22. Malik #3
“And you know this is exactly why our son didn’t want you to know. He didn’t want you to carry the burden of guilt that wasn’t yours to carry. This wasn’t about you being weak; this had everything to do with the love we have for you. But it’s over with.”
“What do you mean it’s over with?”
“Sametra.”
“Spit it out, or is this something else you planned to keep from me? If so, you might as well leave the same way you came.”
I hesitated for a moment, but she wanted the truth, demanded it. So, I’d give it to her. I stepped closer, backing her up against the wall behind us until there was nowhere left to go. My hands found the wall on either side of her head, caging her in.
“Calm down, I aint finna eat your pussy again,” I grinned licking my lips.
“Malik,” she said pushing me a little, with a serious look on her face.
“Ashe is dead,” I whispered against her lips, close enough that she could feel my breath and my dick standing at attention from being so close. I missed her so much. I was ready to move on. “May he rest in piss.”
Her eyes fluttered closed as the words sank in. I leaned in, brushing my lips against hers. gently, barely there. I licked her top lip, I knew she had that mango lip gloss I loved so much on.
“Look at me.” Her eyes flickered open, and I searched her face for any sign of what she was thinking. “I love you, and I’m done apologizing for protecting what’s mine. The question is, are you done punishing me for it?”
“Did you…”
“I handled it, baby, leave it at that,” I murmured, pulling back to give her some space.
The silence that followed was deafening.
I watched her face cycle through shock, confusion, and something that might have been relief before settling into something I couldn’t read.
I wasn’t giving more. She’d just have to let that go.
My phone had rung while I was reviewing notes for Pressure Points, Rex’s name flashing on the screen. I’d been expecting this call. I declined the call but called back on his secure line. This is how he moved, and I appreciated it.
“Talk to me,” I said, setting down my pen.
“It’s handled. Mario’s crew caught up with him in Atlanta yesterday morning.” Rex’s voice was matter-of-fact. “Found him outside some motel he was staying at.”
I closed my eyes. “How bad?”
“Bad. They worked him over good this time, broke ribs, internal bleeding. Head trauma finished it. Brain swelling.” Rex paused. “Didn’t make it through the night.”
I waited for guilt to hit, but all I felt was relief. Clean, uncomplicated relief. Fuck em.
“You good?” Rex asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. Real good, actually.” I leaned back, feeling the weight lift off my shoulders. “That’s one less problem.”
“Cold-blooded,” Rex chuckled. “But I get it.”
“He made his choice.” I thought about Sametra, Samaj, our future, and the baby coming. “Now my family can move forward without him showing up on bullshit.”
After hanging up, I sat in my office for a long time.
Ashe was gone, and I’d pulled the trigger on it.
The minute everything went to shit, I decided Ashe had to go.
He’d disrespected me, took me as a joke, and fucked with my woman.
I warned him. I gave Mario sixty grand to cover the debt and handle Ashe.
I could’ve paid Ashe if I was going to pay anyway.
It was the principle. Ashe would never touch a dime of my money.
I thought about those four kids he’d left behind in Georgia. More kids growing up without their father, just like Samaj had. But everyone had to be accountable for their actions. He made his bed. Sorry, not sorry.
The cold-hearted part of me was something I tried to keep under wraps, but my cousins weren’t lying, I had a dark side.
Help the bear. I had a side that Sametra woke up and dragged from the dungeon.
Anybody playing with her or our family would be met with the same fate.
Part of me wanted to drive straight to her, but this wasn’t news for a phone call or rushed conversation.
Instead, I slipped the ring box back into my desk drawer. I was one step closer to getting my family back.
The memory of Rex’s call had been weighing on me for days, but looking at her face now, seeing her process the news I realized she was stronger than I’d given her credit for. She deserved to know it was over, deserved to be part of understanding what that meant for our future.
“I wanted to tell you in person.” I stepped closer to her. “I didn’t want to overstep and tell Samaj either. That’s not my place, unless you make it my place. And maybe I overstepped with the whole Ashe situation, but what’s done is done.”
She was quiet for a long moment, her hand unconsciously moving to her stomach where our baby was growing. “I never wanted him dead, Malik. I just wanted him to leave us alone.”
“I know, baby.”
“But I'm not going to pretend I’m not relieved.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Does that make me a terrible person?”
“It makes you human.” I pulled her closer. “He made his choices. He chose to abandon his son, to threaten our family, and violated your privacy. What happened to him was a consequence of his own actions.”
“What now?”
I pulled her toward me gently by her shirt, my voice getting softer. “You’re having my baby, and I want us under the same roof. Soon. Immediately, actually.”
I slid my hand under her shirt and placed it flat against her stomach, before sliding my hand up to rest around her neck. The simple touch sent a wave of calmness over both of us. I rested my head on her forehead. “Please. I miss you, baby.”
“I met Moneice. She almost got her ass pepper-sprayed in Wal-Mart. Is she going to be a problem?”
“Fuck no and fuck Moneice bruh. I’m here because I love you, and I want to marry you. I’m not worried about another woman. I want what I got right here.”
I kissed her lips softly, tasting the tears, she’d been holding back. When I pulled away, her eyes were still closed.
“You hurt my feelings, Malik.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I fell in love with your strength, not your struggle. But I want you kicked back with your pretty ass feet up. I told you that already. It comes from a pure, genuine place. I hope you know that.”
She paused, searching my eyes, and I hoped she felt how sincere I was. I hadn’t done this before, so I was learning. I’d learned my lesson.
“I’ll see you at the appointment,” I whispered against her forehead before heading toward the door. I just wanted to lay eyes on her and see if there was still an us. There was. “Or you can come through later.”
“Malik,” she called out just as I reached for the handle.
I turned back, hope flaring in my chest. “Yeah?”
She looked at me for a long moment, her hand unconsciously moving to where mine had just been. “We need to tell Samaj together. About Ashe. And I’ve been craving Elote, with lots of jalapenos, we’ll need lunch after our doctor’s appointment.”
“Whatever you need, baby. Whatever you want.”
“Stay for dinner. I know you could use a home-cooked meal. I forgive you, I hope you learned your lesson.”
“Time without you taught me that this life ain’t worth shit if you’re not in it. I thought I’d lose my mind.”
I felt like we’d turned the corner. Soon we’d be looking at houses together, planning nurseries, arguing about baby names.
I just wanted to be back on the right side of a love song with her, the kind where the man gets the girl, where love wins, where families stay together.
Not that side where the sun loses the fight to the rain.
As I walked back toward our table, I could hear her footsteps behind me, softer now, less angry. When we sat down with her family, I caught her stealing glances at me between conversations.
We were halfway through our plates when Sametra set down her fork and cleared her throat.
“I have an announcement to make,” she said, looking at me and then at her parents.
My heart started racing. I didn’t know she was telling them tonight, but I could see the determination in her eyes.
It didn’t matter one way or another to me.
It was always going to be our business. She could pull a Halle Bailey and never speak on it until the baby took its first breath. It was her world.
“I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
The silence that followed was exactly what I expected. Both John-Dale and Lorana sat frozen, forks suspended halfway to their mouths. Samaj grinned. He was going to be an amazing big brother.
This was a very vulnerable Sametra, stripped of all her usual ease and confidence.
I could see her hands trembling slightly as she waited for someone to say something.
She was afraid, afraid of judgment and disappointing her father.
I didn’t like that, but we weren’t married.
I hadn’t even proposed yet. John- Dale was a traditional man with values.
I knew enough to know this news was going to require a conversation between us.
But for now, I had her back. She wasn’t alone in this; we’d both acted carelessly.
I pulled her close to my side, my arm wrapping around her shoulders protectively. “We’re excited about it,” I added, my voice steady even though my heart was pounding.
John-Dale’s eyes moved from his daughter to me, and I could see him processing everything. The timeline, the implications, and the fact that his baby girl was having a baby with a man she wasn’t married to.
“How far along?” Lorana finally asked, her voice gentle.
“About seven or eight weeks, I think. I don’t know. We go back to the doctor next week,” Sametra replied.
“Eight weeks,” John-Dale repeated slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. I knew exactly what he was thinking, calculating back to when this had happened, probably remembering our conversation about my intentions.
“Daddy,” Sametra started, but he held up his hand.
“Malik,” he said, his voice calm but carrying agitation. “Can I speak with you privately?”
“Daddy, no,” Sametra protested, but I was already standing. I didn’t need her to intervene. He was a grown man, and so was I, and as long as he treated me as such, all would be well.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said, caressing her cheek. “We’ll be right back.”
As I followed John-Dale toward the front of the restaurant, I could feel Sametra’s eyes burning into my back. This wasn’t how I’d planned to have this conversation, but it was happening whether I was ready or not.
We stopped near the entrance, far enough from the dining room that we wouldn’t be overheard but close enough that Sametra could see us.
“Pregnant, huh?” John-Dale said, crossing his arms. He was upset and rightfully so.
“Yes sir. And we didn’t plan this, so I apologize for not making an honest woman out of your daughter first. But I plan to rectify that as soon as she lets me. You have my word.”
“She’s been taking care of herself and that boy for seventeen years. Independence is all she knows. Can I trust you with my family?”
“You can, sir, I have no intention of hurting Sametra. We hit a snag, but the minute we get on track, I will marry your daughter and ensure she is more than well taken care of. Samaj too. I’m a father now, so I understand. Please give me your blessing.”
“I don’t like her not being married, but things happen. This rough patch is fixable right? You didn’t cheat, did ya? We ain’t seen you in weeks.”
“Never, I only have eyes for Sametra, John Dale. I broke her trust and she’s freezing me out.
That’s why you haven’t seen me. But understand that I’m not backing down, and I’m not leaving her to deal with this alone.
I love her. I’m going to a different realm about her, if you feel me. She’s good with me.”
“I don’t know. She seems to be thawing a little,” he said, nodding his head behind me. I turned to see her smiling at us.
“About damn time,” I joked as he shook my hand and brought me into a hug.
“You have my blessing, son. But the minute your word turns to shit, I’ll be going to that other realm. Clear?”
“As you should. Clear.”
“Well, let’s finish dinner.”
We went back to the table. I was already feeling ten pounds lighter.
I had John-Dale’s blessing, that was more than I’d dared hope for when I walked in here tonight.
We made it to the table, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.
I’d missed how her skin felt under my fingertips, missed the way she fit perfectly against me.
She melted into my embrace, and I knew then that I had my woman back.
I leaned back and tuned into the conversation. Samaj was going on about how now that he had his car, Mustangs were all he noticed on the road.
“It’s like they came out of nowhere,” he was saying with animated gestures. “I swear I seen five today alone.”
“That’s how it always works,” John-Dale chuckled. “You don’t notice something until it’s yours.”
Sametra grabbed the gift box from the table and shook it gently. “What is it?”
“Open it and find out.”
She looked up at me with those beautiful eyes before carefully opening the box. When she saw the Pandora bracelet nestled inside, she squealed and danced in her seat.
“Malik...”
I helped her take it out, pointing to each charm as I explained. “S for Samaj, a sweet pea for our baby, your initials, with an H, of course, and a cap because you’re about to be Dr. Andrews. I figured you should have something to commemorate this wild journey we’re on.”
As I clasped it around her wrist, she grabbed my cheeks and kissed me deeply. I slipped my tongue into her mouth for just a moment before I had to pull back, it had been way too long since I’d gotten to touch my woman, and we were in public with her family.
“It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever given me,” she whispered against my lips. “I love it. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby,” I said.
We settled back into the conversation, Lorana beaming at us from across the table and John-Dale nodding his approval, I felt like everything was finally falling back into place. We still had things to work through, conversations to finish, but for the night, we were a family again.