Love/Fate by Tracy Brown

be alright. We’ll make it work. I promise I’ll be with you every step.”
    Jada listened to him plead his case, but made no decision that night. Jamari’s begging went on for seven days. And then she yielded. She awoke beside him one morning, and looked him in the eyes. “I’ll have the baby,” she said. “I think it’s time I turned my life around.”
    Jamari was ecstatic. He kissed her over and over again, and his smile spread all across his face. Things were better than ever between them, and he was at Jada’s beck and call.
    As the months went by, and her slim and sexy waistline made way for a bulging tummy, Jamari beamed with pride. Jada had mixed emotions. She had never been in love with Jamari. But she felt like it would be cruel for her to have an abortion after all he’d done for her. And little by little, she began to warm up to the idea of being a mother. She would soon have someone to call her own. Someone that she could love, and who wouldn’t desert her like everyone else in her life had.
    She stopped smoking crack while she was pregnant. It was hard, because she wanted it so bad on a few occasions. But she stayed clean. She did smoke a little weed during the first trimester. She wasn’t proud of that fact. So then she went cold turkey, and really gave it her all. But it wasn’t long before she noticed Jamari becoming more controlling. Now that Jada was no longer getting high, she started to notice that he wasn’t as likable as she had thought he was. She couldn’t tolerate him as muchas she used to when she was always high. And, he wouldn’t leave her alone, so she was forced to endure him. Jada started feeling trapped.
    When she complained, Jamari lightened up. He would pretend to be understanding and supportive. But, it wouldn’t be long before he started tightening the reins around Jada’s neck. One day, the subject of Jada’s relationship with Born came up. Jada shared with him the fact that she had a lot of regrets when it came to their relationship, particularly how it had ended. Jamari went ballistic.
    â€œYou’re playing yourself,” he seethed. “You’re pregnant with my baby, and you got the nerve to sit here and express regret over the next man.” His face was twisted into a look of disgust.
    Jada tried explaining that she had a lot of history with Born. “You said I could talk to you about anything. Well, that’s how I feel. I can’t control the way I feel, and I’m entitled to my own emotions, whether you like it or not.”
    Jamari laughed at her. “Regardless of what you’re feeling, Born would never take you back now.”
    Jada sat in silence, thinking about the truth in his words. No matter how much love she still had in her heart for Born, she was pregnant with someone else’s baby. All the regret in the world wouldn’t change that. She looked at Jamari, who smiled at her sinisterly, and saw for the first time just how cruel he could be.
    She was still little then, even though it was almost her fifth month of pregnancy. Jada was hiding her belly behind cute outfits. The pregnancy was progressing normally. The only problem was Jamari’s personality. At first she dismissed it as her irritability due to pregnancy hormones. She figured he was getting on her nerves more because she was more on edge than usual. But when she mentioned Born, Jamari got too personal with what he was saying about him.
    â€œThat nigga ain’t shit!” he yelled. “I used to be friends with the muthafucka back in high school. Both him and his crackheaded daddy wasn’t shit.” Jamari was really saying some disrespectful shit! It seemed like he had real hatred in his heart for Born, and Jada couldn’t understand why. So she asked him about it.
    â€œWhat’s the deal with you and Born? How come you hate him so much? It’s almost like you’re