Page 58 of Certified to Handle You
Soon as we walked in, her pops was already comin’ from the back like he knew we had pulled up.
“Renza.” He said my name like he always do, firm and straight to it.
I reached out and shook his hand the same way every time.
“What’s good, Mr. Harper?”
He held my hand for a second, lookin’ at me like he was weighin’ somethin’ without sayin’ it out loud, then gave a small nod and let it go.
“Come on in,” he said, steppin’ aside.
Her mama, Zaria came around the corner not too long after, already smilin’ when she saw Reni. She pulled her into a hugfirst, holdin’ her a second like she ain’t seen her in a minute, then she looked at me.
“Renza, it’s good to see you again.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, noddin’ my head and pullin’ her in for a light hug.
Her energy had always been calm, but not weak. It was that energy that made you straighten up without feelin’ pressed to do it, and I respected that.
We all moved into the livin’ area and sat down, everybody just fallin’ into place.
Her pops started talkin’ after a minute, tellin’ me about one of the spots he was workin’ on and how he had it laid out. He was breakin’ it down while we sat there, and I was followin’ him, noddin’ here and there, askin’ him a couple things about it so he knew I was tapped in.
“That’s you from start to finish?” I asked him, leanin’ back a lil’. “Like you design all that before they even touch the ground?”
He nodded. “Everything starts with the design.”
“Ain’t gon’ lie, that’s hard,” I said, meanin’ it.
After a minute, I glanced over at her mama. “How work been for you, Mrs. Harper?”
She looked at me and smiled a lil’. “It’s been good. Busy, but good.”
She started talkin’ about her job as a speech therapist and how she be dealin’ with different people every day, helpin’ ’em get they words out right, build they confidence up, and just stayin’ patient through it all. I listened, askin’ her a couple things too, keepin’ it flowin’ instead of just sittin’ here quiet.
Conversation just kept movin’ with everybody talkin’.
Sittin’ here with both of ’em, hearin’ how they carried theyselves and how they spoke on what they did, it made a lot of shit about Reni make sense.
She grew up with a lot of structure, routine, and with everything in its place.
The way her pops moved, the way her mama carried herself, the way everything flowed without nobody havin’ to say too much… I could tell that shit rubbed off on Reni heavy, whether she realized it or not.
When we sat down to eat, that’s when the pressure started creepin’ in.
Her mama mentioned her sister first. “Ryan said she’s been trying to get in touch with you,” she said, lookin’ at Reni.
Reni sighed a lil’, already knowin’ what was comin’. “I’m gonna call her. I just been busy, Ma.”
“With what?” her father asked. I wouldn’t say it was rude, but that shit was direct as hell.
“My businesses,” she said. “The salon, the lounge, and I had a few clients at the morgue.”
Her mama nodded, but she still looked at her. “We understand that, but you can’t forget about your responsibilities to your family.”
I sat here quiet, eatin’ and listenin’, but I felt that shift in the air. They wasn’t goin’ off about the shit, but they was holdin’ her to a standard.
Reni nodded. “I said I’m gonna handle it.”
