C H A P T E R | ELEVEN
MONEY, POWER, RESPECT
𝙲 𝙰 𝚁 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁 𝙼 𝙴 𝙺 𝙷 𝙸
"SO we're talking about a 2.3 million dollar deal fellas," Carter said as he stood from his executive chair in the company of several international businessmen. After his chance of meeting with Mr. Hamilton at the restaurant that day where he saw Koko and her father, Mr. Hamilton, he was approached about an interesting investment that he knew would benefit him. Although he had static with Aiko, that wasn't about to stop him from getting his paper spread. If Mr. Hamilton wanted to talk business well then, Carter was all for it.
Mr. Hamilton had always been impressed by Carter's ingenuity, his innovative attitude, and his ability to flip money into ten times the profit he started out with. He talked Carter up to a few of his investors in Japan and it was all smooth sailing from there. Now Carter stood at the head of a table filled with suited businessmen from all parts of Japan with their translators, who came to hear why they should bring part of their business to America and allocate monies to him.
"So as you see here," Carter stood at the head of the table, talking with his hands, "This investment is full proof. If you're looking to expand your businesses here in America, clearly I'm your man," he licked his lips and shrugged his shoulders, "The research, the financial planning, background - - all of it speaks for itself."
"I'm impressed," said Mr. Hamilton, "And I'm willing to put my money up and invest in the project," he turned to his co-owners who didn't speak a lick of English and spoke to them in his limited Japanese vocabulary. Carter couldn't do a thing but grin as he looked at them conversing in the language and one of the senior owners, Mr. Toshina, looked at Carter speaking fluent Japanese.
"What's that he's sayin'," said Carter as Mr. Hamilton stood up, "You know I haven't learned Japanese yet," he laughed as Mr. Hamilton extended his hand to Carter.
"He says he's willing to put up a million more than the starting price," Carter looked to see the man grinning and nodding as Mr. Hamilton spoke with Carter, "3.3 million - - he was highly impressed with everything you showed him here."
"Well I can't argue with that there," Carter extended his hand to the senior owner of Toshina Corp and shook with Mr. Toshina himself, "Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Toshina," he knew it would go that easy - - no one in their right mind would have refused a deal like Carter's; it was full proof.
Carter's professionally manicured hand graced Mr. Toshina and Mr. Toshina returned the firm hand shake with his own and a Japanese thank you as well, "If there's nothing else," Mr. Hamilton said, "I guess we'll be wrapping up here," one by one they all filed out of the office conference room as Carter stayed behind and stood in front of the long floor to ceiling windows that overlooked Manhattan.
He held one hand in the pocket of his Prada suit pants and unbuttoned his matching Italian suit jacket as he looked over the city with a satisfied smirk on his lips. He was so deep in thought he didn't even hear Alana come in the room; he didn't know she was there until she tapped his shoulder with a cigar waiting for him. Her fingers opened the wooden box that the Cuban cigars had been shipped from Cuba in and he grabbed one of the neatest he could find.
A small silver device she held in her hand clipped the end of the cigar that he held between his plush lips and then came the flame of the lighter. Carter's money green eyes watched as the flame burned the clipped end of the cigar and watched as Alana's phat ass switched its way out of his sight and out of the room. He smirked at the thought, turned his back and took another toke of the cigar. The quality of the tobacco was unreal - - fit for a king and the taste was impeccable.
Carter's green orbs stared at the busy borough of Manhattan as he inhaled the tobacco and kept one hand in the pocket of his checkered Prada suit looking like a model fresh off the catwalk in Milan. He had the height going for him, the expensive threads, the polished modelesque look yet he was far from any runway's model, he was just physically gifted and fashionably arranged.
Carter took pride in his clothes; he'd always been that way. His appearance meant a lot to him and he always wanted for expensive things - - especially clothes, even when he was a child. He remembered what had motivated him to start making money as superficial as it may have seemed. It was a pair of sneakers that Carter had wanted the second he heard they were coming out - - sneakers that he just had to have but knew he'd never have the money to buy.
It was funny how a pair of hundred dollar sneakers started a chain reaction in Carter and made his hunger for money more and more impossible to ignore. Now, he had enough money to buy the entire state of New York sneakers if he so pleased. He rarely even wore sneakers now anyhow - - that was the fashion he sported back when he was a young cat in the game but moving on up meant a change in attire and mentality. The gritty Brooklyn boy was still inside of Carter but he had evolved into a more professional, polished figure with a notable shit load more money.
"Nigga just made, 3.3 million dollars in less than forty-five minutes," Carter said to himself as he chuckled and held the cigar between his manicured finger tips and watched it burn, "Never felt betta'," he said laughing and looking at the city.
It reminded him of how it all started - - that one person who took him under his wing and showed him the basics of the business and what it took to create an empire. He owed everything to this one man who had the world at his fingertips and his money, power, and respect was what made Carter admire him at his tender young age.
A teen was when it all started for Carter, when he was taught EVERYTHING that he knew by the one person who anyone would tell you knew it all and ran all of the boroughs of New York City and Jersey beyond from the late 80's, 90's and well into the early 00's. His name was one well known and respected universally - - Midknight.
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New York, December 2003
His birth name was Shawn Knight but the streets knew him as Midknight, which was highly coincidental in and of itself because Midknight had one of the lightest complexions in the color spectrum. He had been around the block and back and made a name for himself heavy in the streets since the narcotics boom of the 80's and stomped out the competition so that no one or nothing was touching Midknight in his moments of glory.
He hailed from the streets of Brooklyn - - Brownsville to be exact, and grew up in the same projects there in Brownsville that Carter now called home. He knew the struggle yet somehow Midknight managed to persevere through all the bullshit that Brooklyn threw at him and now he was like a cash cow, sitting on more money than the bank could possibly hold. In Carter's eyes Midknight was everything that Carter admired and wanted to be. He was the father figure that Carter never truly had and the guiding light that Carter needed in his life when everything seemed so dark.
Many times, Carter felt trapped - - he felt like he'd never get out of the cage that Brownsville, poverty, and his circumstances attempted to trap him in but he looked to Midknight and saw that there had to be a way out because after all, Midknight had made it out and he'd done so gracefully with money to blow. Still, Midknight always reminded Carter that he never forgot Brownsville and that although he'd moved on up he still had Brooklyn in his heart and encouraged Carter to have the same mindset when he left the hood.
Midknight knew that Carter had promise and ambition and though Carter was just a teenager, a young one at that, Midknight knew that one day his apprentice would follow in his footsteps and be just as successful if not more successful than Midknight was himself; Midknight just had to show Carter the ropes and teach him hustler's etiquette and he intended to do so.
Carter would be Midknights star pupil when it was all said and done and he was sure that Carter had what it took to handle the game the way it should have been handled. Though Carter was young at the time, he thought with an innovators mind and possessed a hustler's hunger - - there was no doubt about it, Carter was hungry.
Standing in the middle of Midknight's foyer entrance to his lavish upstate New York estate was like standing in the entrance of the White House. Everything around teenage Carter was expensive, lavish, elegant, and fit for a king. Carter's sneakers alighted the Persian rug that led him to one of the parlor rooms where he saw beautiful pieces of artwork placed on the walls like some kind of art exhibit.
He walked softly as he waited for Midknight to appear; he had told Carter that he needed to stop by his house for a moment before they went out and handled business for the day. Midknight had told Carter that he had something special lined up for the both of them and that it was mandatory that Carter be present for it.
Coming from a two bedroom apartment to a beautiful home that was Midknight's was like going from hell to heaven - - Midknight's place was what Carter had always dreamed of but knew he'd need a wing and a prayer to achieve. The more Carter saw of Midknight's personal life, the more Carter wanted to attain the money, power, and respect that Midknight seemed to have so effortlessly. He was a heavyweight in the game, an OG and Midknight had surely paid his dues being that he was in his early thirties at the time - - he had been around a while which made it easier for a teenager like Carter to look up to Midknight.
He thought Midknight knew everything there was to know about being successful and like a sponge, Carter just wanted to soak it all up and learn whatever he could, whenever he could. That was what Midknight loved about Carter - - he wasn't afraid to learn and he had no restrictions - - Carter wanted to learn it all if he could, no matter how long it took because Carter was determined to be successful.
Carter's finger swiped over a piece of expensive sculpture that he saw sitting in the parlor and looked up when he suddenly heard yelling from down the hall. It was the sound of a woman and Midknight arguing and when he heard the voices he knew automatically that it had to be Midknight and his wife Joy that were arguing. Midknight and Joy had been together for years and in all the time Carter had known him he knew Midknight genuinely loved his wife yet he also knew that Midknight had a habit of having little flings with women on the side.
However those flings never amounted to the love that he had for Joy and they never would because Joy was his first and only love as far as Carter knew.
"That's not the point Shawn!" Carter heard Joy scream from down the hall and watched them in the hallway secretly, "The point is you're doing it and I know you're doing it. You think I'm stupid? The girl shows up on my doorstep and I'm stupid, Shawn?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about," Shawn shrugged his shoulders calmly and collected as he usually was - - nothing ever took Shawn out of his cool demeanor, "I don't even know the girl," Carter watched as Shawn's tall figure dressed in business casual stalked down the hallway, "Carti," he heard Midknight call his name and Carter immediately straightened up and came out of hiding, "Carti you ready?"
"Yeah," said Carter as he licked his lips and grabbed his fitted from the table, "I'm ready," hesitantly, Carter looked back at Joy who stood in the middle of the hallway watching he and Midknight as they headed for the foyer, "Um, nice seeing you again Joy," Carter said respectfully as he watched Joy swallowing her angriness for Midknight's infidelity and putting her strong face on.
Joy touched the collar of Carter's coat and fought her tears as she looked him, "Nice seeing you too, Carter," she said, "You make sure you come back and come see us for dinner sometime, huh?"
"Yes ma'am," Carter said and smiled and then turned on his heels and followed Midknight out the door and into an all white Benz. He closed the door and sat there with his fingers drumming against his denim jeans as Midknight started the car, "Everything okay with you and Joy?"
"Yeah," he blew off the comment as nothing, "You know how she is - - some bitch showed up at the house - - I don't know how she got the address but - -,"
"How did shorty even - - the crazy one?"
"Yeah," he shook his head, "That's her."
"Damn," Carter looked out the window as he saw the light snow from this morning's snowstorm accumulating on the side of the road, "Was it the truth?"
"Was what the truth?"
"Was Joy right? About the bitch that she said showed up - - crazy shorty."
"Oh," Midknight watched the road, licking his lips, "Yeah - - I fucked her but you know how that goes. It wasn't never anything deep or meaningful - - you know how girls like that are," Carter nodded, "I learned a lot about women in my days," he chuckled, "I'd never disrespect my wife blatantly like that," said Midknight, "I'd never bring home what I do out in the streets - - back in the city - - home to Joy like that," Carter nodded, listening knowing that was the truth.
"What you gonna do with the crazy bitch? I mean, what if she comes back and starts some shit with you and Joy again?"
"Do what I always do," said Midknight in a calm voice, "Teach her a lesson," he said, "Sometimes you gotta show your sideline exactly what her position is so she don't forget it again and if she's crazy enough to get amnesia again," he shrugged his shoulders as he drove, "Only one thing you can do."
Carter laughed as Midknight drove, "What's that?" He asked.
"Cancel that bitch," they both shared a laugh as Midknight said that and cruised the two lane highway on the way back into the city, "You don't treat the one that you love with the same respect that you treat the one that you fuckin'. Don't forget that, young blood."
Carter rested his head on the window as he laughed, "Never man," he said, "Never," there was silence for a few minutes before the city skyline brought Carter to speak, "Where we going anyway?"
"I thought me and you should take a break from work for a day."
"Huh? But I thought you said you wanted to handle that beef you had over in Spanish Harlem with them Colombians? I thought that's why you brought me - -,"
"Nah, man nah," Midknight said to Carter, "Forget about alla that for a second huh," Carter looked over at his mentor and motivation to do better for himself as Midknight parked the car, "I wanna take you somewhere I been meaning to take you."
"Why are we here," he looked around, "The mall?"
"Well I wanted to stop here first," he said, "Then we'll hit Barney's in Manhattan and Macy's men's department."
"You know I can't afford shit in here," Carter laughed and looked around at the ritzy upscale shopping area, "Armani, Prada, Versace? Why here?"
"Because if you want respect you gotta look like you want it, young blood," Midknight said as they got out of the car and walked toward the entrance of the exclusive shopping district that white faces frequented far more than black which meant the two stood out just a little more than usual, "Which means," he took the fitted off of Carter's head and Carter brushed his hand over his fade, "You need some new attire."
"I like my clothes though," said Carter as he looked himself over all the way down to the fresh Jordans on his feet that he worked hard to buy, "I can get respect in these," he shrugged, "And if niggas don't respect me I'll make 'em."
"And how do you intend on that?" He said chuckling, "You can't just go strong arming niggas whenever you feel like it and if its real respect you shouldn't have to MAKE them do anything - - they'll just respect you.
"Good afternoon Mr. Knight," a woman at the front of the Versace store said to him as she opened the door for them, "Pleasure to see you again."
"Same to you," he said as she nodded toward him respectfully, "See that," said Midknight, "Respect."
"Hmm," Carter thought as he watched Midknight's immaculately dressed figure walk inside the Versace store, "I guess, so man."
"What size suit do you wear?"
"Suit?" Carter looked at him, "I'ono," he shrugged his shoulders, "I'on have one."
"Well then I guess we'll start there," said Midknight as he waved over one of the tailors, "I wanna get him sized up," he said to the tailor, "It's his first time so I wanna make sure it's extra sharp."
"Yes sir," the tailor nodded, "Right away," he looked at Carter, "Right this way please."
"Don't worry," Midknight put his hand on Carter's shoulder as Carter looked at Midknight skeptically, "Go ahead with him - - it'll be painless, young blood. I promise," after staring at Midknight for a moment Carter nodded and decided that he would go ahead with it, "Watch, you'll come out here looking like a new man."
"Yeah either that or an old man," he laughed and dodged Midknight's shove in time for the joke Carter had made, "I'm just sayin' don't be havin' me out here lookin' like grandfather time and shit, Knight," he slowed up and touched one of the fine Italian fabrics, "Yo, this real Versace?"
"Yeah, nigga it's real," Midknight said laughing, "Quit playing around and go get fitted for your suit so we can pick up some other stuff in the city."
"Yeah aight," said Carter as he smirked and walked off with the tailor, "But son I swear if you set me up I ain't wearing a thing outta here, yo," Midknight stood there with his hands in the pockets of his designer dress pants as he watched Carter walk away from him and into the back knowing that everything that he said, Carter would internalize because of the respect and admiration that Carter had for Midknight - - and there wasn't a thing that could shake that respect.
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Carter left the Manhattan office and decided to head home to New Jersey where he knew Des and the girls would be getting ready to have dinner. The treads of his tires stopped in the long drive-way right before the water fountain in the front of his home's foyer. His Italian leather soles hiked up the stairs and he opened the front door to the sound of Destini talking loudly and apparently frustrated. Carter closed the door, smelling the scent of food as he entered and the sound of his soles clicked down the marble hallway and lead him to the kitchen and the dinning room.
"Daddy!" Khloe jumped up from her place at the table and dropped her fork, racing to Carter's tall suit clad figure and wrapping her arms around his legs.
"Hey baby," he smiled down at her, rubbing her long curly hair and kissed her forehead, "How was school today?"
"It was good for me," she said smiling as Carter heard Destini and her mother arguing in the kitchen, "You smell good, daddy" she smiled and laughed as Carter made a loud sound by tickling her neck by blowing with his mouth and nuzzling with his nose; he always did it to make Khloe laugh, "Dadddyyyy, can I ask you somethin'," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck while he held her.
"You can ask me anything," he smiled his infectious smile at her and touched her nose with his finger, "Ask away."
"Well it's somethin' I wanna do - - but I thought you would tell me no."
"Oh God," he closed his eyes, "Please don't tell me you want your nose pierced already. Or a tattoo," he opened one eye and looked at her playfully, "Please don't let it be a tattoo."
"Nooooo," she laughed, "Promise you won't say no first," he smiled and stroked her hair telling her he couldn't promise that but he promised to listen, "Kay, welllll - - I wanna take ballet. Daddy I wanna be a ballerinaaaa," she whined as she wiggled down from his arms, "We had career day at school and this lady came and she was a dancer and I wanna take lessons so I can be like that too," she rambled quickly, "I wanna learn how to do ballet like her."
Carter turned his head and looked into the kitchen hearing Destini and her mother arguing again and narrowed his eyes, "Baby," he said looking away from her distracted, "What's going on in there," he pointed to the kitchen, "Where's Brooklyn?"
"Upstairs in the playroom," said Khloe, "Mommy said she had to go up there for a little while and she was gonna talk to you when you came home."
"Talk to me? Talk to me why? What for?"
"Brooklyn got in trouble again," she confessed, "This time it's biggggg trouble," that was all Carter needed to hear before he went toward the kitchen, "Daddy wait! You didn't tell me if I could do ballet yet!"
"Yeah baby, whatever you want," said Carter, as he went toward the kitchen, highly preoccupied, "What the fuck's going on in my house?" Carter bolted into the kitchen and the minute Destini's mother saw him she quickly stopped talking. Destini turned around and looked at her husband standing there in the middle of the kitchen and licked her lips shaking her head.
"Where the fuck have you been, Carter?"
"What the fuck do you mean where've I been - - Destini I asked you a question," he said, "Soon as I walk in the room, you hit the fuckin' mute button and shit - - the fuck are you in here hollerin' and hootin' about?"
"I'll see you later Destini," said her mother as Carter inched closer, "Carter," she said to him, "See you," she didn't want any confrontation so she made a beeline for the front door and left Carter and Destini to their issues.
"Now you tell me what's going on," said Carter, "What's your problem, Des?" Carter grabbed Kayden from her arms and kissed her cheek as she sucked her fingers.
"Don't come up in here like you ain't been ghost, Carter," she said sharply to him as she slammed down the handle of the sink spout, "I barely seen your ass for two weeks and you come up in here demanding to know shit."
"That's what this shit is about?" He laughed, "I just closed a 3.3 million dollar deal with Toshina," Carter said, "I told you that I was gonna be back and forth while I handled this deal with these Japanese niggas - - I told you that," he said, "So don't sit up here and act brand new. I don't have time for your shit, Destini. Honestly I don't," he turned his back and started up the staircase with Kayden in his arms knowing it was her bedtime.
"No," she said, "You don't get to just walk away, Carter!"
He rolled his eyes and opened the bedroom door and then placed Kayden down and pulled up the covers as she lazily blinked at him with her thumb in her mouth, falling asleep. Carter kissed her cheek one last time before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door, "Destini, I told you what I was gonna be doin'," he shrugged his shoulders, "So I don't really know what your problem is and I'm not really sure if I care."
"You go in that room and look at your daughter's face and you tell me you don't care," she said as she pointed down the hall, "Go ahead."
"What the fuck are you talkin' about?" He said irritated.
"Brooklyn."
"What about her?"
"Like I said," Destini folded her arms, "You see for yourself."
"BK!" Carter hollered from he and Destini's bedroom, "Come hea'!" A few seconds later he heard Brooklyn's little feet inching toward the bedroom and then he saw her fingers wrap around the door, saw her curly hair sticking out from the crack in the door but he couldn't see her face.
"Yes?"
"Come all the way in," said Carter, "Where I can see you."
"Daddy I don't wanna - -,"
"Inside." Carter said sternly, causing her to push open the door after a few seconds and trudging inside with her head down, "Your motha' says there's somethin' I need to see. Khloe told me you got in trouble at school," he said, "Now you tell me what's goin' on."
"I'ono," she shrugged her shoulders, "I'ono."
"You'on know?" He curved his eyebrow, "Look at me," he said, noticing that she was holding her head down, "Whatchu' lookin' at the ground for?" She shook her head no and stared at her socks, "Brooklyn," Carter reached his hand down and grabbed her chin and tilted her head up, "Oh my God," he narrowed his eyesight at the black ring around her right eye and then looked at Destini and then back at Brooklyn, "How the hell did you get a black eye, BK?"
"I'ono," she shrugged.
"Well, 'i'ono' got shot," Carter said as he curved his eyebrow at her angrily, "Come up with somethin' betta' than that, Joanna," he said calling her by her middle name, "Where did you get that from?"
"Fightin'," she said, "This boy was talkin' shit - -," she rolled her eyes and looked away, "This boy was talkin' bad about me so I did whatchu' said daddy," she said, "I beat his ass. He hit me once but - - I still beat his ass."
"Brooklyn watch your damn mouth," he said pointing at her, "Why did you think it was okay to be fightin' in school?"
"What was I 'posed to do?!" She stomped and sucked her teeth, "Daddy! He started it! It wasn't my fault!"
"They want to kick her out of school for this shit Carter," Destini chimed in, "There's a meeting with the principal Tuesday morning," she said, "They're gonna decide whether or not she can stay."
"The hell if she doesn't," Carter said, "I pay tuition out the ass for the gotdamn school, there's no way in hell she's gettin' kicked out of it - - over my dead fuckin' body," he looked down at Brooklyn, "Go to your room - - it's bedtime but you ain't nowhere near off the hook. Me and you are gonna have a LONG talk in the mornin'," a few seconds later he heard the door close and he paced the floor shaking his head. "
I have yet to understand what the fuck is wrong with that child," Brooklyn had always been a trouble maker but recently it seemed as though she'd been getting into a lot more trouble at school. The girls went to a private Christian school a few minutes from their home in Jersey - - needless to say the tuition was through the roof, "Why didn't you tell me about this when it happened this morning?"
"I hate it when you talk about her like that," Destini said, "Like she's got some kind of disease or some shit - - Carter she's a kid and kids do shit like that but you know if you were here a little more you'd know what was going on in your child's life. Maybe if you didn't blow through here like the gotdamn Samsonite man you'd see her behavioral issues a little bit more."
"What the fuck are you comin' at me like that for? Like you're straight bitchin' like somethin' else is wrong with your ass - - the fuck is your problem Destini? The fuck is this really about?"
"Well I went to the store to get some things to cook dinner for you and you know your three children that I just happened to have," she said sarcastically, "And you'll never guess who I bumped into."
"Fuck these games right now, Des," Carter said as he tightened his jaw, "What the fuck is this about?"
"Fuck the games?"
"Yeah fuck the games!" He said angrily over his shoulder, "It's been a long day, I'm tired, and I don't want to deal with this bullshit."
"Okay," Destini said as she stepped in his face, "Fuck the games then," she tilted her head and looked him in his deep green eyes, "She told me all about where you've been spending your free time - - that Japanigga was smiling all up in my face - - and you just chummy chum chum with the bitch!"
"What THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"
"Aiko fuckin' Hamilton!" Destini screamed, "She told me everything - - she told me all about Milan - - she told me all about fashion week - - ALL about ya'll fuckin' in France like you ain't got a gotdamn ring on yo' damn finga'! Carter you lied to me! You fuckin' lied to me!"
"Des I don't - -,"
"How long," she said, raising her hand in his face to shush him, "How long have you been fuckin' her," Carter refused to say anything, "How fuckin' long! ...You lyin' mah'fucka," all Carter could do was look away and shake his head as he licked his lips and knew that he had a situation on his hands, "You slimy lyin' ass mah'fucka!"
It didn't take long to put two and two together. Aiko's vindictive ass was mad at him about how he had distanced himself from her and now she was out to fuck with Destini and his marriage. It was all good though because he knew what he needed to do - - it was just like Midknight told him years ago when he and Joy were having problems; Carter would have to show his sideline her role because obviously she'd forgotten it and he definitely intended to remind her no matter how much it hurt.
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