King of Queens (a Nas Story)

TWENTY

Gia | 2:12pm

"Kenny!"

I embraced my father's understudy, who was now his own boss—with a warm hug. He kissed my cheek after not seeing me for years since my father's funeral.

"Little Giana! Look at you!" Kenny pulled back to stare at me and my growing stomach. "You're about to be a mom now?" His eyes widened at the sight of me carrying a life. "Due in December." I said nervously as I invited him inside of Nasir and I's apartment.

"Wow, man. Rome and Helen are going to be grandparents?" Kenny shook his head as he entered our open living room and kitchen space. He looked around the apartment, studying the furniture that Nasir purchased.

"I can't believe it. I've been looking all over for you since your Pops' funeral." Kenny took a seat on the couch and took his fur coat off, folding it over his forearm respectfully.

"Nasir told me he ran into you a few months ago. Told me you'd say that when you got here." I said as I took a seat next to him.

"How's Helen doing these days?" Kenny smiled at me. His golden medallion reflecting the sunlight from the open blinds in our living room.

"She's doing good. Still down at the hospital, you know her." I said with a smile. "Well, tell her I stopped by, alright? Let her know I miss her."

"I will. So, what brings you to Long Island?" I rubbed my stomach as my son poked the lower end of my bump with his foot.

"I've been waiting for the right time to talk to you about this, Giana." Kenny neatly unfolded his fur coat and reached into the inner breast pocket of it. Out came a black box that was bigger than the size of his hand.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression on my face. My son continued to kick and poke my insides.

"The first thing I want to give you is this." Kenny extended his hand to hand me the black box. It was flat but heavy in weight when I took it into the palms of my hands.

"Open that right there." Kenny's smile was faint with a twinge of pain. I could tell that whatever this is, means everything to Kenny and should mean a lot more to me.

I opened the black box, lifting the top half up. Staring back at me was my father's infamous Mercedes-Benz medallion necklace. The chain holding the face plate was a Cuban link and flooded in gold. The Benz logo was black and gold and flooded with diamonds.

It was the first piece he had purchased for himself after he discharged from the army and married my mother. It was his symbol of 'letting niggas know' that he was back on the block and wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

I traced my thumb along the lines of the Benz insignia, studying the intricate design that the jeweler took time in making for my father at the time of his commission.

"Your Pops came to me a week before his murder." Kenny said with a drooped head and a low voice. "He knocked on my door one night while it was raining. I'm talking heavy rain." He said as he put his hand behind his neck.

I continued to stare at my dad's chain as he continued to tell me the story of his last conversation with my father.

"He was holding this box in his hand. I asked him what he was in a rush for but he completed brushed my young ass off, you know?" He chuckled a bit before resuming his final recount with my father.

"He told me that he trusted me with your safety and to keep an eye on you. That he couldn't trust certain people. He handed me this box and told me to keep it until I saw you or your moms." Kenny reached over and tapped the top of the box that was still in my hand.