Page 53 of I Don't Want You Back

“You want me to fix you something to eat before you go?” Malia asked.

“Nah, I’m good. Give me the paperwork for the pawn shop, so I can go get your shit back too,” Roman replied, making her smile.

He immediately put his phone on the charger and went to go take a shower. Malia gathered up the paperwork from the pawn shop and sat it on the dresser. She hated that she had to pawn her wedding ring that Landon had given her, but she was happy that Roman was going to get it back. Landon paid a lot of money for her ring and she really didn’t want to part with it. Malia got a nice chuck of change for all her jewelry and she still had over three grand left after she paid all of Roman’s fees. She needed something stored away for a rainy day, just in case he decided to act a fool again.

“I put the paperwork on the dresser,” Malia said when Roman came back into the room.

“Cool,” he replied as he continued to get dressed in silence.

He grabbed his phone, even though it was still dead and put it in his pocket.

“Your phone isn’t even charged yet,” Malia pointed out.

“I’ll charge it in the car,” he replied as he grabbed his keys and left.

Malia heard the front door slam and she wanted to cry. She could tell that Roman was still mad with her, but she hoped he would get over it soon. After all, she’d gone above and beyond to get him out of jail. That should have counted for something.

Once she was alone, Malia stripped out of her clothes and went to sleep. She didn’t realize that she had slept so long, but being pregnant had her more tired than usual. It was after midnight when she got up and she was still in bed alone. Roman had been gone for hours and she hadn’t heard from him since he left. Malia got up and searched the house to make sure he wasn’t in another room before she picked up her phone and called him. After calling three times back to back, she still hadn’t gotten an answer. Warm tears cascaded down her cheeks as realization set in. Roman had played her and had her looking like a damn fool yet again. Malia grabbed some clothes to take a shower and hopefully wash all her pain away, if only temporarily.

***

After not hearing from Roman for two days, Malia woke up to the sounds of male laughter coming from the living room. She hurriedly went to the bathroom and handled her morning hygiene before slipping into her black silk bath robe. She smiled when she looked on the dresser and saw that all her jewelry was there. There was also some money next to it with a note explaining that Roman was paying her back for what she had done. Malia couldn’t contain her excitement as she rushed out of her bedroom in search of her man. Her smile turned upside down when she got to the living room and saw Chad’s stupid ass sitting there. He frowned when he looked up at her and she was sure that her face mirrored his. She ignored his miserable ass and walked right over to Roman. She wanted to grill him about where he’d been for the past two days, but she decided to leave it alone.

“Thanks baby,” Malia said as she sat on his lap and kissed his lips.

“Thank you, too. I appreciate you getting me up out of there,” Roman replied, as his brother let out a disgusted sigh.

“But anyway,” Malia said while rolling her eyes, “did you eat anything yet?”

“Yeah, but you need to go get dressed, so we can go.”

“Where are we going? We’re hungry,” Malia said, rubbing her still flat stomach.

Chad couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his cigarettes and lighter and made his way outside.

“My hookup gave me the check stubs. We need to go to the office and do this paperwork,” Roman replied.

“Okay,” Malia said as she jumped up and hurried to the room to get dressed.

She wasn’t showing yet, so she put on a two-piece stripped skirt set with a small portion of her belly visible. She pulled her hair up in a messy bun and put on her comfortable wedges.

“I’m ready boo,” Malia said when she walked out of the room.

She and Roman passed by Chad as they headed to the car. Malia was nervous when they went to the leasing office, but the manager was cool. She didn’t ask too many questions about them renewing the lease in someone else’s name and that made everything easier. Once that was done, Roman stopped to get something to eat. It felt like old times as they rode around and talked like they did when they first hooked up. Things were going great until Roman pulled up to an unmarked building and parked the car.

“What is this?” Malia asked.

“The women’s clinic,” Roman replied as he got out of the car.

Malia was still sitting there until he walked around and opened her car door.

“The fuck you still sitting there for? Get out!” Roman barked, showing his true colors once again.

He and Chad had stayed by one of Chad’s many girlfriends the night before, and she gave Roman some info on abortion clinics. She’d even made some calls for him and helped him set things up. Malia thought she was slick, but she had him fucked up. There was no way in hell that she was keeping that baby, even if he had to beat it out of her.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Malia said as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Fuck you thought. Ain’t shit change and I still don’t want no kids,” Roman replied.

Malia shook her head in defeat and walked inside the clinic, with Roman following right behind her. She was heartbroken when she learned that he’d already made the appointment for her and paid the deposit over the phone. Malia sat through the counseling phase of the procedure in a daze. She didn’t care about what they were saying, and she didn’t bother trying to pay attention.

Two days later, she had the abortion and cried herself to sleep that night. To make matters worse, Roman didn’t bother coming back once he dropped her off. He never even bothered to answer his phone either. Malia didn’t know much about karma before, but she was getting a double dose of it now. Landon and her boys came to mind and she knew that she was getting back what she had done to them.

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