Page 68 of When It’s All Said And Done

“Because them niggas fuckin’ on each other,” I exposed as I gave the signal by chucking up the deuces. Within seconds a bullet shot through the window before entering Fernando’s head. He dropped to the floor instantly as Juan watched in horror before he attempted to pull his weapon. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, unless you wanna be shot too.”

I gestured for him to look down and when he did he saw the red dot on his chest. As it dawned on him that he wasn’t a few steps ahead, he looked at me with disbelief. The puzzled look on his face was sweet satisfaction as the doors of the library opened and in walked Rafi. I made my way over to Nina who was visibly shaken and utterly confused. Rafi looked at all of us before walking over to Juan.

“Father, they are tryin’ to ambush us and steal product,” Juan lied.

“If I wasn’t hip to your bullshit I would’ve believed everything that just came out of your mouth,” Rafi grimaced before Juan tried to defend himself. “Silence! I ignored the mutters of you being a maricón. I looked over that because you were my son. However, I cannot look over the fact that you killed your own brother. How could you?”

“Javi was in my way and him startin’ a family only kept me further away from the throne. I had to do what needed to be done.”

“And so do I. End him.”

I grabbed at my gun by Fernando’s dead body as Juan realized what was going on. He tried to draw his weapon, but I was too quick and shot him twice in the head. When his body fell to the floor, I felt good to be able to give him what he deserved. I stepped over his lifeless body to make my way back to my mama. She was still shocked as she looked around the whole library.

“What the fuck?” She finally mumbled. “H-H-How the fuck? And when the fuck?”

“A master plan that came together,” I had begun to explain. “After I handled my lil’ situation, I reviewed everything you left behind. I noticed in a few pictures with Fernando and Juan that they seemed a lil’ too buddy buddy. And when I overheard him talkin’ on the phone that day I got all this stuff he called somebody daddy but in a sexual way. Unbeknownst to him, I went through his phone when he left it in the car unlocked to pay for some gas one day. The date and time showed it was a call to Juan. Since you told me he had a bodyguard that he was fuckin’ and used to take down Javi I figured that could have been Fernando. So, I put another plan in motion with the help of Chance. He touched down a day before us, and I went in already thinkin’ that Fernando was a snake once it was confirmed I had Chance shoot him. That was after he’d given Rafi a copy of the recording. So, even if something were to happen to one of us, he knows the truth about what Juan did to Javi. I had us covered the whole time, Ma.”

“And you couldn’t tell me about the new plan?”

“Nope, I need it all to be as authentic as possible. I didn’t expect that nigga to lay hands on you.”

“Tuh, you are more like your dad than you know. Thank you, baby.”

“Speakin’ of his dad, Nina, why didn’t you tell me I had a grandson?” Rafi inquired.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d believe me. I wanted to get all my ducks in a row before I came to you about one son killin’ the other, and you havin’ a piece of Javi still on Earth.”

“From the first time I saw him, I felt Javi’s presence. Aside from the resemblance I just waited for one of y’all to confirm my suspicions. So, you’re my grandson huh?”

“I guess so,” I confirmed as he stood in front of me before extending his hand for me to shake it.

“Well, good because now I’m going to need to train you to lead our family’s business.”

“Nawl, I’m good.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m good with the position I got and being in the States. You’ve already had a leader under yo’ nose the whole time. Nina has been trained, knows all the players on the board and has been more loyal to this family than yo’ own flesh and blood. In all honesty she’s the rightful leader of the Santiago cartel and I’ll happily follow her lead until she chooses to step down. And once that happens maybe I’ll consider the position.”

“You know what,” he chuckled. “You really are Javi reincarnated. That’s an answer I’d expect from him, and you couldn’t be more right.”

“Wait, Rafi what are you sayin’?” Nina asked for clarification.

“If I can trust you with my own life then I can trust you to lead the Santiago Cartel. Are you on board with that?”

“It would be my fuckin’ honor!”

“Great, I’m goin’ to send a cleanup crew in here to take care of the bodies. Nas how ‘bout you retrieve yo’ lil buddy in the hills so we can have dinner together.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, and Nas?”

“Yeah?”

“We gotta discuss when I’m goin’ to meet my great-granddaughter too.”

“That can be arranged.”