Page 15 of Certified Pressure 4
I didn’t respond right away. I just leaned back, feelin’ that old mix of pain and rage stir inside me. Kashmere had already damn near took my life, but to take from my home too? That was the final damn cut.
I stared at the open safe and shook my head. “She crossed a line she can’t come back from.”
Kay’Lo nodded slow, his face hard. “So what you wanna do?”
I looked at him, my voice low and calm. “We gotta find her.”
Kay’Lo nodded. “Say less.”
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
Two weeks later…
It had been fourteen whole damn days since I left the hospital, and I wasn’t ‘bout to lay around like no fuckin’ victim. The doctors said I needed rest, but I had a whole team to push me forward. My nutritionist came through with these protein-heavy meals and shakes that kept my body right. My personal trainer and physical therapist came to the mansionevery mornin’, workin’ with me in sessions that left me sore but stronger each day. Between the vitamins, oxygen treatments, and muscle recovery patches, I was gettin’ back faster than anybody expected. When you got money like mine, healin’ hit different.
They had me on hyperbaric oxygen sessions twice a day, red light therapy for my leg, and some cold-ass cryo chambers that froze the pain out my body. My left arm still felt tight when I moved it too fast, but I could walk again, slow and balanced. They gave me crutches, but I wasn’t usin’ that shit. I kept a cane close instead, somethin’ black and sleek that matched my fits and my pride. I might’ve been shot up, but I refused to look like a damn patient.
I ain’t gon’ lie though, every move still burned. My chest felt like it had been set on fire, my arms stayed tight, and my leg had its own damn heartbeat. But I couldn’t sit around watchin’ Pluto do everything. That woman held me down through the darkest shit of my life, and I wasn’t ‘bout to let her feel like she was doin’ this family thing alone. I got up early, even when my body begged me to stay in bed. Some mornings my chest burned, and my leg felt tight, but I pushed through it. I was the first one up, checkin’ on Prestyn, makin’ sure the nannies had his bottles ready and his wipes warm. If he woke up cryin’ in the middle of the night, I ain’t wait for Pluto to move. I’d scoop him up, talk to him low, and feed him myself while she slept. I wanted her to rest ‘cause she had done enough.
Durin’ the day, I made sure Zurie stayed smilin’. I helped her pick out her clothes, fix her breakfast, and take her outside to play in the yard. She’d laugh and run through the grass, callin’ meMy Pevery time she wanted me to push her higher on the swing.
Pluto would be in the kitchen with her robe on, watchin’ us through the window with that cute ass smile that always hit medeep. I would glance back at her and know I was exactly where I needed to be. My home finally felt right. I wasn’t just recoverin’ from gettin’ shot. I was rebuilding everything I almost lost.
Pluto was in the bathroom with Zurie, runnin’ her a bubble bath while I was in her room layin’ her pajamas on the bed. It was the soft pink ones with the lil’ cartoon crowns on ‘em. The sight made me smile. Zurie’s laughter came through the cracked bathroom door, that sweet giggle that always made the whole house feel lighter. I looked down at Prestyn, who was laid out on Zurie’s bed right next to me, twitchin’ every now and then like he was dreamin’, his lil’ lips puckered up like he was suckin’ air.
I leaned in and kissed his forehead before scoopin’ him up carefully. My chest still hurt when I lifted him, but that pain was worth it. Every time I looked at him, I remembered how close I came to never seein’ his face, so I ain’t care if he was sleep or not, I was gon’ pick my son up whenever the hell I felt like it. He was mine, and if anybody had a problem with me holdin’ my baby every five minutes, they could go to hell.
When Pluto came out the bathroom, her skin had that soft glow that only peace could give you. Her hair was down now, long and curly, fallin’ over her shoulders like soft silk. I liked it like that, wild and natural, just flowin’. Her robe hung loose, and she had that tired but happy look that made me slow down without even thinkin’. She told Zurie to finish playin’ in the water for five more minutes
“You okay?” she asked, walkin’ over to me.
“I’m good, baby,” I said, watchin’ her eyes follow my every move.
She sat beside me on the bed and looked down at Prestyn, who was driftin’ off in my arms. “He looks just like you,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” I said, smirkin’. “I know.”
She laughed soft, restin’ her hand on my thigh. “You so full of yourself.”
“Nah,” I said, lookin’ right at her. “I’m just full of you.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she turned her face away, tryin’ not to let me see her smile. I loved messin’ with her like that.
Later that night, we got Zurie in bed. She asked to hold Prestyn before sleep, and I couldn’t say no. I helped her sit up and laid him in her arms. She smiled so big it made my heart do somethin’ weird.
“Be careful, My Z,” I said.
She nodded all serious. “I got him, My P.”
Hearin’ her call me that always did somethin’ to me. I wasn’t just Pressure the prince, or Pressure the nigga with money and power. To her, I was her P—the one who made her feel safe.
After we kissed Zurie goodnight and turned out the lights, me and Pluto headed up to our room. I had my cane for balance, but I wasn’t lettin’ it stop me from feelin’ like myself again.
That first night back from the hospital, Pluto refused to sleep in my bed. She said she couldn’t rest where Kash once laid, and I ain’t argue with her. I just watched her pull a blanket and sleep in the next room with me. The next mornin’, I made a call. By the end of the day, a new bed was brought in, and a team had come through to change everything in the room. We had new paint, new sheets, new energy. Every piece of Kashmere’s energy was wiped clean from my space, and Pluto made sure of that.
I had my people go to the house I put Pluto in, and pack up every piece of her world. All her clothes, all of Prestyn’s stuff, every toy and blanket Zurie loved—it all got moved to the mansion. I ain’t want her drivin’ back and forth, or feelin’ like a guest in a place that was already hers. This was her home now.
When we reached the room, Pluto looked around and smiled, her eyes soft like she finally felt settled. The baby bassinet satright beside the new bed, and the scent of lavender candles filled the air. I eased myself onto the edge of the mattress, smirkin’.
