Chapter 5 — Deja
"Deja left, DeShawn. She just got up and fucking left," Malik says on the phone. "She left me with Jasmine and I don't know what the hell to do. For God's sake, I don't even know where's she's going."
"Malik, you'll be ok?" It hurts DeShawn to see his younger brother going through this. "Malik—" All Deshawn hears is his brother's heavy breathing and sniffling.
"No, this shit ain't cool, DeShawn. My so-called fiancé just left. She left me with our baby." Malik's voice gets louder and cracks. "She even left the engagement ring on the kitchen table, texted me in the Uber talking about she really didn't love me. I mean what the fuck, bro."
"Fuck! Gimme a few hours. I'll be up."
DeShawn starts throwing his clothes and stuff into his suitcase. "I'll call Mom and see what she can do. Ok?
"Alright."
"Hang in there. I'll be there later today."
Deshawn finishes gathering his things, takes a quick look around to make sure everything's off. He throws his bag into the pickup and starts the car up for a five-hour drive to Atlanta.
* * *
"Why Deja just stopped loving me, DeShawn? I did everything for her." Malik's on the couch, holding little Jazzy while she's enjoying her bottle.
"I'm sure she probably does, Malik. Women just be saying things at times and sometimes we read into things a bit too deep."
"Well, she texted me saying she didn't." Malik looks over to the gold band that's on the coffee table where Deja had left it with the engagement ring. "The girl just walked out on me and our child. Any woman who really cares about her family wouldn't have done that, bro." Malik's eyes begin to tear up.
"She loves Jasmine, and she loves you. Deja probably doesn't know how to handle the pressure of being responsible."
"Handle the pressure? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Malik raises his voice and Jasmine starts to scrunch her face, very predictive of 'I'm about to scream my head off.'
"DeShawn, I did everything—calling her doctor, cooking, cleaning, paying the bill and whatever. I was like Mr. Mom around this motherfucker." Malik gets up, pacing with Jasmine, bouncing her up and down, doing his best to keep her hush.
"Malik, you're scaring, Jasmine." DeShawn gets up and takes Jasmine. He then starts cooing her. Jasmine calms down and stops wiggling. DeShawn takes her empty bottle and places it on the counter before lifting Jasmine and giving her a few rubs and pats on her back. Within seconds, she burps and before they know it, Jasmine's little eyes are closing. DeShawn then takes Jasmine to the bedroom and lays her down, closing the door softly behind him. Deshawn flips on the baby monitor and goes back to the living room, seeing Malik slumped over on the floor. He's shaking and sniffling.
"I couldn't do anything to satisfy Deja, DeShawn. It didn't matter what. She was always complaining."
DeShawn pulls his brother to him, placing his arm around him and resting against his brother's head. The two are still in their twenties and DeShawn will do anything in his power to stop his big brother from hurting.
* * *
It's been thirty-two days since Deja left and living without her is normalizing. Malik, as much as he hated leaving Jasmine, has been away for about two days. He's relieved his former company laid him off. His best friend, Logan, now a sports agent, got Malik playing basketball in the G-League with the Erie Bayhawks.
Slowly, Malik's finding his groove back. DeShawn stayed with him for the first two weeks, leaving only when Mom had come down. She'd promised to stay and take care of little Jazzy while Malik's away balling. "Baby, take your time. In meanwhile, we'll keep looking for a babysitter. Don't want my Jazzy with just anybody," Malik's mom says to Malik on the phone after interviewing a few who were inexperienced.
"Ok, Mom. Love you."
Malik's been on the road for a week and he knows Mom knows best how to raise kids.
* * *
A week leading up to the Christmas, Malik's mother finds a nanny who will watch Jasmine when he's practicing and will stay overnight when he's away.
When Malik comes home, he receives a letter from a lawyer. He shakes as he slides his finger under the flap and pulls out a paper reading: 'No-Fault Dissolution of Marriage.' Malik and Deja had put in paperwork and paid the court fees but never got around to doing the wedding. Somehow, it mentioned that they were legally married. A clerk made an error and said she would straighten it out when a letter came before in the mail. Deja and Malik joked about it but never thought it would come back to bite them in the ass. Obviously, it did. What the fuck!
Something crazy like this was coming. He had only heard from Deja once since she left: it was a few days after she left to say she was sorry. It was to tell him she'd left for California for her career and would be staying with her cousin there and wasn't coming back. Malik remembers when she said, 'I'm sorry' before hearing the phone ding. He stood there, numb as he hung up.
Thank God, Malik only has one home game in the next coming week, then a week off before he's off on the road again. It will give him a few days to sit down to go over the documents with his lawyer. Malik rests his forehead on the kitchen table and sighs.
* * *
Malik meets with his lawyer and the divorce petition is pretty clear cut. He will get full custody of Jasmine and no alimony is being requested.