Bated Breath

C h a p t e r : 46

Yolande
July 29th, 2016

I had to go see him...
I've been holding out for too long now, I thought, as I tried to encourage myself to go through the door.

I took a deep breath and went inside.

When I finally sat down to speak with him and I saw the condition he was in, I covered my mouth in shock. Tears fell from my eyes as he sat before me, weak, barely able to keep himself up but he tried for me.

"Roman..." I said into the phone, "what are they doing to you?" He smiled as tears came to his eyes.

"You're so much more beautiful than the last time I saw you." He chuckled weakly. "I'm so happy you're here Sheila." I felt butterflies hearing that name roll off his tongue. "But I don't deserve a visit from you. All this is karma for doing what I did to you and I'm prepared to live in that truth."

"Manny...nobody deserves to live like this. You have to at least fight for yourself." He shook his head.

"It's no use...the only reason I hired a lawyer is to keep you all safe from anything Helen may try to pull."

"Please Manny, you had to at least try!"

"It's no use Sheila! You know what I was involved in, you know the life I led. It's either I die or this was bound to happen eventually."

"So why did you do it? Why didn't you try to get out?"

"I did Sheila! I did get out! I though that by marrying Helen and taking her last name I could finally be free of the life but Helen led me right back to it. Her son was a big drug dealer and she threatened to give me up if I didn't help him become a big name like I was. I didn't want my secret out so I did it." He lowered his head and I could feel my heart breaking.

"Helen...had a son?" Yola scoffed.

"Yes...For Sylvester." She shook her head and huffed.

"Look Roman I...I'm gonna try to get you a team to get you out of here...or at least shorten your sentence. You don't deserve this..." he looked up at me and sighed.

"You were always good to me...If I wasn't such a huge dick back then I would have had you and life would have been so much better. You really are my Angel...because every time I'm around you my path clears up and I could see the light. Don't waste your time on me Sheila...It's time for you to be someone else's light." I broke down a little, wiping my tears as they fell.

"After all these years...I finally get to see you again...and still I can't...I can't have you..." I put my hand against the glass. "Everyone else gets you except me...it's not fair Manny. So if I have to fight to have just one more year with you after a long sentence...I'm gonna do it! Because there's nobody else in this world I could ever love more than I love you."

"Sheila..."

"I don't want to hear it Roman..."

"Sheila I was never good for you that's why it never worked out. So please, don't waste your time..."

"It's not up for discussion Roman. I've already made my decision." I hung up before he could say anything else and left the visiting room.