Page 70 of Certified Pressure 2

Pluto walked toward me slow, tears runnin’ down her face. Every step she took cut me open deeper, ‘cause in my mind, this wasn’t how the story was supposed to end.

“I’ll always have love for you,” I told her, my voice low. “But you been doin’ too much runnin’. I need somebody who know how to weather the storm with me, somebody who ain’t gon’ run every time shit get hard. Most importantly, I need a woman who trust me enough to let me take care of her. When I tell a woman I love her, loyalty comes with that. But you wasn’t willin’ to match me, and that ain’t how this shit works.”

Her tears kept fallin’ but her eyes never left mine.

“I can see it in your eyes that you love me,” I said, “but love ain’t enough if you ain’t real with me.”

She swallowed hard, then reached down into her blue clutch. My eyes followed every move.

When she pulled out a small plastic stick and held it out, my heart dropped before I even touched it. I took it from her hand and looked down.

The word was right there on the damn pregnancy test…Pregnant.

The shit was clear as day.

When I looked back up, Pluto’s face was streaked with tears. She whispered, her voice sharp with pain, “I hope that’s real enough for you. I took it this morning and was going to tell youafter you made your decision. I thought it would be me, but I guess I was wrong.”

Then she turned, grabbed her bag from the door, and walked out.

The driver opened the car, and just like that, she was gone.

I stood there frozen, the test still in my hand, the weight of it crushin’ me. Kashmere was on the side of me, her ring glitterin’, her face pale and shaken. She looked at me like the floor just gave out from under both of us.

Pluto was pregnant with my baby… and I just asked Kashmere to be my wife.

TO BE CONTINUED…