Page 7 of Certified Pressure 2

Moss Point

O nce the jet landed, I looked over at Pluto and removed my arm from around her shoulder.

She’d been leanin’ into me the whole flight, quiet as hell, damn near shakin’ on and off, and I knew her nerves was eatin’ her alive.

I wasn’t the type to sit there askin’ a million questions, but I kept my arm on her the whole time ‘cause I knew she needed it. That’s why I ain’t let her carry nothin’ soon as we stepped off.

I grabbed her hand, gripped her luggage in the other, and led her down the steps like she was mine to protect.

I looked over at Pluto, her nails diggin’ into her leggings like she was tryna hold herself together. “Where we slidin’ to?” I asked, my voice low, and eyes still on her.

“St. Mercy General Hospital,” she said, real soft.

I hated hospitals and I had my reasons, but for Pluto, I was gon’ walk in that bitch unbothered.

I typed the address into the GPS with one hand, but my other reached for hers without me thinkin’.

Her fingers slid into mine quick, like she’d been waitin’ on it.

I squeezed her hand and kept it there on the console, my thumb brushin’ over her skin.

I ain’t even realize how deep I’d gotten with this girl until I caught myself doin’ shit like this.

I had feelings for a few of the Diamonds, sure, but Pluto hit different.

It wasn’t just lust or the chase. With her, it felt natural, like she was carved out to fit in my life without tryin’.

She made a nigga feel safe in a way I couldn’t even explain.

Not physically ‘cause nobody on this planet made me feel unsafe—but emotionally.

Like all the shit I bottled up could actually breathe around her.

We drove through the city in silence but still connected. Every few minutes she’d look out the window, swallow hard, then glance at me like she was groundin’ herself. I ain’t say much. I just held her hand tighter and let her feel my presence. That’s what she needed more than words.

When we pulled up to the hospital, the glow from the emergency sign bounced off her skin, and I could see the panic settle heavier in her eyes.

I parked, got out, and walked around before she even touched the handle.

She ain’t argue when I opened her door. She let me help her out, and we walked in together, her hand still locked in mine.

The front desk worker ran through the motions, and asked for IDs.

Pluto’s voice shook when she gave ‘em her info. I slid mine across right after. I ain’t give a fuck who stared at me—tattoos, jewelry, all that shit.

I wanted everybody in that hospital to see one thing: I was standin’ next to Pluto through whatever came.

With visitor passes on, we moved through the bright-ass hallways. The smell of bleach and medicine was loud, with machines beepin’ faint in the background. Pluto walked faster the closer we got.

Walkin’ the hospital halls had me feelin’ that shit.

Hospitals always did somethin’ to me. The white walls, the echo of wheels hittin’ tile, that sharp mix of bleach and sickness—it all pulled at somethin’ I never talked about ‘cause it was somethin’ I buried a long time ago.

It was fucked up memories, I ain’t even like lettin’ creep back in.

For a second, my mind started slippin’ there, twistin’ me up, but I shook it off.

This wasn’t about me. Pluto needed me solid, so that’s what I was gon’ be.

She pushed through the door first, and soon as I stepped in behind her, I clocked it.

Her mom and pops was here…

Pluto froze up, her eyes cuttin’ straight to ‘em. She ain’t smile or say shit.

She just walked right past ‘em toward the bed. I stayed posted by the wall, watchin’.

Zurie was laid out in bed, small as hell, lookin’ fragile but still breathin’ on her own.

She ain’t have no tubes in her mouth, or machines keepin’ her alive.

Just that little chest risin’ slow, her breaths shallow but steady enough to show she was still fightin’.

My chest got heavy just lookin’ at her. She was too young for this shit.

“Where’s Uncle Lionel?” Pluto asked, her voice sharp, but her eyes never leavin’ Zurie.

Her mama opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out, her daddy jumped in, his voice deep but sloppy, like he’d been sippin’ before comin’ here.

“My brother had other things to attend to. Zurie is our child, Pluto. You don’t just send her off with him like you runnin’ shit. You oversteppin’.”

Pluto spun on him so fast her hair whipped her shoulder. “Oversteppin’? You a drunk. You don’t even know what’s best for yourself, let alone her. Don’t you ever talk to me about what’s in Zurie’s best interest when you ain’t done shit for her.”

Her daddy puffed his chest, sittin’ there in a wrinkled ass shirt and ashy knuckles like he was somebody. “You think you can talk to me like that? I’m still your father, girl.”

“Father?” Pluto damn near laughed in his face. “You ain’t no father. Lionel has been more of a father to Zurie than you ever were to either of us. You got the nerve to sit in here, smellin’ like liquor, actin’ like you care, when you ain’t never showed up for her.”

They went back and forth, Pluto lettin’ years of pain fly and him tryna keep his pride stitched together.

Pluto was so caught up with goin’ off on her people, she didn’t even introduce us, but I wasn’t even fucked up about it.

I didn’t wanna talk to these crazy-lookin’ muthafuckas.

I leaned on the wall with my arms folded, watchin’ him, and in my head, I was eatin’ him alive.

Look at this old scraggly-ass bitch-ass nigga.

Hair all thin, skin lookin’ like he ain’t touched water in days, clothes wrinkled like he pulled them shits from the bottom of a hamper.

Nigga talkin’ bold to Pluto but couldn’t even glance my way.

That’s how I knew he was pussy. He knew what it was.

He knew if he looked at me the wrong way, I’d knock his ass through that hospital bed rail and wouldn’t think twice about it.

I was boilin’ inside, my hands twitchin’ like they was itchin’ to connect with his jaw. But outta respect for Pluto, and outta respect for that little girl layin’ there tryna catch her breath, I held it down. Barely.

Instead of wildin’ out, I shifted my eyes to Zurie.

She was laid back, her eyes closed, and face peaceful like she was somewhere else in her mind.

She was so pretty, and had me wonderin’ what it would feel like if I would’ve actually had a child of my own.

That little body was fightin’ harder than both her parents ever had.

That shit made me angry in a way I couldn’t shake.

Angry that she even had to go through this, and angry that Pluto carried the whole weight of bein’ her protector while her so-called parents sat there useless.

I looked at Pluto, the way she brushed Zurie’s hair back, the way her tears slid but her hand stayed steady, and I knew right then she was the strongest woman I’d ever met.

She wasn’t just beautiful or sexy. She was built from a different cloth, forced to play roles her parents abandoned.

And I couldn’t help but respect it. Hell, I couldn’t help but feel it in my spirit.

My life was the opposite of hers. I had parents that poured legacy and power into me.

My pops raised me to handle business, and Ma taught me the importance of the empire.

I never had to question if they had me. Just from lookin’ at the mess in front of me, I could tell Pluto ain’t never had that.

She’d been fightin’ to keep her sister alive, fightin’ to survive her own blood, and she was still standin’. Still pushin’.

And while I stood there watchin’ all that unfold, I knew one thing for sure—I wasn’t lettin’ her do this shit alone.

St. Mercy General Hospital

We stayed at the hospital for ‘bout an hour and I was already feelin’ that itch in my chest like I couldn’t keep sittin’ still.

Pluto was tight the whole time, her eyes cuttin’ toward her mama and daddy like she wanted to slap both they old asses, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she snapped.

She finally got up, pushed off the chair, and stepped out the room with her phone clutched like it was her only weapon.

I leaned back in mine, my arms folded, tryna act like I wasn’t watchin’ her every move, but the truth was my whole attention had been on her since the second we walked in this bitch.

Her parents ain’t say much to me, just gave me that look like they didn’t like the way I carried myself, but fuck them.

I wasn’t here for them anyway. I was here ‘cause Pluto needed me to ride, and once I told her I had her, that was law. Still, sittin’ in the same room with them while Zurie laid there had me fightin’ my own thoughts.

Every time I glanced at the old man, I wanted to grab him by his wrinkled-ass shirt and shake him till he got some sense.

He looked like a nigga who done failed too many times but still had the nerve to puff his chest like he was runnin’ shit.

Pluto’s voice carried down the hall frantic, and I got up to trail behind.

I ain’t wanna eavesdrop, but I needed to be close just in case she broke down.

She had the phone pressed to her ear, pacin’ slow, whisperin’, “Unc, I need you to come get Zurie when they discharge her. Please. You know Mama don’t do right, and Daddy—he drunk half the time.

Please just tell me you’ll take her back to your house. ”