Page 10 of Certified Pressure 2
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 outtarespect 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. Plutowas 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.”
I caught the way her shoulders slumped when whoever was on the other end gave her the answer she didn’t wanna hear. She closed her eyes, pressed her free hand to her forehead, and just stood there. “So, there’s nothing you can do if Mama say she takin’ her? That’s it? That’s the end of it?” Her voice cracked and I felt that shit in my own chest.
When she hung up, she stayed frozen for a second before spinnin’ on her heel and stormin’ toward the nurses’ station. I followed close, my steps heavy and my fists already balled ‘causeI knew this wasn’t gon’ end clean. She marched right up to the doctor that been checkin’ on Zurie and blocked his path before he could disappear into another room.
“Can I talk to you? Please,” she said, her voice quick and shaky.
The man adjusted his glasses like he already knew it was about to be one of those conversations. “Of course, Miss Monroe. What’s on your mind?”
Pluto grabbed hold of his sleeve like she was afraid he’d walk off. “Don’t let them take my sister home. Please, I’m beggin’ you. You can’t let them do it. She’s not safe with them. My mama don’t care, my daddy don’t care. She just had an episode and they’ll act like it’s nothin’. Please, I’ll do anything, just don’t let them take her back there.”
Hearin’ her beg like that fucked me up, ‘cause I could tell she wasn’t the type to beg nobody for shit. Her eyes were shiny, her lips tremblin’, and she had this wild desperation about her that made me wanna snatch the whole hospital up and bend it to her will.
The doctor sighed and pulled his arm free, foldin’ it behind his back. “I understand your concern, truly. But this isn’t a decision I can make. Once your sister is stabilized and discharged, we have to release her to her legal guardians, which are your parents. The only way we can stop that process is if there is documented abuse or neglect that places her in danger, and in that case, social services would have to be involved.”
Pluto’s face crumbled. “So you’re telling me there’s nothin’ I can do? I have to just sit back and watch them take her?”
The man hesitated, like he wanted to soften the blow, but he kept his tone professional. “Unless you’re prepared to involve child protective services, that’s the reality. I’m sorry.”
She turned her back on him fast, her hair swinging across her face, and her whole body tense like she was fightin’ not to fallapart. He gave her one last look before walkin’ away, his shoes squeakin’ down the hall until he was gone.
Pluto stood there, her arms wrapped around herself, thick tears slippin’ down her cheeks. She shook her head over and over like she could will the truth away, like if she denied it long enough Zurie would end up safe in her arms instead of in that fucked-up house.
I couldn’t just watch her crumble. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, pullin’ her in tight against me. She didn’t fight it. She just pressed her face to my chest and let it go, cryin’ soft at first, then harder, her fists bunchin’ in my shirt. I held her there, my jaw clenched, and my own heart beatin’ wild.
Inside, I was on fire. I wanted to storm back into that room, drag her daddy out by his neck, and make him feel what it’s like to be powerless for once. I wanted to cuss her mama out until she had no choice but to look in the mirror and see the failure she was. But I didn’t move, ‘cause I knew it wasn’t about me. It was about Pluto, and right now she needed me to be a wall, not a wreckin’ ball.
She mumbled against me, “I can’t lose her. She’s all I got. I can’t let them take her home. She won’t make it there. She won’t.”
