No matter how many times Faiyaz wiped the leftover gunk from the sloppy customers of his store, it always came back. It reminded him of the way his life seemed to be going. He would get lost in his rhymes, only to be brought right back into his parents' reality. As he was daydreaming about the moment he could kiss these counters goodbye, the bell went off, reminding him where he was.

“Faiyaz, Faiyaz, Faiyaz! Wait until you see what I have for you, my friend.” Jimmy burst into the store with a grin across his face, revealing he truly had something to show his friend.

“Jimmy, you are a sight for sore eyes right now. I’ve only been here an hour and I’m starting to lose my mind. Tell me you cooked something up.”

“Oh boy, did I. This beat is probably one of the best I’ve made.” Jimmy anxiously started untangling his headphones, as if they were showing their disgust at being stuffed in a pocket.

“You say that about every beat you make, but I must say, you are usually right. Let’s hear it.”

They each grabbed an ear bud and listened to the craft Jimmy had just pulled fresh out of the oven. Jimmy had just finished putting it together, and knew Faiyaz had to hear it immediately. He patiently watched as he could see Faiyaz’s mind working, taking in the sounds. As Faiyaz listened, he could imagine the flows that could be intertwined with this beat. Besides the head nods and sounds of giddiness coming from the two dreamers, the store was quiet as they got lost in the beat. So lost, that as the track came to an end, Faiyaz noticed there was a customer standing at the register, waiting to be helped. From the looks of it, she had been there for some time, while they were in their own world.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” Faiyaz ran to the register to help the lady out, only to see that her attitude didn’t change. She left unsatisfied with the service, but Faiyaz didn’t even give it a second thought as he jumped right back over to Jimmy.

“This…dude, this is fire. Just listening to it now I can imagine the flows we could put on this track. That would be so sweet to actually hear us on it, spitting our own rhymes that we wrote! Not to mention on our own beat. Our own creation!”

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I’m so sick of that shit. Let’s stop playing games, dude. We can. We live in a generation where the world is at our fingertips. We can make our future the way we want it. Let’s get it, the time is now.”

This wasn’t the first time this conversation had transpired between these two. Although, Faiyaz could tell that Jimmy’s tone was becoming more and more serious as these conversations continued to happen. The more Jimmy pushed for the vision to become a reality, the more Faiyaz thought about the possibility of actually chasing his dream. The more he thought about chasing his dream, the more he thought about the judgment that would come from his parents.

“Bro, you know how this conversation goes. It’s the same every time! I get excited and we get all hyped up until reality smacks me in the face. You know how my parents are, and you are aware of my life sentence due to them. If I could change that I would, but until they change, I’m stuck. Maybe there is someone else that you could get on the track.” The last sentence came out of his mouth with regret, but he said it so Jimmy knew it was an option. Deep down, that was the last thing that Faiyaz wanted; he knew the track had his name on it.

“No fucking way man. You got the fire no one else has, I know it. No one else can get on this track but you. I made it for us, not some other fool to ruin it. There has to be some way that we can make this happen. I already talked to the guy down at the studio and he made me a deal. He promised me that we could go in for this one track for twelve hundred dollars, which –“

“Twelve hundred dollars?! That’s a deal?!”

“Dude, he usually doesn’t let anyone in there unless labels are already looking at them. This is a huge deal, and we need to take this opportunity. I can probably put a portion of the money together somehow, but you would have to contribute most of it. I mean you do have the job out of the two of us… Still can’t believe your parents won’t hire me.”

“That’s a separate conversation, Jimmy. I can work with that amount; I just don’t know what I would say to my parents. They monitor my money like auditors. I can’t spend any of it without them knowing how much and where I spent it. I’m a prisoner in my parent’s dreams and aspirations.”

“True, but what if we found the key to your cell? I have an idea, but you are not going to like it at all. I’ve thought about it before, but we were never in such a desperate situation where it would actually sound sane.”

“After hearing that beat, I’m willing to hear any idea. Tell me.”

“Let’s go outside, away from the cameras.”

“Those things don’t receive sound, we’re fine.”

“You never know, c’mon.”

Making sure there were no customers, Faiyaz followed Jimmy outside as he pulled his American Spirits out. Pulling out a cigarette, Jimmy looked over at The Notorious B.U.M. and tossed a cigarette his way.

“Need a light?” Jimmy mockingly asked The Notorious B.U.M. who didn’t seem to pay any attention to Jimmy. “Can’t believe this dude is still here while we are struggling to achieve shit.”

“I know, pisses me off every time I come into work. Anyway…what’s the idea?”

Jimmy sparked his cigarette, took a drag, and looked over at Faiyaz with a grin bigger than when he burst through the store doors.

“We steal it.”