King of Queens (a Nas Story)

PROLOGUE

Gia | January 1993

I hated this time of year. The slush beneath my boots were seeping into my socks and I knew my mother didn't have the money to buy more. She was working overtime as a nurse to make extra money and I didn't want to add more stress on her plate. Luckily, I was working a part-time gig as a waitress at a local diner not too far from our apartment building. 

I stood outside by the sign post, waiting for the bus to arrive. The sun hadn't broken the sky yet. It was six-fifteen and the cold, dry wind was stinging against my bare cheek. I adjusted my cable knit scarf that was crocheted by my grandmother and covered as much of my face as possible. 

The cars were speeding through the slush as if sliding on black ice wasn't a thing. I tapped my foot on the hard ice, trying to keep my legs from going numb. My nude colored stockings weren't thick enough to keep my legs warm and my dress uniform from the diner was the length of summertime. Not befitting for this kind of harsh winter we had been having. 

The thick, black smoke from the exhaust of the bus could be seen from miles away. I sighed a breath of relief as the bus crept into a full stop in front of the post I was leaning against. I reached into the deepness of my wool coat pocket and pulled out enough bus fare to drop inside of the box next to the driver. 

"Good morning." I said quaintly to the bus driver before finding an empty window seat. The bus had began to move before I could even sit down. I wobbled, losing my balance. I fell on the leg of some man that was sitting a few seats behind the bus driver. He grabbed my arm in an attempt to embarrass me less. 

"Be careful." He said. I awkwardly rested on his leg as the bus turned wide around each and every corner. "Make yourself comfortable." The man joked. He laughed beneath his breath loud enough for me to hear. He moved his lower half towards the window. I slid awkwardly off of his legs and into the seat's material, right next to him. 

"You good?" He asked in a raspy tone. It caught me off guard. I finally looked the man in his eyes and lowered my scarf, flashing an embarrassing smile at him. "I'm fine. Sorry for falling on you." I said as I lowered my head. 

"It's cool. Just watch your step next time, aight?" He said. I looked up at him. He didn't turn his head away from me. His smile was unique. A chipped tooth accentuated his face. He had a beauty mark next to his nose and full lips. A goatee that was trimmed neatly, but not as neat as his haircut. 

His waves were deep set and cut precisely with a line etched into his scalp at the base of his temple. He wore a herringbone gold chain around his neck, a gold wrist watch that was peaking from under the sleeve of his bubble jacket. His attire was all black, down to the Timberland boots on his feet. 

"I got you. Sorry, again." I lowered my head once more after studying the man and his features. 

"Yo, you live in Queensbridge, right?" The man asked after a few minutes of silence. I shot a look at him. I was confused as to how he knew where I lived. I don't think I had ever seen him before and we surely didn't have the same group of friends. 

"I just moved here. How do you know that?" I furrowed my eyebrow as I waited for him to respond to my question. 

"I think I've seen you a few times. Waiting for the bus and all that." He fiddled with his fingertips in his lap. His legs were slightly crossed behind the seat in front of us. 

"Oh. Well, yeah. You might've seen me." I said nervously. I studied him once more. His brown skin tone. How clean his nails were. The veins in his hands. I couldn't look him in the eye again. I was too nervous to do so. 

"So, where you headed?" He began poking into my life. I looked passed him and out of the window. The bus was heading towards my stop, which was several blocks away. "Work. You?" I finally mustered the courage to look him in the eye. His eyes were puzzling to me. 

Deep brown, piercing, and enchanting in a way. I couldn't look away now, even if I wanted to. 

"Just needed to get away, you know? Anywhere but here." He stroked his waves with the palm of his bare head several times as he looked down into his lap. "Yeah." I said softly. Something was bothering the man, but I didn't want to pry into his personal life. 

We sat in silence for a moment before I reached over his head and pulled the string to alert the driver that the next stop was mine. The man looks over at me and smirks out of nowhere. 

"I didn't catch your name." He said. His rasp was apart of his charm.

"I don't remember you asking for it." I said to challenge him. I wasn't in the mood to flirt with some stranger at six in the morning. Clocking in and clocking out was the only thing on my mind. Though, he is attractive, I knew he'd be a distraction. 

"Well, I'm asking for it now. So, tell me." His knee tapped mine as the bus made another wide turn on the block that my stop was located on. The bus driver hit the brakes hard causing us to jerk forward in the seat we shared with one another. I stood up slowly, adjusting my scarf around my neck. 

"You first." I smiled a bit while adjusting the buttons of my coat.

"Nasir." He said confidently with an undeniably attractive grin, showing his chipped tooth once more. 

"Gia." I said in return. 

I turned my back towards him and stepped off of the bus slowly to avoid slipping on ice. The bus pulled off, leaving a trail of thick black smoke in the air. I opened the doors to the diner slowly, hearing the bells chime against the glass of the door. 

"Gia! We need you behind the counter today!" My boss, George, yelled from the kitchen. I sighed heavily as I entered the back office room and punched the clock. Today was going to be a long day, but as long as I brought in enough tips to give to my mom, it didn't matter. 

"I'm on it." I said as I tied the apron around my dress uniform. I sat in George's office chair, slipping out of my boots and changing into the Air Force 1s that I had stored in his office for work. Lacing them tightly, I stared at myself in the full length mirror. 

My hair was slicked back into a high ponytail. The only makeup worth wearing to work was lipstick and mascara. I applied light blush along the deep tone of my skin and smoothed out any wrinkles on my dress. I left George's back office room and shut the door behind me. I walked behind the counter, counted the money from the night before and waited until it was time to open up shop.  

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[Author's Note: The main character's name is pronounced as "Gee-uh". This story takes place in the moments leading up to the release of Illmatic. Loosely based on real events, this story is mostly fictional and is to be read as such. Sexual content, violence and strong language throughout. Welcome to Queensbridge, the home of the dungeon of rap where few don't make it back.]