Rise & Fall Of A Don

Chapter 19

Narration: As you can imagine I killed Enzo and now I'm the boss of all bosses. But now I'm feeling unfulfilled. Something was missing out of my life. This new chapter in my life will be a painful yet exciting one for a while until I was eventually betrayed and killed.

Tommy Pov

One Year Later

I was headed to my 28th birthday party. I was riding in the back of my limo looking out the window. I suddenly got the urge to see my old hood. I haven't been there in a long time. I went to the housing project first where I stayed with my birth mother.

I was surprised to find the building had been torn down. I let my window down and flagged someone down and asked them about the building. They said it caught on fire and was later torn down.

"What happened to the people that lived there?"

"Some died. Others were given vouchers to move somewhere else. Hey, you're Camilla's boy ain't you. I remember you used to live here with her. You were a handsome boy. Yo mama definitely didn't do right by you. God rest her soul."

"She died?"

"Yep, in the fire that she started. She was high and left something on the stove, I believe. She talked about your success though. She said you moved in with your Uncle Hause."

"Hause wasn't my uncle."

"Yes, he was. He knew your daddy. Your real daddy. Camilla was high, just probably talking shit about your daddy, saying that he was a big time Don or something. She might have lied. But I knew Hause from when he owned that pawn shop down on 54th street. His fat ass." The lady giggled. "I saw Hause's brother a time or two. You look just like him."

She shrugged.

What the fuck. I didn't think Hause had a family. Al gave me a box of Hause's stuff. Surprisingly, I was Hause's beneficiary. Scarlett was Ron's beneficiary but since she died it all came to me. So money will never be a factor for me ever again.

I told my driver to keep driving around the hood. I got to thinking about Camilla, my birth mother. I thought drugs would take her out honestly. But a fire. I find that hard to believe. What's even more surprising is that I feel nothing for the woman who gave birth to me and died.

Why didn't she tell me that she knew Hause? Hell, why didn't Hause tell me he knew my mother. Granted, every time Camilla would try to talk to me, I walked away or told my boys to send her away. She didn't love me. She only loved herself and drugs. I hope she's rotting in Hell. Even though I know some men are disrespectful to women for no reason, I believe my lack of respect for women came from how my mother treated me. I never wanted to play the victim and I hate people that do. Just because you were dealt a shitty hand doesn't give you the right to mistreat women. I knew that but did it anyway. Ma had to do a lot of cursing and slapping me upside the head for me to change how I see women. She's the reason why I choose to respect some. Not all. Some.

"Stop." My driver stopped the car. We were at the park. I got out. I had so many fond memories here. This place used to be my sanctuary. This is where I met Sasha for the first time. She was the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. And the way she smiled and talked was like a dope song on a track that I listened to over and over and couldn't get out of my head.

I looked over when I heard a noise. I went closer to the sound. It sounded like children. As I got closer, I saw that it was indeed children. It was three boys. I smiled remembering my boys. How we must have looked out here.

My smile dropped in the same instance when I realized one of the boys was getting jumped by the other two. There was a black boy and a Latino boy beating up a white kid. I say beating mildly. The white kid is giving as good as he is getting. He picked up a stick and started beating their asses. Somehow the Latino got behind him and thumped him on the ground. I rushed over.

I put my hand in my mouth and blew. The whistle had them stopping dead in their tracks. The black boy snatched something from the white kid and ran off.

"My game boy. Give it back." He tried to get up and chase after them, but they were already gone.

"My mother is going to kill me."

He turned to me. "Thank you, mister." He had blond hair. It was cut in a bowl shaped, so a lot was on his forehead.

"Where do you live? I'll take you home."

"I don't live here. My mother is visiting my grandmother. I don't know the street name, but I can show you. You're not a pervert or anything are you."

I chuckled. "Do I look like a pervert?"

He looked at my tux that I put on for my birthday party. Then the limo. "Probably not, but my mom said the world is full of them and I have to be careful."

"Your mom sounds like a wise woman."

"Anyway. I can't go back there without my game boy. I have to find them and get it back."

"You're not scared of getting jumped again."

"Not really. I'm more afraid of my mom. She said she works too damn hard to buy me shit, and I need to keep up with it."

I chuckled again. He was a straight lace kid. He couldn't be no more than 5.

"Come on. We'll go get your game boy." For some reason he reminded me of myself when I was younger. His mama gives it to him straight just like Pam gave it to me. You only do your children a disservice if you let them believe in fairytales for too long. Because the real world is far from a fairytale. I imagine my son would have been like this if he would have lived.

He got in the back of the limo and started staring out the window like he was deep in thought. I chuckled. What he got to be deep in thought about.

We rode around the hood until we saw the boys who took his Gameboy. "Stay here."

I got out of the car and went up to the boys. "Hey, how much for the Gameboy."

They looked at me. At the suit, at the limo.

"50 thousand dollars."

I chuckled. I need to come to the hood and recruit. The kids are gangstas and hustlers.

"You know I can just go to the store and buy one way cheaper. How about I give you both a hundred dollars. Right now."

"Bet."

I handed them the cash and they gave me the Gameboy.

I got back in the car and handed it to him. "Thanks mister. I will pay you back. I can work for it. I wash dishes a lot for my mom and aunt and they give me money for it."

"They bribe you?"

"Yep, they say I'm the best dishwasher ever though."

I chuckled. I said, "my name is Tommy by the way."

"Jensen. But you can call me Jay."

I nodded.

"Where are you headed?" He asked.

"To my birthday party."

"Is it in this area, oh and let him know to take a right at this stop sign."

"Ok, and no. It's not in this area. I grew up here."

"So you were poor and now you're rich."

"Sort of."

"I wish that would happen to me so that I can help my mom. She is always sad and stressed about money and stuff. I just want to make her happy," he said sadly.

"Maybe I can work something out with your mom. I own a gallery and I need a good floor sweeper." I don't know why I said that. Probably because I like this kid. He reminds me so much of myself.

When we turned on a familiar street I looked around. "It's this house right here; the gray one." When we stopped at a familiar house, I had questions.

"Who's your mother?"

His answer brought rage to my entire body. 

A/N: I'm about to do something new and exciting with my books that readers will love. My books will be free soon. All of them. Periodically check my wall/ announcements for details.