Chapter 16 Pressure Mensah
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
Iwas layin’ in the bed sleep, with my arm around Pluto’s waist when my phone started blowin’ up.
The screen lit the room up in flashes, and I squinted, annoyed as hell, reachin’ for it off the nightstand.
When I saw Kay’Lo’s name flashin’ across the screen, I sat up a lil’.
That gut feelin’ hit me before I even answered.
I rubbed my face with one hand, still half asleep, and hit the green button.
“Aye, ‘Lo, wus’ good?” I said, my voice rough.
It wasn’t his voice I heard back though. It was Toni. She sounded shaken, her words comin’ out fast and broken. “Pressure, it’s me. It’s Toni.”
My whole body tensed. “What’s wrong? Where Kay’Lo at?”
Her voice cracked like she was tryin’ not to cry. “They locked up. It was a shootout at the Airbnb. They took him, Renza, and Blaqson to jail.”
That woke me all the way up. I swung my legs off the bed, my heart beatin’ faster. “What you mean shootout? Is my nigga hit? Any of ‘em shot?”
“No,” she said quickly, snifflin’. “No, they okay. But… my cousin got killed. I can’t believe he’s dead.”
I ran my hand down my face and sighed through my teeth.
My patience was gone before she even finished talkin’.
“Man, fuck yo’ cousin,” I said low. “That nigga clearly came playin’ with somethin’ he couldn’t handle.
‘Lo ain’t wrong for protectin’ y’all. You can’t pull up on no real niggas and expect to walk away clean. ”
Toni ain’t say nothin’. I could hear her breathin’, tryna calm herself. “I just don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I don’t even know what jail they at. It’s either Ridgegate County Jail or Sable County Holding Unit.”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “A’ight,” I said. “Say less. I’mma find out. When I leave the crib, I’mma hit you for more details. They not gon’ sit in no cell while I’m out here free. I’m on that, for real.”
I hung up before she could say anything else and sat there for a second, my phone still in my hand, feelin’ that heat startin’ to rise in my chest. My brothers was in jail in a city that wasn’t theirs, and I was layin’ in bed. That wasn’t gon’ slide.
I turned and looked at Pluto sleepin’ next to me. I leaned down and kissed her cheek. She moved a lil’, her eyes flutterin’ open. “Pressure?” she said softly, her voice still sleepy. “What’s wrong?”
I kept my voice calm, even though everything inside me was boilin’. “Somethin’ came up with Kay’Lo,” I said. “I gotta head out of town for a minute.”
Her eyes opened a lil’ wider as she sat up, the sheet slidin’ off her shoulder. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied, watchin’ the worry start to form on her face. “Ain’t nothin’ major. Just some business I gotta handle. I’ll be good.”
She reached over and touched my hand, her fingers soft and warm. “Pressure, you need to be careful,” she said. “I mean it.”
I stared at her, and the way her eyes held mine like she could see straight through me.
This woman loved me in a way I didn’t even think I deserved sometimes and for a second, I almost told her what was really goin’ on.
But I knew how she’d get. She’d try to talk me out of it, tell me to let the lawyers handle it, tell me not to move the way I move, and I couldn’t do that. Not when it came to family.
I nodded. “I’mma be careful, baby. You got my word.”
She leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. It was soft, slow, and filled with everything she ain’t say out loud. When she pulled back, she whispered, “I love you.”
I smiled. “I love you more, mama.”
I brushed my thumb over her cheek before slidin’ out of bed. The floor felt cold under my feet as I pulled on my black jeans and a plain tee. I grabbed my watch and wallet off the dresser. When I turned around, Pluto was still watchin’ me, her hair wild and her eyes heavy.
“You gon’ come back, right?” she asked, her voice low.
I stopped, lookin’ at her again. “You know I am,” I said. “Ain’t nothin’ keepin’ me from you and my son.”
I walked over to the bassinet and looked down at Prestyn. He was sleepin’ with his lips parted, lookin’ peaceful as hell. I bent down and kissed him right on the forehead. “I love you, lil’ man,” I said under my breath. “I’ll be back.”
When I straightened up, Pluto was sittin’ up with the blanket pulled to her chest, still lookin’ at me like she ain’t want me to go.
That look right there did somethin’ to me.
I told myself I needed to move, but my feet wouldn’t listen.
Instead, I found myself sittin’ back down on the edge of the bed, still fully dressed, starin’ at her.
She reached up and ran her fingers through my beard, her touch light enough to calm a storm. I took her other hand and slid my thumb across her palm while my eyes stayed locked on hers. Then I reached up and pushed her hair back from her face, lettin’ my hand slide to the back of her neck.
“I don’t want you to go,” she whispered.
I exhaled through my nose and shook my head. “I know, baby.” My voice came out lower than I meant it to. “But I gotta.”
She leaned forward, and I met her halfway.
The kiss was deep with that ache we both felt.
She ran her fingers through my beard again, tuggin’ just enough to pull me closer, and I let my fingers move up through her hair.
The world outside didn’t exist for a second.
It was just us, and our lips movin’ like we was speakin’ a language only we knew.
When I pulled back, I pressed my forehead against hers. “I love you, Pluto,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Her eyes watered, but she smiled through it. “I love you too, Pressure.”
I kissed her again, one last time, slow and gentle, like I was tryna leave a piece of myself right here with her. Then I stood up, slid my hand down her arm, and let my fingers linger on hers before finally lettin’ go. She watched me the whole time, and that made leavin’ even harder.
As I walked out the room, I could still feel the warmth of her touch, and hear her voice in my head. That was the kind of love that made a nigga move different, even when he was about to walk into war.
The hall was quiet as I made my way through the mansion. By the time I hit the foyer, my driver was already textin’ me, sayin’ the car was out front. I stepped outside into the night air with the smell of the jungle driftin’ behind me.
The car door opened, and I slid in, my mind already spinnin’. I called one of my pilots and told him to prep my other jet. I wanted that shit fueled, stocked, and in the air within the hour. He didn’t even question me.
As we pulled off, I looked out the tinted window, thinkin’ about Kay’Lo sittin’ in some cold-ass cell right now. Renza too. Blaqson too. Nah, that wasn’t gon’ sit right. Them niggas was mine, and I moved different when it came to mine.
Whatever city it was, whatever jail it was, I was touchin’ down. Whether I had survived five bullets or five hundred of them hoes, today wasn’t gon’ be no peaceful day for whoever thought they could play with my family.
Greystone City
I had been in the city for ‘bout six hours and I was already tired of talkin’ to these muthafuckas.
Every time I turned around, it was another question, another form and another runaround about why they couldn’t just let my people out.
I done talked to clerks, lieutenants, jail supervisors, and some slick-tongued ass district attorney that kept talkin’ to me like I ain’t understand English. I was one call away from losin’ it.
They finally let Renza and Blaqson go after I put up bail money that could’ve bought a house, but when I brought up Kay’Lo, everything got quiet. That’s when they started talkin’ about “active investigation” and “pending homicide review.”
I finally caught another clerk at the counter who looked like she wanted to say more than she was supposed to. When I asked if Kay’Lo was comin’ home or not, she hesitated, then said, “They’re holding him on a possible homicide.”
That’s when I knew shit was gettin’ real.
Nobody had to spell it out for me. The way her eyes dropped said enough.
My stomach got tight, not outta guilt but outta anger, ‘cause now I understood why they wasn’t lettin’ my cousin go.
They was tryna paint it like he was out here wildin’ when the truth was them boys came to that Airbnb lookin’ for a body, and they found their own.
Kay’Lo ain’t kill nobody that ain’t ask for it. They came to his door, armed, and he defended himself and his woman. I told an officer that, clear as day, but all he said was, “The amount of bullets discharged and the firearm being unregistered complicates things.”
I wanted to laugh in his face. Complicates things? These niggas came shootin’. Kay’Lo just finished it.
By the time I walked out that station, the sun was already down, and I felt like I aged a year.
I could finally breathe knowin’ Renza and Blaqson was out, but Kay’Lo sittin’ in that cell was eatin’ at me.
The way the system worked out here in Greystone City was dirty.
They wasn’t used to our kind of money or our kind of influence, and I could tell by the way them fuck ass officers looked at me that they was gon’ make me fight for this one.
I got us a suite at the Regal Crown downtown, top floor, private balcony, somethin’ decent enough to let us think.
When we got there, Renza kicked off his shoes and dropped on the couch like he been locked up for weeks.
“Man, that jail shit was aggravatin’ as hell,” Renza said, stretchin’ out and reachin’ for the Hennessy I’d grabbed from the minibar.
Blaqson was standin’ by the window, still lookin’ on edge. “That shit was some bull, P. They talkin’ like Kay’Lo did somethin’ wrong. I told ‘em them boys broke in, but they don’t give a fuck. They see a dead body, and we the bad guys automatically.”