Page 45 of Certified Pressure 3
I got in the car and sat back in the seat. The driver started the engine, and I told him where to go.
He nodded and pulled off.
I looked out the window as the streetlights passed, my reflection fading in and out of the glass. I had just gotten out of jail, but the only thing on my mind was getting to Zurie. I didn’t care about sleep, food, or nothing else. I just needed to make sure she was safe, because no matter what anybody said or did, that was still my baby sister. And I wasn’t about to let nobody, not even my mama play when it came to her.
During the ride to my mama’s apartment, I couldn’t stop shaking my leg. My mind was racing too fast to sit still. The car felt too quiet, and even though the driver had the radio playing low, it sounded far away. All I could think about was Zurie. She had to be there. There was no other place she could be. I didn’t care what time it was or who had something to say about it. I was going to see my sister.
I realized halfway there that I left my keys to the apartment at my uncle’s house, but I didn’t feel like stopping. I didn’t even want to see nobody right now. The only thing I wanted was to make sure Zurie was okay. I told the driver to wait outside once we pulled up and got out fast, closing the door behind me.
The building looked the same as always, old and worn, with the light over the front door flickering like it was on its last try. I took the stairs two at a time and stopped when I got to theapartment. There was a dent in the door from when Pressure kicked it in that night. They’d fixed it enough for it to hang back on the hinges, but you could still see the crack running down the side..
I banged on the door, calling out, “Mama, open the door!”
For a minute, there was nothing but silence, then I heard her voice from the other side. “Who is it?”
Just hearing her voice made my stomach turn.
“It’s me,” I said. “It’s Pluto. I came to get Zurie.”
There was a pause, then she let out a bitter laugh. “Hell no. Get the fuck away from my door. You already had some man kick my shit in and knock your daddy out, now you think you can just take my child whenever you feel like it? It don’t work like that.”
Her words made my blood boil. “Your child?” I shouted. “You mean the same child you been neglecting? The one you don’t even check on unless somebody tell you to? All you do is sleep all day and pop pills. You not no damn mama!”
“Watch your mouth, bitch!” she yelled from the other side. “You ain’t about to stand there and disrespect me. You need to go on somewhere before I call the police on your ass again!”
I stepped closer to the door, my heart pounding. I couldn’t believe she was calling me out my name and talking to me like I wasn’t shit. “Call ‘em then! I don’t give a fuck! I’m not leaving without my sister!”
“Zurie!” she called out suddenly. “Go in the room and shut the door right now!”
I could hear Zurie’s soft voice faintly from inside, and that made everything inside me snap. I kicked the bottom of the door hard. “Open the damn door!”
“Keep kickin’ it if you want to,” she shouted. “I’m about to call the police for real this time!”
Her voice sounded hateful, like she wanted me to suffer. I couldn’t believe that the same woman who gave birth to both ofus could hate me this much. I was used to her making me feel like I was the problem, but this right here was too much.
I kicked the door again, tears blurring my eyes. “You don’t care about her! You don’t even get up long enough to feed her! She’s healing and you got her in there around all that fuckin’ filth! Let me see my sister!”
“Get the fuck from my door, Pluto!” she screamed. “I told you I’m not playin’ with you!”
I could hear movement from the other side, and then I heard her voice muffled, like she was talking on the phone. I didn’t even have to guess who she was calling.
A few minutes later, I saw flashing lights reflecting off the windows. My heart dropped when I realized she’d actually done it. She called the police on me again.
Two officers walked up with flashlights and asked what was going on.
“She’s holding my little sister inside the apartment,” I said quickly, trying not to cry. “I know she ain’t safe in there. My mama take a lot of pills, she sleep all day, and she don’t take care of herself, let alone a child that just had surgery. Please just go in there and check.”
The older officer looked at me, then at the door. “What’s your mother’s name?”
“Marlene Monroe,” I said.
He nodded and stepped up to the door, knocking. “Mrs. Monroe, this is the police. Can you open up, ma’am?”
From the other side came her angry voice. “Get the fuck away from my door! I’m not opening nothin’! I told y’all she crazy! She got a kidnapping charge! That’s the one y’all need to be checking for!”
The officers looked back at me, and I could see the confusion in their faces.
“Ma’am,” one of them said to the door, “we just need to make sure everyone’s safe. Can you please open the door?”
