Free The Cartel 3: The Last Chapter by Ashley and JaQuavis

although they had trapped his body, the feds could not contain his hustle. They had taken him off of the streets, but he had brought the streets to him.
    He easily brought his product into the prison, and now he was running a lucrative heroin operation while locked up. The one thing that the game had taught him was that everybody loved money, and as long as everyone ate, things ran smoothly. Using a bitch as a mule was a sure way to get caught, so instead, he put correctional officers on his payroll. They brought it into the prison for him, and Zyir ensured that they were compensated properly with an anonymous wire transfer into each of their personal bank accounts. The guards were making more money working for Carter than they did on their day jobs, which made them compliant with all of his requests.
    Carter wasn’t flashy, however. He got money low key, keeping just enough to keep his books full, and then had the restdelivered to Zyir, who was putting it toward his case. He kept to himself, and spent his time reading books. He knew that the only person who truly cared about his freedom was himself, so he educated himself on the law so that the system would not be able to jam him up. He refused to let the feds lock him up and throw away the key.
    As he sat silently on his bed, he peeked up at his cellmate. He knew that the Mexican cat did not like him, and the feeling was mutual. Carter would much rather be in a cell alone, but the overcrowding issues of the prison made it nearly impossible. The two never spoke. They kept a respectable distance from one another, always keeping their interactions to the bare minimum. They were a part of two different worlds, and because they had respect for the game that they both played, they had established an unspoken truce. What Carter did not know was that Garza had been watching him, and he had the power to offer Carter what he desperately craved—his freedom.
    Carter sat alone at his table in the cafeteria as he ate silently. Although other members of The Cartel were incarcerated with him, he felt no need to be friendly. They were there for his protection and only his protection. He didn’t need another man to keep him company; his thoughts were enough. Miamor plagued his mind, as did the current state of The Cartel. They needed a plug and needed it bad. The low quality heroin he was running through the prison was not potent enough for his outside dealings. Scarcity made it acceptable inside the walls, but on the outside, it was a completely different game. Zyir and Mecca were grasping at straws trying to secure other connects, but nobody was willing to mess with them. Everyone was afraid of the repercussions of being associatedwith The Cartel. He was carrying huge burdens on his shoulders, and being locked up made him feel powerless. Detaching himself from the outside would be the only way that he would become accustomed to prison, but with Zyir, Mecca, and the responsibilities that came with being the leader of The Cartel it was hard to block it out.
    As Carter ate, he watched an inmate approach his table. Carter continued to eat, unfazed as one of the members of The Cartel got up from the table next to him. His goons were never out of arm’s reach.
    “Hold up, homeboy,” the loyal affiliate stated as he stopped the inmate in his tracks.
    “Yo, I’m not on no beef shit. I know better than to beef with this man. I just came to rap with him for a second,” the inmate stated as he pulled a carton of cigarettes out of the top of his jail jumpsuit. The cigarettes were a sign of respect. In prison, money did not come easy, so the fact that the little nigga had spent a nice chunk of his commissary on them bought him a moment of Carter’s time.
    Carter’s goon looked at him for approval, and Carter nodded his head for him to let the boy pass. The goon patted the inmate down for good measure to ensure that the visit really was a friendly one.
    “Carter, I’ve heard a lot about