Page 16 of Certified Pressure 2
He was still sharp, his eyes low but alert, and his cup in his hand. The music was turned down low now, just enough bass creepin’ through the speakers to keep the vibe right. We’d been talkin’ for a while, nothin’ too heavy, just shit that felt good to say out loud. Little jokes, back and forth about who really ran the game of spades, who could handle their liquor the best, stuff like that.
“You know what, Kay’Lo,” I said, leanin’ back in my chair and crossin’ my legs, “I been in this mansion damn near forever, and this right here the most fun I done had. Crazy part is it ain’t even the game or the drink. It’s just you alright to be around.”
He chuckled, shakin’ his head as he tapped the ash off the end of his blunt. “I’mma take that as a compliment. You cool too, Toni. I see why Pressure fuck with you.”
“Boy, Pressure don’t fuck with me like that,” I said, rollin’ my eyes. “He keep me around ‘cause I don’t complain and I can keep up with his ass on a homegirl level. That’s it. I ain’t blind.”
Kay’Lo laughed, the sound deep and smooth, and for some reason it made me smile even though I didn’t want to.
I stretched, yawned, and pushed my chair back. “Anyway, I’m about to call it a night. This liquor hittin’ and this weed got me feelin’ too damn good to be sittin’ here lookin’ at Renza drool on himself.”
Kay’Lo grinned and stood up with me. “You want me to walk you up?”
I paused, side-eying him. “Walk me up? Boy, you tryna get us both cussed out. You know how Pressure is.”
He shrugged like it wasn’t no big deal. “It’s just a walk. Ain’t nobody gon’ know unless you want ‘em to.”
I thought about it, and even though I knew it wasn’t the smartest move, I didn’t see the harm. It was just me and Kay’Lo, and the night felt too good to end on some borin’ tip. “A’ight,” I said finally, smirkin’ a little. “But if Pressure pop out the cut actin’ crazy, I’m snitchin’ and say it was your idea.”
He laughed again, openin’ the door and lettin’ me step out first. “Fair enough.”
We started walkin’ through the mansion, and he didn’t rush me. It wasn’t like no quick escort to the elevator. We strolled slow, movin’ through the long hallways with all that expensive shit gleamin’ around us. I glanced at a giant paintin’ on the wall and shook my head. “This man really got a whole museum in here. Like, what regular person needs a twelve-foot picture of some naked bitch holdin’ grapes?”
Kay’Lo cracked up, clutchin’ his chest. “That’s art, Toni.”
“That’s weird,” I corrected him. “You can’t tell me you wake up and get inspired lookin’ at that shit. Nah. Gimme a picture of money spread across the floor or somethin’. That’s art to me.”
We both laughed as we turned down another hallway. The silence that followed wasn’t awkward though. It felt easy, like neither one of us had to force the conversation.
“You got a close family?” I asked after a while, curiosity hittin’ me.
Kay’Lo glanced at me, then nodded. “Yeah. Me, Renza, and Pressure—we first cousins. All our daddies are brothers, and each one of us the only child. So it’s just the three of us on that side. Only boys too. But on our moms’ sides, they all had sisters, so we got girl cousins. Whole lotta women, but just us three when it comes to the men. That’s why we move how we do.”
I blinked, lettin’ that sink in. “So all y’all pops are brothers, but none of ‘em had more than one kid, and all of ‘em had boys?”
“Exactly,” he said.
I shook my head. “That’s wild. Crazy, but interesting too. Y’all like some chosen three type shit.”
He smirked. “Somethin’ like that. Ain’t no runnin’ from it either. Blood that deep, you locked in for life.”
I nodded slowly, thinkin’ about how different that sounded from my own family. “I wish I could say my family was like that. Mine all over the place.”
He looked at me a little closer, like he wanted to ask more, but then he changed the subject. “So how you like it here? Be real.”
I sucked my teeth and shrugged. “I don’t feel nothin’. I’m just existin’ in this place. Half the time I feel like the ghetto misfit. Everybody else walkin’ around actin’ classy, tryin’ to play perfect, and I’m just… me.”
Kay’Lo smiled, slow and smooth, and shook his head. “That’s why I fuck with you though. You the realest one out of everybody.”
I felt my face warm up, and I looked away quick. I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of seein’ me blush, so I kept walkin’, pretendin’ like his words didn’t mean nothin’. But they did.
We made it to my door, and I leaned on the frame for a second, lookin’ at him. “Thanks for walkin’ me, Kay’Lo. Tonight was… cool. I needed it.”
He held my stare for a moment, and I could feel somethin’ shift between us. Not in no heavy way, but in that way where both of us knew somethin’ was there, even if neither one of us moved on it. He finally nodded, gave me a half-smile, and turned to head back down the hall.
I was still smilin’ when I reached for the handle, but that shit faded quick when I turned around and saw Ka’mari standin’ there like she had been waitin’ on me.
Her eyes narrowed. “Pressure know his cousin walked you up here?”
