Chapter 7 Pressure Mensah #2
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’ me My P every 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 me deep.
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 sat right beside the new bed, and the scent of lavender candles filled the air. I eased myself onto the edge of the mattress, smirkin’.
“What’s funny?” she asked, lookin’ over at me with that curve in her lip.
“Nothin’,” I said, grinnin’. “Just thinkin’ how this finally feel like us.”
She laughed low, that warm sound that made my whole heart calm down.
“You need anything?” I asked.
She looked up from adjustin’ the blanket over the baby and smirked. “Yeah… You.”
I grinned slow with my eyes on her the whole time. “You sure ‘bout that? ‘Cause when you heal, I’m takin’ you all up and through there.
Her smile turned shy for half a second before she bit her lip. “Pressure…”
“Yes, baby?” I asked, starin’ at her fine ass.
“I love you.”
“I love you more,” I said.
We laid there for a while, just talkin’, my hand rubbin’ her feet while hers rested across my stomach. It felt right, and like the peace I ain’t had in a minute. After a while, Pluto yawned and slid out of bed.
“I’m going to the bathroom for a sec,” she said soft, grabbin’ her robe.
“A’ight, baby,” I said, watchin’ her walk away.
The room got quiet again. I leaned back against the pillows, starin’ up at the ceilin’, lettin’ my mind drift until my phone started buzzin’ on the nightstand. It was a private number.
I frowned and reached over and answered it, holdin’ it to my ear without sayin’ a word. For a second, all I heard was breathin’. Then a voice came through shaky.
“Pressure…”
My mind started spinnin’. I knew that voice anywhere.
“Say mane,” I said flat.
She didn’t respond right away. Then, she finally spoke. “I didn’t mean to shoot you.”
I closed my eyes, shakin’ my head slow. That right there told me everything I needed to know. She wasn’t just broken. She was gone in the head. Only a crazy muthafucka would shoot somebody five times then call private to say they ain’t mean it.
“Kash where the fuck my money and jewelry you stole?”
She stayed quiet for a second. I could hear her breathin’, tryna pull herself together, but I wasn’t feelin’ none of that pity shit.
“You really came in my crib, took my shit, and ran off in my jet like I wouldn’t find out?” I said low.
“I didn’t steal from you,” she whispered.
My blood was heatin’ up ‘cause I knew she was fuckin’ lyin’ to me.
One of the reasons me and my people couldn’t locate Kash was ‘cause the damn pilot swore the system glitched when he took off. He said it looked like the jet was rerouted to a private strip to another island, but when my people pulled the logs, everything was wiped clean. The coordinates, tower logs, even the flight ID. Somebody bitch ass helped her, and it was somebody with access, which was why Kay’Lo ended up breakin’ that nigga jaw and daring him to press charges.
After that, I fired the whole damn staff.
Every pilot, every flight tech, every maintenance hand that touched my shit was gone by the end of the night.
I wasn’t hearin’ no excuses. They claimed they ain’t know, and said it was a mistake, but I ain’t believe in mistakes when it came to my life or my family.
If Kash got away, it’s ‘cause somebody let her, and that made all of ‘em guilty to me.
“You better bring my shit back,” I said cold. “Every dollar, every chain, every piece you touched.”
Before I could say anything else, Pluto came stormin’ out the bathroom with her eyes locked on me. She snatched the phone from my hand and pressed it to her ear.
“Bitch, where you at?” she asked, her voice calm but dangerous.
Then the line went dead.
Pluto stared at the phone, her chest heavin’, then she looked at me. “Next time that bitch call, give me the phone, and I mean that.”
I reached out, grabbin’ her wrist and pullin’ her closer. She landed against me, breathin’ hard. I kissed her, deep and slow, lettin’ her feel everything I couldn’t say. She melted against me, her hands slidin’ up my neck, and when we finally pulled apart, her eyes were glassy.
Rubbin’ the back of her neck, I stared in her eyes, hopin’ she could see how much she meant to me. “I got you.”
Hours passed, and the crib was quiet. I was half asleep when I heard Prestyn cryin’. Pluto was out cold beside me, so I pulled my legs off the bed and stood up slow. My body still ached, but my son needed me. I walked over and picked him up, rockin’ him against my chest.
“Shh, it’s okay, lil’ man,” I murmured. “Daddy got you.”
I kissed his forehead, breathin’ in that baby scent that always made me calm down.
I grabbed a bottle with Pluto’s breast milk in it out the mini fridge and put it in the warmer.
While I waited, I walked to the nightstand where my phone was.
A few messages popped up—Renza checkin’ in, Kay’Lo sayin’ he was outside the gate makin’ sure shit stayed cool, and one name that made my stomach tighten. Ka’mari…
Her message said she heard what happened and wanted to make sure I was okay. She even said she could come through if I needed anything. She ain’t even know I had a newborn or that Pluto was here, and we was locked in.
I stared at the screen for a long time, thinkin’ about our son we lost. Kamir would’ve been here right now if life hadn’t played out the way it did.
When I flatlined at the hospital, I saw my boy.
For a second, I thought about tellin’ Ka’mari that.
I thought maybe it would give her peace, but that moment wasn’t for her. It was for me.
For years I carried that pain like it was my punishment. I held on to Ka’mari ‘cause I ain’t know how to let go. But lookin’ at Pluto layin’ there sleepin’, I knew I already had my closure. Seein’ Kamir was God’s way of tellin’ me to stop chasin’ the past, and focus on my future.
I turned the phone off and tossed it to the side.
I grabbed the bottle, tested it, and sat down on the bed with Prestyn. He was calm now, starin’ up at me like he knew he was safe. I kissed the top of his head and whispered, “You all I need. You and ya mama.”
He made this soft sound, almost like he agreed.
I leaned over and kissed Pluto’s temple before feedin’ our son. The moment felt unreal, like I finally had everything I been fightin’ for.
I had love. I had family, and I had a reason.
I wasn’t just Pressure Mensah no more. I was a father. A man who damn near died and got a second chance to live it right.
And I wasn’t thinkin’ about no other woman. Not Ka’mari, not nobody. She was the last thing on my mind, and it was gon’ stay that way. Everything I wanted was already right here in this mansion with me.