Page 46 of Certified Pressure 4
After getting off the phone with Pressure, I couldn’t think straight. Something was wrong and I could literally feel it in my gut. The way he talked, the pauses in his voice, the way he brushed things off; none of it sat right. He kept saying he was out handling something with Kay’Lo, but that wasn’t enough for me.
I sat up in bed, running my fingers through my hair, trying to calm my nerves. My mind was spinning, and my stomach felt tight. Prestyn was asleep beside me, but even that couldn’t settle me. Nothing could right now.
Pressure had been gone since about four this morning, and every hour that passed made it harder to breathe. I wanted to trust him, but how could I when I didn’t even know what wasreally going on? He said he was with Kay’Lo, but that could mean anything. For all I knew, he could’ve been with another woman or mixed up in something worse. The uncertainty was eating at me, and it hurt because I loved him too much not to care
I reached for my phone, staring at the black screen like it could give me answers. I thought about Kay’Lo and how he’d been in Toni Roc’s city for the last few days. If Pressure was really with him, then maybe Toni knew what was going on. My hand was shaking as I scrolled through my contacts, and for a second, I almost talked myself out of it. I didn’t know if I really wanted to know the truth, but I hit her name anyway.
When she answered, her voice came out low and raspy, like she’d been crying. “Hey, Pluto.”
That one sound made my stomach drop. “Toni, what’s wrong? You okay?”
There was a pause. “Not really.”
My chest tightened. “What happened?”
She let out a breath that sounded heavy. “Kay’Lo shot and killed my cousin.”
I froze. The words didn’t even sound real. “What?”
“From what I’m hearin’ on the news, him and a couple of his homeboys tried to break into the Airbnb we was stayin’ at,” she said. “They came with guns, and Kay’Lo, Renza, and Blaqson started shootin’. My cousin Deuce got killed.”
I couldn’t even speak. I had so many questions, but my throat felt tight, and my hands were cold. “Oh my God, Toni.”
“Yeah, they got into it at my girl cousin party, and it escalated from there. Kay’Lo don’t have a bond,” she said. “We been tryna figure out how to get him out but it’s bad, Pluto. Real bad.”
I sat there staring straight ahead, my whole body numb. Everything around me went silent. “I can’t believe this,” I whispered.
Toni sighed. “I don’t even know what to say. He ain’t mean to do it. They came at us first.”
“Where are you now?” I asked.
“I’m with my cousins Sha’Nelle. It was her party yesterday, but it’s a lot of tension. I just don’t wanna leave the city while he in jail.”
I swallowed hard, trying to pull myself together. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Toni.”
She sniffed. “I’ll be alright. I’ll call you later, okay?”
When we hung up, I sat on the edge of the bed with my phone still in my hand. I felt like the room was spinning. My chest hurt. Pressure had lied to me. He told me he was just with Kay’Lo, handling something simple, but this wasn’t simple. He was out there in the middle of some shit that could get him killed, and he didn’t even tell me.
I looked over at Prestyn. He was still asleep, peaceful and innocent, and watching him made me wish I could be that calm. My hands were trembling as I dialed Pressure’s number again. It rang and rang until finally he answered.
“Wussup, baby?” His voice came out low and calm, like nothing was wrong.
My voice shook. “Don’t ‘baby’ me, Pressure. I just got off the phone with Toni.”
He sighed. “A’ight, so what she tell you?”
“She told me everything,” I snapped. “She told me about her cousin, about the shootout and about Kay’Lo being in jail. You lied to me. You told me you were just out there handling business. You got a whole newborn and you out there doing this bullshit?”
“Pluto, chill,” he said. “You actin’ like I’m out here playin’. Kay’Lo my cousin. I can’t just let him sit in jail.”
“You could’ve got him out another way,” I shot back. “You didn’t have to take your ass all the way out there. You almostdied, Pressure. You just got shot five fucking times, and now you’re back in some other shit that don’t even got nothing to do with you.”
He let out a slow breath. “It got everything to do with me when it’s my family. I ain’t gon’ just leave him out here hangin’.”
Tears burned my eyes. “You always say that, but what about me? What about your son? We almost lost you once, and you just… you don’t even give a fuck! Ugh!”
His voice dropped low. “Don’t say that, baby. You know I care about y’all more than anything.”
