“I’m sorry sir, but we are all out of the Gatorade. It should be getting fixed some time this week.” Faiyaz tried to control the situation, but he could tell the guy was pissed and probably had one drink too many.

“That’s fucking bullshit, you guys sell the same shit all the time. You can’t manage to keep it all in stock? How fucking hard is it? Or are you guys too busy still trying to learn English?” The harassing, belligerent man threw the normal stereotype at Faiyaz’s face. Faiyaz, having lived here his whole life, had dealt with this before. He was used to being stereotyped, so he just tried to ignore it, hoping the drunk would leave.

“I’m sorry you are upset, sir. You are welcome to choose another beverage or come back when we have it fixed.”

“This is some bullshit!” The drunk made his way outside, where he smacked the trashcan lid off. The force sent it flying into The Notorious B.U.M.’s living space, waking him from his slumber. The inconsiderate drunk kept walking to his car, not even noticing what he did. The way he handled the whole situation gave the impression he wouldn’t have cared even if he saw.

Faiyaz shook his head, thankful that the man was out of the store. Although, he wasn’t sure that him being on the road was any safer. But Faiyaz had something else stuck on his mind that took precedent over the previous incident. How could Jimmy have come up with such an insane plan? There was no way that it was going to work- at least when he thought it through in his brain. Faiyaz knew he wanted to pursue his dream, but not that way.

Jimmy had proposed they steal the money for the studio time. Not only was his plan to steal the money, but to steal from the 7-eleven itself. Jimmy didn’t work, and had a rough time making it by as it was. Faiyaz had his money monitored extremely closely by his parents. But the money that sat in the register seemed to be open game. If someone came in and decided to take some of that, what was Faiyaz supposed to do? If an unknown burglar robbed the 7-eleven, it couldn’t be blamed on anyone. Faiyaz’s parents would be distraught, and most likely worried for their son rather than angry. They wouldn’t be able to track the money, and studio time would then be within their grasp.

But Faiyaz wasn’t convinced. A plan like that had bad news written all over it. He did have time to give it some thought, though, considering he was restocking the fridges for about the millionth time. One Yoo-hoo after another, he thought about each hour of his life he was wasting at the store. He knew he needed to get ahold of the cash as soon as he could. Rhymes were already beginning to form in his mind, as he kept playing the beat on his phone. He made sure to have Jimmy send it over immediately. One way or another, they were going to make this track.

As Faiyaz robotically put the last Yoo-hoo on the shelf, he heard the bell go off again. With the bell he heard the giggling of girls, which stirred some interest in Faiyaz. Turning around, he saw four beautifully, barely dressed women making their way through his prison cell. They all looked dolled up and ready for their Friday night, which was obviously different than the way Faiyaz’s Fridays went. With all four women was one man who was dressed in a sleek button up shirt, accompanied by a wardrobe that looked straight out of the J. Crew catalogue.

“Ladies, I’m going to grab some beer. Feel free to grab whatever else your heart desires.” The man was trying to be classy and smooth, but didn’t seem to realize they were in a 7-eleven. Nonetheless, Faiyaz was jealous of this man. He wished he could go out on a Friday night with some gorgeous ladies as well. Being a 7-eleven worker had never been the most attractive trait to women. Being a rapper would bring a slew of new options for Faiyaz, including a woman’s interest. As he watched these women in awe, the idea of stealing the money became all the more prevalent in his mind.

He finished ringing all their snacks up while the gentlemen slid his card over smoothly for the whopping payment of 26 bucks. Faiyaz mocked the guy in his head, but whatever this guy was doing, he was doing it right, apparently. One of the girls seemed to be staring at Faiyaz, so he reciprocated the glance with an additional smirk to spice it up. The shared moment was timely interrupted.

“What the fuck? Did that bum just throw up?” One of the girls was looking outside, and pointing at The Notorious B.U.M. On that note, they left quickly, disgusted as they watched him continue to puke.

“Son of a bitch! That motherfucker!” Faiyaz knew he was going to have to clean it up. Realizing his moment with the gorgeous woman was long gone, he grabbed the hose from the back room. The rush was probably about to start soon; the last thing he needed was vomit right in front of the door.

Faiyaz didn’t think much substance could come out of the bum, who was supposedly hurting for food. But there was plenty of it, as it washed away into the gutter. Faiyaz held his tongue, wanting to tell the bum he should find a new place to stay, but remembering his dad didn’t want him to bother The Notorious B.U.M. For some reason, the bum didn’t bother his dad he was fine with him staying there. It was just one of the many disagreements between Faiyaz and his father. Knowing how his father was, he probably would have given the bum some Sprite and crackers. His father enabled this man to live how he wanted, yet wouldn’t let his own son pursue his dreams.

The anger and resentment washed over Faiyaz, like the water that now poured into the gutter. He looked over at the bum as apathy began to consume him. Disregarding that the bum still looked ill, Faiyaz went back inside, outraged by the way this night was going. His parents, The Notorious B.U.M., the drunk, the shoplifters, the sticky ass counters, the numerous Yoo-hoos he had stocked and the gorgeous women that looked right through him had finally added up to Faiyaz reaching his breaking point.

Faiyaz went back inside right to the register, where he had left his phone. Scooping it up quickly, he dialed Jimmy immediately. Not even giving Jimmy the time to greet his incoming call, Faiyaz interjected instantly.

“Let’s do it, I’m in.”