Page 15 of Certified Pressure 2

Trill-Land, Jungle Estate

I don’t know what the hell my mama said to Kashmere, but she walked back to the table looking lighter than she left, like somebody had set a weight down for her and told her she ain’t gotta carry it no more.

Lunch was already done, so when she came back, it wasn’t to eat.

It was just to sit with us and breathe for a second, the lil’ cool-down after everything.

Toni was leaned back cracking soft jokes under her breath, Ka’mari was shrinkin’ into her chair like it was tryin’ to swallow her, and Pops was tappin’ a finger on the table like he’d already moved on to thinkin’ about the next ten plays.

Ma came behind Kashmere all calm, kissed my cheek again, then gave me that look mamas give when they want a word in private.

“Let’s talk, son,” she said, simple, and that was that.

I told the women I would be right back and walked my parents down the hall into my office. Soon as the door clicked shut, I dropped in the chair behind my desk and kicked one ankle over my knee, “A’ight,” I said. “Tell me what y’all think.”

Ma crossed one leg over the other and took her time with her words. “Toni is a bright spirit,” she said, her voice smooth. “She’s warm, funny, and she knows how to make a room relax. I like her. But she’s not your forever.”

I nodded ‘cause deep down, I felt it too. Toni had this easy vibe I loved bein’ around. She could flip a mood from tense to playful with a smile and a story, but some part of me already knew she wasn’t the last page of my book.

Pops didn’t bother easin’ into it. “She’s ghetto,” he said, flat like a verdict.

I frowned. “C’mon, Pops. You ain’t gotta say it like that.”

“I gotta say it how it is,” he told me, his eyes steady on mine. “Fun is cool till the storm hit. When the storm hit, fun don’t keep a roof from leaking, and fun don’t keep a man focused. You building a legacy. You can’t build it off laughs.”

I didn’t fire back ’cause he wasn’t wrong, but I still didn’t like hearin’ it thrown that dry. Toni has heart, and I respected heart.

Ma set her glass down and slid her gaze across my desk like she was layin’ cards. “Now, Ka’mari.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“You can’t trust her,” Pops answered before Ma could. “She was just engaged to some other man, and the second it fell apart she popped back up over here like this is a lobby you check in and out of. That’s a liability.”

Ma didn’t soften it much either. “I don’t like the pattern, between you two” she said.

“If she could leave you once, she can do it again. And if children become part of this… again… do you want to spend years fighting a woman who only knows how to run? She’ll take pieces of what you build, not because she’s evil, but because she’s not rooted.

It’s clear that Ka’mari sways in any direction her emotions tell her to. ”

Pops leaned forward, the way he do when he locking a point in. “Liabilities get men like you killed. Maybe not your body, but your name, your energy, your focus. You can’t afford that.”

I sat back, thinkin’ about all the times Ka’mari slid in and out my life like a door on a sensor.

“And Kashmere?” I asked, even though I already knew Ma was gon’ give me a layered answer.

She smiled a little, more with her eyes than her mouth.

“She’s very beautiful. She carries a spark.

And she has potential, real potential. But I know my child.

I know how you are with women. I know how you get when desire sits in the front seat and love is still trying to find the map.

” She tilted her head. “Tell me true, son—are you keeping her around for love… or is it lust?”

Pops didn’t wait. “Look like lust to me.”

I didn’t say nothin’ for a second ‘cause I wasn’t gon’ lie to my mama, and I didn’t wanna give my father some fake ass chest-out answer just to sound like somethin’.

“It ain’t simple,” I said. “She do somethin’ to me.

And it ain’t just the body, but I ain’t gon’ sit here and act like the body ain’t part of it. ”

Ma nodded slow, like that’s exactly what she expected to hear. “Then you need to test what’s underneath all of that,” she said. “Passion is easy. Substance takes work.”

I tucked that away because I’d seen a shift on Kashmere when she came back to the table—shoulders easier and eyes softer, like she heard somethin’ she needed and I wanted to see if she could hold it when it wasn’t just her and my mama in a quiet room.

Pops tapped the arm of his chair twice, then hit me with, “Where the girl Pluto at?”

That name snuck up on me and sliced clean through my chest. I swallowed, sittin’ up. “Back home,” I said. “Her lil’ sister sick.”

Ma’s eyes pinned me. “Is that the only reason she left?”

“Yeah,” I said, because it was the only reason I would even admit this shit out loud, and even sayin’ that had my chest feelin’ heavy.

Ma took that in, the way she do when she stackin’ thoughts on top of each other and seein’ how the tower holds. Then she nodded like a verdict without the gavel. “Then you’ve got decisions to make.”

Pops stood first. “We said what needed saying,” he told me, and there wasn’t no meanness on it, just that clean Mensah finality. “I’m not here to choose for you, but I refuse to let you walk blind.”

We stood up together. Ma came around my desk, put both hands on my face, and I bent down so she could kiss my cheek like I been doin’ since I was a kid. “I love you,” she said soft, and that always hit like sunlight through blinds.

Pops stuck his hand out; I gripped it, and he yanked me in for that quick pull-in hug only he do.

It was the hug that said I’m proud of you, but don’t get comfortable.

We walked back toward the foyer and the women were posted up in light chatter with Blaqson and Renza now hangin’ close.

Ma hugged each one polite, the same classy smile for everybody, but no extra sugar for nobody.

Pops gave them that single nod. Then the door opened, the driver already waitin’ at the bottom of the steps, and my parents slid out like they came in—quiet, powerful, and unforgettable.

Toni dropped her shoulders like she’d been holdin’ her breath for hours.

“Thank God,” she said, laughin’ with her whole throat.

“I ain’t gotta be on my best behavior no more.

” She reached up, popped that damn red wig off like she been waitin’ to do it all day, tossed it onto the chair, and kicked her heels halfway across the floor.

I couldn’t stop the grin. “Man, y’all go get comfortable,” I told them, waving them off. “We coolin’ for the rest of the day.”

They scattered—Toni humming to herself, Kashmere sendin’ me a quick look that said she wanted to talk later, and Ka’mari driftin’ away quiet like she ain’t know which angle to play next. Renza slid me a smirk like, Boy, yo’ life a mess, then disappeared with Blaqson.

I took my time headin’ to my room, my mind replaying every word from that office. Pops sayin’ liability. Ma askin’ if I knew the difference between passion and love. And then that one question knockin’ around my skull like a loose bullet— Where’s Pluto?

He wasn’t supposed to remember her, but he did, and the fact he asked told me she had left her mark on more than just me

I put my head in my hands for a moment, breathin’ deep. I couldn’t take another day without seein’ her. Whatever this was with Pluto, the shit wasn’t fading, and the thought of her out there handlin’ everything with her sister without me felt wrong.

I knew one thing for certain—I needed her back in my world, and I was about to make that happen.

Hours had passed and I was still sittin’ at the edge of the bed, feelin’ some type of way.

I ain’t even realize how long I’d been stuck in this position, just leanin’ forward with my elbows on my knees, starin’ at the floor.

Pops had asked about Pluto earlier, and ever since, my chest been heavy.

He ain’t even mean nothin’ by it, just a regular question, but it hit me wrong ‘cause I couldn’t answer him the way I really wanted to.

Truth was, I ain’t have no clue where she was at.

I ain’t havd her number or her address. A nigga ain’t even have a lead.

That shit bothered me more than I could explain. Me… Pressure… sittin’ in my own mansion feelin’ powerless over one woman. And it wasn’t just any woman either—it was Pluto.

I grabbed my phone and called Renza. Soon as he answered, I said, “Bruh, slide to my room real quick.”

“For what?” he asked, soundin’ like I just pulled him out his sleep.

“Don’t ask no questions, nigga. Just get here.”

Minutes later, there was a knock and then the door opened. Renza walked in wearin’ some house sweats, waves all messed up, lookin’ like he been stretched out somewhere.

He frowned at me. “Man, what you on?”

I sat up straighter. “You still got that laptop with everybody info from when they signed up?”

Renza squinted like he had to wake himself up more. “It’s in my room. Why?”

“I need Pluto info,” I said without hesitation. “Her number, her address, all that. Go grab it and hurry up.”

He gave me this look, part confusion, but part curiosity. “Nigga, you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m playin’? Move yo’ ass.”

He shook his head. “A’ight, gimme a minute.”

When he left out, I leaned back again, suckin’ my teeth.

I hated askin’ for anything, but this was somethin’ I couldn’t finesse my way around.

I ain’t never cared to get them girls’ numbers when they first came through the door, ‘cause in my mind they was all temporary. Now here I was stuck, wantin’ the one who slipped away, and realizin’ I ain’t had the simplest piece of info to reach her, other than that damn hospital.

About ten minutes later, Renza came back in, holdin’ his laptop. He set it down on the bed and sat across from me, flippin’ it open. The screen lit up his face while he started scrollin’.

“Hold up, bruh. Lemme find the folder,” he muttered.

I leaned forward, my eyes locked on his hands. “Man, hurry up.”

“I’m tryin’, nigga. This ain’t no one-click shit. I gotta go through the emails from when they sent all the info in. Just chill for a sec.”

“Chill?” I repeated, my brows raisin’. “I’mma chill when you find Pluto name. Till then, I’m on yo’ neck.”

He chuckled, shakin’ his head. “Boy, you sound pressed. I ain’t never seen you like this.”

“Bruh, just type,” I shot back.

He scrolled through lists, clicked folders, then cursed under his breath when somethin’ ain’t load right. I leaned closer, irritation rising. “Renza, don’t make me slap that laptop out yo’ hand. You better find somethin’.”

“I’mma find it, damn. You the most impatient nigga alive,” he said, still tappin’ keys.

A couple more minutes passed, and then his eyes narrowed on the screen. “Wait, wait. Here we go… Monroe, right? That’s her last name?”

My chest tightened. “Yeah. That’s her.”

He turned the screen so I could see it. Pluto Monroe. Number. Address. Everything right there starin’ me in the face.

I exhaled slow, finally feelin’ like I could breathe again. “A’ight, good. Now pull the address up on your phone. I wanna see what it look like.”

Renza grabbed his phone, typed the address in, and a second later his eyebrows shot up. “Aw, hell nah. Look at this.” He tilted the phone toward me, grinnin’. “Nigga, shorty stay in the gutter for real. Run down ass complex. Shit look like a trap spot.”

I took the phone from him and stared at the pictures.

Rusted stairs, paint chippin’ off the walls, windows boarded on some of the units.

My stomach twisted. That wasn’t no place Pluto should’ve been layin’ her head.

She was too solid, and delicate for this type of background.

That shit ain’t make me laugh like it did Renza.

It pissed me off. It gave me more reason to make sure she ain’t never have to step foot back there once I brought her back to my side.

I handed his phone back, my voice low but firm. “Good lookin’ out, cuz. You can go.”

Renza gave me a side eye but stood up. “You wild, but I see where your head at. Do yo’ thing, bruh.” He closed the laptop and tucked it under his arm before walkin’ out.

Once the door shut, I went straight to my closet. I pulled out a black sweatsuit, slid into it quick, then grabbed a duffel. I tossed a few packs of weed inside, some essentials, and slung it over my shoulder.

I ain’t tell nobody nothin’. This was personal.

I called downstairs for a driver. “Bring the truck ‘round front. Now,” I told him.

A couple minutes later, I was movin’ through the mansion, chain swingin’ against my chest. When I stepped outside, the night air wrapped around me cool and heavy.

The truck door was already open, the driver standin’ by.

I climbed in without a word with my bag on my lap, and stared out the window as we rolled down the driveway and hit the road.

Some time later, we pulled up to the strip, and my jet was waitin’. Lights glowed against the dark sky, engines hummin’, and crew standin’ ready. I stepped out, adjusted my chain, and walked across the pavement with one thing on my mind.

Pluto…

I climbed the steps, slid into the leather seat with the duffel at my feet.

The jet door closed, engines roared louder, and within minutes we was liftin’ off the ground.

The city lights shrank behind me, and the stars opened up in front of me.

I leaned back in my seat, my eyes on the night sky, and I knew one fuckin’ thing—I wasn’t comin’ back empty-handed.

I was goin’ to get Pluto, and I wasn’t takin’ no for an answer.