Chapter 11 #2
Uncle Reuchie was still on ice, orders of his firstborn.
Matteo wasn’t playing with his ass about stepping down and being a fucking father and grandfather.
He called it “retirement,” and I supported it, but in times like this, I could use Reuchie.
He was the one to help mold me for this Don shit.
I didn’t learn shit from my daddy but what not to do before I killed his ass.
Uncle Reuchie set up moving the Rinaldi Mob to Jagoda Bay and helped bridge connections with the Mecanio Mob and the surrounding mobs.
Now, he spends his days chasing behind Pearla and Princess.
When they weren’t paying his ass no mind, he was on the golf course, or auntie was dragging his ass across the globe to shop.
Unbeknownst to Matteo, his daddy was texting me every fucking day trying to get back in.
But what my cousin said went because, although this was my shit, I respected Matteo and Rut too much not to consider their stances on certain shit. They were some real day ones.
“What about that Cuppacio nigga? He gone stay low until we get what we need to make a move?” Rut asked as he tapped his fingers on the thick wood.
Shio Cuppacio. Choir Boy. With his slick but not-so-slick ass.
Before I decided to merge mobs with the Cuppacios by letting Ezio marry Jisei, I had to think really hard about the possible consequences. Through all the years that I’d considered bringing the Cuppacios on, my hesitation wasn’t because I’d killed their fathers. It was because of one Cuppacio—Shio.
The nigga was calculated, intelligent, efficient, and God-fearing.
Niggas that feared God were a different type of crazy.
He was the type that knew he was going to Heaven so anything fucking went during his time on Earth.
I always had to be extra careful around the nigga because, unlike his duck-duck-goose-ass cousins, he had some type of love for his pops, and vengeance was real.
I didn’t know Solana was on that bugger sugar, but knowing that she was had me smiling.
It served his one-step-ahead ass right to have some turbulence in that mind of his.
Giving him an ultimatum almost felt as good as busting a nut in Dasani.
“Fuck you over there smirkin’ ’bout?”
“Shio… He’d be a good asset. A good replacement for Reuchie, actually. But he gotta pass the assignments I gave him. We know that nigga is just as bull-headed as the rest, but he thinks he’s smarter than a fucking fifth grader, so he might go against the grain just because he feels like he can.”
Matteo grunted. “That’s cuz that black-ass nigga is smarter than a fifth grader.”
“Facts. I fuck with the other Cuppacios, but it’s a damn near a shocker that they share blood with him.
The nigga is like a fuckin’ sponge. All he do is sit back and soak up shit…
Be playin’ the background like he don’t know we know his ass playin’ the background.
How you think the others gone feel about you possibly pulling him higher up in the ranks than them?
Cuz, technically, if we're going by rank, Ezio is supposed to get that spot.”
“Would you want Ezio’s pill head ass to take Reuchie’s spot?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Hell nawl!” both men replied in the same tone.
“Exactly. Besides, my sister wouldn’t go for that shit.
Reuchie’s position requires more time from the crib.
It will have to take a special type of man to be able to juggle all of it.
It’s going to take a man of discipline—a go-getter.
One that not only knows how to communicate and problem-solve, but the nigga need to know how to handle being stretched thin.
If I give Ezio that seat, I won’t hear the end of Jisei complaining. ”
“I’m with Dasani… Jisei really the one runnin’ shit.” Matteo smirked, trying to get under my skin.
Rut kissed his teeth and chuckled. “And Pearla’s young ass don’t run shit? She got all y’all niggas goin’ crazy, and while y’all worried ’bout her, she was somewhere worried ’bout Grind.”
I looked at Rut. “Nigga, hush. You just mad you’n got a sister.”
“Nigga, yo’ mind going bad. Yo’ ass done met Reesh. My sister solid as fuck,” Rut replied, but he wasn’t getting a response out of me until I made Matteo eat his words. Besides, Rut may have had a sister but she wasn’t up in the mix.
“I can’t help that i’m the one the ladies call on. They know Big Don gone come through in the clutch when the rest of you niggas somewhere mean mugging and mad at the world and shit.”
“You thought you ate that?” Matteo mugged me. “Nigga, you want Pearla to be yo’ sister so bad… Be more worried ’bout my sister than me. Fuck is you sayin’?”
This time, I kissed my teeth. “Yo’ big grown ass talmbout some ate that. You be in they faces just as much as me, nigga!”
“Y’all both crazy ’bout y'all sister and each other sisters. We got that shit established. Let’s move on,” Rut stated, trying to diffuse the situation, but it was too late.
“I’m the better big brother. Just face it. Don’t get mad at me cuz yo’ lil’ high-school-ass sister boy crazy.”
“Fuck outta here! Pearla ain’t studyin’ these niggas. ’Least my sister gangsta. She bussin’ shit. Only thing yours doin’ is runnin’ through yo’ pockets.”
Matteo loved hitting below the belt, but I had something for his black ass.
“Aite.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “You call Pearla, and I call Jisei, and let’s see whose sister gone pick up first.”
Matteo picked his phone up from the table, accepting the challenge.
“And put that shit on speaker, nigga,” I said while clicking on the phone keypad.
I knew Jisei’s number by heart, so I typed it in while Matteo was doing the same thing. We both placed our phones on speaker and set them on the conference table. When they began to ring, we watched each other until both lines went to voicemail.
Rut roared in laughter. “Mane! Y’all ridiculous. They might be busy.”
“Busy doin’ what? They ain’t got no jobs or no fuckin’ bills.” I spat, picking up my phone and ending the call. “Aite, now you call Jisei, and I call Pearla.”
“Aite, childish-ass nigga. You just wanna get yo’ feelings hurt today. And Jisei do got a fuckin’ job. A career actually,” Matteo informed. Like he was telling me some shit about my own sister that I didn’t know.
“And when the last time she clocked in at that fuckin’ career you so speak of? Exactly.”
We dialed the numbers out again, both of us knowing them by heart. The phones stopped ringing at the same time as we heard both women speak.
“Hey, cousin!”
“Yes, Teooooo? You must got a new bag for me?”
I grinned, and Teo shook his head.
“Pearla, what you doing? Where you at? Who you with?” I asked my new favorite cousin.
“Ummmm, can I answer one question at a time?”
Matteo was so busy listening to my conversation that he hadn’t replied to my sister.
“Pearla…” I warned.
She sighed. “I’m leaving my dad’s. I’m alone.”
“Goin’ where?”
“To get my hair braided, Demise.”
“Aite send me the location.” I grinned at a brewing Matteo.
“You already got my location, cousin.”
“Yeah. I know… Just makin’ sure you on yo’ toes. Send me a picture when you get finished. I wanna make sure they ain’t played in yo’ head.”
I was talking, but my fingers were moving on my screen. I sent her a thousand dollars via Apple Pay and disconnected the line after she squealed.
Jisei sighed loudly into the receiver before screaming, “Matteo! Why did you call me just to hold the phone?”
“Why you answer for this nigga and not me, Jisei?” I spoke up as Matteo’s mug started morphing into a creepy-ass grin.
“Ummm… Brother?”
“Nawl. It’s our dead-ass daddy. Answer the question!”
Jisei coughed. “I haven’t gotten no call, brother. I swear…”
Matteo’s ugly ass was smiling the hardest he’s ever had as I scowled at his phone.
“You a lyin’ fool! And ion see yo’ location no more either. Jisei, don’t have me come to that gaudy-ass, pink festival-looking house you got.”
Matteo’s smile dropped as if he’d had a revelation. “Why the fuck you got my sister’s location, nigga? Ion got her location.”
“Same reason you got my sister’s, nigga.” Our sisters were clearly playing us, but Jisei knew I’d put my foot in her ass. Matteo was still getting to know Pearla, so he had to tread carefully. “Jisei, I’m ’bout to call you. Hang up on this nigga.”
The screen lit up, indicating that she did as I asked.
“See, I can’t even call yo’ sister without her begging. I miss when she was poor and grateful for a wave.”
“Like I ain’t just send yours a stack.” I huffed.
“Nigga, cuz you a duck. I gave her the money for her hair yesterday, and the shit only cost three hundred. You done paid for braids for the whole squad.”
I shrugged. “It’s all good. If the three musketeers want braids, then braids it is. It’s plenty more where that came from.”
“I ain’t runnin’ out over here either, nigga.”
“Yeah, aite. That’s why my house bigger than yours.” I smiled at Matteo because he had yet to expand onto his house since moving there from the condo.
“Y’all stupid, yo. I got shit to do so let’s get back to Shio… Is your mind made up, Don? He gettin’ Reuchie seat?” Rut swerved the conversation back on topic.
Instead of responding, I was watching Matteo with a smirk.
With the rate his fingers were moving, he was more than likely texting Pearla to turn on her location for him or a realtor to find a house bigger than mine.
He had to accept that we were both close with each other’s sisters, but I was the more likable person with more disposable money.
Matteo was rich, but he was mean as fuck.
Money, marriage, or Lil Gas Station—as he called Princess—hadn’t made the nigga any less mean.
Turning to face Rut, I finally replied, “Nah… Ain’t shit set in stone. We gone see how this shit play out. If he handle everything how he supposed to, he got the position. If not, then I’ll do the job myself.”