SALUBRIOUS

SB46

Nasiem Fareed

4:52 pm - May 15th 2024

As time passed, Nas was noticing that Demi was still very adamant about being independent. Whatever she could do by herself, she was doing it. This gave Nas the bright idea of starting a test run of chores, something small that wasn't too laborious. Demi was stocking the last two rows of the vending machine, as those were the only rows she could reach. Nas let her pick what snacks she wanted on her row, and she'd restock whenever they got low. Nas wasn't really taught financial literacy when he was growing up, he gained a lot of his knowledge in prison through reading books. This made him grateful to be able to teach his daughter through experience, at an early age.

"You ready for summer?" Nas quizzed. She only had about roughly two weeks left of school before was out for the summer. Nas realized that after the conversation he had with Kimora about Demi being with him for the summer, she never really answered. He made a mental note to bring it up again whenever she walked through the door. "Yeah, I can't wait to go swimming." Demi replied, causing Nas to smile.

This would be their first summer together, and Nas couldn't wait. Childhood summers were something you thought about as you got older, whether they were fun or boring. Nas wanted Demi's summer to be as fun as possible. "Do I have to pay myself if I eat one of my snacks?" She quizzed while sitting down.

"Naw...you just miss out on the potential revenue." Nas replied as he began to break down the large boxes that the snacks came in. His neighbors made the landlord enforce a strict box policy, putting the boxes as is in the dumpster would result in a fine. "I got you, though." Nas added, pulling a dollar out of his pocket and handing it to his daughter.

"Thank you." Demi smiled, immediately pocketing her money. Though Nas was teaching her, he didn't want to be too hard on her, as she was only five. "I wanna hear that song again." She announced, handing her chips to her father to open.

"What song, Girly?" Nas quizzed, continuing to break the boxes down as much as he could. "Don't you worry, keep your baby." Demi recited just like Erykah Badu, resulting in Nas erupting into laughter. He'd never get over Demi following in his steps and liking the same things as him, it was honestly pushing him even harder to be great, knowing that his baby was taking after him.

"Or the other one." Demi chuckled, making Nas curious about what was set to fly out of her mouth. "Which one?" Nas lightly chuckled. Now that the boxes were broken down, he traveled them over to the door with plans of walking them to the dumpster after Demi left.

"The one where he say he finally rich." Demi explained, causing Nas to smile. "You like that song?" Nas quizzed as he sat beside her, watching as she shook her head yes to answer his question. He found himself playing it a lot more these days, it doubled as motivation and a pat on the back for how far he'd come. He'd been listening to the song for over 10 years, but now it was finally resonating.

"You so cool, kid." Nas lightly chuckled, reaching over to lightly tickle her neck. Demi snickered, making Nas smile even more. "You know you my best friend?" Nas quizzed. Demi shook her head yes while her eyes were glued on the TV.

"What about Kota?" Demi questioned, taking her attention off of the television and placing it on her father. Faintly, Nas' smile dropped at the mention of Dakota. As time passed, he couldn't help but to doubt that they'd ever get back together. "Sometimes friends get mad each another...and they stop being as close as before." Nas replied. He wasn't sure about how to tell Demi that they were no longer together, or if she would even understand what that meant.

"But she'll always be your best friend though, right?" Demi quizzed, slightly strengthening Nas' smile. "I hope so." He truthfully replied. He was hoping, but he knew the chances were very slim. Nas imagined her seeing him at the club with someone else didn't help much either.