would never be the same again. The cadence of his heartbeat had changed. Everything hurt. Even the thoughts that ran through his mind caused him unbelievable pain. He just wanted it all to end. Carter had been living wrong. He had