“I’m serious, baby.”
Big A shifted in his seat and looked at the planner. “Aye, if my heart stop, y’all liable.”
“Start with him first,” Tempo joked.
They started the machines on the lowest level. At first, most of us played it cool. Big A rolled his shoulders and said it felt like a little cramp. Sincere gave Rhythm this confident nod that lasted all of ten seconds. Icon and Legend sat there trying too hard not to react. I just felt the pulsing in my stomach.
Then the planner turned it up.
Saint jumped out of his skin. “Aye!”
Big A cursed under his breath. “The fuck.”
Sincere sucked air through his teeth and tried to sit straighter. Rhythm was laughing too hard.
“You can do it, baby,” she playfully coaxed him.
“You shut up,” he grunted in response.
The planner turned it up again. That was when everything went left.
Saint grabbed both sides of his chair. “Yo’, what the fuck is this?!”
Zahra bent over laughing.
Big A’s knees spread wider and his whole body tensed. “Hell nah!”
Tempo held her stomach, cracking up. “Look at his face!”
Icon’s composure cracked next. “Okay! Alright! This shit ain’t —”
Livia cut in. “Ain’t what? Ain’t what, Husband?”
Legend was still trying to act like he had it until the next increase hit and his whole back came off the chair.
Aria screamed with laughter.
Then Legend looked over at her with all seriousness and said, “Baby, I’m sorry.”
She was still laughing. “For what?”
“For making you go through this so many damn times.”
That made the whole room lose it. Even I laughed at that one.
The planner turned it up again, and Sincere was the first to tap out. Rhythm nearly slid out of her chair laughing at him.
“Absolutely not,” he said, grabbing at the wires. “This some bullshit.”
Saint lasted a little longer, but when the next level hit, he bent forward and barked, “Take this shit off me!”
Zahra was crying laughing by then.
Big A lasted one more increase. “I see why women be cussing niggas out in labor.”
Icon held on longer than I expected, mostly because he was too prideful to let Livia laugh that hard at him, but eventually he let out a curse and yanked the pads off himself.
That left me and Legend.
