Page 98 of Certified Pressure 3
The nurse rubbed my back while I stood there cryin’ like a big ass kid. I ain’t even give a fuck who saw me. After everything I lost before, and after all the pain and guilt, I finally had a cry that wasn’t about losin’ somethin, but instead what I gained.
While I was still standin’ there lookin’ at him on her chest, one of the nurses told me they needed to clamp and cut the cord. My hands was shakin’ but I told them I wanted to do it. They showed me where to cut, and I leaned down and did it slow. It felt like more than just a cord. It felt like the start of somethin real.
The doctor told Pluto she had one more thing to push, talkin’ about the placenta. She took a deep breath, let out a tired groan, and a few seconds later it was done. They kept her comfortable and said everything looked good and that she didn’t need stitches. I was still right beside her, rubbin’ her arm, tellin’ her how proud I was.
After a few minutes, Pluto looked up at me, still breathin’ heavy. Her face was tired but glowin’. “You wanna hold him?” she asked softly.
My hands shook as she lifted him toward me. I took him slow, cradlin’ his small body against my chest. He was warm, and his skin was soft. I looked down into his face and felt my whole world shift.
He was small, but he was strong. His little fingers curled around mine, and I smiled through my tears. “You made it, lil man,” I whispered. “You really made it.”
I looked at Pluto, her eyes glossy and full of love. “He perfect.”
She smiled weakly and said, “Told you.”
I laughed through my tears, my voice breakin’. “Yeah, you did.”
I looked back down at my son, and for the first time in my life, I felt peace. I kissed the top of his head, my tears fallin’on him. “Welcome to the world, Prestyn Mensah,” I whispered. “You finally home.”.
Trill-Land, Jungle Estate
Iwas still in my wedding dress, sitting at the edge of the bed with tears rolling down my face and Pressure’s loaded gun in my hand. My mascara had dried up in streaks down my cheeks, and my head was pounding from all the crying. I had cried until it felt like I was going to vomit, but even after all that, the pain wouldn’t go away. It just sat there, burning through me like fire.
I could still see it. That look on Pressure’s face when he said it out loud in front of everybody. He looked me dead in my eyes, held my hands, and told me he was in love with Pluto. He didn’tstutter, or even blink. The worst part wasn’t even the words, but the truth behind them. He meant every single one.
I thought about the gasps from the crowd, the whispers, and then that damn look on Abeni’s face. That proud smirk she had when he said Pluto’s name. I swear, if I close my eyes, I can still see the shit. That bitch looked at me like she had won, like her precious son had finally done what she wanted him to do all along. I wanted to wipe that fuckin’ look clean off her face.
I gripped the gun tighter, feeling the cold metal against my palm. This was the same gun he kept in the nightstand. It was heavy, but it gave me a strange kind of comfort. I had never felt so powerless and powerful at the same time.
Everything inside me was twisting. I was mad, hurt, and humiliated. I wanted to scream until my voice gave out, but all that came out was this dry, broken sound that didn’t even sound human. I was a fool. That’s what I kept thinking. A fool who thought love meant something. A fool who thought Pressure Mensah was gonna love me the way I loved him.
He made me feel like I was special. Once upon a time, he told me I was different, and I believed him. I believed every damn word.
I looked around the room…his room… our room. Everything in it screamed him. His cologne still hung in the air. His clothes, his shoes, his watch sitting on the dresser, all of it reminding me that I had been living in his world, not mine. I was just a guest he got tired of entertaining.
My phone was dead, but I didn’t need it. I didn’t need to see the videos that were probably already online or the pictures people were probably posting of me crying in that church. The embarrassment alone was enough to kill me.
I thought about my mama and all the cruel things she used to say. How she told me no man would ever truly love me, that I was too much and not enough all at once. I hated her for sayingit, but now it was ringing in my head like she was right. Maybe she was right, and that hurt worse than anything.
All I could think about was how close I was to having everything from the house, the husband and the life. I was one “I do” away from being Mrs. Mensah, and it all fell apart because that bitch’s water broke.
Just thinking of her name made my stomach twist. I hated her. I hated that she got what I wanted. I hated that she was carrying what I couldn’t give him. I hated that she didn’t even have to try. She didn’t have to dress up or pretend or fight to keep him. She just existed, and he loved her for it.
I clearly couldn’t get pregnant. I tried. God knows I tried. Every time I thought it was finally happening, it ended in disappointment, and Pressure never said it, but I knew that’s when things started changing. That’s when he started pulling away.
I let out a low laugh that didn’t sound like me. It was cold and hollow. “You played me, Pressure,” I whispered, staring at the gun in my hand. “You really played me.”
Hours passed and I didn’t move. I just sat there thinking about how everything I had was gone. The man, the wedding, the life… All gone in one day. I didn’t have nothing left to lose.
I wiped my face and stood up slow. My legs felt weak, but I didn’t care. I walked over to the dresser, grabbed a set of his keys, and looked at myself in the mirror. My wedding dress was wrinkled and dirty, and my lipstick was smeared. I looked crazy, but that was fine because I felt crazy.
I gripped the gun, ran my fingers across the metal, and took a deep breath.
If I couldn’t have him, nobody would.
I walked out of the bedroom, my heels clicking against the marble floor. The bottom of my dress dragged behind me,leaving a long trail through the hallway. Everything in this mansion reminded me of him, and it all just made me sicker.
When I got to the elevator, I pressed the button hard and watched the numbers light up one by one. My reflection stared back at me in the metal doors.
