7. Pressure Mensah
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
T he night was progressin’, and I was still tryna wrap my head around the fact that twenty women was walkin’ around my estate like this was some kinda luxury summer camp.
I had my blunt between my fingers and a short glass of Louis XIII on the rocks restin’ in my palm, that slow brown swirl hittin’ just right.
I wasn’t even halfway through the drink, but it was already warmin’ my chest.
Jayla Noelle had just dipped off, and I found myself actually smirkin’ a little after talkin’ to her.
She was sweet—pretty face, smooth ass skin, that soft-spoken kinda confidence.
She didn’t try too hard or act like she was starstruck by me, and I liked that.
Then there was Renae Dior. She was cool as hell, and real fly.
Somethin’ about the way she stood when she talked to me made me wanna chop it up with her pretty ass all night.
She had this calm energy that kept her from gettin’ lost in the chaos around her.
And Kharie Belle? She had this innocent vibe, but her eyes said she seen some shit.
She was real down-to-earth and actually listened when I spoke, like she wasn’t just tryna win a prize.
Still, even with all that, I was tryna adjust to the situation.
I didn’t like new people in my space like that.
I built this place to be private—peaceful—and now every room had a stranger in it.
But I kept cool. My security team was already posted, watchin’ everything like hawks, and Renza, Kay’Lo, and Blaqson was somewhere nearby keepin’ their ears open.
Everybody knew the stakes, and I needed to see who was really here for me and who just wanted a check.
After makin’ a quick round and noddin’ at a few of the girls postin’ up near the bar, I stepped out onto the back patio.
The pool lights was glowin’, castin’ a soft blue shimmer across the water.
The night air was warm, and just enough to feel like a break from the tension inside.
That’s when I saw two women sittin’ on a curved lounge chair near the edge of the pool, just vibin’, and laughin’ like they didn’t have a care in the world.
They wasn’t tryna be seen or extra as hell, and that’s what made me see ’em.
I walked over slow, lettin’ the smoke trail behind me, my Louis glass still in my hand.
As I got closer, one of them turned her head a little and gave a lazy smile like she knew I was comin’ but wasn’t pressed.
The other one just kept laughin’, her head tilted back a little, and her feet tucked under her.
I sat down on the edge of the lounge, close enough to feel the heat from the stone under me. My eyes dropped to the small silver tags clipped near their thighs.
Pluto and Kashmere.
“Y’all the quiet ones,” I said, takin’ a slow sip. “Ain’t seen y’all talkin’ to nobody.”
Kashmere gave me a little smirk. “We talkin’ to each other.”
Pluto tilted her head slightly, her eyes meetin’ mine. “You been makin’ your rounds?”
“Somethin’ like that,” I said, flickin’ the ash off my blunt. “Just gettin’ a feel.”
She nodded, like she understood more than she let on. “How does it feel? Having so many women with different personalities in your house?”
I blew out the smoke, and watched it swirl between us. “Different.”
She smiled with her lips closed and looked out at the pool, then back at me. “What made you do this?”
I studied her for a second. I wasn’t ’bout to tell her the truth.
I wasn’t gon’ sit here and admit that I ain’t even wanna do this shit, and that it was all politics, pressure, legacy and some arranged-marriage fairytale for people richer than God but messier than anybody I ever met in the hood. So, I gave her the clean version.
“I’m tryna try somethin’ new. See what happen if I open the door to somethin’ different.”
Pluto looked at me like she knew that wasn’t the full answer, but she didn’t push. Kashmere leaned back, her legs crossed at the ankles, her hair fallin’ down one shoulder.
Yeah, Kashmere was bad. Her body was crazy, face gorgeous, attitude cool.
But Pluto… there was somethin’ in her quietness that made you look twice.
She didn’t do too much, but her presence felt natural.
She had this girl-next-door feel but it wasn’t borin’.
It was comfortin’, like if she left the room, I’d notice.
“You two knew each other before this?” I asked, watchin’ how they moved around each other.
Pluto looked at Kashmere, then back at me. “We from the same side of town. We don’t know each other like that though. We ran into each other at the airport.”
Kashmere nodded, co-signing. “We just happened to be on the same flight.”
I ain’t press it. They clearly had a bond, but whatever it was, they was playin’ it cool.
Pluto pointed to my blunt. “That’s what they call God Smoke?”
I smirked. “That’s what they call it. This the real Trillium though. Y’all tryna hit it?”
“Hell yeah,” Kashmere said before Pluto could answer, reachin’ out.
I handed her the blunt and watched her take a slow pull, her lips soft around it. She passed it to Pluto who took it without hesitatin’, pulled and exhaled like she’d been smokin’ for years.
“This that shit,” Pluto said, her voice a little lower now.
They both laughed again, and I was just sittin’ there takin’ it in, lettin’ the night stretch out for once. That was until I heard heels clackin’ hard across the patio like somebody wanted to be seen. I didn’t even have to look up. I already knew the energy was off.
“Wow. Ain’t this cozy,” a voice said.
I looked up at the tag on her top and saw the name, Imani Blaze . She was dressed like she thought this was a red carpet and carryin’ herself like she’d never heard the word no a day in her life.
She came straight over, didn’t wait for nothin’, and sat herself right on my lap like I told her she could. I didn’t move right away—I just watched her.
She looked down at Pluto and Kashmere like they was in her seat. “Where y’all from?” she asked, her eyes narrow. “What made y’all come here? What y’all tryna get outta this?”
Kashmere leaned forward, her brows raised. “And who the hell are you?”
Imani let out a short, fake-ass laugh. “I’m the one askin’ the questions.”
Pluto glanced at Kashmere, then back at Imani. “That’s not how that works.”
I stayed quiet for a second, watchin’ Imani try to flex. She didn’t even realize how bad she was blowin’ the vibe.
I tapped her thigh once. “Say, baby… you gon’ have to get up off me and calm that mouth down.”
She turned to me, her face scrunched. “Oh, so now I can’t sit where I want?”
I let my eyes drag over her real slow, then looked her dead in her face. “Not when you movin’loud and disrespectful. This ain’t that, baby.”
She rolled her eyes and tried to stay planted on my lap like she couldn’t feel the shift in my energy. “You actin’ like I said somethin’ wild. I’m just askin’ questions. If they can’t handle that, maybe they don’t need to be here.”
“Aye!” I snapped, loud enough to make Imani jump. Pluto and Kashmere stopped smilin’.
Irritated as fuck, I sat my cup and blunt down.
“Don’t play with me. That bougie attitude might work where you from, but over here?
You movin’ like a liability. Ain’t nothin’ cute about you tryin’ to flex for attention.
Baby, you too disrespectful, and if you think that shit gon’ fly out here, you got me fucked up.
Keep talkin’, you gon’ find out what I really do with energy like yours. ”
She blinked fast. Her mouth opened like she was ’bout to clap back again, and that’s when I got her up off my damn lap and stood up. Now I was towering over her, lookin’ down in her eyes while she looked up at me, like she had just realized who she was dealin’ with.
“You see me, right?” My voice was low but deadly. “Do I look like the type of nigga you can play crazy with?”
She was lookin’ in my eyes, but I could tell she wasn’t seein’ me the same no more.
That arrogance she walked over here with started to fade.
Her chest was risin’ a little different now.
Her lips weren’t tight no more, and her whole body went still, like it was pickin’ up on the weight of what was in front of her.
“I wasn’t trying to?—"
I cut her off.
“I done already let you talk. Now I’m talkin’. If I gotta raise my voice at you again, you gon’ be in an Uber back to wherever the fuck you came from before your suitcase even make it out this bitch. You got one more time to move like you confused about where the fuck you at.”
I didn’t have to say another word ‘cause she already knew she fucked up. She knew she wasn’t dealin’ with no weak nigga.
She thought she had presence… until she ran into mine.
“… My bad,” she muttered.
I stepped closer to her, starin’ deeper into her eyes. “Say that shit like you mean it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again, clearer this time.
I held her gaze for one more second, watchin’ her ego deflate. Then I turned away and looked across the pool.
“KAY’LO!” I barked. “Cut the muthafuckin’ music off.”
The speakers died immediately.
“Everybody,” I said, steppin’ out toward the middle of the patio.
The women scrambled, some barefoot, some still holdin’ drinks, all of ’em lookin’ like they just woke up from a bad dream.
I stood in front of them like a general.
“Let me make somethin’ clear, since a few of y’all must’ve left y’all manners at TSA. This ain’t Baddies. This ain’t Flava of Love. This ain’t no fuckin’ clout party.”
I pointed toward the main house.
“If you think you gon’ come up in my shit, disrespect who I vibe with, stir up drama, or act like you runnin’ shit, you gon’ get packed up, escorted out, and blocked like you never existed. I ain’t askin for peace—I’m demandin’ it. Y’all got one time.”
Renza put his head down and shook it while Kay’Lo stood to the side with his arms crossed. Blaqson was watchin’ the girls like he was just waitin’ on me to say who.