Page 45 of Certified Pressure 4
I exhaled slow, tryna stay calm. “Baby, I ain’t out here playin’. I’m workin’ on somethin’ real.”
She was quiet for a second, then her voice dropped soft. “So, what are you handling, Pressure? You out there doing something you ain’t got no business doing? Are you cheating on me? Is there someone else?”
I froze for a minute ‘cause the question caught me off guard. “What? Baby, don’t even play with me like that.”
“Well, what else am I supposed to think?” she asked, her tone rising. “You gone all day, barely texting, won’t answer your phone, and when you finally call, you act like I’m crazy for asking what’s going on.”
“Baby,” I said, keepin’ my voice calm. “Ain’t nobody out here touchin’ me but you. You the only one I want.”
She ain’t say nothin’, just breathed hard into the phone. I could picture her sittin’ there in that big ass bed with her hair tied up, lips pressed tight, and tryin’ to hold her ground.
“I’m just handlin’ some shit with Kay’Lo,” I said finally. “Nothin’ for you to stress about, baby
Her voice softened a little. “So you can’t even tell me what’s happenin’?”
“Baby,” I said. “Everything good. I’m comin’ home to y’all. I’ll be there tonight or first thing in the mornin’.
Her silence said everything. Then she whispered, “I don’t even know if I can trust you right now.”
That hit. I clenched my jaw and said, “So you really think a nigga fuckin’ around on you?”
She paused for a long time before sayin’, “I don’t know what the fuck you doing, Pressure. I just know this don’t feel right.”
“You trippin’, baby,” I said, my tone low but real. “You the only one I want. I love you, you hear me? I’m comin’ home to you.”
In the background, I heard my son start cryin’. The sound softened me right away. “Put me on speaker,” I said. “Let my lil’ man hear my voice.”
She sighed. “Pressure, I don’t feel like playin’.”
“I ain’t playin’,” I said. “Just put him on. Let him hear me.”
She hesitated but did it. The moment I heard his tiny cry through the phone, I smiled. “Daddy love you, Prestyn.”
Pluto’s voice came lower now. “I gotta go, Pressure. I need to feed him.”
“You can feed him while we talk,” I said. “I wanna hear your voice too, baby.”
“So now you wanna talk?” she asked, her tone drippin’ with attitude.
“I been wantin’ to, baby. I just been movin’ around. I’mma make it up to you when I get back, I promise. I miss you bad.”
She went quiet again, and I knew she was fightin’ that wall she put up. “I love you,” I said. “Say it back.”
She huffed. “You always say that when you done pissed me off.”
“So, what, you don’t love me no more, baby?”
She sighed. “I love you, Pressure,” she said finally, her voice low.
“I love you too,” I said, a smile pullin’ at my lips. “I’mma be home to lay up with you.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, then hung up.
I stood there starin’ at my phone for a long minute, wantin’ to call her back, but I couldn’t. Not while Kay’Lo was still sittin’ in a cell fightin’ for his life. I slid my phone in my pocket and looked out over the city.
Greystone wasn’t my city, but I still had business here. I had to figure out how the fuck to get Kay’Lo out without draggin’ the family into it, and I needed to holla at Toni too, just to see what all she knew right now. Too much shit was floatin’ around, and I wasn’t leavin’ till I had every answer I came for.
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
