“I’m tellin’ y’all,” I said, shakin’ my head a lil’ “This shit way more than I thought it was gon’ be. Like I knew it was a lot, but damn.”
Sha’Nelle laughed, foldin’ her arms. “Girl, that’s how it go. You wanted a real weddin’, now you gettin’ all of it.”
Pluto smiled at me, soft like she always did, but I could tell she meant it. “I’m happy for you, Toni. For real. I’m glad y’all doing it right this time.”
I nodded, feelin’ that more than I let on. “We was already married, so I wasn’t trippin’ before, but this different.”
Out the corner of my eye, I kept clockin’ Reni.
She wasn’t sayin’ much, but just noddin’ here and there, givin’ lil’ smiles when it made sense, but she wasn’t really in it with us. It felt like she was watchin’ everything instead of bein’ a part of it, like she wasn’t fully comfortable but wasn’t about to show it either.
And I ain’t like that energy, but I kept it to myself.
Pluto moved after a minute, grabbin’ plates like it was second nature. “I’m about to make plates,” she said, already reachin’ for her phone.
She called Pressure and put it on speaker. “Baby, you hungry?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Ask if Kay’Lo, Renza, and Kelli want food too.”
“A’ight.”
We heard him in the background, then he came back. “Yeah, they all said yeah.”
Pluto nodded and asked, “What Renza want on his plate?”
And right there, I saw it…
Reni’s face shifted just enough for me to catch it. Her expression tightened for a second like that question ain’t sit right with her at all.
I ain’t say nothin’, but I peeped it.
Pluto hung up and started makin’ plates, movin’ smooth, not thinkin’ twice about what she just asked.
Then Reni spoke. “You make his plate all the time?”
Her voice was calm, but it had somethin’ behind it.
I raised my brows but stayed quiet, watchin’ how Pluto was gon’ handle it.
Pluto looked at her, confused. “Who? Renza?”
Reni nodded.
Pluto shrugged. “If they all together doing something, yeah. I make whoever want me to make their plates. It’s just easier.”
She said it regular, like it wasn’t deep.
Then she added, “I can make yours too if you want.”
Reni ain’t smile. “I’m not hungry,” she said, her tone still polite but tighter now. “I’d rather finish makin’ Renza’s plate, though.”
That made me look at Sha’Nelle, and I already knew she was thinkin’ the same thing I was.
Pluto paused just a second, and I saw that shift in her. It was small, but I knew her. She felt that shit.
But she didn’t go off. She just went calm like she always do.
