Page 37 of Certified to Handle You 3

I dropped my bag near the bed and rubbed both hands over my face ‘cause bein’ here made everything feel real. I wasn’t callin’ from Greystone no more. I wasn’t leavin’ voicemails or textin’ numbers Renza had blocked. I was on his island now, close enough to touch the life I had been runnin’ from.

When I made it back to the kitchen, Toni was passin’ My’Love to one of the nannies. My’Love reached back for her mama, then got distracted by whatever toy the nanny held up, and Toni turned toward me with that look again. She went to the cabinet, pulled down two glasses and grabbed a bottle from the bar.

“You need this,” she said while pourin’ me a drink.

“I need a lot more than that,” I muttered as I sat at the island.

Toni slid the glass toward me. “Drink it slow. You already look like you might pass out.”

I took a sip and let the burn move through my chest. It helped a lil’, but not enough. My eyes kept goin’ to my phone where it sat faceup on the island, and all I could think about was Renza’s voice sayin’ he ain’t wanna talk to me. I ain’t even heard it yet, but my body was already bracin’ for it.

Toni took a sip from her own glass, then picked up her phone. “I gotta call ‘Lo.”

My stomach dropped. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” she said. “He been with Renza all mornin’ and I ain’t gon’ sit here pretendin’ this can wait when you came all the way out here.”

I nodded, but my hands started sweatin’. Toni tapped Kay’Lo’s name and put the phone on speaker. It rang twice before he answered.

“Wussup, baby?” Kay’Lo answered, and hearin’ his voice made me feel worse ‘cause Kay’Lo had always been like a brother to me before all this shit got messy.

“You still with Renza?” Toni asked while lookin’ at me.

“Yeah,” he answered, and I could hear some noise in the background like they was ridin’ somewhere. “Wussup?”

Toni looked at me again, and I shook my head like I wanted her to hurry before I lost the lil’ bit of nerve I had left.

“‘Nelle at the house,” she said. “She wanna talk to Renza.”

For a second, the phone got so quiet I thought the call had dropped. Then Kay’Lo’s voice came back lower than before.

“Why the fuck is Sha’Nelle at my house?”

My face warmed, but I kept my mouth shut ‘cause I promised myself I wasn’t comin’ here to fight with Kay’Lo. I needed Renza, and I couldn’t afford to let my pride ruin this before I even got near him.

“She came to talk to him,” Toni answered. “That’s why I’m callin’.”

“How long this been planned?” Kay’Lo asked.

“It ain’t been planned long,” Toni said, and the attitude in her voice started showin’. “She called me, said she was comin’, and I went to get her.”

Kay’Lo let out a hard breath. “See, that’s that shit I be talkin’ about, Toni. You and ‘Nelle get together, plan some sneaky shit and then expect everybody to just accept it ‘cause y’all already did it. You ain’t think to tell me she was comin’ to my damn house?”

Toni’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t start with me, Kay’Lo. This my shit too.”

“Nah, I’m startin’ with you,” he replied. “You knew damn well Renza ain’t been good behind this shit, and you still helped her pop up like that was gon’ make everything better.”

I looked down at the island and swallowed the words sittin’ on my tongue. Kay’Lo’s tone had me ready to snap, but under the anger, I could hear somethin’ else. He was protectin’ his cousin the same way Toni was protectin’ me, and that made the whole thing hurt more ‘cause everybody had picked somebody to stand beside.

“She ain’t come here to hurt him,” Toni said. “She came here ‘cause she tired of callin’ and not bein’ able to reach him.”

“And maybe that mean he don’t wanna be reached,” Kay’Lo shot back.

That one landed so hard that my fingers tightened around the glass. Toni looked at me quick, but I turned my face away before she could see how bad it hit.

“Can you just ask him?” Toni said after a second. “Let Renza decide what he wanna do. Don’t make the choice for him.”

Kay’Lo ain’t answer right away. I heard movement through the phone, then his voice got a lil’ further away like he had turned from it.