19. Renza Mensah
Two days later…
Just to keep my mind off a lot of shit, I had been movin’ around Trill-Land takin’ care of whatever needed my attention.
Pressure had been around the family, but he ain’t really been outside with us since everything started goin’ on between him and Pluto.
He had been stayin’ close to his crib, his wife and them kids, so when he agreed to come eat with me and ‘Lo, neither one of us gave him a hard time about how long it had been.
We sat at one of the tables near the windows with enough food spread across it for five people.
Pressure had steak and eggs in front of him, Kay’Lo had some stuffed French toast with chicken, and I had been movin’ between my own plate and whatever looked good enough to reach across the table for.
The mimosas kept comin’, but none of us was drinkin’ enough to get fucked up ‘cause we still had shit to handle once we left.
Pressure cut another piece of his steak before tellin’ us, “Me and Pluto back in therapy.”
Kay’Lo looked up from his plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “How that shit goin’?”
Pressure chewed his food, took a drink of his mimosa and sat the glass back down before answerin’ him. “It’s straight. We gettin’ somewhere, but it ain’t no overnight shit.”
“You feel like she openin’ up more?” I asked while leanin’ back in my chair.
“Sometimes,” Pressure answered. “Other times, she sit there and look at the therapist like she wanna beat her ass for askin’ questions.”
Kay’Lo laughed and shook his head. “That sound like Pluto.”
“Yeah, but she still be answerin’. Might take her five minutes and a whole attitude, but she talk.”
That was progress for Pluto ‘cause she had always been the type to go quiet when too much shit was sittin’ on her.
Pressure was the same way in his own right, which was probably why they needed somebody in the middle makin’ both of ‘em finish a conversation instead of turnin’ they backs and walkin’ away from it.
I picked up my glass and asked, “Y’all finally fuck yet?”
Pressure gave me a hard look from across the table. “Nigga, why that gotta be the first thing you ask?”
‘Cause it been months,” I replied. “You married and sittin’ around scared to touch her.”
“I ain’t scared to touch my wife,” Pressure said before cuttin’ into his eggs.
Kay’Lo looked at him and asked, “Then what you call it?”
Pressure stopped eatin’ and looked at both of us like we was gettin’ on his nerves. “I call it mindin’ the fuckin’ business that pay you.”
“That shit ain’t payin’ none of us,” I told him. “We still talkin’ about it though.”
Pressure shook his head, but I could see he wasn’t really mad. He knew why we was askin’. Pluto almost died bringin’ Isley into the world, and even though the doctors cleared her, Pressure had been carryin’ guilt like his dick personally dragged her into that hospital.
“I got it under control,” Pressure finally said. “I got some shit planned for us that don’t involve no kids, no doctors and nobody callin’ her Mama every two seconds. I’m tryna get her mind right before I start worryin’ about sex.”
Kay’Lo leaned back and nodded. “That part make sense, but you better stop actin’ like makin’ love to yo’ wife gon’ put another baby in her that same night. She on birth control now.”
“I know what the fuck she on,” Pressure replied. “I went to every appointment.”
“Then quit bein’ scared,” I told him. “That woman probably think you don’t want her.”
His face changed enough for me to know that part hit home. Pressure grabbed his glass and took another drink before lookin’ out the window for a second.
“She already told me that,” he admitted. “That’s why I’m fixin’ it. I just needed my head to catch up with the fact that she good now.”
Pressure had always moved like nothin’ could scare him, but almost losin’ Pluto had clearly done some shit to him he couldn’t shoot, buy or threaten his way out of.
I ain’t clown him after that ‘cause I knew he would handle it. That nigga might take his time gettin’ there, but once he decided somethin’ mattered, he put everything behind it.
Kay’Lo picked up another piece of chicken and said, “Meanwhile, I’m tryna put another baby in Toni and that shit takin’ too long.”
Pressure turned his attention toward him. “How long y’all been tryin’?”
“Long enough for me to be annoyed,” Kay’Lo answered. “I thought after we had My’Love, the next one was gon’ come easy. Toni been off the birth control, but every month she take a test and that muthafucka be negative.”
“You done got checked?” I asked him.
Kay’Lo cut his eyes at me. “Ain’t shit wrong with me.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“Toni already got pregnant by me once,” he replied. “Clearly, my shit work.”
Pressure shook his head while cuttin’ another piece of steak. “That don’t mean nothin’ can’t change. Both of y’all need to get checked instead of sittin’ around stressin’ every month.”
“See, this why I ain’t wanna tell y’all shit,” Kay’Lo said. “Now both of y’all doctors.”
“You brought that shit up,” I reminded him. “Don’t get mad ‘cause we answerin’.”
Kay’Lo ignored me and took a drink from his glass. I knew the situation bothered him more than he was lettin’ on ‘cause that nigga loved bein’ a father. He had been talkin’ about givin’ My’Love another sibling since she was still small enough to sleep across his chest.
Pressure looked toward him and said, “Give it time. Toni body might still be adjustin’ from bein’ on birth control, and both of y’all need to quit turnin’ sex into some damn appointment.”
“Who said we doin’ that?” Kay’Lo asked.
“The way you sittin’ here countin’ months,” Pressure answered. “Go home, love on yo’ wife and let shit happen.”
Kay’Lo nodded like he heard him, then looked over at me. “What you got goin’ on? You been quiet about yo’ shit.”
I rubbed my hand over my beard and looked down at my plate. “I been back fuckin’ with Reni.”
Pressure’s brows lifted, but he ain’t look surprised. “How that happen?”
“Ran into her at a lil’ spot in Drahma Town,” I explained. “She was there with Mecca. We kicked it for a while and ended up leavin’ together.”
Kay’Lo smiled and shook his head. “I knew that shit was gon’ happen.
“You ain’t know shit,” I told him.
Pressure leaned back in his chair and asked, “How it been since then?”
“It’s been cool for the most part,” I answered. “I can tell Reni tryna keep herself together and not move like she used to, but her mouth still be gettin’ ahead of her. She can only hold that shit in for so long before she gotta question somethin’.”
“What she questionin’?” Kay’Lo asked.
“The condoms,” I said. “She feel some type of way ‘cause I use ‘em with her now.”
Pressure stared at me for a second before askin’, “Y’all ain’t use ‘em before?”
“Never,” I replied. “That’s part of how we ended up in that other situation, and I ain’t tryna go through that shit again. I’m not gettin’ her pregnant, and I ain’t lettin’ her argue me out of what make me comfortable.”
Kay’Lo nodded. “That make sense.”
“It makes sense to everybody except her,” I said. “She take it like I don’t trust her or like I’m too caught up in somebody else to touch her how I used to. I told her shit different now, and she gotta respect that.”
Pressure picked up his glass and looked at me over the rim. “You gotta be careful with that in-between shit.”
I laughed and leaned back. “Here this nigga go.”
“I’m tellin’ you from experience,” he replied. “When two women got real feelin’s involved, somebody always think they got more than what they actually got. Then somebody get embarrassed, somebody get mad and next thing you know, you outside a hospital gettin’ shot.”
Kay’Lo looked toward Pressure and started laughin’. “You always take that shit straight to gettin’ shot.”
“That’s what happened,” Pressure told him. “I left Kashmere at the altar, and she put five bullets in me. I ain’t makin’ the story dramatic. The bitch did.”
I took a drink and shook my head. “If Reni shoot me, she better kill me. I ain’t goin’ through all that rehab shit you went through.”
Pressure looked at me without smilin’. “That’s what you got from the story?”
“That and don’t stand too close to no hospital parkin’ lot after leavin’ a woman at the altar.”
Kay’Lo laughed harder and sat his fork down. “Both of y’all fucked up.”
“We still alive,” I reminded him.
Pressure ignored me and asked, “What you really doin’ with Reni?”
“I’on know yet,” I answered honestly. “I care about her, and I ain’t got no issue bein’ around her. I’m just not jumpin’ back into no relationship ‘cause we fucked a few times.”
“And Sha’Nelle?” Pressure asked.
The mention of her name changed somethin’ inside me, but I kept my face the same. “What about her?”
Kay’Lo looked at me like I was full of shit. “You know what the nigga askin’.”
I rubbed my thumb along the side of my glass. “I went to Greystone. Spent a whole week with her and thought everything was finally movin’ right. Then she woke up one mornin’ and told me she wasn’t comin’ back to Trill-Land.”
Pressure nodded once. “What reason she give?”
“Family, her grandma, where she was gon’ live and all this other shit she could’ve let me handle,” I replied. “Then she tried to make it about me controllin’ her ‘cause I came there knowin’ I wanted her back.”
“You did tell her she was comin’ instead of askin’,” Kay’Lo said.
I looked at him. “Whose side you on?”
“I ain’t on no side,” he answered. “I’m tellin’ you how that shit sound.”
“She knew why I came,” I said. “I wasn’t flyin’ to that dirty ass city to be her friend.”
Pressure took another bite of his food before askin’, “She still with that nigga?”
“Fuck yeah,” I replied. “I see his ass commentin’ on her shit every time she post. Nigga stay under every picture like he get paid for it.”
Pressure’s eyes narrowed. “So you done found the nigga?”
I looked at him and smiled. “Fuck you think?”
Kay’Lo sat back in his chair. “Here we go.”