Page 101 of Certified to Handle You 3

It had become the one part of Amiri I knew without havin’ to pull my phone out every five minutes.

By my fourth day, I was there again.

I had been walkin’ around for close to an hour when I stopped at one of the stands sellin’ frozen drinks. The pictures on the front showed all kinds of flavors, and I stood here for a minute lookin’ over the menu before finally orderin’ some kind of mango and pineapple icee. The man workin’ the stand started makin’ it while I moved off to the side and looked around.

The strip was crowded as hell this afternoon. There was couples walkin’ around holdin’ hands and groups of people stoppin’ in the middle of the damn sidewalk like nobody else needed to get through. A family stood a few feet away from me with two kids beggin’ for somethin’ from another stand, and I smiled a lil’ while listenin’ to ‘em before turnin’ back toward the man makin’ my drink.

That was when I heard a man’s voice come from somewhere behind me.

I couldn’t make out everything he said ‘cause there was too much noise around me, but somethin’ about the sound of it made me turn so fast my purse slipped down my arm.

My eyes moved through the crowd until they landed on a man a lil’ further down the strip.

I only saw the side of him at first. He was tall and built, and he was movin’ through a group of people with his head turned like he was talkin’ to somebody next to him. He literally looked like Renza.

Somebody walked between us before I could get a better look, and I leaned to the side tryna see around them. When the space opened again, I caught another glimpse of him further down.

My whole body went hot. “Renza?”

His name came out low ‘cause I wasn’t even sure if I was talkin’ to him or myself.

The man turned his head enough for me to see part of his face, and my heart started beatin’ so damn hard that everything else around me stopped matterin’.

From where I stood, I couldn’t see him clear enough to swear on anything, but I knew Renza’s size. I knew the way he carried himself when he walked, and I damn sure knew that voice.

I stepped away from the stand without thinkin’ about the drink.

“Miss.”

I kept lookin’ through the crowd and moved another step away.

“Miss, your drink.”

I heard the man behind me, but my mind was somewhere else. The man I was watchin’ disappeared behind another group of people, and I started movin’ toward the sidewalk before the man at the stand called out to me again.

“Miss, you have to pay.”

“Shit.”

I spun back around and damn near snatched my purse open. My hands was shakin’ while I dug through it, and I couldn’t find the cash fast enough. I knew I had some bills in the side pocket, but my fingers kept catchin’ on receipts and shit I ain’t need while I kept lookin’ over my shoulder.

“Hold on. I got it.”

I finally grabbed some cash and handed it to him without even checkin’ what I gave him. He started sayin’ somethin’ about my change, but I grabbed the cup off the counter and told him to keep it before turnin’ back around.

The man was gone…

I stood here lookin’ through everybody like he might pop back out if I stared hard enough.

People kept movin’ in both directions, and every time I saw a black shirt or somebody around Renza’s height, I moved my eyes to them. None of ’em was him.

“Fuck.”

I pushed the straw into the icee without even takin’ a sip and started walkin’ the same direction I had seen him go.

The sidewalk was too damn crowded to move the way I wanted, and people kept gettin’ in front of me. I went around one couple, squeezed between two women standin’ near a jewelry stand and almost walked straight into a man carryin’ a bag from one of the stores.

“Excuse me,” I said quickly before movin’ around him.