! 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...
"Congestive heart failure is what they told me." Shine said with his back slouched in the chair provided in the hospital lobby. My mom seated herself next to me, across from where he was seated.
"Damn." I said under my breath. I pushed my frames up the bridge of my nose and looked at how depleted my Godfather looked. In spirit, in physicality, in mental health. He wasn't the Shine I knew as a little girl.
"But, you know me. I'll shake back like it's nothing." He said with a faint smile on his face. Shine was a big guy. Tall and fair skinned with large arms that were muscular when I was younger. He could've been a wrestler or some shit.
He was security for my father and became a brother over time. He was donned my Godfather when I was a year old. He christened me with holy water in my mom's Catholic Church. I used to go to school with his daughters so I lost contact with when their mother moved them to Staten Island after he was sent upstate for a bid.
"You know Rome would tell you 'Don't lay down, that's worse than laying up!'" My mom said with red eyes.
"You already know, Hel." He said with a quaint laugh coming up from his stomach. "So, your mom was telling me you had a son." He said as he looked for my eyes behind my dark lenses.
"Yeah, I have a baby boy now. Destined." I said with a smile. "He's with his dad's mom right now." I added.
"Your boyfriend is Nas, huh?" He said with a smile on his face. "That little nigga is nice." He coughed after saying.
"Yeah, he's nice or whatever." I said playfully to my Godfather. "He better be treating you right. I'm not too sick to peel that fade off." He made a motion as if he was reaching for his piece on his hip.
"You don't need to worry about that, Shine." I put my hand in the air as a motion to 'stop' him from gripping the chrome that was resting on the side of his waist. I wasn't sure how he snuck that inside of the hospital.
"That's crazy, man. I can't believe you're a mother now. Helen and Rome and grandparents and shit." He said as he scratched his buzz cut. "Rome, man." He said to himself as he stared at me.
I wanted to reach into my purse to pull out the letter I had brought, but I don't think now is a good time to do it. Especially here, in front of mom. I want to take him somewhere far and bring this letter to his attention.
"Yo, Shine. What you doing next month?" I asked out of nowhere. An idea hit me hard and I know it would be the perfect excuse to talk to him about it then.
"Shit, nothing. What's up, G?" He tried to straighten his back in the chair but I could tell he was visibly uncomfortable.
"I was thinking about throwing a cookout at the house. Have some family and friends over. It would be nice for you and the girls to stop by. I haven't seen them in so long!" I said with a chipper expression. It has been a minute since I seen my girls. It would be cool to catch up with them.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Nasir | May 1995
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