I felt my chest tighten, my nails biting into my palm. “I ain’t say shit ‘cause it caught me off guard, Pluto. What you wanted me to do, call you up and announce it? Then it would look like I was rubbing it in your face. You was my sister and I didn’t wanna hurt you. You was the one acting like you didn’t want him, remember? Every excuse in the book why you didn’t want to come here in the first place. You was acting like you couldn’t come here or commit. And now I’m the villain? Get the fuck outta here.”
Her face twisted, her voice rising. “You should’ve still said something!”
“And you should’ve stopped acting like Pressure wasn’t nothing but a check!” I snapped. “Don’t sit here and play innocent. You came in this house talking about how you was gon’ get that money for Zurie. Don’t front now like you didn’t.”
Her eyes flashed and she pointed at me. “And you didn’t? Stop acting like you ain’t come in here with a motive too.”
I blinked fast, heat rising up my neck. “Yeah, my motive was protecting you. You know that. I signed up first to make sure you was good, to make sure you ain’t get swallowed whole by the shit you was going through! If I was coming here for love, it would’ve been nothing to tell you! Especially since you claimed you didn’t wanna come in the first fucking place. We both underestimated what it was gon’ turn into, Pluto. Both of us. But don’t sit here and act like I’m wrong for catching feelings when you caught feelings too.”
Her lip trembled for a second, but she shook it off quick, standing tall in front of me. “The difference is I admitted what I felt. I didn’t play behind my best friend’s back.”
I laughed bitterly, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. “Man, fuck that. You think just ‘cause you started liking him first you own him? That you got the right to tell me I’m wrong for feeling the same shit you feeling? Nah. We both fucked up. We both caught feelings when we wasn’t supposed to.”
The truth of that hung heavy between us, and for a second she just stared at me. Then her voice dropped, cold. “Yeah. And that’s exactly why it’s up now. May the best woman win.”
Her words hit me like a bullet. My chest damn near collapsed because she said it with so much conviction, like our friendship, our years, all the shit we been through didn’t mean shit at this point… but hey… she was right because deep down I felt the same way. My tears finally spilled, but I stepped closer, my face right up in hers.
“You really something else,” I said, my voice shaking but strong. “I ain’t the one that let this shit come between us. That’s you.”
She threw her hands out, scoffing. “Nah, Kash, don’t try to flip that shit. I ain’t the reason either.”
“The fuck you not,” I shot back, my voice cracking. “The second I ain’t open up about what I was tryna protect you from,you started acting funny with me. That’s when this shit started changing. Don’t act blind now.”
We was chest to chest now, cussing each other out, our voices echoing off the walls. Neither one of us was backing down. Years of friendship, loyalty, love—it was all unraveling right here in the foyer, and neither of us cared enough to stop.
Our yelling got so loud that I didn’t even hear the elevator at first. It wasn’t until Renza, Blaqson, and Pressure rushed out that I realized we had an audience. Renza grabbed my arm, Blaqson stepped between us, and Pressure just stood there, his face tight, his eyes bouncing between us like he was trying to piece it all together.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” he demanded, his voice thundering through the room.
I was still crying, my chest heaving, but I never took my eyes off Pluto. She was still staring back, unshaken, like this was the battle she came here for.
Pressure looked at me, his brow furrowed. “Why y’all goin’ so hard? What the fuck is this?”
I laughed through my tears, a bitter sound that broke me even more. “You really don’t know, huh?” I turned back to Pluto, my voice sharp as glass. “You wanna tell him why you really here… or you want me to?”
Trill-Land, Jungle estate
You wanna tell him why you really here… or you want me to?Kashmere’s words were echoing in my mind, sharp and merciless, like she had pulled the rug right out from under me.
My heart was racing so fast I could feel it in my ears. Pressure was standing there, his eyes bouncing between us, trying to piece together what the fuck this was even about. Renza and Blaqson had just broken us apart, but the tension was still running wild, stretching so thick across the foyer I thought I might suffocate under it.
Kashmere wasn’t letting up. Her chest was rising quick, her face streaked with tears, but her eyes burned like fire when shelocked them on me. “Be honest, Pluto,” she said, her voice low but cutting. “Tell him the truth.”
I froze. Every instinct in me wanted to defend myself, but fear wrapped itself around my throat. She was about to spin this whole thing in a way that made me look like the worst person alive.
Pressure’s brow was furrowed, his body tense, waiting. Renza shook his head slowly, muttering something under his breath, and Blaqson’s wide eyes told me he already knew Kash was about to drop a bomb.
I swallowed hard. “Kash, stop.”
She laughed bitterly and reached into her purse. “Nah, you don’t get to hide behind this fake ass innocent act no more. Not after all this.” Her fingers dug until she pulled out her phone, unlocking it quick, angry taps. “You wanna play victim now, like I’m the one who came for you, but let’s keep it a hundred. You said what you said.”
Pressure’s eyes snapped to me, sharp with confusion. “What the fuck she talkin’ about, Pluto?”
I shook my head, my tears already spilling. “It’s not what you think, Pressure. I swear?—”
Kash cut me off, scrolling through her messages. “Don’t try to spin it now. Let me remind you what you told me yourself.” She tapped the screen and lifted her phone like it was a weapon.
The air in the room felt heavy as she read aloud. “‘I wouldn’t even be going to that mansion if I didn’t need the money for Zurie.’”
