Page 90 of Certified to Handle You
“Nah, that shit gon’ start arguments,” Pressure said, already knowin’ what type of time it was.
I laughed and leaned back in my chair, lookin’ between him and Kay’Lo. “Man, y’all niggas bet not get one question wrong
Kay’Lo shook his head, reachin’ for one of the boards without sayin’ too much. “Let’s just play the game.”
Pluto smiled to herself while she shuffled through the cards, already enjoyin’ it before we even started.
“Alright,” she said, glancin’ up at us. “Both of y’all answer this.”
That’s when it really got goin’.
Questions started comin’ out one after another while everybody grabbed they boards and markers, writin’ they answers down and flippin’ ’em around once they was done.
Pressure got a couple right, then started missin’ shit.
Pluto shook her head. “You don’t listen.”
“I do listen,” he argued.
“No, you don’t,” she shot back.
We all laughed.
Kay’Lo missed one about Toni and she looked at him like she couldn’t believe it.
“Really?” she asked.
“I thought that was it,” he said.
“It’s not,” Pluto said, correctin’ it.
Nobody thought nothin’ of it, ’cause it was all jokes.
When it got to me and Reni, we started off cool and got the first couple questions right without it feelin’ like nothin’.
Pluto read the next question, and we both wrote our answers down. When we flipped our boards, mine matched Reni, but hers ain’t match mine.
Before Reni could even say somethin’, Pluto leaned forward. “No, that’s not it,” she said, already smilin’ like she knew she was right. “He doesn’t even do that. When we’re at the house, he always?—”
Reni looked at her, not frownin’, but not smilin’ either. “Well, when he with me, he don’t ever mention that,” she said, keepin’ her tone even while she corrected it herself.
Pluto paused for a second, then smiled like it wasn’t nothin’. “I’m just sayin’ what I’ve seen.”
I glanced between them, then looked back down at my drink.
The next question came, and Reni took a second longer before she started writin’.
“What’s somethin’ he always says?”
We flipped our boards again. This time, mine and Pluto’s voice came at the same time.
“That’s right,” Pluto said, already noddin’.
Reni ain’t say nothin’ at first. She just looked at her board for a second, then erased it like the shit irritated her.
The game kept goin’, but it wasn’t sittin’ the same no more.
Every time Reni missed somethin’, Pluto had somethin’ to add. I ain’t feel like she was doin’ it in a disrespectful way. I took it as she knew me and the whole family well enough to correct all of us without thinkin’ twice.
