Page 47 of Certified Pressure 4
“Then why do you keep doing this?” I yelled, my voice cracking. “You think I’m supposed to sit here and wait for another call saying you gone? I can’t keep doing this shit with you, Pressure!”
“Pluto, calm down,” he said softly. “You soundin’ like you about to lose it.”
“Because I am,” I cried. “I’m tired of this shit! You tell me you love me, but how am I supposed to believe that when you keep putting yourself in danger?”
There was a pause on his end, then his voice came through deep. “I’m not goin’ nowhere, Pluto. I’m not dyin’. I’m comin’ home to you.”
“You keep sayin’ that, but one day you not if you keep up with all this shit you on,” I said. My face was wet with tears, and I didn’t even realize I was crying until I heard myself sniff. “If you love me like you say you do, you’ll stop.”
He didn’t say anything at first, then I heard him sigh. “I love you, baby. You and our son. Everything I’m doin’, I’m doin’ for us.”
“That’s bullshit,” I replied, shaking my head even though he couldn’t see me. “What you do don’t have shit to do with us. You do dumb shit because you think you invincible.”
“Pluto—”
“No, nigga,” I cut him off. “If you gon’ keep doing this dumb shit, we don’t need to be together.”
He was quiet for a few seconds before his voice came back low and rough. “You really talkin’ like that right now? You gon’ leave me over this?”
“I can’t raise our son wondering if you gon’ make it home or not.”
He sighed again, sounding tired now. “I’mma be home soon. Just wait for me, alright?”
I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I won’t be here when you come back.”
“Pluto—”
I hung up before he could say another word.
The phone slipped out my hand and hit the bed. My chest felt tight, and my vision blurry from the tears. Prestyn started crying, his little voice filling the room, and I picked him up, holding him close against me as I tried to stop shaking.
Everything felt heavy. My heart, my head, my love for Pressure… it all hurt.
I wanted to trust him, but every time I did, he found a way to remind me that his loyalty to the streets came first, and I knew that if he didn’t change, one day that same loyalty was gonna cost him everything.
Greystone City
The following day…
Once I realized these muthafuckas wasn’t gon’ let Kay’Lo go, I ain’t have no choice but to call my Uncle Kwame to come handle this shit. The second I told him what was goin’ on, he got quiet. He ain’t even ask too many questions. He just said, “Send me the location.” That’s when I knew it was up. I ain’t even get the chance to finish explainin’ before he hung up. Within an hour, that man was already in the air on his private jet headed straight to the city.
Kwame Mensah wasn’t like nobody else in the family. That man had power for real. He had that rich power that made governments flinch. He built TrillNet from scratch, the samecrypto backbone that ran through every digital system in Trill-Land. He handled data and money like it was oxygen, and if he wanted some shit done, it got done. When he called a city official, they ain’t breathe till he told them they could.
By the time the jet landed, I was already outside the jail with Renza and Blaqson. It was hot, but the energy in the air was cold. Unc stepped out the black S-Class Benz, like he owned the city. The way them Greystone officials started movin’ was wild. You could see the fear in they eyes. He ain’t raise his voice, but he didn’t need to. He told them straight up that if they didn’t fix the situation, he was gon’ make one keystroke and have their whole system blink out for a week. Phones, banks, data, all of it. That was all it took.
Not even an hour later, Kay’Lo was free. He ain’t have to deal with no paperwork, no bond hearin’, nothin’. Just a signature from a man with too much pull and too many connections. They only told him one thing before lettin’ him walk, and that was that he had to pay for the damages at the Airbnb. And that was light compared to what could’ve happened.
When Kay’Lo walked out, he looked tired but still held that cocky walk that let you know he was straight. Renza clapped him on the back and Blaqson smiled, but I could tell they all felt that same tension hangin’ over us.
Uncle Kwame stepped up to his son and pulled him in for a hug, then smacked his chest once, hard enough to make his point. “You’re free,” he said, his voice deep and calm, but tight. “But we gon’ talk about this.”
Kay’Lo nodded, lookin’ down like he already knew what was comin’.
Unc turned to me next. “You did the right thing callin’ me,” he said. “But this whole mess should’ve never happened.”
I ain’t say a word. I just gave him a small nod ‘cause when it came to my uncle, I knew to let him speak.
He turned his attention back to Kay’Lo. “You’re comin’ back to Trill-Land with me. Tonight.”
