LogCartel: La Vida Coca-Jason-4

Game log for the 2017/12/17 session of Cartel: La Vida Coca, as taken by Jason

After Diego and Maria mess up a bunch of Zetas, the retaliation is quick. A few of our street guys are found with burning tires around their necks. We lie low for a couple days to regroup and let our profile drop a bit.

The neighbors ask Santiago to be their rep with the next landlord. Santiago somewhat compemptuously tells them that he's just passing through, and that if he tries to strongarm someone and then leaves, it will be worse than if he never got involved.

Santiago decides that there's no alternative but to make deliveries personally, to make sure to get the product to the dealers. Our first guy tells us he needs more protection, but Santiago counters that he should treat this as a chance to show that he can protect himself. The dealer gets the message and vows to prove that he's worthy of our trust. On the way back to the trailer, Santiago tells Maria to cook up something more extreme, so we can skip the cycle of escalating violence and go right to decisive battle.

Yolanda goes to talk to the neighbors and find out why they wanted protection. They're worried that the criminal element might creep in if nobody's keeping them out, and the crooks draw la migra.

Maria thinks maybe bombs would be the logical next step. She knows Daryl could make them, but not who to target. She arranges for lunch with Javi the next day, while Dsryl whips up some explosives.

Javi's a little concerned by the scale of violence already demonstrated. He's not enthused when Maria breaks the news. He does suggest that Sr. Guzman might be a worthy target - he keeps all his boys in a specific apartment building, and his cooker is over in a known industrial area. All those places will probably be under surveillance from other authorities, such as the DEA.

Maria decides to right to trying to blow up Mr Guzman, and she tracks him down at home... where his niece is celebrating in quincenera. She decides to gift-wrap the bomb and add it to the pile of gifts. The news spreads instantly and the Zetas mobilize. Javi calls and he's pissed as hell. Maria, of course, denies any knowledge of the situation. Guzman's nephew Armando inherits the business.

Santiago gets permission to give raises as needed, and then sets up another meet with Javi. Javi takes the deal, more money for more resposibility.

Maria's next move is to target the apartment building. With all the activity, there will have to be meetings, and if she can blow up the meetings, the death toll will be significant but also specific.

Daryl convinces the Crips to get their blow from us instead of from the Zetas, and the quality of the product speaks for itself. In exchange for a guarentee that availability won't be a problem, they'll get product only from us, and only see on the corners they have no, no more poaching our turf or interfering with our guys. Santiago tells Maria to keep the Zetas running in circles for another couple days while the transition happens, so that by the time they realize the Crips aren't buying from them anymore, the new deal will be a fact on the ground. Maria has the moral flexibility required to handle that task.

Yolanda tells Santiago that the family should take up the offer and work with the neighbors to provide protection. He dislikes the idea, because it would mean the neighbors interacting with us more, whereas he just wants to get out. He further opines that these people could take care of themselves if they weren't so goddamn gringified. Kazim Dova then comes to the door and introduces himself as the new landlord. He sexually harasses Yolanda until Santiago tells him about Mexican family honor and invites him to fuck off.

Maria finds that the cooker has extra protection now, but she figures they're still letting delivery vans in, and once she was in, stealing a car and blowing through a gate in all the commotion would get her out. She asks Santiago to get her a van, and a simple call to the cartel makes that happen, no problem. She decides to add a little extra fun by putting a propane tank in the van and duct taping a bunch of extra frag to the walls. As she goes to make it all happen, she gets stopped at a checkpoint. She tells them a story about being lost and trying to find her sister's storage unit. She guns it and plows through, messily. The guards open fire. Of course, for Maria, the outbreak of gunplay is kind of a relief. Gunfire always works for her. She jumps out just in time, as the bomb predetonates. This scale of violence is always good for drawing heat, but somehow, Marida contrives to get away clean, even as the scene starts to resemble something from Baghdad. Daryl's a little appalled by the size of that explosion.

Santiago goes to the street level to make sure that the deal is holding up on the street. It's all good, and the fact that the jefe is on the street doesn't cause any problems. Javi reaches out and suggests they meet to discuss ways to take advantage of the opportunity. Santiago says he'll meet but he wants to let things settle a bit before he comes out.

Friday rolls around and Dova wants payment. Yolanda drops it off by slamming open the office door and tossing the payment on the desk. He likes her fire and tells her they should be friends, so that he could help her with a bigger trailer. She tries to slap him, but he blocks it, slaps her back, and pins her to the table. She flips out and starts screaming, and when he lets her up, she goes running back to the trailer, screaming the whole time, with the new Dova in pursuit. IShe gets through the door and Santiago intercepts Dova. Dova blusters and shows the butt of his pistol. Santiago tries to be cool, but Dova pistol whips him. Daryl drives up just after Santiago gets knocked back through his trailer door.

Daryl grabs a beaker of acid and goes walking over to the trailer. He sees the new Dova standing over Santiago, who's down on the floor with a big bruise on his head. Daryl tells Dova he killed the cousin and he'll do the same to the new guy if he does't get the hell out of the trailer. Dova, at a loss for words, gets caught looking when Santiago kicks the gun out of his hand while he stands up. Dova goes for the gun, and then Daryl breaks the beaker of acid over his big bald head. Dova, blinded, drops to his knees screaming, and then Yolanda executes him. Then Maria shows up.

Maria, angry that Yolanda just killed a guy in the trailer where we leave, attacks her. I mean, she spent like a day in a sewage pipe trying to avoid the cops, finally makes it home, and there's a dead guy in the room? What the fuck, Yolanda? Maria takes the opportunity to vent a little stress.

So, time to leave the country. Yolanda's educated voice and Daryl's gringo-ocity make getting away easier. On their way out of town, Santiago decides to put Diego in charge of Albuquerque.