Page 26 of Certified To Handle You 2

She leaned into me while we walked a lil’ further away from Kay’Lo and Renza.

“What the fuck happened?” I asked, shakin’ my damn head.

She wiped under her eyes with the back of her hand and let out a shaky breath. “This nigga trippin’.”

“What happened?” I asked again, feelin’ my patience gettin’ thinner.

“Reni called his phone, and after that I told him I was finna leave.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t even arguin’ with him about the damn girl callin’. That ain’t what this about.”

“Then what is it?” I asked.

“I know Couture back at the hotel waitin’ on me.”

Her voice cracked again. “I just wanna go in the house.”

She looked back toward Renza. “But this nigga followed my damn Uber all the way over here actin’ like I owe him somethin’.”

I rubbed her back while she tried to calm herself down, but I could still feel how tense she was.

“Bitch, I’m over it,” she whispered as she wiped under her eyes. “I’m really tired of this shit. I wasn’t tryna fight with him. I just wanna go in the house real quick, wash my face, fix my hair, put some more makeup on, and go back to the hotel so we can leave in the mornin’. Every time I try to walk away, this nigga find another reason to pull me right back in.”

I hated seein’ my cousin like this ‘cause I knew exactly what she meant. I dealt with it for a long time with Kay’Lo, and it was the worst.

“That’s how it go when a Mensah man sink his teeth into you, cousin,” I said with a small shake of my head. “Them niggas don’t know how to love halfway. Once they decide they want you, they don’t know when to stop fightin’ for you, even when they goin’ about it all wrong.”

Sha’Nelle let out a tired sigh and looked back toward where Renza stood with Kay’Lo.

“Let’s get you inside so you can fix yourself up before you decide what you wanna do next,” I said, still rubbin’ her back.

She nodded without arguin’, and I slipped my arm through hers before walkin’ her toward the front door.

As we passed Kay’Lo and Renza, they was still off to the side talkin’. Well… Kay’Lo was talkin’. Renza looked like he wasn’t hearin’ a damn thing.

I glanced at my husband for a second before lookin’ away.

It was crazy how fast somebody else’s mess could become yours…

An hour ago me and Kay’Lo couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Now we was standin’ outside our own damn mansion half dressed while he was babysittin’ his cousin and I was tryna calm mine down.

At this point, Sha’Nelle and Renza wasn’t just wearin’ each other out…

They was wearin’ everybody else out too.

‘LoLux Estate

As I made my way inside the house, I tried to keep my damn nerves calm, but every step I took had everything that happened tonight replayin’ in my head.

I could still see Renza’s expression in the hotel room with his phone in my hand while Reni’s name lit up the screen. I had answered it without sayin’ shit ‘cause I wanted him to handle that shit right in front of me.

He had just spent all that time tellin’ me he loved me, beggin’ me to leave Couture and swearin’ he ain’t want nobody but me, so I needed to hear him close that door with Reni himself.

Instead, he told her he was gon’ call her back, and that was all I needed to hear.

I ain’t scream, throw shit, or start questionin’ him about what he had goin’ on with her. I ain’t threaten Reni or make it seem like she was the problem either ‘cause she wasn’t the one in that room promisin’ me shit.

Renza was the one talkin’ like he was ready to cut everybody off and build some beautiful life with me, then turned around and left a door open for a woman he claimed he ain’t want.