Page 91 of Certified to Handle You 3

Kay’Lo nodded once. “A’ght then.”

“I ain’t say I got everything figured out, but my head ain’t all over the fuckin’ place like it was. I been sleepin’ good too.”

“That shit matter,” Kay’Lo said. “You wasn’t sleepin’ worth a fuck before you left.”

“Nah, I wasn’t.”

For a minute, I watched the water while I smoked. The sun had started droppin’, and everything across the water had that orange look it got around the same time every evenin’.

“I think gettin’ away was the right move,” I said. “I ain’t realize how bad I needed some quiet until I got here. Don’t nobody need shit from me. I wake up and do whatever the fuck I feel like doin’.”

“You been doin’ anything besides smokin’, nigga?”

“Hell yeah. I been all over this bitch. Went out on the water, been hittin’ different restaurants and found a gym a few days ago. I been drivin’ around too. Shit, yesterday I was gone damn near the whole day.”

Kay’Lo looked at me for a second before he nodded. “Good. I ain’t want yo’ ass flyin’ all the way out there just to sit in a room fucked up.”

“Nah, I wasn’t gon’ do that.”

“I know, but you wasn’t exactly yourself when you left either.”

Kay’Lo knew me well enough to know when I was fucked up, and I knew him well enough to know he wasn’t gon’ pretend he ain’t see it.

“I’m cool now,” I told him. “Not all the way, but I’m gettin’ there.”

“As long as you gettin’ there, that’s all that matter.”

I nodded and took another pull from the blunt. We talked for a while after that.

Kay’Lo told me about some shit he had goin’ on with the cars, and I told him about the truck I rented when I got to Amiri. He asked how the villa was ‘cause I never showed it to him. I flipped the camera around so he could see the water from where I was sittin’.

“That bitch nice,” Kay’Lo said.

“Yeah, I fuck with it. I might stay another week or two.”

Kay’Lo looked at the screen. “Another two?”

“Maybe. I ain’t got shit makin’ me rush back.”

“A’ight, just don’t start lookin’ at houses and shit.”

I laughed. “Nigga, I ain’t movin’ out here.”

“I’m just makin’ sure. You get too comfortable somewhere and don’t wanna come back ‘cause you talkin’ about you found peace.”

“I am tryna find some peace, nigga.”

“Find that shit and bring yo’ ass home when you done.”

I shook my head while laughin’.

“I’m serious. Stay as long as you need to, though,” he said. “And if you need somethin’, hit me.”

“I’m good, ’Lo.”

“I know you good. I ain’t say you wasn’t.”

My’Love started squirmin’ in his lap, and Kay’Lo shifted her before she could slide down his leg.