Misunderstood (Toussaint Mafia #4)

Chapter 11

“ A wife! Ha!” Revvy chuckled as he sat inside of his office of his large estate. After being shot down by the Founding members in regards to killing off the Toussaint family, he’d been in a funk. Could barely get out of the bed however to learn that his bastard of a son was able to marry the last eligible Toussaint daughter brought him joy. For once in his life Ariz had given him something that made him proud. “Gots to say this is better than I imagined. She surely knows where Carlos bitch ass is hiding, and I need for you to get that information for me.”

“Fuck all that, them Toussaint niggas ran up in three of our warehouses and killed my men. It’s crazy how we can’t touch them, but they can touch us. I’m tired of this shit and the minute I see Ossa I’m clapping him and Nano!” Rocco based with fury, so angry that he chose to stand inside of the office instead of sit down.

Revvy ignored his sons rant as he smiled Ariz’s way. Now that Ariz was married to a Toussaint that gave him the leverage he needed to get back in the game. He pulled whiskey from the fridge near his desk and sighed.

“Rocco, please pull the thongs out your ass. You’re doing that whining shit again that I hate. Are you back drinking? You know that bottle and those dirty whores are going to be the death of you, right?”

Rocco waved him off with a frown, and Ariz cleared his throat, irritated by Revvy’s take on the marriage. More and more, Ariz regretted ever letting Revvy come into his warehouse in Detroit and ask him to trick the Toussaint’s to get information out of them. Rubbing at his thick, tapered hair, he looked at Revvy.

“I’m not here for all this soap opera drama. I was messed up off some shrooms when I married Masami. I already told y’all the Toussaint’s are like family to me.”

“No, actually we are your family and the Toussaint’s killed your baby brother. Blood is thicker than water. You marring Masami is enough to get into the mob life. Something you always wanted, and it could also be enough to save her families name. If you care about her so much and her people then throw her a bone. Tell her the truth about us and how you wanna make things work with her. Get her guard down so that you can find Carlos for me. I want that bitch of a daughter of his gone but if I can’t kill her yet, a bullet in his head will suffice. Just don’t get that fucking divorce before I have an ETA on Carlos. Are we clear on that?”

Ariz sucked his teeth as he stood, giving Revvy a curt nod before exiting the office. Rocco shook his head, frustration evident in his expression.

“He’s not gonna do any of that,” Rocco vented, sinking into the chair Ariz had just vacated. “The minute he got here, he started making excuses about why he couldn’t pull up on Ossa. He’s choosing them over us, and that’s messed up. He’s my damn brother, man.”

Revvy poured himself a glass of whiskey, studying his son as he took a sip. Very soon he would have his revenge on the Toussaint family and that was giving him great joy.

“Your brother huh? What he is, is a whores son. The minute we have a location on Carlos I will end Ariz’s life. I’ve never wanted that damn boy and the minute he’s dead the sooner I’ll be glad about it. Shit I’ll have his mom killed as well. That way, he won’t be alone in hell. Now I want you to go to that center and detox. Stay off the liquor and get your head back in the game. If you can’t pull it together, I’ll send you away like I did before. This isn’t the time for you to turn back into Rocco the drunk; we’ve got too much riding on this. If we can handle the Toussaint’s and somehow prove Yaseer was in on their dirt, we’ll be the head family, and finally, I’ll be the Don. This time around, we need proof, and I’m gonna get it.”

Rocco rubbed his waves, frowning. “Yaseer is like family to me, Pops,” he muttered.

Revvy, fed up with his son’s softness, tossed his liquor at him. “You’re sounding just as dumb as Ariz. It’s us against everybody! This isn’t some family business; it’s us or them! Now get the hell out of my face and clean up your act before I end up having you dealt with instead of your oddball ass brother,” Revvy barked.

Rocco jumped from his seat and rushed out of the office. As he closed the door, Revvy leaned back, smirking to himself.

“Carlos, I’m coming for your bitch ass. Hope you’re ready,” he sneered.

The beats, drums and instrumentals of the REDRUM played loudly throughout the bar before the beat turned up a notch and the rapper 21 Savage began to rap the lyrics to his hit song. The vibe inside of the two level bar was chill with a hustlers air to it as men of money and street status filled the establishment. Ariz moved throughout the place with his eyes scanning the bottom floor of the bar. When he spotted his childhood friend near the pool table with many of his young shooters by his side he headed his way.

Ariz pulled his Detroit denim fitted low on his head as his blue tinted wood framed Cartier glasses sat on his face. He walked towards Ossa as he leaned against the pool table beside Nano and a few other men.

“What’s good, nigga? I see you back,” Ariz spoke grabbing Ossa and his entourage attention.

“Nah, this not that. Y’all like family,” Nano said stepping towards Ossa who was glaring Ariz’s way.

Ariz gripped the bend on the front of his cap while eying his boy. Regardless of how shit happened he’d violated. Not only did he have sex with Masami he fucking married her, and he was wrong. Dead wrong and the fact that he didn’t want to divorce her made the shit worse. He had to atone for the shit he’d done to his friend.

“It’s cool, let him go Nano. Ossa wanna box, we can do that too. Hold this,” Ariz replied pulling his gun out. He passed his piece to Nano as Ossa took off his Toussaint chain. “Let’s take it out back,” Ariz replied and walked off not bothering to look back.

Ariz moved swiftly through the bar and used the side exit to go onto the northside of the building. Before the wind was fully gracing his skin, he was shoved from behind.

“Fuck nigga!” Ossa gritted, coming at him with nothing but haymakers.

Ariz turned and dodged a punch from Ossa before being hit in his chin with a powerful blow. The blow nearly dazed him as his vision blurred. Deciding to give Ossa what he wanted, Ariz put up his dukes and boxed with Ossa like they was in a ring. Ariz was able to make a few licks while Ossa seemed to unleash his fury onto him. Blow after blow they swapped punches until the men were pulling them apart. Ariz could feel his left eye swelling as he watched Ossa wipe blood from his lip that was busted open.

“Nigga fuck you want?” Ossa asked spitting blood onto the ground near Ariz’s feet.

Ariz reached down and grabbed his cracked glasses as he sighed. He hadn’t fought in years. He was too grown for that shit. He allowed for his Nina to do the talking for him. For him to have a physical fight with Ossa showed how much he respected him.

“Your ugly ass know why I’m here. Let’s go smoke and have a drink. You closed my fucking eye nigga,” Ariz grumbled.

Ossa shrugged. They glared at one another until Nano spoke up.

“Unless y’all niggas ready to shoot it out, let’s go drink. Done fucked my high up,” he frowned. “Knowing y’all not ready to kill each other. This bitch shit right here.”

Ossa shook his head before smirking.

“This nigga lucky the DEA probably watching my black ass or else I would shoot him. How you gone marry Masami, nigga?”

Ariz swallowed hard. “I was high out of my mind. You know I’d never done shrooms before. That shit had me seeing colors, feeling like I was on the set of Willy Wonka. I was gone, and so was she. Blame it on Maia—she slipped Masami the wrong dosage.”

Ossa nodded, frowning.

“Yeah I whooped her ass too until Promise tried to rush me. I had to fight him in the suite. We was in there breaking all types of shit that I ended up paying for. Nigga was strong as you. I thought I was gonna have to shoot his ass,” Ossa remarked making the men laugh.

Ariz stepped to his boy and held out his hand to dap him up. Ossa stared at his hand briefly before popping his neck. Minutes later he dapped him up and Ariz pulled his big ass into a quick one armed hug.

“Come on nigga, lets catch up,” Ariz replied pulling Ossa back into the bar.

Ariz and Ossa garnered a few curious glances as they traveled back into the bar battered from their brawl. Ariz followed Ossa over to a round table that housed unopened bottles of liquor and peanuts. Ariz swiped at his swollen eye as he relaxed in his seat. Because of his true origin of originally coming up there he wasn’t upset with Ossa. He deserved every lick his boy threw his way. However, all bets were now off. Despite what his father said he wasn’t setting Masami up in fact a small part of him was curious to see how shit would play out with her. She was no longer the younger sister of his boy that foolishly liked him. She was now a grown ass woman. A beautiful, defiant, sexy grown ass woman that he felt a kinship towards. A pull that had never fallen over him and it was enough to make a man like Ariz halt his steps.

Ariz took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully as he looked at Ossa, who was pouring himself a glass of Don Julio, his eyes still hard on him. “Look, man, even with all the stuff that went down, I do wanna apologize. She’s your sister, and I know exactly how you feel about your family. I wasn’t ever trying to be on some shady shit with her.” He placed his cards on the table, hoping Ossa would understand where he was coming from.

“I came up here to check on y’all, ran into Masami at the casino, and I’m not even gonna lie—it was different from before,” he added, feeling the weight of Ossa’s narrowed gaze on him.

“So, because my lil sister is grown you thought it was okay to slut her out nigga?”

Ariz head swerved back at Ossa’s claim.

“Nah you know me better than that. How the fuck could I ever slut out any of your sisters? That shit not in my DNA. Wrong nigga and you know that. I care about you and them too much for that,” Ariz said, shaking his head in frustration. He had invited Masami out to his truck to catch up, worried about how she was doing. “I just wanted to see how she was holding up. We had a good time together, and I was surprised by how mature she’s become.” He clearly couldn’t say, I loved your sisters vibe and wanted to fuck her in my truck because they would be shooting it out in the bar no doubt.

“The vibe was different this time. Before, she used to get on my nerves, and I never saw her that way, even though she isn’t much younger than us. But that night, it clicked for me. Masami is grown now, and I saw her as a woman who’s been through some things. She’s beautiful, and honestly, no disrespect—I felt drawn to her. Even after I left the casino and she headed home, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was wild. So, when I saw her again in Vegas, yeah, I was acting thirsty. I won’t lie; I wasn’t backing off and I was on her ass hard. I never planned on marrying her. Hell, I didn’t even want to get married before, so I definitely didn’t do this on purpose.”

Ossa tossed back his drink as he looked at him.

“Then what’s up with the divorce? Y’all can sign them papers and the shit can be done with.”

Ariz rubbed the back of his neck and Ossa sucked his teeth.

“I would joke when I said I wanted you to take her off my hands, but I never meant that shit. That’s my fucking lil sister and Masami isn’t as strong as she thinks she is. Out of all my sisters I worry about her the most, nigga,” Ossa explained making Ariz frown.

“Why?” Ariz wanted to know feeling like out of all the Toussaint girls Masami was the strongest.

Ossa exhaled as Nano passed him a blunt to light before walking off.

“From the start, my pops was messing with her head, playing all kinds of mental manipulation games, and it almost ruined her. Masami still hasn’t fully accepted everything that’s happening. She’s just going with the flow, but when that hits her, I don’t want it to be the end of her. I gotta keep her close. I’m thinking about having her come stay with me and Imani,” Ossa replied.

Ariz frowned at his friend, not liking his response. Call him crazy, but he didn’t see Masami as Ossa's responsibility anymore.

“But are you handling everything okay? I still can’t believe your mom is here. That’s all you ever wanted, and when I heard the news, I was genuinely happy for you. No matter the bullshit behind it, she’s back. How is she doing?”

Ossa sparked up his blunt, his gaze turning dark. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen her, and I don’t want to. I don’t want to talk about it either. You’ll always be like family to me, but I don’t need you to hold Masami down. I’ve got my family, and I’m going to rebuild everything that was taken from us.”

Ariz nodded, knowing his boy could handle it. Ossa was solid like that.

“I believe it and I’ll be by your side when you do it. Just because you don’t want help don’t mean you don’t need it nigga. My mom’s taught me that shit,” Ariz replied pouring himself a drink. “You really want me to divorce Masami?” he asked again, fucking with his boy.

Ossa frowned at him.

“Hell, yeah nigga,” he grumbled and they both chuckled, only to Ariz it wasn’t as easy as signing papers.

The thought of ending things with Masami twisted in his stomach, giving him the worst feeling—almost like he wanted to vomit. Nah, Ossa would have to adjust and accept things as they were because he didn’t want to let Masami go unless he absolutely had to.

“What’s the game plan now? I heard about everything that went down, and I’m sorry it happened that way. On some real shit, I am,” Ariz said sincerely, pushing aside the guilt that gnawed at him from his connection to the Chery family.

Ossa leaned back, puffing on his blunt. He took a few long pulls before shaking his head.

“Kill Revvy, Rocco, every muthafucka connected to that family and get my family back into the game. Simple as that,” he replied with a slick smirk.

Ariz swallowed hard.

“You got a kid and a wife now. It’s not just you and you also have your sisters to look out for. Plus, I heard the Founders don’t want it to be hot in the streets. Maybe you should do something different. You talented as fuck my nigga and I know you sitting on a stash. Flip it and make a new situation for you and your family,” Ariz reasoned.

Ossa frowned while ashing his blunt. He sat back and raised up his designer hoodie showing Ariz his stitched up stomach that showed scabbed over gunshot wounds. As he lowered the garment he smirked at Ariz.

“Revvy and his pussy ass son did this. Tell me if you had somebody light your ass up with bullets if you would let that shit go?”

Ariz quickly shook his head not having to think about it and Ossa chuckled.

“Then don’t come at me with that better your life talk. My family is good, and my sisters go harder than the niggas I run with. I have a plan that’s already in motion for getting my family back on track. I also have a plan to take out the Chery’s. Both of those plans will work themselves out and in the end shit will be better than it was before. You here now, and you always been my nigga so I gotta know, you still got my back?” Ossa asked.

Ariz sat up and looked at Ossa as if he was crazy.

“You already know I do.”

Ossa smirked at him.

“Then stop acting like a scary ass nigga and let’s get some shit popping.”

The next day, Ariz walked through his mother’s lavish penthouse in search of her beautiful face. He found her inside of her purse room organizing bags while singing Whitney Houston. Ariz leaned against the doorway admiring her beautiful voice as she sung about dancing with somebody.

“Why you never tried to hit the stage with that pretty ass voice, momma?” he smirked.

Daniella placed her Birkin into a cloth bag while glancing back at him. She stood and rushed to him. She hugged his side before pulling his face down so she could kiss his cheek. As she went back to her seat, Ariz noticed she was wearing a short, revealing dress that didn’t sit right in his spirit.

“What do you have on? I hope you didn’t leave the house wearing that. You do know you’re somebody’s mama, right? What’s really good around here?” he asked, stepping into her third bedroom, which had been transformed into a purse closet. Shelves lined every wall, filled with designer bags.

“Boy, don’t come in here with that mess. I’m wearing what I want to wear. You’ve been home for how long, and this is the first time you’re coming to see me? I should be whooping your ass for that,” she shot back.

Ariz chuckled, making his way over to the small lounge sofa in the room. He stretched out his long legs and sighed. Being back in Marcy Falls stirred a mix of emotions—some good, many bad. It took him back to a time when he was depressed and saw no hope for a happy future, a time when he didn’t belong. Now that he was back, he felt that same feeling rising within him.

“Revvy called me back,” he said, his deep voice revealing the weight of the moment.

Daniella stopped smiling and narrowed her eyes. She turned to face him and pushed her waist length hair over her shoulders. Her Dominican and black roots jumped out at you. She was a mixture of both, and it showed with her creamy fawn hued skin, round face and ethic features that made her the beauty she was. Her eyes held disapproval as she cleared her throat.

“I told you to never speak to him after you left. Cutting him off has made you happy and whole Ariz. He’s a snake, he’s?—"

“The nigga you chose to be my fucking father, right? Or was you chasing the paper, and he was the man that happened to have it at the time?”

Daniella picked up the closest thing to her which was a shoe and clucked it at Ariz’s head effectively hitting him with it.

“Keep talking shit and I’ll black your other damn eye. Don’t you ever try to judge me! I was young and having fun, regardless of the bad decision I made to lay down with him. I take care of you—me! And it was a good fucking life that I gave you, wasn’t it?”

Ariz nodded, instantly regretting his outburst. This was what Revvy did to him. While it wasn’t his mom’s fault, Revvy had a way of making him angry with her. Ariz reasoned now that he was an adult that it was easier for him to take his anger out on his mom because she cared. He knew that expressing his anger with Revvy about his lack of love as a father would surely fall on deaf ears.

“You’re right, and I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that bullshit. I’m sorry momma; I really am,” he said quickly.

Daniella nodded, relaxing at his words.

“Now, let’s start over. Why did Revvy bring you here?”

“To get close to the Toussaint’s. He wants them gone,” Ariz explained.

Daniella’s eyes rolled before she shook her head.

“So, he enlists the son he didn’t want, the son he refuses to claim to do that? I hope you told him to suck your dick.”

Ariz chuckled. His momma was far too pretty to be so much of a gangsta at times.

“Ma, chill. I didn’t say that, but I should have. Instead, I find myself caught up in his bullshit. Now I’m in the middle of his war with the Toussaint’s and my fucking wife.”

“Your what! What the hell is going on!” Daniella yelled jumping up. “Your what, Ariz?” she asked placing her hands on her hip.

Ariz sat up and placed his elbows onto his knees.

“Remember when you had to come to Vegas to get me out of that jam? Well, I was there with people I knew from here. It was for a grand opening that the Marceline twins was having, and I ran into Masami.”

“The girl who used to like you, right? I found all those damn love letters she wrote when you were in high school. She was a sweetie, just a little aggressive by nature. How is she?”

Ariz couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Masami. “She’s good, Ma. She’s grown now and seeing her like that caught me off guard. No lie, I was impressed and trying to get close, but not in a slimy way. We ran into each other in Vegas and got messed up. Long story short, we ended up getting married while we were high. Revvy found out and wants me to stay married to her.”

Daniella tossed her hands into the air.

“Oh, my goodness! I can’t stand his limp dick ass,” she groaned.

Ariz shot his mom a glare not wanting to hear that bullshit.

“Ma, we not that close, I don’t wanna hear about no man’s limp dick. Especially not from you but yeah, shit is crazy right now. Ossa wants me to divorce her, Revvy wants me to stay married and I don’t know what to do. I should have stayed my black ass at home.”

Daniella reclaimed her seat on her stool while nodding.

“Yes you should have. We both know that Revvy is a snake. Listen,” Daniella’s eyes softened as she looked at him. “I’m sorry that I chose him to be your father. But I don’t regret it because I made you with him. You are my greatest achievement in life Ariz. You have to let go any loyalty you have to those people. Revvy will burn you in the end, hell he probably has plans on killing you once all of this is over with. That’s the type of snake ass man that he is. The Toussaint’s have been good to you. You show love where its given. Simple as that son. Do you want to stay married to Masami?” she asked, brows raised.

Ariz shrugged and his mom started smiling.

“It’s just like God to turn something meant for evil, good. You want my advice, you come clean with the Toussaint’s. Cut off Revvy and take the time to see, if you and Masami can be a good husband and wife. I never had that, but I’ve always prayed that you would know what it was like to have someone love you, accept you and want you. I know you inwardly crave that son,” she said reading the fuck out of him.

Ariz frowned, knowing it was true but not liking it still.

“I crave money and a good life,” he retorted not liking for his shit to be out there like that and Daniella laughed.

“Save all that hard shit for the people in the streets. I’m your momma, I know your heart. I also know that you don’t have to do anything for Revvy. Leave him where he’s at, because I don’t know about you, but I’m only gone let a muthafucka play with me once. I don’t give a damn if it’s my daddy or my pastor. When people show you who they are son you believe them.”

An hour later, Ariz entered his Marcy Falls loft. The soulful aroma of delicious cooking hung in the air, making his stomach grumble. He kicked off his sneakers and found Masami in the kitchen, stirring gumbo while singing softly. Ariz swallowed hard, wondering if it was real. What were they really doing? Playing house?

“Smells good. I didn’t know you could cook,” he said.

Masami paused, peering back at him. She wore tiny boy shorts and an off-the-shoulder cream top, her hair in messy waves. No makeup adorned her face, and to him, she looked insanely pretty at that moment. She filled up his space, making him feel things he had never felt before, and he began to worry. It felt good, peaceful, but if they didn’t make it, that would hurt him. Men like Ariz didn’t take being hurt well.

“I know how to do a lot of things. How was your day? You look good—minus the black eye. Let me guess, Ossa?” she asked.

Ariz smirked as he advanced on Masami, leaning down to kiss her soft lips. His hands found her waist, and he hugged her from behind as she resumed cooking.

“Yeah, I had to let my nigga get his shit off. I was wrong even if my intentions wasn’t bad. He still wants us to get divorced.”

Masami continued stirring the gumbo.

“And what do you want?” she asked softly, yet he could hear the worry in her voice.

Perhaps she was as nervous as him but still ready like him to see what they could be.

“I want you to finish making that gumbo, tear that shit up then take a shower with you so I can get some of that pussy on the shower bench. Plus, we got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Masami laughed lightly.

“We do? Like what?”

Ariz pressed his erection into her as he replied.

“I made some appointments for us to look at buildings you could lease for your new modeling agency,” he explained. “And before you talk shit, understand it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Is it?”

Masami turned off the stove, letting out a sigh. “It’s not, and thank you.”

Ariz kissed her neck again before letting her go. “Show your gratitude by doing something for Masami. Now let’s dig into this food, so I can dig into you,” he smirked, giving her a playful slap on the ass before heading to the bathroom to wash his hands.