! BOOK ONE OF THE NAS TRILOGY !
In building 40-16 of Queensbridge North Housing, Nasir Jones steps up as the man of the house. Looking after his mother and brother, Jabari, he's hungry for a way out. His back is against the wall after the loss of hi...
"Watch his neck." Ms. Ann said as she handed her grandson over to his father. I watched their mother-son interaction as I laid in bed.
"I got him, Ma." Nasir said as he held his son in his arms. Our mothers had been at our apartment for two days, taking care of me and Destined while Nasir went to record his music during the day.
He had just gotten home from recording his last song in Manhattan with his father, who he asked to play a few progressions at the end of Life's A Bitch. He let me hear the rough demo before he left.
"Daddy's got you, Des." Nasir said as he rocked our son back and forth in his arms. "How was he when I left?" He glinted his eyes to me as he continued to rock him.
"He was good. Just a little cranky, but I fed him before you got here." I said as I rested my back on the headboard of our shared bed.
I could smell the food that my mom was cooking from here. Jungle's voice was echoing into the bedroom from his loud laughter. He must be joking with my mom about something.
"Let's get you out of bed so you can eat, baby." Ms. Ann assisted me out of bed and let me hold on to her arm as she slowly walked me into the living space where Jungle and my mother were having a laugh.
"Gia, you know what this boy wants to nickname his nephew?" My mom asked me through her fit of laughter. "What's that?" I said as Ms. Ann helped me sit down on the couch.
"Desi." She said with a huge roar of laughter. "What's wrong with that?" I asked out of confusion. Nasir walked into the hallway with Destined cooing in his arms.
"It's short for Desert Eagle, baby. Like the gun?" Nasir said as he laughed at my oblivion. I kissed my teeth as I glared at Jungle, who sat at the dining table looking back at me with a mischievous smirk on his face.
"I wish you would—" I threw the pillow from the couch at Jungle. He caught it and smiled at me as he did it.
"It's too late, sis. That's Desi now." He said. "Speaking of, let me see my nephew. Y'all fix your plates or something. Let us men have our time." Jungle stood up and took Destined from Nasir's arms.
"What's up little man? Let's talk about this drop I got for us out in Brooklyn. It's a major play—" Jungle said jokingly as he took Destined down the hallway and into his nursery.
"Get your brother, yo." I said as I pointed at Nasir. "That's your brother in law." He challenged back at me. "He was your brother first!" I said loudly as Nasir walked into the kitchen to fix me a plate.
Nasir | January 1994
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"Chillin' like a villain. I go by the name 'The Illmatic One', Nas."
I held the mic in my lap as I was being interviewed. The label decided to go forward with releasing the album even though it had leaked months ago. The first single they were pressing for was 'It Ain't Hard To Tell'.
