27. Renza Mensah
The next day…
For the past two weeks, I was movin’ around like I had somethin’ to prove to myself.
Every day, I woke up with Sha’Nelle on my mind and spent the rest of the day tryna put pieces together before I went back after her.
I ain’t call or text from no fake number, and I ain’t pull no crazy shit to make her talk to me.
That alone was probably the most patience I had ever shown anybody in my life, but I needed to do this shit right.
I already knew what happened when I went at Sha’Nelle with nothin’ but love, money and force.
She would give in for a while, let herself feel everything she was tryna run from and then wake up scared that I was takin’ over her whole life.
This time, I wanted to come to her with somethin’ she could actually see herself inside.
I spent weeks lookin’ at houses all over Trill-Land.
Some of ‘em sat too close to the other houses, and others was so far away from everything that I knew Sha’Nelle would feel trapped after a few weeks.
A couple had enough space but looked too cold inside, like somebody built ‘em to show off instead of live in.
I walked through houses with marble in every room, pools that wrapped around the whole property and enough bedrooms for a damn football team, but none of ‘em felt like her.
Sha’Nelle needed somewhere that was beautiful without feelin’ fake.
She liked luxury, but she still liked that raw shit.
I knew she would want windows that brought in real light, a kitchen big enough for her to cook without bumpin’ into nobody and somewhere outside she could sit when she got tired of hearin’ my mouth.
I wanted her to have a closet bigger than most apartments and a bathroom that felt like some shit out of a resort, but I also wanted her to walk through the front door and know the house belonged to both of us.
If I was really buildin’ a life with Sha’Nelle, I needed to start thinkin’ like a man who planned on stayin’ in one place instead of somebody who could pick up and move whenever the mood hit him.
I found a few properties close enough for her to get around and shop, but far enough out for us to have peace. One had enough land for me to build another gun shop, another house and whatever else I decided to put there later.
Even though me and Sha’Nelle ain’t spoke in almost three months, I still planned everything with her in mind.
I knew that probably sounded crazy as fuck to anybody who wasn’t me, but Sha’Nelle had never felt like some woman I could simply get over.
Every day without her made me more sure that whatever I built next needed to have space for her.
I wanted the house, the land and the plan ready enough for her to see what I meant, but open enough for her to choose the rest with me.
That was why I was standin’ outside another big ass house waitin’ on Kay’Lo to pull up.
The property sat behind black iron gates on a private road lined with trees.
The house was built out of dark stone, glass and warm wood with two wide wings stretched across the land.
There was enough space between it and the next property that nobody could hear shit even if we was outside arguin’ at the top of our lungs.
I had already walked around the outside once while I waited. The backyard had a pool, an outdoor kitchen and a covered sittin’ area with a fireplace built into the wall. Past that was more land than I could see myself usin’ right away, but I liked knowin’ we would have options.
Kay’Lo’s truck finally turned in the driveway and came toward me. He parked next to my car, got out and looked up at the house before glancin’ toward me.
“This the one?” Kay’Lo asked while walkin’ closer.
“I don’t know yet,” I answered as I looked back at the property. “That’s why I told you to come see it.”
Kay’Lo nodded and stuffed his hands in his pocket, but he ain’t say nothin’ else.
I had already got the code from the realtor, so I headed toward the front door with him behind me. The lock clicked after I put in the numbers, and I pushed the heavy door open.
The inside opened into a large entryway with high ceilin’s and windows that ran almost from the floor to the top of the second level. Sunlight came through the glass and hit the pale stone floors while a wide staircase curved along one wall.
I stepped further inside and looked around. “This entry hard. I would change that light, though. That shit look like somebody dropped a bunch of glass from the ceilin’ and called it art.”
Kay’Lo looked up at the fixture and gave a small nod. “Yeah.”
I glanced at him for a second before movin’ toward the main sittin’ area.
The room had a fireplace in the center, built-in shelves along one side and slidin’ doors that opened toward the backyard.
I could picture Sha’Nelle decoratin’ the whole thing ‘cause she wasn’t gon’ let me choose furniture without complainin’ that everything I liked was too dark.
“This could be the family room,” I said while walkin’ through it. “The other one near the front could stay more formal, but this where we would actually sit. I want a big ass sectional right there and a bar along that wall.”
Kay’Lo nodded again. “That’ll work.”
I cut my eyes toward him ‘cause his tone ain’t sound right, but I kept movin’.
The kitchen was the first room that really caught me. It had two islands, dark cabinets, gold fixtures and enough counter space for Sha’Nelle to cook without me standin’ in her way. A separate prep kitchen sat behind it with another stove, sink and storage.
I leaned against one of the islands and looked around. “She would like this shit right here.”
Kay’Lo stopped near the doorway and watched me.
“I could see her in here talkin’ shit ‘cause I’m touchin’ somethin’ she cookin’ before it’s done,” I continued. “I would change these cabinets, though. She might want somethin’ lighter.”
Kay’Lo rubbed his hand across his jaw but still ain’t add much. “Probably.”
I stood up straight and looked at him longer this time. “Nigga, why you actin’ weird?”
“I ain’t actin’ weird,” Kay’Lo replied while lookin’ toward the backyard.
“Yes, you is,” I told him. “You been in this bitch ten minutes and said about six words. You usually got somethin’ to say about everything.”
Kay’Lo looked back at me and shook his head. “I’m just lookin’.”
“Then look and talk at the same time.”
He ain’t respond, and that shit started botherin’ me.
We moved upstairs, but I paid more attention to him than I did the house.
The second floor had six bedrooms, each one with its own bathroom and closet.
The main suite took up most of one side with a sittin’ room, a private balcony and two closets big enough for Sha’Nelle to fill one and still complain she needed more space.
I stepped in the main bathroom and looked over the deep tub, double shower and windows facin’ the back of the property.
“This her shit right here,” I said while pointin’ toward the tub. “She would live in that bitch.”
Kay’Lo stood in the doorway without answerin’.
I turned all the way toward him. “A’ight, what the fuck wrong with you?”
Kay’Lo looked down, then back at me. His face had that same expression he wore whenever he was tryna figure out how to tell somebody somethin’ they wasn’t gon’ like.
That made my nerves start movin’.
“Everybody good?” I asked. “Toni straight? ‘Lo’Lo straight?”
“They good,” Kay’Lo assured me.
“Auntie Treasure? Uncle Kwame?”
“Everybody good.”
“Then what the fuck is it?”
Kay’Lo let out a breath and rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “I heard somethin’ last night.”
I stared at him. “About what?”
He went quiet again, and my patience started runnin’ out.
“‘Lo, spit the shit out,” I told him. “You standin’ here lookin’ sick, and I ain’t finna keep guessin’.”
Kay’Lo looked at me for a few seconds before finally speakin’. “It’s about Sha’Nelle.”
Everything inside me pulled tight, but I kept my face normal. “What about her?”
Kay’Lo looked away before answerin’. “She marryin’ that nigga.”
For a second, I honestly thought I heard him wrong.
My eyebrows pulled together while I stared at him. “What?”
“Sha’Nelle engaged,” he said, keepin’ his voice low. “That nigga proposed to her.”
The words made no damn sense. I stood in the middle of this big ass bathroom lookin’ at my cousin while my mind refused to connect what he said to anything real.
“Nah,” I replied. “You got some shit mixed up.”
“I don’t,” he told me.
“Yes, you do,” I insisted.
Kay’Lo’s face changed ‘cause he already knew I was gon’ try to explain it away. “I heard ‘Nelle talkin’ to Toni myself. She showed Toni the ring.”
I shook my head. “That still don’t mean shit. Women play with that marriage shit all the time.”
Kay’Lo stared at me like he ain’t know what to say next. Then he sighed and looked down at the phone in his hand.
“I went to her page after I heard it,” he admitted. “Somebody tagged ‘Nelle in a video, and the tagged video show on her profile.”
My stomach started hurtin’ before he even showed me anything, but my pride kept me standin’ here like it was impossible.
“You saw the nigga propose?” I asked.
Kay’Lo nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“And she said yes?”
He stayed quiet for half a second too long.
I stepped closer. “She said yes?”
“Yeah,” Kay’Lo answered.
The room felt different after that. Not ‘cause anything around me changed, but ‘cause every plan I had been makin’ suddenly looked stupid.
I stared at Kay’Lo and could tell he ain’t wanna pull his phone out.
“Let me see it,” I told him.
Kay’Lo shook his head. “Renza, you don’t need to see that shit.”
“Nigga, let me see.”
“I’m tellin’ you what happened. That should be enough.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you think enough is,” I snapped. “Show me.”
Kay’Lo rubbed his hand down his face and looked toward the window. “Cuz, I ain’t tryna put that in front of you.”
“You already told me. Now show me the shit.”