No Room for Mercy (3 page)

Carmella knelt down and felt around in the grass until she found the
small handle and pulled up on the hidden door and quickly climbed
down the stairs and entered a narrow tunnel. She reminisced about her
days as a child when she and her brothers used to play hide and go
seek as she walked, slightly crouched over. The tunnel, with its
concrete flooring, walls and ceiling with its dangling light fixtures
that flickered on and off, seemed much bigger, but she was a mere
child the last time she’d walked this secret passage.

Damenga and Alphonso always seemed to disappear whenever she had to
find them during a game of hide and seek. Carmella never knew where
they were hiding until Damenga pulled open a door inside a horse
stable, climbed down inside and led her down a tunnel towards another
set of stairs on the opposite end one summer morning.

Carmella climbed the ladder and opened the door and saw her mother
pouring water onto flowers beside her newly erected water fountain on
that day and realized that their home had a secret passageway. Only
members of her family knew of the tunnel, which was to be used during
a raid or other unforeseeable danger, and Carmella was sworn to
secrecy by her mother and father that very same day.

That was the summer of 1984, Carmella was only five years-old at the
time, but she remember those days as if they were yesterday. She
missed her brothers dearly; and wished that they’d waited for
her to recover fully in Denver before they went after Ben Holland
because she just knew they would’ve killed the man and gotten
away. Smiling while reflecting upon greater days long gone, Carmella
reached the opposite end of the tunnel and climbed the ladder, opened
the door and stepped up into the last stable inside the family’s
barn.

Quintessa Lapiente` was brushing the mane on a brown mustang and
talking calmly to the animal when she heard the movement in the
stable next to her. She slowly turned and looked towards the floor,
and when she saw those stylish boots her daughter were known to wear
appear before her eyes, she sat the large brush down, turned around
and faced Carmella and said, “
Casi
lo mataron, tus hermanos con a una muerte prematura en Estados
Unidos, pero debe continuar el negocio, Carmella.”
(
You were
nearly killed, your brothers met an untimely death in America, but
business must go on, Carmella.)

Fifty-eight year-old Quintessa Lapiente` and her husband, Fabricio
Lapiente`, who’d been killed shortly after Carmella was shot in
Memphis, were among the first to set up a pipeline directly from
Colombia to America. Many other smugglers used planes and boats to
transport their drugs. The Lapiente` family, however, drove their
product into America from Valle Hermoso on their own trucks. For
nearly two decades they’d been funneling drugs into the United
States. They were an infamously violent family with roots that spread
all the way back to Colombia, the country where they’d
originated.

“Yes, Ma-Ma. Business must go on and I’m ready.”
Carmella said as she walked over and hugged her mother tightly.

“You look very beautiful, Carmella. Your brothers would be
proud.” Quintessa said as she removed her gloves and ran the
back of her hands across her daughter’s face.

“We have a lot to make up for in America, Ma-Ma.”

“I know everything you know and more. DeAngelo has been keeping
me well-informed. Mister Holland can’t be reached for now and
he hasn’t any children. Until we can touch him, we focus on the
things we can control.”

“I visited the factory and the old neighborhood before I come
here.”

“I know. DeAngelo showed you the operation and I trust you know
of our new arrangement in Sinaloa?”

“Si, Ma-Ma.”

“We have enemies who have grown strong on the north side of
town. They’re friends of a man we once did business with, so
that makes them our enemy,” Quintessa said as she grabbed
Carmella’s arm, the two beginning a leisurely walk out of the
barn into the openness of their land.

“I have everything under control, Ma-Ma. We’re going to
hit all of Gacha’s men on the north side and kidnap the mayor’s
youngest child and bring him here until we can negotiate a deal that
will allow us to begin shipping our product back to Houston.”

“You know as I got older, as I got older, I believed that the
dark side of the business would be a thing of the past, but for
twenty years now we’ve been a part of a cycle that grows more
violent year after year. The only thing that ever changes is the
names of the dead and dying.”

Carmella said nothing as she walked beside her mother, who wore a
tight-fitting white jockey uniform, black knee-length leather boots
and a small, black felt fedora-style hat. Quintessa had a certain
grace about herself. She was an educated woman, having attended
college in Mexico City and earning a degree in agriculture. It was
fair to say that Quintessa, who was the older version of Carmella,
with her shapely figure, auburn hair, tan skin and brown eyes, was
the driving-force behind the Lapiente` family’s business
endeavors in Mexico.

Good living had aged Quintessa Lapiente` well; she looked years
younger than fifty-eight. She continued talking about days long
passed as she and Carmella approached the man-made lake on the
property where they walked along the shore towards a medium-sized two
story second home on the property that lay on the opposite bank.

“Again you are going to have take lives here, and in America,”
Quintessa said as she stared at a few ducks floating by near the
shore. “You need to be careful how you move in America. Don’t
stay in one place too long, Carmella. Use the homes your brothers had
there and remain behind the scenes as much as possible.”

“Si, Ma-Ma. This is nothing new for us. We’ll be fine.”

“Hit those that stand in our way where it hurts,”
Quintessa said as she hugged her daughter, the two of them remaining
silent as they approached Damenga and Alphonso’s graves. “Where
it hurts, my child.” she ended as she and Carmella knelt before
their family’s tombstones and entered into a deep prayer.

CHAPTER TWO

A DAY IN THE LIFE

“No hang ups out there, baby?” Naomi asked as she poured
Doss an afternoon glass of wine.

Doss and the big three had arrived on the ranch a couple of hours
earlier, fresh off their job from Las Vegas and he and Naomi were now
discussing the intricacies of the family’s latest hit in the
comfort and security of Ponderosa inside Doss’s private room.

“T-top,” Doss said as he looked to the floor and rubbed
his chin in deep thought, “one of the marks asked Tiva out on a
date and she accepted.”

“What happened?” Naomi asked as she peeked inside the
duffel bag Doss had sat atop his bar counter and eyed rubber-banded
stacks of hundred dollar bills.

“She went out and had dinner with the boy and handled things
okay, but those guys were small time. Wiser marks would have picked
up on what was going down. And ‘the lure’ isn’t a
move I like to make. Haven’t done that since ninety-four.
Overall, the kids did well, but we stayed longer than I felt needed.
The second phase went off without a hinge, though.”

“You need me to talk to Tiva?”

“I handled it on the ride home, baby. I think they understand.”

“Okay. Doss? Martha came and questioned me about what we talked
about may happen the day you and the kids left.”

“Whether we were actually going to Chicago or not?” Doss
asked as he sat down on his main bar stool.

“Yes. She asked me what was going on exactly and I told her
what we agreed to—that you all were going to Chicago and that
was all to it.”

“You think she believes you, baby?”

“She’s taking me at my word at best, but I think she’ll
figure it out.” Naomi replied as she slid into her husband’s
arms.

“If she does? I think she’ll be okay with it given her
resume`. What about Twiggy?”

“Those two are close so it’s a chance Twiggy knows what
Martha knows,” Naomi replied as she rubbed Doss’s
muscular biceps. “But Irene has never asked about things and I
don’t think she ever will. All she wants is to be able to drive
for the family. She wants us to buy her a truck so she could run
freight for us. I suggested she train Martha so the two could drive
together.”

“Slick,” Doss said with a grin on his face.

“What?” Naomi asked as she leaned back and smiled.

“It’s good you don’t want your sister involved, and
it was slick to get her to drive trucks. She’ll be gone for a
while.”

“I don’t want Martha involved. Not now anyway, because if
she learns now she would want in and she’s just coming home
from doing seven years. It’s too soon and I’m not even
sure I want to tell her, Doss. She can learn to drive and make money
legitimately for now.”

“Sounds like a real good plan. You think Martha will go for
it?”

“She’s already agreed,” Naomi said through a proud
smile. “I’m looking into trucks in Des Moines through
Zell’s old connect. This will be a good diversion for Martha.
It’ll keep her and Irene busy and away from our other business
right now.”

“If Martha and Irene want to work for the family in a legit
fashion I say give them jobs. Let’s make it happen. Our cut on
this job is a quarter million dollars. The family back in Chicago
gets a hundred large and ten kilos at no charge on the next delivery.
Can you wash all this money clean for everybody in a timely fashion?”
Doss asked as he scanned the money, which totaled $350,000 dollars.

“I left the books clear to cover a third for now. I’ll
put the rest in the safe. It’ll take about two months.”

“Well, let our family up north eat first, okay? You the best,
baby,” Doss ended as he kissed his wife’s lips before he
and Naomi toasted towards another successful job completed.

*******

The bulk of the family was out on the patio having just eaten grilled
ribs, steak and chicken to celebrate Doss and the big three’s
return while Doss and Naomi were inside talking. Martha was sitting
on the brick wall bordering the patio watching things unfold. Doss
and the big three had been back for a couple of hours now and things
seemed okay; but it was something about Dawk, Bay and T-top. Their
demeanor had changed entirely upon their return. They seemed more
serious in Martha’s eyes; and they were always together,
talking lowly amongst themselves and growing silent whenever a family
member approached. They would then resume talking when they knew they
were out of earshot.

Martha was dying to know what was going on with her oldest nieces and
nephew because it just looked as if a trip to a warehouse in Chicago
was not what was actually going down when they left the ranch with
their father. Something inside was telling Martha that there was much
more to the story.

Whatever Naomi, Doss and the big three were involved in, they were
obviously getting away with it and had been doing so for a while in
Martha’s eyes. She bit into her rib and then eyed Mary and
Regina, who were engaged in their own conversation, totally unaware
of the changed behavior in Dawk, Bay and T-top. Naomi and Doss
reemerged on the patio, and Martha at that moment, not wanting to let
on that she was suspicious of the conduct of certain family members,
got up and walked over and sat down at Mary and Regina’s table
and joined the conversation.

“And then Ne`Ne` said, ‘Dimples you can take my English
two test and I can take your Biology quiz!’” Regina
remarked as she laughed aloud. She then went silent and eyed her
mother, awaiting a response.

Mary didn’t say anything, however; she only smiled as she
stacked her fork with lettuce and cucumber and dipped it into a dish
of ranch dressing.

“You not gone say nothing, momma? You not mad we was doing
that?” Regina asked.

“Girl,” Mary said once she swallowed her food, “me
and Martha used to do that all the time in Tuscaloosa. Martha,
remember when we used to take each tests in high school?”

“I remember them days,” Martha responded as she peeked
over towards Doss and Naomi, who went and sat at a table a ways off.

Dimples grew quiet and eyed her mother meekly.

“What?” Mary asked. “I know that look. What’s
on your mind, Regina?”

“I been wondering about my daddy lately.”

“I bet he ain’t wondering about you, Regina!”
Martha snapped.

Mary looked over to Martha and sniggled slightly before she turned
back to her daughter and said, “Your daddy is God knows where
doing God knows what, Dimples. It’s been twenty-five years now
since I last seen him. And in that span of time he’s lost one
daughter, has a grandson he doesn’t know exists and a step
sister who hates his guts.”

“I never been nothing to that, boy. Reynard was a punk!”
Martha said as she waved Mary off.

“People change, Auntie.”

Martha curled her lips and stared at Dimples. “If that man
cared, he would not have done what he did to your momma. Remember
that, okay?” she said as she stared her niece in the eyes.

“But, I’m just saying he might not be the same person,
Auntie.”

“So what are you getting at, Regina?” Mary asked.

“I don’t know.” Regina sighed as she shifted her
plate around on the table nervously. “Sometimes I just wonder
if I have other sisters or brothers, maybe nephews or nieces out
there in the world. That is my daddy and I just wonder about him
sometimes that’s all.”

“I always told you I would never talk bad about your father and
I’m holding true to that statement, Regina—but if you’re
thinking about looking for that man ever? Please leave me out of it.”